Chapter 61: False Accusation

At that moment, the village chief could no longer hold back his fury and shouted, "Shut up, all of you!"

The crowd instantly fell dead silent, not a single person daring to utter another sound.

"My dear wife, how did you die?" The village chief sighed as he walked to the side of the woman's body, gently grasping her cold hand with tears welling in his eyes.

"My dear, we failed you and caused you to suffer," the chief choked out, his voice trembling. "Rest assured, I will surely demand justice for you."

"Dad, what on earth happened to Mom? Could it have been the handiwork of that so-called Yin puppeteer who came to the village a few days ago?" Huang Yuhang deliberately steered the conversation in that direction, attempting to stir up public opinion and pressure Yang Xuan into punishment.

Sure enough, the villagers nodded one after another in agreement with Huang Yuhang's words.

"That's right! It must be the fault of that fellow surnamed Lin!"

"He must have used some evil sorcery to harm my sister-in-law!"

"I said it all along, that fellow surnamed Lin is no good!"

"Not only did he kill Yuhang's wife, but he even dares to come and cause trouble in our village!"

"How arrogant! We absolutely cannot let him off easily this time!"

The crowd chattered and clamored, all pointing their fingers of blame squarely at Yang Xuan.

Standing behind the throng with a venomous glint in his eyes, Huang Yuhang let out a cold, sinister scoff and muttered, "Just let that fellow surnamed Lin dare set foot in our village again, and I'll have men beat him to death!"

Hearing this, the villagers' eyes brightened, as if they had caught a glimpse of hope for revenge.

Hiding up in the branches of a tree, Yang Xuan overheard Huang Yuhang's remarks, and a wave of profound disgust rose within him.

To think that Huang Yuhang would take advantage of his absence to spin such malicious lies about him with others—it was utterly and despicably base!

"Since that is how you want to play it, I will collect a little interest first," Yang Xuan narrowed his eyes, the corners of his lips curling upward into a peculiar, wicked arc.

His gaze swept across the surroundings until, suddenly, his eyes fell upon a crooked tree not far away, from which hung a series of red ropes. At the end of every single rope, an ancient copper coin was strung.

"So that's how it is." The smile at the corner of Yang Xuan's mouth deepened.

When night finally fell and the moonlight cast a silvery sheen over the earth, Huang Yuhang and his cohorts gathered at the outskirts of the village, quietly waiting for Yang Xuan to appear.

"Xiaohang, when is that little bastard arriving?" the village chief asked, leaning heavily on his walking stick.

"Dad, don't rush. He won't dare pull any tricks. With so many of us here, I refuse to believe we can't finish him off!" Huang Yuhang twisted his face into a ferocious grin.

The mountain forest at night was pitch black, devoid of light, where one could not even see their own hand in front of their face.

Quietly lurking upon a massive boulder outside the village, Yang Xuan produced a single candle and struck a flame, watching the wick dance and flicker.

"Huang Yuhang, I'd like to see what kind of games you are trying to play," Yang Xuan murmured softly to himself.

Although he was not entirely clear on every single detail, Yang Xuan had a vague inkling that Huang Yuhang intended to use the villagers' hands to get rid of him.

Yang Xuan drove the candle into the soil and waited quietly.

...

"Screeech—"

An old, dilapidated truck rolled into the village.

Yang Xuan pushed open the car door and stepped down, while the driver's seat was occupied by another man.

The man sported a thick, bushy beard and a fierce expression. Clad in coarse linen garments, he possessed a hulking, muscular physique with a woodchopping axe slung across his waist.

"Master Lin, you've finally arrived." Spotting Yang Xuan, Huang Yuhang hurried forward to greet him.

"I am here," Yang Xuan replied calmly. "Didn't you say you had something to discuss with me? What is it? Is it about your fiancée?"

At these words, Huang Yuhang's expression flickered through several changes.

He took a deep breath, fighting to maintain his composure. "Master Lin, please, step inside the house so we may talk."

"Very well." Yang Xuan lifted his foot and followed.

Soon enough, the three of them entered the dwelling.

