There's something wrong with me

That day, he tidied up a bit.

Then, he had a 'farewell drink' with the 'hero' Tomb Guard.

Zhang Feng and his two companions then set off lightly for Yang Mountain, a thousand li away.

The Tomb Guard, on the other hand, took some collected talismans and returned to General Hang's residence alone.

However, Zhang Feng also asked him to relay a message to the General Hang.

'Do not look for me, and no matter what news you hear, do not act rashly, pay attention to your own safety.'

Regarding General Hang, this warlord,

Zhang Feng didn't know how to describe him, but perhaps because the world was different, he didn't have much of the 'I am the only supreme one in this territory' attitude common among warlords.

He was more focused on doing business, making money amicably, and never suppressed anyone.

The fact that he, with his personality, could occupy this position was also something his father left to him.

Precisely his 'excessive amiability' also led to the assassination attempt by his subordinates a few years ago.

For such an amiable person, Zhang Feng still chose to remind him and protect him.

After all, for someone in such a position, in such an era, to still be so amiable,

one couldn't ask for too much.

Compared to other warlords, in a sense, he was already a very good person.

Sometimes Zhang Feng found that a person's good or bad qualities were determined by comparison.

But in other worlds, he would be a villain who destroyed the copper coin system.

...

Three days later, in the evening.

Five hundred li away.

Zhang Feng and his two companions arrived outside a village.

Normally, the three would not stop, but continue walking.

By midnight, they would 'camp' in the wilderness.

They were all cultivators; a pile of fallen leaves on the ground was a bed.

For them, with their strong physical functions, there wasn't much difference between sleeping on a soft bed and sleeping on dirt and leaves.

Only slight sensory differences.

But at this moment,

Zhang Feng stopped, looking at the malevolent aura drifting in the air outside the village.

"What's wrong, Daoyou?"

The Daoist stopped and asked when he saw Zhang Feng halt.

"Something's not right..." Lin Daoyou, having cultivated the method of Yin Earth, could sense the presence of malevolent aura in the air.

He also relied on this 'sense' when he used to search for ghosts.

"There's a problem here."

Zhang Feng was assessing, walking towards the village based on the direction the malevolent aura was drifting from, "Within eleven meters of me."

Recently, Zhang Feng had optimized the structure of his Spiritual Sense based on newly acquired talismans.

Although the number of strokes hadn't increased, the precision and amplification were higher.

The most obvious improvement was that the range increased by 'nearly' one meter.

The fraction less than one meter was compensated by Zhang Feng's increased Spiritual Mind during this period.

The accurate range was now 11.2 meters.

"Keep up." Lin Daoyou and the other Daoist didn't say much, following cautiously beside Zhang Feng, while also observing the villagers.

Some were picking vegetables at their doorsteps, some had just returned from working in the fields, and others were chatting idly.

"Who are you!" A few young children were running around at the village entrance, curiously looking at Zhang Feng and his two companions.

Their lives seemed unchanged, outwardly unaffected by the malevolent aura.

But Zhang Feng could see malevolent aura entwined around their bodies; for now, they were relying on their robust physiques, so there was no reaction yet.

However, in a few more years, when they were completely corroded by the malevolent aura, this village would become a 'ghost village'.

"They have already been possessed by malevolent aura..." Lin Daoyou could also sense the malevolent aura floating around these people's bodies.

"Three Daoist Priests."

At this moment, the village chief, seeing the three extraordinary Daoist Priests approaching, also led a few curious villagers to greet them.

However, this 'extraordinary' referred to Lin Daoyou and the other Daoist looking extraordinary.

Zhang Feng, on the other hand, was dressed in plain cloth, looking like a very ordinary young man, the kind that would be unremarkable if thrown onto the street.

But Zhang Feng was leading the way in front of Lin Daoyou and the other Daoist.

Lin Daoyou and the other Daoist also followed Zhang Feng like little attendants.

With the two of them as a foil, the village chief and others felt that all three were extraordinary.

"Elder." Zhang Feng saw the village chief leading people over, and although he didn't know exactly who the village chief was, he knew he was the leader.

Because the villagers looked at the village chief with great trust.

"Daoist Priest, this old man is..." The village chief then introduced himself and asked, "Are the Daoist Priests here to rest their feet?"

