All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

As the village chief was speaking, he suddenly covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Tears streamed down my face!

In recent years, he has been both the village chief and someone who has been forced to nod in agreement.

The villagers were afraid, driven by the impending disaster.

On one side were three innocent babies, and on the other side were the lives of the entire village.

No matter which knife you choose, it will pierce the heart of a normal person until it bleeds profusely.

Liao Xibai sighed, his voice low and somber.

"Old folks, this matter isn't entirely your fault."

"Evil spirits use the name of gods to bewitch the people and threaten them with disasters. How can ordinary people resist? It's just that the world is in chaos and the government has failed in its responsibilities."

"But now that we know it's wrong, we can't let it harm people any longer."

The village chief looked up at Liao Xibai.

Sensing that the gentleman before him possessed an extraordinary manner of speaking and demeanor, and was likely no ordinary person, he quickly rose to greet him.

"If you gentlemen can truly rid us of that evil thing and save our River Bend Village, I would be willing to give my life for you!"

Liao Xibai supported the village chief's arms.

"You flatter me, sir."

He was deeply saddened.

Back then, I, along with Mr. Sun Yat-sen and other patriots, endured hardships and painstaking efforts to overthrow the Manchu dynasty. But the prosperous era we envisioned never arrived, and the world didn't seem to improve much...

Fu Ze, who was standing nearby, spoke up and told the old village chief.

"We're going to visit the local temple tonight."

The village chief turned pale.

For the people of Hewan Village, the three characters "Tudi Temple" clearly mean more than just a temple.

That was a shadow.

It was a nightmare too.

But he hesitated for only a moment before gritting his teeth and nodding.

"it is good."

"Whatever you gentlemen need, I will do my best to arrange it."

Fu Ze glanced at Liao Xibai.

"We still need a place to stay. Especially this gentleman, who is in poor health, so please arrange some better accommodation if possible."

The village chief quickly replied.

"There's an empty yard behind my house, which was originally meant for my second son's wedding. But later... sigh, never mind."

"If you gentlemen don't mind, please stay over there."

Liao Xibai nodded.

"I'm sorry to bother you."

……

The village chief's courtyard was small, but it was fairly clean.

There are three rooms, a small kitchen, and a water vat in the yard.

For the group who had been traveling for many days in the wilderness, this was already quite good.

Liao Xibai is resting in the main room for the time being.

Li Junfeng and Zhao Rui stayed behind to take care of him.

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan, together with Fu Ze, planned to take advantage of the daytime to first investigate the local temple.

After all, we'll be taking action at night, so it's always better to scout out the terrain during the day first, rather than doing it at night.

The land temple in Hewan Village is located at the east end of the village, and it is slightly larger than the one in Huaishu Village.

The two walked eastward along the village road.

Not far away, I saw that crazy guy He again.

He squatted in a corner, holding a lump of dark red, wet mud in his hands, eating it while grinning foolishly.

He was still muttering incoherently.

"Delicious... the soil is so delicious..."

"It tastes even better than meat..."

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan paused slightly in his steps.

Fu Ze also looked at him.

He Fengzi seemed completely unaware of the two people's gazes, and just kept his head down, stuffing mud into his mouth bit by bit.

They ate with great relish.

It looked like they were really eating meat.

Fu Ze frowned.

"Is he always like this?"

An elderly woman passing by heard this and sighed.

"Yes! He's a pitiful man. Sometimes we give him porridge, but he only takes a couple of sips and then throws it away, insisting on digging in the dirt. Everyone says he's lost his mind and can't tell the difference between mud and rice."

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan looked at He Fengzi with a hint of pity in his eyes.

"When people are extremely hungry, they will eat anything. Besides, he was already out of his mind."

Fu Ze did not speak.

He then used his "spiritual vision" to glance at Crazy He.

Still no sign of evil.

However, this person's body was very weak, and his stomach was full of turbid fluids, clearly indicating that his long-term haphazard eating had long damaged his health.