"Master Lin, I'm afraid I must trouble you for your help with a certain matter," Huang Yuhang stated, getting straight to the point.

"Oh? What matter is that?" Yang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"My mother has also passed away, and I would like to ask you to perform a rite of passage and deliver her soul," Huang Yuhang said in a deep, solemn voice.

Hearing this, Yang Xuan instantly understood the whole scheme.

This was an attempt to drag him into the muddy waters and then use a borrowed knife to kill him.

"That is not a difficult task; I can perform the transition rites for your late mother at any time," Yang Xuan nodded and agreed.

"Many thanks, Master Lin. On behalf of our family, allow me to toast you with a bowl of wine first." Huang Yuhang picked up a bowl of wine from the table and offered it.

Yang Xuan glanced at it sideways, then downed the wine in the bowl in a single gulp.

"Master Lin, do you suppose we can begin the rites now?" Huang Yuhang asked with unconcealed urgency.

"Mm." Yang Xuan gave an indifferent response, then produced a wooden sword carved from peach wood and began chanting incantations.

Moments later, a faint azure glow emanated from the peach-wood sword. Yang Xuan snapped his eyes wide open, swept his right hand through the empty air, and clutched a ball of purple flame right into his palm.

Immediately following that, Yang Xuan hurled the purple flame forward, and it landed squarely upon the corpse of Huang Yuhang's mother.

In a split second, the purple flames roared into a fierce blaze, transforming into a massive fireball that completely engulfed the mother's remains.

Huang Yuhang stared in shock, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He had never imagined in a million years that Yang Xuan could actually manipulate fire!

Ignoring Huang Yuhang's shell-shocked gaze, Yang Xuan crossed his legs and sat down right beside the burning corpse, forming intricate hand seals with both hands.

Simultaneously, his left hand formed a bizarre, arcane spell gesture while his right hand wielded the peach-wood sword, slashing through the air.

The purple flames grew progressively more intense, and the temperature soared higher and higher, until it finally incinerated the corpse of Huang Yuhang's mother completely into ashes.

"Mother!" Huang Yuhang let out a heart-wrenching, soul-shattering howl as he dropped heavily to his knees and wept bitterly.

Seeing this spectacle, the surrounding villagers were overcome with burning indignation.

"This little bastard! To think he wouldn't even spare someone who is already dead!"

"He didn't come here to deliver her soul at all, he clearly came to disrupt and desecrate!"

"If we don't teach him a harsh lesson today, it will never appease the hatred in our hearts!"

The villagers were stirred into a frenzy of public outrage, one after another rolling up their sleeves and preparing to charge forward and beat him to a pulp.

"Hold on." Huang Yuhang abruptly halted the crowd's advance.

"Xiaohang, why are you stopping us? A scumbag like this deserves a taste of our power!" a woman cursed angrily, flushed with rage.

"Exactly! With so many of us here, what is there to fear?"

"I know you're worried about the fallout from your mother's death, but this little bastard is utterly despicable; we have to give him a taste of his own medicine."

Frowning slightly, Huang Yuhang deliberated and said, "Uncles and elders, you don't understand. This Yang Xuan is also a Feng Shui master."

"A Feng Shui master?"

Everyone froze in astonishment.

Huang Yuhang continued, "It is said that this Yang Xuan understands all sorts of bizarre and unfathomable arts. I'm afraid..."

"What is there to be afraid of? If he dares pull any tricks, I'll break both his legs with a single club!" a brawny man declared, patting his broad chest confidently.

Huang Yuhang shook his head. Having witnessed Yang Xuan's display of power just moments ago, he had temporarily changed his mind. "Yang Xuan's abilities are extraordinary. I advise my uncles and elders not to act rashly."

The villagers exchanged uneasy glances.

"Xiaohang makes sense. This Yang Xuan is indeed formidable; if we provoke him, things might get troublesome," another villager chimed in, nodding along.

"Hmph, no matter how formidable he is, at the end of the day he's just a mortal man. Could it be that so many of us together can't handle him?" the earlier brawny man scoffed dismissively, caring not in the least.