Chapter 16: Dead Person
As Song Zhen and her companions investigated, all eyes followed them. Without hesitation, she stepped into the house.
The interior was pitch-dark, though a faint coughing sound came from one of the rooms.
Seeing Song Zhen move toward the door, the village chief hurriedly blocked her.
“Excuse me, little cultivator, but my son lives there. He’s always been frail. Please don’t take offense.”
Song Zhen noticed the chief’s nervousness, and the room gave off a strange, sinister vibe.
Though surprised inwardly, she kept her expression kind and approachable. “Why isn’t your son with everyone else? Isn’t it dangerous for him to be alone in that room?”
The chief sighed, worry etched on his face. “I would have him come out, but his body is too weak. The night’s cold wind would be too harsh for him. But this house is safe. That spirit… it can’t get in.”
The chief bowed his head slightly, hiding the madness glinting in his eyes.
Tonight, once the ritual was complete, his son’s body would be fully restored. No more sickly, bedridden boy. Maybe, with the spiritual energy absorbed from these sect disciples, he could even step onto the path of cultivation.
Yes—he had deliberately lured them here.
If higher-level cultivators had come, he would have stayed hidden, covering the incident with some minor spirit or demon. The information he leaked outside was intentional—he made it seem the spirits in the village were weak, specifically to attract lower-level disciples.
Song Zhen didn’t waste words on the chief. Her fellow senior brothers were already in the courtyard. They had all noticed the village chief’s odd behavior.
“Junior Sister, I think this might not be so simple,” one whispered to her.
Song Zhen replied, “We’re already here. Simple or not, we’ll solve it. The chief will act tonight—it’s just a matter of how.”
With them stationed in the courtyard, the villagers finally relaxed. Some even fell asleep, letting their guard down.
Seeing this, the chief quietly slipped away.
“Son, your body will soon be well. Soon, you’ll be like everyone else.” He stood at the bedside, gazing at his weak son with madness in his eyes.
He had only this one child. He could not let him die.
“Don’t worry. Your son will be fine—just do as I say, and he will live healthy and strong,” a woman in red appeared, her timing uncanny.
Seeing the woman in red, the village chief immediately became respectful. “Greetings, Immortal Lady.”
The red-clad woman seemed pleased with his attitude, her smile growing even more enchanting.
“Don’t worry. I said I would save your son, and I will save your son. Just focus on helping me with my tasks. Once everything is done, your whole family will have to obey my orders — especially your son. I quite like this vessel of his.”
The man lying on the bed was pale and frail, yet there was a kind of fragile beauty about him. Though he wasn’t the type to take one’s breath away, his entire demeanor radiated a scholarly elegance.
Song Zhen and her companions waited until midnight. Only then did the chief make his move, creeping around, thinking they hadn’t noticed.
Song Zhen nudged her senior brothers. They quietly moved aside.
“You die, and my son can live. I can’t be blamed for that. Why should my son suffer so much while you’re all healthy?” The village chief muttered constantly, holding something in his hands.
Song Zhen went straight into the room where the village chief’s son was.
Before long, chaos erupted outside, and the village chief’s frantic shouting could be heard.
“I just want my son to live well. If you have any grudges or hatred, take it out on those Sect disciples—they’re the useless ones! It really isn’t my fault. You all watched my son grow up; you’re his uncles and elders. Isn’t it only right to make a little sacrifice for the younger generation?”
Outside, the cries of children could be heard, along with the villagers’ curses.
“And to think you’re the village chief, yet you’re willing to risk our lives for your son!”
“Your son’s poor health isn’t our fault. It’s because you beat your wife, causing her to give birth prematurely. You already got lucky that she survived and left a son behind.”
Hearing the words about beating his wife, Song Zhen’s expression darkened with disgust.The village chief, who looked so honest, actually beat his wife—it was simply outrageous.
But to gamble the entire village’s lives for his son… his moral compass was clearly shattered. She wondered how such a man had become chief.
Without hesitation, Song Zhen lifted the boy onto her shoulders and stepped outside. The woman in red stood nearby.
The villagers all hid behind the disciples.
The red-clad woman looked at them greedily.
“Tsk, tsk… as expected of cultivators—your looks really are quite something. Why don’t you just follow me instead?”
“Pah!” one disciple said in disgust. “I am a proud disciple of the Mystic Cloud Sect—how could I possibly follow a demon like you?”
“I advise you to surrender obediently. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rude!”
The woman in red laughed at his tone.
“Rude to me? I’d love to see how you’ll manage that. You really think you can still leave here? Once I refine all your souls, these bodies of yours—won’t I be free to do whatever I want with them?”
Just as they were about to act, Song Zhen suddenly rushed out carrying someone.
“Everyone stop right now! If any of you dare to move, I’ll kill him!”
Song Zhen’s hand clamped tightly around the village chief’s son’s throat, without the slightest mercy.
Judging by the expression on her face, there was no way to guess she was a cultivator—she actually felt even more villainous than the woman in red.
The senior brothers exchanged glances: “…Why does Junior Sister’s aura feel so… off?”
The chief panicked at his son being seized. “Let go! If anything happens, I’ll tear you apart!”
Song Zhen chuckled. “Even more reason I won’t let go. So many lives depend on you—you think they survive if I free your son?”
The woman in red watched calmly, as if entertained.
The village chief pleaded to the woman in red, “Lady. Can you at least go save my son first? Didn’t you say you liked my son’s body—this vessel of his?”
The woman in red replied casually, “This vessel of your son is indeed decent, but there are others even better. Look around—so many people are more attractive than him. Why would I settle for a dead one?”
The word “dead” drove the village chief completely mad.
There was no way his son could be dead!
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