Excessive ferocity due to caution

Zili Village.

Chen Fei and the others returned to the village.

Stepping through the giant gate to the back mountain, which had lost its power, the sight before them left Chen Fei and his ghosts in a state of prolonged stagnation.

There are no living people left in the village.

The once fierce and menacing villagers have now all transformed into twisted and grotesque trees.

They were making different movements, some stretching their necks to the sky and singing, others paddling their red webbed feet in the clear water... It seemed that they had experienced a brief but intense struggle before they died.

The crisscrossing paths are no longer recognizable as they once were.

The wind blows.

The tree swayed.

The green leaves rustled softly.

There seemed to be a soft sigh.

Upon seeing this, the butcher suddenly panicked and quickly grabbed his cleaver and ran to the village chief's house, calling out in fear for Hongsong and Baibai.

It traveled a bumpy and anxious journey back to its father-in-law's residence, where it saw Liao Hongsong and Sun Baibai in the garden, their faces hidden in sorrow as they faced a spruce tree!

"Red Pine, Bai Bai, are you alright?"

The butcher embraced the two women and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his wife and daughter had no wounds.

Sun Baibai buried her head in the butcher's arms and cried out:

"Dad, Grandpa... has turned into a tree..."

The butcher was taken aback by what he heard.

By the light of the stars and the faint moonlight, it looked at the spruce tree in front of it and seemed to understand something.

When asked by Liao Hongsong, who was standing nearby, the woman wiped her reddened eyes and choked back tears, she said:

"In Zili Village, everyone over the age of eighteen must undergo the baptism of the mountain god..."

"When I fled the village, I was very young, so Bai Bai and I escaped the mountain god's baptism and were able to survive."

"Father... and the other villagers, because they had been baptized by the mountain god, their souls vanished after the mountain god died, and their bodies turned into trees..."

Liao Hongsong tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and tried not to let his tears fall.

Liao Yun forbade her to cry for him.

These were Liao Yun's last words.

She thought that after killing the mountain god, her family would finally be able to reunite.

So many years have passed.

I'd been waiting for this opportunity for so long, but I never imagined it would end like this...

The father who loved her the most.

The old woman who repeatedly risked her life to deal with those old fogies in the village committee in order to protect her and Baibai.

He died in front of her.

Their souls turned to ashes.

As she left, she kept muttering about her future.

At that moment, Liao Hongsong hated himself immensely.

I hate my own ignorance, I hate my own weakness, and I also hate that damned mountain god!

"Did Dad have any unfulfilled wishes before he passed away?"

The butcher asked in a deep voice.

Although Liao Yun never really liked it, the old man had sacrificed so much for its family!

Liao Hongsong shook his head painfully and sighed:

"Dad hopes...we will never go back to Zili Village again."

He said this was an ominous place, and that after the mountain god died, we should forget about this place...

"Before he left, Dad said..."

As she said this, she suddenly choked up.

The butcher stroked her cheek.

"What did you say?"

Liao Hongsong took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice:

"Dad said... before we leave, let's set it on fire."

"Send the village to a fire."

The butcher looked up.

He took a deep look at the spruce tree in front of him.

He knelt down and kowtowed three times.

It kowtowed to the old man twice.

The first time was when she eloped with Hongsong.

It was said to be an elopement, but in reality, the old man deliberately let them go.

The second time was after the old man died.

"Dad, don't worry..."

"From now on, I will definitely take good care of Hongsong and Baibai!"

The butcher swore an oath to the green trees before him.

It was a resounding statement.

...

A fierce fire ignited from the west.

The light is very bright.

Even though this light was as fragile as a firefly in the eternal night of the chaotic world.

But at this moment, Zili Village did indeed gain unprecedented light.

The ghosts stood outside the village and suddenly realized that the village chief of Zili Village was like a moth drawn to a flame.

Get rid of your timidity.

A resolute willingness to give up everything.

Just for... a fleeting moment of light.

The raging fire purified all the sins in Zili Village, turning the place into ashes.

The back mountain, which was once filled with people who "worshipped the gods", has been completely turned into a mountain of ashes!

Chen Fei led his men back to the shattered and devastated Guxuan Town, excitedly boasting to Zhao Yi about how he had once again heroically saved the world...

Zhao Yi also highly praised Chen Fei's performance and handed over the bloodline crystal he had previously obtained to Chen Fei.

"Brother, what's wrong...?"

Chen Fei stared wide-eyed at the bloodline crystal in his hand.

This thing is incredible!

Unlike players, NPCs in the chaotic world do not receive the benefits provided by the game system.

Therefore, bloodline crystals are something that are hard to come by and extremely rare for a low-level NPC like Chen Fei!

"The organization thinks you performed very well this time, so they specially granted you a piece of bloodline crystal."

"Make good use of it."

Zhao Yi patted Chen Fei on the shoulder and went to the abandoned train station alone.

He returned the red umbrella to the clown.

However, the latter did not accept the answer.

It was only said that Zhao Yi could keep the umbrella, and when it needed it again, it would ask Zhao Yi for it.

Zhao Yi, of course, did not refuse.

After all, this umbrella is truly extraordinary; holding it in your hand provides a tremendous sense of security.

After saying goodbye to the clown, Zhao Yi returned to the guild headquarters to prepare to deal with the Mountain God's corpse. After he left, the clown received a phone call.

A glint flashed in the clown's eyes as he glanced at the phone number.

It answered the phone, and a detached voice came from the other end:

"Black Butler asked me to ask you, has X-0 ever appeared in that area?"

The clown remained silent for a moment.

"no."

The person on the other end of the phone said again:

"Keep a close watch. The Church detected the signal source left over from the Silent Containment Facility last time, and all signs indicate that X-0 has appeared near Valley Hanging Town..."

"The church will send someone over in a while..."

The clown squinted:

"Wasn't the road blocked?"

A cold laugh came from the other end of the phone:

"Just because they can't get through doesn't mean the church can't... I think you've been on guard for too long and forgotten the church's foundation."

"Oh, right, besides finding X-0, there's another very important thing I need you to do..."

"This matter is extremely important; you must keep it absolutely secret..."

P.S.: Okay, I'm tired.

Thank you for reading.

I've revised it many times, but I'll stop here for now.

Goodnight, my darlings!