Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 271 The Revenge of the Lady in Green (8.4k)

Hearing Li Qiuyu's words, Gu Chudong was somewhat surprised and asked, "Such a big matter, even if the local government can't investigate it, they can report it to higher authorities, so why aren't they doing anything about it?"

Li Qiuyu smiled helplessly and said, "Miss Gu, let alone the government, even for ordinary martial arts forces like ours, once there are many people and the rules are set, a large number of people will seek to avoid mistakes rather than make contributions."

Anyway, no one died and the matter won't escalate much, so everyone's turning a blind eye. In a few years, their terms will expire and they'll all leave. If we try to manage it, it'll be fine if we can, but if we can't, it'll be a real problem, and they might even ruin their futures.

Gu Chudong frowned and said, "But many things are actually small matters at the beginning and can be handled, but over time, they may really cause a big disaster."

Gu Mo picked up the thread and said, "It's like a game of musical chairs. Everyone at the front is gambling, and when it finally reaches someone's hands, the truth can't be hidden anymore, and that person has to bear the consequences."

Li Qiuyu nodded and said, "It is indeed as Master Gu said. On a small scale, this is true for a county town. On a larger scale, isn't it the same for a country? There are many things that the officials in the court are not unaware of, but they pretend not to know. Everyone is betting that it won't happen during their tenure."

Gu Chudong asked, "You mean... a rebellion?"

Li Qiuyu's expression changed slightly, and she quickly said, "Miss Gu, please be careful with your words!"

Gu Chudong didn't think anything of it, because when she was in the capital, she had said in front of Emperor Qian that if the people rebelled, it would be because the emperor was not doing his job and the officials in the court were accomplices.

However, she also knew that the reason she could say those things, and why the Emperor Qian would smile and say she was right, wasn't because the Emperor truly approved of or appreciated her words, but mainly because her brother was Gu Mo.

Although Li Qiuyu was a master of martial arts, he ultimately had no power to escape the rules of the country and dared not speak carelessly about these sensitive matters.

So Gu Chudong stopped talking.

The atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Gu Mo said, "If that's what Chief Li says, then seeking help from the government is pointless. Let's go directly to Qingyi Village and take a look!"

Li Qiuyu chuckled and said, “If we go to the government, they will definitely pass the buck. But if you, Hero Gu, go, I guarantee that even the county magistrate will have to go to Qingyi Village to investigate. You are a great hero of Qian Kingdom. Not to mention the county magistrate, if you have any requests, even the governor of Yunzhou will have to accompany you.”

Gu Mo shook his head and said, "There's no need for that. From what you've said, this Qingyi Village is quite eerie. It's best to have fewer people go in to minimize the risk!"

Subsequently,

Li Qiuyu personally led the way, taking Gu Mo and his group to a very remote mountain village. Because it was so remote, by the time they arrived, it was already evening, and the sun was about to set.

Along the way,

Much of the land outside the village is abandoned.

Such a situation is rare in this world. Not to mention good fields and soil, any place with even a little soil that can grow crops will never be abandoned. In this era, ordinary people rely on growing crops in the fields to survive.

However, the situation in Qingyi Village is now special. Many of the able-bodied men in the village have lost their souls, so naturally, there is a lack of people to cultivate these lands.

but,

When they entered Qingyi Village, they saw rows of houses with green tiles and white walls that shone softly in the warm sun. Strings of corn and red peppers hanging from the eaves swayed gently in the wind. Several old locust trees were shedding their fine green leaves, and children in twos and threes were chasing each other and rolling iron hoops under the trees. Their silvery laughter startled the sparrows perched on the eaves.

Contrary to their initial expectations of a harsh environment, the scene was one of contentment and prosperity.

The group couldn't help but look at Li Qiuyu.

Li Qiuyu was also full of surprise, saying, "I haven't been here in person either. I just sent someone to inquire about the news about Qingyi Village, but I don't know anything about the living conditions of the villagers."

At this point, Li Qiuyu paused for a moment and said, "However, the information should be accurate. You see, there are really a lot of idiots in this village."

Li Qiuyu didn't need to remind them of this; Gu Mo and the others had already noticed it. As soon as they entered the village, they saw many young and middle-aged men wandering around in twos and threes. It was quite obvious that these people were mentally unstable.

As Gu Mo and his group ventured deeper into the village, they quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.

