Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Traveling south, the surrounding scenery changes from prosperous to desolate. Occasionally, you will pass through villages that were emptied many years ago, where houses have long since collapsed, wild grass has spread, and the traces of humans have been replaced by vegetation and animals.

Zhu Wuyao and Song Kezi arrived in Licheng.

What happened here was classified as the work of evil practitioners, and people dared not disbelieve it, so they had no choice but to believe it.

The pedestrians on the street were listless, and the wooden carts and mules seemed to carry a sense of despondency as they came and went, with only the occasional long caravan of vehicles visible.

It's the wealthy people moving out.

As the tall horses pulled the sedan chairs, gold, silver, belongings, and valuables were escorted away by the security escort agency. The houses were sold off cheaply or left vacant, and the plaques were removed, taking away the last bit of prosperity from this place.

Those who remained could only watch helplessly as the place fell into ruin.

Unable to move far, or perhaps clinging to a sliver of hope, they await their fate with trepidation.

"Zhu Wuyao, you won't earn any copper coins here!"

Song Kezi laughed heartily; in the lifeless town, his radiant smile was particularly glaring.

Despicable.

He reveled in the disgust of the passersby around him, laughing even more heartily, and deliberately took out a meat pie he had bought in the previous town, chewing it with gusto.

"Ah, it smells so good, it tastes so good!"

As a gentle breeze blew by, the meat patties that Song Kezi had intentionally heated with his spiritual power emitted a fragrant aroma.

In the dilapidated town, amidst the dust and gloom, the aroma of meat seemed utterly out of place, and lurking in the shadows were eyes watching him intently.

It wasn't necessarily because they were envious of the meat pie in his hand; perhaps they simply couldn't stand Song Kezi's behavior and his smugness.

It seems like they are weighing and pondering.

Then, his fear turned to Zhu Wuyao and Song Kezi.

To arrive in Licheng in this kind of world and adopt such a posture, one must have the ability to protect oneself.

Having just experienced a great calamity, some people in Licheng were terrified, while others were driven to the brink and their fighting spirit was aroused.

But that doesn't mean you should go looking for death.

Then, the fierce, wolf-like gazes dimmed one by one, and they quietly shifted their eyes away. Sensing this, and feeling the hatred and helplessness of the crowd, Song Kezi laughed even more happily.

Is this evil?

Lingbi's innocent voice rang out.

Zhu Wuyao replied in his divine sense, "This is an extreme act of malice."

Banners fluttered in the wind, displaying the words "One divination, one coin." The two walked through the marketplace, and Zhu Wuyao seemed to be intentionally letting Song Kezi make enemies.

Until a burly man walked up to the two of them.

His malicious gaze fell on Song Kezi, his eyes seemingly filled with madness as he stared intently at the smile on Song Kezi's lips.

Song Kezi naturally sensed this malice.

He blinked, took a bite of the meat pie in his hand, and said in an exaggerated manner, "Ugh, there's sand in it, it's awful!"

Then, he threw the meat pie wrapped in oil paper on the ground. In the next instant, a mother and son picked it up and wolfed it down, as if afraid that someone else would snatch it away.

"Hahahaha! Zhu Wuyao, look! She doesn't mind the dirt!"

Seeing this, and hearing Song Kezi's unbridled mockery, the burly man clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it, took out a coin, and said to Zhu Wuyao:

"Are you a fortune teller? I need to cast a divination."

Zhu Wuyao nodded, handed over paper and pen, and said, "Write any word."

The big man shook his head and said, "I have never learned to write, and I don't know any characters."

He stared intently at Zhu Wuyao, as if he might suddenly attack at any moment, risking his life.

"Then just hand me anything, it doesn't matter what it is."

The burly man slowly untied a strip of cloth from his waist, handed it forward, and said:

"My wife and her unborn child died. I heard that people who die like this have a lot of fierce energy and deep resentment. They can only die in peace if they take their loved ones with them."

"But she's kind-hearted, and she hasn't come to find me after all these days."

Zhu Wuyao accepted the strip of cloth handed to him by the burly man, activated his Celestial Observation Technique, and heard the burly man say:

"You can do a fortune telling, and that's it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the burly man suddenly sprang up, pulled a kitchen knife from his waist, his face contorted with rage and his eyes bloodshot, and slashed at Song Kezi, who was standing next to Zhu Wuyao, like a madman.

"When are you two going to die...!"

It seems that all these days have been spent just to drag another cultivator to pay with his life.

Song Kezi chuckled and cast a protective spell on himself, blocking the cleaver from getting close. He watched as the big man went mad, screamed, and broke down.

Until Zhu Wuyao lightly flicked his finger, Song Kezi's protective shield shattered instantly, and the burly man's cleaver suddenly slashed down.

He put all his strength into every strike.

So this slash was no exception; it came straight down on Song Kezi's head. Caught off guard, he took the blow with his head and was injured and bled.

Zhu Wuyao watched coldly as the burly man tackled Song Kezi to the ground, and then saw more figures appear around them.

"Aaaaaah! I'm dead!"

Song Kezi exclaimed in surprise, kicked the big man far away, looked around, smiled provocatively at those who wanted to take advantage of the situation, dusted off his clothes, and stood up.

He already knew that Zhu Wuyao would never kill him, so he wasn't afraid at all.

Zhu Wuyao ignored Song Kezi and walked up to the big man. Under his hateful gaze, he reached out and scooped up a sliver of moonlight from the void.

The reflection beneath him suddenly shattered.

The voice of the spirit pen resounded from my consciousness:

"Ahhh, you can't just try to catch the moon in the water! You used your illusory body to take on his calamities and change his fate, which is equivalent to constantly making a deal with the Heavenly Dao."

"When the critical juncture arrives, when the reconstruction of the Heavenly Order is complete and all possibilities converge into one, all debts owed will need to be repaid."

"I didn't misuse it."

"Didn't you see? If he dares to kill Song Kezi today, he'll dare to kill the elders of the Juque Sect tomorrow."

"Moreover, he sacrificed 571 illusory bodies just by going through the Star-Picking Tower. The number of those sacrificed to kill Shen Anzhi is unknown. Whether he is one more or one less, he will not play a decisive role in the next great battle."

A survival rate of one in 100,000 is no different from a survival rate of one in 99,999.

Moreover, there's the safety net of the Xu Ming item.

Once the object of her destiny is found, the cause and effect will be established, and Heaven will have no say in her affairs. Those so-called "debts" will simply be wiped clean.

As the moonlight faded, she looked at the burly man who was about to charge again, drawing his sword. She raised her hand and used her spiritual power to stop him, rendering him immobile. Under his hateful gaze, she said:

"The time of our deaths is yet unknown."

"But today is not your day of death."

"Keep moving forward. Even if your companions die sooner or later in the future, kill as many as you can to make up for your losses."

Song Kezi, who was sitting on the steps not far away, was looking this way. Although he couldn't hear what the two were saying, he stroked his chin and gradually realized what they were talking about.

I've become the bait!