"Boom—!"
The enormous fountain collapsed with a roar from its base, kicking up a cloud of dust. All the seals that had bound the malevolent entity within the old well were now broken.
Elsewhere, many villagers who had remained near the ancestral hall noticed the sky suddenly darken, and a chilling wind began to blow.
"Huh? Is it going to rain?"
"Judging by the sky, it's going to be quite a downpour."
...
The villagers chatted amongst themselves, many already wondering where they would find shelter from the rain.
With a deafening "Rumble!", a lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel split the heavens and struck directly into the old well.
Fang Ming was startled by the thunder and quickly jumped onto the collapsed fountain to investigate the sound.
The beautiful figure of the female corpse ascended, bathed in the lightning. She slowly emerged from the well, and numerous painful, ferocious phantom figures surged out from the well, welcoming the blinding lightning from above.
"Is this divine punishment?"
Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned. Even Fang Ming found it incredible, as if she were ascending to immortality.
"Heavens, do you also wish to stop me from seeking revenge?" The female corpse's eyes turned scarlet as she looked up at the lightning above. With a wave of her hands, endless well water surged from beneath her, climbing upwards along the lightning. It resembled a giant gray python, and in moments, it coiled around the intangible lightning!
"Shatter!" The coiled well water tightened instantly.
"Boom!"
A violent clash of lightning and water ensued. Water and electricity splashed outwards. In this fierce confrontation, the lightning was forcibly dispersed.
Suddenly, the entire Bai Mu Village began to tremble. The sky grew even darker, and the ancient locust tree behind the ancestral hall grew at an alarming rate, its roots as thick as water vats churning like earth dragons beneath the ground, charging towards the old well.
"There's a monster!"
"The tree spirit is alive!"...
The villagers had never witnessed such a terrifying sight. They screamed and fled in all directions, believing their village's ancient locust tree had come alive.
The village elders, who knew some of the truth, were even more terrified. How had the entity in the old well escaped? And it had even awakened the ancient locust!
These villagers had no idea what was in the old well, but the elders knew all too well. Once it was out, it would surely bloodbath the entire Bai Mu Village!
Escape!
"Quick, hide in the houses!" The houses had talismans to resist attacks. The only hope of survival was to hide inside and leave their fate to chance.
The female corpse, having broken the lightning, made no further moves. Her fierce eyes were fixed on the direction of the ancestral hall. In her line of sight, a surge of writhing roots was rapidly approaching.
She was waiting for the ancient locust fiend!
Without eliminating the ancient locust fiend, she could not lay hands on the villagers of Bai Mu Village. Once she killed this ancient locust tree, the entire Bai Mu Village would be as vulnerable as a paper cat!
Fang Ming also saw the commotion not far away. Knowing the outcome of the ensuing battle, he quietly found a hidden corner to observe. All he could do now was watch the show. With the abilities of these two great fiends, even a mere brush against them would mean death for him. His frail body dared not venture out.
The roots of the ancient locust fiend spread out and stopped before the female corpse. Then, a cluster of tiny tendrils emerged, twisting into a human-like face, which stared grimly at the female corpse.
"Who released you?" the ancient locust fiend asked sinisterly.
The female corpse did not answer its question and sneered, "You should be more concerned with how I'm going to tear you to pieces and use you as firewood."
"Die!" Red light emanated from the female corpse's eyes. Blood-red patterns split across her body, and a massive amount of well water surged from beneath her, as if an inexhaustible sea had opened. In a short time, it covered an area of several hundred meters, forming a turbid lake.
Corpse after corpse floated in the well water, like hunting sharks. They immediately charged towards struggling villagers and exposed roots, gnawing at them without hesitation.
The submerged houses emitted a faint glow. Those talismans were resisting the intrusion of the well water and the corpses.
"Hmph! Still using those old tricks!" The ancient locust fiend scoffed. "After hundreds of years, you still haven't improved."
With that, tree roots as thick as houses erupted from the ground, hunting the swimming corpses in the lake of well water. Blood stained the surface of the lake, it was unclear if it belonged to the villagers or the corpses.
"Annihilate!" Countless vine-like tendrils suddenly appeared from the void, stabbing at the female corpse floating in mid-air like swords.
The female corpse let out a cold laugh. With a wave of her hands, giant palms formed from the well water beneath her, grasping all the tendrils and tearing them out by the roots.
The ancient locust fiend cried out in pain. Those tendrils were part of its body. Being violently torn away by the female corpse, the intense pain drove it into a rage.
"You're seeking death!"
With its roar, the entire lake began to tremble. The female corpse seemed to sense something, her heart tightened, and she looked at what was beneath her in disbelief.
"Boom!" A colossal arm emerged from the lake, followed closely by another of the same size.