Their village actually didn't welcome outsiders to stay.

When ordinary people came, the village chief and others would persuade them to leave.

But Zhang Feng and his two companions had such an imposing aura that he unconsciously found himself asking, like an innkeeper.

Zhang Feng heard the question but didn't elaborate, instead saying directly, "I observe that your village has some problems."

As Zhang Feng spoke, he specifically looked at some curious women and children who had gathered around,

"Do the young and the old among you feel tired and sleepy recently?"

"How do you know, Daoist Priest?" The village chief was puzzled and looked at the people around, wondering if someone had told this Daoist Priest.

"No, we haven't..." The people around shook their heads, looking at Zhang Feng with even more confusion.

"The Daoist Priest says our village has a problem? What kind of problem?"

They were very puzzled, and it was as if their minds had been shaken by something, as they immediately forgot about the 'sleepiness' Zhang Feng had just mentioned.

"Their minds have been bewildered." Lin Daoyou saw it at a glance, "But not very deeply."

"Mm." Zhang Feng found it normal when he saw them all looking at him strangely.

Because malevolent aura inherently had the effect of 'losing one's composure'.

Or rather, the demon controlling the malevolent aura was deliberately using it to erode people's spirits, making everyone forget things related to the malevolent aura.

Otherwise, people who should be energetic were now sleepy.

The elderly in the household were becoming weaker and weaker.

Some strong men occasionally felt fatigued.

If one person was in such a situation, it might be normal.

But if a village of a hundred or so people were all like this, they should have noticed something was wrong long ago.

They shouldn't have just dragged on like this and continued their daily lives.

So all signs pointed to them being 'bewildered in mind'.

This was also why the village chief liked to drive people away.

However, Zhang Feng and his two companions had spiritual energy protecting them, and spiritual energy naturally overflowed, giving the villagers a feeling that 'they didn't want Zhang Feng and his companions to leave'.

This was human instinct 'crying for help'.

Zhang Feng was now deeply researched in spiritual energy and the human body, knowing these things, and could also see them with his Yin-Yang Eyes.

And now,

Zhang Feng could clearly see Lin Daoyou and the other Daoist's spiritual energy drifting, neutralizing some of the malevolent aura around the people.

This was what was often discussed in some mythological dramas: 'When near a highly skilled person, there is a feeling of peace of mind'.

Because the highly skilled person, invisibly, was 'saving people'.

At the same time, Zhang Feng also saw everyone's gaze gradually change from curiosity to suspicion.

Finally, some people suddenly remembered something and agreed with Zhang Feng's words.

"Daoist Priest! What you said about being sleepy, my child is exactly like that; he usually can be wild all day, and even if I tell him to sleep, he won't, but now he falls asleep as soon as he touches the bed. I thought he had changed his temperament."

"Third Brother, what you said about your child being sleepy, perhaps it's just as the Daoist Priest said, there's a problem in the village."

"Now that the Daoist Priest mentions it, I also notice something is wrong, because my father's health is getting worse day by day. I used to think old people were all like that... but..."

As they spoke, they suddenly realized.

And when others heard these few people say this, it was as if they suddenly 'opened their minds'.

"The village... seems to have a problem..."

"How did we not notice before..."

"Were we bewitched by something?"

They spoke one after another, their expressions showing a look of realization.

Before, they truly hadn't noticed.

But now, after their sudden realization, a wave of lingering fear suddenly arose in their hearts.

"Daoist Priest..." The village chief then also spoke what most wanted to ask, "Is there a demon in our village... Did the three Daoist Priests sense something was wrong, which is why you came to our village...?"

"Mm." Zhang Feng scanned around, looking at the anxious crowd waiting for his answer, "The three of us happened to pass by this place and saw that evil malevolent energy was at work here, so we specifically came to eliminate the demon."

"There really is a demon!"

"There's a... demon in our village?"

"Ghost... there's a ghost..."

The villagers were very panicked, looking left and right.

And at this moment, when they looked at their warmest homes, their warmest mud-brick houses, they always felt that in those dark, cavernous rooms, a terrifying demon was waiting for them.

"Daoist Priest..." Many people gathered around Zhang Feng, feeling safer that way.

"This demon is not inside your homes."

After Zhang Feng spoke, he said no more, and under the villagers' strange gazes, walked towards a well in the village.

