Martial Arts Crossover: The Sweeping Monk of Wudang? That's our patriarch!

The journey was peaceful. Occasionally, a strange beast would dart out from the forest, but it would merely bar its teeth and growl, circling the trees. Its ferocity was limited, and it was no different from a wild beast in the mountains. After being intimidated, it would scatter and flee.

But the Netherworld Village is different.

The people who have disappeared one after another in Tianyong City all vanished there—this means that those entrenched there are not fools, but living beings who know how to set traps, lures, and understand people's hearts.

A hunter with a brain and a wild dog without a brain are two completely different things.

The former can set a trap, disguise itself, and wait for you to willingly walk into it;

The latter just blindly crashes into people; if it hits someone, it tears them apart, and if it misses, it starves to death. It's not even a threat.

Lin Daochen had heard about it before, and sure enough, a private tutor had led the child to this place. His heart sank, and he thought to himself: Could it be that an ambitious force has gathered in this Netherworld Village, secretly forming cliques and systematically hunting down living people?

There had been rumors before that people often disappeared without a trace near this Ghost Village. This village had been entrenched for a long time, and the government had been helpless against it for many years, making it a tough nut to crack in the local area.

Since they had stumbled upon this place today, Lin Daochen decided to go with the flow and investigate further. The two traveled quickly, and as dusk fell and crows began to caw as they returned to the woods, they finally came into view of a seemingly ordinary village.

But the more ordinary it was, the more it made one's spine tighten. Lin Daochen's gaze was sharp as it swept over the low earthen wall, the crooked fence, and the thatched hut half-hidden in the shadow of the trees—the surface was calm, but beneath it surged a heavy, deathly silence.

Is this the Ghost Village?

He stood at the village entrance, his face growing cold. The chilling aura alone was unlike anything one would expect from the countryside: the air was heavy, even the wind seemed frozen, and it carried the stench of decaying leaves and stale blood.

He frowned and stared intently, as if countless eyes lurked deep within the dark village lanes. Turning to Li Kui beside him, he lowered his voice considerably: "This is the place you pointed to. But I advise you not to act rashly—this village is not clean."

He could clearly sense a sinister aura lingering in the village. It was neither the violence of mountain spirits and monsters, nor the cold stiffness of corpses and zombies, nor the sweet, poisonous mist that drifted when a witch cast a spell—it was a kind of calculated malice that only living beings possessed.

The monsters in the mountains are bloodthirsty, only seeking sustenance; but the creatures in this village clearly have other intentions—they probably want more than just flesh and blood, but something far more terrifying.

Lin Daochen didn't want to delve into it. If they were truly harming the people, he would simply draw his sword and kill them; other grudges were none of his concern.

"Your status is so esteemed that I dare not presume to ask. But over the years, your name has spread throughout Tianyong City, in teahouses and taverns—everyone says you help those in distress and seek justice for the poor."

"Could you take me with you this time?"

Li Kui raised his face, his eyes burning like embers, gritting his teeth as if he wanted to nail those words into the ground.

Lin Daochen looked at him quietly for a long while before speaking: "Why did you insist on coming along? Is this village very special to you?"

Li Kui's face darkened, his Adam's apple bobbed, and after a moment of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice about the past: "My parents... were entangled by those 'things.' It's clearly written in the official files—those demons came from this Netherworld Village back then."

"No one knows for sure who is hiding in the village. But the government has tried many times: the monks have only stepped into the fifty-mile boundary marker when they disappear without a trace; the constables have gone in with enough dry rations to search, but in less than three days, they and their horses have vanished without a trace."

……

Lin Daochen nodded. Sure enough, the entire village was shrouded in a barrier woven from demonic power, like a mist or a curtain. If mortals bumped into it, they would only feel dizzy and disoriented, spinning in place, or even be silently dragged into the shadows.

Trying to force your way in? You probably won't even be able to touch the stone tablet at the village entrance.

"So... all we can do now is wait outside?" Li Kui's voice tightened.

