You have mastered the art of thunder and you tell me that it is in a strange world?

Chapter 152 What is the truth?
When Zuo Chen returned to the village, the two demon kings had already extinguished the fire on the big tree in the village. They also dug up the tree that had been contaminated by evil spirits along the roots and put down all the corpses hanging on it.

Hanging on the outermost layer of the tree were the corpses of demon slayers. When the tree fell, the corpses collided with each other, making crackling sounds, like "wind chimes" made of blood and flesh, and the sound of bones knocking against each other.

As the tree fell to the ground, smoke and dust rose up, and the two skulls on the top of the tree crown rolled to the ground, turned into a cloud of ashes and completely disappeared.

It seemed as if their souls were burned out.

The bodies of other people were also burned and deformed, and their specific shapes could not be seen.

According to the old man, the village had hired three groups of demon exorcists. The first one was just a shepherd from a nearby neighborhood. He had some skills, but not much. After one encounter, his limbs were cut off and he was hung on a tree.

The second wave was a little more regular, consisting of a few warriors who were escorting convoys. However, their tactics were not as good as theirs, and they were all burned to death.

Finally, a group of wandering people came here to perform a ritual, trying to use the method passed down by their ancestors to deal with this madman who had lost his mind.

The final result was the same, their heads were chopped off, and even their bodies were smashed to pieces, and their bodies could not be found.

After putting down the bodies of these people, Zhu Laoba used a hoe to throw the tree away and found four people lying inside the trunk.

Two men and two women, two old and two young, an elderly couple and a pair of siblings. They should be the family that Dong Qian mentioned.

After seeing this family of four, Hu Wen felt that Dong Chang's death was too easy.

After they had arranged the bodies, Hu Wen rode out on horseback to inform the villagers.

When the old man among the villagers saw Hu Wen coming back on horseback, tears immediately flowed down his face. The other villagers were the same. They hugged each other and cried. It looked like they were attending a funeral rather than returning to their hometown.

When the villagers returned to the village, the once dead and silent place regained its vitality. The houses that had been away for a short time also welcomed their owners back.

After putting away his things, the old man did not linger in the room for long. He hurriedly found Zuo Chen and his group who were still in the village. He wanted to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude, but was stopped by Hu Wen.

When the old man saw the corpses on the ground, he was so scared that his face turned pale.

"Oh my! This is such a sin! So many people died. That Zhang family member had done so many good things in his life, but they were all stuffed into a tree trunk and burned to death. What a sin! What a sin!"

He grasped his wrist and sighed repeatedly, not knowing whether to cry or curse the culprit as a beast.

After a little thought, Hu Wen told the old man everything about Dong Chang.

After the old man heard this, his expression froze:
"This? The thief turned out to be Dong Chang? His parents always said that he didn't want to leave his hometown, so he wandered around the village and eventually wasted his talent. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this..."

"Dong Chang hasn't told this to anyone else in the village for such a long time?" Hu Wenqi asked.

"...I think he never said that." The old man recalled for a long time: "Dong Qian is a man of few words. He is taciturn. If he doesn't say anything, we naturally can't tell what's on his mind. We can't just run to his house and beat up his parents. That's not a big deal!"

"It is said that his parents were bewitched by people from Du Village and Wushi Village in their early years and became addicted to gambling and drugs. Is this true?"

"It is indeed true. But they both quit a long time ago." The old man nodded: "This is a shameful thing in the village. Their son is a talented man. How can the elders in the village let them harm their child like that? So they organized a meeting and invited several experts who specialize in treating addiction. They spent a lot of money to make them reform. Later, the money that Dong Qian earned from selling calligraphy and paintings was saved by the old couple after he paid off the famine. They also said that they would go to the Zhang family to propose marriage next year..."

Hu Wen frowned as he listened to the old man's description.

The implicit meaning of this statement is in great contradiction with Dong Chang's own statement.

Could it be that Dong Chang lied at that time?

"Didn't the couple imprison Dong at that time?"

"How is that possible? People from our village often visit them. Dong Chang is a quiet kid, but if he was really tied up, you can tell at a glance."

If Dong Chang had not been imprisoned and had really encountered the things he described, he would probably have run away.

strange!
Hu Wen just felt that something was not right with the words, but he really couldn't figure out why.

Zuo Chen, who had been listening to the whole process, frowned slightly after thinking for a moment, as if he had thought of something.

After sighing for a few words, the old man wanted to keep everyone here for the banquet.

As the benefactor who saved the village, if he is not even invited to a banquet, wouldn’t the other nearby villages laugh at him if this got out?

However, Zuo Chen declined the invitation.

After learning that there might be a sea of ​​suffering in the north, we now have to get to the northern fortress as soon as possible.

