"Uh, ah," the night watchman reached for his throat, his face contorted in a grimace, his eyes rolling upwards.
As the dark purple markings intensified, the man's neck seemed to be forcibly snapped by an external force.
Following this, his entire vitality was drained by the spell of the law.
The night watchman, his life force leached away, was pale and stiff, his body covered in dark purple markings that flashed intermittently, starkly visible in the dim morning light.
He began to repeat the actions of beating the night watch, his voice hoarse as he warned of fire hazards while striking his gong.
A villager passing by, seeing him still beating his gong after dawn, couldn't help but ask, "Old Wang, Old Wang, what's wrong with you? It's past this hour, why aren't you resting?"
The one called Old Wang did not respond, as if bound by some unspoken command, he continued his night watch routine, striking his gong incessantly without pause.
The villager nudged Old Wang a few times, but seeing no reaction, he muttered about how strange it was and withdrew.
However, as more villagers passed by, more people became curious about what had happened to Old Wang.
They first snatched the gong and drum from Old Wang's hands, attempting to wake him.
But even without his instruments, Old Wang continued his night watch movements, his expression fierce.
The crowd, terrified by his demeanor, retreated in unison.
Only when Old Wang, still performing his night watch actions, gradually moved away from the crowd did they begin to whisper amongst themselves:
"What's going on? This night watchman is acting strange today. Old Wang was never like this before."
"Who knows? Maybe his wife ran off with someone?"
"Hahaha."
"Hey, everyone, come look! This well was dry, wasn't it? How come there's water in it now?"
Upon hearing this, several villagers hurried over and gathered around the well that had suddenly sprung forth with water, discussing it animatedly.
They drank the well water as they talked, their discussions growing more enthusiastic as they tasted its sweetness. But soon, the same fate befell them as the night watchman.
In other villages across the mortal realm, the same situation unfolded simultaneously.
Meanwhile, far away in the Nine Heavens.
Qi Yu and Si Qing were still attending a celebratory banquet, unaware that a tragedy had befallen a corner of the mortal world.
Yue Zhiyin and the others were unaware that Qi Yu and Si Qing had reacted to the amethyst necklace, so they continued to converse with guests at the banquet, drinking toasts from beginning to end.
Their intention was to test each person to see which one the amethyst would react to, and who was destined to be the new Heavenly Dao.
However.
From the start to the end of the celebratory banquet, Yue Zhiyin, apart from his own people, had tested every race and spirit beast present, yet the amethyst remained unlit.
Consequently, after the celebration concluded, Yue Zhiyin was utterly dejected, too weary to even wear the Heavenly Emperor's hat.
Qi Yu and Si Qing exchanged glances.
Before the celebratory banquet began, they had refrained from mentioning the matter of the new Heavenly Dao, primarily to observe the amethyst necklace, to ascertain whether it was good or bad, and if it could still elicit a reaction for the new Heavenly Dao in others.
Now that they saw the amethyst necklace was not faulty and had not reacted to anyone else as the new Heavenly Dao, they decided to confess to everyone that the amethyst had indeed lit up.
But as Qi Yu and Si Qing approached Yue Zhiyin, before they could utter a word, they heard heavenly soldiers and generals rushing in from outside, shouting, "Report!"
Qi Yu and Si Qing stepped aside to let them pass.
The heavenly soldiers and generals knelt before Yue Zhiyin and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, disaster has struck! The mortal realm is inexplicably experiencing a strange form of hysteria, and many have already died! Many immortal sects with excellent destinies have also suffered heavy casualties."