Chapter 131: Stunned, Are All the People on Bad Terms Collapsing?

Liu Datou was slightly stronger than Wang Tianjie, but his injuries were far more severe. Large patches of his thick beard had been ripped away, and his face was a bloody, mangled mess, making him look truly terrifying.

Hearing Lin Yi’s words, Liu Datou let out a series of garbled, agonizing sounds, unable to speak a coherent word because his teeth had all been knocked out.

In the end, after a moment’s thought, Lin Yi stepped forward and delivered a direct kick to Liu Datou’s head. With a dull thud, Liu Datou rolled over and fell silent, never to stir again.

Seeing that the enemy had been dealt with, Lin Yi turned to An Yingxiong and Master Mu. "Old man, I can't hold on much longer. I need to dismantle the Nine Nether Array immediately and retrieve the array disk; otherwise, there’s no telling how many more people might die."

"Could you... perhaps hold off for a moment?" Master Mu asked. "There are several other Grandmasters who aren't exactly on good terms with us. If we could capture them, that would be wonderful. Say, Lin Yi, I still have some medicinal pills on me. Why don't you take a couple to keep your strength up, and then... help us out? Ahem, ahem..."

Master Mu was truly a cunning strategist. An Yingxiong hadn't even thought of this, and even Lin Yi had momentarily overlooked it. Lin Yi wasn't particularly worried, though; he possessed a variety of pills, his body had exceptional recovery capabilities, and he still had the Spirit Well. Still, why not take advantage of the opportunity? He accepted the pills from Master Mu and nodded. "I think I can manage."

An Yingxiong opened his mouth to protest, not wanting Lin Yi to take further risks, but seeing the two of them grinning, he eventually decided to go along with it.

The three of them continued onward. Lin Yi found an excuse to step away, and in a blink, he shifted his consciousness into the mysterious space of the *Scripture of Beheading Gods*, heading straight for the Spirit Well. Bathed in the spirit water, Lin Yi felt a sense of "destruction followed by rebirth"; his body felt even better than before, and he emerged radiating vitality.

When he reappeared before An Yingxiong and Master Mu, the two old men were thoroughly shocked. Master Mu, in particular, couldn't fathom it—could the pills he’d given Lin Yi really be that potent? He had taken them himself in the past, yet his recovery was never that fast. However, Lin Yi had brought them so many miracles that Master Mu soon became accustomed to it.

Using the same method, Lin Yi deployed the flags of the Nine Nether Array to take down the remaining seven Grandmasters. Only four Grandmasters remained who were already on friendly terms with An Yingxiong and Master Mu, so Lin Yi spared them from the array’s wrath. Throughout the process, Lin Yi gained a more complete mastery over the Nine Nether Array, with each subsequent backlash becoming less severe. In the end, including Wang Tianjie, a total of ten Grandmasters had been defeated by Lin Yi. At his request, Master Mu recorded the entire ordeal, waiting for the time to present the evidence for rewards.

Finally, they brought all the Grandmasters back to where Wang Tianjie was. With Master Mu filming, Lin Yi and An Yingxiong began the interrogation. While Wang Tianjie was still trapped in the nightmares induced by the Nightmare Talisman, Lin Yi stepped up and pummeled him, triggering the nightmares in his mind and forcing him to spill the plan.

"I... Elder Liu He found me... I saw that Elder Liu He had great ambition, which aligned perfectly with my own. He said he knew that the female corpse in the deserted village could only produce Stone Pills—which grant eternal youth—through a special secret technique. I believed him and collaborated with him. Besides, I wanted to kill An Yingxiong, Master Mu, and that cursed Lin Yi, so..."

It was clear that even Wang Tianjie did not know that Liu He was actually a Lesser Nightmare Demon. Nevertheless, they now had the evidence.

Under further interrogation, and guided by Lin Yi’s questioning, Wang Tianjie confessed that there were other demons and monsters posing as official members within the Hehe City Supernatural Investigation Bureau. He also revealed several small, dark secrets regarding the leaders of the bureau. Wang Tianjie had effectively exposed everything. With this recording, even the true Director of the Hehe City bureau couldn't protect him; he had thoroughly offended far too many people.

