But the very perceptive Tree Monster knew one thing clearly: if it were to massively drain the essence energy from these people, it would not only cause panic and make everyone flee far away, making them difficult to find thereafter. It would also be akin to draining the pond to catch all the fish... Although it did not know the saying about draining the pond to catch all the fish, it understood the principle.

Therefore, it couldn't cause these humans to suspect it and flee in terror, yet it still wanted to obtain more energy more quickly. So, what should it do?

The Tree Monster started to set its sights on the infants who had just been born! Despite being newly born, humans of this world were peculiar—they didn't need to cultivate to have extraordinarily long life expectancies. From the day of their birth, abundant essence energy was already contained within their organs!

Thus, even the essence energy of the newly born infants could satisfy the Tree Monster's needs.

And so, the hidden killings began.

At first, it was very restrained, secretly killing a newly born infant only once every year or two. But later, it became more and more brazen, more and more excessive. Eventually, on average, for every three infants born, the Tree Monster would take one!

In the memories of the Tree Patriarch, one could clearly see infants, innocently lying in their cradles, babbling away, appearing very healthy and normal. The parents gazed at their babies with joy on their faces. However, between their brows, one could see a trace of anxiety.

Why?

Because the mortality rate of newly born infants was too high!

So high that it filled them with dread!

So much so that many people were reluctant to have children! Which parents want to see their newborns die suddenly not long after birth? Who could endure such a thing?

Especially mothers, who carry the burden for ten months, so painstakingly giving birth to their children, only to have to bear the agony of losing a child soon after.

Even those without children like Ye Qing and Chu Mo felt the pain as if it were their own, let alone the children's birth parents.

In that scene, the infants' eyes were pure and extremely bright. But the moment the thin roots of the Tree Monster crept into the room, the infants couldn't help but start to cry, as if anticipating death, they began to wail loudly.

At that point, the child's mother would pick up the baby and breastfeed it, comforting the baby with a worried expression on her face.

Then, the thin roots of the Tree Monster would recede silently. The baby's cries would also temporarily stop.

However, this was only temporary!

When the night was deep and everyone was asleep, it appeared again...

The naive infants didn't even have the chance to cry out and alert the adults before they were pierced by the sharp roots!

Then, a massive amount of essence energy was drawn into the Tree Monster's body through the roots. The Tree Monster controlled it very well; it didn't drain all the essence energy from the infants on the spot. It just killed the infants and absorbed a small portion. Only after the infants were buried did its malevolent roots strike again, completely draining the babies and turning them into dry, skeletal corpses.

It was too cruel.

Too evil!

There was no blood, but it was chilling to the core.

Ye Qing couldn't bear to watch any longer. She covered her eyes with her hands, not daring to look, but tears streamed down between her fingers.

The scene was too heart-wrenching. Even Chu Mo couldn't bear to watch any longer.

He glanced at Ye Qing, who was covering her eyes with her hands, tears flowing between her fingers, and said indifferently, "This is the Tree God you worship!"

"How could this happen? How could this be?" Ye Qing cried weakly. The scene completely destroyed the last bit of fantasy in the depths of her heart, making her feel like she was about to collapse.

Even when the villagers of Stone Village treated her the way they did, at most, she felt a sense of lifeless desolation, but it was never as painfully heartbreaking as it was now!

There were many more such scenes in the memory images. The true spirit of the Tree Patriarch, manifested into the Buddha statue, looked ashamed, continuously chanting scriptures. It seemed as if it was performing rites for the souls of the dead.

Chu Mo looked at him coldly and said with a chilling voice, "Did you not know anything about these things before?"

The Tree Patriarch stopped chanting, said bitterly, "In Nirvana, there is emptiness; who knows what happens after? If the benefactor had not killed this Tree Monster today, awakening a bit of my true spirit, I would have never known what happened."

"Then tell me, what should be done to completely eliminate all your descendants?" Chu Mo looked at the Tree Patriarch with intense killing intent, not hiding the overwhelming fury in his heart.

"My bit of true spirit is far from enough to summon all the Tree Monsters..." The Tree Patriarch looked sincerely at Chu Mo: "So, benefactor needs to kill another ten Tree Monsters and collect ten bits of my true spirit. Once fused together, you will have the power to summon. Then I will call upon all the Tree Monsters, and at that time, the benefactor can use fire to burn them to death. Please, I implore you!"

The Tree Patriarch finally, solemnly bowed to Chu Mo, and then chanted the Buddha's name: "Amitabha."

"I hope you're not playing any tricks on me." The Cold Moon Blade in Chu Mo's hand flickered with light, reflecting the fierce anger in his heart.

