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Chapter 467 Another Flame
As darkness fell on the horizon, night slowly descended.

The speed of the fake village gradually increased as night approached.

After passing that old pine tree, the pace was no less than that of an adult walking.

The crowd retreated repeatedly, and Jia Zongdao and Xu Yuan dared not make any rash moves.

Wei Jinyuan and the others stared solemnly at the fake village, and suddenly felt that they were too wronged and too depressed.

Because she refused to accompany Jia Zongdao into the village, she was scrutinized by Wei Shi and Miss Jinxi.

Even Zhong Die, who was kinder to him because they both came from prominent families, had a subtle change in her attitude towards him.

But the result?
Neither Xu Yuan nor Jia Zongdao went in!

The village chased after it on its own!

Since the two of them didn't go in, everyone thought there was no problem.

Wouldn't I have been looked down upon for no reason?
Having figured this out, Wei Jinyuan then recalled everything that had happened since his encounter with Xu Yuan, from Gangtou Village onwards…

I felt a deep sadness in my heart, and even felt like lamenting, "Oh, heavens, how cruel you are to me!"

Xu Yuan and everyone else retreated again and again.

As darkness fell, the fake village was about to reach Pingquan Village—and might even overlap with Pingquan Village.

Xu Yuan shouted, "Di Youzhi, come with me!" He grabbed Di Youzhi, and with his fiery wheels on, they arrived at Pingquan Village in an instant.

The villagers were still waiting patiently at the village entrance.

Xu Yuan put Di Youzhi down, and the village head hurriedly stepped forward. Before he could speak, Xu Yuan asked, "Have you noticed anything unusual at night in your village lately?"

The village head was puzzled: "At night? Nobody dares to go out at night. This place is very close to the canal, so we all stay in the village."

Xu Yuan asked again, "Do you know that there is a village not far away that looks exactly like your village?"

"What?!" The village head was taken aback. He was considered a clever man in the village and immediately understood. He exclaimed, "Sir, that's an evil spirit! There's no village over there! Sir, please understand, this has nothing to do with our village!"

Xu Yuan said no more, picked up the village head, mounted the fire wheel, and roared back to the fake village.

"Di Youzhi, follow me!"

Di Youzhi was panting heavily from running.

Fortunately, the journey wasn't far. When Di Youzhi couldn't keep up, he suddenly jumped, a burst of fire shooting out from behind him, and leaped forward for a while, finally managing to catch up with the adults and arrive at the fake village.

When the village head saw the fake village, he was completely dumbfounded: "Ah, this, this... it really is exactly the same!"

Xu Yuan put him on the ground and said again, "Think carefully, what's different about the village at night compared to before? Don't overlook even the smallest difference."

The village headman stared in shock at the fake village: "This thing... is heading towards our village?"

"Yes, in my opinion, it may overlap with your village..."

Before Xu Yuan could finish speaking, the village head had already turned and run away.

Di Youzhi grabbed him and angrily asked, "The magistrate is asking you a question, why are you running away?"

The village head knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to Di Youzhi, pleading, "Your Honor, please let me go! I need to hurry back and lead everyone to escape!"

If we wait any longer, it might be too late!

If this monster really comes to our village, we might all be eaten by it!

Everyone's expression shifted, especially Xu Yuan, who immediately realized that none of the people present, including himself, had considered the problem from the villagers' perspective.

Because the fake village and Pingquan Village look exactly alike, people subconsciously assume that this evil spirit must be related to Pingquan Village.

Therefore, it is believed that this fake village must hide during the day, appear at dusk, and then begin to "walk" and overlap with Pingquan Village when it is completely dark.

It disappeared again at dawn.

But what if this is the first time the fake village has "walked" to Pingquan Village?

From the village head's perspective, what he saw was a strange village that was about to devour his own!
Xu Yuan's gaze inadvertently met Miss Jinxi's, and they both understood the deep heartache for "ordinary people" in each other's eyes.

When the village was facing a "catastrophic disaster," the village head's first reaction was not to beg the high-ranking officials present to save his village.

Instead, he only thought about leading the villagers out of the village at night to escape for their lives.

Evil spirits roam freely at night, and the dangers faced by this group of ordinary villagers, without the protection of cultivators, are unimaginable.

