The development of the whole situation was quite complicated, however, the group of trainee magi, apart from rummaging around inside the village, seemed to have extended their search outside the village as well.

　　Since they hadn’t spent much time with the villagers, the information they had received wasn’t very complete, they only knew that the village had been kept safe for the time being by a high priest’s boundary, and while they were searching, they accidentally discovered a marvellous aura, the senses of light magic, which guided them to a tattered piece of rune paper.

　　What they learnt from each other came from the same source, and they wishfully believed that it was due to the tattered and incomplete seal that the ghosts were able to break through the blockade and appear, and that if a new seal was additionally overlaid on top of the old one, then the ghosts could be completely suppressed, eliminating any future problems forever.

　　Ignorance is a sin in itself, and the consequences of being unassuming are really serious, and the moment they tore down the old seal, before they had a chance to recast the spell, the mutation happened.

　　The contract with the humans had been torn up, and the swarm of ghosts that sensed this awoke from their slumber and quickly massed from the nearby mountains and forests, letting out shrill whistles and pouncing towards the nearby living, and the first to bear the brunt of the sacrifices would be the group of people who had broken the contract.

　　In their past practice, they had more or less followed the monks of the Temple of Mercy and performed exorcisms and purification of spirits, so they should have been used to seeing dead spirits for a long time. However, to apprentice under the shelter of a mentor, and to bear the attacks of the ghosts alone, this was a completely different matter.

　　Using weapons that hadn’t received blessings or prayers to cut down the ghostly creatures of the void body was simply ineffective; and the speed at which the three trainee clerics sang the incantations couldn’t keep up with the attacks of the ghostly creatures, especially when uttered in a trembling voice, it was only natural that they were killed by the enemy. Almost as soon as they made contact, the ghostly creatures that took shape amidst the whistling tore down the two swordsmen with their sharp claws.

　　Creatures that become ghosts after death do not necessarily retain their memories and spiritual awareness from before they were born, and very often, they will only be muddled and reduced to evil things that only know how to chase the breath of the living. The thing that is most rich in the essence of the living is the blood and flesh that has just been torn off, so the attacks of the ghosts are all based on this pattern to act, and of course, in the eyes of humans, the kind of limbs and broken corpses, is a kind of horror enough to make people crumble in their will to fight.

　　The only remaining survivors ran towards the village like mad, shouting and screaming along the way, followed by a group of bloodthirsty ghosts, if not for the fact that they ran back to the village in time and were sheltered, I’m afraid that even if they escaped, all of them would have turned into a bunch of crazy people.

　　The village seemed to be surrounded by a boundary, the type of which should be light magic, but I couldn’t feel the divine aura as it should be, however, all the ghostly creatures were blocked from the outside of the village, spreading their teeth and claws, changing into terrifying images, and letting out miserable shrill whistles, but were unable to break in.

　　“So, so close, luckily they couldn’t get in.”

　　“You’re nuts, Uncle, we can’t get out this way.”

　　I’m not a dark magician, but my understanding of the undead, ghosts, and dark magic would only be greater than these trainee magi. Ghosts are usually in a wandering state, but if there is a particular source of attraction, they will instinctively move that way like moths to a flame, right now the Misty Valley Village is equivalent to becoming a source of attraction, all the ghosts and evil creatures in the entire mountainous region will come this way, and just by looking outside right now alone, the number of those ghosts is already more than just a hundred or so.

　　“We still have a chance to kill the ghosts before they fully coalesce, and Violet’s thunder and fire works much better than a knight’s sword, now ……”

　　As soon as my claim was made, it was announced that I had gone to hell because some nosy middle-aged old man had answered stupid Asuka’s lame question.

　　“What? What will happen if we leave here? Probably get the village massacred, you’ve seen how those resentful spirits look, they’re already resentful like that, if they break through the boundary, they won’t come in and slap hands with the people here and eat fruit, right?”

　　Just for such words, Asuka pulled me again and asked me to stay. There was no way for me to say no, because anyone who was strangled and begged by a pair of divine wrists would immediately give in.

　　Not only that group of trainee Shrine, but the entire village people of Misty Valley Village were on the verge of a mental breakdown. After discovering that the ghosts had surrounded the village, every single villager wailed as if they had gone mad, clutching their hair.

