Volume 2, Chapter 92 – Today, I’m Going on a Killing Spree (Part 1)

“Bajiao Village is located in Ping’an County, the southernmost part of Huangtian Prefecture. Half a year ago, people began dying there under mysterious circumstances every few days. Autopsies revealed that most had died from excessive blood loss, yet there were no visible wounds on their bodies.”

Ruan Lingyu began reading the details of the next “haunting incident”. After finishing, she instinctively glanced at Qi Huang.

“Ping’an County?”

Qi Huang was momentarily stunned—wasn’t that her hometown? Moreover, the Huang family had a few distant relatives there. Though they didn’t interact often, blood ties were still blood ties, weren’t they?

“This doesn’t seem like a haunting. More like a blood-sucking zombie.”

Yun Fei quickly made her deduction.

“Who knows? But since they’ve come to us for help, whether it’s ghosts or zombies, we’ll exterminate them all.”

Shen Yuan raised her sword with heroic bravado.

“I love your confidence, though I have no idea where it comes from.”

Su Qingying’s sarcastic jab was laced with venom.

‘I hope Bajiao Village isn’t really haunted…’

This time, Qi Huang had no desire to befriend any ghosts or monsters—at least not in Bajiao Village.

Not long after, Qi Huang and her senior sisters arrived at Bajiao Village. The sight before them left the group exchanging uneasy glances.

The entire village was eerily silent, save for the occasional weak “moan” drifting from some darkened corner.

A sense of foreboding gripped Qi Huang and the others. Hurriedly, they followed the sound to a nearby courtyard. The moment they stepped inside, a revolting stench assaulted their senses—the unmistakable reek of rotting flesh.

“Is anyone here?”

Ruan Lingyu called out cautiously.

After a moment, a woman in her early twenties emerged from the main hall. She wore coarse hemp robes, a face mask, and gloves, covering herself completely. Yet, the sliver of skin visible around her eyes was fair and delicate, and her figure was well-developed—nothing like a typical village girl.

Qi Huang felt there was something familiar about her, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“May I ask who you are?”

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The woman’s voice was muffled but polite.

“Greetings. We are disciples of the Honghua Sect. A month ago, we received a plea for help from Bajiao Village, so we’ve come to assist.”

Ruan Lingyu explained.

“Ah! Cultivators from the Honghua Sect! Please, come in! My name is Li Shi, a resident of Bajiao Village.”

The woman hastily removed her mask and scrambled to find stools for them.

‘Li Shi?’

Qi Huang immediately recognized her. She had visited Bajiao Village several times as a child and befriended a few locals—Li Shi being one of them. Later, she heard Li Shi had left with her parents to open a clinic in a larger town.

“Miss Li Shi, what’s the current situation with the haunting here?”

Ruan Lingyu wasted no time getting to the point.

“The haunting has already been resolved. Not long ago, a cultivator from the Heyi Sect dealt with it—it was a zombie causing trouble. But…”

Li Shi hesitated.

Before Qi Huang could ask “But what?”, another wave of groans echoed from the main hall.

“Who’s there?”

Shen Yuan asked bluntly.

“ Sigh …”

Li Shi’s face twisted with sorrow. “It’s my father.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Qi Huang pressed urgently. Since this was someone she knew, she couldn’t help but feel concerned.

“It’s some kind of… contagious skin disease.”

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Li Shi took a deep breath, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes.

“Contagious?”

The fairies exchanged uneasy glances, a flicker of alarm crossing their faces. After all, they were still human.

“Then why not take him to a physician?”

Qi Huang pressed further.

“Because my family has been practicing medicine for generations. Yet even after exhausting every possible method, my father still couldn’t identify what kind of skin disease this is. Now, nearly the entire village has perished.”

Despair seeped into Li Shi’s voice.

“What?! What about the Huang family?”

Qi Huang’s heart lurched. Distant relatives or not, they were still family.

“The Huang family? You mean Huang Kaifu’s household? They’re all gone.”

Li Shi shook her head mournfully.

“What?!”

