Excessive ferocity due to caution

Chapter 142 "The Curse of Zili" - Torture Instruments

Upon entering Zili Village, Zhao Yi did not receive any task notifications from the system.

This means that Zili Village is not part of the open-world instance.

Players who enter a dungeon without being in the instance will not be protected by the system rules.

This is definitely not good news.

"Strange... why is there no one in the village?"

The group cautiously ventured in, following the wide cement road leading out of the village.

Next to it was a ditch, filled with the corpses of rats, cats, and dogs, emitting a terrible stench. They blocked the ditch's outlet, causing the water to flow even more slowly, almost to the point of stagnation.

The dark green water—who knows how many deadly germs roam within it?

The houses lined up on both sides were filled with a deathly silence and emptiness.

"The village seems deserted..."

Ke Aiqing raised an eyebrow.

"It shouldn't be like this..."

"Not long ago, a big shot saw a large gathering in Zili Village when he passed through the village..."

Li Xiong's burly body looked somewhat simple-minded, but his eyes shone with a sharp light.

"...Perhaps they've temporarily left for some reason, which presents us with a golden opportunity!"

"We need to seize the opportunity, finish the mission quickly, and get out of here."

Although he didn't know what the curse on them was, Li Xiong felt uneasy as soon as he approached this place.

He awakened a rudimentary beastly will, and always had a keen sense of danger!

Leng Haojie had already left. He hadn't originally planned to form a team, but he didn't know the way to Zili Village and needed someone to guide him.

The group exchanged knowing glances.

Zhou Junqiang stared at Zhao Yi's profile, his eyes filled with hesitation for a long time, before finally leaving with Fang Xiaoyi.

After he left, Zhao Yi raised his head and stared at the two figures with a curious expression.

Zhou Junqiang concealed his murderous aura very well.

But Zhao Yi still noticed it.

The two were complete strangers.

Therefore, there is no enmity between them.

Therefore, Zhou Junqiang's desire to kill him must be related to interests.

Could it be Xiang Babang?

Zhao Yi has not forgotten this name.

This guy's still got his hands on that thief.

Hmm... I need to find an opportunity to get rid of him.

Only Zhao Yi and Fang Bai remained. The latter suddenly leaned closer and said:

"Brother Zhao, be careful... I have a feeling that Zhou Junqiang's eyes are looking at you strangely."

He wasn't as naive as he appeared; his ability to read people was quite impressive.

Zhao Yi gave a meaningful smile, neither confirming nor denying.

"Little White... watch out for the living people in the village."

After saying that, Zhao Yi left.

Fang Bai stood there alone, pondering the message Zhao Yi had left him.

...

Zhao Yi randomly picked a relatively upscale building and tried pushing the door open.

It can't be pushed.

It's locked.

But no problem.

Zhao Yi reached into his pants and rummaged around inside.

Clang!

He took out the K-49 that he was eager to use, and amidst the other party's urging and anticipation, he suddenly inserted it into the keyhole of the door!

prprpr……

After K-49 made seven in-and-out runs, Iron Lock finally gave up the struggle.

The door opened.

Zhao swaggered into the room.

I glanced around.

There is no danger.

I did a quick search.

There are no useful items.

So he went up the cement stairs to the second floor.

Another locked door.

Zhao Yi pulled out the still-burning key and shoved it in.

A burst of output like a sudden gust of wind.

The lock is open.

The K-49 was shaking violently and had stopped asking Zhao Yi to use it to pry open the keyhole.

Zhao Yi put away the key and went upstairs.

The room wasn't big, but it was incredibly eerie.

There were no personal belongings inside; there was no bed, cabinet, desk, or anything like that.

Only a complete set of gruesome torture instruments.

Zhao Yi reached out and fiddled with the iron hook hanging from the ceiling.

clang-

It wobbled and made an unpleasant sound.

There were still some bloodstains and bits of meat on the iron hook.

Zhao Yi took it off and smelled it.

Doxxing.

It hasn't rotted yet.

Besides the smell of blood, there was also a faint scent of cosmetics.

Zhao Yi used to come into contact with human corpses frequently due to some personal hobbies, so he could easily distinguish the smell of human flesh.

"To have so many torture instruments in the house, and to have used them to inflict torture on people..."

"Outsiders rarely enter Zili Village. Could the person being tortured with instruments be one of their own?"

Zhao Yi was very curious.

What kind of perverts are these people?

How could they torture their own family members?

Or is there some other motive?

Leave from the second floor and enter the third floor.

This is a very exquisitely constructed shrine.