This well was not yet dry, and there were several water buckets beside it that had just been used to draw water.

When the crowd saw Zhang Feng walk directly to the well, they became even more afraid.

"Could it be... the well... there's a demon in the well!"

"I draw water here every day..."

"You're lucky, Old Wu, the demon didn't eat you..."

While the crowd conversed in fear, they did not follow Zhang Feng but chose to stay far from the well.

“There’s something wrong with the water…” Some people in the crowd had just drawn water. When they saw that the well water was problematic, they reacted as if shocked, choosing to pour out the water in their hands and even throwing away their buckets.

Zhang Feng stood by the well, using his Spiritual Sense to gaze into the dark well bottom.

At about five meters down, there was a soccer-ball-sized pit, and a sleeping weasel.

It was two meters long, with a waist roughly the size of a soccer ball, and unusually short limbs.

Its bizarre body structure made it look like a ‘snake’ overall.

Yet, it had a truly big heart; even with Zhang Feng here, it was still sleeping.

But upon closer thought, it didn't have Zhang Feng’s Spiritual Sense and couldn't see above from inside the hole.

And it was also time for cooking.

The villagers’ constant footsteps might have made it mistake Zhang Feng for an ordinary villager.

As for the sounds of people talking,

Zhang Feng had long since used spiritual energy resonance to shield the surroundings.

He was also taking advantage of this monster incident to put his knowledge into practice and test it out.

Now, it seemed the effect was good.

“Daoyou, is the monster here?”

At this moment, amidst the village’s silence, Lin Daoyou spoke up to ask.

He couldn't see it because five meters was almost the height of a third floor.

The well opening wasn't large, and looking down, it was pitch black.

Meanwhile, as everyone waited anxiously, Zhang Feng nodded and said, “It is here.”

Saying that, Zhang Feng, under the even more anxious gazes of the crowd, stated directly, “This monster is a two-meter-long weasel, but its appearance is different from the weasels you’ve seen.

Because its current form resembles a snake.”

“A two-meter-long weasel…”

“Taller than a person…”

Everyone was in a daze, never expecting that they had been living with such a ‘great monster’ all along.

“Daoist priest…” In front of the crowd, the village chief, who had been feigning composure, now looked at Zhang Feng in fear, “Can you subdue him?”

The village chief’s words also made everyone look on with anticipation.

“I came here for this very reason.” Zhang Feng’s words fell, and before anyone could sigh in relief or react, he immediately made a grappling motion with his palm towards the well opening.

He used the hand motion to deepen his control over spiritual energy.

The next second, as everyone wondered if this Daoist priest would need to take a torch and go down the well to capture the monster,

With a piercing ‘squeak, squeak’ sound, like a group of rats screaming,

A grotesque monster with a strange physique and grayish fur suddenly shot out of the well, and with a wave of Zhang Feng’s palm, it was thrown beside the well.

“Mon… monster…”

After seeing the monster appear, everyone instinctively wanted to run, but in their fear, their legs felt like they were filled with lead, unable to move a step.

“Such dense malevolent energy…” Lin Daoyou also frowned, not expecting such a cultivated monster in this small village.

Whoosh—

The Daoist took out the Earth Thorn talisman Zhang Feng had given him, ready to throw it at any moment.

“Squeak, squeak!” After this weasel was captured from its sleep, it looked at Zhang Feng, who emitted terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations, and then, mimicking a human, continuously kowtowed in supplication.

This weasel had already become a spirit.

At the same time, seeing the weasel’s human-like actions, a wave of coldness washed over everyone’s hearts.

Zhang Feng, however, was unmoved. Under everyone’s astonished gazes, he once again covered its head with his palm, effortlessly beheading it from a distance.

“This monster has been eliminated.”

Zhang Feng looked at the crowd, “Now that it is dead, the malevolent energy will soon have no source.

I will then use a Malevolence Dispersion Talisman as a medicinal guide to dispel the malevolent energy from your bodies, and you will recover as before.

As for this well…”

Zhang Feng drew a talisman with his Spiritual Sense; a Malevolence Dispersion Talisman, invisible to the naked eye, appeared in the air, instantly dispersing the malevolent energy within the well.

“It’s also fine; you can still draw water from it to drink.”

