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Kapitel 6

"Rakshasa, stop!" Yu Ke, who was fighting nearby, saw this scene and hurriedly shouted.

Anthony's long-awaited mistake finally occurred, but instead of capitalizing on it, he leaped in front of Richard, swung his longsword, and slashed down...

The sword came incredibly fast; it appeared as a flash of white light, but in reality, Anthony had already swung the Sun and Moon Divine Sword six or seven times.

Rakshasa's body cracked open in several places before breaking apart, collapsing to the ground amidst a stench.

Just as Anthony was about to help Richard up, a burst of flames flew past behind them. Anthony knew it was Krusen's Crimson Fist; he must have failed to clean up the mess properly, allowing the enemy to exploit the opening. Krusen was a man who always looked out for his comrades.

This is something no one wanted to see. The Rakshasa that had been torn to pieces by Anthony's wild sword strikes has now reassembled! If it weren't for Kruzen's Flame Fist, Anthony and Richard might have been ambushed.

“As long as the evil thoughts in people’s hearts are not extinguished, the Rakshasa cannot be truly eliminated. It will surely regroup soon. Let’s retreat now!” Huiren shouted to the crowd.

"Help!" Yu Ke shouted as he saw the crowd trying to escape. A shout came from behind the woods, and a group of soldiers carrying bows and arrows and long swords rushed up, forming a semicircle and trapping the crowd in the middle.

"Leave the monks behind, and you can leave!"

“I’ve already told you, the drought has nothing to do with this monk. Go back and ask your imperial advisor, and he’ll take you to see the Jade Buddha.” Clary was both anxious and angry to see that Yu Ke still didn’t understand.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Yu Ke shouted again, ordering the archers to begin nocking arrows.

“Esteemed benefactors, it seems this is my fate. We are fortunate to have met here, and I truly cannot bear to implicate you all any further. Please leave now to avoid further bloodshed.” Seeing that things had developed to this point, Hui Ren, willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone’s lives, sat down cross-legged against a large wooden stake.

“We will absolutely not let you stay here,” Anthony said resolutely, gripping his sword tightly, ready to pounce again at any moment.

"Die!" Yu Ke was now completely consumed by rage. He gestured to the archers, who immediately drew their bows, ready to unleash thousands of arrows at the enemy at a single command. Just then, a tremendous roar suddenly erupted behind the soldiers, followed by a cloud of dust, and Pefefferf's massive figure came into view.

“Orlando!” Clary exclaimed in surprise.

"Aha!" Orlando and Cage, perched on Pefeffer's shoulders, excitedly directed him to rampage through the soldiers, lifting unfortunate souls high into the air and swinging them back and forth until they were terrified and wet themselves, then gently tossing them back to the ground before gleefully watching them flee. Pefeffer thus easily broke through the soldiers' lines and reached Anthony and the others.

"Orlando, Cage, where have you been?" Kruzen shouted.

“I’ll tell you later, now run! There are still many of them coming!” Cage replied.

"You guys go first!" Anthony glared at Yu Ke with his sword drawn, and ordered everyone to retreat. So Krusen, dragging Li Shang along, and Clary and Richard, supporting Hui Ren, followed Pfeifferf and retreated to the other side of the forest.

"Who exactly are you people? Why are you opposing us?" Yu Ke watched the crowd leave, feeling helpless, and could only ask angrily.

"We're not against you, we're only against your Grand Preceptor... When you have time, go and see the ancient pagoda at the Jade Buddha Temple, remember that!" Anthony said, seeing that everyone had already gone far away. After saying that, he turned around and ran wildly, disappearing from Yu Ke's sight in no time.

+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King

- Mystery Tribe

Section 12. Human nature inherently contains elements of evil.

"Ah—" Watching the departing figures, waves of uncontrollable anger surged within Yu Ke's heart. Accompanying this anger, he felt a new power burning continuously within his body. This power was so profound, consuming his consciousness along with excruciating pain.

Anger! The voice deep within him grew clearer and clearer, drowning out his people, his duties, and his honor. Only anger, an ever-growing anger, threatened to engulf him.

But then, the image of a long-haired girl appeared in his mind. She spread her arms to block his angry twin blades, but the growing resentment quickly overwhelmed her.

"Capture them and kill them all!" He opened his eyes and roared at the terrified soldiers.

Behind him, the gathering Rakshasa grew stronger and stronger.

On the other side of the forest, Orlando recounted his experience. He had been chasing a hare and had unknowingly strayed far from the others. When he suddenly realized this, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. As always, Orlando regretted his mischief, and as always, it seemed too late.

So Orlando could only wander aimlessly, calling out everyone's names. As he walked, he suddenly noticed something strange: rows upon rows of neat green grass were growing on the once barren land, and they were gradually becoming more lush in one direction.

