Chapter 67 - Tiger Calamity

The screech echoed throughout the entire ancestral hall.

The sound was sharp and hoarse, as if hundreds or thousands of distorted human voices were speaking simultaneously.

But Su Huanhuan's expression didn't change; she was only slightly surprised.

Quite durable.

A mere Crystallization Realm little demon spirit actually took a hit from her and didn't die.

But seeing its pained and frenzied reaction, it was definitely heavily injured.

At this moment, it lay on the ground roaring in pain; the blood spear had pierced its abdomen, making it spew fresh blood, its eyes wide with fury.

Its fur was already dull and bloodstained; after struggling up from the ground, it shed an unknown amount of its already dry tiger fur.

Su Huanhuan once again materialized a blood sword in her hand and slowly walked forward.

Deep marks from being tightly bound could be seen on the tiger's neck and limbs... presumably, it was usually kept imprisoned and restrained.

Then there was no need for much thought; someone was raising a demon beast here, feeding it the flesh and blood of living people.

This was a common technique used by evil cultivators.

Raise a demon beast, wait until it develops malevolent qi and blood qi from eating humans, then refine it into a magical artifact.

Su Huanhuan had seen plenty of this.

However, the method used to refine this tiger demon before her was extremely crude... or rather, inefficient.

It was completely some unorthodox method picked up from who knows where.

“......”

But who would have known, facing Su Huanhuan's approach, the tiger demon didn't retreat but instead advanced, actually pouncing directly towards Su Huanhuan.

Su Huanhuan raised an eyebrow, didn't make a move, and the tiger demon actually rushed right past her; its true goal was... the ancestral hall's main door.

Dong... Dong... Dong!

Under the impact of its massive body, the sturdy stone door was smashed to pieces; the tiger demon's sticky blood also smeared the entire door.

And behind the flying dust and debris was the aghast village chief elder.

A string of hand bones was seen wrapped around his hand; he hurriedly manipulated the string, muttering incantations.

But strangely, the incantation from his mouth was intermittent, seemingly incomplete.

Following his chanting, the tiger demon, as if being stuffed into a box, began to constantly twist and fold...

Finally, it slowly shrank back into the humanoid back figure that Su Huanhuan and Luo He had seen earlier.

Until the very last moment, the tiger demon was still struggling, waving its forelimbs, wanting to tear the old man before it to shreds.

Su Huanhuan didn't stop it, but instead watched everything happen with a smile. Only after the tiger demon completely stopped moving did the old man relax; his eyes held none of his previous demeanor.

"It seems our village's luck isn't too good." The old man sighed leisurely.

After seeing the other party emerge unharmed from inside, he knew he had finally encountered a tough opponent this time.

And Su Huanhuan didn't deny it, just sized up the old man again with interest and asked:

"You shouldn't be a cultivator. Speak, this method of raising demons—did you pick it up somewhere, or did it come from somewhere else?"

"...Ten years ago, the village suffered a major plague. An itinerant sorcerer came, saying he could save our villagers."

The old man put the string of hand bones around his neck and said slowly.

"But later, several people died after taking his medicine. Only then did we realize that the sorcerer hadn't come to save people, but to kill them... Someone saw him using the villagers' corpses for rituals."

"Perhaps he also didn't expect that we mortals would dare to resist... I secretly gathered the village's able-bodied men and killed him while he was dissecting a corpse."

"But the vast majority of people in the village had taken his medicine. Even if we killed him, it was just waiting for death... until we found a small booklet on his body."

"Inside, there was an incomplete method for raising a demon and consuming its blood to strengthen oneself."

"I see." Su Huanhuan nodded with deep understanding.

"After all, it's all for survival, understandable."

Swish.

Another blood spear blasted through the old man's left hand.

Amidst his muffled groan, his severed left palm still gripped a blood-colored stone ring that had never appeared before.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice your little trick? That would be looking down on me a bit too much."

The old man clutched his severed arm, from which blood flowed like a torrent, his face gradually turning pale.

Su Huanhuan picked up the stone ring, looked at it, then crushed it into powder.