　　“Ghosts, Ghosts Again ……”

　　“Ghosts are killing our loved ones again, no, don’t kill my son ……”

　　“The day is still young, why are you here so early ……”

　　Eyes lax, spittle dripping from their mouths, the village people’s consciousness was declared to have collapsed the moment they heard the ghosts reappear, the day the ghosts first appeared and attacked the village many years ago, seemingly causing heavy casualties and leaving the people of the village with a deep blow.

　　Supplies were not a problem for a while, but the situation did not get any better. It was difficult to compare the experience of being surrounded by hundreds of ghosts and whistling wildly with being in the midst of an enemy army of 100,000, but there was very little we could do if we were forced to stay in Misty Valley Village.

　　Exorcism is not within our scope of competence, and the reason why the ghosts can’t come in is also because of the village’s boundary, which has nothing to do with us. In other words, before the ghosts formally enter the village to claim the contract of the secret treasure, we can only go on wasting our time like this.

　　Of course there were unbelievers, there was a trainee cleric with two sword deaths, unwilling to sit here and wait for death, tried chanting a spell and rushed out, only in the blink of an eye, the bodies of the three of them, became like remnants gnawed on by a greedy mermaid.

　　Among all the villagers, Old Man Jin’s family still maintained a minimum of sanity, perhaps because they were responsible for dealing with the ghosts every time, more often than not, they were calmer and were able to assist us in stabilising the order.

　　Asuka’s behaviour is a bit strange, although she’s usually goofy, that little baby in Jin’s house seems to be very pleasing to her, and as a result, she runs over there to tease the child when she’s not doing anything, and when she sees me, she’ll blush inexplicably and run away and hide, so I don’t know what the hell she’s thinking about.

　　And the one who looked the most obtrusive among all of them was Mao Yan’an. The uncle seemed to be completely open-minded, all day long he just hugged his piano, played and sang, as if those ghosts surrounding the outside had nothing to do with him at all.

　　“That’s what life is all about, and it doesn’t always happen to be when you think you’re going to die, and it often happens to be where you don’t expect it to be ah, that’s what makes it interesting ……”

　　I bet Uncle is secretly hiding something from us, most likely the secret trick to escape when the ghosts break through the boundary and charge in, so I secretly instructed Violet to keep an eye on Uncle’s every move, so as not to let him sneak out.

　　Ah Xue’s personality is too simple and kind, how can it compare to Uncle’s cunning like an old fox, compared to this, I would rather believe in Violet’s humane nature, and letting it keep an eye on me can achieve the effect of a surprise attack, so that Mao Yan’an won’t have to be on guard. After the trip to the southern barbarians, this leopard and my relationship has improved a lot, for the time being can be maintained friendly.

　　This was not a bad intention, and the very next night that I commissioned Violet, as I was about to close my eyes and rest, Violet suddenly appeared with a low growl, asking me to follow it out.

　　My guess was not wrong, for at such a moment when everyone had fallen asleep, Old Man Jin and Mao Yan’an secretly went to a secluded corner and whispered.

　　In order not to be detected by them, I had to be cautious and eavesdrop from some distance, the words muffled but generally audible.

　　Old man Jin smoked a pipe of dry tobacco, meet wrinkles written on the old face of uneasiness, looking at the opposite side of the person said, “Things …… have been so many years, in fact, I have never forgotten that day …… “

　　“I can see that, old friend, you really should have put all this behind you sooner, remembering this won’t do you, your family, or the whole village of Misty Hollow any good.”

　　Mao Yan’an said lightly, his tone leisurely, but I do not know why, his smile at this time, in my eyes, in addition to the word “sinister”, can not find other adjectives.

　　“But, old Maouzi, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do ……”

　　“If Old Jin you think saying that will change anything, you could have said those words to those ghosts ah, I Mao Yan’an rotten life, it doesn’t matter ah.”

　　The two of them talked for a while, it was all about old man Jin worrying about one thing over and over again, while uncle was advising him to forget about this matter earlier, not to mention it or think about it again, or else he would endanger the whole village. Frankly speaking, some of the words used sounded downright threatening, and from the timid expression on Old Man Jin’s face as he spoke on one side and sneaked glances at Mao Yan’an on the other, I could be certain that Uncle must have done some sort of misdemeanour in Misty Valley Village back in the day, most likely ……

　　“Bury …… there, I’m afraid …….”

　　“Shut up! Didn’t I tell you not to mention it again?”

