The elderly village chief's eyes widened abruptly. He dropped to his knees before the bloodstained idol with a swift motion.
"Brilliant and valiant Anxi General! Brilliant and valiant Anxi General, spare me! I acted foolishly, blinded by greed, forgetting the General's kindness!"
While speaking, the village chief slapped himself hard across the face with loud smacks. His old face quickly turned red from the force.
Cursing himself and striking his own face, he beat himself so savagely that his head became bloodied. Such a bizarre scene left even the Taoists from the Upper Clarity sect startled.
Chilling air seeped out from the ancestral hall.
The villagers gathered outside the hall had, at some indiscernible moment, scattered in panic, leaving fallen leaves littering the ground.
Chen Yi turned his head and noticed that the surrounding walls had darkened. The peeling paint flaked off more, and the black stains deepened.