What was going on? Driven by curiosity, Orlando walked along the row of green grass. The scenery along the way became increasingly vibrant, and before he knew it, he had reached a small village on the edge of the forest. The villagers were unusually excited today, and Orlando inquired, only to learn that a very strange thing had happened in the village that day.

This village is the "low-class village" that the vegetable vendor mentioned. Most of the villagers living here can only make a living by burning corpses. But today, a strange thing happened: a corpse that was supposed to be burned suddenly came back to life and is now coughing incessantly.

The villagers of the outcast village were incredibly hospitable, but their intelligence seemed remarkably low. Orlando went to great lengths to find out what the resurrected "corpse" looked like—it was exactly like Cage! With the help of some other dim-witted villagers, Orlando wandered around for a while before finally finding Cage. He saw a large gash on Cage's head, which had already been bandaged by the kind villagers. Having just eaten the food they had given him, he seemed to have regained some energy. Upon seeing Orlando, Cage haltingly recounted his experiences that evening. Only after listening did Orlando realize why he had felt "Cage" had been acting so strangely all morning—it turned out to be an imposter.

At this point, Cage suddenly realized that everyone was in danger, so he left the outcast village without even saying goodbye. With Cage's help, Orlando summoned back Pefferford, who quickly arrived at the place where everyone was fighting. What happened next is something everyone knows.

After Orlando finished speaking, everyone looked at each other for a long time. Finally, Huiren sighed and said, "Amitabha, I hope that the vegetable seller in heaven can point out a bright path for us again."

After careful consideration, everyone agreed that it made sense, and since they all felt that something was hidden in this village of outcasts, they all agreed to Anthony's suggestion.

Led by Orlando and Cage, the group headed towards the village of outcasts. Strangely, the scenery along the way was exactly as Orlando had described. Could it be that the village of outcasts really had the underground spring that the vegetable vendor had mentioned?

"Master, how much more do you know about Rakshasa?" Anthony asked as he walked, recalling the terrifying scenes of Rakshasa.

“Rakshasa…” Huiren said thoughtfully, “Have you ever seen a picture of the Buddha? Have you ever noticed the little demons supporting the lotus throne at the Buddha’s feet? Those are Rakshasa, formed from the evil thoughts of people in the world.”

"malicious thoughts?"

"It is the most primal evil thought in people's hearts. If people learn to be kind, then their Buddha-nature will overcome the evil thought; conversely, if the evil thought exceeds the Buddha-nature, then these little devils will run rampant in the world, just like today. The jade Buddha lost its luster precisely when its Buddha-nature weakened. Huizhi must have used some kind of magic to summon evil thoughts to summon so many Rakshasa all at once."

Anthony shook his head in bewilderment. "We are warriors of God, our hearts have been cleansed, how could we have evil thoughts?"

"There is an element of evil in human nature. If you didn't have this 'evil,' you wouldn't have been confronting General Yu just now. However, your evil is evil towards 'evil,' not evil towards 'good.'"

"So the little devil we met in the woods today was the one with the lotus throne?" Clary asked, glancing back at Li Shang.

"That should be true..."

“That bastard Huizhi!” Clary said fiercely.

"Who told you to be so stupid? You should have acted like a lady instead of getting beaten up like that," Orlando said with a sly smile.

"Oh, I know..." Clary replied casually.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the entrance of the legendary village of the lowly people. The villagers seemed to have never seen so many armed people before. They crowded at the entrance with trepidation, watching the crowd warily, some of them holding strange-looking weapons.

“I don’t know why these guys are standing like that?” Krusen said.

“This is our chance to find the answer,” Clary said. As she was about to step forward, Orlando reached out and grabbed her.

“You guys go first, leave this to me. My Baball Hika bugs will be no problem dealing with them,” Cage said in a low voice.

“We’ll follow you,” Anthony said. “Don’t underestimate the enemy.”

“Okay,” Cage sniffed, “but don’t bother me.”

Anthony nodded. "Kruzen, you and Clary stay and watch over Master Huiren."

Cage stepped forward and stopped in front of the villagers. They watched him curiously. Cage didn't speak, but simply reached into a small pouch in his belt, pulled out several gold coins, held them high so they could all see them, and then scattered them into the air. Suddenly, the coins all vanished! The villagers were startled. Cage opened his palm, showing them the coins were still in his hand. A sparse clapping erupted from the crowd, and the villagers at the back moved closer, their mouths agape in astonishment.

Now the whole village is gathered around Cage. The women are wearing tattered, knee-length skirts, the rest of their bodies exactly like their filthy male companions.

+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King

- Mystery Tribe

Section 13, They harbored no ill will.

