Chapter 1 The Wu Clan Chieftain?

"Clan Chief Wu?"

Hearing the joyous cries of the flesh-cutters in the valley, Hu Ma couldn't help but be taken aback. He was just thinking about the Wu clan leader who had authorized the sealing of the valley, and here he was?

Looking closely, what drifted in from outside the valley wasn't mist, but someone walking while scattering handfuls of strange white powder. As they advanced, it looked as if they were walking through morning fog.

The three figures walking through the mist thus appeared quite mysterious and hidden.

As the powder was scattered, rustling sounds came from the lush forest on both sides of the path leading to the valley. Countless insects, scrambling over each other, fled like a tide to either side of the road.

The three stopped at the edge of the valley, ceasing their actions and lowering the bamboo flutes from their lips. By this time, someone had already notified Foreman Zhuang, who hastily threw on an outer robe and rushed from the main hall with his entourage to greet them.

The flesh-cutters in the valley who had been patrolling and preparing food also hurriedly dropped their work and flocked over behind him.

Hu Ma simply stood where he was, watching. He saw three people dressed in black, adorned with silver ornaments, enter the valley. Each carried a bamboo basket on their back and several bamboo canisters at their waist.

The leader was older, looking to be in his fifties, with a circle of black cloth wrapped around his head. To his left was a pale-faced, tall young man, and to his right, a bright and charming young woman with large eyes, curiously observing the people in the valley.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the young woman, Hu Ma, as well as Zhou Datong and others who had rushed out upon hearing the commotion, also brightened.

Although she had changed her clothes, she still wore the familiar silver ornaments and carried a bamboo basket on her back. Her face held a simple, girlish, and touching smile—it was the same one they had encountered in the forest before.

She had come to the mine but did not stay by the clan leader's side, nor did she join in the conversation between Foreman Zhuang and those welcoming them. Instead, she went off to the side by herself and squatted down to play.

Seeing her come over, the flesh-cutters in the mine all changed their expressions drastically and scattered in panic. They seemed very welcoming of the clan leader's arrival but were unusually afraid of this young girl. Some even hid back in their houses, not daring to show their faces.

"What's going on?"

Zhou Datong curiously grabbed an old man with a dark face, a flat nose, and two missing teeth, and asked, "Why are you running?"

"Didn't you see a Wu woman has come?"

The old man glared and said, "Wu women are not to be trifled with. If she takes a fancy to you, she'll use gu on you. Once you're under the gu spell, you'll be stuck with her for life…"

"Tch, it's against the rules. The Wu used to know this taboo and never allowed Wu women to come to the mines…"

"This…"

Zhou Datong was stunned and looked the old man up and down. "Are you married?"

"Of course not."

The gap-toothed old man said, "Who would dare come to the mine for this kind of work if they were married?"

"Then it's nothing."

Zhou Datong let go of him, patted the wrinkles on his clothes, and said, "Go hide, hide well!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the young girl, puffed out his sturdy chest, and tried his best to put on a friendly and gentle smile.

The young girl glanced at him and then moved her gaze away, coming to the horse next to the village entrance, a look of surprise in her eyes, and squatted down.

Datong immediately felt a little hurt.

"Old brother, I've finally been waiting for you…"

Meanwhile, Foreman Zhuang hurriedly greeted the entering Wu clan leader with a face full of excitement, bowing deeply. "Our old and young men in this mine are all waiting for you to save their lives…"

Hearing his words, the Wu clan leader sighed deeply and said, "I was going to set off as soon as I received your letter, but I needed to prepare many things, so it took a few days."

"Has anything major happened during this time?"

"…"

"No, nothing…"

Foreman Zhuang hurriedly said, "But these inexplicable things are really puzzling."

"Brother Wu knows, we are here to cut *taisui* (太歲, a type of fungus), making a living, and have always been kind to others. I don't know who we offended, that they directly sealed my mine and killed several of my men?"

"No need to explain."

Clan Leader Wu waved his hand, sighed softly, and said, "I also know this matter has become serious."

"Actually, if it were someone else, I would have come over to help you negotiate long ago, and I wouldn't have needed to prepare for so long, but the one who sealed your blood food mine this time is actually…"

"…"

Speaking to here, he paused slightly, and then whispered, "Actually, it's my son, Wu Song!"

"Ah?"

Suddenly hearing him say this, both Foreman Zhuang and Hu Ma were shocked. Foreman Zhuang turned to look at the girl squatting in front of the horse, reaching out her small hand to touch it, and said in surprise, "Wu Ya has an older brother?"

"Why haven't I heard you mention him?"

"…"

Hu Ma was equally surprised.

He had chatted with Monkey Wine and naturally knew that this clan leader was actually the mastermind behind the scenes. He was already curious about his sudden appearance, wondering what he was up to by coming on the second day after he hung up the red lanterns.

