I am Jinshan Youxia

It's fair to say that once you set foot on the Demon Mountain and stay there for a while, you're practically on your way to a dead end.

Even if an infected person's mind is locked by the "mold," if they enter the Demon Mountain, the locked, moldy mind will be fine, but the remaining intact mind will still be eroded. Over time, the two out-of-control rules will completely occupy the human mind, and the person will become a vegetable.

This kind of out-of-control rule is impossible to solve, and it cannot even be allowed to lie dormant like "high-speed driving"; it must be isolated.

But there's another village inside the Demon Mountain.

Baisha Village has been inhabited for generations, and the government keeps sending people there to commit suicide...

That won't do.

"We must find a way to solve the problem of Shirasa Village. Otherwise, if Moshan continues to expand, we can move Moshan Town, but what about the future? Too many people are dying. If it continues to expand, we might lose the whole Earth."

Zhang Chengyi was well aware of the extent to which the rules could be out of control. Even though it was just a small hill now, rules are rules. If the rules were followed, it would inevitably lead to infection and control.

Even if a human being the size of the Earth has a corrupted mind, he can still turn that person into a fungal infection.

At least in this world, there is no limit to ability; it is absolute.

This means that the power of the Demon Mountain is absolute. If it were to become the Demon of the Kansai region, or the Demon of Japan, or the Demon of Earth in the future, then it would be doomed.

The most troublesome thing is that he still doesn't understand why a village called White Sand Village exists in such a strange demonic mountain.

In a village that has existed for so many years, there have always been people who can deliver heads to the Demon Mountain. Is it because the Demon Mountain has developed a 'human'-like consciousness, or is there something strange in White Sand Village?

In any case, this must be resolved as soon as possible.

With that thought, Zhang Chengyi transformed into a monkey and wandered through the mountains and forests toward Baisha Village.

-----------------

Half an hour later, in Baisha Village.

Zhang Chengyi, transformed into a monkey, perched on a treetop, gazing at the village.

All the buildings were thatched huts covered with wooden houses, and the architectural style was similar to that of decades or even centuries ago. Smoke was rising from the chimneys, indicating that it was time to cook dinner.

In the thriving fields beside the village, several emaciated villagers were working unsteadily. The forest was quiet; no animal sounds could be heard, and not a single bird could be seen in the sky.

Some villagers came out of their houses and listlessly carried firewood to start a fire for cooking.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock"

Blood flowed from the villagers' bodies from time to time, disappearing into the ground in the blink of an eye. Their clothes were stained with blood, making them look as if they had just killed someone.

The trees at the village entrance had fallen to the ground, their roots covered in bloodstains. In the pit exposed after the collapse, there was a pool of semi-congealed blood, and a foul stench lingered, yet no flies were buzzing around it.

[It really is a very strange village]

Zhang Chengyi noticed that there was a shrine on the other side of the village. He would go and explore it later, but for now, he would go into the village first and see what was going on with the villagers.

He transformed into a flying insect, gliding down from the treetops and silently darting around Baisha Village to gather information.

Before long, he arrived at the home of the village chief of Baisha Village.

The village elder, dressed in a suit, was equally withered and hunched over, speaking to a young man of similar build beside him:

"The doctor will be sent next month, we won't have to wait too long..."

Chapter 313 Speculation

"They even need a doctor, and they don't seem to have any special abilities."

Zhang Chengyi stayed in the village chief's room for a while, watching the young man sigh and leave. The village chief lay down exhausted and fell asleep before flying away and wandering around the village for a while.

He felt that it was very different from what he had expected.

At first, he thought that the Mountain had developed a human-like consciousness, but the Mountain's rules would immediately enter his body after he took human form, allowing him to read the Mountain's information.

If the information reads that the Mountain has no self-awareness and is still operating under normal, uncontrolled rules, then we can basically deny the possibility that the Mountain has developed self-awareness.

Note that the body here does not refer to the second body he controls, but rather the body that interacts with the [mold]. His body in this world has always been a shapeless, out-of-control rule [mold], so it can do nothing except read other out-of-control rules that it can collide with and humans that intervene in the rules.

Then Zhang Chengyi suspected that the villagers of Baisha Village might be humans controlled by the out-of-control rules accumulated by the Demon Mountain over hundreds of years, similar to Yamada's relationship with the [Sword].

Before being captured by the out-of-control rules, their minds had already degenerated, so to some extent they became slaves to the out-of-control rules.

If it wasn't for what it was, how could it have lived in the Demon Mountain for so long? Theoretically, it should have turned into a corpse and merged into the mountain long ago.

However, what exactly these people are doing and what secrets they are hiding seems to be open to debate.

Why did the village chief emphasize doctors?

Is there something strange about the doctor?

Zhang Chengyi quietly entered the clinic in Baisha Village, where several villagers were queuing up for treatment, as well as an elderly woman with a similarly gaunt appearance and covered in blood, wearing a nurse's uniform and sporting a frizzy, ramen-noodle-shaped hairstyle.

The atmosphere in the consultation room was very oppressive. There was almost no communication between them. The old lady numbly distributed boxes of blood-tonifying medicine to the patients.

Zhang Chengyi flew around the house for a while without any success, so he had to leave and fly to the shrine next to the village.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The sound of my heart pounding kept coming.

[It's not a blood vessel, it's the heart. There seems to be something wrong with the shrine; there might be something underground...]