　　Old man Jin’s sentence, by which he hid the most important term, followed by the uncle face grimly drink off the next half, the atmosphere between the two people tense, mutual silence down. Spare me this, I have been able to grasp the state of affairs, know the fog valley village ghost secret treasure in the hands of who actually fell.

　　(Good for you Mao Yan’an, I’m writing this down ……)

　　It was still impossible to be sure of the whole thing, but at least the most important key had been confirmed, and I patted Violet as a reward, asking it to keep a close eye on Old Man Jin and Uncle, as those two were likely to run off and dig for the treasure. Should the ghosts break through the boundary, it might be necessary for me to use that secret treasure in exchange for survival.

　　The knot around the village seemed less solid than we had expected, especially after the destruction of that compact, and the swarm of ghostly creatures gradually narrowed the circle at a slow, but definite, rate of advance. The hideous forms in the mist became clearer and clearer by the moment, and the shrill cries and howls echoed in our ears all the time.

　　Maybe it’s an illusion, but I often see the disgruntled spirits at the entrance to the village, changing their image and vaguely revealing a female face in a howl. It is highly likely …… that that is the source of the grievous souls gathering up.

　　When the battle takes place, Violet is by far the biggest combatant on our side, but Asuka’s magic would also be of great help to us if she could improve a bit. This woman has finally become a bit more self-conscious lately, and will take the initiative to practice some basic introductory magic without me having to push her.

　　Uncle’s side of the problem, it is better to let her know earlier, although Asuka’s personality is simple and innocent, but not so stupid as to run to question uncle after hearing the words, have a psychological preparation, it is also good to have a little bit of precaution.

　　Moreover, it’s necessary to talk to Asuka, this girl in the last two days, I don’t know if she’s gone crazy playing with the little baby, often avoiding me, sneaking around not knowing what she’s doing. I don’t dare to underestimate this girl’s ability to cause trouble too much, I need to keep a close eye on everything.

　　To put it mildly, although I’m not quite as horny as I am, my desire for sex is strong enough to say that with such a beautiful woman as Ah Xue beside me, and with Violet no longer in the way, it’s only natural that it’s a night of springtime.

　　Ah Xue looks both beautiful, body hot plump, skin white tender, sensitivity and good, is indeed a very good bed partner, only a pity on the body of virginity curse has not yet been broken, the jade door is tightly closed not to open, as a result, I can only be in her fat white meat buttocks in the soul.

　　I have a wide range of tastes, and I’m not repulsed by anal chrysanthemums, but I’m afraid that my frequent sexual encounters with Xue have added up to break the total of all my previous similar experiences, and I’m really chagrined sometimes when I think about it.

　　“Asuka, open the door, I ……”

　　The words came out, but I didn’t give the person in the door time to react, and with a heavy push, I forced my way in amidst the exclamations of shock from the inside. When I can grasp this female’s body and mind, I don’t let her keep her secrets, on the one hand, I’m afraid that she will somehow cause trouble for me; on the other hand, I don’t want to be confused and see the boiled duck fly into someone else’s mouth, a lot of men are just more than assured about their women, and they end up dying in an unknown way.

　　Breaking down the door in haste has the advantage of a surprise attack, and the first thing I saw when I heaved the door in was Asuka sitting on the bed with the bedding in disarray, the little baby in her arms, staring at me in dismay and horror.

　　“Master …… Master.”

　　“What for? Such a strange expression? Isn’t it okay to be a Master and make a surprise inspection?”

　　I looked around and could not see anything suspicious, and certainly did not see the adulterer who should not exist, so I casually asked, “What are you doing all alone in the house? Have you practised what you were told to practise?”

　　“The mother of the little, little baby said she had something to do and asked me to help her with the baby and feed it a little.”

　　Asuka seemed to be nervous, I followed her line of sight and glanced towards the table, a blue and white magnetic bowl held a creamy, fragrant liquid, without waiting for me to ask out loud, Asuka had already offered an explanation with a red face.

　　“This was …… pre left by the mother of the little baby to feed the child when he was hungry.”

　　I’m so tired of creatures like babies that I don’t want to waste my time touching them, and I’m not happy to see Asuka spending her spirit on such creatures. Besides, it’s ridiculous for others to be nosy over there when they don’t even bother to take care of this baby’s mother.

