Chapter 262: The Painter Targeted by a Demon and the Scandal in the Village (6000)

Currently, Cao Xing did not know what [Senior Painting Mastery] was useful for.

However, pulling such a talent into the territory first could never be a bad thing.

Upon hearing this, the young man tentatively asked, "After joining your territory, is there anything I need to do?"

Cao Xing smiled. "Just keep doing what you're good at, which is painting. My territory can guarantee your safety and provide you with a warm place to live and food."

"That way, you can also have a better creative environment."

Hearing that last sentence, the young man before him instantly lit up with glowing eyes!

As an impoverished painter living a hand-to-mouth existence where he couldn't even secure his next meal, he was already utterly exhausted.

Just like all ordinary people in this world, his greatest wish was simply to have a stable dwelling.

The young man was about to agree, but seemed to have some unspeakable difficulty.

"Is there something you want to say?" Cao Xing asked.

He hesitated for a moment and slowly said, "Respected Lord, I am very grateful that you can invite me, and I am also honored to receive your recognition…"

"But there is one thing I must tell you first. My mind has gone wrong…"

Cao Xing asked in confusion, "Your mind has gone wrong? What does that mean?"

The young man seemed to recall something, a look of discomfort flashing across his face.

He took a deep breath and mustered up his courage to say,

"Starting half a year ago, ever since I fell asleep, all sorts of monsters would appear in my dreams…"

"Those monsters look bizarre and deformed; some are covered in intestines with blood flowing all over the ground!"

"Some are covered in eyeballs and scales, continuously oozing pus!"

"They even said in my dreams that they want to crawl into my body!"

"At first, I thought it was just because I hadn't rested well and that sleeping a bit more would fix it, but as time passed, these symptoms grew increasingly severe."

"Even now, as long as I start to close my eyes, I can see the figures of those monsters!"

"I can no longer think or calm down to paint; I can only draw all the images of these monsters in my mind!"

Speaking up to this point, his voice even began to tremble.

Even Cao Xing and the others felt a sense of eeriness.

After all, seeing those monsters just by closing one's eyes was indeed far too terrifying.

"However, that's still not the worst part!"

The young man said excitedly, "In the past two months, my temper has grown increasingly volatile, and from time to time, I can't control my anger!"

"Even while sleepwalking, I would frantically attack other people!"

"That's why I was driven out of my original village and have been living a nomadic life ever since."

Cao Xing furrowed his brow and then asked, "Have you gone to see any doctors?"

"I have."

The young man said helplessly, "I've seen many famous physicians and taken a lot of medicine, but they were all helpless against my symptoms!"

"Later, a physician told me that this might not be an illness, but rather another more bizarre condition, and that I needed to go find some members of the clergy."

"So, I found the priests, and they told me that I've been targeted by a demon!"

"They said that every single demon is extremely rare and troublesome. Aside from going to major cities to find famous exorcists, ordinary methods simply cannot deal with a demon."

"Even they had no way to deal with it…"

Speaking up to this point, his tone became somewhat despairing.

After hearing this, Cao Xing fell into deep thought.

Targeted by a demon, huh?

That really is quite miserable.

Come to think of it, he had dealt with a demon before.

That was in the underground palace of Ascalon.

And after killing it, he obtained the powerful skill [Demon Transformation].

Besides that, there was also a [Demon-Swallowing Box] in his backpack, which sealed a demon inside.

This kind of monster is indeed very bizarre; not only do they possess strange tricks, but they are also adept at bewitching people's hearts.

Furthermore, they even possess immortal abilities.

According to the sayings of this world, only a demon can completely kill a demon!

However, Cao Xing was not afraid of these monsters.

After all, he had already killed a demon before, and every time they are killed, they don't resurrect with full health; instead, their level drops by 5, and their strength is greatly discounted.

If this demon's strength wasn't too strong, Cao Xing could even capture it and study it carefully.

He directly said, "It doesn't matter. There are hundreds of strong soldiers in my territory. If you sleepwalk or go berserk, the soldiers will subdue you."

"As for what you said about a demon entangling you…"

"If it doesn't show up, fine; if it dares to show up…"

At this moment, Assam and Renice beside him suddenly erupted with a Tier 4 boss-level aura!

This was the first time they displayed their full strength in front of a crowd!

Under their full-force eruption, the expressions of the villagers in the entire [Annuo River Village] changed drastically!

It was as if some terrifying existence had descended; under this momentum, ordinary people were as insignificant as ants!

Facing everyone's aura directly, the young man before them was instantly both shocked and delighted!

What shocked him was that this lord's subordinates were actually so formidable!

