224: Dead Town

The place where Tang Ku and his companions were located belonged to Jiannan Dao, West Sichuan, in the region of Shuzhou. It was extremely rich in produce and home to many ethnic minorities.

Of course, many Han people lived here too, and the town they were looking at was primarily inhabited by Han people.

This place was exceptionally prosperous. The archway at the town entrance had a couplet on it: the first line read, "Rivers enter Shu, goods abundant and people prosperous, people peaceful and happy"; the second line read, "Ba exits Yi, wealth flourishing and people thriving." Right in the center, it was inscribed with "Honglai Town."

It could be said that although this town was not famous, based on this couplet alone, it was definitely a wealthy place.

Brick was sniffing around everywhere as they slowly walked into the archway. It was noon, yet there wasn't even a trace of living people on the main street. All the stalls were set up, all the shops had their doors open, and on a live poultry stall on the main street, there were even black silkie chickens clucking.

If it weren't for the lack of people, everything here would be almost normal.

However, that dense Death Qi and Evil Qi had actually begun to affect even an ordinary person like Wei Zheng.

"'People thriving,' my foot! I'd say it's more like people extinct!" Nezha frowned and said.

"Hmm, although there is no blood to be seen here, the stench of blood is extremely heavy... What kind of demon could have taken all the people in the entire town..." Wei Zheng couldn't find the words to describe it.

After all, although he was knowledgeable, this was the first time he had seen such a bizarre situation. He really didn't know whether the commoners in this town were dead or had been abducted by monsters.

"I have heard that in the land of Sichuan and Shu, there was once a great demon named the Youquan Blood Demon. He was originally a righteous Cultivator, but because of greed, he fell into the Demonic Path. He used a sea of blood as his true form and cultivated by absorbing the essence and blood of living people. He was a Devil Head who slaughtered countless people. Many righteous people in Shu Mountain fell victim to him!" Xingyunzi said.

"Youquan Blood Demon, such a familiar name..." Tang Ku narrowed his eyes slightly.

In his past life, he had read the "Shu Mountain" series by Huanzhu Louzhu, which mentioned the Youquan Old Monster and also mentioned the Blood Demon. It could be said that these were two completely different characters.

It was only in Old Monster Xu's "The Legend of Zu" that these two names were combined. In it, there was a monster that looked like it was made of octopuses and vines, called the Youquan Old Monster. After killing people, it controlled thousands of skeletons to take form, and later entered the Blood Cave, merging with the sea of blood to become the Youquan Blood Demon.

In other words, since Xingyunzi could say the name Youquan Blood Demon, it meant that this character definitely existed, and it was very likely related to this village massacre incident.

As for the claim that he was originally a righteous Cultivator, this was the first time Tang Ku had heard of it, but combined with the reaction of Shu Mountain, it was not hard to guess his origins...

"Heh, so that's how it is. No wonder you weren't willing to make a move... Heh, very good, very good. Playing it safe, are we? You should know the consequences of doing this!" Tang Ku already had some killing intent in his eyes, but he instantly hid it.

Wei Zheng suddenly jumped off Brick's back and walked straight toward a building. The houses there were orderly, and looking from the main entrance, it seemed that a portrait was enshrined inside.

Tang Ku glanced over and saw that it was indeed a portrait of the Sage of Literature, Confucius, and couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Immediately, everyone jumped down and followed Wei Zheng to the front of this building, only to see the plaque above it inscribed with the two characters "Zengyi."

"This is an academy!" Wei Zheng said in a deep voice. "Look, on this table are the words of the Saint, and all the students have opened to the same page. In other words, it should be noon or afternoon right now, the time when classes are held in the academy!"

Tang Ku was stunned, then immediately followed the old man into the academy.

Walking to a table, he saw a cloth bag on the ground that looked bulging, and it seemed that there were similar packages behind several other desks.

Wei Zheng reached out to lift a corner of the package, but was stopped by Tang Ku, who signaled to Nezha.

Nezha understood and suddenly struck with his Fire Tipped Spear, flipping the package open. Two hard, dry steamed buns rolled out, one of which was even moldy, along with some dried meat and a shriveled tender bamboo shoot...

"It must be noon!" Wei Zheng frowned and said. "These children carrying food must live far away from here. They couldn't make it home for lunch in time, so they just made do with a meal here in this schoolhouse, waiting to go home after finishing their studies in the afternoon..."

"This happened in broad daylight... Heh, what an arrogant demon!" Nezha suddenly sneered. "Don't let this young master find it, otherwise I'll stab it into meat paste!"

"From the moment we entered the town to now, I've made a rough estimate. Just in this core part alone, more than four or five hundred people have gone missing, and that's not counting the pedestrians wandering the streets..." Wei Zheng said in a deep voice. "If those Cultivators from Shu Mountain were still around, let alone whether they would take action or not, for a demon to act so brazenly in broad daylight is enough to show that there is also a problem within Shu Mountain, and it's even very possible that..."

"It's very possible that the practitioners in Shu Mountain are already dead!" Nezha carried his spear and walked outside. "There's nothing more to see by staying here. Let's go into the mountains and take a look, and we'll see clearly!"

Xingyunzi's face was full of worry: "With such a powerful demon, can we manage it?"

Wei Zheng, however, patted his shoulder and said: "Don't worry, with the Holy Monk here, he will definitely keep us safe!"

Xingyunzi shook his head with a bitter smile and followed the others out the door. Tang Ku patted Brick's head and said: "Do you see that mountain in front? Take us in to take a look!"

The monster nodded, suddenly pricked up its ears, looked in one direction, and its claws suddenly scratched the ground, quite nervous as if facing a threat.

"What is it, did you find something?" Tang Ku followed its gaze and suddenly saw a cyan light flash in the mid-air to the northwest, followed by a deafening explosion.

"Boom!"

The entire town seemed to shake with this explosion, but it soon returned to calm. Then, in that same direction, a strange sound like a wild beast or wind howling suddenly erupted. A blood-red, sharp Evil Qi appeared and disappeared in an instant, and immediately after, a large area of houses in the northwest corner collapsed.

Before Tang Ku could say anything, the hate-evil-hating Nezha had already raised his Fire Tipped Spear and flew over on his Wind Fire Wheels, shouting: "You guys come slowly, I'll go check it out first..."

Swish!

The speed of the Wind Fire Wheels was so fast that they disappeared before everyone's eyes in the blink of an eye. The group had no choice but to follow closely behind.

However, before they could get close to the scene, they saw a man and a woman holding long swords, crashing from the sky to the ground in a sorry state.

Fortunately, both of them seemed to be practitioners, and their physical fitness was extremely high. Although they landed face-first, they didn't suffer any injuries. The two raised their heads in panic, only to see Nezha standing with his spear, angrily scolding them: "Damn it, do you two know what's good for you? Daring to attack this Prince? Tired of living, are you!"