Chapter 489 460: Love and Hate in the Mortal World, Hard to Tell Black from White

Inside the great hall, lacquered black spirit tablets were stacked a full ten layers high, forming what looked like a tall Treasure Tower.

Ten layers of tablets suggested this was a village with a long, continuous history.

Normally, in a village with such a long history, the power of the ancestral Heroic Spirits in its hall should be quite strong. Even members of the Demon Race who had gained sentience at the Spirit Communication Stage wouldn't dare to provoke such a village.

But at this very moment, these ten layers of tablets were a mess of fallen and decaying wood.

Below the tablets, a long altar table was laden with offering bowls. But the contents of those bowls were either moldy and rotten or shriveled and black, looking as if they had been neglected for ages, or perhaps had suddenly suffered some terrifying corrosion.

An indescribably eerie atmosphere filled the ancestral hall. Combined with the wails and sobs of the villagers, it cast an even more sinister gloom both inside and outside the building.

Despite it being broad daylight, the air around the ancestral hall was distinctly and unnaturally cold.

Among the weeping villagers, an old woman suddenly collapsed into a violent convulsion as she cried. No one knew what was happening—

Perhaps she was too old, and the day's ordeal had pushed her beyond her limits. As she convulsed, her eyes rolled back into her head, her neck craned backward, her waist arched unnaturally, and her legs shot out in a sudden kick.

The villagers beside her cried out in alarm, "Third Granny, what's wrong with you, Third Granny?"

Another woman wailed, "Jing Liulang, is this your doing? Is it you? Come out! Look what's happening to your grandmother! How can you be so cruel? How could you be so heartless? How could you do this…"

The woman's cries were heart-rending, but like all the other villagers, her hands and feet were bound by black vines. They could only weep and shout… but beyond that, they were powerless to do anything.

As they watched the convulsing Third Granny, her eyes rolled back and a death rattle issued from her throat. She was about to draw her last breath, and more villagers began to scream, "Third Granny!"

Some villagers yelled, "Jing Liulang, come out! Come out now! Are you really just going to stand there and watch your granny die?"

Finally, just as Third Granny was on the verge of death, the old woman managed to force a single name from her throat: "Huai Sheng…"

Before the name had even faded, the old woman stopped convulsing.

A burly, almost bloated figure flashed out from behind the Treasure Tower of black spirit tablets.

Though the figure was bloated, its speed was like a flash of lightning.

The villagers were still crying out in horror, "Jing Liulang!"

"Jing Huaisheng!"

The bloated figure flickered through the air and lunged toward the collapsed old woman.

He scooped the old woman up from the crowd and, with a single tug, easily snapped the vines binding her.

Then, the bloated figure slit its own wrist. Dark red blood gushed out.

He brought his wrist to the old woman's lips, and she seemed to sense a supreme temptation.

Just a moment ago, her eyes had been rolled back and her breathing shallow, on the brink of death. But now, at the sight of the bleeding wrist, the dying old woman's eyes snapped open, and blue veins bulged on her aged hands.

With those bulging, veiny hands, she seized the burly figure's thick wrist and pressed the wound firmly against her lips.

The old woman opened her mouth and, with wide, crazed eyes, began to gulp down the fresh blood as if possessed.

GULP—

GULP—

This was the sound of the old woman's throat working as she swallowed the blood, but it was also the sound of the bound villagers on the other side… silently gulping down their own saliva.

With the appearance of the bloated figure, especially at the moment he slit his wrist, it wasn't just the old woman in his arms who became frenzied, drinking the blood like a demon. Even the previously wailing villagers were instantly energized.

One by one, the villagers craned their necks, their eyes wide.

Their mouths hung open, saliva dripping from the corners.

Then they would snap their mouths shut and begin to swallow their own spit frantically.

If not for the black vines binding them tightly, they would have likely pounced like hungry ghosts, ready to tackle the bloated figure feeding his grandmother and devour him alive.