What delighted him was that living under such a powerful lord, it seemed he really wouldn't need to fear any demons anymore?

At this moment, Assam and Renice had already retracted their auras.

Cao Xing chuckled, "Now, are you still worried?"

The young man shook his head excitedly, "I'm not worried anymore, Lord. Your subordinates possess a powerful strength that makes one's heart tremble!"

"Edward Degas, it is a great honor to join your territory!"

Cao Xing also smiled, "Lord Cao Xing, welcome you to join."

Then he threw a recruitment invitation at him.

[Recruitment successful: Edward Degas has joined your territory, territory population +1…]

…

The corners of Cao Xing's mouth curled into an arc once more.

"Not bad, not bad."

"This time, not only did I conveniently complete a generous trial, but I also harvested a talent with advanced living skills!"

Cao Xing was in a great mood, then looked at Yaskin beside him and said, "Take our new member to the tavern and wait for a moment."

"After the fishing competition ends, bring him back to the territory."

Upon hearing this, Yaskin said respectfully, "As you command, Lord."

Finished speaking, the painter Edward, with an excited face, was led by Yaskin toward the tavern.

…

Next, Cao Xing led the group to continue searching around the village to see if they could encounter any events.

However, Annuo River Village had a large population with a mix of good and bad people.

Cao Xing also tried helping a few people, but didn't receive any system prompts for completing a quest.

Until half an hour later, they had almost finished strolling through the entire Annuo River Village.

A look of confusion appeared in his eyes.

"Strange, how on earth is the last trial supposed to be completed?"

"Could it be that we have to go to other villages to try our luck?"

Right at this moment, Cao Xing suddenly saw four villagers walking over from the street ahead.

Each taking a corner, the four of them were carrying a simple wooden stretcher, carrying something on top of it.

When the villagers on the road saw the thing on the stretcher carried by these four, their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly retreated like avoiding venomous snakes and scorpions.

Meanwhile, Cao Xing faintly smelled a rotting corpse stench drifting from ahead…

Before he could step forward to check it out,

among the four villagers carrying the stretcher, an elderly man with graying hair and a hunched posture seemed physically exhausted; the load on his shoulder slipped, and he instantly tumbled down.

At the same time, the stretcher capsized.

"Crash!"

A completely pale, bloated male corpse that looked like it had been soaked in water for a long time rolled down.

In an instant, the surrounding villagers looked as if they had seen something terrifying, hastily retreating ten meters back!

As for the other three middle-aged men, they looked at the old man with a trace of blame in their eyes.

"Old Aoru, what are you doing?"

"We told you, if your body isn't up for it, you should have let your son come, but you refused to listen!"

"Is this good now?"

Facing the accusations, the old man wore an apologetic look in his eyes and continuously apologized.

Another middle-aged man nearby said, "Alright, stop talking. Hurry up and get down to business, carry the corpse away."

After speaking, the four of them moved the corpse back onto the stretcher.

Cao Xing directly led his people and walked over.

The three middle-aged men wanted to drive them away, but noticing the tall Assam nearby, they froze in place for a moment.

"Respected lords, what can we do for you?"

Cao Xing asked directly, "I'd like to ask what's going on with this corpse?"

One of the slightly younger ones said, "My lord, this is an internal matter of our Annuo River Village, it's not very convenient to tell you…"

After hearing this, Cao Xing pondered for a moment, and directly took out 400 crowns from his backpack.

Seeing so many crowns all at once, the eyes of the three middle-aged men instantly lit up!

Split evenly among four people, each of them would get 100 crowns, which was almost enough to equal half a month's wages for them.

Cao Xing saw their temptation, directly stuffed the crowns into their hands, and chuckled, "Do me a favor, friends. Personally, I am very interested in this kind of matter."

The villagers exchanged glances, and one of the middle-aged men said,

"It's like this, my lord."

"This deceased person is a child of the Caesar family."

"The other night, after drinking at the Lavia Tavern, this kid insisted on proving his bravery and broke into that forbidden area in the middle of the night."

"Our village has long had a notice that no one is ever allowed to step foot into that forbidden area, but he refused to listen to advice."

"And then he drowned right in there… Only today was his corpse found lying on the roadside…"

Cao Xing noticed a word: 'forbidden area'.

He asked, "Is there something inside the forbidden area of Annuo River Village that you mentioned?"

A look of hesitation appeared once again in the eyes of the three middle-aged men before him.

It seemed that concerning that forbidden area, it touched upon some secret.

Cao Xing smiled and directly took out another 400 crowns from his backpack.