Of course, it was impossible to ignore them. There were seven of them: Gu Mo, Gu Chudong, Qi Tianshu, Li Qiuyu, Xiaobai, and two disciples of the Canglan Sword Sect. Except for Xiaobai, each of them was leading a horse and carrying a weapon.

This kind of attire looks completely out of place in this small mountain village.

Soon, a large group of people appeared in the alley ahead. However, they were mostly elderly people and women, with no young or strong men. Leading them was an old man with gray hair and a hunched back. He walked at the front, bowed, and said, "Greetings, distinguished guests. I am Liu Hong, the village chief of Qingyi Village. May I ask what brings you here? There are many simple-minded people in our village. If we have unintentionally offended you, please forgive us. I will certainly apologize and ask you not to be angry!"

Although the old man named Liu Hong spoke fluently, it was clear that he had rehearsed his lines and was simply reading from a script. When he looked at Gu Mo and his group, he was clearly terrified, and his body was trembling slightly.

This is a very normal phenomenon. Ordinary people are always quite afraid of people from the martial arts world. Moreover, the people here today, apart from Xiaobai, are all extraordinary individuals. In particular, Qi Tianshu and Li Qiuyu, although they are old, have held high positions for many years, and they unconsciously exude an aura. Coupled with their martial arts essence, they naturally create a huge deterrent effect on ordinary people.

Qi Tianshu walked over and took the arm of the old village chief Liu Hong, saying gently, "Brother, don't be afraid. We are not bad people. We were invited by your county magistrate to come to your village to investigate some things."

Liu Hong remained cautious, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Are you here to investigate the case of the curse of the Lady in Green?"

Qi Tianchu nodded and asked, "Brother, how did you know?"

Liu Hong smiled helplessly and said, "Brother, you said you were invited by the county magistrate to investigate the case. Apart from the case of the curse of the Lady in Green, there are no other cases to investigate in our Qingyi Village. The yamen came three times last year. We thought the yamen had given up, but we didn't expect the yamen to start investigating again."

Qi Tianchu asked, "The government hasn't come to investigate in the past year. Have you found anything on your own?"

Liu Hong sighed and said, "What else is there to investigate? We've offended the Lady in Green and been cursed. We have to gather the souls of 128 people to serve as her slaves. Once we have enough people, our village will naturally be at peace. We're almost there now, and the curse has ended."

Qi Tianchu asked in confusion, "Who told you this?"

“That’s what the Lady in Green said!” Liu Hong said.

Qi Tianchu's pupils contracted slightly, and he quickly asked, "Where is the Lady in Green?"

Liu Hong waved his hand and said, "It's very difficult for outsiders like you to see the Goddess in Green; it depends on fate. However, many people in our village have seen the Goddess in Green in their dreams and heard her say that 128 people must go to the divine realm to serve her in order to appease her anger."

Qi Tianchu's eyes were full of doubt as he turned his head to look at Gu Mo and the others.

Gu Mo and the others were also completely baffled.

“Well then, distinguished guests,” Liu Hong said, “please come to my house for a meal first, and I will arrange accommodations for you.”

"That will be a lot of trouble for you, brother." Qi Tianchu cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, we will pay for our food and lodging."

In such a small village, it's impossible for any single household to accommodate seven outsiders. Liu Hong would definitely have to find other families to stay with. Therefore, Qi Tianchu's offer to pay money was meant to make Liu Hong feel awkward.

Liu Hong quickly waved his hand and said, "You are distinguished guests invited by the county magistrate to help our Qingyi Village investigate the case. It's not appropriate for you to talk about money while you're staying here!"

Soon, led by Liu Hong, the group headed into the village.

At this moment, as the setting sun sinks into the mountain valley, it dyes the sky a molten gold-like orange-red. The last ray of light sweeps across the branches of the old locust tree at the village entrance, splashing fine pinkish-purple hues on the green tiles and white walls. A few wisps of smoke peek out from the chimneys, like crumpled gauze. The whole village is filled with a sense of peace and tranquility.

These scenes evoked a unique feeling in the hearts of these people who spent years traveling the martial arts world. Such scenery was something they could never see in their busy lives.

quickly,

They arrived at a small fenced courtyard.

As soon as I entered, I saw two tall young men squatting on the ground playing in the mud with two children, which looked very incongruous. The two children looked to be only six or seven years old, while the two young men looked to be seventeen or eighteen and the other was already around thirty.

