Lu Cai paused, turned and glanced.
Lucky?
Should they take this lucky gift?
Some of the still-clattering crowd had already regained their eyesight but it was clear that their minds were still far from clear.
The speaker was the butcher, whom Lu Cai had met once before who had been glaring sinisterly at Lu Cai as he sharpened his knife. Perhaps due to years of training his physical condition had improved much faster than others so he was the first to call out to Lu Cai.
After he spoke more and more people gradually recovered and joined in the outcry—
"That's right! Why is Xiao Lu with the bride?"
"You're taking advantage of our wedding feast to go looking for the bride? No wonder we couldn't find you!"
"That's not right Xiao Lu! The bride is the Dragon King's wife! You've broken the rules!"
The crowd cursed the dawn sunlight illuminating the sky but it didn't wash away the sternness on their faces.
Lu Cai calmly observed the group watching their bodies gradually recover as the day dawned but their minds and spirits showed no improvement.
The maximum infection period is 35 days. Beyond that without treatment, the infection is irreversible and they will forever be reduced to their night forms.
Zhang Daquan twisted his body and rushed out of the crowd as if he had suffered a stroke. "Little Lu! I was wrong about you!"
He hadn't fully recovered yet but he looked brave as he desperately challenged Lu Cai.
The butcher, united in his hatred, grinned and replied, "That's right! We've been preparing for a wedding for half a month and now he's ruined it all! The Dragon King will definitely not bless our village!"
The Dragon King was the spiritual salvation of the entire village. Those who hadn't reacted immediately blushed.
The crowd erupted in a commotion. The grown men gathered around Lu Cai while the women spurned him with scornful, "I didn't expect you to be such a scumbag!" eyes as if he had truly committed some unforgivable sin.
They never found it strange that the bride was a corpse nor did they think spending the night with a female corpse would actually mean anything.
At least, for most people nothing would happen. They genuinely treated Zhang Xue's corpse as a bride ready for marriage.
Lu Cai frowned slightly uncomfortably, not wanting to waste any more words. "Where's Xiao Yuren?"
The butcher roared, "You're planning to harm other women in our village!"
Lu Cai paused and before he could retort, "I'm not a beast, why would I harm a sixteen-year-old girl?" A heartbreaking scream erupted from the back of the crowd.
"Monster! Monsters are coming!!!"
Lu Cai looked up immediately only to see the fog behind him grow thicker. Even though the sun had risen and it struggled to pierce the fog it seemed blocked by a layer of solid energy preventing it from penetrating the village.
At this moment, the monsters in the fog were like wild beasts released from their cage devouring humans with abandon.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The people standing at the back were caught off guard and dragged into the fog. No one could even see the direction the monster attacked from. Only Lu Cai, his face sullen, shifted his gaze rapidly.
He saw the monster extend its slimy, flesh-colored tentacles from behind the thick fog gently sweeping and scooping the crowd like a fisherman.
Humans who hadn't been fully infected had low attack power making them ideal prey for all the monsters, not to mention the monsters themselves who would fight and devour each other.
At this point, no one cared about Lu Cai's guilt anymore. Everyone was overcome by fear, crying and hysterically escaping within their shrinking safety zone.
In fact, Lu Cai was enveloped in a protective spiritual energy that kept those creatures at bay. As a result, Lu Cai, once scorned and hostile by everyone, ultimately became the center of the crowd's refuge.
Survival is the instinct of all living things. Even if they are infected by dark matter and no longer fully human their primal desire for survival will only become increasingly exposed.
Lu Cai watched coldly as the living space shrank and irreconcilable conflicts erupted among the villagers.
"I don't want to stand on the periphery! Get out! Get out!"
"Get out, you bastard!!!!"
The butcher glared and slapped the woman beside him. "You stinking bitch—Ahhhhhhhhhh, what's pulling me! Help, Dragon King, help me!!!"
The fierceness on his face completely vanished. He screamed in fear as a tentacle grabbed his ankle and dragged him violently into the thick fog.
Lu Cai watched helplessly as the man was dragged away before his eyes, his ten fingers struggling to scratch the ground leaving ten bloody marks but as he passed a child also entangled by a tentacle he briefly dazed before gritting his teeth and biting down hard on the tentacle!
The tentacle, under attack instinctively let go of the child and retreated back into the fog.
Lu Cai's forehead twitched at the sight and his hand which had been held behind his back and not intended to reach out softened slightly. My senior brother had said that what distinguishes humans today from plants, birds, beasts and monsters is no longer their ability to use tools
but their ability to overcome instincts with their will.
In these perilous times upholding their human will is the only way to avoid being swallowed by the torrent. Otherwise, even if they haven't been eroded by dark matter they are no longer truly human.
A flash of fire flashed between Lu Cai's fingers and the tentacle wrapped around the butcher's ankle instantly ignited. For the first time, the monster's scream rang out from the dense fog—
"Ah!"
The sound was sharp and piercing, vibrating at a high frequency making it uncomfortable to hear.
