Chapter 4

Dongmang Village was thrown into chaos all at once. Everyone dropped what they were doing and hurried to the three rooms of the village defense team. In front of the house, Yang Yuanda's body lay on the ground, his fat wife wailing loudly and cursing Bu Ye. The area was filled with the clamor of people discussing the situation, and if it weren't for Yang Yuanda's body lying there, no one would have believed what had just happened.

"How could this be? Ah Ye is such a gentle person, how could he kill Yang Yuanda?"

"Exactly! Besides, isn't Yang Yuanda a Heart Cloud Seven Star? Ten Ah Yes wouldn't be a match for him."

"It's said that Ah Ye hid a dagger in his clothes and stabbed Yang Yuanda in the neck when he wasn't paying attention."

"Even though Yang Yuanda was a bad person, he didn't deserve to die."

"I've always disliked him. He's done too many bad things, even if they were small, they add up to enough for him to die."

"Shh, it's not good to speak ill of the dead; they can hear us."

"I heard Ah Ye was possessed by an evil spirit. Otherwise, how could he do such a thing?"

Those who arrived later didn't know the details and their speculations strayed further from the truth. However, even those who witnessed the event couldn't explain what happened, as Bu Ye's behavior was so abnormal. It was unbelievable that an ordinary person could kill a Heart Cloud Seven Star.

In the crowd, a woman in her late twenties frowned, her eyes filled with tension and worry as she looked at the middle room of the three houses, where Bu Ye was being held. Her simple, coarse clothes couldn't hide her beauty; her features and figure were exquisite, though her skin was not as fair as it could be, likely due to her work in the fields. She had rolled up her sleeves, and her long, black hair was loosely tied back, indicating she had rushed over hastily. This only added to her healthy, capable charm as a village woman.

Even though Bu Ye's situation was the focus of the entire village, many men in the crowd, even those with families, couldn't help but steal glances at the woman.

At her feet was a five- or six-year-old boy with a haircut that looked like a little pot lid. He clung tightly to her clothes, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at Yang Yuanda's face, which was now covered.

"Mom, when will Uncle Bu come out?" the boy asked, looking at the middle house.

The woman pulled the boy behind her, not wanting him to see the dead body, and frowned. "Mom doesn't know."

The woman actually did know. If the situation was true, the only way Bu Ye could come out would be if he were executed. An eye for an eye, a life for a life, and Bu Ye had killed one of the village's three Heart Cloud Awakeners.

But she couldn't believe that Bu Ye had really killed someone, and for such a reason.

Could Ah Ye really have been possessed by an evil spirit? It had been a long time since such a thing had happened in Dongmang Village, and usually, evil spirits targeted the elderly and weak, not a strong young man like Ah Ye...

...

In the middle room of the village defense team, the doors and windows were tightly shut, making the room very dark.

Bu Ye's hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were tightly bound, but these restraints seemed to have no effect on his mood. He was sitting on the only wooden bed in the room, deep in thought. He could hear the commotion outside, but once he focused his mind, the noise no longer disturbed him.

When he stabbed Yang Yuanda, he didn't think the man would die, but as he watched Yang Yuanda fall, his eyes wide open even in death, he didn't feel much fear. This was the first time he had killed someone so directly, but afterward, he only trembled uncontrollably for a while. He didn't feel the urge to vomit or experience any lingering fear.

After being subdued and bound by Liang Xiong, he was brought to this storage room of the village defense team to await his punishment for the murder.

Before he got lymphoma, Bu Ye had always lived by the rules, almost as a habit. Even when Yang Yuanda hit him with his clothes, he still thought, "No matter how many small evils Yang Yuanda committed in Dongmang Mountain, they don't add up to a death sentence. Moreover, Yang Yuanda was one of the three Heart Cloud Awakeners in Dongmang Village. Killing him would weaken the village defense team, which would be bad for the entire village."

But that was the judgment of Bu Ye before he got cancer.

If the heart has a divine and demonic side, then in the months before he crossed over, Bu Ye had been so tormented by pain and a hopeless reality that his divine side was completely gone, leaving only the demonic and chaotic. He was no longer a good person; his heart now housed an easily angered devil with zero tolerance for evil, with no divine force to balance it.

So, his habit of following the rules could be discarded at any time!

After killing Yang Yuanda, he felt no guilt or remorse.

According to Dongmang Village's rules, he was likely to be executed, even with the excuse of being possessed by an evil spirit.

However, the execution would be at least three days later, as it was a custom in the southern part of the Xiao Kingdom to bury the dead three days after death. He would be executed when Yang Yuanda was buried. He only needed two days!

Bu Ye opened his eyes and carefully scanned the wooden bed, seeing no abnormalities, he lay down on the hard bed. He planned to observe his current condition, which might take some time, so he chose a more comfortable position.

Lying on his side, Bu Ye closed his eyes and began to focus his attention on his body's interior.

