In the desolate wilderness, amidst the dense forests.
Wang Chen opened the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon and released all four villagers who had been imprisoned within.
He had possessed the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon for quite some time, but due to his limited strength, cultivation level, and experience, his understanding and exploitation of this treasure map remained superficial.
The only use of the True Form Chart that Wang Chen currently mastered was to imprison living beings.
However, imprisoning living beings came at a cost. Hiding his big green donkey inside consumed very little energy, but with the addition of these four Qi Cultivation cultivators, the previously absorbed qi visibly diminished at a rapid pace.
Therefore, Wang Chen found a secluded and uninhabited place nearby to proceed with his next plan.
These fellows, who had come knocking on his door, made him change his previous thoughts and come up with a new plan.
"Upper Cultivator, spare our lives!"
The four villagers, having come to their senses, realized they had hit a brick wall and lay prostrate on the ground, pleading pitifully, "Please, let us live!"
The previously intimidating and burly man had now turned into a jelly-legged crab, unable to even crawl.
"I'm willing to discuss sparing your lives..."
Wang Chen said, "Now, whatever I ask, you answer. If you don't know something, that's fine, but if there's a single lie, don't blame me for being heartless!"
The villagers immediately acted as if they had been granted amnesty, swearing oaths and promising to tell all without reserve.
Wang Chen's inquiries revolved entirely around the situation in Shangyang Village.
For instance, how many people lived in the village, whether any strange events or conspicuous individuals had appeared recently, and so on.
The villagers, eager to save their own lives, competed with each other to answer Wang Chen's questions.
They even quarreled red-faced over disagreements.
Indeed, they were quite the talents.
Through such repetitive and thorough interrogation, Wang Chen managed to gain a considerable understanding of the situation in Shangyang Village and even identified two suspicious individuals.
The first was Old Master, who lived in the northern forest of the village. He was a solitary and reclusive cultivator whose eccentric behavior led the villagers to say he practiced evil spells that should not see the light of day and strictly forbade children from nearing that area of forest.
But the various rumors about Old Master lacked concrete evidence to back them up.
Otherwise, the authorities would have been notified and acted upon it long ago.
The other suspicious individual was Widow Li from the eastern end of the village.
This Widow Li was beautiful and often flirted with these idlers, even having an affair with the burly man. However, she suddenly became chaste and withdrawn in the past six months, cutting off all interactions with her neighbors.
The burly man had even attempted to visit her before but was rudely turned away.
He felt that Widow Li was rather odd, and when he spoke about her, he did so with a string of curses, clearly disgruntled.
Wang Chen asked a few more questions but felt he could no longer extract any more useful information, so he raised his hand and sealed the senses of the three idlers, leaving only the burly man.
"Take off your clothes,"
Wang Chen told him, "and your boots too."
The burly man was greatly startled and subconsciously covered his butt, "Ah?"
A twitch of annoyance crossed Wang Chen's face, and he immediately gave the man a kick, "Hurry up!"
With his mana sealed, the burly man had no ability to resist and was kicked so hard by Wang Chen that he almost vomited blood, promptly removing his coat and boots.
After the man undressed, Wang Chen also sealed his senses and tossed him with his companions.
Having donned the garments and boots of the other, Wang Chen took a deep breath, and his body began to swell and elongate.
In not too long, a burly man, looking exactly like the original, was freshly 'baked'!
Wang Chen checked his reflection in the mirror, ensuring there were no obvious flaws, before leisurely leaving the place.
As for the four villagers lying on the ground, the restrictions on their bodies would automatically release after a period of time.
Although these individuals were not benevolent in nature, they lacked the bloody and resentful aura of vicious fiends; they evidently weren't murderous villains, which is why Wang Chen didn't ruthlessly kill them.
Otherwise, he would have directly converted them to Heavenly Merit!
He took out his liquor flask and poured several large gulps down his own throat.
Then, with a stagger every three steps, he swaggered back into Shangyang Village like a crab.
His posture and presence were nearly identical to that of a burly man.
The villagers who saw Wang Chen avoided him like the plague, none daring to greet him, for fear of inadvertently offending him.
This made it clear what kind of character he was in the village!
But such a situation was exactly to Wang Chen's liking. He headed straight for the eastern end of the village and, thanks to the detailed clues provided by the burly man, he quickly found Widow Li's home.
He pounded on the door, shouting, "Open up, open the door quickly!"
After a moment, a charming voice came from inside.
The courtyard gate creaked open, and a young woman with peach blossom eyes appeared before Wang Chen, looking quite lovely.
Upon seeing Wang Chen, her brows immediately furrowed, and she asked in a disgruntled tone, "What are you doing here again?"
"My dear, I've been missing you!"
Wang Chen chuckled with a smirk, stretching out his hand to touch her face while exhaling a breath reeking of alcohol.
Widow Sun's eyes flashed with disgust, and with a slap, she batted away Wang Chen's groping hand: "Get out!"
Wang Chen's face darkened immediately, and he said in a menacing tone, "Widow Sun, have you forgotten your old relationship now that you have a new one? They say a couple owes a hundred days of grace for one day as husband and wife, but we've shared more than a single day!"
He eyed her askance, his tone sarcastic.
"What new love and old love, what are you rambling about!"
Widow Sun's face changed instantly, and as she stepped back, she said, "If you dare to harass me again, I'll tell the village chief!"
Despite her composure, the brief flicker of panic in her eyes did not escape Wang Chen's observation.
"Tell the village chief?"
Wang Chen narrowed his eyes, saying in a sinister tone, "Perfect, I suspect you're harboring a bandit. Telling the village chief will warrant a search, and we might find a surprising discovery!"
This time, Widow Sun truly panicked. She pulled Wang Chen inside the yard and then looked around nervously before firmly closing the courtyard gate again.
Wang Chen chuckled heinously: "I guessed right, didn't I? I knew there was something off about you."
Widow Sun turned around and glared at him with clenched teeth: "What do you want?"
Wang Chen licked his lips: "What do I want? Don't you already know?"
Widow Sun forced a seductive smile: "Let's talk inside."
Wang Chen was supremely smug: "That's better. Just be obedient, and I won't treat you badly!"
He swaggered into the room.
Following behind, Widow Sun had no suspicion until they entered the inner room, where she let her face grow stern, "Zhu Laosan, don't take things too far..."
Wang Chen slapped the flirtatious widow hard across the face, sending her crashing onto the bed.
Caught off guard, Widow Sun immediately passed out.
Wang Chen rubbed his hands together, sneering, "You refuse the toast only to drink a forfeit. Today, I will take you by force!"
First update delivered.