**Chapter 104: The Villains Leave the Village**
Grandma Si turned around, blinking her clouded eyes. "Who said I was leaving?"
The Village Chief chuckled. "I may be a worldly man, but I know how to read between the lines. You haven't been eating or sleeping well these past few days. Clearly you can't stay here any longer—you must be going out to find our boy."
Grandma Si scowled. "You saw through me. Fine, I'm leaving. I won't stay here anymore!"
The Herbalist coughed gently. "If you leave the village, who will help suppress your inner demon? In the past, with us here, Sect Master Li Tianxing's spirit didn't dare stir. If you go, I fear you won't be able to hold him down. Sect Master Li's mastery of demonic arts runs deep. Before he died, he transformed himself into a Demon Seed, planting himself in your Dao Heart to survive through it, forever waiting to strike back. If you cannot grind him down or suppress him, he will devour your soul and seize your body."
Grandma Si's gaze flickered. "He wouldn't take my body."
"Because he loves you so much?" The Herbalist's smile was cold. "Then you're mistaken. If he seized your body and used it to resurrect himself, he would become you. He wouldn't be loving you—he'd be loving your vessel. Once he becomes you, he can love himself. He is your inner demon, and you are his. By reborn through your body, he would conquer his own demon. Sect Master Li Tianxing intends to use you to refine himself—he aspires to become a god."
A shudder ran through Grandma Si. Then she laughed suddenly. "Herbalist, you've said all that—can you solve my demon?"
The Herbalist fell silent. Li Tianxing's spirit was already rooted in her Dao Heart, and he couldn't uproot it. Not even Ma Old Man's Buddhist arts could do it, nor the Village Chief's sword. Only Grandma Si herself could resolve this demon. All they could do was help her suppress it.
"I've lived here for over forty years. If none of you can solve him, what's the point of staying longer?"
Grandma Si picked up her basket and walked away without looking back. "I'm going to find our boy. I keep worrying he's not eating enough, not dressed warmly enough, that someone will bully him. Don't worry—if I can't hold down old Li, I'll come back."
The Village Chief and the Herbalist frowned in unison.
Grandma Si carried her basket to the riverbank and summoned a river-beast. She climbed onto its back and rode downstream.
After the beast had traveled some thirty miles, Grandma Si froze. There in mid-river, a blind man was walking with the aid of a cane. Her face darkened at once. She reached out, seized him, and hauled him onto the beast's back.
"You blind fool—were you trying to stop me?"
The Blind One looked bewildered. "Oh, it's you, Grandma. I was just taking a walk. Stop you from what?"
Grandma Si regarded him suspiciously. "You come all this way at dawn—if it wasn't to block me from leaving, then why?"
The Blind One protested. "You go your way, I go mine. Why would I stop you? By the way, old lady, where are you headed? Could you give me a lift?"
Grandma Si blinked her dim old eyes and smiled. "I'm heading to the State of Yankang. Want a ride?"
The Blind One clapped his hands. "What a coincidence—I'm going to the State of Yankang too!"
Grandma Si's eyes widened as she stared at him. The Blind One wore an expression of pure innocence. "What would you do in Yankang?" she asked coolly.
"My eyes were put out," the Blind One said calmly. "I'm going to find the man who gouged them out."
Grandma Si's heart skipped. "I thought you were worried about our boy and going to find him in Yankang. So it's a personal errand."
"He's grown. He can handle whatever comes." The words stung Grandma Si with quiet shame. The Blind One continued, "I won't go directly to him. I'll be watching from the shadows."
Just then, a streak of light flashed through the air. Grandma Si looked up. The streak vanished, only to reverse course and land on the river-beast's back with a whoosh. The Cripple's figure appeared, looking rather put-upon at the sight of the other two.
The Blind One snapped, "Cripple! You come zipping about like a ghost—it's terrifying! What do you want?"
"Taking a stroll outside the village." The Cripple looked around. "Have any of you seen Old Ma? I haven't seen him since yesterday. He didn't come home last night."
Grandma Si was surprised. "Old Ma didn't return? He always comes back to the village on schedule."
The Cripple sighed. "I figure he misses our boy and went to the State of Yankang. I want to find him. That old rascal just left without a word—I need to ask him why he'd do that, why he'd abandon years of friendship. I also want to check on my leg. . . ."
The Blind One scoffed. "Or perhaps you want to see our boy?"
The Cripple's tone turned icy. "Miss him? I don't miss him! We picked that brat up off the streets. He's been a pest since childhood—I've been wanting to chase him away for ages. . . . Hey, that scoundrel up ahead looks like the Butcher . . . it is the Butcher!"
A short while later, four figures stood on the river-beast's back. The Butcher, of course, was standing on two hands. The three stared at one another. The Blind One listened with his ear tilted, leaning on his bamboo staff, but no one spoke.