Zhang Chengyi transformed into a mole and dug into the ground. He had only dug a little bit when he saw dense blood vessels. There was no way to dig down without damaging the blood vessels. Before he could make up his mind to dig through the blood vessels, he heard hurried footsteps approaching. He had no choice but to transform into a flying insect again.

The person leading the way was the elderly nurse with ramen-noodle hair in the clinic, followed by several elderly villagers. The village chief, on the other hand, lagged behind, seemingly isolated, and kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Is someone trying to dig down?"

The elderly nurse with the ramen noodle hair spoke in a tone that was impossible to discern her emotions.

“It looks like it was made by an animal,” the village chief said nervously. “It looks like it was dug out by a mole, Ms. Kikugami.”

The old nurse, known as the Chrysanthemum Goddess, chuckled sinisterly and said gently, "Village Chief, do you really think any outside animals from our Shirasa Village could possibly wander into the shrine?"

"Looks like a naughty kid who snuck in."

"I'm sorry." The village chief immediately knelt down on the ground and bowed deeply in apology, though it was unclear what he was apologizing for.

Kikushin's sunken eyes and eyes that barely revealed any pain swept across the small shrine. "Village Chief, please lead everyone in a search. I don't want to see any more bad kids bothering Lord Demon Mountain."

After saying that, she turned and left.

"Yes, yes," the village chief said, his forehead pressed against the ground, his voice trembling.

Zhang Chengyi, who had been watching the whole thing, recalled the information about Baisha Village. The village chief wasn't a local, was he? He was a civil servant from out of town who had come to the village more than 20 years ago.

It seems like they haven't fully become locals yet?

It's really unlucky that we ended up in a godforsaken place like Baisha Village.

Is there a heart beneath the shrine? Is it the heart of the Demon Mountain? Why couldn't the information be retrieved?

Zhang Chengyi suddenly realized that since no information had been gleaned from the out-of-control rule [Demon Mountain], it wasn't yet the [Demon Mountain] rule. Therefore, according to the setting that rules can be altered by the human mind...

He seemed to understand why the Mountain had gradually evolved from blood into what it is today.

-----------------

After dark, a large number of mosquitoes suddenly appeared in Baisha Village.

A normal person would never notice such a detail, but as a flying insect, he immediately realized that there might be something wrong with these mosquitoes. You see, in the afternoon, everyone was covered in blood, yet they didn't attract any flies or other insects. Now, as soon as night fell, there were many more mosquitoes, which was extremely suspicious.

Anything unusual is worth noting.

Zhang Chengyi followed the unusual mosquitoes as they left the village, and then saw a large swarm of mosquitoes preying on animals in the mountains and forests. They would often swarm in, completely disregarding the damage, sucking their fill before chasing after the next animal.

But what about the blood?

The mosquitoes kept greedily sucking blood. How could such a small body suck so much blood?

It must be related to the villagers of Baisha Village.

Zhang Chengyi ignored the mosquitoes and returned to the village. Sure enough, most of the villagers looked much better, even those who had looked like they were about to turn into mummies had become a little plumper.

Special ability? Replenishing the blood in one's body by sucking blood from mosquitoes?

No wonder that old nurse with the ramen noodle hair said there wouldn't be any animals near the village; if there were, they'd probably be sucked dry by mosquitoes long ago.

Zhang Chengyi, with a sense of mystery, secretly transformed into a large slime from some magical world and sneaked into the village chief's house.

It crawls and wriggles in the shadows.

Looking at the village chief lying on the tatami mat, whose skin was gradually becoming fuller, Zhang Chengyi instantly straightened up and stretched himself out, suddenly wrapping himself around the sluggish village chief.

Struggled, but to no avail.

Zhang Chengyi ignored the village chief struggling inside the body. After a while, the village chief quickly lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen.

He transformed into a more agile lion-like beast, carrying the unconscious village chief as he stealthily left the village. Although he didn't have any special moves or data enhancements, his robust muscles and physique alone provided him with a significant boost in strength, and he was also able to bypass the interference of the Mountain's rules.

The entire village of Baisha fell silent at night, with hardly any light, making it eerily dark.

This conveniently allowed Zhang Chengyi to leave with the hostages.

"What are you... Waaah!" Just outside the village, the unconscious village chief suddenly woke up and tried to speak. His eyes widened the moment he saw the lion's head, and then his jaw was dislocated by pinching his cheeks. He was drooling and couldn't say anything, only making muffled sounds from his throat.

Zhang Chengyi completely disregarded the village chief's feelings and ran all the way away from Baisha Village before finally putting the village chief's dislocated jaw back in place.

What kind of monster are you?

The village chief was much calmer than I had imagined.

Chapter 314 is no longer important.

"In my opinion, you are more like monsters."

Zhang Chengyi carried him along the mountain path leading away from the Demon Mountain.

The village chief was somewhat surprised, then seemed to understand something, and said, "I cannot leave the village."

Perhaps the lion-headed monster had shocked the village chief, for he remained silent for a moment before asking, "What do you want to know?"

"Drip, drip," blood flowed from his skin without warning, and he said in a complicated tone, "My departure has been discovered. Miss Kikusami has found out I'm not home."

“I cannot leave the village,” he emphasized.

Zhang Chengyi stopped and looked at the mosquitoes buzzing towards him in the distance, and said, "You've been in Baisha Village for so long, what do you know?"

"do not know."

The village chief's voice was somewhat hoarse. "I don't know anything. They just kept telling me to invite people to the village. Everyone I knew more than ten years ago has already died in this village."