Cage played his makeup game again, inviting a young girl onto the stage and giving her a makeover with simple makeup techniques. These little girls also loved makeup. They weren't content with just being beautiful themselves; they wanted others to notice their beauty. This desire was evident in their small faces. Once they grew old enough to understand what others were saying, simply telling them what people were talking about them would be enough to keep them in check. However, the same approach of telling the boys what people were saying about them wouldn't have the same effect. They were indifferent to what others said about them as long as they were free to play. It would take a lot of time and effort to bring them under this rule.

Cage continued to perform his magic tricks, captivating the attention of the entire village until their wariness turned into admiration.

“No problem,” Cage said, turning around. “They mean no harm.”

The villagers seemed mesmerized; Anthony noticed their expressions shift from tension to overwhelming reverence. They reached out their dirty hands to touch Cage, babbling in a language difficult to understand. Richard glanced at Anthony. Anthony knew what Cage was thinking: What kind of people were these?

“Friends, they are my friends,” Cage said, pointing to the people behind him.

At this moment, a female villager stepped forward. She had a large nose, her hair stood straight up on her head, and she wore tattered clothes, heavy shoes, and long socks that had slipped down to her ankles. She seemed to hold a rather high position in the village, as every villager looked at her with respect.

"Do you want to come into the village for lunch?"

"Yes, I really enjoyed your lunch."

Cage was immediately surrounded by a group of jubilant villagers and led into the village. He turned back to look at Anthony and his companions and gestured to them. They then followed the villagers into the village.

"What's your name?" Cage asked the female villager.

"Dara".

“Are they all like this?” Clary asked. “They’re ragged, smell awful, and covered in sores.”

“It’s not their fault, that’s just how it is here,” Cage said. “We can stay for a few days.”

"You said you wanted to eat their lunch, you're not serious, are you?" Richard asked somewhat uneasily.

“I ate breakfast… I’m not going to die… Want to guess what I ate?” Cage said, rubbing his stomach as if recalling something extremely terrifying. At this moment, Ricci noticed the almost-crying look on Clary's face and said nothing more.

The village buildings, like the villagers themselves, were filthy and crooked, seemingly on the verge of collapse. Most striking was a massive poplar tree in the village, which appeared to have been dead for a long time. No one in the village could say when it died, let alone when it was planted. Hui Ren, however, became extremely interested in this dead tree. He stared intently at it, as if a long-buried memory had been awakened, oblivious to the voices of the others.

"Lunch?" Dahlia asked, holding Cage's hand, her face full of loving affection.

"Hmm..." Cage's face lit up with a very charming smile, and then Dara happily rushed into her little house. After busying herself for a long time, she finally came out carrying a big pot of black, gooey stuff.

"Eat up!" Dara said. Seeing the hungry looks in the other villagers' eyes, it seemed to be their entire day's rations, but she still took it all out without hesitation to serve the guests.

Cage, still smiling, scooped up a large spoonful and put it in his mouth. Then his smile froze, but he still managed to swallow the whole thing.

"Not bad..." he said with a smile, patting his stomach, "I'm full..."

"Not eating anymore?" Dara looked at him with concern, and Cage quickly shook his head to prove that he really couldn't eat anymore. Then Dara handed the bowl of food to the others. Only Anthony and Krusen insisted on eating some, and Orlando also left some for Pefferf. The rest of the food was left for the villagers who hadn't eaten yet.

Throughout the entire process, Dara gazed at Cage with affection, making Cage feel extremely uncomfortable.

Cage then thought of Riss and Clary, hoping that girls would always be so obedient.

“Well done, well done, only the hearts of people here have not been corrupted.” Huiren couldn’t help but sigh as he watched Dara share her food with the other hungry villagers.

The group decided to stay there temporarily. Krusen and Orlando spent their days hunting in the surrounding woods to improve the villagers' and everyone's meals; to guard against Huizhi's new offensive, Anthony and Richard began training the villagers to use weapons to protect themselves; while Clary and Lishang were busy teaching them how to bathe, make clothes, and of course, most importantly—cook.

Dara visited Cage almost every day, always bringing him something—sometimes wildflowers, sometimes insects, sometimes just odd bits of junk. She would always awkwardly hand these things to him, sometimes even asking him to perform a few magic tricks for her, followed by a long, blank stare and a silly grin, as if even hearing his voice was a source of happiness. But every time she left, Orlando would be the one laughing the loudest, leaving Cage utterly embarrassed and coughing uncontrollably.

Hui Ren spends some time each day teaching the village children to read and write, while the rest of the time he sits motionless in front of the poplar tree, never saying a word no matter what happens, as if he is contemplating something.

For the past few days, Anthony had been looking for an opportunity to ask Hui Ren about "Rama" again, but whenever he asked the question, Hui Ren would fall silent. Helpless, Anthony had no choice but to go to Cage.

+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King

- Mystery Tribe

Section 14, Anesthetizing their nerves

"With parasites?" Cage asked uncertainly.