Becoming a saint begins with the infinite accumulation of destiny.

"What's going on?!"

Zhu You and Zhang Qing, who were sheltering from the rain under the tree, sensed something was wrong and suddenly looked into the water.

On the river, the blood that had not yet been washed away shone like a blinding light, reflecting deep into the eyes of everyone present.

The rain poured down, and the muddy water churned in the river, yet the eerie giant shadow still stood on the bank.

They remained motionless, seemingly examining the scene.

His egg-sized, green eyes slowly swept over the remaining martial artists who were frozen in place.

The chilling sound of bones being chewed pierced through the layers of rain and clearly reached Zhu You and Zhang Qing's ears.

The water monkey's black throat rolled, emitting a muffled swallowing sound. A few strands of hair and some fragments of limbs remained at the corners of its mouth.

suddenly.

With a flick of its head, as thick as a bucket, it spat out the leg bones and fragments of limbs that it hadn't swallowed.

Xu Song stood there blankly, his body seemingly frozen in a thousand-year-old ice. He stiffly touched his cheek with his arm and looked down to see a fingernail still covered in blood.

The fingernails still retained a little warmth; it was hard to tell whether they belonged to the female warrior or the water monkey in front of her.

No one dared to move.

He just stood there blankly.

The martial artist who had just screamed was now silent, his body floating on the water, face down.

The rain intensified, and everyone present held their breath even tighter.

But the water monkey seemed to have tasted success, and its eyes quickly locked onto its next target.

Another female warrior.

Sweeping her with dark gazes, the female warrior stiffened, turned her head like a wheel, and looked at the person next to her with pleading eyes.

The martial artist beside him lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze.

No one dared to make a move.

Soon, the water monkey's Adam's apple bobbed, and its hunger made its eyes even darker and deeper, gleaming with an eerie, inexplicable green light.

Its massive body moved through the murky river water with barely a splash; the sound of its footsteps under the rain was like thunder, striking heavily into everyone's hearts.

The next moment!

The towering, overwhelming body, like a startled carriage, stumbled and rushed wildly toward the female warrior.

"No...save me!!!..."

Unable to hold back any longer, a scream immediately escaped her throat.

But soon, the sound stopped abruptly.

All that could be heard on the vast embankment was the sound of bones grinding against teeth.

"run!!"

One of the warriors could no longer hold back and recklessly ran towards the town.

Meanwhile, the rest of the people also dispersed and fled in different directions.

No matter how strong this official is, it is impossible for him to pursue everyone at the same time.

As for who to pursue, that depends on who's unlucky.

Whoever runs the slowest becomes its food source.

Strangely, the water monkey did not give chase. It simply stood still, constantly wriggling its gills, which gleamed with a dark reddish-brown hue. It forcefully swallowed the food in its mouth and gazed intently at the town with a deep, eerie green light.

The rain gradually subsided, and the riverbank became quiet.

Xu Song kept going without stopping, using almost all the energy and blood in his body until he was completely exhausted and could no longer hold on. Only then did he stop his trembling legs and gasp for breath.

He looked back and saw that the huge dark shadow on the bank had disappeared, and the river had returned to calm.

"Holy shit!!!! I...I survived..."

Overjoyed, he wept and wailed.

......

Pingyang Town, Qin Mansion.

The courtyard, which was originally filled with the shouts of martial artists practicing their moves, was now completely silent. The entire house was as quiet as if a mute button had been pressed, and everyone was silent.

But the hearts of the people were no longer at peace.

Chen Shisheng practiced the Bull Fist at home for most of the day, but his Qi and blood still did not reach their full potential.

So he simply got dressed and came to the Qin family compound, thinking that he could try to speed up the process by stimulating the activity of qi and blood through a fight.

When he entered the courtyard, he found everyone sitting slumped down, looking utterly dejected, their eyes lifeless.

Even Zhu You, who usually values ​​hierarchy, sat on the stone steps without regard for his image, his eyes stiff as if he had lost his soul.

