I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

The rain subsided slightly, turning into a light drizzle. Like a ghost, Lu Zhao silently followed the old man and the middle-aged man back to the vicinity of the lit wooden house. He didn't reveal himself immediately, but instead hid in the shadows behind the house, maximizing the power of his [Dragon's Hibernation] and [Breath Concealment Technique], remaining as still as a piece of dead wood, quietly sensing the movements inside.

Inside the house came rustling sounds: a middle-aged man's suppressed coughing and panting, and an old man's low, frightened question.

"San'er, are you alright? Can...can you still hold on?"

"It's nothing, Dad... I'm just... a little dizzy, it's an old problem." The middle-aged man, also known as "San'er," spoke in a hoarse and weak voice, carrying the weakness that followed a morbid excitement.

"That blood... we can't let any more be drained, or you'll die!" The old man's voice was choked with sobs.

"Don't release it? If you don't, the whole village will die!" The middle-aged man suddenly raised his voice, then immediately lowered it, his tone filled with hysterical despair. "That thing...that thing is urging us on! You felt it too, didn't you? It's especially...especially agitated today! Just now, when it was draining blood, I almost got...dragged in by it! If we don't give it blood soon, it'll come out! Then, not one of us will survive!"

The room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the crackling of the oil lamp and the man's heavy breathing.

Lu Zhao understood immediately. It was indeed a blood sacrifice! Using the blood of living people to feed the evil creature in the well, to "appease" it, or rather, to delay its "resurrection"! The creature in the well not only spread plague, but also demanded sacrifices! And that middle-aged man was clearly one of the sacrifices, his life being constantly consumed by this evil ritual.

"But... but this can't go on! We've almost run out of food in the village! Your mother, your older brother, they're all gone... only the two of us are left, and a few others who are dying... if this continues, we'll all have to..." The old man's voice choked with emotion.

"What can we do? Escape? Where can we escape to? With this disease, we're a menace wherever we go, nobody wants us! If we don't escape, are we just waiting for that thing to come out and eat us all? At least... at least if we donate blood, it can let us live a few more days..." The middle-aged man said dejectedly, his tone full of numb despair.

"It's all my fault...it's all my fault..." The old man suddenly pounded his chest and stamped his feet, sobbing softly, "Back then...I shouldn't have...I shouldn't have listened to that man in black! I shouldn't have let him into the village! I shouldn't have believed him, saying he could exorcise evil spirits and cure our illnesses! He...he's a devil! A devil!"

A man in black robes!? Lu Zhao's spirits lifted; crucial information had appeared!

"Father! Keep your voice down! Do you want to die?!" The middle-aged man covered the old man's mouth in terror, his voice trembling. "That man in black robes... we can't afford to mess with him! He... he said before he left that if we leaked even a single word, our whole village would be buried with him! Didn't you see how Liu the hunter and the others turned into those monstrous things when they disobeyed?"

"I...I..." The old man slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his face. "But what's the difference between living like this and being dead? Look at Zhu Zi, look at Er Gou Zi, look at them! It's worse than death! I...I really want to just smash my head against a wall and die!"

"Father!" The middle-aged man also cried. The father and son embraced and wept bitterly. Their suppressed cries sounded particularly desolate and desperate in the rainy night.

Lu Zhao stood outside, his heart heavy. The matter was now clear. Several months ago, a man in black robes (most likely a member of the Black Fiend Cult or a related evil sect) came to Huai Shan Village under the guise of "exorcising evil and curing diseases." In reality, he had tampered with the well using unknown methods—perhaps planting the evil spirit, or perhaps activating something already present—and then used the well to spread a plague, forcing villagers to offer human blood sacrifices to feed the evil spirit or maintain some kind of evil magic. Controlled by illness and fear, the villagers had no choice but to submit, becoming victims of the blood sacrifice.