Psychologically, a well that had once housed a monster was unsettling.

Whether people would use it, Zhang Feng didn’t know.

But he knew digging a well was difficult, so he helped out casually.

And although the crowd couldn’t see the talisman or know what Zhang Feng had done, they felt, in that instant, as if the temperature around the well had become a bit ‘warmer’?

This warmth was mostly psychological.

A small part was also because Zhang Feng had drawn a few more talismans to disperse the malevolent energy from their bodies.

…

That evening, the villagers were too hospitable.

Zhang Feng ended up eating there and took the opportunity to study this weasel.

This kind of research was useful for subjects related to corpse refinement, Yin attributes, the biological structure of demonic cultivators, and beast taming.

But also on this evening,

Zhang Feng heard a few young children call him ‘Great Immortal’.

Especially since Zhang Feng hadn't said his name, they had given him a nickname: ‘Ling Shan Great Immortal’.

This place was Ling Mountain territory.

Similarly, as soon as the few children uttered this address,

Zhang Feng suddenly felt a bit enlightened and curious.

Coupled with having encountered Ling Shan Great Immortal several times before,

Zhang Feng’s memories related to him were still quite vivid.

Thus,

The children’s simple words, ‘Great Immortal’, and this weasel’s rat-like cries,

Zhang Feng suddenly recalled events from the ‘underground world’ of the past.

At that time, a fellow traveler who loved telling ghost stories had said, ‘My grandma said that there was once a Great Immortal who raised a weasel, and that weasel could even wear human skin and transform into a human.’

Furthermore, among those few children, there were also two little girls.

So, with high probability, one of those little girls was that traveler’s grandmother.

Because according to this timeline and that 1980s world, there was a difference of nearly 70 years in between.

Although the details didn't quite match, the time, the address, and the weasel, etc., were correct.

It was because of this that Zhang Feng found it quite interesting, not expecting to have entered a ‘branch event’ timeline.

If this world continued, perhaps there really would be a group of people falling into a pit, and then that person would say, ‘My grandma said that Ling Shan Great Immortal killed the weasel.’

But precisely thinking of the pit,

It was also currently within Ling Mountain’s range.

Since he thought of it, he might as well look for a rat.

…

The next morning,

They made a small detour, heading towards Ling Mountain.

Lin Daoyou and the others didn't ask much.

But for the convenience of searching with more people, Zhang Feng also told them that he was looking for a rat cave.

With that, they split up to search.

…

Ten days later, Ling Mountain was thoroughly searched.

Good news, there really was a rat hole in the same location, but without Ling Shan Great Immortal’s mechanism; instead, it was simply a large rat cultivating malevolent energy.

So, he killed it.

After resolving everything,

Zhang Feng actually felt a complex mixture of lingering fear and relief.

Because in such a spiritual energy world, if the rat had already appeared, or even emerged,

Ignoring it would not be good.

Dealing with it, however, would be creating trouble for himself and wasting time.

Now, it was good; the entire nest was dealt with.

This feeling of initial great tension followed by relaxation also caused Zhang Feng’s inner demon value to drop by about 5%, which was better than nothing.

…

‘Many things overlap…’

Continuing on the way to Yang Mountain,

Zhang Feng made a very interesting judgment based on this rat incident.

That is, this world clearly had no Ling Shan Great Immortal, yet it had the rats ‘created’ by Ling Shan Great Immortal.

So, does that indirectly mean that if there’s a change in one world, there will be a ‘reflection’ in similar parallel worlds?

Of course, with so many worlds, it could also be a coincidence.

But precisely because of the text, Zhang Feng felt that the text might pick out some reflected worlds for him.

Otherwise, how could he encounter the same zuoshangke and evil cultivators?

Thus, Zhang Feng concluded that, apart from the real world, other worlds might be parallel.

As for his own world, in the world of the reincarnators, it had already been locked by the text.

This resolved his miscellaneous worries.

However, there might also be extraterrestrial civilizations.

That was consistent with normal scientific logic.

The universe is so vast, to say there are only Earthlings…

Zhang Feng didn’t believe it, but he didn’t have enough knowledge to verify it yet.

…

Along the way, he pondered and analyzed the Malevolence Suppressing Talisman, etc., deepening and solidifying his understanding.

Before he knew it,

Yang Mountain was reached.