Qi Huang’s body trembled. Her pale fists clenched so tightly that her sharp nails dug into her palms.

Her senior sisters exchanged puzzled looks, unsure why their junior sister seemed so familiar with this village.

“What… happened?”

It took Qi Huang a long moment to force the words out through gritted teeth. The Huang family’s bloodline was already sparse—each loss carved another hollow space in her heart, a severing of kinship.

“It started about a month ago. When the haunting began, a cultivator from the Heyi Sect came to investigate. They eventually found the zombie, and the villagers tied it up and burned it at the gravesite. But from that night onward, people began developing this skin disease. It’s horrifyingly aggressive—within two or three days, the skin festers, and by the fourth day, the person dies. And it’s highly contagious. The villagers had no choice but to seek help from the prefecture, and my father answered the call since our family has practiced medicine for generations.”

“We couldn’t bear to see our fellow villagers suffer, so we returned to Bajiao Village to help. But no matter what we tried, we couldn’t identify the disease. We could only watch helplessly as people fell one by one… and now, even my father has succumbed.”

Li Shi’s eyes reddened again.

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Qi Huang’s heart grew heavier. Though she wasn’t a physician, she instinctively began piecing together the clues.

“Fairies! Since you’re from a sacred sect, you must have a way to treat this illness. I beg you—please help the villagers!”

Without warning, Li Shi dropped to her knees.

“Get up, quickly!”

Ruan Lingyu hurriedly helped her to her feet. “Take us to see him first.”

Overjoyed, Li Shi led them into the main hall.

“Perhaps… you should take protective measures first?”

Li Shi hesitated, concerned.

“No need. Our constitutions are strong.”

Ruan Lingyu waved her off calmly. It was true—even the weakest Spirit Gathering cultivator had a physique far beyond ordinary humans, making them highly resistant to disease.

Qi Huang followed closely. The moment she saw Li Shi’s father, she nearly vomited.

His exposed face was a grotesque ruin. His scalp and skin were covered in dense, purple-tinged rashes, lumpy and oozing like the venom glands of a toad. Some areas had been scratched open, leaking pus and blood, emitting a stench indistinguishable from rotting corpses.

Qi Huang turned away, unable to bear the sight. The other fairies inhaled sharply, equally horrified.

After observing for a while, the group found no clues and had to retreat—the stench was unbearable.

“Fairies, did you discover anything?”

Li Shi pressed urgently, her eyes brimming with hope.

The immortals exchanged uneasy glances. Though well-traveled, they weren’t omniscient. This kind of skin disease was completely unfamiliar to them.

But Qi Huang was still racking her brain for answers. The image of those terrifying purple rashes refused to leave her mind.

‘Purple… Wait. Why does that color seem so familiar?’

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Suddenly, it hit her. She recalled the “Ghost Tomatoes” in her travel bag.

‘I remember reading in the Compendium of Bizarre Flora and Fauna in the Cultivation World that Ghost Tomatoes are highly toxic. Direct contact causes severe skin inflammation.’

Her thoughts raced.

‘The villagers started getting sick after burning the zombie. A place capable of spawning zombies must be a land of extreme Yin energy. If Ghost Tomatoes grew there and someone touched them…’

The pieces were falling into place. Though it was all conjecture, at this point, they had no other leads.

After a long discussion, Ruan Lingyu and the others remained stumped, their expressions growing increasingly awkward.

“Maybe we should just be honest with her. There’s no point dragging this out.”

Shen Yuan suggested.

“No! If we admit we don’t know, what will people think of the Honghua Sect? What will they think of us?”

Ruan Lingyu immediately vetoed the idea.

“Then what do you propose? Pretending to know when we don’t? That’s even worse!”

Shen Yuan retorted helplessly.

“I… might know what’s going on.”

Qi Huang suddenly spoke up.

“Really?!”

Ruan Lingyu and the others brightened, as if grasping at a lifeline.

“I have a theory, but I need your help to confirm it. Can you take me to the gravesite where the zombie was burned?”

Qi Huang turned to Li Shi.