Lin Daochen suddenly curled the corners of his lips, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He naturally knew that this barrier, which was made of resentment and hatred, could not be broken by ordinary means, but could only be torn apart by spiritual power.

To his surprise, Li Kui was able to see the existence of this barrier at a glance.

He looked around: barren slopes and withered grass, distant mountains as dark as ink, only the Netherworld Village hanging alone in the twilight. He then strode forward, Li Kui following closely behind.

Just two steps into the village, a sudden gust of wind arose, making my robes flutter loudly, and a chilling blast of air brushed against my neck.

Lin Daochen paused, then suddenly turned his head—sure enough, a figure was huddled against the wall in the shadows, staring intently at them.

Li Kui also noticed something was wrong. His back stiffened, and he turned his head sharply to stare at the dark figure. His gaze then quickly swept across Lin Daochen's face, trying to glean some clues from his expression.

"Sir, shall we go and take a look? That person... might be able to help us figure out the secrets of Netherworld Village."

Lin Daochen chuckled. This Li Kui was indeed still too green, completely unaware of how troublesome this village was. But since he was itching to go, he would take him there—some things are useless just by hearing about them; you have to experience them firsthand to truly understand the pain.

He had long since figured out Li Kui's temperament: he was a bit reckless, but once he set his mind on something, nothing could pull him back. If he were allowed to recklessly venture into dangerous places like this after returning to Tianyong City, he would lose his life sooner or later.

Let him see for himself what it means for the "living to enter and the dead to leave" is; that's more effective than a thousand words of advice. Lin Daochen beckoned to him: "Stay close, I'll show you—this world is far more bizarre than you've heard. Demons aren't just ghostly figures from storybooks; they're real creatures that have gnawed on human bones."

Li Kui was taken aback. Demons existed? Of course he believed it. But he had only heard about them a few times in casual conversations in teahouses and glimpsed a few lines of ink in government files; he had never actually seen a bloody, living creature. Could Lin Daochen really tear away this veil of pretense and let him see the truth beneath?

He hesitated for a moment, but still took a step. Although he still couldn't figure out Lin Daochen's background or why he insisted on stepping into the murky waters of Tianyong City, he was inexplicably certain in his heart that this person was reliable.

"Alright, sir, how could I refuse? I'll go with you to see what's going on—but if we run into a tough opponent, I hope you'll protect me for a while."

Lin Daochen didn't answer. Protect him? Of course he would. But the prerequisite was that he didn't run away recklessly—if he walked straight into the line of fire, not even a god could save him.

The two walked and talked at a leisurely pace.

The shadowy figure, however, could no longer contain itself. It angrily threw off its disguise and pounced straight out of the inky darkness, stopping right in front of the two in a few steps.

Lin Daochen stared intently, his heart skipped a beat: Yang Kai?

What's this kid doing here? He's clearly the apprentice he personally sent out for training after his misfortune in Tianshan County. How long has it been? He's already reached the entrance of Youming Village?

Could it be that he has truly discovered some key to understanding? Otherwise, given his personality, he would never come knocking on our door without a reason.

"What business do you have with your master?" Lin Daochen looked up.

Yang Kai grinned and emerged from the shadows, a crimson fur slung over his shoulder, apparently skinned from some ferocious beast. He walked closer, picked at his ear, and casually untied the fur, tossing it down at Lin Daochen's feet with a "thud."

"Oh, Master, can't I chat with you for no reason? It's only natural to be filial to my master!"

He clapped his hands, his tone suddenly turning somber: "Netherworld Village? It looks like a deserted village on the surface, but it's full of venomous fangs underneath. I sensed something was wrong a long time ago and secretly sneaked in to investigate for a few days—guess what? This place is more terrifying than a graveyard."

She stopped abruptly, her chin slightly raised, her eyes narrowed, waiting for Lin Daochen to ask a question.

