"What do you mean?"
I asked, and Huang Mingfa led me to the window, pointing at the street outside.
"You'll know soon enough. The folks around here, tsk tsk..."
Huang Mingfa deliberately kept me guessing, smacking his lips and making faces. I placed one hand on his shoulder.
"Just tell me what's going on."
"You'll see for yourself, Ethan Zhang. I just got here myself, can't really explain it either."
I grunted, my tone softening a little.
"If you died, your soul should have been devoured by the Deathbane Ghost created by the Immortality Society. So how come your consciousness still..."
"The soul is a pure thing. If it gets eaten, everything else gets drawn somewhere else, like it's being guided. I only vaguely remember what happened when I woke up, like someone told me."
While Huang Mingfa was talking, the street outside suddenly erupted in noise, cheers rising again and again. I widened my eyes, watching the crowd—every face was lit with excitement, cheering non-stop.
Two men were already grappling with each other. Someone shouted to kill him or something, and just then, the one pinned underneath suddenly grabbed the other's neck, yelling wildly, and bit down hard.
A burst of screams. Huang Mingfa was already grimacing, covering his eyes. I felt a chill run down my spine. The man on top clutched his mouth, where a large chunk of flesh had been bitten off, blood pouring out. The one on the ground kept howling, his expression like he was possessed by a Deathbane Ghost, reaching out to jab at the other's eye.
The injured man seemed enraged, ignoring the pain of his gouged-out eye. He grabbed the other's fingers, and with a snap, the man who thought he'd won screamed in agony.
The man with one blind eye roared and pinned the other down, then, like a wild beast, bit into his throat. He kept pounding the man's head with his fists, and before long, the man stopped moving.
The whole scene was bone-chilling, like two wild beasts fighting to the death. A cold dread welled up from deep inside me. The people here were anything but normal. Just a minor collision had turned into a deadly brawl. The survivor's lips were still bleeding, one eye gouged out. Despite the pain, his face showed excitement.
"See? I told you, the people here are like beasts. Sigh, they're supposed to be human."
I was starting to understand what Huang Mingfa meant by danger. The people here weren't right in the head.
For the slightest trivial matter, murderous intent would erupt. Just now, for a moment, I felt a strong surge of Deathbane Aura. Though it was a bit unclear, maybe this is what I need to consume.
I vaguely sensed that the Deathbane Ghost could see through my heart during that encounter.
"So just stay put in the house. What are you planning to do, Ethan Zhang? If you tell me, maybe I can help."
I ignored Huang Mingfa and kept watching every move outside. The corpse slowly sank into the ground and vanished, while the one still alive wasn't faring much better. The bystanders surrounded him, their eyes full of malice and cold sneers. The man kept bleeding, clearly in agony, his breath growing weaker by the minute.
"The ones still alive here are much like ordinary people, except they're far more violent and bloodthirsty. The slightest trivial matter can set them off into a deadly brawl."
I watched quietly as the man collapsed to the ground, his face twisted with pain. Gradually, his eyes closed and his body sank into the earth, bit by bit.
One thing is certain: the dead here won't come back. They probably return to that Deathbane Aura Waterfall.
The crowd that had gathered on the street gradually dispersed. The street wasn't long—you could see its end at a glance. Whatever happened in the cave was clear now: something triggered the murderous intent in those people, driving them to slaughter each other until none survived.
"Ethan Zhang, can you take me up there? I tried once and almost died at the hands of those monsters. If you're with me, I should be able to reach the cliff safely. All I need to do is climb up."
Huang Mingfa was still pleading. I asked him a question.
"How did you know there's an old monk on that cliff?"
"A while back, I was wandering outside and happened to hear chanting. It made me feel at ease all over, so I wanted to ask you..."
"There's no need to go up. If you die, you'll return to that waterfall, and where the waterfall flows is the Western Paradise."
Huang Mingfa let out a doubtful 'oh,' clearly not convinced by me. I couldn't be bothered to explain further and walked straight out of the hut. He hurried after me, clearly intent on pestering me to take him to the cliff.
Just then, a burst of laughter rang out. I saw five or six people sitting together, bragging loudly. One guy, chest puffed out, started speaking.
"Guess what happened to that kid afterwards?"
"What do you think? You killed him, then while fleeing you resisted arrest, injured a cop, took a hostage, and finally got shot dead."
The arrogant guy glared at the bald man squatting on the ground, his face twisted with hostility.
"Can you shut the hell up? They haven't heard about my glorious exploits yet."
Huang Mingfa grabbed my arm, signaling that I shouldn't get involved.
"Idiot. I've killed way more people than you ever have."
In an instant, the two were at each other's throats, ready to fight. The others stepped back, giving them space.
"Forget it. I'm not going to bother with you."
The braggart just laughed and kept talking.
"That punk thought stabbing me once would give him a foothold. Once I recovered, I went looking for him. In the end, he begged for mercy, but I still chased him home and killed him—and his whole family. If you don't have the guts to kill, don't mess with me..."
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At that moment, the guy noticed me. I glared at him coldly. He glanced around, then swaggered over.
"Hey, kid, what are you staring at?"
"I'm not looking at anything."
I spoke quietly, but the guy seemed intent on venting his anger on me. Suddenly, I realized something: everyone here shared one thing in common—they never felt there was anything wrong with killing. To them, it was only natural.
I didn't want to get tangled up with him, so I turned to leave. But he grabbed my shoulder.
"Not happy? Still got the nerve to glare at me? I'll gouge your eyes out."
Without hesitation, I twisted his hand and threw him hard to the ground. The crowd immediately erupted in jeers.
The guy on the ground howled, his arm twisted by me, completely immobilized.
"Enough. Go vent your anger somewhere else."
I spoke coldly. The guy on the ground cursed, spewing obscenities. Suddenly, my temper snapped. With a crack, I dislocated his arm. He sprang up and tried to headbutt me.
Bang! I glared furiously at him as he clutched his bleeding forehead and collapsed backward. My head spun; more trouble was coming. The crowd that had just dispersed now gathered again.
"Damn it, I'll kill you."
The guy on the ground suddenly scrambled up, despite his broken arm and bleeding forehead. Like a crazed bull, he charged at me. Instantly, I felt the Deathbane aura surge around us.
Bang! I pressed his shoulder with one hand—his attack couldn't touch me. Suddenly, he whipped out a sharp stone, aiming for my eyes. The crowd erupted in cheers, their bloodlust boiling over at this inhuman spectacle.
Smack! I shattered the stone with one hand, then slapped his face. He spat blood and collapsed again, this time unable to get up.
"Hah, always bragging about how tough you are, and now look at you."
One of the onlookers spat at the guy on the ground. The rest gave me sinister looks. Huang Mingfa had already run far away, watching helplessly.
He was right—it's not safe out on the street. Trouble can erupt at any moment. I decided to head back to the stone hut.
Just as I was about to leave, a man a head taller than me suddenly blocked my way and bumped into me. I was distracted, lost my balance, and nearly fell.
"What do you want?"
I glared at him in anger. He just laughed, his arms creaking as he flexed.
"You bumped into me. You act tough for a newcomer, huh?"
As he spoke, he reached for my head. Rage boiled up from deep inside me. I didn't hold back—a punch to his gut sent him flying into the crowd, rolling on the ground until he lay still.
The crowd exploded. The people around me closed in, shoving and jostling with malicious intent.
"Shit."
I roared, grabbed two of them, and hurled them out of the mob. Instantly, someone kicked me in the back. Anger surged through me, burning uncontrollably.
There's no reasoning with these people. Maybe they were always like this, even in life. I didn't even want to use my strength against such scum.