William Carter was instantly stunned and thought for a moment. He changed to a calm smile and said to the old man, “Then there’s nothing serious to worry about. This village, with its beautiful mountains and clear waters, may not have the best feng shui, but it’s not bad either. Someone here is bound to prosper in the future. Once the war settles and the world is at peace, perhaps some high officials or nobles will emerge from this village. That sneaky army will surely disappear sooner or later. Thank you, elder, for your hospitality, but it’s already so late, and I shouldn’t disturb your rest. I’d like to find a place to stay for the night.”

In these chaotic times, after battles, there’s often no time to deal with the corpses, so most nearby villagers would go and pick up anything useful to supplement their households. Since Old Mr. Bolton said he had checked, there was surely no doubt. Although William Carter had noticed a few things, he didn’t want to frighten him, so he didn’t say anything outright.

Old Mr. Bolton was very warm toward William Carter, clearly a kind elder by nature. His sons had all left to seek refuge. The remaining beds and bedding were quite convenient, so he hosted William Carter in the east-facing side room, and then went back to rest himself.

For the past few days, William Carter had been sleeping out in the wild. Tonight, finally getting a bed, he naturally fell fast asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

While he was sleeping in a daze, he suddenly heard faint shouts and killing sounds coming from the northwest. Remembering Old Mr. Bolton’s earlier introduction, he immediately became much more alert. Before he could prepare himself, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted, like thunder out of a clear sky, a furious mythical beast, the might of heaven on display. Even from such a distance, it sounded as if it were right by his ear, nearly shaking William Carter off the bed.

The Qingping Mountain and Wuji Palace that William Carter belonged to were major Daoist sects, possessing authentic techniques, not to be compared with the charlatans who trick people for food and money. Earlier, when William Carter used the “Qingshi Zhenxin Talisman” to test, he found that the northeast of this village had an unprecedentedly dense yin energy. In such an extremely yin, extremely evil place, it was only a matter of time before strange monsters or ghosts appeared.

But when he asked Old Mr. Bolton earlier, the village didn’t seem to be much affected. Those dead livestock and wild birds probably weren’t killed by the aftermath of battle, but rather by being corroded by ghostly yin winds, dying suddenly. Normally, eating such things would make an ordinary person gravely ill, even costing their life. Yet according to Old Mr. Bolton, the family who ate the beef was unharmed. Moreover, villagers had gone to check and nothing happened—this made the situation ten times stranger.

With such intense evil energy, normally no living person would remain in this village. Thinking of this, William Carter shivered inwardly, recalling Old Mr. Bolton’s expression earlier, which seemed normal. Still uneasy, William Carter hugged his longsword to his chest to feel a bit more secure. Though the sword was already broken in half, it was a demon-expelling artifact from his sect, so William Carter couldn’t bear to throw it away and always kept it with him.

That night, William Carter truly experienced the awe-inspiring power of a battle roar that could shake thousands of troops. Though Old Mr. Bolton’s house was sturdy, it was still shaken by the distant roar—the beams trembled, and the window frames and doorways nearly fell apart.

Although William Carter knew something was off about this commotion, he was neither especially timid nor especially brave, and decided to wait until dawn to investigate and satisfy his curiosity. It wasn’t worth risking his life at night.

With such noisy shouts and killing, even if William Carter were ten times more thick-skinned, he couldn’t sleep peacefully. He could only hug his bedding, get up, and lean against the wall with his eyes closed to rest. Only when dawn was breaking did the shouting finally fade away.

Since he hadn’t slept well at midnight, once the noise disturbing his rest was gone, William Carter immediately fell into a deep sleep, trying to make up for it. Old Mr. Bolton probably hadn’t slept all night either and was catching up on rest, so he didn’t come to greet him. William Carter slept until the sun was high in the sky, almost noon, before lazily getting up.

Thinking of the strange events at midnight, William Carter greeted the already-awake Old Mr. Bolton, made an excuse to go out for a walk, and headed straight northwest.

To the northwest of Qing Shan Village, past a small mound, was a flat area. The shouting from last night had come from here. After a good night’s sleep, William Carter felt full of energy, and even his tattered Daoist robe seemed to fit better.

It was already late autumn, and at noon, the sun was high and warm, making him feel indescribably comfortable. Standing on the mound and looking around, William Carter couldn’t see anything unusual. If this was truly an evil place, there should be some sign even in daylight, but now he couldn’t sense even a trace of yin energy, making him wonder if he’d misjudged.

Looking around, William Carter suddenly noticed a patch of gray in the grass, faintly trembling. Without thinking, William Carter raised his hand and cast a “Chuyang Ronghuo Talisman” at it. Unlike the “Qingshi Zhenxin Talisman” he used last night to check the earth’s energy, this talisman, condensed with his own true energy and the true fire of the sun, was highly effective at warding off and intimidating demons and ghosts, and could even disperse some unformed vengeful spirits.

A small flame landed on the gray spot and instantly ignited. What surprised William Carter was that as soon as the fire hit its target, it was immediately repelled. Centered on that gray patch, a circle formed, and the fire simply couldn’t burn where it was supposed to.