Several incense sticks were lit in the center of the main hall, which was filled with offerings.

Fruits, meats, and pastries.

Fragrant.

It's just the simplest food, yet it exudes a fragrance that penetrates to the bone, making people's mouths water!

On the altar of the shrine, where the statue of the god should have been placed, there were four strange pillars instead.

Two long and two short.

Long and thick, short and thin.

The thick pillar was wrapped with some kind of unknown mechanism, which looked like a torture device.

All are made of copper.

Moreover, Zhao Yi felt that he had seen those two thinner pillars somewhere before.

I thought about it carefully.

The light bulb appears!

"Ah...aren't these the black arms that are cutting us off?"

Zhao Yi quickly activated his Evil Eyes to verify his conjecture.

He glanced at the ghostly arm behind him, which was cutting his body with sharp nails.

The arm has a metallic sheen.

The carvings are exactly the same as the two slender pillars on the altar!

And after such a short time, the ghost arm, which had initially been cutting off his head, began to cut off his neck.

"It's moved down..."

"Has the head been completely severed?"

"Next up is the neck, body, legs..."

"What will happen to me after it's completely cut?"

Zhao Yi suddenly felt a little excited.

"If this is a curse, then at this stage, it should still be in the process of being created and lurking!"

"Once the demon arm is completely severed, that will most likely be the moment the curse erupts!"

"By then, if we're still in the village, perhaps the wounds left on us by the ghostly arm... will materialize directly!"

"Hmm, it's cut so finely, we'd probably all end up as shredded meat..."

"Yay!"

Just as Zhao Yi was pondering, a melodious bell suddenly rang out from the distant mountains.

As the magnificent sound of the bell echoed through the village, Zhao Yi's body suddenly trembled, and his head felt a bit throbbing.

The scene before us has also changed somewhat.

"Psychological attack..."

Zhao Yi recovered quickly.

The mental power contained within the sound of this bell is terrifying. If an ordinary person were to hear it, they would immediately collapse, or even die...

Because Zhao Yi had absorbed Blitz's mental power, his mental strength had reached a new level. Even so, he still felt uncomfortable all over and was somewhat nauseous.

Moreover, none of the other six players were as lucky as him.

Just as Fang Bai was about to go up the mountain, the sound of the bell caused him to bleed from all seven orifices, faint, and roll into the thick bushes on the side...

The other players, on the other hand, were seeing stars and bleeding from their ears and noses.

Those who were weaker, like Fang Xiaoyi, lay face down on the ground, vomiting violently, their eyes bloodshot as if they were about to burst!

Zhou Junqiang's face was grim. They were in a family's courtyard when Fang Xiaoyi vomited right there. Even a blind man would know that a stranger had come to their house by now.

He had deliberately pretended to be obsessed with beautiful women to lure Fang Xiaoyi into his trap because he felt that Zili Village was too dangerous and he needed a scapegoat.

However, Zhou Junqiang is now beginning to suspect that before he can use this stupid woman as a shield, she might kill him first!

Clenching his fists tightly.

His gaze was already filled with murderous intent.

"Brother Qiang!"

"Brother Qiang, where are you?"

"I...I can't see!"

Fang Xiaoyi screamed in terror, baring her teeth and claws, grabbing at everything in sight.

Zhou Junqiang remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward to help her up.

"Keep your voice down, I'm here."

Grabbing Zhou Junqiang's hand, Fang Xiaoyi felt as if she had grasped a lifeline and kept moving closer to him, while he turned his face away in disgust.

There was a nauseating taste in her mouth.

"Okay, shut your mouth, give me your mouth... fuck!"

"You fucking...!"

Zhou Junqiang reached out to pinch Fang Xiaoyi's foul-smelling mouth, but unexpectedly, she unleashed another fiery breath, spraying Zhou Junqiang all over...

"Brother Qiang... I'm so sorry, I can't help it... I vomit!"

"I was wrong...yue..."

"Brother Qiang, I... ugh..."

A deadly triple attack with a distinct flavor!

If Zhou Junqiang had still shown a sliver of patience towards Fang Xiaoyi earlier, now only one thing remained on his mind—

Where the hell is my knife?

A 40DM serrated machete appeared in his hand!

There was no trace of tolerance left on his face!

The area was filled with ferocity, and the killing intent was as vast as the sea!

You bitch, die!

Just as he was about to bring down the butcher's knife, Zhou Junqiang suddenly stopped.

His gaze passed through Fang Xiaoyi's hair and looked towards the distant mountain pass.