After consulting with Master Mu and the others, they decided to deal with Wang Tianjie once and for all. Since he had intended to kill everyone, they would show no mercy. The Nine Nether Array was activated once more; amidst Wang Tianjie’s agonizing screams, the ominous energy of the array and the Nightmare Talisman converged, completely stripping away his cultivation and power, reducing him to an ordinary person. Whether he would survive was unknown, but Master Mu insisted that he be locked away in the Demon Prison.

Afterward, Lin Yi claimed he was going to tend to his wounds, but in reality, he went to dismantle the array disk. During this process, the "bug-level" purification ability of the *Scripture of Beheading Gods* shone with brilliant effect. As Lin Yi gathered the flags and the array disk, the Shanghe Village, which had been shrouded in ominous energy and thick black fog, returned to complete clarity. Lin Yi grinned as he walked toward An Yingxiong and Master Mu in the distance.

...

Ouyang Ran was a journalist. She had come to Shanghe Village that day simply because she had relatives there. She never imagined that this visit would nearly cost her her life. When the chaos erupted, she and several villagers were trapped, and it was only thanks to An Yingxiong and his group that they were rescued. Lin Yi had been part of the team escorting them to safety.

When Ouyang Ran saw villagers being consumed by the black mist, turning into raving lunatics, she trembled so violently she nearly lost control of her bladder. Fortunately, when Lin Yi protected her, he didn't hold back his power, shielding her so closely that she didn't experience the worst of it. But she would never forget the moment she and the other villagers huddled in the darkness, the mist touching her, causing a surge of panic and every negative emotion she had to explode. She never wanted to experience that again.

She and the villagers were eventually moved to safety to reunite with their families. When Bai Ke and the others arrived, along with many other cultivators, Ouyang Ran, a rookie journalist, realized that the world was not as she had understood it. There were too many monsters and spirits she had never heard of or seen before. Thinking back to the red mist that had obscured the sky, she felt a growing fear for the future. Yet, remembering the cultivators who had protected them, she felt a sudden warmth in her heart.

She recalled a phrase circulating online: "In places you don't know, there are many people silently paying the price." There is no such thing as a peaceful life; it is simply that others are carrying the burden for you. Ouyang Ran had once thought those people were far away, but now she knew—those who paid the price were right beside her. What did it matter if they were eccentric or unusual? They had risked their lives for them. For that alone, they were honorable and lovable people.

Waiting outside for a long time without seeing Lin Yi and his group emerge, Ouyang Ran felt like crying. But suddenly, before them, the strands of black mist seemed to be absorbed by something, rapidly vanishing and shrinking in range. Only then did Ouyang Ran finally relax.

Soon after, they saw that Shanghe Village had returned to its original state. Many houses had been destroyed or overturned, and on the wide village road, the young man and the two old men who had saved them appeared—with many people lying scattered around them.

Ouyang Ran couldn't help but shiver. Just then, voices rose from the crowd:

"What the... isn't that our Elder? Why is he lying on the ground?"

"No way, that’s the leader of the Whale Gang! My god, what happened to him? His beard is gone, and his face is covered in blood?"

"Wait, is that our Sect Master? What does this mean? Why is our Sect Master on the ground, while those people from the Shengjing City Supernatural Investigation Bureau are standing there perfectly fine?"

"Say no more, look over there! Those are the people from the Wuyue Sect. See? They’re fine, their elder is completely unharmed!"

...

Excluding An Yingxiong and Master Mu, there had been fourteen Grandmasters in total. Aside from the four who were on good terms with them, the other ten were now lying scattered at their feet. This sight was a massive shock to the many people who had been watching and waiting.

Some observers, watching in stunned silence, pointed forward with trembling fingers. "Something’s wrong. Other than those four from the Wuyue Sect and the others, why are all the other Grandmasters sprawled out there? Can someone give me an answer?!"

As this realization spread, many faces turned pale. They had finally grasped the situation: those who were close to An Yingxiong and Master Mu were fine, merely looking dazed, while those who were hostile to them or had grudges against the Investigation Bureau were all on the ground, their fates unknown.

It was obvious that something was amiss. Looking at Wang Tianjie and the others, it was clear they were bound by ropes and placed right beside An Yingxiong’s group. Even the dimmest person could tell that this had everything to do with them. They were undoubtedly the ones behind it all.