"The black-robed man... the evil creature in the well... blood sacrifice... draining life force... this method is exactly the same as in Beiling Village, but even more covert and vicious!" A cold glint flashed in Lu Zhao's eyes. This Black Fiend Cult is truly omnipresent and ruthless! What exactly are they plotting? Collecting life force? Cultivating evil arts? Or... preparing some kind of terrifying ritual?

He couldn't wait any longer. This scourge had to be dealt with as soon as possible; otherwise, not only would Huai Shan Village be completely destroyed, but the plague and evil spirits might also spread, causing endless harm.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Zhao stepped out of the shadows, walked to the door, and gently knocked.

The crying inside the house stopped abruptly, replaced by a deathly silence. After a few moments, the old man's wary, trembling voice came from inside the door: "Who...who is it?"

"It's me, Lu Zhao, who's staying here." Lu Zhao said calmly.

Silence fell again in the room. Then, the door creaked open a crack. The old man's complex face, filled with fear, despair, wariness, and a glimmer of hope, appeared behind the crack. His cloudy eyes looked at Lu Zhao, then glanced warily behind him, as if trying to confirm whether he was alone.

"Sir, is it convenient for us to come inside and talk? I have something I'd like to ask you," Lu Zhao said, his tone calm but his gaze sharp.

The old man hesitated for a moment, but finally opened the door. Inside, the middle-aged man, "San'er," had struggled to sit up, leaning against the kang (a heated brick bed), looking at Lu Zhao in terror, his face devoid of color.

Lu Zhao walked into the house, closed the door behind him, and glanced at the three people inside. He went straight to the point: "I heard everything you said. The well, the man in black robes, and the blood sacrifice."

"You...you..." The old man staggered back two steps in shock, nearly falling. The middle-aged man was even more ashen-faced, his eyes flashing with a desperate ferocity. He seemed to want to pounce and fight back, but he was too weak to move.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not with the men in black robes, nor am I a government official," Lu Zhao said in a deep voice, looking directly at the old man. "I'm here to help you. Or rather, to deal with that scourge."

"Help us?" The old man gave a bitter laugh, his eyes filled with despair and distrust. "How can you help? The thing in that well is a demon! A monster! We've tried everything—we've asked Taoist priests, monks, and doctors—but nothing works! And that man in black robes… he's even more… even more…" He trembled all over and couldn't finish his sentence.

"I am neither a Taoist priest nor a Buddhist monk. But I have killed similar evil creatures." Lu Zhao's voice was not loud, but the certainty in his tone made the old man suddenly raise his head.

"What...what did you say? You...killed someone?" The middle-aged man stared intently at Lu Zhao, his voice hoarse.

"You've heard of Beiling Village, right?" Lu Zhao asked.

"Beiling Village? A few days ago there was a plague that killed many people, and then I heard it was wiped out by a powerful outsider..." the old man murmured, then suddenly realized something, his eyes widening sharply, "You...you are..."

"That's right, it's me." Lu Zhao readily admitted, "The trouble in Beiling Village is exactly the same as that in your village. It's all the work of those black-robed demons. They spread plague and created panic in one place, and secretly carried out some kind of evil ritual. I solved the problem in Beiling Village, so perhaps I can also take care of things in your village."

These words struck the father and son like a thunderbolt. They stared at Lu Zhao in disbelief. This young, somewhat disheveled boy was actually the master who had quelled the plague in Beiling Village? Could this... possibly be possible?

"What...what evidence do you have?" the middle-aged man asked, trembling.

Lu Zhao didn't answer, but simply raised his right hand and extended his index finger. He activated the [Refining Spirit Technique], concentrating his spiritual power at his fingertip. A faint but solid, milky-white light emanated from his fingertip, like a candle flame, clearly visible under the dim light of an oil lamp. This was a tiny application of the materialization of his spiritual power after cultivating the [Refining Spirit Technique], which was already quite miraculous for ordinary people.

"This...this is..." The old man's eyes widened. Ordinary martial artists would never possess such skills.