He was now carrying a huge fortune and didn't lack these few hundred crowns at all!

No matter which world it is, the role of money is enormous.

Then he directly stuffed them into their hands.

With the crowns in hand, the hearts of the three young men stirred slightly once again.

The slightly younger middle-aged man looked around and then lowered his voice to say,

"It is said that inside that forbidden area, there is a spirit…"

"A spirit?" Cao Xing asked in confusion.

"Yes, that specter has existed for many years with immense resentment. She will kill anyone who approaches that place and drag them into the ancient well to drown them!"

"It is only after a few days that their corpses are thrown out of the ancient well…"

"Over the years, the villagers who have died at the hands of that specter already add up to several hundred!"

"It is too powerful. Previously, we spent a hefty sum to hire a witcher over."

"However, when that witcher approached that forbidden area, he ran away in fright without even wanting his reward!"

"After that, none of us ever dared to approach that place again."

Hearing this, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

A powerful specter that had existed for over a hundred years.

Could this also be some kind of special event?

At this moment, the hunchbacked old man nearby sighed, "The specter in that ancient well is not indiscriminately killing the innocent."

"She is also a pitiful person…"

Hearing this, the expressions of several middle-aged men nearby changed.

"Old Olu, don't say what shouldn't be said!"

However, hearing the old man's words, Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

"Let him speak."

The expressions of these few middle-aged men stiffened, seeming very reluctant.

However, facing the powerful aura faintly emanating from Cao Xing and the others, they still shut their mouths one by one.

The old man looked at Cao Xing, then at the corpse on the ground, seemingly making up his mind about something.

He slowly said, "When I was very young, several hundred households lived in Annuo River Village."

"Back then, everyone was very honest and simple. Every day, hunters went to the mountains to hunt, and fishermen caught fish in the river. Life could barely get by."

"Among them, the kind and pretty Jenny and her daughter Janna also lived here."

"Sister Janna was very good to me, and I often played with her."

"That year, heavy snow fell continuously for several months…"

"Several hundred people in the village were trapped at home and had no way to go out. The food in every household was almost eaten up!"

"Some of the villagers, driven crazy by hunger, bullied Jenny's family for having no men and rushed into their home."

"Not only did this group of people steal all their food, but they also humiliated that mother and daughter!"

Speaking of this, the old man's eyes contained some anger and a hint of remorse!

"Madam Jenny couldn't bear this humiliation and committed suicide directly at home."

"Afterwards, Madam Jenny's daughter, Janna, hugged that cold corpse and waited at home, waiting for her father to be able to return…"

"But she waited and waited… until the fire in the stove went out and the food at home was completely looted…"

"Driven to a dead end, Sister Janna jumped into that ancient well…"

"At that time, I was too young and watched all this happen with my own eyes, yet I was powerless!"

"If I could go back to that time, I would definitely not let Janna experience this kind of thing, even if it cost me my life!"

The old man's tone grew more and more agitated.

Meanwhile, the expressions of the three middle-aged men nearby were somewhat stiff.

After listening, Cao Xing was lost in thought.

He continued to ask, "What happened next, old-timer."

Hearing this, the old man also calmed his emotions.

"Later, because of her overwhelming resentment before death, Janna turned into a vengeful spirit and began to take revenge on those who had once harmed her and her mother!"

"During those few years, almost every once in a while, screams could be heard coming from the home of a certain villager. When we went over to check, we found that the entire family had died suddenly, with extremely miserable appearances."

"For a time, the entire village was panic-stricken…"

"Until she killed all the dozens of households that bullied their mother and daughter, her anger gradually subsided."

"By now, nearly a hundred years have passed…"

"Janna's vengeful spirit has always remained inside that ancient well. So many years have passed, and her resentment has grown larger and larger…"

"No matter who approaches that area, they will be attacked by Janna."

Hearing the old man finish, the villagers of Annuo River Village all lowered their heads.

This was a scandal in their village.

Although nearly a hundred years had passed, the people present seemed unwilling to face it.

Moreover, that vengeful spirit still killed people from time to time, constantly reminding them of the evil deeds they committed back then!

The elderly man before them, hunched over, suddenly came before Cao Xing.

Then he heavily knelt on both knees.

"My lord, if you have the ability…"

"Please help Miss Janna and let her vengeful spirit find release!"

"She is too pitiful…"

"She had to experience such cruel things while alive, and after death, she still had to stay in the same place with hatred for so many years!"

"This is too cruel for a little girl who was only a few years old!"

Speaking up to this point, the old man's eyes were already full of tears, and then he pressed his forehead against Cao Xing's boots.

Cao Xing was lost in thought.

