From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

"My lord, please get into the sedan chair."

Inside the sedan chair, the woman's voice was gentle and alluring, but to Zhang Zhixuan's ears it was no better than the braying of a donkey in the middle of the night.

At this moment, Zhang Zhixuan held his magic sword, frowned, and looked around.

All he could see were villagers who seemed to have lost their souls. These villagers held sticks and farm tools, their expressions blank and lifeless, and they kept moving closer to him.

"This village is surrounded by an array. If we don't break the array, we won't be able to leave even if we want to." Zhang Zhixuan's mind raced, and his gaze fell on the large black sedan chair.

Although the sedan chair was surrounded by many villagers, the top of the chair was not protected at all.

Zhang Zhixuan summoned the Vermilion Bird Puppet, and a clear cry rang out. The Vermilion Bird Puppet flapped its huge wings and soared into the sky, locking onto the top of the black sedan chair.

Just then, the woman in the sedan chair suddenly spoke again.

"My lord, I have no intention of harming you. Please stop your tricks."

"You have no intention of harming me? Why does that sound so familiar?"

Zhang Zhixuan curled his lip and sneered, "Once, a paper-mache wife stood in front of me and said this to me. I didn't take it seriously. If God gave me another chance, I would definitely smash her head with a stick."

The woman in the sedan chair was silent for a moment, then said, "Since you don't believe me, then fine, I can show you my sincerity."

As soon as the woman in the sedan chair finished speaking, all the villagers surrounding Zhang Zhixuan suddenly dispersed and quickly retreated behind the black sedan chair.

"Is this all the sincerity you've shown? It's not very sincere."

"What other sincerity would you like to see, my lord? Please speak frankly."

Zhang Zhixuan pondered for a moment and said, "If you really want to show your sincerity, then remove the village's formation and let me leave."

The woman in the sedan chair gave a bitter smile and said, "It's not that I don't want to do it, it's that I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"If you, my lord, understand the reason behind this, please get in the sedan chair, and I will take you to see it for yourself."

Zhang Zhixuan narrowed his eyes, a moment of hesitation flashing through his mind, but he finally nodded: "Alright, then I'll go with you and see what tricks you're up to."

"Please get into the sedan chair."

"Um."

Zhang Zhixuan responded indifferently, glanced back at the house where the boy was hiding, and then turned around and walked step by step toward the black sedan chair.

Zhang Zhixuan reached out and lifted the sedan curtain, bending down to crawl inside. The moment the curtain fell, it shut out everything outside, and at the same time, a foul stench mixed with the fragrance of locust blossoms filled Zhang Zhixuan's nostrils.

He frowned and looked at the sedan chair.

The sedan chair wasn't very spacious, but it was covered with bright red wedding cushions, and sitting opposite was a woman in a bright red wedding dress.

At that moment, just one glance at the bride sent a chill down Zhang Zhixuan's spine and made the hairs on his body stand on end.

The woman was dressed in a bright red wedding robe embroidered with mandarin ducks, and a phoenix coronet and embroidered shawl. She should have looked like a bright and beautiful bride, but the body of this bride was no longer that of a living person, but a rotting corpse.

The bride's exposed wrists and neck were covered in black, rotten flesh, revealing the stark white bones beneath. Half of her face was rotten away, a beautiful woman on one side and a skeleton on the other.

This is clearly a corpse that has been dead for who knows how long; even its soul should have long since dissipated.

When the bride saw Zhang Zhixuan looking at her, she let down a few strands of messy black hair to cover half of her skeletal face, and turned her body to look at Zhang Zhixuan with her remaining eyes.

"Let's go." Zhang Zhixuan calmed himself down and sat down to the side.

"Lift the sedan chair." The masked bride waved her hand casually, and the sedan chair, now without the sedan chair bearers, slowly floated up.

"Respectfully sending off the Goddess Huai, respectfully sending off the new son-in-law." Just as the ghost-faced bride drove the sedan chair into the air, the dull, wooden voices of the villagers rang out from outside.

About fifteen minutes later, the sedan chair suddenly jolted and came to a stop.

"arrive."

"Um."

The sedan curtain opened by itself, and Zhang Zhixuan bent down and stepped out of the sedan. He looked up and saw the old locust tree that blocked out the sky.

The trunk of this locust tree is so large that it takes seven or eight people to encircle it. Its twisted, withered branches stretch towards the night sky like countless twisted ghostly hands. On some branches and the trunk, bright red ribbons and white hemp ropes are wrapped around them. A simple altar is set up under the tree.

The ghost-faced bride following behind stepped out of the sedan chair, her figure floating up. She looked at Zhang Zhixuan and suddenly said, "My lord, as I said, I have no intention of harming you. Furthermore, I must tell you that the village's current state is not my fault."

Zhang Zhixuan was completely confused. He frowned as he looked at the terrifying, masked bride before him, then turned to the eerie, withered old locust tree beside him and asked, "Are you a ghost or a demon?"

"Me? I'm neither human nor ghost anymore, and I'm not even a demon anymore..."

The masked bride's expression shifted between madness and desolation, and her voice was disjointed, as if two voices were speaking simultaneously.

After a while, the masked bride seemed to calm down a little, then suddenly raised her bony hand and pointed to the thick trunk of the old locust tree: "Look for yourself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Zhixuan looked in the direction the ghost-faced bride was pointing and was shocked to see an oval sphere, taller than a person, nestled among the tangled roots of the old locust tree.

The sphere was translucent, resembling a huge egg case. If you listened carefully, you could occasionally hear a heartbeat and breathing coming from inside. Many of the old locust tree's intricate root system had penetrated into the egg case, as if it had parasitized the old locust tree.

"What is that?" Zhang Zhixuan asked.

"There's a person inside, a heretic!"

"I would like to hear the details," Zhang Zhixuan said slowly.

The masked bride looked fiercely at the giant egg and said resentfully, "Since I became aware of myself, I have been cultivating in this area of ​​Luohuai Village, always living a peaceful and carefree life."

"Two hundred years ago, some refugees gathered here. The leader knew that the old tree had a spirit, so he named the village Luohuai Village."

"The villagers of this village have worshipped me for generations, and I have protected them. The village enjoys favorable weather and abundant harvests. Humans and demons live their own lives in peace."

"Ten years ago, a plague struck the village, killing many people. I used my demonic power to suppress the plague and save the remaining people, but my demonic power was greatly depleted, and I fell into a deep sleep. While I was asleep, a person came to the village, the evil Taoist in the egg. He could see that my old locust tree had a spirit, and he could also see the despair of the villagers. He told the villagers that the Locust Mother Goddess had attained enlightenment, and as long as the villagers made offerings, she could protect the village and keep it safe."

"The villagers worship you, and you protect them. Isn't that a good thing?" Zhang Zhixuan asked.

"Good news?" The masked bride gave a wry smile.

"The offerings this heretic speaks of aren't about burning incense and kowtowing; they're about human sacrifices! He's bewitching the villagers, saying that the Goddess Huai Mu needs the lifeblood and souls of living people to manifest her power!"