CHAPTER 415: CHAPTER 413: ALL DEAD, BODIES GONE

Xianghe Village.

Besides Qi Ling, Shangguan Qiu had also arrived.

Originally, Shangguan Qiu had come to protect Qi Ling, but after arriving at Xianghe Village, she sensed something wrong with the atmosphere of the place.

Within a month, many people in Xianghe Village had died.

Almost everyone in the village had died; thus, there was no one to hold funerals for the deceased.

Many bodies were left inside their homes, shrouding the village in a thick aura of death.

When they entered Xianghe Village, the Changyuan Sword kept flying around, seemingly searching for something.

To investigate the truth, they did not immediately contact local government officials.

If the police and doctors came, it might disrupt the scene.

The arrival of many outsiders could also unwittingly alert others.

While Qi Ling and Chu Yan were making phone calls, he and Shangguan Qiu stayed next door in a villager’s house.

"All the symptoms seem to stem from hemorrhagic fever; after contracting AIDS, the virus can destroy the human immune system, and indeed, some patients exhibit such symptoms."

Qi Ling paced around the room, thinking about the situation in Xianghe Village.

"Could it really be such a coincidence that they all fell ill last month and then died?"

"If they didn’t die from illness, how did they die?"

He threw out a series of questions and had also previously sent photos of the deceased to Chu Yan.

But just from photos, Chu Yan couldn’t accurately judge.

"Otherwise, it might be better to have Chu Yan come over and take a look."

Shangguan Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed, with the Changyuan Sword resting on her legs.

She carefully wiped the Changyuan Sword every day to enhance her bond with it, as the Changyuan Sword possessed its own consciousness.

Whoever treated it well, it could feel.

"Hey, don’t you think the deaths of those people are very strange?"

Intrigued, Qi Ling suddenly leaned closer to her, probably wishing to discuss it with someone.

"Very strange."

Shangguan Qiu agreed with his view, but then said no more.

"How do you think they died?"

"I think it’s a ghost."

"A ghost? A ghost killed them?"

Qi Ling rolled his eyes, thinking Shangguan Qiu was messing with him.

"That’s superstitious nonsense."

Although he had seen others perform feats like scaling walls swiftly, Qi Ling still did not believe in tales of ghosts and gods.

"If there are ghosts in this world, doesn’t that mean there are divinities? With so many evil people, why don’t these divinities intervene?"

Qi Ling scoffed derisively, a cynical look in his eyes.

He himself was a bad person and had done many evil deeds.

Those ghost souls that had died by his hand ought to be haunting him daily, seeking vengeance.

Shangguan Qiu glanced at him and spoke slowly, "Karma is cyclical; some people commit evil deeds, and though retribution is not immediate, it merely awaits its time."

"Pfft! That’s absurd!"

Qi Ling lay on the bed beside her, preparing to take a rest.

They had been in the same room for many days, with Shangguan Qiu mostly staying in his room, to which he had grown accustomed.

Shangguan Qiu, a girl, wasn’t shy about it; why should he be?

Qi Ling sprawled out in the shape of a "big character", nearly monopolizing the entire bed, leaving Shangguan Qiu no choice but to get off the bed and then stepped out onto the balcony to enjoy the evening country air.

Just as she stepped outside, the Changyuan Sword in her arms stirred.

Suddenly, the Changyuan Sword flew up, pointing towards the direction of Xianghe Village.

"Is there an Evil Object there?"

Shangguan Qiu asked.

Without providing an answer, the Changyuan Sword immediately flew off.

Shangguan Qiu had no time to inform Qi Ling and leaped down from the balcony, following the Changyuan Sword as it left.

In the dense darkness of the night, she followed the Changyuan Sword back to Xianghe Village.

The small village, already shrouded in an aura of death, was filled with an even denser yin energy at night.

"How are there no souls at all?"

Shangguan Qiu used the Qi Observation Skill, but she didn’t see a single soul.

With so many people having died here, the absence of lingering ghosts was the most suspicious thing.

"Whooo!"

The yin energy grew stronger, and the cold wind howled.

Suddenly, the Changyuan Sword emitted a clanging sound, its blade flashing with golden Sword Qi and flying at a speed invisible to the naked eye toward a certain spot; Shangguan Qiu couldn’t even catch up.

"Changyuan, wait for me!"

As soon as Shangguan Qiu shouted, she suddenly felt something was amiss.

She tapped the tip of her foot and leapt into the air.

The instant she flew up, a shadowy figure appeared, ghostlike, accompanied by a heavy stench of blood, smashing into the spot where she had just been standing.

With great force, it directly smashed through the surrounding wall.

"What is that?"

At that moment, a strange laughter came from the darkness.

"Hehehe, what a plump Heavenly Master."

The hoarse laughter brought with it an overwhelming ghost energy, mixed with an intense pressure and a nauseating smell of blood, almost causing one to faint.

Shangguan Qiu stood on the eaves, her head reeling from the fumes.

Suddenly, a blood-drenched hand appeared behind her, reaching for her heart.

"Sizzle—"

At the last critical moment, the Changyuan Sword returned, striking at the blood-drenched black hand.

The golden Sword Qi penetrated the ghostly pale flesh of the hand.

"Ah!"

A scream echoed across the sky.

The fog-like ghost energy finally dispersed, and moonlight shone down.

Shangguan Qiu looked at the Changyuan Sword in front of her, her heart still racing.

The powerful pressure displayed by that thing was beyond her ability to contend with.

The moment it appeared, the Spiritual Power inside her seemed to stall. If the Changyuan Sword hadn’t returned in time, she might have died on the spot!

Shangguan Qiu thought her cultivation had improved a lot and could deal with most Evil Objects. But unexpectedly, the Evil Object outside was even more formidable than any she had encountered before!

The Changyuan Sword flew in the air, continually changing directions.

It seemed to be determining where that thing had fled to, but ultimately it couldn’t confirm.

The Changyuan Sword returned to Shangguan Qiu’s hand.

Shangguan Qiu thought for a moment and decided to go back to the place she was staying at before.

It was too dangerous here, and there was no telling whether that thing would appear again.

"This is not right, where have the corpses gone?"

When the Changyuan Sword released its Sword Qi, the golden light could illuminate the darkness like it was broad daylight.

Most of the deceased in Xianghe Village were lying on their beds.

They had mostly been ill for many years before they passed away.

In a nearby household, a deceased’s body had been lying on the bed by the window, but just then, Shangguan Qiu hadn’t seen the body on the bed.

Shangguan Qiu took out the flashlight she carried with her and cautiously inspected several houses.

"They’re all gone!"

Not only was the body in that household missing, but the other houses were also empty.

Before returning to her place, Shangguan Qiu didn’t encounter that thing again.

She guessed it was wary of the Changyuan Sword’s power, so it dared not appear again.

Shangguan Qiu felt this matter was not something she and Qi Ling could resolve. She spent the night awake, while Qi Ling, completely carefree, slept like a log next to her.

The next day, Shangguan Qiu made a call to contact Qin Zhao.

After Shangguan Qiu explained the situation, Qin Zhao was still a bit confused.

"Um, where did you say it was?"

The day before she had just asked Chu Yan to make some donuts, but then Qin Zhao bullied her relentlessly in her sleep, leaving her drained of all energy.

If it weren’t for Shangguan Qiu’s call, she would have slept longer.

Shangguan Qiu patiently explained, "Xianghe Village, the famous AIDS village, everyone here has died.

I also encountered an Evil Object in the village last night, and the village’s corpses are also missing, probably taken by that Evil Object."