Chapter 164 - 125: Here Comes Something More Sinister

Chapter 164: Chapter 125: Here Comes Something More Sinister

The rain began to fall in an instant.

The winter rain, carried on a bone-chilling wind, formed a devouring curtain of water. The cold was staggering.

In a flash, Lu Changyuan pulled Qiu Yuehan into a room, not a single drop of rain touching either of them.

The heavy rain hammered the ground, splashing up droplets that stained the earth the color of ink.

Under the ink-black rain, the entire village took on an eerie, horrifying appearance.

’Ancestor Red Simurgh’s rain... No, is it the Painting Demon?’

’Why would the Painting Demon be here?’

Lu Changyuan turned and looked into the dim room. It was sparsely furnished with only a bench, a wooden table, and a lit candle.

A soft cough came from the darkness.

"Getting caught in that rain is a bad idea. The villagers who did... they all disappeared."

A figure emerged from the shadows. He wore a purple robe, his hair fell to his waist, and his lips were painted rouge-red. He had an air of worldly weariness about him that was impossible to conceal.

Lu Changyuan frowned. "Xue Yanluo? Why are you here?"

Xue Yanluo coughed again. An unnatural pallor spread across his face, and half his body remained cloaked in shadow. "I have nothing to do with the Blood Demon Palace anymore. I mean you... no harm. You don’t need to be wary of me."

His gaze flickered when he noticed Lu Changyuan’s Broken Thought. "I came here to cultivate in seclusion. Why have you two come to this village?"

Lu Changyuan said coldly, "This is my home. Can’t I come back?"

Xue Yanluo gave a bitter smile. "This is your home? You two shouldn’t have come back. Now, I’m afraid you’ll face the same great disaster as me."

The former Young Master then began to explain.

Back at the inn at the foot of the mountain near Miao Yu Palace, Xue Yanluo had returned his Token and left with Bai Wei, traveling far before returning to this village.

He had been cultivating in seclusion here ever since.

At first, everything was peaceful. The countryside was tranquil, with smoke curling from kitchen chimneys. The slow pace of life calmed Xue Yanluo’s heart, so much so that he was on the verge of breaking through to the Fifth Realm. But after only a few short months, everything changed dramatically.

It began to rain in the village sporadically.

This wasn’t unusual. Autumn rains were often persistent; it was like that every year. The villagers just chalked it up to bad weather and didn’t think much of it at first.

But then, on some unknown day, people started disappearing. The first to vanish was Carpenter Wang, the man who had made most of the benches and tables in the village.

Carpenter Wang had even joked with Lu Changyuan, saying that when he got married, he’d make him a brand-new set of furniture. Lu Changyuan could only smile and refuse at the time, because Carpenter Wang’s daughter had a waist one and a half times the size of his own.

’A bit terrifying.’

All the unmarried girls in the area had their eyes on Lu Changyuan, and Carpenter Wang’s daughter was no exception. The offer wasn’t about making furniture; it was about sounding him out.

Next was Hunter Li.

Unlike Carpenter Wang’s case, someone actually witnessed Hunter Li’s disappearance.

One night, as thunder and lightning rocked the village and rain threatened to fall, someone at the entrance saw Hunter Li heading home with a fox in hand. The person greeted him.

Hunter Li lifted the fox and smiled back. But suddenly, a torrential downpour began. The moment the rain hit Hunter Li, he vanished.

At first, the villagers thought a monster in the rain had snatched Hunter Li away, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

From that day on, an ink-wash-colored rain began to fall on the village.

A few curious children darted into the inky rain, only to vanish in an instant.

The rain eats people!

This terrified the villagers. Aside from a few families, everyone else fled the village in a hurry.

Xue Yanluo said sorrowfully, "Bai Wei—the one you call Bitter Girl—was one of those who ran into the rain on that first day. The reason I haven’t left is that I’m still looking for her. But I’ve searched for a long time without finding any way to get her back. I don’t dare enter the rain myself, so I’ve just been hiding here."

Heaven only knew what would happen if one entered the rain.

Lu Changyuan frowned. "So it really is the Painting Demon. With Ancestor Red Simurgh dead, it was no longer constrained and escaped. But why would it come here?"

’The Painting Demon is hiding here, its Demonic Qi undetectable. Even Jiang Jiayi would have a hard time spotting it.’

Qiu Yuehan thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it was also injured and needs to recuperate here."

Her words made sense.

When Ancestor Red Simurgh had awakened, her power had been greatly diminished. The Painting Demon couldn’t have been in much better shape.

But the current problem wasn’t the Painting Demon’s condition, but rather why it was here in the first place.

Lu Changyuan added, "There must be something here that can heal its injuries."

It was the only plausible explanation.

’But why did Xue Yanluo say returning to the village meant disaster? If worst comes to worst, can’t we just leave like the other villagers did?’

Xue Yanluo quickly answered that question. His voice was hoarse and faint, as if his throat were swollen. "If you two had arrived seven days ago, you might have been fine. But now... it’s impossible to leave."

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the door.

Lu Changyuan and Qiu Yuehan both looked toward the door at the same time.

"They’re here," Xue Yanluo said, his voice sharp.

It sounded as if something wet was squirming on the ground, and the shuffling noises outside the door grew more numerous.

"What is that?"

Expressionless, Lu Changyuan yanked the door open. In the ink-black rain, all sorts of creatures were gathering. The one in the lead looked like an Ink-Wash bear. It stood several dozen feet tall and was lumbering toward them, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.

Qiu Yuehan whispered, "The Ink Race. This is an ability of the Ink Race."

"The Ink Race?"

"Yes. Their abilities have some similarities to ours... to the Spirit Race. But where the Spirit Race directly summons the remnant Thoughts of the dead, the Ink Race uses its own Life Force to sketch the forms of other creatures to use as a means of attack."