But fortunately, the tentacle released the butcher and swiftly retreated into the fog.
"Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu saved them!"
Before Lu Cai could decide what to do next, someone in the crowd hiding behind him suddenly shouted excitedly.
Lu Cai turned around and saw the village chief wearing reading glasses, looking at him with tears in his eyes.
"Xiao Lu it was you just now...you used some trick, right? I saw a flame on your finger!"
Lu Cai narrowed his eyes, a half-smile on his face: "Can reading glasses focus light?"
He didn't believe anyone could really notice his subtle movements while using Lihuo in such a situation. This old man didn't look at all like the simpleton he appeared to be.
The village chief seemed to misunderstand the sarcasm in Lu Cai's words. One moment he was cowering, the next he shouted, "Everyone! Come to Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu can protect us!!!"
Good boy, if you give him a chance he'll reach the moon.
Everyone paused, especially the butcher who had risen from the ground. The shock had brought him back to his senses a little. Although his expression remained fierce and ferocious fear began to creep into his eyes as he looked at Lu Cai.
Lu Cai glanced at the village chief noncommittally, his emotions mixed. He thought he wasn't cut out for intrigue. He'd thought a few more days of exploration would reveal some clues but only now did he realize that if he'd turned the village upside down sooner he might have uncovered everything.
He sighed silently and turned to the village chief: "Protection isn't free."
"You're being polite!" The village chief's face flushed. "Xiao Lu, just tell us what you want and our village will find a way to get it!"
"That's right! Xiao Lu, just name it as long as it can save us!"
The crowd smiled apologetically, their fury gone. Their fear had almost restored some semblance of normalcy.
Lu Cai glanced at the crowd. Aside from the three or four people who had initially been swept away by the monster without noticing everyone else was still there. But Xiao Yu was still nowhere to be seen.
He thought for a moment and spoke: "Xiao Yu."
The village chief's expression suddenly changed.
Lu Cai could see clearly that Xiao Yu must have some key influence otherwise the village chief wouldn't have changed his expression so drastically. Or perhaps, as the only normal person in the village so far Xiao Yu was the mastermind behind all these changes...
"Can't you change someone else?"
The village chief's expression turned slightly grim. This was the first time Lu Cai had seen such a noticeable change in his expression and it made him even more certain.
Lu Cai paused, realizing the village chief had misunderstood, assuming he was trying to steal the girl. He didn't explain wanting to gauge his true feelings about Xiao Yu. He bluntly replied, "No."
The village chief immediately panicked: "But she's my daughter!"
The surrounding villagers also quietly revealed an indescribable expression as if they genuinely felt a sense of disdain yet were unable to express themselves under Lu Cai's coercion.
Lu Cai was stunned for a moment. Seeing the village chief about to say something he calmly stopped him: "I understand."
He turned to think and happened to see Zhang Xue's body. He remembered that he had indeed heard Xiao Yu's voice heading towards Dragon King Pond last night. Now that his abilities were exposed he didn't hide it and went straight to investigate that strange pool.
Lu Cai didn't mince words. He immediately cast a spell to temporarily purify the village. The fog instantly retreated outside the village wary and daring not to intrude.
The villagers' eyes widened as if they had never seen such craftsmanship before. Their gazes towards Lu Cai were instantly filled with awe.
Lu Cai said nothing more, turning and heading towards the back of the village.
Seeing this, the villagers hurried to follow him, no one daring to stray too far from Lu Cai fearing another accident. Lu Cai didn't try to stop them but instead asked directly on the way:
"Is there really a Dragon King in Dragon King Pond?"
The village chief walking beside him, swallowed hard and replied carefully, "Yes... yes. Without the Dragon King our village wouldn't have survived this long."
"Human sacrifice is the price for the Dragon King's blessing?" Lu Cai asked harshly. He could see the village chief's displeasure but he could only nod helplessly.
Lu Cai now understood something. No wonder Zhang Daquan wasn't sad to see Zhang Xue die. They were infected by dark matter and their minds were already clouded. And since Zhang Xue had been chosen to sacrifice to the so-called Dragon King she was probably already dead in everyone's mind. It didn't matter whether she died earlier or later.
Dragon King...
Lu Cai's eyes dimmed slightly. He hadn't noticed anything unusual the last time he came so he assumed it was just a case of collective hysteria among the villagers. He wasn't so deeply involved then and hadn't analyzed it carefully.
Now it seemed that something so worthy of a father's willingness to sacrifice his daughter might actually exist.
Arriving near the pond again Lu Cai glanced casually and paused.
The village chief beside him rushed out like a madman: "Xiao Yu!!!"
Xiao Yu, wearing yesterday's clothes, lay half-crouched on the shore in the same position as Zhang Xue the night before, motionless.
Lu Cai's brows furrowed. The villagers behind him didn't dare speak out in front of him anymore instead whispering among themselves:
"It seems Xiao Lu was hanging out with the bride last night and the Dragon King is really angry."