Chapter 147: Utter Annihilation

As a bleeding hand reached out from the grave for the sixth time, Fang Yue did not strike immediately. Instead, he quietly waited for whatever was inside to crawl its way out.

With the appearance of the bleeding hand, the churning beneath the earthen mound grew even more violent. A moment later, the turf atop the grave was shoved aside, and a figure drenched entirely in blood crawled out from beneath.

This blood-soaked entity was saturated with fresh crimson fluid that dripped down incessantly, leaving a trail of bloody footprints with every forward step.

Its head and face were completely covered in gore, rendering its features somewhat blurred and indistinct.

A gloomy, bone-chilling aura emanated outward, using the creature as its center.

"A ghost! A ghost has crawled out!"

Zhang Tianbao was gripped by absolute terror. Had Fang Yue not been standing right beside him, merely witnessing such a horrific scene would have scared him half to death.

"Step back a bit."

Fang Yue felt no fear toward these ghastly entities; in his eyes, they were simply walking pools of merit points.

Zhang Tianbao hurriedly scrambled backward, hiding off to the side.

The blood-drenched figure crawling from the grave began walking step by step toward Fang Yue.

Blood continuously dripped from its body, much like a person thoroughly soaked in water who keeps dripping wet.

Fang Yue raised his sword and brought it down in a single slash.

Sword qi rained down, scattering in countless bright specks.

"Splat."

Countless subtle sounds of sword qi piercing flesh rang out. Before the blood-soaked figure could even approach Fang Yue, its body was torn into shreds by the sword qi.

Bizarrely, the entity possessed no bones—only flesh and blood.

Furthermore, once that flesh and blood were shredded by the sword qi, the splattering droplets immediately melted upon touching the surroundings, turning into tiny specs of blood water that settled upon the branches and grass leaves.

They stained the surrounding greenery with speckled crimson.

Zhang Tianbao let out a long sigh of relief, patting his chest with his hand, and readied himself to walk back toward Fang Yue.

In his mind, this blood-soaked entity had been instantly dispatched by Fang Yue just like the previous two monsters.

"Don't come over here yet."

Fang Yue's voice rang out, halting Zhang Tianbao in his tracks.

True enough, the very next moment, another bloody figure crawled out from beneath the grave.

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth...

Blood-soaked figures crawled out endlessly from beneath that tiny earthen mound.

"Is the true ghost that grave itself?"

Fang Yue fixed his gaze on the small mound that continuously bubbled with blood and spawned blood-soaked entities. A ghost of the century-old ferocious spirit tier was indeed somewhat extraordinary.

The bloody figures crawling from beneath the grave all trudged forward in a halting, stumbling manner toward Fang Yue.

Fang Yue noticed one particular detail: not a single one of the blood-soaked entities headed toward Zhang Tianbao in the distance.

"Is it because I am closer and Zhang Tianbao is farther away, or is there some other reason?"

***

Fang Yue pondered this inwardly. This was the third time they had encountered ghosts and monsters along this journey, yet Zhang Tianbao had claimed he encountered absolutely nothing when he made his trip out.

There was something rather peculiar about this.

As Fang Yue thought, he continued his assault, slaying one bloody figure with every sword strike.

However, he deliberately let one blood-soaked entity slip past. As it drew near, he flicked his longsword, tossing the creature several yards away behind him.

Zhang Tianbao was startled out of his wits because the tossed entity landed not far from where he stood.

The bloody figure struggled and crawled up from the ground.

Blood dripped from it unceasingly, making it look terrifying in the extreme.

Overwhelmed with sheer panic, Zhang Tianbao wanted to run, but his limbs grew weak and refused to obey him. Terrified out of his mind, he shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Young Hero Fang, save me!"

After tossing the entity over, Fang Yue had kept a close eye on the situation on Zhang Tianbao's side.

Yet he saw that after the blood-soaked figure climbed to its feet, it completely ignored Zhang Tianbao who was standing right beside it, and instead continued to sway and stagger toward Fang Yue.

"It won't attack the villagers?"

Fang Yue cast a deep glance at Zhang Tianbao. There seemed to be some sort of secret hidden within the villagers of Anyin Village.

With a casual flick of his sword, a web of sword qi surged forth, shredding the approaching entity. He then executed his lightweight kung fu, leaping up to land gracefully upon a large tree near the mound.