This shows how much they distrusted the imperial government.

Xu Yuan did not feel any resentment towards the imperial court.

They have no credibility among ordinary people and feel no resentment whatsoever.

These were earned by the various government offices of the Ming Dynasty through their own abilities.

Xu Yuan couldn't persuade the village head to stay home and say, "You can stay home with peace of mind. With the door gods protecting you, evil spirits can't enter your house."

The village head could certainly have thought of this as well.

Even if evil spirits cannot enter the house, it has enveloped the entire village, and everyone cannot go out. How many days can we endure this?

In the end, he'll probably starve to death in his house.

Therefore, in the village head's view, running now still offers a tiny chance of survival.

Xu Yuan waved his hand at Di Youzhi and said, "Don't stop him, let him go back."

Di Youzhi made way, and the village head got up and ran, giving it his all.

At this point, the fake village was only a little over half a mile away from the real Pingquan Village.

Uncle Xi shook his head: "It's too late."

Xu Yuan instructed, "Di Youzhi, take some men to help them evacuate."

"Yes, my lord!"

Di Youzhi and Zhou Leizi, along with their officers, quickly entered the village.

Before the village head even entered the village, he roared, "Men, young and old, run! Evil spirits are coming to destroy the village!"

The village was thrown into chaos.

Di Youzhi also led his men into the village to help the village head evacuate the villagers.

Uncle Xi saw that Wei Jinyuan seemed to want to say something but hesitated—the young master Wei did have something to say, but he held back. Lately, whenever he spoke, he was sure to say something wrong.

Uncle Xi guessed what his young master was thinking and spoke up for him: "Evacuating the villagers may cause unpredictable changes, which will be very detrimental to our next operation."

Xu Yuan shook his head.

This fake village will most likely come every night.

But what if not?

That would really kill an entire village.

Xu Yuan looked towards the village, which was in complete chaos.

No one has evacuated yet.

The village head was frantic, shouting through the village, "Don't take anything with you, hurry up and leave, or it will be too late..."

But the villagers were reluctant to throw it away or abandon it.

The longer you pack, the more things you bring, and the slower you'll walk.

It's not their fault; they were too poor. If they lost something, even if they ran away, they wouldn't be able to survive.

Xu Yuan once again rode on his fire wheels and quickly arrived at the village.

"Di Youzhi!"

"My subordinate is here."

Xu Yuan tossed out a stack of silver notes: "Give each family five taels and tell them to abandon everything and leave immediately!"

"Yes!"

Xu Yuan gave him small-denomination banknotes.

However, when Di Youzhi went to distribute the silver, the villagers dared not accept it.

When did the imperial court become so kind? Instead of squeezing money out of us, they're giving us silver instead?
Finally, Di Youzhi had a flash of inspiration and shouted in the village: "My master is Xu Yuan, the chief lawyer of the Champa government!"
Everyone must have heard about his reputation as an official!

My family would never harm anyone. The money that has been distributed will never be taken back. Take it and leave without worry!
Evil spirits are about to enter the village!

The villagers suddenly realized: "So it's Lord Xu!"

"No wonder they give us money."

The village headman shouted urgently, "Take the money and leave! Don't delay any longer!"

The villagers then quickly took their families, received the money, and left the village.

The village headman gathered everyone outside the village and came to see Lord Xu in person. He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed heavily, saying, "My lord, please save us!"

Xu Yuan helped him up: "Get up. Tonight I will personally oversee things and make sure our fellow villagers are safe and sound."

Miss Jinxi blinked, surprised that Xu Yuan had such high prestige in Champa.

This is the treatment afforded to an "upright and just official."

Revealing one's identity will earn the trust of ordinary people.

Wei Jinyuan was completely clueless about this. He had always lived in Beidu and was truly unaware of the intricacies involved.

Uncle Xi saw everything and secretly shook his head and sighed, knowing that his young master had no hope.

Soon, all the villagers had evacuated.

With over two hundred people gathered outside the village, it was bound to be noisy.

It attracted evil spirits from all directions!

Strange sounds echoed throughout the wilderness.

Pairs of eyes, some scarlet, some pale green, gleamed in the distance, coldly and greedily eyeing the delicious blood.