“What a tragedy,” Liu Hong pointed at the two young men and said, “The one sitting on the ground is the son of the former village chief. He got drunk and went on a rampage, smashing the statue of the Goddess of Green Robes at the Qingyi Temple, which caused this disaster to our village. His father felt guilty and thought he had let the villagers down, so he committed suicide. This kid got his comeuppance and became the first to become an idiot. As the new village chief, I couldn’t just watch him starve to death, so I brought him to my home to take care of him.”

As he spoke, Liu Hong pointed to the older young man and said, "The other one is my son. His intelligence is now about that of a three or four-year-old child. He's even more immature than my two grandsons!"

Qi Tianchu glanced at Xiaobai, who was being led by Gu Chudong.

Xiao Bai's symptoms are similar to those of the other fools in Qingyi Village.

“Brother,” Qi Tianchu asked, “On my way here, I noticed that most of the young and middle-aged men in your village have contracted this soul-loss disease, and much of the land outside your village has been abandoned. However, it seems that your village does not lack food, clothing, or other necessities.”

Liu Hong sighed and said, "That's why our village is suffering retribution. For so many years, our Qingyi Village has been protected by the Goddess Qingyi, with favorable weather and bountiful harvests every year. Even when there was a famine two years ago, and people in the surrounding villages starved to death, our village survived thanks to its abundant grain reserves. Now, every household in our village still has surplus grain. As long as we use it sparingly, we won't starve even if we can't grow crops for five or six years. And after five or six years, when the younger generation grows up, the village's land will naturally have enough people to cultivate."

“I see,” Qi Tianshu asked again, “This Lady in Green is so powerful, what is her background? I have never heard of her before.”

Liu Hong said, "The Goddess in Green Robes is the unique guardian deity of our Qingyi Village. It was more than forty years ago. At that time, our Qingyi Village was not called Qingyi Village, but Dongya Village."

One year, a plague struck, and everyone in the village contracted it, nearly wiping out the entire village. At that time, a female doctor named Qingyi happened to pass by. She was compassionate and couldn't bear to see our village wiped out, so she took action to drive away the plague for our village. However, she was exhausted from the process and passed away after staying in our village for three years.

Afterwards, to express their gratitude, the villagers built a temple in her honor, calling her the Goddess of Green Robes, and renamed the village Green Robe Village. For decades, they continued to worship her. Coincidentally, for those decades, Green Robe Village enjoyed good weather and abundant harvests, until two years ago when that incident happened, and the village began to suffer its retribution.

While talking,

Liu Hong led Gu Mo and his group into the courtyard. He quickly went inside to fetch stools and then shouted for his wife and daughter-in-law to cook.

Qi Tianchu instructed the two Canglan Sword Sect disciples to help move stools. Then, he looked at Gu Mo and asked, "Hero Gu, have you noticed anything unusual?"

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "The fools in this village are different from Xiaobai. Although Xiaobai is also mentally challenged, her consciousness is complete. But these people in the village are different. Their consciousness is incomplete. In the words of Qi cultivators, their three souls and seven spirits are incomplete."

As he spoke, Gu Mo's gaze locked onto the two fools who were squatting in the corner of the yard playing with mud, and a stream of spiritual energy instantly entered their sea of ​​consciousness.

The next moment, Gu Mo withdrew his mental consciousness and said, "These two are just like the fools we encountered along the way; they all have incomplete spiritual consciousness."

Qi Tianchu said in a deep voice, "So, there are heretical cultivators practicing mental martial arts who are devouring the consciousness of the villagers?"

“It’s possible,” Gu Mo said, “but whether it’s a person or not is another matter.”

Qi Tianchu asked, "Then, is there any hope for these people?"

“It’s difficult,” Gu Mo said. “However, according to the theory of Qi cultivators, there are two ways to make up for the lack of the three souls and seven spirits. One is to find them, and the other is to cultivate powerful spiritual techniques to fill in new souls and spirits.”

Of these two methods, the first requires ensuring the lost consciousness is intact, which is practically impossible; for ordinary people, once their consciousness leaves the body, it's impossible for it to remain intact. The second method, aside from the difficulty of mastering spiritual techniques, involves a person who has lost their soul, whose mind is incomplete—how could they possibly cultivate?

Qi Tianchu nodded and said, "That's true."

Gu Mo looked at Xiao Bai and asked, "Xiao Bai, do you feel anything? Are you familiar with this place?"

