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As they made their way to the back mountain, the men, women, and children of Chen Village all stared intently at Zhang Yiyi, their gazes nearly popping out of their sockets, as if terrified she would escape.

Upon reaching the mountain's edge, no one dared to step a single foot further. Instead, they continued to threaten Zhang Yiyi, forcing her to enter the forest and slay the monster.

Especially the village chief of the Chen family—somehow, he had acquired an eight-trigram mirror. The light reflected from it struck Zhang Yiyi with a burning intensity, akin to being set ablaze, making it unbearable to endure.

"Go into the mountain now and kill that monster! Otherwise, this sacred mirror will shatter your soul into nothingness!"

Gone was the previous respectful and grateful demeanor—now, the Chen family patriarch looked as fierce and sinister as a demon crawling out of the depths of hell, completely devoid of reason.

Along the way, Zhang Yiyi had already begun to understand that everything before her was an illusion. Yet, every sensation—every physical and mental experience—was as real as it could be.

Moreover, these so-called villagers, with their flesh-and-blood bodies and all their natural reactions, withstood every possible test of reality. Even knowing it was false, it was more real than real.

Under normal circumstances, that eight-trigram mirror would never have the power to obliterate her soul. But at this moment, trapped within this bizarre situation, she couldn't completely control herself. No matter how much she resisted, she couldn't entirely shake off its oppressive force.

"It seems, Patriarch, that this isn't the first time you've lured cultivators here to send them into the mountain to kill this so-called monster," Zhang Yiyi remarked, concealing her rising discomfort while attempting to extract more information. "Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"

"Bah! What divine retribution? You cultivators talk so big, but when we emptied our village's resources just to invite you so-called powerful immortals to kill the monster, who among you actually fulfilled your duty?" The patriarch sneered. "You'd better be sensible and hurry inside to finish off that beast. Otherwise, this sacred mirror will leave you with no chance for reincarnation—just like those other stubborn fools!"

His words all but confirmed that this had happened many times before.

Zhang Yiyi frowned and retorted, "And what does your village's suffering have to do with me? I haven't taken a single spirit stone from you. If someone else took your payment, go find them. Why trick me into coming here and force me to risk my life for you?"

"It doesn't matter who took the payment. In the end, you greedy, bloodsucking cultivators are all the same! What's the difference?" The village chief snorted. "Unfortunately, the ones before you were useless—so many, and none of them could eliminate the monster. But if you succeed today, we won't trouble you anymore. If not, then you can die in the mountain, feeding the monster so that our village can have a few months of peace!"

The patriarch showed no regard for Zhang Yiyi, despite knowing that they were mere mortals while she was a formidable cultivator.

As long as he held this treasure that could control cultivators, he wasn't afraid that any trapped cultivator would dare defy his orders.

There were plenty of cultivators outside this village. If this one failed, there would be another, and another after that. As long as they found a strong enough cultivator to slay the monster, their village would finally be free of this endless threat.

And even if the monster wasn't vanquished, as long as they could trick one or two cultivators into feeding it each month, they could at least ensure temporary peace for the village.

Hearing these words, Zhang Yiyi immediately grasped an even deeper truth.

"So that's how it is. Your village once had cultivators, but you sent them all into the mountain to be devoured by the monster. And once you ran out of your own people, you started luring outsiders to die in their place?"

She found it incomprehensible at first, but in the next moment, she realized how natural it was. These people were selfish beyond belief. As long as they could save their own skins, they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice others.

Even if those forced into the mountain were their own kin.

To them, it was simply better for their relatives to die than for themselves to be eaten by the monster.

"What's wrong with that? Sacrificing a few to save the many—isn't that a fair trade?"

The patriarch grinned wickedly, his eyes gleaming with expectation. "Little Immortal, you seem quite strong. Even after being struck by my treasure's divine light for so long, you're still able to resist and speak? You're far superior to those weaklings from before! It seems this time, we truly have a chance to rid ourselves of that monster once and for all."

"At this point, I suppose I have no choice but to give it my all," Zhang Yiyi gritted her teeth, her expression pained as if barely enduring the agony. Staring at the eight-trigram mirror in the patriarch's hand, she asked through clenched teeth, "You, a mere mortal, how did you get your hands on such a powerful artifact? No wonder I lost control the moment I entered the village—it was all because of that cursed mirror!"

"Hahaha! This is the Chen family's ancestral Guardian Mirror! Even the monster in the back mountain has never dared cross this boundary for thousands of years. If not for the mirror's recent weakening, that beast wouldn't have dared to cause trouble!" The patriarch scoffed, but then his tone twisted into resentment, as if Zhang Yiyi were somehow responsible for his predicament. "Now, stop wasting time and get in there! Kill the monster, or I'll scatter your soul myself!"

With that, he intensified the mirror's power, directing its force straight at Zhang Yiyi.

At last, she could no longer resist.

A powerful force seized her, shoving her violently into the depths of the mountain.

"ROAR!"

A monstrous roar erupted above her head, shaking the entire forest.

Somehow, the entire mountain range had transformed into a colossal, ink-black beast. Its gaping maw, larger than the mountain peaks themselves, opened wide—swallowing Zhang Yiyi whole in one bite.

In that instant, she lost all ability to resist. Her final sensation was a world spinning out of control, the explosion of her consciousness, and an agony so deep it shattered her very soul.

"Huff!"

Zhang Yiyi gasped sharply, inhaling a deep breath of stale air. Her entire body felt as if it had truly experienced death and rebirth. The searing pain from being devoured still lingered in her bones.

"Ah... No... Don't eat me! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

Suddenly, the air was pierced by Lü Qiao's relentless screams of agony. The shrill cries continued for quite some time before they abruptly stopped, as if she had finally realized something was amiss.

"Huh? I'm not dead? I'm really not dead! What on earth...? Sister? Is it really you? Where did you just go?"

Lu Qiao glanced at herself, then at Zhang Yiyi, who had somehow appeared beside her. The overwhelming joy of narrowly escaping death had barely begun to spread before it was completely shattered in an instant.

Because at that very moment, she realized—they had returned to the same spot in front of the large locust tree.

The entire village was once again eerily devoid of people.

No one was there—except for them.

And the child, peeking out from behind the locust tree, silently watching them.