165: Chapter 166 The Taiping Sect, Sealed and Severed Thoughts

As soon as the The Woodcutter saw everyone, he spoke up directly, "I know you have many doubts right now, but what I want to tell you is that due to some unexpected changes, you don't have much time left. You had better make plans early."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present changed in unison.

Captain Yang was the first to speak, his tone carrying clear suspicion, "What do you mean 'not much time left'? Make yourself clear."

The others also cast scrutinizing glances at him, especially Lin Ye.

From the moment this The Woodcutter first appeared, he had exuded an indescribable, mysterious air. He was clearly not a living person, yet he possessed no evil qi whatsoever.

Despite claiming to be just a The Woodcutter who had wandered in by mistake, he was able to appear and disappear like a ghost.

To what extent they could trust the words of such a person, or rather, such an existence, was truly a question.

The The Woodcutter ignored Captain Yang's questioning and instead walked slowly to the center of the courtyard, looking up at the sky.

It was currently daytime, and the sunlight fell upon his grey cloth clothing, casting a faint shadow.

The shadow was very faint, so faint it was almost transparent, looking as if it could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"You should have all felt it by now, haven't you?" He turned around, his gaze sweeping across their faces.

"Your bodies are aging day by day."

These words struck the chord of the deepest worry in everyone's hearts.

Captain Zhang subconsciously touched his wrinkled face, his fingers trembling slightly.

Aside from Lin Ye, he was the first person to enter this house, and he was also the one who most clearly felt his life force draining away.

In just a few days, he looked as if he had aged ten years.

"This house..." Old Man Shen suddenly spoke, his voice deep.

"As long as we stay in this house, our Lifespan will be drained?"

Hearing this, the The Woodcutter nodded and did not deny it. "This house is the hub of the entire Formation. Maintaining the Formation's operation requires energy."

"The moment you entered the house to receive protection, your Lifespan was automatically integrated into the Formation's cycle. This is the price!"

"However..."

Speaking to this point, the The Woodcutter paused, his gaze sweeping over Lin Ye, seemingly intentionally or otherwise.

"Even if you don't stay in the house, your Lifespan will still be drained, only at a slightly slower rate."

Hearing this, Captain Yang's face instantly turned ashen.

He had been staying in the house for the past few days, completely ignoring Lin Ye's warnings.

Now that Lin Ye's suspicion had been verified, he regretted his actions to the core.

If not for the fact that he couldn't see through the person before him, he would probably have already drawn his blade and slashed at him.

However, one of the more hot-tempered Captains drew his long saber and was about to make a move, but he was stopped by Old Man Shen.

"Enough. Our Lifespan has already been drained, so there is no point in dwelling on it now. The key is how to leave this place!"

Hearing this, although that Captain was still somewhat indignant, he still sheathed his long saber.

"Who on earth are you? Or rather, what role do you actually play here?" Lin Ye spoke up at this moment, his eyes staring straight into the The Woodcutter's eyes.

"You said before that you were a The Woodcutter from the mountains who wandered in by mistake."

"But if you were just an ordinary person, it would be impossible for you to know so much. Therefore, you are lying."

"Yes, who on earth are you? And what is with this Formation you speak of?"

At this moment, the others also came to their senses and began to question him one after another.

The The Woodcutter fell silent for a moment. A sharp glint suddenly flashed across his seemingly cloudy eyes,

a flash that vanished in an instant, but was still caught by Lin Ye.

"Indeed, I am certainly no ordinary The Woodcutter." The The Woodcutter raised his head, as if reminiscing about the past.

"I come from the Taiping Sect!"

The Taiping Sect!

As these three words fell, it was like throwing a stone into a calm lake, instantly stirring up ripples.

Several Demon Suppression Captains looked at each other, shock flashing in their eyes, followed by an even greater sense of wariness!

The Taiping Sect was an evil cult active a hundred years ago, which had once nearly overthrown the imperial court.

However, hadn't this organization been rooted out and destroyed by the Great Han a century ago? How could it possibly appear here?

Had they not been veterans of the Demon Suppression Division who had read about the history of the Taiping Sect in the archives, they might have even assumed it was just a legend.

"You are a remnant of the Taiping Sect?!" Captain Yang's tone immediately became sharp, and his hand even unconsciously pressed against the hilt of his saber.

"Could it be that you are the source of this anomaly?!"

"Calm down." Old Man Shen reached out to press down on Captain Yang's hand, while his gaze remained fixed on the The Woodcutter.

"Let him finish speaking."

"Remnants? Heh, in your eyes, we indeed qualify as remnants."

"The The Woodcutter turned a blind eye to Captain Yang's hostility, or rather, he was already used to such a reaction."

"But you are wrong about one thing. When it comes to Demons, our Taiping Sect shares the exact same attitude as your imperial court!"

His voice was calm and slow, as if he were recounting a past event that had nothing to do with him.

"A year ago, I passed by this place by chance."

"At that time, the situation here was slightly better than it is now, but the anomaly had already emerged."

"I spent three months and finally found the source of the anomaly."

"It was an extremely powerful Demon, entrenched in the deepest part of this village, feeding on the resentment of the deceased villagers, slowly growing."

"I attempted to slay it, but its power was far beyond my imagination."

"With my strength at the time, let alone slaying it, I couldn't even get close to its true body."

"So, I changed my approach. Since I couldn't kill it, I would Seal it to prevent it from continuing to grow."

"Thus, I utilized a Taiping Sect Secret Technique to connect the resentment of all the tragically deceased villagers in this village. Using that resentment as a foundation and myself as the hub, I constructed the Sealed Dust Severed Thought Array."

"With the help of this Formation, I successfully sealed that Demon, and by contesting the villagers' resentment, I began to wear down its power."

"However, this is a long process that might take ten, twenty, or even more years. But as long as the Formation is not broken, that Demon will never truly awaken."

"In fact, the moment you entered this area, I had already sensed it."

"Originally, your presence was helpful to my Formation."

"Your life force could replenish the Formation's consumption, while also helping me accelerate the wear-down of the Demon."

"In return, I opened this house to you as a sanctuary, giving you a safe place to take shelter at night."

"However, what I absolutely did not expect was..."

Speaking to this point, his tone suddenly became solemn.

"The leader of your group was too powerful, and he even had a Spiritual Artifact with him."

"Protected by the Spiritual Artifact, he was not pulled into this Formation but instead kept fighting the remnant thoughts of that Demon in the grey mist."

"Ultimately, this inevitably awakened the true body of the Demon."

As the The Woodcutter said this, a bitter smile couldn't help but appear on his face.