The children cried out in fear.

This only draws in more and more evil spirits from the shadows!

Di Youzhi and his men surrounded the area outside.

But he only brought one team of men, and twelve people were simply not enough to take care of everyone.

Di Youzhi came to Xu Yuan: "Sir, this can't go on. We have too few people. If we can't protect one person, the evil spirits will drag people into the darkness and devour them."

Miss Jinxi said, "We can help..."

"Miss!" Wei Shi immediately spoke up to stop her.

The four of them would never leave the young lady's side.

Although they sympathized with the villagers, the young lady's safety was more important.

Zhong Die stepped forward and said, "I can help."

Xu Yuan expressed his gratitude: "The more people there are, the more strength we have. I thank you on behalf of the villagers of Zhancheng."

Zhong Die laughed and said, "It's not just because I have more strength."

She carried a box with her, similar to the box a scholar would carry when taking the imperial examination.

Take out some short poles and piece them together, making a total of twenty-four.

Each one is only as thick as a little finger and as tall as a person.

She led Di Youzhi to plant these long poles around the villagers.

“My teacher, Mr. Feng Si, is a craftsman,” Zhong Die said. “This is what we use when we camp in the wild; it’s called a ‘fire curtain’.”

However, it's not usually necessary to enclose such a large area; it's a bit of a stretch now, but it can keep out some low-level evil spirits.

After inserting the sticks, Zhong Die took out an incense burner, rubbed it a couple of times, and a flame lit up inside.

call--

call--

call--

Between those long poles, a thin curtain of fire rose as they intertwined.

Xu Yuan couldn't help but smile: "Young lady, you've been a great help."

Upon their first meeting, Xu Yuan keenly sensed the mutual affection between Zhong Die and Wei Jinyuan, a feeling that shared a common surname.

Subconsciously, she was more inclined to support Wei Jinyuan.

Now that he's taking the initiative to help, Xu Yuan is quite impressed.

Although both came from prominent families, Zhong Die was clearly better taught by Mr. Feng.

Many prominent families in the Ming Dynasty harbored a deep-seated belief that "commoners are easily oppressed."

It's already quite remarkable that Zhong Die was willing to take the initiative to help these complete strangers.

Compared to Wei Jinyuan standing to the side, the difference in their abilities was immediately apparent. Zhong Die said, "We might need Lord Xu or Inspector Di for support in the latter half of the night."

Because the area covered by this protection is too vast, the fire in my incense burner will probably only last for half the night.

"No problem at all," Xu Yuan replied, bowing.

Zhong Die then said, "Then please be careful once you enter the fire curtain. This fire curtain does not protect you from above. If any flying evil spirits swoop down to capture you, you will need to take action."

Everyone nodded together.

Wei Jinyuan asked curiously, "Why is the sky exposed? With Mr. Feng's abilities, it shouldn't be a problem to seal off this fire curtain privately, like a tent, right?"

Wei Jinyuan felt that as long as he didn't mention Xu Yuan, he could still speak.

Zhong Die smiled calmly and said, "It's not something to be told to outsiders."

Wei Jinyuan frowned. He had originally felt that Zhong Die was closer to him, but this word "outsider" suddenly created a distance between them.

What went wrong this time?

Xu Yuan had not yet retreated into the curtain of fire.

The fake village was already twenty zhang away.

The fishing boats that had been parked in front of the village also came over.

Piron secretly monitored the canal:

The boat is indeed traveling on the river; the canal remains unchanged. The fishing boats and the village are one.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then raised his hand and the sword pellet flew out.

With a whistling sound, it transformed into a giant sword three zhang long outside his body.

The giant sword fell from the sky and slashed down, leaving a trench more than ten feet deep in the ground.

This large ditch cut off the road in front of the village.

The fake village was "walked" along this road, and Xu Yuan wanted to test whether the fake village could still proceed if the road was cut off.

The fake village soon arrived at the ditch and stopped just like a real person.

But for only a moment, the fake village trembled almost imperceptibly, and then it crossed the ditch and continued forward.

It was as if I had taken a powerful step across.

It was completely dark.

Once the fake village crossed the ditch, it arrived at the real Pingquan Village.