Obviously, this was a special event.

Although he didn't know if it was related to the Generosity Trial, events like this generally yielded some unexpected gains.

Thus, Cao Xing helped the old man before him up, then said solemnly, "I understand, old-timer."

"I will go and take a look at that forbidden area you mentioned."

Hearing this, the old man before him was moved to tears, thanking Cao Xing profusely.

Under everyone's watchful eyes.

The four of them put the bloated male corpse back onto the stretcher and quickly left this place.

…

…

When the crowd dispersed.

Liu Muxue asked softly beside him, "Are we going to that forbidden area?"

Cao Xing nodded, "Yeah, let's go take a look."

"But… that old man said that the vengeful spirit has existed for over a hundred years and has become increasingly powerful. Could there be any danger?"

She had to admit, Liu Muxue's analysis still made sense.

Although Cao Xing was confident in his own strength, he preferred to play it safe.

"You're right. I'll call Braum and the others over."

Hearing this, a faint smile also appeared at the corner of Liu Muxue's mouth.

He pressed the communication device on his ear and said, "Braum, call Andrew and Rune over. There's an operation."

A bustling sound came from the other side of the call.

"Glug… glug…"

"Al… alright, my lord, Braum is coming right away!"

Cao Xing told Braum his location.

Soon.

Big guys like Braum, Andrew, and Rune all walked over.

The sturdy physiques of the three of them were like door panels. Walking side by side at this moment, they directly occupied an entire street.

The nearby villagers avoided them from afar when they saw them.

It quite had the feel of village bullies.

"My lord, we're here!"

"Braum didn't drink much. I really only drank one cup!"

He blew on the handlebar mustache at the corner of his mouth and smiled proudly.

Meanwhile, Andrew beside him also said, "My lord, Mr. Braum truly only had one cup."

Hearing this, Cao Xing also laughed.

"Follow me, I'll take you guys to a place."

Having said that, he led Assam, Rune, and the others forward all the way.

The so-called forbidden area of Annuo River Village was actually very easy to find.

After all, this was just a village, and its area wasn't very large anyway.

As long as one saw deserted places, it was basically the so-called 'forbidden area'.

Cao Xing and the others walked directly along a deserted street. The further inward they went, the scarcer the human presence became.

Soon, they arrived at a desolate area.

There were only a few simple wooden houses here, and both sides of the road were overgrown with weeds.

Compared to the bustling Annuo River Village, this area appeared incomparably desolate.

At this moment, Cao Xing noticed that among those few small houses, there seemed to be one that was relatively clean.

Not a single blade of grass grew around that house, as if even plants dared not approach it.

In front of the house, there was an abandoned courtyard enclosed by a simple wooden fence.

There was also a well in the middle of the courtyard.

Liu Muxue pointed at the courtyard entrance, "A-Xing, there seems to be writing on that wooden board."

Hearing this, Cao Xing also cast his gaze over.

The text on it read:

[Specter ahead, do not approach…]

…

Seeing the content above, Cao Xing knew that he had found the location.

He didn't go in immediately, but instead called out, "Sarah."

A cluster of shadows emerged, "My lord, I am here."

Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since leaving the territory, Sarah had been in stealth mode, making her presence completely imperceptible.

But as long as Sarah was around, he had the confidence.

Then, Cao Xing said, "Let's go, let's go in and take a look."

As everyone stepped into the courtyard, Cao Xing clearly felt an extremely chilling aura wash over them.

This aura was very bizarre; even the heat emitted by the Cloud Yak clothing on his body could not dispel it.

It felt as if it were burrowing into his body.

If an ordinary person came in, even if nothing happened, they would fall seriously ill after returning.

Fortunately, each of them had a strong enough physique to ignore this chilling aura.

After coming in, Cao Xing didn't first investigate the ancient well in the middle of the courtyard.

Instead, he first entered the abandoned house nearby to investigate.

"Creak!"

As the old wooden door was pushed open, a decaying wooden smell instantly wafted from inside.

It had been abandoned for a long time, and the roof beams had also collapsed.

The room was covered in dust.

Cao Xing observed his surroundings but found no clues.

Then, he came to the kitchen area and opened the cupboard.

It was completely empty inside, without even a jar.

Then, he came to the bedroom area.

The scene inside instantly made his eyes light up!

On the bedroom wall, he saw a blackened portrait.

Due to the erosion of time, the portrait had become very blurry.

But through the outlines above, it could be faintly discerned that this was a portrait of a family photo.

A man with two women, set against a background of a forest.

This was almost identical to the family portrait he had seen in the Witch's Castle!

…

…

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