The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 140 Even the living would act as accomplices.

In that instant, it felt as if its long-lost heart suddenly clenched.

It then turned into a sharp question:

"Who are you?!"

The man lowered his head, smiled, and then said:
"A Taoist priest who came specifically to subdue you!"

Its pupils constricted sharply, and it shouted sternly:
"What a load of nonsense from that old Taoist priest!"

Before the words were even finished, and before it could make a move, it was horrified to find its body going limp and it collapsing to the ground.

Looking up, he was shocked to see a wood-chopping knife that had somehow pierced his chest.

'How could this be? I should have been unharmed!'

Before any extraneous thoughts could even arise, they were completely submerged in the overwhelming darkness.

Du Yuan clearly saw that after she killed the thing with her object manipulation technique, it went limp and collapsed like a melted wax figure. Even more bizarrely, its appearance twisted and changed continuously during the collapse, but it was no longer as precise as before, instead resembling a child's scribbles piled up haphazardly.

In the end, it completely dissolves into nothingness, leaving no trace, as if it had never existed.

Only then did Du Yuan turn to the two elderly people who were already stunned, and said with a gentle smile:

"Grandpas, please get up. It's alright, I'm here."

The old man seemed to wake from a dream, hurriedly got up, and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Du Yuan waved her hand, her gaze sweeping across the dimly lit room, and said again:
"I am fine, but you two are quite old. This room is rather dark; perhaps we should light a lamp first?"

Upon hearing this, the old woman hurriedly fumbled for a flint to light the lamp.

The dim, yellow lights finally flickered on, dispelling the previously overwhelming darkness.

Looking at this lamp, which used to be so ordinary, the old woman choked up and almost burst into tears.

In the past, I thought it was just an ordinary thing.
After inviting Du Yuan to sit down, the old man bowed apologetically and said:

"It's getting late, I'm truly sorry, Daoist Master!"

Du Yuan waved her hand and said:

"I don't blame you, but could you tell me what's going on here?"

The old man sighed and said:
"Our place is called Hulao Mountain. In the past, because Hulao Mountain was too steep and had little to produce, hardly anyone came here."

"The villagers live a hard life, but they manage, since the government knows there's not much profit to be made here and therefore doesn't exploit them much."

Upon hearing this, Du Yuan recalled the nearby fortified village.

"So what is that fortified village up ahead?"

Upon hearing this, the old man sighed again and said:

"That was built by a nobleman from the Liu family of Hedong. It's been about twenty or thirty years. I heard they came here specifically because they heard there was a copper mine in Hulao Mountain."

"The villagers were hoping for a copper mine so they could work for the wealthy Liu family and earn money to improve their lives. But who knew that they wouldn't find anything for several years? The wealthy Liu family members who were willing to work for them all left."

At this point, the old man also asked curiously:

"But for some reason, they came back not long ago and even converted their old house into a fortified village."

"It is said that this is to help the imperial court resist any bandit troops that might come to invade."

Du Yuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this—this didn't seem like something a powerful family would do. And if they truly wanted to assist the court, why choose such a remote location?
In addition
He glanced back at the spot where the ghost had disappeared, then asked:
"Old man, what exactly happened here afterward? And what do you two know about that thing?"

Upon hearing this, both the old man and the old woman trembled, their faces filled with fear.

“That happened last month!” The old man’s voice tightened. “First, it was the youngest son of the hunter Han who came back from the mountains covered in blood, shouting that a huge tiger, bigger than a water buffalo, had really come to Tiger Lair Mountain! He also said that the tiger had eaten his father and brothers, and he only survived because his father and brothers risked their lives to protect him.”

At that moment, the old man was grinding grain at the village entrance. Upon seeing a bloodied figure stumble back, he hurriedly called for the able-bodied men in the village to come over.

But who would have thought that this shout would harm so many villagers!
"There aren't many hunters in the village, just two. But those who live off the mountains always have bows, arrows, and spears ready. As soon as they hear that a man-eating tiger is coming, seven or eight strong young men will immediately follow the village's old hunter, Uncle Zeng, and rush into the mountains with their weapons."

"But who would have thought that when they arrived at the site, there were no tigers left? All they saw were several skeletons that had been gnawed clean! What's even more horrifying is that there weren't just two, but three!"

Seeing the three sets of white, stark skeletons, everyone was utterly astonished and turned to look at the young man from the Han family who had led the way.

Unexpectedly, the boy twisted and contorted in front of everyone, transforming into the likeness of Hunter Han, and then grinned broadly.
"Your Majesty, I have brought you another person!"

At this point, the old man sighed deeply, his face filled with sorrow and fear:
"We didn't know these things at first. We pieced them together little by little from the fragments of information that thing uttered each time it came. But what good is knowing? It keeps deceiving us in all sorts of ways, and we just can't guard against it!"

For the past month, they have been tormented by this thing to the point of despair.

Even the two of them, despite their best efforts to guard against it, almost lost their lives.

The old woman then bowed deeply to Du Yuan, apologetically saying:
"That's why I didn't dare to believe you before. I beg you to forgive me, Daoist Master!"

Du Yuan waved her hand, indicating that it was alright.

The old man seized the opportunity to ask:

"Master, based on what you said earlier, do you know the details of that thing?"

Du Yuan nodded and said:

"That was a 'courier ghost,' also known as someone who acts as an accomplice to a tyrant."

"So, what is that?"

After recalling for a moment, Du Yuan said:

"The so-called 'Changgui' are those ghosts that are eaten by tigers and then trapped beside them, unable to leave. In order to be freed as soon as possible, they will deliberately trick other living people into coming to the tiger's dwelling so that the tiger can eat them and take their place!"

The two elderly people were increasingly horrified as they listened:

"Then, does that mean that thing was transformed by the other villagers?"

Du Yuan shook her head and said:

"No, this one here probably just learned some magic from that tiger that had grown powerful."

He turned his gaze to the distant fortified village and asked:
"If I'm not mistaken, has nothing ever happened inside the fortified village?"

The two old men immediately nodded and said:
"Of course! With soldiers guarding the fortified village, and the gates always tightly closed after any incident, how could anything happen?"

The old woman added:
"Moreover, to prevent that thing from sneaking in, even when the villagers realized they might not be able to escape, no matter how much we begged, they simply didn't let a single person in!"

They were also full of resentment about this, but then they thought, in the face of such a disaster, why would a group of strangers care about their life or death?

But no sooner had they finished speaking than they heard Du Yuan shake her head and say:

"It seems the dead are acting as accomplices, and the living are also involved!"

(End of this chapter)