Lights have already been turned on in the fake village.

Xu Yuan had just visited the village and had a general understanding of its situation.

Only two households had their lights on.

Judging from their locations, one house belongs to the village head, and the other to someone surnamed Wang. These two families are the best-off in the village, and they are indeed the only ones who usually light the lamps.

Without pause, the fake village seamlessly blended into the real Pingquan Village, like a shadow.

The village remained silent.

Occasionally, a few barks of dogs could be heard, or a few scattered conversations could be heard from inside the house.

But after only a few breaths of calm, it seemed that the evil spirit in the shadows discovered that everyone in the village had disappeared. Suddenly, the fake village rose half a zhang into the air, rising and falling repeatedly, and the yin energy around the village increased several times!
The evil spirit was enraged.

Xu Yuan secretly grasped the Yin-Yang Guillotine.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I finally managed to glean some information.

Between the enraged fake village and the real village, there were countless blood-red eyes, each one radiating extreme fury.

This anger might not be simply due to the disappearance of the villagers; Xu Yuan felt that the evil spirit itself had been in a state of anger for a long time.

The villagers were gone, which only made it angrier.

Xu Yuan put away the Yin-Yang Guillotine and then opened the "Looking at Fate".

A thick, malevolent spirit rose from the village.

Judging from this fate, this evil spirit is extremely powerful.

Like a beacon fire, it rolled into the sky.

Moreover, it's not just the "smoke signals" that exist; at the very bottom of this destiny, there is actually a flame!

The smoke signal was half a zhang thick.

The fire was dark yellow and about the size of a millstone.

Xu Yuan was puzzled: "I have never seen fire in the fate of evil spirits."

Generally, "fate" is represented by a single line, pointing straight upwards.

Its symbolic meaning is roughly "destiny bestowed by Heaven".

The fate of the Yin soldiers is linked to the divine cultivator, because their fate originates from the divine cultivator.

The better one's fate, the stronger and clearer one's body will be.

A better one will change from white to cyan, orange, etc.

If one's destiny is concentrated, it will manifest in various forms.

These "forms" are also encompassed within "fate".

The form that one's destiny manifests can be flames, weapons, palaces, mythical beasts, and so on.

When a cultivator observes these forms, they can discern the name and abilities of that individual's destiny.

This is the ability of life cultivation.

However, evil spirits have no destiny.

Their lives are not distinguished by color; they are all black.

Some are coarse, some are fine; some are thick, some are thin.

Therefore, Xu Yuan never saw any "form" in the fate of evil spirits.

Then this ball of "fire" is very strange.

Xu Yuan couldn't help but feel pleased: "Could it be because I'm trying to refine fire, and I've encountered another opportunity?"

However, since it was in the form of a ball of fire, it was still unknown whether it was real "fire." Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then released the animal sinew rope and extended it infinitely into the village to test it out.

As soon as the animal sinew rope went in, the black crow swooped down with lightning speed, snatched the rope in its mouth, and began to pull hard.

Xu Yuan subconsciously reached to his side and grabbed a writhing white shadow.

When Dafu saw that the black crow had snatched the rope of the rice trough, he was furious.

What are you pretending for? I just pecked him to death with my henchmen, and his body sank into the canal.
So Dafu got angry and was about to rush in to teach this guy another lesson.

Xu Yuan, however, dared not let it in.

Dafu's neck was grabbed by Fanzhezi, and he twisted it defiantly, refusing to give up on Black Crow.

"Garlic bird, garlic bird, let's not stoop to its level."

Xu Yuan tried to persuade Da Fu.

At the same time, Xu Yuan controlled the beast sinew rope, sensing the power of the black crow.

Black crows are larger than ordinary crows, but they are still just birds.

Even if they are evil spirits, this type of evil spirit is not known for its strength.

But this black crow, perhaps aided by some kind of enhancement, managed to pull the animal sinew rope more than ten feet deep in one go!
Xu Yuan suddenly exerted his strength, borrowing the power of the "Dragon Transformation Technique," and was able to withstand the opponent's pull.

Seeing that it couldn't pull it any further, the crow blinked a few times, seemingly plotting something.

Xu Yuan gradually increased his strength.