As for the grassy ground surrounding the grave, it was already soaked through with the blood overflowing from the mound, leaving nowhere suitable to place a foot.

Blood-soaked figures continued to crawl out endlessly from beneath the tomb; beneath that tiny mound seemed to lie an uncounted number of buried blood-entities.

Fang Yue had no time to waste tangling with them endlessly. Since these blood figures were virtually inexhaustible and would only waste the Innate True Qi within his body, it was far better to solve the root of the problem once and for all by destroying the mound itself.

A ghost of the century-old ferocious spirit tier was worth tens of thousands of merit points, after all.

Taking a deep breath, Fang Yue channeled the Innate True Qi from his lower dantian directly into his right hand.

The next moment, standing atop the tree, he struck out with a remote palm print directed at the still-bleeding grave.

With a thunderous roar, this Flame Palm strike—imbued with Fang Yue's full strength and reaching the level of the late Innate stage—directly blasted apart half of the earthen mound.

Piercing shrieks echoed from within the grave, and fresh blood poured outward like a flowing stream.

Taking another deep breath, Fang Yue gathered his qi and delivered yet another palm strike.

After executing over a dozen consecutive strikes, the entire earthen mound was practically flattened by the Flame Palm. The surrounding area was left in utter ruin, and the grass above was scorched completely black.

Puffs of dark malevolent mist continuously drifted away.

"Merit points +35,600."

Receiving the prompt from the merit system in his mind, Fang Yue knew the ghost had been utterly destroyed.

He retrieved the purple jade gourd from his waist to collect the lingering resentment of heaven and earth drifting from the grave.

The mound itself had been the physical vessel of this malevolent spirit.

Hanging the purple jade gourd back at his waist, Fang Yue surveyed his surroundings. Aside from the ruined mound, the large piles of blood on the ground had completely vanished.

Everything that had transpired moments before felt like a mere illusion.

***

The two continued on their way along the mountain path.

Zhang Tianbao remained exceedingly cautious the entire journey, scanning his surroundings in a panic at the slightest rustle of wind or grass.

Having encountered ghosts and monsters three times in a row, he could not help but remain on edge.

Even though Fang Yue had informed him that the villagers of Anyin Village likely remained immune to the attacks of ghosts and monsters due to some special reason, Zhang Tianbao still wore a tense expression the whole way.

After walking for another stretch of mountain road, he spoke up.

"Our village is right on that large mountain ahead. We'll be there soon."

Zhang Tianbao pointed toward a verdant mountain in the distance and said to Fang Yue.

His expression at that moment carried both the excitement of returning home and the lingering dread of the bizarre deaths plaguing his mountain village.

Whenever the calling voice was heard, the villagers would inevitably perish in silence a few days later.

None of them knew whether their own name would be next on the list.

"Young Hero Fang, you'll definitely be able to save our village, won't you?"

Zhang Tianbao gazed at Fang Yue with eyes full of hopeful anticipation. Fang Yue's performance along the way had given him immense confidence.

No matter how formidable or bizarre the ghost or monster might be, it seemed to be easily blasted to death by Fang Yue's palm strikes within moments.

Fang Yue remained silent; this was not something he could guarantee.

In this world, there were all sorts of ghosts and entities, and far more powerful beings than him existed in abundance.

Encountering ghouls multiple times along this journey—with the third encounter being a century-old ferocious spirit—had given Fang Yue an ominous premonition.

Furthermore, even from this distance, looking toward the direction of the verdant mountain pointed out by Zhang Tianbao, Fang Yue could already sense the chilling presence of yin energy.

"Illuminate."

Fang Yue chanted silently in his mind, and an antique brass mirror materialized in his palm.

Since they were about to approach Anyin Village, a sufficient amount of karmic entanglement should have formed, allowing him to use the brass mirror to catch a glimpse ahead.

"Sacrifice."

Fang Yue decided to inspect the situation within the village first; he had a lingering feeling that something was amiss over there.

As merit points were consumed, an image of the interior of Anyin Village materialized upon the surface of the brass mirror.

As the vision shifted and he looked closer, Fang Yue's expression grew increasingly grim.

Because the entire village was strewn with corpses, and not a single living soul remained.

Aside from Zhang Tianbao who had fled outside, every single person in Anyin Village had already perished.