Just then, a gust of wind came from nowhere.

Suddenly, the flame of a white candle on the altar flared, and in its bright, lengthening light, the face of the bloated figure was finally revealed clearly to the villagers.

But what they saw was no bloated figure at all.

Yes, in the dim light moments before, Jing Huaisheng's silhouette had indeed appeared quite bloated—

But now, as the light suddenly brightened, they could see clearly that Jing Huaisheng was actually gaunt!

The young man wasn't just thin; his torso was so emaciated he was nothing but skin and bones.

He had a sallow face and a mess of dry, yellowed hair. Beneath it, his eye sockets were so deep-sunken that, in any other setting, Jing Huaisheng could have passed for a ghost without any makeup.

But it was only his torso that was gaunt. His limbs were thick and burly. And what was especially terrifying was that he didn't have just one pair of hands—he had three pairs, six arms in total.

Thus, at this moment, the sight of Jing Huaisheng was clearly far more horrifying than any ghost!

The villagers, who had been drooling madly, snapped back to their senses in an instant.

And then came screams that seemed to pierce the heavens: "Ah!"

"AHHHHH!"

"A ghost!"

"Help!"

"Third Granny, help us!"

"Jing Huaisheng, don't come any closer!"

"Jing Liulang, get away!"

"Wushengzi, why didn't you just die the day you were born?"

…

Amidst the various screams, the word "Wushengzi" was like the pressing of some strange button.

All the screaming stopped in an instant. Even Third Granny, who had been frantically sucking on the arm, shuddered and stopped drinking.

The next moment, as if flinging away something filthy, Third Granny violently threw aside Jing Huaisheng's thick arm.

"RETCH!"

She turned her head, clawed at her own mouth, and collapsed to the ground, dry-heaving.

It was as if she wasn't the one who had just been actively and madly drinking his blood, as if what she had just tasted was something utterly disgusting…

Jing Huaisheng stood up. His figure, simultaneously gaunt and bloated, was split between light and shadow by the flaring candlelight, looking eerily indistinct.

He looked down at Third Granny, who was still on the ground dry-heaving.

Third Granny shuddered, as if she could physically feel the weight of his gaze. She couldn't bring herself to heave anymore. Covering her mouth, she turned her head and cautiously called out, "Huai Sheng."

After calling his name, the old woman climbed to her feet.

Outside the ancestral hall, Song Ciwan noticed the old woman's movement as she got up—

Her legs were nimble, her movements clean and agile. She didn't look at all like an old woman who had been on the verge of death just moments before; rather, she moved like a healthy and strong young adult.

And in the bright candlelight, one could also see that while the old woman's hair was still gray, the deep, aged wrinkles that had once covered her face had now mostly vanished!

In other words, after drinking Jing Huaisheng's blood, not only had the dying old woman been brought back from the brink of death, but her withered life force, as if suddenly nourished by Immortal Liquid Nectar, had been rejuvenated by at least twenty years in a single instant!

She was still Third Granny, but her back was no longer stooped, her leg no longer lame, and she was no longer so old. Even her once-cloudy eyes now held a renewed light.

And it wasn't just Third Granny's eyes that shone with light. The eyes of the other villagers, still bound on the floor, were all now glowing as they remained fixed on Jing Huaisheng.

The villagers' voices were now filled with relief and joy. "That's wonderful! Third Granny is okay!"

"Huai Sheng, you truly are a good boy. I always said you weren't a heartless child. Of course you'd save your grandmother when she was in trouble."

"Ah, Huai Sheng, you see? There's no such thing as a lasting grudge between a grandmother and her grandson, is there?"

"That's right, Huai Sheng. You freed Third Granny, so you should free us too! We're all fellow villagers here. There's no need for such hatred, right?"

"The ones who were truly cruel to you have already been eaten by the Demon Beasts. Huai Sheng, we're just pitiful victims too…"