"I cultivate spiritual techniques that can ward off evil spirits and suppress inner demons. Perhaps they can restrain what's in the well." Lu Zhao withdrew his finger, and the light went out. "If you trust me, tell me everything you know. Including what the black-robed man looked like, what he did, what's in the well, and how you knew a blood sacrifice was needed. Otherwise, I'll have to investigate myself, but then your entire village will probably be doomed."

The old man and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with struggle, fear, and despair, which finally coalesced into a faint glimmer of hope. At this point, what choice did they have but to believe this young man who had suddenly appeared and claimed to be able to resolve the calamity in Beiling Village? To continue waiting to die?

"I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything..." The old man slumped onto the stool, tears streaming down his face, and began to recount that nightmarish experience.

Two months ago, a man dressed in a black robe and wearing a hood, his face obscured, suddenly appeared in Huai Shan Village. He claimed to be a wandering Taoist priest who had come across a village with an "evil aura," fearing it was haunted by malevolent spirits, and offered to exorcise evil and pray for the villagers free of charge. The villagers, being simple and honest, and seeing his earnest demeanor, believed him. The man in the black robe circled the village, finally stopping in front of the old well, saying that something unclean existed in the well, the source of the village's plague. He instructed the villagers to seal the well, then performed rituals around it, drawing talismans and burying objects. For the first few days, the well water seemed to clear, and the villagers felt better, expressing their deepest gratitude to him.

But the good fortune didn't last long. A few days later, Liu, the hunter in the village, was the first to fall ill. Black spots appeared on his body, he developed a persistent high fever, and was plagued by nightmares. When they went to fetch the man in black, he said, "This is a backlash from evil spirits; it requires the blood of living people as an offering to quell it." At first, no one believed him, but seeing Liu's condition deteriorating, his family had no choice but to follow the man in black's instructions and secretly drip a few drops of blood into the well. Surprisingly, Liu's condition improved! But two days later, Liu's younger brother also fell ill. The man in black then said that one person wasn't enough; three were needed. And so, the word spread like wildfire, and people throughout the village began to fall ill. Those who fell ill needed to "donate blood" to survive, and those who donated blood would slowly contract a strange disease, but would live a little longer…

Ultimately, the villagers were controlled by this heretical belief in "blood donation to prolong life," living in constant fear yet daring not to resist. Those who resisted or attempted to escape would die mysteriously and gruesome deaths. The man in black robes would come once a month on the first and fifteenth to collect the "offerings"—a jar of fresh blood. Eventually, he stopped coming, leaving only the words that the sacrifices must not be interrupted, otherwise the "Well God" would be angered, and the entire village would die. The villagers, clinging to life through these twice-monthly blood sacrifices, watched helplessly as those around them died one by one, slowly waiting to die themselves.

"What are the characteristics of that man in black robes? What is his accent? Did he leave any belongings behind?" Lu Zhao pressed.

"He...he always kept his head down, so I couldn't see his face. His voice was hoarse, like...like it had been burned. Oh, right, he...he had a dark red, centipede-like scar on the web of his right hand..." The old man tried hard to recall.

"A centipede scar on the tiger's mouth?" Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat; this was indeed an important feature. "Do you know what he buried by the well?"

"I don't know, they wouldn't let anyone see when he buried it. But... but later someone wanted to dig it up to take a look, and as soon as their hand touched the soil, it... it rotted, and the next day..." The old man shuddered and couldn't continue.

It seems that the man in black robes had done something else to the well, setting up a vicious restriction.

"Have you really seen or sensed the 'thing' in that well?" Lu Zhao asked again.

Both father and son wore expressions of extreme fear. The middle-aged man trembled as he said, "I...I've never seen what it looks like. But every time there's a blood sacrifice, after the blood is poured out, I...I feel like there's something moving down in the well, 'drinking' the blood. The feeling is...icy cold, slippery like a snake, and like...like many insects crawling into my brain...And after each blood sacrifice, the nightmares the villagers have become even worse, and that dark shadow...gets even closer..." As he spoke, a pained and distorted expression appeared on his face.

