For ten years I practiced Gu poison in Southeast Asia; all living beings revered me as a deity.

Alan was still struggling. He tried desperately to pull the straw out of his mouth and nose, pulling hard... but the straw seemed endless and he couldn't get it all out.

Not long after, the man knelt down, collapsed to the ground, and fell silent.

Oops!

When Luo Feng saw this bizarre scene, his scalp tingled. He couldn't understand how an experienced person like Alan Shi could fall for it.

The instant Alan was hit, he instinctively wanted to save him, and he reached out his hand, but a cold wind blew in from nowhere.

Whoops!

Luo Feng's hand froze for a moment, because something strange was releasing a strong aura—it was the tightly closed door of the wooden house behind him.

Outside the door, something emitted a chilling and malevolent aura, making him afraid to move.

A chilling aura permeated the air from all directions, a strange and mysterious atmosphere, or perhaps a distorted "feeling" or "flavor"...

He recalled in his mind that this was by no means the first time he had experienced this feeling; the giant banyan tree that could kill, the ghost dancer, the tall hungry ghost, the reclining Buddha of the Prajnaparamita Temple—all of them had once given him that feeling…

"That's right... this is the aura of a demon-level being!!"

Luo Feng's heart stirred, and he immediately understood what was going on.

There is a malevolent spirit near the witch doctor Pomona's cabin.

The evil spirits ambushed him and Aranshi.

After Luo Feng and Alan Shi entered, the evil spirit should have moved to the door behind them.

Thinking about this, his scalp tingled with unease.

How did the evil spirit appear outside the door? Why did Aranshi die?

Is there something wrong with that scarecrow?

—No, Luo Feng was certain that this scarecrow "should" just be an ordinary scarecrow.

...But why can't either I or the perceptive Alanshi detect any problem?

Luo Feng was filled with doubts. His "Crisis Insight" talent gave him a premonition of danger.

As for Aranshi, he was also a veteran with rich experience. He also had some psychic abilities and his sense of smell could detect unusual scents.

An experienced mage like Aranshi would not rashly touch any problematic items in the hut.

However, neither of them felt anything about the scarecrow or the ghost hiding in the house.

Wait, could it be that a pattern of murder has been triggered...?

The thought popped into Luo Feng's head.

Yes! That's the only possibility.

The scarecrow itself wasn't cursed to kill; Alan must have triggered a rule, broken a taboo, to be killed...

"What exactly is the pattern?"

Suddenly, Luo Feng felt something fall on his head. It was very light, but he could still feel it.

He reached out and grabbed it, only to find it was a straw.

Why is there straw here?

Luo Feng reached up and scratched his face, finding another straw stuck in his hair.

"Damn it!"

He looked up again and realized that straw was floating everywhere in the wooden house. It seemed that the wind had blown the straw in, or perhaps there was straw in the house to begin with, which was then blown up by the wind.

Something's wrong with these straws! One got stuck to his face too, and when he slapped it off, his cheek stung.

"Oh no... Where is Alanshi's body?"

Alarm bells rang in Luo Feng's mind.

His gaze shifted to the ground, and he was horrified to discover that Alansh's head had been transformed into the head of a scarecrow.

Depend on!

Aransh was transforming into a scarecrow, with even his hands and feet slowly turning into straw.

"We have to escape!"

Seeing this scene, he felt an urge to run away and immediately glanced at the door behind him out of the corner of his eye.

The door to the wooden house was closed.

However, through this wooden door, an extremely intense and terrifying chill permeated the air, sending shivers down one's spine.

Luo Feng's "Crisis Insight" talent even created an image: a tall, thin, dark figure standing outside the wooden door.

It was clearly a human-shaped thing that looked like a scarecrow.

"Walk!"

Luo Feng pushed off with his feet and rushed towards a window on the right. He slammed into it, smashing the closed wooden window, and then rolled over and crawled out.

As soon as he landed, he quickly sprinted in one direction.

The "Hiker" talent activated, and Luo Feng's pace quickened further, running away like a gust of wind.

He didn't know how long he had been running, but Luo Feng felt a piercing pain in his right hand, so he quickly looked at his right arm.

He was shocked when he saw that many straws had gotten into his skin and his right arm was covered with thin straw stalks.

"!"

Luo Feng panicked and pulled out one with all his might. It hurt terribly, and there was still blood on the roots of the straw.

This arm is ruined!

He raised his hand, but his arm was numb, he couldn't feel his hand at all, and he didn't know how many straws had gotten into it, the straw stems were embedded under his skin, wriggling densely.

"This stuff... once it enters the human body, it spreads and turns a living person into a scarecrow?"

Luo Feng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He found himself at the edge of a rice paddy, with only one path leading to it. On either side of the path, scarecrows stood in the fields, their faces turned towards Luo Feng.

Each scarecrow held a windmill in its hand... The windmills spun and spun, and countless straws flew up and down.

Luo Feng opened his mouth. This was the last thing he saw. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a scarecrow, standing there blankly, motionless.

……

……

【you are dead】

[Intervention in "Ati's Reincarnation Fragment" failed; you have 23 chances remaining (2 extra chances)]

[Comment: Only with careful and meticulous thinking can one remain calm in the face of chaos.]

[Reward: You will receive nothing but a 'Black Magic Candle'.]

"Another magic candle? Are these being used as a consolation prize?"

Luo Feng frowned, though he had indeed collected quite a few black magic candles.

In addition, in this cycle of reincarnation, a demonic entity of the highest level is hidden in Kelong Village, which is somewhat unexpected.

"If a truly malevolent demon had actually entered Kelong Village, the entire village would have already fallen, and not a single person would have survived!"

Luo Feng began to analyze it again.

He thought to himself that it was indeed a malevolent ghost, but now it seemed that it might be a ghost controlled by someone.

The demon's actions were too targeted. It didn't seem like a "chance encounter." Rather, it seemed that his and Alan's arrival outside the cabin to find the old witch doctor Pomona had aroused someone's murderous intent.

"Could it be... that our actions provoked their hostility, which is why they intend to use the power of a demon-level being to kill us?"

Thinking of this, Luo Feng asked another question in his mind without hesitation.

—What is the motivation?

"Was it to prevent Aranshi and his disciples from successfully hunting the crocodiles?"

Wait a minute... Could it be that the person who commanded the crocodiles to attack the village is the one who is driving this evil spirit?