　　“Oh? Feed to the child’s milk ah? The portion is quite a lot ah, do not see that b*tch …… do not see that woman is still full of production well, hey, you do not steal drink it yourself, right?”

　　Being asked by me with a red face, Ah Xue couldn’t answer, just shaking her head deadpan one after another, I didn’t want to make more stalemate on this issue, taking advantage of the fact that the baby girl had been put to sleep, and wouldn’t wake up to make noise for a while, I asked Ah Xue to put her aside, and was getting up in the spirit of the matter, and asked her about the progress of her cultivation in the past few days.

　　“I, I have been practising very intently ooh, starting with the most basic spells ……”

　　Unlike before, this time, Asuka’s cooperation in learning was very high, although her thoughts were simple, her mind was as smart as before, her progress in learning was naturally good, when her cultivation had progressed to a certain level and she was able to slowly channel the magic power that was deeply hidden inside her body, then she would be able to learn by leaps and bounds, and it was incomparable to what she was doing right now.

　　It’s just that, seeing her speak so cheerfully, this makes me feel abnormal. There’s no doubt that she’s not resistant to practicing black magic, but it shouldn’t be so bad that her attitude suddenly changed like this, especially with the rule that you have to sacrifice the blood of living beings to favouritism during daily practice, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t have complained about it to me.

　　(Talking so fast, what is she trying to hide? I don’t think so. ……)

　　Thoughts, I suddenly reached out, will be the right arm of the snow grabbed, sleeve lift high, in the light, wrist place horizontal and vertical a dozen of bright red scars immediately exposed, a look know, is the dagger’s cuts, the latest one has not yet scarred, is still dripping with blood.

　　“What is this?”

　　“……”

　　“What about the chickens and ducks that Uncle and I give you every day? Those are the tributes used to make offerings to you, and you don’t use them all?”

　　Although there was no reply, but from the expression of Ah Xue’s pursed lips and the hidden tears in her eyes, it was enough for me to understand everything, and at that moment a wave of anger rushed straight to my head, and in annoyance, I wanted to swing over with a slap.

　　Lifted the hand, this time but can not hit down, the corner of the eye glimpsed that sleeping in the corner of the bed of the little thing, immediately found the object of anger, a heavy hit down, but the action of Ah Xue is faster than a step ahead, grabbed the baby girl to carry away, so that I hit the empty palm of the bed on the board.

　　“Master!”

　　There was obvious panic in the pleading voice, and my anger didn’t go away, but after a little venting, I had the space to let my mind cool down and take a few deep breaths to try and calm it down.

　　“You …… gave me a reason not to lose my temper.”

　　“I …… people don’t want to kill or sacrifice anything.”

　　“You’re an idiot! What do you think you’re practising now? Black magic requires sacrifices and offerings, what the hell are you practising if you let all the sacrifices live? You chose to practice black magic in the first place, and you’re backing out so soon?”

　　“I have no regrets, black magic is something I chose to practice, but even so, I still want to guard lives.”

　　Protecting the baby girl within her arms, Asuka tilted her head and said insistently and stubbornly, “The cultivation requires sacrifices, but it only requires a certain portion of living blood, it doesn’t say that you have to kill a living being, you don’t need to sacrifice a life just for that.”

　　Receiving a rebuttal, the anger I had just felt surged up sharply again, and I almost cursed out in anger.

　　“So you used your own blood instead? Nuts, you’re so reluctant to kill life, why don’t I usually see you as a vegetarian? Even if you eat vegetarian it’s still the same as killing life, then it’s better for you to go on a hunger strike from today onwards, that way, in the end, no life will be sacrificed except for the death of you, the big tits monster.”

　　“It’s not like that.”

　　Putting the baby girl back in the corner of the bed, Asuka crouched and knelt in front of me, looking at me with anxious eyes.

　　“Asuka also knows what kind of path she has chosen …… to follow, and at some point in the future, perhaps I too will have to sacrifice something, some …… life, for something more, but until that day. If I can leave one more life behind as much as possible, why not do it?”

　　Whispering, Asuka gently shook up my palm and said as if pleading, “Is this look …… really not okay?”

　　Perhaps it is concerned about my likes and dislikes, Asuka avoided the word “rescue” and used the more realistic word “exchange”, such thoughtfulness, which is the girl’s unchanging personality.

