Chapter 39: The Glitch Failed! Eerie Talismans! Has Xu Ran Been Corrupted by the God of Resentment?-Começando como um bebê, cultivando o Dao e tornando-se um Lorde(Brisa que desperta da embriaguez)

"It shouldn't have anything to do with the Nightmare Grudge Mother..."

"The Nightmare Grudge Mother is sneaky and elusive; she likely doesn't even qualify as a deity."

"Even if the Nightmare Grudge Mother were truly a being of that divine level, the deity worshipped by these four wouldn't be her. It must be someone else..."

"After all, the Nightmare Grudge Mother has never used abilities like talismans; their powers are incompatible."

Xu Ran analyzed the situation carefully.

Of course, what exactly this eerie "deity" was remained a mystery. With only the current information, he couldn't make sense of it, so he simply closed his eyes to rest.

Surprisingly, being carried on a shoulder, bouncing along like a meat cradle, was quite hypnotic. With Uncle Ye keeping watch, Xu Ran enjoyed a sound sleep.

"Bang—"

Four sneaky black shadows ducked into a carefully camouflaged cave and rudely tossed the burlap sacks onto the ground.

Candlelight flickered like a tongue, licking across the sacks and the cave walls.

"This brat actually fell asleep! What a moron."

The four of them scrutinized Xu Ran.

The squint-eyed, melon-faced leader asked, "Could there be something wrong with this kid?"

The triangular-faced second man replied, "What could be wrong? He's probably from a poor family and ran out wanting to hunt crystal beast meat. Didn't we catch over a dozen kids like this a while back?"

The dog-tongued third man spat, "Heh, he really thought he could find a miracle in the wild? Too many martial arts novels! The only things in the wild are villains like us!"

The hunchbacked fourth man chuckled, "No, no, you can find miracles in the wild! Aren't these kids our miracles? Hehe."

The four exchanged strange laughs, and their humanoid shadows danced wildly on the walls.

"Let the sacrifices out to get some air first."

The four untied the sacks, and their deep-set eye sockets scanned Xu Ran with a hint of evil light.

"Still alive and well, all top-tier sacrifices. Especially this tender young boy—the Supreme Deity will surely love him!"

"We've already offered twenty sacrifices in a row. The Supreme Deity will be very satisfied and will grant us the Vitality Boosting Talisman! We're almost there."

The third man mumbled crazily, "Vitality Boosting Talisman, hehe, my Vitality Boosting Talisman! Hehe, a massive 10,000-point boost to vitality!"

"One Vitality Boosting Talisman gives 10,000 vitality points. We can trade for one every month. In just half a year, all four of us will become Mountain-level powerhouses!"

The third man licked his lips frantically, his eyes glowing with a sickly green light.

The squint-eyed leader warned, "Third, don't be greedy, and don't be impatient! After this haul, we need to lay low for a while!"

"You know the Jing City Investigation Team isn't to be trifled with. If we get caught, we'll be executed on the spot."

The triangular-faced second man agreed, "Big Brother is right. We have plenty of time, so let's not commit crimes back-to-back. We'll wait until the investigation team lets their guard down before striking again. Safety first."

The third man wiped his drool. "Big Brother and Second Brother are right. Hehe."

The hunchbacked fourth man urged, "Quick, brothers, let's start the sacrifice! I can't wait to use the Vitality Boosting Talisman!"

The triangular-faced second man added, "I'm getting itchy too. It's been so long since I used a Vitality Boosting Talisman; my whole body feels off, like there are ten thousand ants crawling in my crotch."

"Alright, let's make the sacrifice to the Supreme Deity and claim our Vitality Boosting Talisman."

The squint-eyed leader licked his lips obscenely and led his brothers, dragging the four "sacrifices" to the deepest part of the cave.

Unlike the rest of the cave, they had carved out a separate stone room about three meters wide.

On the wall facing east, they had hollowed out a niche. Inside sat a statue of a deity.

The statue was made of dark red material and plastered with golden talismans. Its features were calm and peaceful, yet that slight smile held an indescribable, eerie quality.

Xu Ran silently cut his ropes.

He looked curiously at the statue and the "talismans" plastered upon it.

On the golden talismans were blood-red lines that seemed to crawl and wriggle like snakes and insects, twisted and bizarre.

In an instant, Xu Ran felt a chilling sensation that made his hair stand on end, rushing from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

Danger!

This danger was different from a weak person encountering a tiger; it was venomous and icy, like a cold, vengeful spirit clinging to his back, breathing frost down his neck.

Xu Ran was astonished.

"You kidnap children to sacrifice to it, and it gives you talismans in return?"

