Is that a Wisp?

Chapter 1195: Self Bait

"You've changed a bit, don't you think?" Old Root whispered as she looked at Krune before walking away. She continued to converse with the other ladies of the village, informing them of the dos and don'ts concerning the grass. 

After all, the amount of knowledge she had accumulated over a decade of practice wasn't something that could be learned in days. Nevertheless, she was in a hurry, as if sensing that her death was near. She didn't have long to transfer all her knowledge to others, ensuring everything she had accumulated wasn't lost. 

It was as if she knew about Krune's and the village head's plans to sacrifice her and Old Stem to the Yin Beasts to buy time for the village to prepare. 

'Old people can indeed perceive when their death is near. And it seems that's true.' Krune sighed as he watched the figure of Wang Hao stuffing his face to the brim, smiling contently. 'This sight is enough to risk my life.'

Even though Krune knew of the risks, he couldn't do anything else. After all, having inherited everything from Wang Hu, his concerns, his attachments, his feelings, and other things, everything had now become Krune's. 

With an inherently kinder disposition, it was impossible for Krune to focus on his selfish needs while watching Wang Hao suffer. That would only serve to cause a fracture in his mind. 

"Cooking with everyone is fun!" One of the ladies basked in the bright atmosphere, sighing as she spoke. 

"Yes, I wish for this to happen daily." Another lady spoke, her dispirited eyes now darting about in interest.

'In just one day, Old Wang has brought about such great changes,' the village head thought, looking at everyone eating about joyfully as he cleared his voice, speaking aloud, "Everyone! Please listen to what I have to say!"

As there was a festive mood in their village thanks to the abundance of food for the first time, he wished to nail the concept in their minds while the iron was hot, speaking once everyone looked at him with rapt attention.

"Now that everyone has worked together, our lives have become a bit better almost immediately. With that, from now on, I propose that everyone in the village share all three meals together. We'll make it our custom and ensure we actually live and enjoy."

"Yeah!" Everyone collectively shouted in unison.

'The bandits won't pay much attention to this village for the time being. At least, until it's time for them to level this place.' Krune frowned, deep in thought as he watched the spirited expressions on the faces of everyone. 'I should do something to protect this place. Naturally, destroying the bandits would be the key to that.'

'No, destroying them wouldn't solve our issues.' He tapped his chin, having eaten until his stomach was bloated. 'The Yin Beasts are also troublesome. The best bet is to cause mutual destruction of both parties.'

He then patted the metal slab on his ċhėst. He had already finished carving it out, turning it into a pendant. It was circular in shape, and engraved in its center was the picture of the Cloud Whale. 

It was pretty simple, but it'll get the job done. After all, he had created a secret groove in the center for the Soul Needle to be placed within. 

To make it seem mysterious, he'll place the Soul Needle within and cause it to spin to display a treasure. Then, the force it generated would also make the pendant spin. That alone would be enough proof that it was an Imperial Arms or at least the fragment of one. 

An actual Imperial Arms possessed a suffocating presence that it would unleash once upon activating. That was the proof of its existence. A genuine Imperial Meister would be able to determine that the pendant was just a sham and wasn't even an Imperial Arms fragment. 

'I'll have to search for Nightmare Cores in the future and make an Imperial Arms for my use. I'll have to prepare for that eventual possibility, at least for my next reincarnation.' Thinking as such, Krune accompanied Wang Hao, soon returning to their homes. 

As it was already getting dark, everyone cleaned up the place and brought all the utensils back to their respective homes. Before long, the village was as silent as the previous days.

As everyone had been working hard, they fell asleep immediately. After a couple of hours had passed, Krune woke up, got up and summoned his Soul Needle, using the dim light to look around the dark, seeing the empty house. 

He had sent Wang Hao to the village head's house. Now, he was alone in his house. In the past five days, with enough food, he had regained sufficient health. Upon seeing that he had reached his limit, Krune began to push forth his plans. 

The first of them was to figure out the secrets of the Yin Beasts. After all, even with his death, he would only reincarnate. However, if he found valuable information, that'll allow him to figure out the source of misfortune in this world, solve it and return to the God Realm. 

As for Old Stem and Old Root, he had arranged for a couple of the villagers to accompany them for the night under the guise of learning their information. That was the reason for Old Root's remark at him. 

And now, he was the only one in the entire village that was alone. As time passed, Krune controlled his breathing, using his superior experiences to make it seem as if he was sleeping. But in actuality, he was wide awake. 

His breathing, his body's relaxed posture, his body temperature, everything looked as if he was sleeping. But, through the sounds of his breathing, Krune was alert to his surroundings. 

Before he had noticed it, there stood a creature beside him, staring at his fan while remaining a statue. As for the door to the house, it was left ajar now. The creature crouched forward, expunging a smoke that knocked Krune unconscious.

It then gently picked him up and carried him out of the house, slowly exiting the village in the quiet of the night.