　　To put it mildly, I should blame myself for not being able to read people, since I know that she is this kind of personality, I should have watched her slaughter the animal sacrifice, or directly get a bowl of raw blood for her, although it is not a practitioner who is personally handing down the sacrifice, and the effect is discounted, but it is better than this kind of self-inflicted cultivation method.

　　Thinking back to that day, holding the ten thousand spirit blood beads, her delicate body shivering on one side, but on the other side is almost unhesitatingly back to the knife to stab herself, let the hot blood sprinkled on the spirit beads. Seemingly weak personality, but has a never change persistence, such a small woman, what can I use to force her to change?

　　Thinking about it, I felt discouraged, and then I looked at Ah Xue’s pretty eyelids, and a wave of anger dispersed, and although my face still maintained a serious expression, my heart was already able to calm down.

　　“Perhaps, you’re right, there are many different paths to black magic, each with their own different methods of practice, and it may not be possible for any of them to survive a naive fellow like you.”

　　It’s not that I’ve given up. It’s been hard to get Asuka on this path, so there’s no reason to back out. It’s just that I know it’s useless to force, so I can only use the method of goodwill.

　　In terms of my preferences for things, I’m a chaser of dark aesthetics, though not so fanatical as to fall in love with the aesthetics of destruction, but I prefer to watch the moment when a flower falls colourfully and is ravaged in the mud than to admire the splendour of a flower in full bloom.

　　Watching a person’s fall and its process would give me pleasure, especially how far down this dark path of degradation could a high, holy Goddess Officer go? This is exciting just to imagine.

　　I love Asuka, but this basic idea is one I will not give up on and will keep implementing.

　　Currently, the direction of Asuka’s cultivation favours the techniques of the undead and the netherworld. Necromancy is just a branch of dark magic, it’s not the whole picture, but at this juncture, it’s perhaps the most practical technique, so I’m also actively discussing and training with Asuka.

　　“Every night, I still hear the voices of those children, and if I can make progress in necromancy, I’ll be able to soothe their unease ……”

　　I was practising for this reason, but Asuka’s words gave me a strange association. If the ghosts of the children of the Feather Clan still surrounded Asuka and clung to her, then it was very likely that they would be able to recreate the terrifying power of the Great Sun Heavenly Mirror, and as long as this tactic could be realised, the hundreds of ghosts outside the village would be nothing at all.

　　With a basic tactical direction, I wanted to have a deep conversation with Asuka, but unfortunately, the baby girl started crying loudly.

　　“Oops ……”

　　Asuka exclaimed in shock and suddenly turned red, followed by an urgent plea for me to leave and stop scaring the child; I found it strange, but knew it was not appropriate to push too hard and withdrew as I was told.

　　From that night onwards, I had Asuka dedicate herself to specialising in necromancy, and despite our efforts and hopes, something unfortunate still happened. The next morning, there was a new victim in the village.

　　Obviously, they were already surrounded by the swarm of ghostly creatures, but there were still some people who did not believe in evil and wanted to break out. The two remaining trainee magi, along with their partners, were unwilling to remain in the village and be devoured by the swarm of ghostly creatures that surged in angrily on the day of the pact, and insisted on venturing out to survive.

　　They also have a little bit of minimum self knowledge, know that their magic is not enough to fight against hundreds of ghosts combined attack, rashly rushed out, will only be the same as the companions to the end, so changed the new tactics, the first to capture a few village people as a bait to attract the attention of the ghosts of the group, they take the opportunity to break out, and the people who were captured …… have the wife of the Jin Hanliang.

　　The whole operation was crashed by Mao Yan’an who stayed up in the middle of the night, the call attracted the village people, and a confrontation was formed between the two sides, although later on, Uncle’s words of anger worked, causing them to lose their concentration, and the scene was greatly disrupted by Violet’s lightning bolts scurrying out and biting the throat of a trainee cleric, but we were still one step slow, letting the remaining few who had fallen into a frenzy of emotions to pull several hostages along with them as they rushed out towards the outskirts of the village.

　　Although they were only trainees, the Magi of the Palace of Light still had a certain quality. The hymns and scriptures that were sung formed a shallow curtain of light that sheltered them. The ghosts were a little afraid of this light curtain with a divine aura, not daring to get too close for fear that they would be evaporated by the holy light and their souls would be dispersed if their attributes were mutually exclusive.

　　If they only had to face three or five Yin Spirits, they could be said to have won the battle, but when the number of ghostly creatures was a hundred times greater, it was a different scenario.

