Chapter 61: The Village Chief Brings Food

When the yin energy was completely expelled, the disciples who had gone up the mountain also returned one after another. None of them had been infected again, but everyone looked confused. Not only Yun Jiao and her group—ever since those few streaks of red light appeared, all the wandering spirits on the mountain had completely vanished. Some had searched the mountain for a long time but couldn’t find even one ghost.

Naturally, some people also discovered that their teleportation talismans no longer worked. Even all of the message talismans had failed; it was as if they had suddenly been cut off from the outside world, completely unable to make contact.

Everyone faintly felt that something was wrong. They wanted to leave the village to find out what was happening, but they also feared that this might be part of the exam itself. After all, returning to the Celestial Masters Hall would mean forfeiting the competition automatically, and all the effort spent capturing spirits before would go to waste.

For a while, everyone hesitated. By then, daylight had already broken. They could only suppress their doubts and rest in the small house for the day, planning to go back up the mountain once it got dark again.

The house soon became lively. Perhaps because there were injured people, many disciples deliberately went outside to rest on the grassy field, leaving more space for the wounded.

Yun Jiao wanted to return to the mountain to investigate. She couldn’t shake off the strange feeling about those sudden red lights and the enormous bird-shaped figure in the sky. Maybe seeing it again would help her understand what it was. Unfortunately, there was still an unconscious injured man in the room. Though the yin energy had been removed, he hadn’t yet woken up. Her professional ethics as a doctor wouldn’t allow her to abandon a patient, so she had to stay.

“Eh? The village chief is here!” someone exclaimed. Everyone instinctively turned to look and saw four or five men walking toward them, seemingly carrying something in their hands. All kept their heads lowered. Leading them was the village chief who had welcomed them into the village earlier.

The village chief stepped into the courtyard with a hearty laugh. After sweeping his eyes across the group, he said, “Honored celestial masters, you’ve worked hard exorcising evil. Our Sishi Village is remote and poor; we have nothing much to offer in thanks. We could only prepare some simple food and tea. Please, do not disdain our humble fare.”

He gave a small signal with his eyes, and the four or five men behind him each carried a wooden bucket forward and removed the lids. Instantly, a rich aroma of hot food filled the room. Everyone looked over and saw the buckets were full of steaming meals. Although it was just plain porridge and simple dishes, there were soups, side dishes, and rice—all neatly prepared and clearly made with care.

Faces brightened all around. After a whole night of ghost catching, everyone was indeed hungry. Though they’d packed dry rations, dry food couldn’t compare to a hot meal.

The group stepped forward to thank the village chief.

“As long as the celestial masters don’t mind, that’s good.” The chief grinned even more broadly and pointed to the last bucket, which held bowls and chopsticks. “Eat as much as you want. If it’s not enough, we’ll bring more from the village.”

No one stood on ceremony. They gathered to serve themselves. Perhaps because he’d long grown used to scrambling for food with the old ancestor at the temple, the old man immediately squeezed to the front, grabbed the largest empty bowl he could find, and filled it to the brim with porridge. He even remembered to bring a bowl back for Yun Jiao, cheerfully trotting over to her.

“Here, girl, have some porridge! Still nice and hot!” he said as he handed it over. “It’s not as good as what you make, but it smells pretty nice.” Then he carefully took out a small jar of pickled vegetables from his bag, placed a few pieces on top of the porridge, and quickly closed the jar again. The pickles were homemade by Yun Jiao and specially brought from the temple. There was only this one small jar, so he had to ration it.

“Thank you.” Yun Jiao accepted the porridge, but just as she was about to eat, a faint, strange scent drifted to her nose. She froze for a moment, instinctively stirred the porridge with her chopsticks, and sure enough—the odor intensified. It carried a hint of rot.

This was… Spirit-Eating Grass!

The old man, however, seemed completely unaware and was about to drink directly from the bowl.

Yun Jiao’s eyes sharpened. Almost reflexively, she slapped his hand away. “Don’t drink!”

Caught off guard, Bai Yu’s grip loosened. The bowl of porridge flew out of his hands, crashing to the floor with a loud crack and shattering into pieces.

“Girl, wha—what’s wrong?” the old man asked, baffled.

Yun Jiao’s action was so sudden that the sound of the breaking bowl startled the other disciples. They all turned to look, and the room fell into an instant of silence.

The village chief, who had been helping serve the food, also turned his head. His expression flickered briefly as he glanced at the broken bowl, but then he quickly smiled kindly again. “Does this celestial master not like porridge? No matter, there are steamed buns here!” He pointed to the bucket of buns as he spoke.

Only then did the others start to grasp the situation. They looked toward Yun Jiao with irritation. Some stepped forward to scold her directly.

“The village chief was kind enough to bring us food, how could you waste it like that?”

“Exactly! If you don’t like it, at least don’t throw it away.”

“Truly ungrateful. You deserve to stay hungry.”

“Village chief, ignore her. If she doesn’t want to eat, that’s her problem.”

Voices rose in a chorus of reproach. Meanwhile, the village chief maintained his gentle smile, still kindly saying, “It’s all right, it’s just one broken bowl.”

Yun Jiao ignored the scolding around her. Her expression turned dark as she strode straight toward the village chief.

The chief kept his friendly smile and even bent slightly to pick up two buns, offering them to her. “Would the celestial master like to try—”

Before he could finish, Yun Jiao suddenly struck, pulling out an exorcism talisman and slapping it squarely on his forehead.

“You—what are you—” one of the disciples began to protest, but was cut off by a sudden, bloodcurdling scream.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

The village chief, who had been smiling kindly just a second ago, suddenly clutched his face and howled in agony. In the next moment, thick black smoke began to rise from his entire body.

This reaction… only a non-human creature would show!

Everyone froze in shock as the chief’s disguise melted away before their eyes. His skin visibly rotted and twisted, exposing pale bones beneath. A wave of overwhelming stench flooded the room.

The disciples stood dumbstruck. Behind the chief, the men who had carried the buckets suddenly let out guttural roars, tearing away their concealing clothes to reveal horrifying faces—half-rotted, oozing foul pus.

With shrill, piercing screams, they lashed out, scratching at nearby Celestial Sect disciples before bolting in different directions. The village chief himself ripped the talisman from his forehead and turned to flee.

“Old man, stop him!” Yun Jiao shouted sharply.

The old man reacted instantly, forming seals with both hands. A deafening crack of thunder split the air as a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, slamming directly into the fleeing chief. He didn’t even have time to finish screaming before he was blasted into a charred corpse.

But the others were already gone, having vanished beyond sight.

The disciples: “…”

(End of Chapter)