Killing Dao Fruit

Wang Family's ancestral hall.

The light on the altar appeared to be suppressed by some invisible force, dim and yellow, barely extending three feet, ready to go out at any moment.

At the boundary between light and shadow, a stiff figure stood silently like a sculpture.

Thump! Thump! Thump!...

Wang Yuan, paralyzed by fright, struggled to suppress the drum-like pounding in his chest and forced himself to remain calm.

Guided by the faint light, he could barely make out what seemed to be a disheveled woman.

Bowing her head, she stood silently in front of the altar, merely steps away from him.

Under her tattered clothes, her body was covered in patches of gray-green rust that resembled fish scales.

Moreover, her tangled hair, moldy clothes, and shoes showing her toes...drops of water dripped from her entire being.

However, outside the grand doors of the ancestral hall, although the night was dense like rolling putrid ink, there wasn't a single drop of rain on the ground.

Even more bizarre was the fact that apart from beneath the feet of this woman, neither inside nor outside the hall was there a single footprint, as though she had been standing there from the start.

Seeing this, Wang Yuan had no choice but to extinguish the last sliver of hope in his heart and silently screamed,

"How unlucky can I get, encountering such a rare event on my first time pretending to be a 'corpse'?

No, no, this isn't one of those ordinary 'Yin Objects' that just 'confuses, covers, and scares' and can be scared off by vermillion or a peach wood stake. This is a genuine... 'Weird'!"

Hiss!

Flooded by various terrifying legends in his mind, Wang Yuan, fighting off the shivers, used the only part of his body he could still move, his eyes, to quickly scan the increasingly dimmed hall.

Encountering a 'Weird', if it were a newcomer or the original 'Fool,' the verdict would almost certainly be: no hope, wait for death.

But he felt maybe he could still save himself.

Over the years, Wang Yuan had always maintained the persona of a simpleton to survive among his kinsmen.

Yet, whenever he was lucid, he seized every opportunity to diligently study the various knowledge of this world of divine deceit, to fortify his basics for survival.

After all, the Wang Family of Daling, being one of the Tomb Guardians of Beimang Mountain, was considered half a Yin Gate family. They understood those heterodox and fantastic legends far better than ordinary people.

In this world of divine deceit, not only do spirits, ghosts, and monsters roam—entities within the comprehension of common folk, and who could be communicated and cleverly repressed—but there also existed a truly lethal terror—'Weird'!

'Weird' as in out of the ordinary, 'oddities' in chaotic disarray.

They were like bugs forcibly inserted into this world, uncommunicable by mortals, incomprehensible, and irresistible.

It was said that the particularly fearsome ones were like natural phenomena—wind, rain, lightning, and thunder—impossible to be completely killed by any means!

The Wang Family archives contained many such cases:

[Yong'an Third Year · Xuanping Square Oil Seller]

In the Capital's Xuanping Square, there was a young oil seller who only set up at the night market, whose pork oil was not only cheap but also exceptionally delicious.

However, all the citizens of the Capital who ate his pork oil disappeared one by one within a month.

When the Government Office discovered them in an oil mill, they had all died violently, with their bodies intact but not a trace of fat left.

[Jianming Eighth Year · Cang'er Mountain Human Wood]

That year, woodcutters and hunters often disappeared on Cang'er Mountain, alive or dead, their fates unknown, causing panic among the villagers below the mountain.

It wasn't until a monk skilled in abnormal arts passed by the mountain and accidentally ventured into a remote village deep in the forest that he discovered a large tree in the village covered in human heads.

Under the tree were hundreds of headless figures farming as if they were alive.

The monk fled for his life and soon after became insane. Three days later, he chopped off his own head with a firewood knife and planted it in the soil.

When the Government Office heard of this and went to search for the village, the 'Human Wood' had long since vanished.

[Jianming Fourteenth Year · Great Yan Treasure Ship]

In Yunhe County of Dengzhou, a Sea Merchant Zheng Bangjie led a team out to sea and coincidentally encountered a homebound Great Yan Treasure Ship. He was invited aboard to admire the treasures brought back from overseas.

The accompanying merchants were dazzled and eagerly made purchases. A fortnight later, they returned home with the treasures, causing a sensation in the state mansion with their beautiful jades, coral sculptures, and intricate timepieces...

However, merely two months later, they died of old age in their homes.

Upon investigation: for the treasures sold by the Sea Merchant, the price paid was not only in gold and silver treasure banknotes, but also their remaining lifespan...

Luckily among the unfortunate.

Although these 'Weird' were terrifying, they seemed to be restrained by something, not able to kill indiscriminately. When they did harm, there was mostly a pattern to follow.

Theoretically, as long as one could find this pattern, even an ordinary person might have a chance to survive their clutches.

Wang Yuan swiftly scanned the 'Weird' and the increasingly dark hall, hoping to find that lifeline before the entity could strike.

Suddenly.

He noticed that since appearing, the 'Weird' hadn't once glanced at him, instead fixating on an offering on the altar.

Immediately, Wang Yuan's gaze also fell on the altar beneath his feet, and his expression suddenly changed.

"This is..."

Having sat there all day, he was well aware of what objects lay on the altar.

Apart from the ritual incense candles, fruits, and a pig's head, there were only two books left.