But he never expected that he would frankly admit this matter?

Clan Leader Wu heard Foreman Zhuang's question, but he also looked distressed, slowly shaking his head, and said, "I no longer recognize him as my son, and our clansmen never mention him…"

"Of course, is the person who helped me deliver the letter last time still alive?"

"…"

Foreman Zhuang immediately shook his head and said, "He died as soon as he came back, his body was full of *gu* worms…"

"He was carrying the protective charm I gave him…"

Clan Leader Wu smiled bitterly upon hearing this and said, "Even with the protective charm I gave him, he still died, which shows that Wu Song doesn't recognize me as his father either. This is why I needed to prepare for a few more days before coming to your mine…"

Foreman Zhuang was increasingly shocked as he listened, and he quickly invited him to sit down in the hall, had tea brewed, and asked in detail what was going on.

At this point, Hu Ma also stopped putting on airs and followed in, respectfully cupping his fist and bowing to the Wu clan leader.

When Foreman Zhuang saw Hu Ma approaching, he quickly and properly introduced him to Clan Leader Wu. He almost forgot that Hu Ma had now taken over the accounts, and in terms of status, he was the one who had the say in the mine now.

He himself was now considered his subordinate.

"Steward, you are too polite, too polite…"

As the Wu clan leader, the leader of the Wu people, had a lot of dealings with outsiders, his Mandarin was better than the young girl's, and he also knew some etiquette, politely returning the greeting to Hu Ma.

Then he sighed softly and still said to Foreman Zhuang, "You don't know, my son is a madman…"

His sudden words made everyone present pause for a moment, looking at each other.

The Wu clan leader was silent for a moment before speaking with a troubled expression, slowly saying, "Our Wu people have rules for refining *gu*, with three prohibitions and ten things we don't refine. Generations of us have never dared to violate them, but he alone has broken almost all the taboos."

"I let him learn to do business, but he wasn't interested. I let him go outside the forest and learn to read like the Han people, but he wasn't interested either. He only focused on studying how to refine *gu*."

"*Zi mu gu* (子母蠱, mother-child gu), *yin yang gu* (陰陽蠱, yin-yang gu), *chen shi gu* (沉屍蠱, corpse-sinking gu)…"

"When he refined *gu*, he not only didn't follow the rules or listen to advice, but he also focused on making them fierce and vicious. Once, he even…"

Speaking to here, he also turned his head and glanced at the young girl Wu Ya next to the village entrance, and whispered, "He even had designs on his own sister, wanting to refine silver silk *gu* on her…"

"Then you…"

Suddenly hearing what the Wu clan leader said, Foreman Zhuang was a little frightened and hurriedly said, "You have always been strict, restraining the clansmen from harming people, then you…"

"…Why didn't you control him?"

"…"

"Control?"

Clan Leader Wu smiled bitterly upon hearing this and whispered, "I can't beat him…"

"When he was only a teenager, his *gu* fighting had already surpassed all of our clansmen, including me…"

"Later, seeing that he was doing more and more outrageous things, I could only join with the other clansmen and ask the Witch God to issue a decree, and then we drove him out of the village. Since then, he has only lived alone in the Black Bone Forest dozens of miles away, not interacting with the people in the village."

"This time, as soon as I heard about the matter and the methods, I knew it must be related to him, but I… I don't know why he came here to block your door."

"On the way here just now, I also tried to call out to him, but he didn't answer me…"

"…"

"Then this…"

Hearing what Clan Leader Wu said, Foreman Zhuang was also obviously anxious. He had just said two words when his body suddenly trembled. He hurriedly covered his mouth and coughed twice, actually spitting out a mouthful of dirty blood.

The apprentice next to him hurriedly wanted to come up to support him, but before he could touch him, he was shocked and took two steps back.

He realized that there were actually two worms wriggling in the dirty blood he was holding in his hands, drilling out along the edge of his palm, falling to the ground, twisting and turning.

This scene made people's hair stand on end, and even Foreman Zhuang himself was a little stunned, his chest rising and falling like a bellows. The Wu clan leader next to him was also greatly surprised and hurriedly stepped forward, chanting spells and pointing two fingers together, slowly pointing to the worms on the ground.

As his fingertip approached, the two worms in the dirty blood struggled more and more, gradually withering, as if they had been exposed to the sun for a few days, and completely stopped moving.

Only then did Clan Leader Wu support Foreman Zhuang, holding his pulse gate, and seriously said, "Don't panic, don't panic. We Wu people follow the rules. If friends are good to us, we are also good to friends. We will take care of your matter…"

"We'll cure the *gu* in you first before talking!"

"…"

Saying this, he hurriedly shouted loudly outside: "Wu Ya, stop playing, come quickly."

(End of this chapter)