Tree Patriarch glanced at Chu Mo and said calmly, "If this monk had known there would be a day like today, I would not have left a seed in this world. Such a sin!"

"Alright, I'll tentatively trust you. For now, come into my space." As Chu Mo spoke, he directly opened up the inner space of the Sealed Space. He was not afraid of any tricks from the true spirit of the Tree Patriarch. Within the world of the Sealed Space, it would be directly sealed. It wouldn't be able to move an inch!

"Sealed Space?" The Tree Patriarch's true spirit, with its high level of insight, recognized the Sealed Space at a glance.

A flicker of killing intent passed through Chu Mo's eyes, but he said nothing more.

The true spirit of the Tree Patriarch did not say anything further, only casting a meaningful glance at Chu Mo before flying directly into the Sealed Space, and was instantly sealed.

Chu Mo looked at Ye Qing, who was squatting on the ground, covering her face and crying, "Do you believe it now?"

Ye Qing didn't answer, still weeping. After a long time, she managed to choke out, "I... I want to see... my parents!"

Chu Mo understood that she wanted to see if her parents really looked like the images from Tree Patriarch's memories. In the end, this simple and kind yet stubborn woman still found it hard to believe that all of this was true.

"Are you sure?"

When Chu Mo used the Fengshui Divine Art to make deductions in the small river village previously, he had already felt that the cemetery of the village was quite abnormal. It was filled with a deathly aura! That place was like a dead land! Not a single bit of vitality!

Many people might think that cemeteries should be just like that, but it's not true. The place where cemeteries are typically has heavier Yin energy but still possesses vitality! How could the ancestors bless their descendants without vitality?

Ye Qing had not mentioned the cemetery of Stone Village to Chu Mo, but he already knew where it was because, just like the cemetery of the small river village, the cemetery of Stone Village was also filled with a deathly aura!

"Certain, I, I want to see them one last time!" Ye Qing, with eyes red from crying, looked at Chu Mo with determination, "If the truth... really is as such, then from now on, I will follow by your side, doing laundry and cooking for you, serving you. I am willing to become your servant!"

So you were reluctant before... Chu Mo murmured to himself, his gaze falling on Ye Qing with a hint of pity, and he sighed softly, "Let's go, I'll take you there."

"You, you know where it is?" Ye Qing looked at Chu Mo with utter astonishment: "I don't think I've told you yet..."

"Heh..." Chu Mo let out a somewhat desolate laugh, "The cemetery of Stone Village, just like that of the small river village, has not a single bit of life vitality. Do you need to tell me?" Saying this, he took the lead, walking towards the cemetery of Stone Village.

An hour later, Ye Qing let out a piercing scream, filled with anguish and despair. Then she burst into uncontrollable crying, knelt before her parents' graves, and almost fainted from the grief.

She had seen it, seen everything clearly!

The sight of the skeletal remains, wrapped in her parents' clothes, pushed her to utter sorrow and the edge of heartbreak. Her entire being crumbled.

The bodies of people in this world contain such strong essence energy that even after they pass away of old age and many years pass, their bodies still appear lifelike. The flesh does not decay at all. Thus, skeletons reduced to just bones are almost unheard of.

Moreover, the corpses drained of essence energy by Tree Monsters are not just skeletal remains; they still have a layer of human skin...

Even for someone like Chu Mo, who was accustomed to life and death, that sight also made his scalp tingle. At the same time, the raging fire in his heart grew even more intense.

"Let's go, we'll kill that one in the small river village first!" Chu Mo said to Ye Qing in a cold voice.

At this point, he no longer cared about the attitudes of the villagers from the small river village. Whether they understood or not was irrelevant. Tree Monsters like these scum, these degenerates, such evil beings, should not exist in this world at all. He would not bat an eyelid at exterminating them all.

Ye Qing nodded with a determined face, at this moment she no longer cared for the cruelty and indifference shown to her by the people of the small river village. Compared to that, she wished even more for the young master to eradicate all the Tree Monsters!

To avenge all those who had died in vain, to cleanse away their hatred!

However, what Chu Mo and Ye Qing did not know was that right now, at that very moment, in the small river village, the Tree Monster had already initiated a massacre!

Those who were hit first were the doddering old man and that group of people led by the ugly old crone, because they were the strongest in the small river village, with the richest essence energy in their bodies!

And this time, the Tree Monster no longer concealed its actions!

It used its roots to nail down the group of people, and then formed a massive cage with countless tendrils, sealing off the small river village completely.

All throughout the small river village, cries of terror began to echo, and within those cries, there was endless despair and regret.

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