Gu Qingfeng narrowed his eyes, his expression carrying an inexplicable meaning as he looked at Village Chief Hu Liang: "Village Chief Hu, I hate being deceived more than anything."
Hu Liang turned pale with fright and said anxiously, "Lord Gu, what are you saying? Even with a hundred lives, this old man wouldn't dare deceive you. Besides, it's already dark, and our village recently suffered from demon troubles. What parent would let their children play outside at this hour?"
Gu Qingfeng silently stared at Hu Liang without saying a word.
Nearby, Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi felt chills run down their spines, as if they'd fallen into an ice pit.
If the village chief wasn't lying, wouldn't that mean the peddler and the children were all demons?
They dared not think any further.
They even began to suspect the village chief before them, or rather, the entire village seemed suspicious.
Suddenly, Gu Qingfeng burst into laughter: "Hahaha, interesting, your village is truly interesting! First, the peddler vanishes in the blink of an eye, then three little brats disappear when I turn my head. Now I'm curious, Village Chief Hu, what if I turn away from you now and look back again - would you disappear too?"
Hu Liang grew increasingly anxious: "Lord Gu, what are you talking about? This old man doesn't understand!"
Gu Qingfeng gave a sinister laugh: "No need to understand, let's do a little experiment."
Gu Qingfeng suddenly turned to Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi and said, "You two, stand behind me and turn around."
After speaking, he turned around first.
Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi hesitated, unsure of what Gu Qingfeng was planning.
"Hurry up, do as I say," Gu Qingfeng urged impatiently.
Soon, Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi walked in front of Gu Qingfeng and turned around, showing him the backs of their heads.
Behind Gu Qingfeng stood Village Chief Hu Liang.
"1...2...3! Turn around!"
Gu Qingfeng counted to three and had everyone turn back.
When they turned around, the space behind them was completely empty.
The village chief... had vanished.
"AHHHHH!!!"
Wang Fatty screamed shrilly, collapsing onto his bottom with such force that the ground shook from his weight.
"The... the village chief! The village chief is gone too!" His voice distorted from fear.
"Xu... Xu Daizi, did you see where the village chief went?" Wang Fatty tugged at Xu Fan's trouser leg, but Xu Fan didn't respond.
Wang Fatty looked at Xu Fan's face and found him pale as a sheet, biting his lips, trembling all over, sweating profusely, rolling his eyes, and nearly fainting.
He was clearly terrified.
Wang Fatty was in no mood to mock Xu Fan for being a coward. He quickly looked to Gu Qingfeng, seeking reassurance.
He saw Gu Qingfeng with his head lowered, his face covered in shadows, features indiscernible.
Wang Fatty's heart skipped a beat: "Lord... Lord Gu, are you alright?"
Whoosh!
Gu Qingfeng suddenly raised his head, his expression as fierce as a demon, his face dark with suppressed rage, like a volcano about to erupt.
This expression startled Wang Fatty, who thought Gu Qingfeng had been possessed by a demon: "Lord... Lord Gu?"
The next second, a thunderous roar erupted from Gu Qingfeng's mouth: "You son of a *****! You old bastard! I told you I hate being deceived more than anything! Fine! You all think you can make a fool out of me?
Just wait until I find you all - I'll tear you to pieces!"
This outburst shocked Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi back to their senses, momentarily forgetting their fear as they stared at Gu Qingfeng in disbelief.
Their heads were full of questions - was this really the time to worry about being deceived?
In such a terrifying, horrific atmosphere, he wasn't scared? Instead, he was angry about being deceived?
What an explosive temper!
After his outburst, Gu Qingfeng grew even more furious, burning with rage!
He'd just wanted to eat a simple candied haw, but not only did he not get to eat it, the peddler pulled a mysterious disappearing act.
When he asked three little brats about it, they claimed they hadn't seen anything? And even scammed two copper coins from him!?
Those three little brats were such good actors, saying things like "I, Dog Leftovers, never lie" - go to hell!
The village chief was an even better actor, with his "This old man wouldn't dare deceive you even with a hundred lives."
His expression, body language, and line delivery - damn, there must be corruption in the Oscars if he hasn't won one!
These bastards, deceiving me again and again, and using the same trick every time.
"Wang Fatty, Xu Daizi, follow me! We'll search every house! We'll find that old bastard, those three little bastards, and that middle bastard!" Gu Qingfeng roared.
He drew the demon-slaying sword from his waist and charged into the darkness.
Wang Shan and Xu Fan had no choice but to follow closely behind Gu Qingfeng.
At this time, Black Water Village was deadly silent, without even the sound of dogs barking.
It was pitch black, as if everyone in every house had died - not a single light was lit in any home.
The three of them held torches as they broke into house after house.
Bang!
Gu Qingfeng kicked open a door - empty inside.
On to the next house.
Bang!
Still no one!
From one end of the village to the other, the entire Black Water Village was completely deserted!
The current deathly silence formed a stark contrast to the peaceful harmony of the daytime.
"My... my lord, this village is too strange. Should we go back and ask for reinforcements?" Wang Fatty suggested tremblingly.
Gu Qingfeng ignored him and silently called out to the system in his mind.
He thought he might be under an illusion.
"System, why haven't I received any strengthening feedback if I'm under an illusion?"
The system's cold voice echoed in Gu Qingfeng's mind: "This system will repeat once more: this system is called the 'Strengthen When Attacked by Demons System.' Please comprehend this yourself."
Gu Qingfeng's expression grew even darker.
According to the system's explanation, there were two possibilities.
One, this wasn't a demon's illusion, but possibly man-made.
Two, this was a demon's illusion, but more like a sleight of hand - since it caused no actual harm to him, the system didn't react.
Back in the Demon Suppression Prison, when he was under the Eye Demon's illusion, the demon had tried to invade his brain and control his body, which counted as an attack, so it triggered the system's response.
But this time, he hadn't suffered any actual damage (psychological damage didn't count), so the system showed no reaction.
However, regardless of which possibility was true, Gu Qingfeng wouldn't let this go. Even if it was man-made, he would make them pay.
With the Word-Burning Sun Sword as his trump card, he dared to fight even if a Grandmaster of the Early Heaven realm appeared!
"Let's go! To the Dead Bone Forest."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
