Li Mo did not continue dissecting the wild boar's corpse. Based on what the Creation Book revealed about the half-beast's internal organs, it was clear the creature hadn't practiced any skills or magic prior to its death.
He shook his head slightly in puzzlement. The truth of seven thousand years remained veiled, only partially revealed. Perhaps merely associating with the Heart Beast Sect would not be enough to fully uncover it.
With his thoughts adrift, Li Mo headed toward River God Village, but he never encountered any other half-beasts along the way.
It seemed evident that the half-beasts were intentionally avoiding danger.
Li Mo suspected that half-beasts had lost their ability to speak, their spiritual wisdom unknowingly declining, and their behavior now resembled inherited instincts passed down through generations.
As for how half-beasts breed and sustain themselves, that remained a mystery.
"This world is utterly insane. Even a single Heart Beast Sect is so incomprehensibly strange."
Fine rain began to drizzle down.
Summer's plum rain season was already humid, and as the precipitation washed over the mountains, a dense mist rose, narrowing Li Mo's field of vision.
Li Mo sighed. If the Creation Book had a few more blank pages, he could at least imprint his five senses onto them no matter what.
The divine skills born from the five senses ought to be the most practical of all.
Li Mo donned his straw coat and hat, adjusted himself properly, and continued walking.
With his cultivation not yet advanced, this was the only option; otherwise, he could use spiritual power externally to block the rain.
Following the wide riverside, he climbed a slope upstream where, sure enough, he spotted a decrepit village hidden within the thick fog.
The village was entirely built along the water, with houses supported by wooden stilts.
The wooden homes were prone to decay from the dampness, and traces of fungal growth were evident everywhere. A gust of mountain wind swept past, causing them to creak and groan.
Underfoot, Li Mo heard the sound of bones cracking.
Looking down, he found a segment of an adult man's leg bone carelessly discarded by the roadside, its hollow interior long since consumed by insects.
Surveying his surroundings, human bones were scattered everywhere. At least three or four skeletons could be pieced together, mixed with remnants of decayed architecture.
Li Mo condensed a speck of dust at his fingertips and made his way toward River God Village.
Though the place was called River God Village, its fame actually stemmed from the lion dancers in the village.
Li Mo had heard Li Fu mention River God Village several times.
During temple fairs organized by various villages every five years, River God Village would worship the River God by performing lion dances to pray for timely rain and fruitful harvests in the coming year.
Li Mo had indeed attended one of those fairs, appearing no more than an ordinary weekday market.
By then, River God Village was absent from the festivities, and Li Fu never explained why. Perhaps the village had already fallen victim to a deceit beast.
The arrival of a stranger instantly drew the attention of many villagers. Dozens of them pointed at Li Mo, whispering among themselves about something unknown.
Li Mo noticed a peculiar phenomenon—a faint stench of blood, like that of a beast's den, lingered in the foggy air.
Within a radius of several hundred meters around River God Village, water-attributed spiritual energy accounted for nearly thirty percent. This was undoubtedly abnormal.
Yet no trace of deceit beasts could be seen.
Li Mo couldn't help but connect with his Ghost Tiger Tattoo. The tattoo stirred only slightly, restless but unable to pinpoint the exact location of any kindred deceit beasts.
As he entered River God Village, the mist soaked through his undershirt, and while breathing in the damp air, a curious sensation overcame him...
Fortunately, since his heart underwent Spirit Root Transformation, the oxygen levels in his blood were incredibly high; even hours without breathing wouldn't be an issue.
The villagers clustered around him, staring at Li Mo with terrified eyes, while children wailed without pause.
Their faces were smeared with rouge, their makeup mimicking the style of the awakened lion during performances.
Li Mo infused Mist Fog Spiritual Power into his Beast Head Tattoo, a vague sense of caution arising in his heart. After all, in this secluded mountain's depths, rouge and powders should be exceedingly rare and precious.
He promptly displayed his spiritual tablet, and the villagers scattered immediately. The look of astonishment on their faces didn't seem feigned.
"I am a True Person dispatched by Rong Town Government. I've heard there are tiger incidents here?"
"Has anyone lost a family member to the tiger attacks?"
Li Mo asked several questions in succession, but the villagers remained silent.
Then, an elderly man, over a century old, emerged from the crowd. His skeleton-thin frame exposed through his bloated, swollen flesh.
"I am Wang Baoshan, this village's head. We have long awaited the arrival of the True Person."
Li Mo immediately realized that none of the villagers before him were alive.
Wang Baoshan had been paralyzed ten years prior, causing River God Village's lion dance tradition to fade away, and eventually leading to its retreat from temple fairs after the deceit beast appeared.
The paralysis brought on by the death disease—so severe even Han Cai couldn't remedy it—left bones and flesh completely rotted, transforming into a material akin to dead wood.
Wang Baoshan led Li Mo to a dilapidated ancestral hall and spoke in a near-pleading tone: "True Person, the demon will appear at midnight. I implore you... please don't make things difficult for us."
"The previous True Persons all left after banishing the demon."
Li Mo asked skeptically, "No accidents occurred during their stay?"
Wang Baoshan continued to mutter in a neurotic manner: "True Person, the demon will appear at midnight. It will definitely appear at midnight..."
Without responding, Li Mo strode directly into the ancestral hall.
Wang Baoshan's breathing grew erratic as he stared at the hall's doors, his expression one of evident relief.
Standing in the dim ancestral hall, Li Mo noticed several areas that had been repaired over time.
The spiritual tablets on the altar were blanketed with dust, clearly neglected for ages without any ancestral worship.
Li Mo couldn't help but scoff.
"Illusion technique."
Once the suffocating sensation vanished upon entering the ancestral hall, he began to suspect the hidden truths. A faint curiosity stirred within him.
"A Chang Ghost serving a tiger? Interesting."
Li Mo closed his eyes, voluntarily abandoning his perception of the outside world, focusing his consciousness solely on the Creation Book. Using the faintest sensation of touch, he began detecting the anomalies within River God Village.
As his hands moved, his brain emptied its awareness of the surroundings one step at a time.
Li Mo even temporarily sealed away his memories regarding River God Village. Soon after, the roaring sound of water coursed by his ears.
His fingertips touched icy river water, the water level reaching his waist.
Li Mo opened his eyes to find the ancestral hall transformed. Half a meter of it was submerged in river water, with green algae growing between the tiles.
Looking outside, the entirety of River God Village was submerged underwater.
Buildings soaked in the river were visible everywhere, except for a few voids within the ancestral hall itself.
Treading through the river water, Li Mo reached the window and realized the water's surface was a full hundred meters above him. No wonder suffocation set in upon entering the village.
As for the villagers, they were merely pitiable victims slain by the Mountain Lord Strange Beast, their spirits turning into Chang Ghosts trapped in place.
Upon entering the thick mist enveloping River God Village, his senses had been deceived.
Step by step, he had been led into the depths of the river.
The deceit beast's unique illusion techniques were more troublesome than Li Mo had imagined—not only affecting vision but distorting all five senses.
Yet that was the extent of it—mere submersion in water couldn't even drown mortals. At age twenty, their internal organs would begin shrinking, reducing their need for air.
And besides, illusions held no binding power; one could leave River God Village at any moment.
If Wang Baoshan's words proved true, and at midnight a Fake Beast presented itself, Li Mo could easily slay it and report back.
Could these Chang Ghosts truly have tamed a Mountain Lord like livestock?