I'm Dreaming of a Journey to the West

"That woman?! She mysteriously disappeared?!"

Li Chen was startled, his brow furrowed. He began to ponder the mystery of the woman's disappearance. Was she truly an ordinary village woman? Or was there some unknown secret hidden within?

Suddenly, a startling thought came to his mind—could it be that a spy from the Fire Ancestral Witch had already infiltrated the village? This thought made Li Chen's heartbeat accelerate instantly. If this was true, then the woman's appearance earlier might not have been accidental.

Was she deliberately trying to stir up conflict between herself and the villagers, causing internal strife? And when the villagers became hostile to her, she could take advantage of the opportunity to attack and wipe out everyone in one fell swoop!

However, to their surprise, Li Chen and his companions successfully resolved the conflict. Now, according to the monsters' plan, they would likely attack the village directly. After all, they couldn't just sit back and watch the villagers leave and lose their target. Therefore, they had to immediately organize the villagers' evacuation to ensure their safety. Otherwise, if a fierce battle broke out, innocent villagers would suffer great harm.

In addition, there is another possibility, that is, the monster's spy is still lurking in the village, hiding in a corner and secretly observing everything. This means that the danger is not far away and may even come at any time.

"Village chief? Is Village Chief Wang Rufeng here? Look, how many people are there in this yard now?" Li Chen shouted anxiously. He wanted to ask if the village chief was here, and hoped that he could find out as soon as possible how many people were left in the village so that everyone could move quickly.

However, no one responded to his calls. After a while, someone finally broke the silence: "Um...Village Chief Wang Rufeng is cooking in the house at the entrance of the village and hasn't come over yet." The speaker was a woman holding a child. She looked at Li Chen with confusion, as if she didn't understand why he suddenly asked about the village chief.

Li Chen's brow furrowed, a surge of anxiety welling up in his heart. He didn't have time to explain too much to the villagers, so he simply gave their orders: "Forget about it. The village is extremely dangerous right now. You must leave immediately! Fairy Hibiscus, and all the little demons, please protect these villagers immediately and evacuate the village quickly! Move quickly!"

Fairy Hibiscus and the little demons answered in unison: "Yes!" Then they began to take action, trying to lead the villagers away.

But at this moment, the villagers looked bewildered, completely confused. One of the elderly even questioned Li Chen, "We're not leaving. It's almost time for dinner. Why are you kicking us out?" The others echoed this, expressing their unwillingness to leave.

Li Chen's face was solemn, his eyes determined as he shouted to everyone, "The situation is extremely critical now. The woman who suddenly disappeared mysteriously is most likely an undercover agent planted by the demons. If an accident occurs due to our negligence, who will bear the responsibility? The lives of the entire village are more important than a meal. You should all know which is more important. If you want to live, quickly follow Fairy Hibiscus and the other demons and leave this courtyard through the back door. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences at your own risk!"

His voice boomed like thunder, instantly waking the hesitant villagers. Without another word, they followed Fairy Hibiscus and the other demons to evacuate to a safe place.

After all the villagers had left through the back door, Li Chen took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the courtyard. A chilly breeze blew across his face, as if foreshadowing impending danger. The village seemed unusually quiet now. Gone were the laughter and chatter of villagers cooking, the festive atmosphere of children enjoying meals, and only a dead silence remained.

Li Chen frowned, a sense of alarm building within him. He first visited the home of the village chief, Wang Rufeng. He saw the lights ablaze, but heard no cooking sounds. Flames blazed in the stove, the wood crackling. Plumes of smoke rose from the chimney.

Li Chen summoned his weapon, feeling a little more confident, and cautiously walked into the house. He gently pushed open the door, fearing that even the slightest noise would alert the people inside. After entering the room, Li Chen tiptoed in, taking every step with extreme caution.

When he entered the house, he first noticed that there was food cooking on the stove, but due to the long cooking time, the food was burnt and gave off an unpleasant burnt smell. The village chief was lying on the bed, covered with a quilt, and looked like he was sleeping soundly.

Li Chen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing this. However, when he tried to go over and wake the village chief, he suddenly sensed something was amiss. He approached the bed, carefully observing the village chief's expression, and couldn't help but gasp.

The village chief's face was purple-black, his pupils were dilated, and corpse spots had appeared all over his body, indicating that he had been dead for a long time. This discovery made Li Chen's heart tighten, and an ominous premonition came over him.

Li Chen was extremely anxious and quickly lifted the blanket covering the village chief and began to carefully examine his body. He wanted to find out the cause of the village chief's death and see how the poison entered his body.

After searching for a while, Li Chen finally found a tiny hole on the village chief's foot. The center of the hole was purple-black, and the surrounding skin also showed signs of poisoning. Li Chen deduced that the village chief had died from the poisoning through this tiny hole.

"Looks like it was done by the Fire-Eating Scorpion!" Li Chen's heart was boiling with rage, and a cold light flashed in his eyes, as if he wanted to cut the scorpion into pieces. But at this moment, he couldn't act immediately. Because there was something more important waiting for him to do - check on the other villagers.

Li Chen gritted his teeth, turned around and ran towards the village. His steps were heavy and firm, each step was filled with deep anger and determination.

However, when he arrived at other villagers' homes, the scene before him was heartbreaking. Some were cooking, with food still steaming in their pots; others were holding their children, their faces filled with happy smiles. But in that instant, they had all been poisoned and lost their lives without realizing it.

Watching these innocent lives, Li Chen's heart ached as if being stabbed by thousands of needles. His eyes welled up, tears blurring his vision. He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, blood trickling down his fingertips. He vowed silently: No matter what, I'll make that scorpion demon pay!

Li Chen searched house to house for survivors, hoping to find even a single living soul. However, all he found were cold corpses. Everyone who hadn't gone to the courtyard where Li Chen lived was dead! The entire village fell into a dead silence.

Suddenly, Li Chen's gaze fell on a room in the distance. A light was on, and a warm glow shone through the windows. Even stranger, erotic music and the seductive laughter of several women could be heard from within.

Li Chen frowned, a sense of foreboding welling up in his heart. He approached the room cautiously and gently pushed open the door...