　　“Rip-rap~~”

　　Crisp cracking sound, a withered hand that looked like white bone, pierced through the fragile curtain of light, in the mist, I vaguely saw the owner of that arm, a woman with half of a skeleton face. Nearly middle-aged or so, there is still meat on half of the face, there are a few poise, a deep blood scar surfaced on the neck; tattered clothing is a fashion style that was popular many years ago, quite expensive, I’m afraid that it is still from a wealthy family, not something that should be found in the mountainous area near the Misty Valley Village.

　　At first glance, judging from the commotion of the ghostly creatures, this woman might be the core of the ghostly group, and the terrified expressions of the village people at the moment they witnessed her appearance further made me notice that things were unusual.

　　“Ahhhh…”

　　A large number of shadowy souls rush in through the breach in the curtain of light, rotting the flesh and eating the bones, and in a miserable wail we lose the last survivors.

　　It was only a few blinks of an eye from the time the people rushed out of the village entrance to the time they were reduced to an unrecognisable puddle of shredded flesh and blood.

　　I felt a little sympathetic, but had to get busy comforting Asuka who was sobbing on my shoulder.

　　“How did this happen ……”

　　Mao Yan’an heaved and struck the wall of the house next to him, sighing hatefully. The expression seemed very heavy, but how much of it was genuine, only he knew.

　　Compared to Mao Yan’an’s reaction, the villagers looked muddled, like a group of walking corpses, shaking their heads, drooping their hands and sighing, as if they were already oblivious to the tragedy in front of them, but also as if they had the realisation that they would soon be following in their footsteps, and slowly returned to their houses.

　　Old man Jin and his son looked much more normal, especially Jin Hanliang, who slowly stretched his hand forward as if trying to pull something back, trembling his lips, tears glistening in his eyes, unable to make a single sound from his dry throat, an expression of horror and grief that I couldn’t forget for a long time.

　　Seemingly aware that his mother was gone, the baby howled in his grandfather’s arms, seemingly insignificant in the increasingly shrill wail of ghostly woe outside the village, but deeper than anything else to our ears.

　　Lying on my shoulder, after hearing the baby cry, Asuka’s face reddened and her body couldn’t help but react.

　　It was as if she wanted to pick up the baby and comfort it, but in the end, she still watched as the Kims took the baby home, and thought it must have been a very sad night for the family of three.

　　“Master, can you ……”

　　Asuka seemed like she was going to ask me for something, but she immediately shut her mouth, took out the spell booklet I had organised for her from her coat pocket, and quickly ran back to her room, it seemed that she had already comprehended that it was better to ask for something than to ask for something, and that being able to snatch a little bit of black magic before the day of the contract would be more useful than anything else.

　　It is a great honour for me, as a teacher, that the beautiful and pretty apprentice is so self-conscious, but at this rate I have no position, and I have what I have to do in order to steer things in a better direction.

　　“Hey, uncle, let’s the two of us have a talk, don’t point your stinking foot-wash-soaked sword at me.”

　　“Oh, virtuous nephew, not sleeping late at night, and not having a fling with the snow girl, what are you doing running to my place?”

　　When I pushed open the door of Mao Yan’an’s room in the dead of night, I saw him sitting at the table, slurping coarse tea and waiting for me.

　　“What exactly did you hide here in the first place? What exactly is the secret treasure of the ghosts? Don’t tell me that you don’t know.” I laughed coldly, “I’ve just confirmed it once more, there’s no boundary around the village at all, the swarm of resentful spirits have been keeping out of the village because they’re honouring the pact, but the pact has been torn up this year, and the moment the resentful spirits rush in, we’ll be done for in no time. For the sake of everyone’s good, you’d better tell me those things you’ve hidden away from me first.”

　　“I don’t understand what kind of stuff you’re talking about, I didn’t do anything to hurt anyone ooh.”

　　“Less bullshit, if you want people to know, unless you do, I just don’t want to lose your face too much in front of Ah Xue, that’s why I’m saving a little bit of face for you, if you won’t say it, I’ll call everyone in the village of Misty Valley out and listen together to see what you have to say.”

　　The two men were locked in a standoff for a while, a tense atmosphere that was finally opened up by the older man himself.

　　“I …… don’t know exactly what you’re asking, but if you really want to know about this village’s past, then I can tell you a little bit of someone else’s story.”