He walked up to Xu Song, looked around, and was filled with doubt.

"Why are two people missing?"

There were already few female martial artists in the courtyard, and now there is only one left.

So he immediately noticed something was wrong.

Xu Song stiffly raised his head, his face showing the unease of surviving a disaster, as well as an overwhelming fear from the bottom of his heart.

He swallowed hard, his mouth seeming a little sluggish from not moving for so long, and said:

"The water monkeys have appeared again!"

"here we go again?!!"

Chen Shisheng was startled.

"Xu Qian and Luo Shanshan are dead. They were eaten by it."

"They ate it?!"

Chen Shisheng's heart sank.

"Isn't it said that it fears warriors?"

He couldn't help but ask.

"No, not at all! It wasn't hungry before, but now... it's awake."

Xu Song appeared dazed but forced himself to continue.

Chen Shisheng frowned; he understood what Xu Song meant.

In reality, this beast wasn't afraid of people at all; it was most likely in a state of deep sleep beforehand.

This led to him disregarding everything else, hiding from anyone he saw, and diving underwater.

Now that the water monkey has awakened from its slumber, Pingyang Town is unlikely to remain peaceful.

Chen Shisheng knew some animal habits. He knew that the first thing most animals did after ending hibernation was to eat in order to replenish the fat they had lost during their hibernation.

Now that the water monkey has awakened, it must need a great deal of flesh and blood.

And most of these people were villagers from the surrounding area.

Or rather... it's these martial artists.

"Damn it, what kind of mess is this?"

Xu Song's tense expression relaxed a little, and he cursed under his breath.

Most of the others remained silent, not uttering a single word.

The air seemed frozen solid, the atmosphere completely solidified.

"Should we try seeking help from the Wen family?"

Chen Shisheng made a startling statement.

Immediately, everyone present's eyes lit up, filled with hope and excitement.

That's right, the Wen family is one of the three most powerful families in the inner city, with countless experts within their mansion. If they could send someone to deal with a water demon, it certainly wouldn't be a difficult task.

"Brother Zhu, what they said makes sense!"

Zhang Qing struggled to sit up, moved closer, and whispered.

Zhu You pondered for a moment and quickly agreed, after all, it concerned his own life.

He quickly explained the situation in detail, put it in an envelope, and handed it to Zhang Qing beside him, clearly intending for him to deliver the letter.

Everyone was relieved and patiently waited for rescue.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Everyone waited anxiously day and night, but the Wen family never replied, and Zhang Qing also failed to return.

This made everyone wait anxiously, but there was nothing they could do.

The constant disappearances of villagers were like a sword hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment.

Under such circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for one person to endure such torment.

One night, under cover of darkness, he secretly planned to escape. Even if he returned to Wuhe City and didn't become a slave to the Wen family, it would be better than losing his life.

But soon, instead of news of rescue, the Wen family sent someone to deliver the man's head.

Looking at the human head in the box, everyone knew that the Wen family intended for them to hold out to the end.

People's hearts gradually sank, and some martial artists gave up on themselves and simply waited to die.

Others tried to escape, but there were obstacles everywhere outside: bandits, monsters, evil spirits—none of them were easy to deal with.

Whether or not we can get out depends entirely on luck.

Clearly, the Wen family's approach was to feed the water monkeys.

This also made Chen Shisheng understand why the Wen family had been recruiting a large number of retainers and followers in recent years.

It turns out that most of the supplies were prepared to deal with the monsters causing trouble outside the city.

Soon, Zhu You completely stopped caring about anything and began to go into seclusion to fully focus on breaking through to the Bone Forging level.

Xu Song and others, on the other hand, frantically asked their families to pull strings and spent a lot of money in preparation for taking a different path.

Chen Shisheng, on the other hand, had been keeping a close eye on his transfer back.

More than half a month had passed since he sent a letter to the Wen family explaining Liu Shouyuan's betrayal, but there had been no news from them.

Now that the water monkey incident has happened, everyone wants to escape Pingyang Town as soon as possible.