I Can Extract Divine Power-Chapter 33: The Depths of Human Evil

The middle-aged man’s voice was the only thing echoing in the pitch-black night.

The numb voice carried a deep despair. Combined with the man’s desolate, dazed expression, the scene felt incredibly bleak and cold.

Shen Bai frowned and walked over to the middle-aged man.

’Things aren’t so simple.’ After the man’s abrupt outburst, Shen Bai felt this village was hiding a huge secret.

"Can you communicate?" Wuhua took two steps forward, reached out, and grasped the man’s wrist.

The man didn’t resist. He just stared foolishly at Wuhua, still muttering to himself.

"Beasts. Not a single good person. They’re all beasts..."

A glow emanated from Wuhua’s right hand, as if coated in golden sunlight, looking especially brilliant in the darkness.

Shen Bai had little exposure to the world of Cultivators. The last time had been when he met Cheng Shuang, so he was extremely curious about everything.

He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity from this golden light.

After a moment of careful thought, Shen Bai recalled the Divine Power, Vajra Demon Subduing Fist.

’Buddha’s Light.’

The Vajra Demon Subduing Fist was a Buddhist Family Divine Power to begin with. Wuhua was also from the Buddhist Family, so it was natural for there to be similarities between them.

But Shen Bai felt Wuhua’s Buddha’s Light wasn’t as pure as his own.

If Wuhua’s Buddha’s Light was a layer of gold paint, his was pure gold from the inside out.

A moment later, Wuhua lowered his hand and sighed.

"Donor Shen, this man has suffered a massive shock, and his Divine Soul is damaged. It’s beyond saving."

Shen Bai nodded and said to the man, "The beasts you mentioned just now... are you talking about the people here?"

The man was clearly mad and seemed to have been so for a long time, so it was no surprise he was beyond saving.

Shen Bai had only said this on an impulse, not holding out much hope.

Who would have known that when Shen Bai finished speaking, especially after he uttered the word "beasts," a glimmer of clarity suddenly appeared in the dazed man’s eyes.

"The ancestral hall... the ancestral hall..."

"They’re all beasts. Building an ancestral hall won’t change that."

"It’s just for peace of mind. But their conscience is rotten. There can be no peace of mind."

"Hahaha... Hehehe..."

"All evil people, an evil village, disgusting!"

The chaotic words tumbled from the man’s mouth, creating a hair-raising feeling in the pitch-black night.

Picture it: a madman in the dead of night, his senseless ramblings... The sinister atmosphere intensified.

After saying all this, the man seemed to have used up all his strength. He collapsed limply onto the ground, staring vacantly at the dark clouds in the sky.

Shen Bai stood up and turned. "It seems the root of all the problems is the ancestral hall."

The only useful piece of Information from the man’s words was "ancestral hall."

’Perhaps the ancestral hall is the breakthrough,’ Shen Bai thought.

Since he needed to deal with the giant Locust Tree to obtain its Evil Qi, he had to resolve the issues in this village near Liu Yun Lake first to avoid any uncontrollable consequences.

Wuhua nodded. "Let’s go take a look."

Without another word, they used the cover of the pitch-black night to move stealthily through the village in search of it.

...

Huaxi Village wasn’t large, and the architectural style of an ancestral hall would naturally stand out.

It didn’t take Shen Bai long to find its location.

When he saw the ancestral hall, a thought crossed his mind.

’This ancestral hall could rival one from a wealthy, prominent family.’ 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Not far off in the darkness stood a magnificent ancestral hall.

The entire hall was cast from high-quality bricks and tiles, and even decorated with various wooden ornaments painted with expensive crimson lacquer.

The wooden ornaments were also exquisitely carved. A single glance at the reliefs told you they were costly.

"The village may be wealthy, but the cost of an ancestral hall like this is more than a single village can bear."

Wuhua whispered, "Ancestral halls are for worshipping ancestors and ensuring the peace of their descendants. The people of this village might have done something evil and spent a fortune Casting this hall to pray for peace."

Combining this with what the madman had said, it wasn’t hard to guess the answer.

Shen Bai said, "It looks like there are people inside the ancestral hall."

Although it was dark, they could see dense clusters of shadows moving about inside.

Without needing to exchange words, they both crept silently toward the ancestral hall and found a concealed spot to observe.

Now that they were closer, Shen Bai could see the situation inside.

Inside, Village Chief Yang was surrounded by many villagers.

Muffled conversation drifted out from within.

"Village Chief, are we really going to let those two outsiders live?"

"Yeah, if they find out what’s going on in the village, we’ll all be beheaded."

"Why don’t we just kill them tonight?"

...

Hearing this, Shen Bai and Wuhua glanced at each other.

If they weren’t mistaken, the villagers were currently discussing how to deal with them.

"Let’s keep watching," Shen Bai said.

Surrounded by the others, Village Chief Yang thumped his cane forcefully on the ground.

The surrounding villagers immediately fell silent.

"Nonsense!"

Village Chief Yang boomed. "If we could just kill them, would I need to go to all this trouble?"

"If these two have family or friends on the outside and they suddenly disappear, it’ll be even harder to keep the village safe."

A villager worked up the courage to speak. "But even if we manage to ease their suspicions, we can’t guarantee it’ll work completely. It’s still a risk."

Village Chief Yang chuckled. "Of course I know that. The weather is turning today, and a storm is coming tomorrow, so it won’t be suitable for travel."

"I mentioned the Locust Spirit on purpose today, and they’re already interested. Tomorrow is the perfect time to take them there. I’m sure the great Guide will have a way to deal with them."

"If we can make them believe in the Locust Spirit, all our worries will be over."

At the mention of the "Locust Spirit," all the villagers present fell silent, as if those two words carried an irreplaceable weight.

"More importantly, we need to deal with that madman, Liu Feng, sooner rather than later."

Village Chief Yang tightened his grip on his cane. "If the great Guide hadn’t said that the Locust Spirit will require a live blood sacrifice later on, I would have buried him long ago."

Below him, a villager spoke out in anger.

"He just can’t stand to see the village prosper!"

"He turned against us for some outsider woman, even claiming the Locust Spirit is evil. I’d say he was bewitched by that woman!"

"Should’ve killed him long ago!"

Village Chief Yang nodded. "In a little while, when a blood sacrifice is needed, that will be the day he dies."

"And not a word about that woman can get out."

"After all, she was a disciple of the Hundred Medicines Valley from Fenglin State. We lured her here under the pretense of needing treatment. Then we dismembered her and hid her body inside the Locust Spirit to nourish it. No one can ever find out about that."

"What’s more, you lot defiled her after we drugged her. If word of that gets out, Huaxi Village will be finished."

The villagers all nodded, not daring to say more.

Village Chief Yang licked his lips. "But I’ll say this, women from big sects are something else. Her skin was so supple."

"You can only say she was too naive. What bullshit about a healer’s benevolence. She heard we were sick and eagerly came to treat us. Her naivete was her undoing."