Originally, it was dark, but as his focus intensified, it was as if a light shone into his body, and he "saw" the inside!

This ability to see internally, which was somewhat magical, he had mastered as soon as he arrived in this world.

Looking closely, he saw thin, gray patches distributed throughout his body, like the gray smoke in a heavily polluted sky. They were the embodiment of illness, pain, and oppression—his cancer cells! Before, Bu Ye couldn't see them, but now, even seeing these "old friends" from the months before he crossed over, he felt no affection. They continued to spread and consume his life force, and even this strong body wouldn't last long.

However, after coming to this world, these cancer cells seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation. Bu Ye was certain that it was these cancer cells that warned him of Yang Yuanda's intention to break his oath. After killing Yang Yuanda, they immediately became dormant, seemingly returning to ordinary cancer cells.

Cancer cells are still cancer cells, so he had to fight them, ideally eliminating them all! At this moment, all his hopes were centered on his heart.

Bu Ye tried to calm himself and then focused his attention on his heart.

A small, red, glowing vortex was slowly rotating clockwise there!

If you looked closely, you would see that the small vortex resembled a miniature galaxy. The galaxy had four long tails, all of which were contracting toward the center due to the rotation, gradually transforming into a perfect state. Each tail was dotted with countless red light points, each like a real star. Through them, Bu Ye felt a rich vitality!

His body was clearly undergoing some kind of transformation, and according to the world's terminology, it was a Heart Cloud Awakening!

This was definitely a strange world, where a nebula could form inside a person. Regardless of whether it was a real nebula or just looked like one, it was genuinely increasing his vitality! If a normal person's vitality is considered one, Bu Ye's was now at least 1.2 and would continue to increase with the help of the nebula until the two days were up.

In this world, a Heart Cloud Awakening always took exactly three days, a fact from Bu Ye's memories. His Heart Cloud began to awaken when he arrived in this world yesterday.

The heart is the most important organ for the circulatory system, and a strong heart can support a powerful circulatory system, thereby strengthening the body overall!

After a Heart Cloud Awakening, a person's physical attributes would double in their normal state and triple in an activated state, which had some scientific basis.

Now, Dongmang Village had only two Heart Cloud Awakeners left, Hong Zhongwei and Liang Xiong, who were busy with defense and hunting. They clearly couldn't personally guard Bu Ye. Therefore, Bu Ye was quite confident that he could escape Dongmang Village after his Heart Cloud Awakening. At that time, he would have the ability to avoid wild beasts and bandits during the day and head north to a more stable part of the Xiao Kingdom.

However, what Bu Ye was more concerned about was how many Blood Stars would be activated along with his Heart Cloud Awakening.

The heart is the core of the circulatory system, which is why the Heart Cloud awakens there. However, the lungs, kidneys, and major arteries and veins also play crucial roles in the circulatory system, so in addition to the Heart Cloud, there are Blood Stars to enhance the entire system.

The Heart Cloud leads twelve Blood Stars, with the lungs accounting for four, the kidneys for three, and the remaining five distributed among the major arteries and veins and other key areas, supporting a powerful and perfect circulatory system.

Unlike the natural awakening of the Heart Cloud, most Blood Stars need to be activated through personal effort. Only during the completion of the Heart Cloud Awakening is there a chance for the Heart Cloud to activate one or several Blood Stars effortlessly.

In this world, ordinary people usually activate one to three Blood Stars, those of higher quality activate four to six, and the best activate seven to nine. As for more than nine, Bu Ye, who had lived in Dongmang Village all his life, had never even heard of it...

Two days after the Heart Cloud Awakening, how many Blood Stars would he be able to activate?

After observing internally for a long time, Bu Ye withdrew his attention and wanted to sleep. He had stood guard all night the previous night, and his body was exhausted. He was very clear that Yang Yuanda's body was just on the other side of the wall, but he still slept soundly.

Yang Yuanda's wife's cries had quieted down, likely from exhaustion, and the villagers' discussions had also diminished, making it a good time to rest.

Breathing deeply, he gradually drifted into sleep.

However, at that moment, he saw something in the darkness.

He didn't become fully awake, but his consciousness followed the image, realizing that the darkness was his mind, and the image was within it.

Focusing his attention, he saw a thin, red glow in the center, surrounded by several black gas clouds.

So familiar!

He had definitely seen these before!

In an instant, Bu Ye remembered the feeling when he crossed over!

At the time, he was so tormented by pain that he couldn't even lift his eyelids. In his most painful moment, he suddenly felt as if he were on a roller coaster, forcibly pulled out of his original environment!

Just before he was about to lose consciousness, he felt something forcibly inserted into his mind. Although it was just a flash, he was now certain that it was what he was seeing now!

Comparing the two, Bu Ye immediately sensed something was wrong. The black gas clouds that originally formed a complete circle around the red glow were now clearly missing one!