The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

next moment.

The black mist surrounding Old Li and his wife condensed into black tentacles.

They entangled themselves around Wang Long and Ye Niannu!

Wang Long remained motionless, when suddenly a warm and pure golden light shone around his body.

His righteous spirit, like a rising sun, silently emanated from his body, illuminating the surroundings.

The dozens of black tentacles hissed and emitted wisps of blue smoke the moment they came into contact with the golden light.

It quickly shrank and disintegrated, turning into pools of black pus that dripped onto the bluestone ground, emitting a pungent, burnt smell.

Old Li and his wife froze simultaneously, their smiles shattering completely.

His eyes regained their clarity for a moment, then quickly became unfocused again, and a look of pain appeared on his face.

The two kept grasping at the air, tears of blood streaming down their faces, shouting at Wang Long, but no sound came out.

Wang Long and Ye Niannu were able to read their lips.

"Save me! Let me be free!"

The next moment, as if all their strength had been drained, the two of them collapsed softly to the ground.

The cleaver in his hand fell to the ground with a "clang," rolled twice, and stopped at the foot of the stove.

Old Li and his wife were twitching slightly, curled up in an extremely unnatural position.

It's like a skeleton that has had all its supports removed.

Their faces were ashen, their lips were dry and cracked with a bluish tinge, and their breathing was so weak it was almost imperceptible, but they were still breathing.

The nauseating, fishy-sweet smell faded somewhat as the black mist dissipated, but it still lingered in the air.

Wang Long squatted down, placed his fingers on Old Li's wrist, and frowned the moment his spiritual energy entered.

The meridians are unobstructed, the internal organs are healthy, there are no traces of foreign parasites in the body, and it does not seem like poisoning or being cursed.

He then checked the pulse of Old Li's wife, and the result was exactly the same.

Both of them were purely flesh and blood, without any fluctuation of spiritual power or any signs of being corrupted by evil spirits.

"It's not possession."

Ye Niannu squatted on the other side, her fingertips hovering above Old Li's brow, and closed her eyes to sense for a moment.

He opened his eyes, his tone somewhat grave.

"It's not a curse, nor does it resemble puppetry. I've seen the techniques of the Puppet Spirit Sect before; they're not like this."

Wang Long withdrew his hand, stood up, and glanced at the kitchen, which reeked of blood.

The bluish-green pieces of meat were still on the cutting board, and the human heads on the low table remained quietly with their eyes closed, which was truly eerie.

"They were influenced by something."

Wang Long said in a deep voice, his tone uncertain.

"It's not controlled by external forces, it's more like... the mind has been eroded from within. Those black mists shouldn't be the root cause, but just a manifestation."

"But righteousness can dispel it."

Righteousness is invincible against all evil, and this black mist must be some kind of evil energy.

Ye Niannu stood up and walked to his side, her peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, her tone somewhat doubtful.

"This is the first time I've encountered something like this. Could this Peach Blossom Spring really be the place where immortals once lived?"

"We don't know if we go and see for ourselves, let's go and explore the secrets of this Peach Blossom Spring!"

As Wang Long spoke, he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Ye Niannu followed behind him, and the two figures moved swiftly through the blood-red moonlight, passing one house after another.

Every household was in the same situation as Old Li's family.

The villagers repeated some strange daily tasks in the black mist. After being dispelled by the righteous energy, they collapsed to the ground, their breaths weak and their minds confused, but they could not find out where the black mist came from.

The entire village, with over a hundred people, was wiped out.

The two stopped under the old locust tree at the village entrance. Ye Niannu looked up at the still blood-red and murky moon and whispered.

"My lord, I believe that only by dispelling the eeriness of this village can we leave this place."

Wang Long stood beside her, his gaze fixed on the dark fields in the distance. He remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"This Peach Blossom Spring has many problems; we must expand the scope of our exploration."

"Let's go take a look at the wheat field then, but we can't see anything at all in the distance!"

Ye Niannu suggested.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

Wang Long smiled faintly, and the two of them leaped into the air and disappeared from the spot.

The two had just left.

A strange "gurgling" sound came from under the stone at the village entrance, which was engraved with the words "Peach Blossom Spring".

Black mist and black liquid kept rising up.

The blood moon still hung high in the sky, its red color almost black.

As we got closer, we could see the true appearance of the wheat field in front of us.

The golden waves of wheat during the day now resemble a frozen black ocean, with the ears of wheat drooping low.

It remained completely still; even the wind seemed to avoid this area.

A thick black mist surrounded them, constantly eroding the ears of wheat.

"My lord, these things seem to have moved."

Ye Niannu spoke in a low voice, her tone calm, yet a faint spiritual light emanated from her fingertips.

Wang Long stared intently at the wheat field before him, his righteous energy surging throughout his body. A warm, golden light emanated from him, dispelling some of the darkness at their feet.

He strode toward the wheat field, his pace unhurried, his boots making a crisp sound as they trod on the flagstones.

The moment the two stepped onto the ridge of the field one after the other, the soft soil beneath their feet suddenly trembled.

Immediately afterwards, the wheat field closest to them seemed to have been overturned from the ground by something; entire swathes of black wheat ears snapped and lay flattened.

The exposed soil cracked open with several bottomless fissures, and countless black tentacles, thicker than an adult's arm, suddenly emerged from the cracks, like a swarm of black snakes, coiling towards the two.

The tentacles were covered with fine, scale-like patterns that gleamed with an oily sheen under the blood-red moonlight. Their tips were sharp as spears, and they made a piercing, shrill sound as they cut through the air.

"Niannu, be careful!"

Wang Long shouted in a deep voice, and the golden light suddenly surged.

He raised his hand and swept it through the air, creating an invisible barrier filled with righteous energy that stood in front of him. Several tentacles slammed into it, making a hissing sound.

Wisps of blue smoke rose from the surface, but only paused for a moment before suddenly exerting force again, causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the barrier's surface.

Ye Niannu's figure swayed, and she leaped up like a wisp of light green smoke, dodging several tentacles that suddenly rolled down from her feet. With a swift movement of her right hand, she grasped the legendary spiritual sword of the Primordial Holy Palace.

The sword was pure white, and the moment she infused it with spiritual power, it shone with a clear, cold light.

With a flick of her wrist, the sword light cascaded down like a waterfall, slicing past the relentlessly pursuing black tentacles. Black liquid gushed from the severed ends, sizzling as it hit the ground.

"These are not living things."

Ye Niannu flipped in the air and landed, her toes lightly touching a broken tentacle remnant, her gaze slightly narrowed.

"It has no flesh and blood, no meridians, it is purely formed by the condensation of that black mist."

Ordinary attacks are completely ineffective.

Wang Long didn't reply, because more tentacles were already surging up from all directions.

He took a deep breath, and his righteous energy surged within his body like a river, spreading outward through his acupoints to form a golden light shield about ten feet in diameter.

The tentacles crashed into the light shield like moths to a flame, burning and disintegrating one after another, yet they kept pouring out from the cracks as if there was no end in sight.