Grandma Si held her basket. The Cripple leaned on his crutch and whistled. The Butcher had his hands folded behind his back, glancing around.
At last the Blind One spoke haltingly. "Old Ma's run off too. Add us four, and the village is left with the Herbalist, the Village Chief, the Deaf One, and the Mute."
"The Mute's gone as well," the Butcher snorted. "Before the Village Chief and the Herbalist were even awake, he slipped out carrying that big chest of his. I ran after him but couldn't catch up."
The Blind One was taken aback, half-amused and half-helpless. "So it's just the Deaf One, the Village Chief, and the Herbalist."
The Cripple snickered. "We're not going because we miss that kid. We each have our own business. I'm going to the imperial palace to check on my leg. What if the State Preceptor of Yankang pickled it, roasted it, and smoked it into a ham? That would be unacceptable!"
The Blind One nodded. "I have my own business too. I'm seeking vengeance for my eyes."
Grandma Si nodded repeatedly. "As the previous Holy Maiden of the Holy Cult, when a new Cult Master ascends the throne, naturally I must pay my respects."
The Butcher thought for a moment and came up with a reason. "I suspect the lower half of my body might be lying around somewhere. I'm going to look for it—maybe it can still be reattached."
All four exhaled in unison. "So we all have business to attend to!"
---
Back in the Village of Broken Elders, the Village Chief and the Herbalist sat at the gate, drinking tea in silence. After a long pause, the Herbalist said, "Only the four of us are left in the village."
"Herbalist, Old Ma left yesterday," the Village Chief observed, sipping his tea. "Their minds still aren't steady—they can't sit still. But the Deaf One has read widely and is full of learning. He has depth of character, a calm spirit, and—"
He turned his head and stared blankly. The Deaf One was walking past them, a bamboo basket with a sun-shading cloth slung over his back.
The Herbalist couldn't help himself. "Deaf One, where are you going?"
The Deaf One appeared not to hear. He walked on without stopping.
"That old mule—pretending he can't hear again!" the Herbalist fumed.
"Now it's just the two of us." The Village Chief was caught between laughter and despair. Then he asked, "When are you leaving?"
The Herbalist shook his head quickly. "With all the enemies I've made, I wouldn't dare leave. What worries me is that all these villains have run off at once. They're likely to cause quite a stir. Our village's villains . . ."
The Village Chief smiled. "Let the outside world deal with the headache. If you want to go, you can. I'll stay and keep watch on the village until you all return."
The Herbalist hesitated, then shook his head. "If I go out there, I'll only make trouble for them. Of all the villains in our village, I have the worst reputation . . ."
The Village Chief's expression was half a smile. "If that weren't the case, you'd have run off long ago."
They looked at each other and burst into hearty laughter.
---
The border between Dijiang County and Huyang County. Qin Mu raised his head to look at the rising sun, then raised his hand and released a burst of Vermilion Bird qi, burning the robes he had taken from a Corpse Immortal disciple. As for the flayed skin—he had discarded it along the way. Wearing someone else's skin still sat poorly with him. Besides, he was carrying a large bundle stuffed with all manner of things Grandma Si had prepared. He couldn't very well drape a skin over that pack—it would make him look like a humpback, which anyone would notice at a glance.
"What does Grandma Si keep hidden inside that humpback of hers?" The thought suddenly struck him.
He carried his pack. If he wore the false skin, it would create a hump. Grandma Si wasn't truly humpbacked, so there must be something hidden inside. He wondered what strange and curious items she kept there.
A night of fleeing without rest, punctuated by one fierce fight after another, had left him thoroughly exhausted. Little Fox was already asleep in the bundle.
A gust of wind arrived, and Qin Mu caught its leading edge, stepping onto the breeze and gliding forward. After a few steps, fatigue settled into his bones, and he dropped back to the ground to walk.
Then he heard a buzzing. Looking up, he spotted several scarlet beetles flying toward him. They were unafraid of people, circling around him several times before hovering nearby.
"Corpse Beetles!"
His eye twitched involuntarily. He yawned and muttered to himself, "So tired. I should find a place to sleep. . . ."
His fingers flicked rapidly. The beetles burst apart in an instant.
Qin Mu quickened his pace and darted away.
He had seen such beetles in the Herbalist's collection. Corpse Beetles came in various colors—green, black, and so on—but the red variety was the rarest. And these scarlet carapaces were exactly that: red Corpse Beetles.
Then the buzzing grew louder. He looked up and his scalp prickled. A crimson cloud was bearing down on him, its momentum fierce.
The red cloud descended, and the beetles streamed into the forest, burrowing into old grave mounds. The ground trembled. Skeletons clawed their way from the earth and broke into a dead sprint after Qin Mu.
More beetles arrived, plunging into wild boars, badgers, and even tigers along the way. The beasts' eyes turned red, and they, too, charged straight at Qin Mu.