Xiao Bai held Gu Chudong's hand tightly, just like usual, and remained silent. Gu Chudong said, "Brother, Xiao Bai doesn't seem to have any special feelings about this Qingyi Village. I've been observing her ever since we entered the village, and I haven't noticed any signs that she's returning to a familiar place. It's as if this is a strange place. I feel that this is probably not the Dongya Village that Xiao Bai is looking for."

Gu Mo thought for a moment and said, "It's getting dark now, let's rest for the night and take Xiaobai for a walk around the village tomorrow morning to see if there's anything that can trigger her memories."

Qi Tianshu said, "Let's divide the work like this. Li Jianshou and I will go to the village tomorrow to investigate the matter of the Lady in Green. Gu Daxia, you and Gu Nvxia will be in charge of taking care of Xiaobai."

……

Soon, Gu Mo and his group had a meal at Liu Hong's house. After they finished eating, it was completely dark, and Liu Hong took them to find a place to stay.

After settling Gu Mo and his group in, Liu Hong carried a lantern and walked home alone. Because his family was large and didn't have enough rooms, he didn't arrange for Gu Mo and the others to stay at his house.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, an old woman carrying an oil lamp and wearing an overcoat came out. She was Liu Hong's wife, Liu Li.

"Are they all asleep?" Liu Hong asked in a low voice.

Liu Lishi, with a full head of white hair and a stooped figure like Liu Hong, said with a look of worry in her eyes, "She's asleep, old man. Why did the yamen send people again? Didn't they say no one dared to come before?"

Liu Hong blew out the flame in the lantern and went into the house with Liu Li. He hung the lantern on the wall, sighed, and said, "The people who came this time are those who travel the world, unlike the government officials. The government officials are all afraid of death, but those who travel the world all risk their lives. They don't believe in evil."

"What are we going to do?" Liu Li said. "I've heard that these江湖人 (jianghu people) kill people at the drop of a hat. If they find out that our village has so much gold and silver, I'm afraid..."

Liu Hong wasn't as anxious as Liu Li Shi. He waved his hand and said, "Don't think too much. Maybe they won't find anything and will leave. If they really do find something, then let them go see the Lady in Green. I don't believe they can defeat the Lady in Green!"

Liu Li said, "I'm not worried that they can defeat the Lady in Green. No matter how powerful those martial artists are, they are still human. How can humans defeat ghosts and gods? I'm worried that some of them might not encounter the Lady in Green, and the others might take their anger out on us!"

Liu Hong said, "Those people today don't seem like the kind of vicious criminals. They shouldn't have gone that far."

"I hope so," Liu Li sighed, "Old man, do you think... the Lady in Green will calm down? What if she still isn't calm after all the soul-summoning is over?"

Liu Hong fell silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh and muttering, "Retribution!"

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Gu Mo and the others had breakfast at Liu Hong's house, and then went about their respective tasks as assigned yesterday. Qi Tianshu, Li Qiuyu, and the two Canglan Sword Sect disciples went to investigate the matter of the Lady in Green.

Meanwhile, Gu Mo and Gu Chudong, brother and sister, took Xiaobai for a stroll in the village, looking for anything that could help Xiaobai recall some memories.

but,

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong spent half a day taking Xiaobai around the village, exploring every alley and path, but they found nothing. They couldn't even attract Xiaobai's attention, let alone stimulate her memories.

If it weren't for the coincidence that this same village, Qingyi, also experienced some strange events related to mental energy, Gu Mo would have thought he had come to the wrong place.

The three of them wandered around the village until noon, when they reached the east side of the village and came across a temple, the Qingyi Temple. The scale of the temple surprised both Gu Mo and Gu Chudong.

It wasn't so large that it shocked the siblings. Such a temple would be common in a typical county town, but its presence in such a remote mountain village was quite rare, which was quite surprising.

Just as Gu Mo was about to go in and take a look, he saw Qi Tianshu and the others come out from inside.

"You've come too." Qi Tianchu walked over.

Gu Mo asked, "Did you find anything?"

Qi Tianchu shook his head and said, "We walked around the village today and asked many people about the Goddess in Green Robes. The villagers' stories were similar to what Liu Hong said yesterday. There was no useful information, so we came to this temple to take a look."

According to the villagers, this temple was built two years ago with funds raised by the villagers to appease the wrath of the Goddess in Green. It was after the temple was built that some villagers dreamt of the Goddess in Green saying she would summon 128 souls to serve her.

Gu Mo said, "So, in other words, if we want to find out about the Lady in Green, we can only wait for her to appear in this village? After all, it is said that the Lady in Green has appeared many times. The government sent people to investigate three times before, and they encountered the Lady in Green all three times."