The squint-eyed leader paused, then his face filled with intoxicating malice. "What, you want to die knowing the truth? Don't dream. Soon, the Supreme Deity will emerge to eat your flesh and crunch your bones bit by bit."

"We'll summon the Supreme Deity before you right now... let you see it before you die..."

Before the leader could finish his sentence, Mantis No. 1 flashed out.

The leader immediately clutched his throat as blood sprayed from between his fingers.

"Boss!"

Though they didn't know what happened, the second, third, and fourth men scrambled back, shielding their critically wounded leader.

The leader glared at Xu Ran, his face full of disbelief.

"How? You... you... killed me? What a fast blade!"

Xu Ran smiled faintly. "My blade is indeed fast."

In the next second, the second, third, and fourth men simultaneously clutched their throats.

"Gurgle—"

The three of them, throats hissing and bleeding, tremblingly pulled golden talismans from their robes and slapped them onto their necks.

"Heavenly Healing Talisman!"

The wounds on their necks healed rapidly.

"Speed Talisman! Shield Talisman!"

The four slapped more talismans onto their bodies and turned to flee.

However, at that very moment, Uncle Ye's mental energy suddenly spread out like a mountain, pressing down on the four. They dropped to their knees, their kneecaps shattering with the impact.

"Ah—"

Pinned by an invisible force, their ugly faces were pressed hard against the ground, their features distorted.

They were terrified to the extreme.

They were truly finished. A tender young boy had tripped them up, and behind him was a powerhouse with vitality as vast as a mountain.

Despair.

"Supreme Deity, please save us!"

"We are your loyal believers!"

"Only you can give us a way out... ah, ah, ah."

The four wailed for help, but instead of rescue, a sudden change occurred—they withered into mummies, and four vibrant balls of blood flew from their chests into the body of the eerie statue.

The statue trembled violently! It suddenly opened its golden divine eyes.

"Since you see your god, why do you not bow?"

Uncle Ye appeared, his gaze fixed on the statue, piercing through all its secrets. "Playing god, are you? You don't even have a single offensive capability, yet you dare call yourself a deity?"

"Are you going to come out and die, or shall I grind you into powder?"

The statue's expression shifted, staring at Ye Ping with venomous hatred.

"To disrespect the god is a capital crime!"

Uncle Ye sneered, "Is talking all you can do?"

As he spoke, he raised his arm, and a white ball of light, half a meter in diameter, instantly lit up the room like daylight.

The pure orb of light shot toward the statue at the speed of light.

The statue didn't move, only staring at Ye Ping and Xu Ran with hateful eyes.

"BOOM!"

The orb crushed the statue, and the terrifying energy instantly carved a long "tunnel" through the mountain, connecting to the outside.

A red moon tilted its head, peering into the cave to see what had happened.

"To disrespect the god is a capital crime!"

The statue shattered into dust, turning into a blob of black pollution.

Even as it was destroyed, the statue showed no fear. Its shrill, sinister laughter echoed through the cave, repeating over and over: "My task is already complete. What does it matter if you destroy this? You can only destroy one statue, but my god will become formless. My god's talismans will surely benefit billions of lives, and my god will ascend to the supreme throne!"

Xu Ran frowned. "Big talk!"

Ye Ping sighed. "It's not wrong. Its talismans are truly terrifying... The Speed Talisman allows these people to rival Mountain-level cultivators; the Heavenly Healing Blood Talisman can make even a fatal throat-slitting recover in an instant..."

"Things that cultivators spend their whole lives working for can be obtained by sacrificing a few children. How many cultivators do you think will abandon their conscience to become its followers?"

Xu Ran didn't reply but crouched down to rummage through the four mummies, finding several talismans.

Ye Ping's pupils constricted. "Little Ran, what are you doing? You're not going to try and use them, are you?"

Xu Ran smiled calmly. "Uncle Ye, don't worry, I definitely won't use them. The moment I saw these talismans, my hair stood on end, and I sensed a danger that made me shudder."

"I just want to see how they work. To recover from a fatal injury like a slit throat instantly! This is god-like regenerative power. If I could understand the principle, remove the negative effects, and achieve harmless mass production for cultivators, wouldn't that be perfect?"

Ye Ping was stunned. As expected of someone with such innate talent, his way of thinking was different. He actually wanted to neutralize these eerie talismans?

Are you trying to compete with this vengeful god? Walk its path so it has nowhere to go.

"Be careful, there might be pollution from the vengeful god on them. It's best not to touch them."

"I'll be careful."

Xu Ran focused, holding up a talisman under the candlelight to observe it intently.