It possessed the power of a seventh-rate "Dragon Transformation Technique," yet it was able to contend with Black Crow.

With the number of people increasing to the sixth rank, Black Crow was clearly no match for them and was slowly pulled away from the village.

But the crow blinked a few more times, a hint of cunning flashing in its dark eyes.

It suddenly moved, flew around the dead tree at the village entrance, and wrapped the animal sinew rope around the tree trunk.

Using the power of the withered tree to fight against Xu Yuan.

"Yo-ho!" Xu Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. "Let's continue!"
The power of the sixth-rate "Dragon Transformation Technique" was clearly insufficient to move the withered tree, so Xu Yuan immediately upgraded the power to the fifth-rate level.

The dead tree creaked and groaned as the sinew rope gradually dug into the bark.

Xu Yuan was further promoted to fourth-rate.

This time, even the withered tree couldn't withstand it.

The ground beneath the tree roots began to bulge upwards, and cracks appeared.

The withered tree gradually leaned out of the village.

The black crow blinked incessantly; its once cunning gaze was now filled with panic.

Suddenly, it opened its mouth wide and loosened the animal sinew rope.

It anticipated that if it relaxed its grip, Xu Yuan would lose control and fall backward in a sorry state.

But it didn't expect that while it had loosened, the animal sinew rope wouldn't!

Not only did it not loosen, it also coiled and entangled the black crow!
The black crow panicked now, struggling and cawing wildly, trying to break free from the animal sinew rope.

But how could they possibly escape?

The dead tree was leaning severely, its branches swaying, and the creaking sound was getting louder and louder.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to uproot the dead tree, the door of a small house at the entrance of the village suddenly opened, and a person walked out.

Judging from his appearance, this person is a villager.

Xu Yuan had seen this person when he organized the villagers to evacuate.

Xu Yuan immediately activated "Wang Ming" again and looked at the man.
This person's "fate" was a thin black line that connected to the center of the village, and then merged into the village's smoke-like "fate".

Not only this person, but the Black Crow's life was tied to the withered tree, and the withered tree, like this person, was tied to the smoke of war.

Similar to ghost soldiers and divine cultivators.

The man carried an axe, quickly walked to the dead tree, swung the axe, and with a snap, chopped the dead tree in half!
The cut was made precisely where the sinew rope was wrapped around the dead tree.

The animal sinew rope taut instantly, pulling the black crow out.

Black Crow was dragged to the edge of the village in one go. Xu Yuan let go and said, "Da Fu, go!"

Dafu was confused: Didn't you just say garlic bird?

But Dafu disliked the black crow intensely. He swung his two big webbed feet and pounced on it, grabbing the crow by the head.

The black crow was a size larger than a regular crow, but still smaller than a large fook.

Dafu is a fierce warrior among geese!
Dafu was beating up Black Crow.

Xu Yuan said, "Don't kill it, keep it alive."

Dafu jumped up, his two big webbed feet stepping on the black crow, avoiding its head and pecking black feathers all over its body.

In that village, the man cleaved the withered tree in two with an axe, and after pulling the animal sinew rope out of the village, he lifted the broken upper half of the withered tree and reattached it to the lower half.

Black mist lingered for a moment, then dissipated.

The dead tree has been restored to its original state.

The man stood in the village, holding a sharp axe, gave Xu Yuan a cold look, and then turned and went back to his house.

The black crow was on its last legs.

Xu Yuan did not kill it; from the perspective of "Looking at Fate," the Black Crow's fate was clearly visible.

Xu Yuan raised his hand, grabbed the Yin-Yang Guillotine, and brought it down with a single stroke.

This lifeline has been severed.

The lifeline was tied to the withered tree, and both the withered tree and the black crow trembled violently at the same time.

The withered tree trembled.

The black crow let out a shrill cry, and its entire body burst into a dark yellow flame.

Dafu was startled and quickly jumped to the side.

The crow's body, along with the feathers that Daifu had just pecked off, burst into flames at the same time.

It burned to the ground in no time, but left behind a small iron plate.

Xu Yuan stepped forward and picked it up. He saw several lines of characters engraved in seal script on the iron plate:

Under Yin Shuai's Bird Beak, the patrol battalion, the border patrol squad, number eleven.

(End of this chapter)