Qi Tianchu pondered for a moment and said, "Waiting is indeed a good method, but I have actually discovered a suspicious point here."

"Where?" Gu Mo asked, puzzled.

Qi Tianchu said in a deep voice, "This Qingyi Temple is too large and does not match the economic capacity of such a small village. If it were just large, it would be barely acceptable, but the furnishings inside are also very exquisite. The cost of building this temple should not be something that such a small village can afford."

Gu Chudong asked, "Then, is it possible that the villagers were frightened by the curse of this Green-Clothed Goddess, so they did their best to build this Green-Clothed Temple, not daring to be careless, for fear of angering the Green-Clothed Goddess again, which is why they built it so well?"

Qi Tianshu said, "That's the problem. If it were built with all our might, it would mean that the villagers of Qingyi Village should be living a very difficult life. But the truth is quite the opposite. They are living a very prosperous life, and even a large amount of land is abandoned."

Actually, since yesterday, I've felt that the economic situation in Qingyi Village is a bit too good, and the villagers here don't think like normal farmers. Liu Hong said it's because their village has enough stored grain, but even that will only last for a few years. According to the thinking of ordinary people, they would never abandon the land. Even some elderly people would find a way to cultivate the land.

In this world, having five or six years' worth of grain reserves doesn't offer much security. Besides, it's absurd that a village's farmers could have enough grain to last five or six years, especially after raising money to build such a large temple.

Therefore, this village definitely harbors a secret unknown to anyone besides the Lady in Green. This secret must be related to money and provisions, enough to give the villagers confidence that they can live off their savings for many years. Because this secret is so significant, the entire village is keeping it a secret and maintaining a unified narrative.

Li Qiuyu picked up the thread and said, "I discussed it with Sect Leader Qi. This secret is very likely related to the survival of the entire village. It would be difficult for us to find out directly. If we resort to force, it will definitely backfire and arouse suspicion. Therefore, we may have to stay for a while and inquire slowly, trying to start with the children and those mentally challenged people."

"Uh……"

Gu Mo slowly said, "Actually, it doesn't need to be so complicated. I know a mental martial art, mainly used to control flying swords, but it can also control the minds of ordinary people. We can ask directly. Well, the person who can give a unified answer must be someone with prestige in the village, so Liu Hong, as the village chief, is definitely the one who knows the truth best."

Qi Tianchu asked, "Is your martial arts reliable?"

Gu Mo nodded slightly.

With the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique at its peak, let alone ordinary people, even martial arts masters could be influenced and controlled by Gu Mo if they were caught off guard.

The reason I say it only works on ordinary people is that I don't want it to cause panic if it gets out into the martial arts world. After all, this method is indeed a bit sinister.

Immediately,

The group then went straight back to Liu Hong's home.

At this moment, only Liu Hong and the two mentally challenged people were in the courtyard; his wife and daughter-in-law had taken their two grandsons out.

Upon seeing Gu Mo and his group return, Liu Hong quickly stood up to greet them and asked, "Distinguished guests, did you find anything?"

"Liu Hong," Gu Mo suddenly called out.

Liu Hong subconsciously looked up.

"look at me!"

Gu Mo suddenly used acupressure to freeze Liu Hong in place, then stared into Liu Hong's eyes. Slowly, Liu Hong's gaze began to become unfocused, and after a while, his eyes became completely blank.

Actually,
Gu Mo didn't need to go through all that trouble to control Liu Hong's mind. He didn't even need to make a sound. He could simply use his mental power to control someone else's mind whenever he wanted.

The reason for making it so complicated was simply to avoid instilling fear in Qi Tianshu and the others.

Gu Mo casually waved his hand, and two streams of true energy struck the acupoints of the two fools playing in the mud. The two immediately fell asleep. Then, he asked Liu Hong in a deep voice, "Liu Hong, who exactly is the Lady in Green? What secrets are hidden in your village? Why have the people in the village become fools?"

Liu Hong said numbly, "It's retribution, it's the Green-Clad Lady coming to take revenge, it's the retribution that we people of Green-Clad Village deserve."

The Lady in Green Robes is a benefactor of our village. More than forty years ago, she drove away the plague for us, but she also fell ill from overwork. After that, she settled in our village with her family. Her husband's family is surnamed Lu, making them the only Lu family in our village.

