When the sun sets and the dark night arrive, Mo Di and Sima Di finally return. The news they share with us was kind of expected.
"We traced the tracks left behind by the bandits and it led us towards the direction of PuZhang village. We did not go very far but it seems to be safe to assume that PuZhang village had suffered a similar fate. The surroundings are all safe. The bandits did not leave anything behind and it seems like they were organised when travelling and their prints almost resembled that of a march. They did not leave behind any formations either." Sima Di reported in a stoic voice and Mo Di just listened at the side.
Mo Di then said "It was weird in the forest. There were no animals or insects around." But it was clear that he did not care much. "I left some traps in the forest just in case." Mo Di did not finish his sentence but everyone understood what he meant.
We then start telling Sima Di and Mo Di about our findings in the dungeon and everything that happened when they left.
After we have told Sima Di and Mo Di everything that has occurred, Judge Tang starts to come up with a plan to make the people in the mayor's house talk.
"Sima Di, can you set up a small illusion formation around the mayor's house?" Judge Tang asks.
"I can, I will set it up right now, and it will take me around two hours to complete it." Sima Di replies immediately.
"Take Zhao Keng with you for safety." Judge Teng says while Sima Di sets off with Zhao Keng for the carriage to retrieve his formation flags.
After which Judge Teng and Judge Cui start discussing the plan on how to question the villagers later.
...
In the middle of the night, people scream suddenly echoes through the quiet night and the mayor's house is burning. Everyone in the tent that we set up near our carriage is awakened by the loud screams.
"Damn, why is the mayor's house on fire?!" Judge Cui cursed.
"Go! Try and save the people inside. Sima Di, will the illusion array affect us?" I give orders quickly.
"No, it was set to only affect people below the realm of Qi Flow." Sima Di replies.
"Go! Bring your weapons along with you! It might be a trap but we still have to rescue them and get information from them!" Judge Tang yells.
Everyone starts arming themselves with their armoured uniform and retrieve their weapons then hurried head towards the mayor's house. This time, even Judge Cui and Judge Tang joined in the rescue operation.
...
Ding Sha who reached the mayor house first immediately punches out to a side of the burning wall and smashes it into pieces. With this punch, he extinguished the burning wall and created a hole, big enough for people to run in and out. Unfortunately, one of the women, who were in the room, was hit by the debris that flew her way and knocked her out.
Ding Sha quickly moved near her and tried to lift up the debris on top of her but suddenly she lunged towards him and tried to stab Ding Sha with her fist which was burning. Ding Sha twisted his body to create some momentum so he could dodge and the woman's flaming fist narrowly passed him. Ding Sha then drew his sabre once he regained his balance and slashed upwards quickly with a fluid motion.
All this happened in less than a second and everyone could see it clearly since we were behind him and I was the furthest but I could see clearly with my enhanced vision.
Ding Sha then used the back of his sabre and whacked the back of the woman's head before she even fell on to the floor, knocking her out completely but also bleeding from the loss of her hand, which exploded into flames once it hit the ceiling.
"They are all cultivators. They also don't seem to be friendly." Ding Sha yells as he takes a combat stance outside the hole he created, dragging her out of the burning house by pulling her long hair.
"Yes, they all seem to be in the realm of Qi flow...but how?" Judge Cui identifies the cultivation of the people in the house but is also confused. Villagers should not know how to cultivate!
It also seems like while we are in the same realm, I am way stronger than all of the villagers and can even take them all on by myself. I guess this is why the system said that I was much stronger than the typical qi flow cultivator.
...
Liu Kang, who is now unsure of what to do, asks "Do we still enter the flaming building to save them? If we are going to kill them, it might be better to just let them burn to death in the fire they started..."
Well ...he does make sense, since it seems like they will attack us once we try to save them from the burning building.
Judge Cui and Judge Tang also make a frowning face, not sure of what to do right now since we will kill them in retaliation if they attack us and they will attack us if we try to save them.
"Strengthen the illusion technique." Mo Di suggests.
Nobody understands why he wants to strengthen the illusion formation and looks at him with a questioning expression.
"If we strength the illusion technique, they will believe that their aim has been achieved and we can find out what they are planning as we watch them burn to death on their own." Mo Di explains his plan.
"Do it." Judge Tang makes the decision.
"Yes!" Sima Di replies immediately.
Zhao Keng accompanies Sima Di while he strengthens the formation as a spearman is able to both defend against and attack a large crowd. The long reach of the spear allows him to be the perfect vanguard or a bodyguard in open areas.
Every flag that Sima Di throws perfectly lands on its flagpole and stands vertically, some even have its flag open, showing some runic characters on it. In less than 5 minutes, Sima Di had already returned.
"It is done! I have set out a standard illusion formation but now Judge Shi should not go near the mayor's house or you will fall into the illusion as well!" Sima Di reports.
I guess it was more difficult to modify a formation and weaken it and what Sima Di just did was to change it back into the original formation.
Soon, the yelling and screaming from inside the mayor's house stop and it becomes eerily quiet. While the house is still burning, nobody is screaming or yelling, but instead, the people start gathering together and they start chanting.
We are unable to hear what they are chanting since we are too far away but soon they slit their own writs and let their blood flood onto the ground.
Soon, they start laughing loudly and crazily. One of the men stands up and starts talking loudly.
"Great Black Tiger Lord! Please Grace us with your pres-"
*CRASH*
One of the pillars from the mayor's house ceiling falls onto him and hits another villager. They die instantly.