You can slay demons and monsters on the road, and settle some injustices. You can also eat three meals a day, sit and chat, and have a banquet temporarily.

This kind of grand banquet in the village lasts for three or four days, which is a bit of a waste of time.

I promised the old man that if I had the chance to come here again next time, I would have a drink with him.

So, with the villagers expressing their gratitude, the group continued on their way towards Shangbao City.

While walking on the road, Hu Wen was still thinking about what happened just now. His mind was full of confusion and his thoughts were not very clear. He saw Zuo Chen kicking something in his palm, so he asked:
"Master, what do you think of what happened in the village just now?"

"You mean the scholar named Dong Chan's words are contradictory, right?"

"Indeed." Hu Wen nodded. "Although the person is already dead, it seems that there is no point in finding out the truth, but my thoughts are stuck in my heart and I am really unhappy. Taoist priest, you are very capable, can you see anything unusual?"

"Put your hand over here."

Zuo Chen did not directly answer Hu Wen's words, but took out a mud ball wrapped in flower petals.

Hu Wen was a little puzzled, but he still controlled the speed of the horse and let the horse walk side by side with Donkey Grandpa. Then he stretched out his hand and touched the mud ball at the signal of Zuo Chen's eyes.

The moment his fingers touched the mud ball, Hu Wen felt an indescribable emotion rising in his heart.

All the malice, negativity, and dirty thoughts in his memory came rushing out all at once, filling his head almost in the blink of an eye.

He thought of the time when he was a child, when he was playing and broke his uncle's vase. His uncle was furious and beat him severely. Then he threw him into the confinement room and locked him up for three days, starving him half to death.

He thought of some big cities in Youzhou that were ruled by Kyoto bureaucrats and exploited the people, but they had no way to stop them and could only let them abuse their power.

He also thought of the soldiers on the front line who, when faced with the foul water, had pale faces, were so scared that they ran away in panic, throwing away their helmets and armor. They were simply a group of spineless cowards who deserved to be executed!
These negative emotions were like waves, washing away the dam of his reason. But when these emotions were about to burst, a breeze blew towards him, filling his heart with flowers.

He withdrew his hand as if he had been electrocuted.

Hu Wen's eyes were filled with horror, he was breathing heavily, and his face turned pale with fear.

"This...what is this?"

"This is the sea of ​​suffering." Zuo Chen said, "How do you feel?"

"It's very bad." Hu Wen said honestly: "He magnified all the karma in my life. It was just a few small things, but it seemed to be exaggerated and ruined my moral character."

When he broke the vase, he was indeed locked up in the solitary confinement room, but he still had meals every day in the solitary confinement room. Even after he was released on the third day, his uncle personally apologized to him, saying that he was too impulsive at the time and should not have been so mean to him.

Not every bureaucrat from Kyoto is full of malicious intent. Some of them are still working diligently and pragmatically, and can be considered good and honest officials.

Finally, there was the soldier who was frightened and ran away.

There was only one recruit at the time. When he saw the horrific monster, he was so scared that he turned around and wanted to run away.

But the soldier finally died in the battle against the evil.

The wound is on the front.

"What is sealed here is the Sea of ​​Bitterness, and it is also the culprit that made Dong Chang become like that." Zuo Chen said.

After hearing what Zuo Chen said, Hu Wen finally showed some understanding on his face.

I already have some guesses in my mind.

"Maybe things are really as Dong Chang said, his parents did not take the right path, and they still exploited him, eventually forcing him to become like this, or maybe the old man just now was lying, and the whole village forced him to become a demon.

"Of course, it's also possible that the malice of this bitter sea wiped out all the good thoughts in his mind, leaving him with only a madman who burned everyone in his thoughts."

Zuo Chen turned his hand and collected the mud pill: "But now the person is dead, even the three souls and seven spirits have been scattered. No one knows which one it is."

“But I have made one thing clear.”

"Ok?"

"If there was no so-called Buddha, things in the village wouldn't have turned out like this."

When Hu Wen said this, his face became a little gloomy:

"Someone is actively using the sea of ​​suffering to cause chaos in the world."

"I think that monk is Zuo Changqing, the Smiling Buddha from Little Joy," Caiyi, who was standing next to him, suddenly said, "Little Joy is just like Wu Xiangwang. They are not good people and are likely to go out of their way to cause disasters."

"But what are they trying to achieve?" Zhu Laoba scratched his head. "Let the Sea of ​​Bitterness destroy the world successfully? Isn't that wrong? If the entire Central Continent is swallowed up, how can they survive?"

"Who knows?" Caiyi couldn't figure it out either.

Zuo Chen, on the other hand, fell into deep thought for a few seconds after hearing what Zhu Laoba said:

"After seeing this drop of bitter sea, I have a guess. Maybe it can explain their behavior."

(End of this chapter)