Lin Daochen was too lazy to play along. Seeing that he was keeping him in suspense, he simply turned his head to look at the village entrance, lifted his foot and walked away: "Since it's so mysterious, I'll go there myself. If it's just empty talk... I'll punish you by making you copy the 'Corpse Refining Technique' three times."

Before the words were even finished, the person had already taken a step forward.

Yang Kai was taken aback and quickly chased after him to stop him: "Hey, hey, it's not that scary! But some things... can really give you a hard time!" He bent down, picked up the fur, and shook it. "Look—this was peeled off a living person, the blood hasn't even dried yet. Do you believe it? A living person's skin has the patterns of a demon beast."

Something was off, but Lin Daochen had no time to think about it. He turned to Yang Kai beside him, his tone crisp and decisive:

"Stop beating around the bush, just tell me everything you know—the sooner we sort things out, the sooner we can take action to solve the problem. We can't afford to delay."

Yang Kai shook his head with a wry smile, thinking to himself that this master really didn't play by the rules at all, and didn't even try to keep people in suspense. He was nothing like those otherworldly, sage-like elders in storybooks who were always hesitant to speak.

But he knew Lin Daochen always acted this way, so he didn't say anything more. The situation was urgent, and they really needed to act quickly.

He lowered his brow and his voice deepened: "Youming Village only appeared three years ago. Master, you probably also set foot in the area of ​​Tianyong City, but at that time you were traveling around and did not pay attention to the movements of this small town."

"For the past three years, I've spent almost all my time around Tianyong City, trying to figure out what's going on. The result... is chilling."

"The village was built precisely on the day you first set foot here. I dare say it's no coincidence—it's inextricably linked to you."

Lin Daochen's brow twitched, his heart skipping a beat: What does this have to do with me? He was a newcomer, hadn't made any enemies, hadn't received any instruction, and hadn't even glanced at the stone mill at the village entrance. How could it be related? His gaze sharpened, waiting for what Yang Kai would say next. Yang Kai didn't keep him in suspense.

"The reason is simple—I secretly investigated for a long time and found that everyone in the village was practicing the methods you casually wrote down back then."

Before he finished speaking, he had already sat cross-legged, turned his palms over, and guided his breath—in an instant, a wisp of purple light rose from his fingertips, like a snake coiling around him, or like mist rising.

The transitions and gestures of that gesture even stunned Lin Daochen.

That's right, he figured out this method himself. Back then, in order to squeeze out every last bit of cultivation potential, he worked day and night to deduce methods and created a bunch of strange and quick-fix techniques. But he was extremely strict with the timing—if there was the slightest stagnation or hidden danger, he would burn the scroll and discard it on the spot.

Those torn and discarded scrolls are often picked up by passersby. Ordinary people just think they are graffiti and weird writing, and casually crumple them up and throw them away.

But this time was different. He stared at the purple energy flowing within Yang Kai's body and understood: this method was useless to him, but for mortals, it was the key to breaking through the heavens.

"You mean they stole these methods and even settled down here, spreading their influence? Isn't that a good thing? How could it have such a sinister reputation as 'Netherworld'? What I wrote wasn't some evil technique that devours souls and refines spirits."

"That's exactly what's strange about it." Yang Kai's expression turned serious. "There are many strange people in the world, but even the strangest people have some basis. Master, please take a look at this first."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a yellowed portrait. The edges were worn, and the ink was slightly smudged, but it couldn't conceal the sinister gaze of the person depicted.

Lin Daochen glanced at it; it was a wanted criminal. Ordinary wanted posters usually featured either ruthless bandits who robbed and killed people on the road or corrupt officials—no matter how vicious, they were still just flesh and blood; ordinary people would simply avoid them.

This picture is different.

The figure in the painting is labeled as a demon who "is skilled in commanding ghost soldiers and wielding vengeful spirits." He now occupies Youming Village. Several groups of experts from the imperial court have tried to suppress him, but all have failed and made no progress to date.

Lin Daochen remained calm. He had seen many people like this; they were nothing more than using crooked methods to collude with shady characters.