Lu Zhao listened silently, a general outline forming in his mind. The evil creature in the well was likely something the black-robed man had "planted" or "awakened"—a creature that fed on essence, blood, souls, and life force. It might be a mutated form of some kind of Gu worm or demonic snake, a "spirit" formed from yin energy, or even part of the evil creature associated with the fragment of the evil god's emblem. It could spread plague (black spots) through the well and absorb living souls through nightmares, while requiring regular blood sacrifices to maintain its existence or enhance its power. The black-robed man used this method to control and exploit the entire village.

"Where did that man in black go in the end?" Lu Zhao asked.

"I don't know. He came once last month, collected the blood, and left. He hasn't come back since. But he said... he'll come back to collect blood on the fifteenth of next month. Counting the days, that's... the night after tomorrow!" the old man said in a trembling voice, his eyes filled with despair.

The man in black robes will return the night after tomorrow! This means that there is likely a connection behind this evil entity, a connection between the man in black robes and the Black Fiend Cult! Moreover, the man in black robes needs to "collect blood" regularly, and this blood is probably not just for "appeasement," but has other uses!

The evil spirit in the well must be dealt with before he arrives! Otherwise, things will get complicated once the man in black comes. Furthermore, the evil spirit in the well must be dealt with as soon as possible, or the villagers won't last much longer.

"Old man, how many people in the village are still able to walk around like you? How many are seriously ill?" Lu Zhao asked in a deep voice.

"The only ones who can walk... are the two of us and Widow Liu from the west end; she's a little less ill. The rest... are all lying on the kang (heated brick bed), unable to move, and they only have... only a few days left," the old man said, wiping away tears.

"Alright." Lu Zhao stood up, a resolute glint in his eyes. "Old man, trust me this once. Tonight, I'm going down the well. I need your help to keep the others calm. No matter what noise you hear, don't come out, and definitely don't go near the well. Also, tell me, roughly where near the well is the black-robed man burying his things?"

"Down...down the well?" The father and son were both stunned, their faces deathly pale. "There's a monster in that well! Going down is suicide!"

"If we don't get rid of that thing, the whole village will die. If we don't get rid of that thing, the man in black robes will come, and the whole village will still die," Lu Zhao said calmly, but the firmness in his tone left no room for doubt.

The old man looked at Lu Zhao's young but resolute face, then at his dying relative on the kang (a heated brick bed). A struggle flashed in his eyes, which ultimately turned into a resolute ruthlessness. "Fine...fine! Either way, I'm going to die, so I might as well trust you this once! If you want to go down the well, this old man...will guard it for you! The place where the man in black robes buried his things is at the southeast corner of the well's edge. Dig down three feet, and there's a black rock there. Don't touch it! Three feet next to that rock is where the things were buried!"

"Thank you, sir." Lu Zhao nodded, taking out two [Calming Talismans] and a small bottle of [Clearing Miasma Powder] from his pocket. "Keep these two talismans close to your bodies; they can calm your mind and ward off nightmares. Dissolve this medicine in water and give it to the seriously ill to drink; it can temporarily suppress the illness and keep them alive. Remember, no matter what happens, do not go near the well, and do not let anyone near it!"

He handed the talisman and medicine to the old man, and then said to the middle-aged man, "You have lost too much blood and your vital energy is severely depleted. Rest well and don't come out."

"Young...young brother, you...be very careful!" The old man took the item, his hands trembling.

Lu Zhao said no more, turned around, pushed open the door, and stepped back into the drizzling night rain. Behind him, the father and son looked at each other with complex, desperate, yet faintly hopeful eyes.

The night grew deeper. In the rainy night, the direction of the well resembled a gigantic maw that devoured everything.