However, a few years later, the Goddess of Green Robes passed away due to overwork. To commemorate her, our village was renamed Qingyi Village, and a temple was built to worship her. The Lu family gradually integrated into our Qingyi Village, inheriting the Goddess of Green Robes' mantle and treating the villagers' illnesses and injuries.

The Lu family, like the Lady in Green Robes, are compassionate and kind-hearted. They only charge the cost of medicine for treating the villagers' illnesses and injuries, and often don't even charge them. They are truly great philanthropists, and no one in the village is without gratitude towards the Lu family.

Two years ago, a famine struck, and every household had no rice to cook. People were starving to death in the surrounding villages, but no one died in our Qingyi Village because the Lu family regularly provided food to the villagers. At first, everyone was grateful, but as time went on, rumors spread in the village that the Lu family were actually corrupt officials in the imperial court who had come to Qingyi Village to live in seclusion with their immense wealth in order to survive.

Gradually, the rumors grew louder and louder. One night, a large group of able-bodied men from the village stormed into the Lu family's house, only to find that they had very little money or grain. The villagers, of course, didn't believe it. They tied up the Lu family members and pressured Doctor Lu. Finally, Doctor Lu revealed the truth.

Their grandfather was indeed a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Because he offended someone, his whole family fled. His grandfather and father died of worry. Only his grandmother, also known as the Lady in Green, brought the family to Qingyi Village. The reason for coming to Qingyi Village was that a long time ago, the Lady in Green found a feng shui treasure site on Tianyi Mountain outside Qingyi Village and built a tomb there. The Lu family's treasures were hidden in that tomb.

Afterwards, the able-bodied men of the village went to Tianyi Mountain and found the tomb, which was in a sinkhole. Sure enough, they found a lot of gold and silver treasures inside. There was so much money that it would be enough for the whole village to live on for decades. To avoid trouble, after discussing it, they decided to go all out and kill the entire Lu family. Our village was isolated and rarely visited by outsiders. Moreover, there was a famine at that time, so no one cared about the deaths.

However, after that, things started happening in our village. People began to see the Goddess in Green, covered in blood. Everyone who saw her would have their souls taken away and become stupid within a day or two. In just a few days, more than a dozen people had their accidents.

We were all panicked. The villagers said that the Goddess in Green had come to seek revenge. In our panic, we reported it to the authorities, but to our surprise, the county officials couldn't find the Goddess in Green. Instead, a few observant officials noticed something amiss. Left with no other choice, I told them about the treasure on Tianyi Mountain.

However, those few officials were greedy and didn't tell anyone else. They went to investigate secretly, but before they could even bring tools to move the treasure, they were turned into idiots.

Later, two more groups of officials arrived, and the situation was the same. Some of them noticed something amiss, and I guided them to the tomb of the Green-Clad Goddess on Tianyi Mountain. After they came out, they were all mentally impaired, and the government officials never dared to come again.

Qi Tianshu asked, "Then what about the 128 people you mentioned serving the Lady in Green?"

Liu Hong said, "Because there were more than a hundred people in our village who went down into the sinkhole back then, and all the people who became stupid later were people who went to the sinkhole. We speculate that after all those people were taken away and became stupid, the Green-Clad Goddess should calm down. Including those few officials, there will be a total of 128 people."

Qi Tianchu asked doubtfully, "Are those people in the village willing to have their souls taken? Why don't they run away?"

Liu Hong said, "They can't run away. If they don't run away, they'll stay in the village and be slowly taken in turn to be made stupid. If they run away, they'll be made stupid right away."

Qi Tianchu said in a deep voice: "So, the Lady in Green saved your entire village, and her descendants, the Lu family, also owed you a debt of gratitude and saved your village as well, but in the end, you wiped out the entire Lu family."

Liu Hong muttered, "Retribution, it's all retribution, it's all retribution..."

Qi Tianchu's face darkened, and he asked again, "Is anyone from the Lu family still alive?"

“No,” Liu Hong said, “The Lu family was not large. At the beginning, there was only the Green-Clad Lady and Doctor Lu, a grandmother and grandson, and a few servants. Doctor Lu only had one son and one grandson, both of whom were killed. There was no one left alive.”

Qi Tianchu's expression softened slightly. Although he was furious about what the villagers of Qingyi Village had done, the fact that no one from the Lu family had survived and that Doctor Lu had no daughter meant that Xiaobai was not a member of the Lu family. Therefore, the possibility that the Lady in Green was his master was much smaller.

(End of this chapter)