The crying of young white-collar workers triggered a chain reaction, and the ordinary people in the surrounding iron cages also began to cry and beg for mercy, creating a chaotic scene.
Strangely, the resentful servants in the courtyard weren't angry; they were even chatting and laughing in groups of two or three. This was because, not long ago, they had also been in this weak state.
"Don't waste time, you few, drag them out."
A leader-like resentful servant sounded impatient. Unlike the ordinary, resentful servants, he was identified as a leader due to his muscular build.
This individual stood at least three meters tall, covered in knotted muscles, and the exoskeleton protected crucial areas such as the heart and throat.
Several resentful servants entered the iron cage, forcibly dragging the three ordinary people out of it.
"No, please, help!"
"Sob~"
"I have money, and I can give you a lot of money."
The three individuals made their final struggles, but the resentful servants remained unmoved. They effortlessly lifted them and headed towards the centre of the courtyard, where a magic array was located.
Several resentful servants roughly threw the three ordinary people into the magic array.
Thud.
The three fell to the ground, stars in their eyes from the impact. As they struggled to get up, the magic array, brimming with powerful magic, emitted a radiant light, immediately rendering them powerless and limp on the ground.
Numerous tubes formed from magic emerged from the magic array—hundreds of them at least.
Seeing these tubes, even Su Xiao felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, let alone the ordinary people in the iron cage.
These tubes were as flexible as snakes and could extend and retract freely.
Squelch.
Blood splattered as a tube pierced the skull of the young white-collar worker. His mouth opened wide, attempting to scream but producing no sound.
Tube after tube was inserted into the heads of the young white-collar worker and the other two ordinary individuals. In an instant, their heads were filled with tubes.
The three individuals convulsed on the ground like an electric current had passed through them. The surrounding resentful servants were accustomed to this scene, and as for the ordinary people in the iron cages, they were too terrified to make any noise.
After convulsing within the magic array for a few minutes, one of them started rolling their eyes in their sockets. Observing this, several resentful servants nearby stood up.
"We have a new compatriot. Take him for the ritual, quickly!"
A smile appeared on the face of the resentful leader. After all, the probability of an ordinary person transforming into a resentful creature was very low, around 5% or so.
Two resentful servants entered the magic array. They first removed the tubes from the young white-collar worker's head, then supported him as they walked toward the centre of the temple in Ludiang Temple.
As for the other two ordinary individuals within the magic array, they lay there, twitching slightly. Although not dead, death was not far off.
"Kill... kill me..."
One failed conversion, an ordinary individual murmured. Immediately, a resentful servant approached and applied a kind of black mud to his head.
"Take him to the Eternal Pool as nourishment."
The resentful leader indicated to continue repeating this process.
Screams of agony, the strong scent of blood, and feelings of despair mixed together, turning the spacious courtyard into a hellish scene.
You can imagine the psychological state of those ordinary people in the iron cage. Nothing is more desperate than waiting for death or becoming a monster.
This is the Grand King Hall of Ludiang Temple, the closest position to the mountain gate of Ludiang Temple. Compared to the deeper halls and main offering halls, this place is relatively insignificant.
Su Xiao released his grip on the edge of the wall, falling silently. Clearly, this location couldn't be infiltrated.
Ludiang Temple wasn't a game dungeon where monsters waited for him to kill them batch by batch, allowing him to progress step by step.
If Su Xiao engaged with any resentful servant within Ludiang Temple and couldn't kill them immediately, a large group of resentful creatures would be attracted within three minutes. Within five minutes, all enemies in Ludiang Temple would swarm out.
Even if he fought against the resentful creatures, he had to kill them instantly without letting them make a sound.
Su Xiao continued along the perimeter wall of Ludiang Temple. He intended to bypass the main offering hall and directly reach the temple's position required for his mission—the Soul Lamp Vessel.
However, desires are beautiful, and reality is cruel. After spending an hour circling around Ludiang Temple, Su Xiao discovered that, aside from the front Grand King Hall's perimeter wall, there was a chance to infiltrate Ludiang Temple. Trying to enter Ludiang Temple through the perimeter walls of the main offering hall or temple hall was utterly impossible.
It wasn't because of a barrier blocking everything; instead, too many rats were near the walls.
The rats Su Xiao encountered weren't ordinary rats, of course. They were similar to hedgehogs, covered in bone spines.
According to the detected information, the life assimilation degree of these bone-spine rats was 3%.
Any creature with a life assimilation degree in the data is either an ordinary creature or an ordinary person converted by that kind of magic array.
After some observation, Su Xiao had a basic understanding of the conversion process of resentful creatures. First, ordinary people were thrown into that magic array for initial conversion. The specific principles were unknown to Su Xiao.
The success rate of this conversion process was meager. As for those ordinary people who failed to convert, they would be sent to the Eternal Pool for nourishment.
Su Xiao half crouched on the ground, closing his eyes to sense his surroundings.
After observing for a while, Su Xiao found that even near the front Grand King Hall of Ludiang Temple, there were bone-spine rats, albeit in smaller numbers. This allowed him to infiltrate successfully.
Walking a distance along the perimeter wall, Su Xiao pressed his ear against the wall. The other side of the wall was eerily silent. He decided to infiltrate Ludiang Temple right there, a location relatively close to the temple hall from the Grand King Hall.
After climbing over the wall, a quiet courtyard was on the other side. Just as Su Xiao was about to flip into the courtyard, footsteps approached.
Two blood-stained, resentful servants entered the courtyard. They occasionally nudged each other but made no noise.
"Quick, take it out..."
"Don't rush, I sealed it... Otherwise, there would be..."
The voices of the two conversing were very soft. Su Xiao, currently perched three meters high on the wall, waited for them to leave.
What surprised Su Xiao was that instead of leaving, the two individuals started walking towards the wall where he was located.
The two resentful servants arrived at the corner of the wall, huddled together. Just as Su Xiao began to suspect that these two suspicious individuals were about to engage in something indecent, one of them carefully pulled a plastic bag from his pocket. It contained jelly-like substances.
Gulp~
Su Xiao clearly heard a swallowing sound from the wall.
"Why has it turned into this state? It was liquid before."
One resentful servant rubbed the 'jelly' with his hand.
"Is this the pool water from the Eternal Pool? I've seen the pool water; it's clearly a pale green liquid, not this jelly-like substance!"
"How should I know that the pool water would turn into this?"
The two resentful servants started bickering in low voices, apparently losing interest in the 'jelly.'
"What do you mean? I was trying to help..."
"Go to *****, return my ten pounds of fresh human flesh!"
"You..."
"Give it back!"
A red light glinted in the eyes of one resentful servant, his emotions seemingly spiralling out of control due to being deceived.
Although resentful servants appeared capable of regular communication, it wasn't truly the case. Once they experienced significant emotional fluctuations, they would become extremely violent.
