"This is impossible! How can there be so many corpses of Yomi Guides? Has Ichiro Matsushita become this strong?" Doubts about Ichiro Matsushita spread throughout the village.
Even Village Headman Takahashi Jiro's eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked toward Mikamitsu Shirabe, but the latter revealed no expression.
Then—
Third!
Fourth!
Fifth!
One after another, Yomi Guides hunted by Ichiro Matsushita's group were displayed at the village entrance.
The biggest one was personally brought down by Ichiro Matsushita himself.
Seventeen point eight meters!
That was just terrifying!
"It seems this time the champion must be Ichiro Matsushita!" Takahashi Jiro exclaimed in admiration.
At that moment, old man Shizhi Xiao finally arrived from afar! There were four of them in total. Along with Shizhi Xiao's teammate, there were Chunjiao and Zhiming.
Together, the four carried a massive corpse of a Yomi Guide.
This one was pitch-black all over, its body stretching across the entire Dahuang Wilderness. Judging from its skin color, its hideous hardness absolutely surpassed anyone else's trophies!
Not a single villager dared to speak anymore.
Such a person who could kill such a powerful Yomi Guide didn't need their casual comments.
Takahashi Jiro stepped forward as the referee to examine the trophy.
"Twenty-three point eight meters!"
The village fell silent. Mikamitsu Shirabe cast an approving glance at Shizhi Xiao.
"This is a miracle! It's the first time in Peach Blossom Village that we've seen a Yomi Guide over twenty meters! That's truly glorious!" Mikamitsu Shirabe stood up.
"If Xiao Shizhi has won this championship, let's present him the reward then," said Mikamitsu Shirabe while clapping for him, though his eyes suspiciously gazed toward the distance.
Strange?
"Why hasn't that mysterious guy returned yet?"
Outside the village.
Ye Liang, watching the ceremony almost finish, quietly squatted on a hilltop, shaking his leg restlessly.
"Lord Ye Liang, why don't you go personally to claim your credit? That Yomi Guide over twenty-three meters was clearly defeated by you," Uzumaki Nao looked at Ye Liang, puzzled.
Although they hadn't submitted a Yomi Leader, they had still slain a giant Yomi Guide nearly comparable. However, Ye Liang had not delivered it to the village, choosing instead to give it to Shizhi Xiao who traveled with him. This confused her.
"The tallest tree catches the most wind. Don't you get it?" Ye Liang said simply.
Actually, he feared that Mikamitsu Shirabe would discover what he had done—that he devoured the power of a Yomi Leader!
His strength had increased far too rapidly!
If Mikamitsu Shirabe sensed something, unnecessary trouble might arise.
Arriving at the village entrance.
Village Headman Takahashi Jiro was still waiting here. Seeing Ye Liang and others arrive, he smiled and walked forward, "You came back way too late. Didn't manage to bag even a single Yomigami?"
"Grandpa Village Headman, we just had extremely bad luck! Nothing we could do," shrugged Uzumaki Nao helplessly.
"Hahaha! You two are really unlucky then."
The old village headman smiled and hurriedly ushered them inside. "By the way, they're having a celebration banquet inside. You two should hurry in; you'll still make it."
"Okay, Grandpa Village Headman," Nao Uzumaki immediately responded.
Just then, Takahashi Jiro looked at Ye Liang's retreating figure and suddenly asked in confusion, "Kid, have you seen my son? He left with you guys, but hasn't returned yet."
Son?
Ye Liang wasn't quite sure what the old man meant.
But Nao Uzumaki answered for him, "After we left the village, we went straight to the watering hole for wild beasts. Your older brother Takahashi seemed to have gone deeper with Matsushita; we didn't see him."
"I see," the Village Headman nodded. "Then I'll ask Matsushita about it later."
He waved his hand, letting Ye Liang and the others go on their way.
After a while, the two entered the village.
"Na Xu, who is the Village Headman's son? Have I met him before?" Ye Liang asked curiously.
"He's that dark-skinned, thin guy with a gloomy appearance," Nao Uzumaki explained. "Honestly speaking, Grandpa Village Headman is quite nice, but his son... Not so much!"
"There's something perverted about him."
Dark, thin, and gloomy?
Ye Liang's eyes suddenly flickered with realization.
You've got to be kidding me!
Isn't that the guy whose wife cheated on him?
A couple days ago, he had just killed the Thunder Wizard whose wife cheated on him—a dark-skinned, thin, and creepy fellow!
"Does he happen to possess some power controlling thunder?" Ye Liang asked awkwardly.
"Why? Have you met him?"
"Of course not! I just vaguely remember someone like that when I first left the village!"
"Really? I thought you might've actually met him."
Ye Liang was almost sweating cold beads by now!
It wasn't because he feared offending the old village chief, but rather a guilty conscience kind of feeling. After all, killing someone and stealing their treasures wasn't exactly honorable behavior, and he'd done something particularly foolish too!
That guy—the Village Headman's son—had watched his wife's embarrassing moment together...
Ye Liang chuckled uncomfortably.
"Come on, come on! I'm starving. Let's quickly head to the celebration banquet."
...
Evening arrived.
Ye Liang sat on his bed, starting to piece things together.
It was known that after bonding with Yomigami, one couldn't leave the village anymore, or else suffer backlash from Yomi's powers. However, carrying an Exit Village Token could prevent this mishap.
Thinking about this, he pulled out the Exit Village Token from inside his robe.
Round and flat, it bore engraved characters reading 'Peach Garden.'
"Could there be some mysterious restriction seal upon it?" Determined to investigate the truth behind Yomigami's powers, Ye Liang infused his consciousness along with Death Qi into the token.
"It feels like ordinary wood, seemingly normal enough." The texture didn't feel special at all, and only a tiny bit of energy could be injected.
"Let me try increasing the force."
He intensified the energy pouring in. Thin strands of faint gray mist surged from Ye Liang's body, gradually enveloping the entire plaque.
"There seems to be some sort of strange red power inside."
After a long while, Ye Liang finally opened his eyes.
His consciousness had inexplicably stopped at the touch of this strange red energy — no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't break through or absorb even the smallest bit of it.
It felt weak at first, yet utterly impenetrable.
This red force was incredibly powerful!
It dwarfed the power of the Yomi Leader by an unfathomable degree!
"This must've been crafted by some mighty expert—could it actually be one of the Yomi deities?!" Ye Liang gritted his teeth and pushed harder, pouring all his spiritual energy into it this time.
It felt just like piercing through a thin membrane of forbidden boundaries!
He broke through!
"Sh*t! What just happened?!"
He had only intended to lightly probe the Exit Village Token, never expecting that with just a little force, it would pull his consciousness in instead! His entire being was sucked straight into that red energy!
Everything went dark!
After what felt like hours, Ye Liang slowly opened his eyes.
What greeted him wasn't the ceiling of his villa back in the village, but an endless expanse of wilderness with not a single building in sight!
He had actually left the village!
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