　　The tone was low, and Mao Yan’an’s expression was very grave, and only after telling me again and again that it was someone else’s business, and in no way something that had happened to him, did he begin to speak.

　　“I should preface this by saying that this is someone else’s business, not something that happened to me oooh.”

　　“Got it, how many times do you have to say it?”

　　“This thing is my friend’s secret, I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone else, now I’m telling you, you can’t tell anyone else oooo.”

　　“Shut up, what have you done in the past, confess it all quickly!”

　　I’m afraid you can’t believe five and a half out of ten things an older man says, especially a self-confession like this.

　　Not only him, when people are involved in this kind of private matters, they will often come up with their own business under the guise of someone else, such as “something that happened to someone else”, “something that happened to my friend”, “something that happened to my friend’s friend”, etc. I have long been tired of hearing such excuses. I have long been tired of hearing such excuses.

　　“Once upon a time there was a man who was well read ……”

　　“Heh, what a coincidence, I know a well-read poet too, or a man.”

　　The stale story from the mouth of the older man really lacks the originality of a man who is an evil-doer, purely in terms of confession.

　　A young man from a humble background, who studied hard to learn the art of painting and also played the piano, determined to make a name for himself and never live a hard life again.

　　“To get closer to his dream, that handsome man left his home town for the Canary Blossom Federation and finally rose to prominence with his outstanding talent ……”

　　“Hmm? The Goldfinch Federation? Isn’t that person you, Uncle?”

　　For the young deceased with no origin and no background, the fastest developed shortcut to change the let’s club class, apart from entering the public office, is to marry a noblewoman. Desperate to get rid of the nightmare of poverty, the man chooses a count’s daughter as his target, and after a series of painstaking endeavours and all sorts of immoral tactics, he finally gets the count’s daughter’s body and mind and joins the count’s family.

　　“The man, possessed of wealth beyond his dreams, could not bear the shame of entering the house, and though the handsome man had a little reluctance to part with his wife, he decided, in the end, to abduct all the treasure, and desert her and go away.”

　　“O uncle, that handsome man is you! It’s you!”

　　The man fled with a large amount of gold and jewellery, leaving his wife, who had just given birth, to start a new business in a faraway foreign country.

　　Only, things did not imagine smooth, for the shopping mall transactions are unfamiliar with the man, the hands of the assets are less and less, in a speculative behaviour, lost all the money at hand, once again become penniless.

　　To escape his creditors, the man had to live a life of vagrancy, but a dozen years after he left the Goldfinch Commonwealth, a woman appeared in front of him while he was peddling paintings for a living in some small town.

　　His wife came after him over thousands of miles to ask him to return his most important treasure. The man did not want to do it from the bottom of his heart, but in order not to alarm the others, and seeing his wife’s beautiful clothes and expensive jewellery, he took her to a secluded place under the pretext of returning her things.

　　“…… That day, in the woods, behind a huge tree, the man coldly took out his handkerchief and pressed it against his wife’s mouth and nose, and because the woman resisted so fiercely, he couldn’t help but press it tighter and tighter and harder and harder, until the man realised that his wife was no longer struggling. ……”

　　It seemed that because he had spoken of a hidden pain in his heart, Mao Yan’an’s expression was extremely gloomy, and even his voice carried a hint of ghostly aura.

　　“…… Why is it like this? In fact, that man didn’t intend to kill her, he only wanted to make someone unconscious and escape after robbing the money on her, so why did she break so easily?”

　　“Still on that man? I said that man is you, are you deaf?”

　　I tried very hard to restrain my patience, but things were already so obvious, and this man was still covering up and being so unproductive, it seemed to really get people fired up, if not for barely restraining myself, I would have wanted to strangle the older man’s neck and strangle him to death first.

　　The story after that is nothing special, the man who killed the woman with the wrong hand, after taking all the money from the woman, went along and buried the person with his accomplices, but to my surprise within a few days, the fog began to descend on the town.

　　Frankly speaking, it’s not too thrilling a story, and I even think it’s too bland for Uncle’s past. With his talent and temperament, he should have been able to pull off a much more gruesome crime, involving hundreds of lives, in order to have a strong identity.

　　It’s just that there’s no point in talking more about this now, and based on the messages that Uncle told me, I’ve also begun to conceptualise how I should use them to face the bargaining on the day of the contract.