Fu Ze sighed inwardly.

In chaotic times, there are too many pitiful people. Even if he wanted to help, he couldn't possibly help them all.

The two continued walking towards the Earth God Temple.

……

The local earth god temple looks perfectly normal during the day.

The temple had blue tiles and earthen walls, with two small trees in front of it, and the gate was half-open. Inside was a clay statue of the Earth God, with a red face, white beard, holding a wooden staff, and a smiling expression.

On the offering table was an incense burner with several burnt incense sticks stuck inside. There were also a few shriveled fruits, which must have been offered by the villagers a few days ago.

On the surface, it's just an ordinary rural earth god temple. They're common in the vast countryside and nothing unusual.

Fu Ze stood at the doorway and looked carefully.

There was a faint scent of incense, but the eerie, flesh-and-blood-clad energy of Huai Shu Village was not yet apparent.

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan also walked around the statue.

He reached out and touched the offering table, then looked at the incense burner, his brows furrowing slightly.

"It doesn't seem to have any major problems during the day."

"Although the incense smoke is murky, small temples in the countryside are prone to being mixed with other things. People pray for wealth, children, and peace, and all sorts of things, so the incense smoke is never very pure."

Fu Ze nodded.

"Nothing unusual was found inside the clay statue."

He stepped forward and gently patted the statue of the Earth God.

dong dong.

The voice was muffled.

It's just a regular clay sculpture.

There was no cavity, nor any writhing, grotesque flesh and tentacles.

Fu Ze and Feng Xuan then checked the corners of the temple walls, under the offering table, and behind the statues, and everything was normal.

The two walked out of the land god temple and went around to the back of the temple.

This is an open space overgrown with weeds.

Against the wall stood a dilapidated shack. It was supported by only a few crooked wooden sticks, and covered with rotten straw mats and tattered cloth, barely enough to keep out the wind and rain.

A foul, oily smell emanated from the vicinity of the shack, indicating that someone had been living there for a long time.

Fu Ze lifted the tattered cloth and took a look.

Inside, there was some dry straw and a few clumps of dirty cotton wool. The cotton wool had clumped together and was covered with dirt and sweat stains.

In the corner sat a broken bowl, half-filled with murky water.

Fu Ze's gaze fell on the scattered clumps of cotton. They looked familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.

In his mind, the image of the tattered cotton-padded jacket worn by Crazy He came to mind.

The cotton fibers exposed where the cuffs and hem were torn looked like this—blackened and yellowed, clumped together.

He reached out and picked up a bit of cotton, looking at Feng Xuan.

"Master, doesn't this look like the cotton wadding in that madman's clothes?"

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan also came closer to take a look.

"It looks like it. Is this the shack he lives in?"

Fu Ze raised an eyebrow.

"You'll know when you get back and ask."

The two circled the earth god temple again, but still found nothing unusual, so they left for the time being.

When they returned to the village chief's house, Liao Xibai and the others were talking in the yard.

Fu Ze asked the village chief directly.

"Who lives in that dilapidated shack behind your village's land temple?"

The village chief was taken aback.

"shack?"

Then, as if he remembered something.

"Oh, it's Crazy He. He's always lived behind the Earth God Temple."

Zhao Rui was somewhat puzzled.

"Is that the crazy guy in the village who eats dirt?"

The village chief sighed.

"That's right. He lost his father when he was young, and his family was poor when he was young, so he couldn't afford to get married. Later, his mother died of illness, and his house collapsed, so he lived behind the local temple ever since."

"We tried to persuade him and found him other places, but he refused. He said it was warmer near the local earth god. Later, he became more and more crazy, so we just let him be."

Fu Ze's eyes flickered slightly.

"When did he start going crazy?"

The village chief thought for a moment.

"It's quite early."

"It seems... to be the year that strange things started happening in our village."

After saying that, the village chief paused for a moment.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.