[High-Level Comprehension] + [Careful Observation] were fully activated as he tried to discern the principle. Unfortunately, after two or three minutes, he felt dizzy and exhausted. 'With my high-level comprehension, I can't understand it at all?'

Xu Ran felt it was very strange. "This is a bit challenging. Good, very good."

Saying this, Xu Ran folded the talisman and tucked it into his pocket.

Ye Ping quickly snatched the golden talismans away. "You can't keep these on you. Let me handle them; I'll turn them over to the Research Institute."

Xu Ran: "...Share one with me..."

Ye Ping refused sternly, "I can't give you this! The pollution of a vengeful god is no joke. If it causes any serious consequences, I can't take the responsibility!"

"Once you're strong enough to resist a certain level of pollution, I'll let you study them. How about that?"

Xu Ran rubbed his temples. "You're right. I only studied it for a few minutes and I'm already drowsy. These talismans are truly eerie!"

"Since I can't figure them out for now, I'll wait until I've read a few more tens of thousands of books."

Xu Ran was open-minded and didn't insist further.

Ye Ping smiled. He had no idea what Xu Ran meant by "a few more tens of thousands of books." He pulled out a strange silk pouch and tucked the talismans into it.

As soon as the talismans were inside the pouch, the chilling sense of danger Xu Ran had felt instantly vanished.

Xu Ran looked surprised.

Uncle Ye explained patiently, "This is called a Parasitic Pouch. It's made of blood threads produced by a special parasite from the Vengeful God Planet—the Louse Ant. These ants can parasitize Vengeful Beasts, and the threads they produce can restrain pollution to a certain extent."

"Items made from it are often used to handle polluted objects. Like now, putting the pollutant in the pouch reduces the pollution to a level that is harmless to me."

Xu Ran suddenly realized. "Oh, I read about that."

"You read quite a lot of books!"

Ye Ping praised him, put away the pouch, and patted Xu Ran's shoulder. "You've done a great service. The potential of this trafficking group was terrifying!"

"If they had been allowed to steal children every few days and exchange them for Vitality Boosting Blood Talismans... near Jing City, we could have had four heinous Mountain-level cultivators! Hundreds of families would have been torn apart!"

"I suspect other cities might have statues providing these eerie talismans. I'll report the situation so that other cities can carry out cleanup missions, preventing this from becoming a bigger problem."

Hearing Uncle Ye, Xu Ran narrowed his eyes. A great service?

How should he put it? He should be happy about the praise.

But he glanced at the description of the golden achievement [Celestial Demeanor]—darn it, the second trafficking instance hadn't disappeared. This meant that trying to exploit the bug didn't work; he had to wait for a real trafficking event to occur.

"Heh."

Xu Ran smiled. Actually, he had expected that the bug might not work.

But regardless, he had saved three little girls this time and nipped a potential disaster in Jing City in the bud, indirectly saving hundreds of families. That harvest alone was enough to make him feel happy.

Ye Ping looked at the moon. "It's late. I'll use my mental energy to carry the three of them back to the city first."

Xu Ran: "Alright."

After saying that, he floated out through the tunnel Uncle Ye had created.

Uncle Ye followed closely behind, using his mental energy to support the three little girls.

Under the crumbling red moon, the two figures sped along like ghosts.

Two hours later, they returned to Jing City.

Xu Ran stood on the city wall, the matter of the eerie talismans still echoing in his mind.

"Eerie talismans... the vengeful god who invented these definitely didn't want to benefit humanity... the price is likely life itself."

"But faced with the massive temptation of becoming a Mountain-level powerhouse in half a year, people often lose their minds."

"So even a cleanup campaign only treats the symptoms, not the root cause, unless we completely slay the vengeful god behind it or create harmless talismans."

"Of course, harmless talismans will never be as effective as the eerie ones, so they can't be a complete cure either."

"We still have to kill this vengeful god to get to the root..."

Xu Ran shook his head. From every angle, these eerie talismans would become a very thorny problem in the future.

Thinking this, his gaze fell on Uncle Ye.

At this moment, Uncle Ye was handing the three little girls over to the city guards. "These are three trafficked children. Go find their families."

The captain of the guards replied, "Yes, sir!"

After giving the orders, Uncle Ye landed beside Xu Ran.

"How are you? Do you want to rest for a while?"

Xu Ran lifted his smart watch to check the time. "It's ten o'clock. For some reason, I'm exhausted... Shall I sleep for four hours? We'll act at two in the morning."

Ye Ping was startled. "Exhausted? Is it physical or mental? Oh no, you haven't been polluted by the vengeful god, have you? I'll go get Aunt Lu to purify you!"