A single lie requires countless others to sustain it, and in the process of weaving these falsehoods, cracks inevitably appear.
Under Yan Shouyi's relentless questioning, the necromancer fell silent.
He had underestimated the Yan family's reputation in Chenjia Village, and the villagers' trust in Yan Shouyi!
Yan Shouyi had grown up before the eyes of the villagers. Did they not know his character, good or bad?
Even though they had been a bit impulsive due to the death of a loved one, the villagers quickly came to their senses, turning their attention towards the necromancer and the other outsiders.
The necromancer's companions still intended to retrieve weapons from the vehicle and confront the villagers.
But the villagers of Chenjia Village were not to be trifled with. Especially since some had just come from the mountains or fields, wielding either a cleaver or a hoe, with at best a carrying pole.
Compared to the so-called batons and knives of those thugs, the villagers' tools were like superior armaments.
Cleavers and hoes, in particular, carried the inherent risk of tetanus. A single blow, without immediate medical attention, would surely be fatal after some time.
Thus, the necromancer's subordinates immediately surrendered without a fight.
Long Feicheng dashed into the village, grabbed the fiercest-looking rooster he could find, and then trotted back, "Brother Yan! Battle Chicken Number Two!"
Without a word, Yan Shouyi hung a Chicken God Talisman around Battle Chicken Number Two's neck.
Perhaps with the blessing of Battle Chicken Number One, Battle Chicken Number Two erupted with an even more terrifying aura. Its puffed-up feathers seemed to double its size!
Battle Chicken Number Two was also a ferocious bird. It immediately pecked at the necromancer's face, tearing off a chunk of bloody flesh.
The necromancer shrieked in pain, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Yesterday, he had used the Flying Head Spell, which allowed for rapid healing of injuries. Today, he was exposed in his true form, and any wound was a real one, requiring time to recover.
"Spare me! Spare me!"
The necromancer was a coward. He had arrived with arrogance, but within moments, he was begging for mercy in a low, servile tone.
Yan Shouyi snorted, "I let you live yesterday, and you were ungrateful enough to come here and provoke me. Are you tired of living?!"
To allow everyone to see the necromancer's true face more clearly, Yan Shouyi signaled to Lin Zitong.
Lin Zitong immediately understood, shaking the soul-summoning bell on her wrist, producing a peculiar ringing.
This sound was imperceptible to ordinary people, but to certain malevolent spirits, it was piercingly shrill and soul-shattering!
The necromancer felt his ears ringing and his head splitting with pain, pleading desperately, "Stop shaking it, stop shaking it! I can't stand it!"
But Lin Zitong had no intention of letting the necromancer go. She shook the bell even faster, chanting:
"Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, I summon the deities of Fengdu. With the vital energy, seize and bring forth, revealing the spirit's form! Hasten, as the laws command!"
This was the Ghost-Seizing Incantation from the Lushan Sect!
With the Ghost-Seizing Incantation unleashed, the necromancer could no longer resist, and his true form was revealed!
His neck began to stretch, elongating by half a meter in the blink of an eye. His head was connected to his body like a giraffe's, but his appearance was incredibly chilling.
In broad daylight, the villagers of Chenjia Village gasped in horror, recoiling in fear.
The necromancer's facial skin rapidly began to decay, making him look like a corpse, lifeless and stagnant.
"This is his true face!" Yan Shouyi declared. "Jiang Ting accidentally stumbled upon him eating a corpse in the southern mountains, and immediately after, he intended to silence her. Fortunately, we returned yesterday and protected Jiang Ting through the night, but he still managed to escape. He not only failed to repent but returned to the village and tried to frame us!"
Lin Zitong also called out, "This is a necromancer, an extremely evil practitioner of dark arts. They feast on corpses and drain blood. Wherever they appear, death follows!"
Jiang Ting quickly added, "What Brother Yan and the others are saying is true. I've said these things before, but no one believed me. Now, do you believe?"
The villagers seemed to awaken from a dream. In truth, they had all lived for decades and had encountered their fair share of strange occurrences. However, witnessing a ghost in broad daylight was a first.
They couldn't comprehend what a necromancer was, but a necromancer with a half-meter-long neck was no different from a ghost in their eyes.
The village chief, enraged, grabbed his walking stick and struck the necromancer's neck fiercely:
"You beast! Where have you taken our village's young people? Return their lives!"
The enraged villagers were on the verge of raising their cleavers to strike. The necromancer trembled in fear. If Long Feicheng hadn't held him back, his life would have been forfeit long ago.
Yan Shouyi placed a hand on the necromancer's head and said coldly:
"Your treachery is exposed. This time, I will not spare you. However, if you confess your true intentions, I might allow your soul to reincarnate. Otherwise, I will scatter your soul to the winds, never to find peace!"
Facing Yan Shouyi's threat, the necromancer knew there was no chance of escape. He could only truthfully confess:
"I am merely a passing necromancer. Your village has good feng shui, and with many corpses in the surrounding mountains, I infiltrated Boss Zhou's group to steal and consume some of the bodies from your ancestral graves! That day, I was eating a corpse in the mountains and was discovered by that girl named Jiang Ting, so naturally, I had to silence her! But then I encountered you. I admit I was caught off guard. I had already intended to flee, but... but someone instructed me to come here and frame you, with the aim of driving you out of Chenjia Village!"
Someone instructed him?
Yan Shouyi's brow furrowed. Who would instruct a necromancer like this?
Could it be that mysterious Boss Zhou?
Long Feicheng held Battle Chicken Number Two and pushed it forward, demanding, "Who instructed you?! Speak quickly! If you don't, I'll peck your eyes out!"
"I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it!" the necromancer stammered fearfully. "It was a little brat riding an ox!"
Yan Shouyi's eyes widened: "A little brat riding an ox?"
Lin Zitong and Long Feicheng also sensed something amiss. It seemed Yan Shouyi had mentioned a child riding an ox yesterday, visible only to him.
Did that child truly exist? Or was it Yan Shouyi's hallucination?
"Clarify," Lin Zitong said with a frown.
The necromancer quickly replied:
"Yesterday, I was helpless. It was that child who appeared and saved me. He also took me to a dilapidated temple in the mountains, a Mountain God Temple, I think. Then he ordered me to bring people today to drive you out of Chenjia Village. If I failed, he threatened to kill me..."
"Kill you? Is he capable of that?" Long Feicheng was somewhat incredulous.
The necromancer exclaimed loudly, "Don't underestimate him just because he's a child. He's incredibly powerful, especially the old yellow ox he's riding. With just a 'moo,' I couldn't even touch a hair on that child!"
Listening to the necromancer's explanation, Yan Shouyi and the other two felt he might be exaggerating.
Yet, the necromancer didn't seem like he was lying.
So, Yan Shouyi employed his usual tactic and pressed further, "What did that child look like?"
"He had a peach-bun hairstyle, wore a red bib, black shorts, and had silver rings on his feet!" the necromancer replied without hesitation.
Lin Zitong looked at Yan Shouyi: "Is what he said true?"
Yan Shouyi's expression was solemn. "It's true. The child riding an ox I saw yesterday looked exactly like that."
"So, he's not lying?" Long Feicheng asked. "Then how should we deal with him?"
Yan Shouyi's eyes narrowed: "Naturally, we kill him, to act on behalf of heaven!"