"Let me guess, afterwards, your villagers got a taste of the evil art's benefits. Even though they were detoxified, they still wanted to rely on this evil art for health preservation."

"Especially old people like you, completely unable to refuse the feeling of youth returning to your body... And so, the killing got out of hand."

"You would prioritize feeding those in the village who opposed you to the tiger demon. The others, intimidated by this method and also having tasted the benefits, gradually stopped opposing."

"Then, you leisurely tricked travelers to kill, until you met us..."

"Sigh, the script is probably about the same." Su Huanhuan sighed, feeling rather bored.

"Right now, your villagers have almost run off without a trace. But they don't know I set up an array around here when I arrived. They're just running in circles; not a single one can escape."

"You can indeed consider yourself unlucky to have met me."

"...You're right."

The old man seemed to have nothing much to say. He was already weakly half-kneeling on the ground at this moment, answering with a barely audible breath.

Su Huanhuan looked at him and continued to speak:

"However, what's even unluckier for you is that the method you used is a third-rate piece of trash."

"What you absorbed wasn't just the tiger demon's essence blood, but also the karmic poison accumulated from its human consumption... For you lot who are about to die soon, it doesn't matter."

"But for the children in your village, that's not necessarily the case."

Hearing these words, the old man's expression finally changed.

To this, Su Huanhuan revealed an extremely malicious smile.

"Even without me, you still have to pay for the sins you've committed."

“!!”

The old man's expression instantly became extremely terrified and sorrowful. He staggered, propping himself up with one arm, seemingly wanting to say something to Su Huanhuan.

But under Luo He's gaze, he mumbled with his lips yet couldn't say anything. Finally, two turbid tears streamed down his aged and decrepit face.

“I knew long ago, I knew long ago, this day would come, this day would come...”

He prostrated on the ground twitching painfully, murmuring in a low voice.

“But what way out did we have, what way out did we have, ah...”

“......”

Hearing this, it seemed there was more to the story.

But Su Huanhuan didn't really care.

This village was undoubtedly killing people to raise a demon; the entire village was undoubtedly benefiting.

Was the process that important? Not really.

The old man lost his breath amidst despair and pain.

Once the old man died, the technique restraining the tiger demon naturally vanished along with him.

It crawled out again ferociously, dragging its body heavily injured by Su Huanhuan, limping and roaring as it ran towards the village.

Wherever it went, sounds of tearing bites, miserable screams, and curses rose and fell one after another.

But before long, silence returned.

Su Huanhuan and Luo He walked towards the village interior. They saw that the previous appearance, suitable for old and young alike, had long been drenched blood-red by the pouring blood flow.

However, some children could be seen, collapsed over the bodies of their dead parents.

But they were afraid of making too much noise, fearing they would attract the tiger demon lying prone not far from them.

Su Huanhuan walked towards the tiger demon while saying:

“This little demon beast is really unlucky. Not only was it locked up and raised by people, but the method used on it was also poisonous... Thinking carefully, it's quite pitiful.”

Su Huanhuan ignored the children beside them who were stunned with fear.

The tiger demon wasn't dead, just lying there quietly. But having gone on a killing spree while heavily injured, it was now merely lingering on its last breath.

Its cultivation had reached Crystallization, its spiritual intelligence opened. Having been in this village for a long time, presumably it could understand human speech.

“I didn't expect you'd leave these children alive... Heh, quite benevolent.”

“Since you're so kind-hearted, why not help me out again... I'll borrow your soul spirit for a use.”

A blood spear quietly aimed at it.

Luo He stood to the side, quietly watching all of this.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

One after another, wailing cries appeared out of thin air.

Suddenly, one after another, pained and wailing human faces emerged from within the tiger demon's body.

Along with the appearance of these human faces, it also twisted its body and let out an extremely painful, sorrowful cry.

Those human faces pulled higher and higher on the tiger demon's back, higher and higher, finally breaking directly out of its body, leaving one pouring bloody hole after another.

Afterwards, they suddenly attacked towards Su Huanhuan.