Eternal Life: My Lifespan Increases Daily

Chapter 376 - 297: Yin Spirit, Ancient Tomb! (Double-Length)

The young man’s eyes cooled, and he began walking toward Song Changming and his companions, clearly intending to take action.

Seeing this, Song Changming lost interest in further words and casually drew his finger through the air.

A burst of Innate Qi Aura shot forth, exploding into a large pit several meters in diameter in front of the villagers.

This move stunned the villagers, including the young martial artist.

Many of the villagers, terrified, fell to the ground, looking at Song Changming in horror.

Song Changming reached out and grabbed, and the young man was swept up by the Innate Qi Aura, unable to resist, and landed in his hand.

In front of an Innate Practitioner, these martial artists still in the Body Refining Realm were no different from roadside chicks.

"Young one, you said the village’s ancestral grave is on this mountain land. What do you mean by that?" Song Changming asked in a deep voice.

"Hmph, if you have the guts, just kill me!"

The young man was indeed tough. Even though he was shocked by Song Changming’s strength, he wasn’t afraid to die.

"Let him go!" someone else shouted from the villagers, only to also be seized by Song Changming in the next moment.

"Then you tell me."

"Don’t even think about it!" the villager gritted his teeth, unwilling to speak to the outsider, even at the cost of his life.

"Hmm..." This was unexpected for Song Changming.

The villagers of this wild village had a certain stubbornness, or rather a strong conviction, fearless in the face of death.

Not only the two he held, but many other villagers also had this quality of preferring death over dishonor.

"Aren’t you afraid of angering me and burying the entire village?" Song Changming asked oddly.

He wondered if he might not appear fierce enough to intimidate them.

Was the display of the Innate Qi Aura not enough?

At the mention of village destruction, hesitation and fear showed on the villagers’ faces, but they still showed no intention of conceding to Song Changming.

"If you touch us, desecrate the ancestral graves, the Yin Spirit will never let you off, even if you flee to the ends of the earth!" A Li suddenly said.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Song Changming asked.

"Hmph!" A Li turned his head, unwilling to say more, showing a willingness to die.

"Wait, let me, let me say it." An elderly man suddenly rushed over, leaning on a cane.

"I only ask that you spare my grandson."

"Grandpa, you can’t say it! The Yin Spirit won’t let you go if you do!" At this point, A Li wanted to struggle, but he couldn’t move under the constraint of the Innate Qi Aura.

"No matter, I am already old and have few years left. Let my old life be taken instead." The elderly man wheezed, intending to trade his life for another.

"I plead with you to spare these villagers; I will stay behind."

"Then please elaborate clearly." Song Changming frowned and tossed the villager in his hand aside.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that this Yin Spirit was somehow related to the ancient tomb he sought.

The villagers initially tried to help the elderly man, but he angrily shooed them away.

In conversation, Song Changming learned that this elder was the village chief.

The chief sat down, catching his breath before explaining. Their village was nameless, and it had been established nearly a century ago by his grandfather, the first village chief. He was the second chief.

"Hmm, where is your father then?" Song Changming asked.

The old village chief’s eyes darkened, and he caught his breath before saying, "My father was sacrificed to the Yin Spirit."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Song Changming frowned, finding the story of the Yin Spirit increasingly sinister.

"Every year, on the night of the fourteenth day of the seventh month, the person to be sacrificed is placed on this mountain land. By the next day, they will have been taken by the Yin Spirit. The process is invisible, untraceable, and anyone lingering will be taken too," the old village chief responded truthfully.

"So, they were taken by this Yin Spirit you speak of? Are you sure it wasn’t some demon beast that dragged them away?" Song Changming doubted this deeply.

Could the so-called Yin Spirit be a demon beast causing chaos here?

"Absolutely not, the Yin Spirit is real," the village chief asserted firmly.

When Song Changming asked how he was so certain, the chief’s replies were vague and unclear.

All he said was that it had been passed down through generations, that the Yin Spirit truly existed, and that every year a villager needed to be sacrificed to it to protect the village from wild beasts and demons.

"The village has survived so long thanks to the Yin Spirit; it’s watching over us!" The chief seemed utterly convinced of this.

"Indeed, without some protection, this remote village couldn’t have existed for so long," Song Changming pondered.

However, despite the elder’s lengthy explanation, Song Changming still couldn’t decipher what the Yin Spirit truly was, only knowing it was related to the mountain land he sought.

"Could it be something from the ancient tomb below..."

He turned to look back at the mountain land, and a chilling wind blew down from between the mountains, feeling strangely cold despite the sweltering heat of June.

Song Changming’s potent Qi and blood made him unaffected by this chill.

His two brothers, being Corpse Puppets, felt nothing, even somewhat comfortable.

But the old village chief, already frail, turned blue-faced in the wind, like the last of his vitality was about to be swept away.

With a wave of his hand, Song Changming sent a wisp of Purple Gold Fire swirling around the chief, bringing color back to his face.

"I have revealed the secret of the Yin Spirit; I fear I won’t survive this. I ask you, master, please spare the villagers. They didn’t mean to offend you." The chief pleaded.

"I have no interest in your village; I have my own purpose for being here." Song Changming explained, asking, "Could it be that this Yin Spirit will come to kill you? How would it know you divulged its secret?"

"It knows, it’s always been here..." The chief spoke slowly, resignation to death evident in his tone.

Song Changping and Song Chang’an exchanged glances.

If that’s the case, the Yin Spirit might come for them too.

"The Yin Spirit isn’t some ghost, surely..." Song Chang’an muttered grimly.

"What are we afraid of with our current state," Song Changping replied calmly.

After all, their cold bodies resembled ghosts more than anything else in the world.

"In that case, the mountain land is considered the village’s ancestral ground only because of the necessity to sacrifice to the Yin Spirit." Song Changming suddenly remarked.

Under normal circumstances, he might choose to avoid the issue, thinking less trouble is better. But today, he was determined to explore the ancient tomb; if the Yin Spirit had any objections, it could show itself!

"Indeed, the village never had any ancestral land; this mountain land is more like an altar. We sacrifice fresh lives to it every year!" The chief shook his head.

He seemed to have nothing to lose, finally sharing long-buried thoughts.

"Rather than us worshipping the Yin Spirit, it’s more like the Yin Spirit has been keeping us here for generations, like we raise pigs, dogs, and sheep!"

"None of us can leave here; blood has been spilled by those before us who tried and failed."

"Anyone trying to escape will encounter the Yin Spirit, whose eyes seem to see everything in the village and ruthlessly eliminate escaping villagers."

At this point, Song Changming noted that the village chief held no reverence for the Yin Spirit. He wasn’t a follower at all.

The elder’s face carried hints of self-mockery and fleeting pain.

"Many died back then, but unfortunately, over time, descendants forgot the truth and gradually embraced the Yin Spirit as the village’s guardian..."

"What a mess this all is..."

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