With these two arms pushing down, a terrifying treant hundreds of meters tall climbed out from beneath the lake. It was covered in a dense mass of corpses, all controlled by the female corpse.
"You've actually grown to this extent!" The female corpse looked at the colossal treant before her, greatly shocked. How was this possible? How could this ancient locust tree have improved so quickly!
"Hmph, there's so much you don't know. Do you think I only improve myself by luring and capturing a few fiends each year?" The ancient locust fiend sneered, crushing the corpses clinging to its body. "My true method of improvement is something you could never imagine!"
"Die!"
A palm that blotted out the sun descended towards the female corpse. The female corpse quickly commanded the well water to form a giant wave to meet the attack.
But the difference between them was like heaven and earth. The giant wave was easily destroyed by the palm as if it were made of paper. Then, with an unstoppable force, the palm struck the female corpse fiercely.
"Boom—!" The ground shook. A massive handprint was left across dozens of meters. The old well's opening was completely destroyed by this blow, and the female corpse was slammed to the ground, her flesh and blood mangled.
Fang Ming, hiding in the distance, watched the absurd battle with shock. This ancient locust fiend was too formidable! It truly lived up to its millennia of accumulation. With just this one move, it could easily destroy a city.
"What should I do?" Fang Ming anxiously bit his finger. How could he defeat such an opponent? Without finding the ancient locust fiend's weakness, this creature was invincible. Let alone one female corpse, even ten of them would likely not withstand this single blow.
"Diary! For now, all hope must be placed on the diary."
Fang Ming quickly flipped open his diary. It was clear that given the current situation, he couldn't do anything within an hour, so the diary naturally wouldn't display anything useful.
The ancient locust fiend laughed heartily upon seeing the female corpse's miserable state. "Overconfident fool. I initially thought you were powerful, but it seems devouring you won't be difficult!"
A surge of well water emerged from the void, quickly enveloping the female corpse. Her injuries began to heal at a visible rate.
"You are indeed powerful, but do you truly believe I have no other tricks up my sleeve?" the female corpse sneered.
"Let's see what other means you have!" The ancient locust fiend roared, clenching its fists and wildly smashing them towards the female corpse.
The female corpse quickly dodged, simultaneously directing the well water to climb onto the treant's body, beginning to entangle and constrict it, while also penetrating its body to corrode it.
"This is all you've got! Unfortunately, it's useless against me!" The ancient locust fiend scoffed. It stomped its right foot heavily on the ground, and the well water on its body instantly splashed away, unable to cling to it.
"How about this?" The female corpse shot into the sky, and a force blasted towards the heavens.
"Boom!" The sky exploded, and waves of water dispersed the clouds above.
Sunlight once again bathed Bai Mu Village.
The well water summoned by the female corpse hissed as if ice and snow encountered flames, evaporating rapidly at a visible rate. The treant was not faring much better. Its bark began to crack and fall off quickly, landing on the ground with resounding thuds.
"You're crazy!" The ancient locust fiend was greatly alarmed. At their level, sunlight was no longer fatal, but its influence was still significant. It was like an amphibious creature; while it could survive out of water for a long time, it would eventually perish.
The female corpse descended from the sky. She was also suffering. The disguise on her body had failed, revealing a body composed of rotten flesh exposed to the sunlight. Her face was horrifying, like a demon from the depths of night, and it emitted a foul stench.
Seeing the female corpse's true form, Fang Ming was utterly dismayed. It seemed that beautiful fiends were just lies!
"Hahaha, let's see who can survive in the end!" the female corpse cackled madly and launched a frenzied assault on the treant. Countless streams of water appeared from the void, raining down on the treant. The once impenetrable treant began to sustain damage under the influence of the sunlight.
The well water began to corrode its body, and its greenery started to diminish. If the female corpse could persist, this trend would almost certainly lead to her victory!
"You have truly angered me!" The ancient locust fiend roared. Malevolent energy suddenly swirled around its body, rapidly repairing its injuries. Its vitality even surpassed that at the beginning of its appearance!
"Boom!" With a punch, the female corpse was struck squarely, her entire body shattering into several pieces. However, she quickly reformed.
Her recovery ability was terrifying!
The female corpse pulled away from the treant, her brow furrowed. "Where did this sudden surge of malevolent energy come from?"
She was absolutely certain. This malevolent energy was the source of the ancient locust tree's sudden surge in power! Without the supply of this malevolent energy, the ancient locust tree would certainly not be her match!
As a fiend formed from resentment, her fundamental strength was unmatched by such natural fiends, unless they continuously received a steady supply of resentment.
However, most naturally formed fiends were merely the result of fortuitous circumstances and rarely had a continuous supply of resentment.
"Guess." The ancient locust fiend let out a smug cold laugh. "Today, you are destined to die!"