Chapter 117 Soul-Reclaiming Gu

The enemy had already unleashed two kinds of gu, both of which had been dealt with. However, no one present dared to relax. Besides these two, there were ten more gu waiting to be unleashed. Just the thought of it made their eyes wander nervously towards the valley entrance.

"Looks like we need to buck up," Hu Ma said.

Hu Ma exchanged a glance with Old Abacus from afar, understanding each other's thoughts. He lowered his voice and said, "Chief Wu is righteous, coming to help us dispel the gu and save people, but we can't rely on him entirely. Everyone on the mine needs to move, divide into two shifts, and guard against the unexpected."

As he spoke, he personally appointed the people, dividing everyone present, including the flesh-cutting artisans, into two shifts.

One shift was led by Zhuang Erchang, with Zhou Datong as his deputy. They took Zhao Zhu and half of the flesh-cutting artisans, patrolling during the day.

The other shift was led by Hu Ma himself, with Zhuang Erchang's two apprentices and the remaining, bolder flesh-cutting artisans, responsible for patrolling at night.

As a Shousui Ren (Guardian), it was his duty to act at this time. No one dared to complain. Hu Ma also reassured the flesh-cutting artisans, "I know you're here to work, and it's truly unfair that you've been dragged into this."

"But since we've encountered it, preserving your lives is the most important thing. So, let's help each other out, and prevent anything from sneaking in. Rest assured, you won't be mining these next few days, but you'll still get your wages!"

"..."

His generosity made the flesh-cutting artisans delighted, giving them motivation.

In the end, this world was still different from his previous one. In his previous life, if the flesh-cutting artisans stayed in the valley, they would receive their full wages whether they mined or not.

But in this Blood Food Mine, although people came, they only received their daily tael of silver when they were mining. If they could eat a bowl of meat with their rice every day when they weren't mining, that meant the mine owner was kind.

With this arrangement in place, the entire mine cooperated with the Wu Gong clan leader's efforts. Day and night, there were always people patrolling the valley to prevent accidents. Hu Ma felt slightly relieved that his words were effective, but he still didn't dare to be careless.

Taking advantage of a gap, he found Old Abacus and said in a low voice, "In this situation, can we really only defend like this?"

"The enemy's gu are unpredictable, and defending like this, listening to their instructions, is the safest way," Old Abacus said.

Old Abacus had been frowning these past few days, lowering his voice, "To deal with the person using gu, either we defend like this, meeting each move with a counter, until they run out of tricks and give up."

"Or, we disregard everything, directly charge out, find the person using the gu, and chop them into pieces. No, the safest thing is to destroy their gu-refining pot."

"..."

Hu Ma was slightly taken aback, "Destroying their gu-refining pot is more important than killing them?"

"It is."

Old Abacus lowered his voice, "Some gu can still harm people even if you kill the person using them. It's like killing the person who poisoned you, but still not being able to get rid of the poison in your body."

"But destroying their gu-refining pot is different. That pot is their lifeblood. Many gu masters only have one pot, because the more it's used, the more ferocious and evil it becomes, like a magic weapon. The longer it's used, the more powerful the gu it refines."

"So, very few gu masters will deliberately use two pots to refine gu, as it would divide their attention. Therefore, the pot is closely related to their gu worms."

"Once their pot is destroyed, you don't even need to kill them. Their own gu worms will rebel, and the first to turn on them is the master."

"..."

While explaining, he suddenly seemed to think of something, blinked his eyes, and looked at Hu Ma with anticipation, "Brother Hu, your skills..."

"Don't even think about it."

Hu Ma glared at him and said, "That lunatic outside has set up twelve rows of formations, and there are still ten kinds of gu that haven't been unleashed. You want me to brave these risks and run out to fight that gu-releasing person?"

"Why don't you go?"

"..."

"Cough, cough..."

Old Abacus was a little embarrassed and said, "Old brother, I came to the mine with you to do the accounting, and I'm too old to do this kind of fighting..."

"Then you old man, think about what other good ideas you have!"

Hu Ma threw him aside, put his hands behind his back, and went back to his room to rest.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was Monkey Wine releasing the gu outside, Hu Ma would have considered other options even if he didn't directly charge out to kill him. But since he knew who was releasing the gu outside, he should just go through the motions.

He didn't even ask Monkey Wine about the order in which he was releasing the gu, so as not to know in advance and give himself away.

And if he accidentally got hit by a gu, then that could only mean that his skills were still too poor. In desperation, he would have to ask Monkey Wine to help him dispel the gu.

Of course, he still had to be on guard, and avoid getting hit by the gu if possible, otherwise, Monkey Wine would know who he was.

Although Monkey Wine had revealed his identity to him, he should have revealed his identity to him as well. But who told this old brother to look so silly? He didn't ask at the time, he voluntarily revealed his identity.

I know you, but you don't know me.

This was a great advantage in the communication between transmigrators, and he wouldn't let it go to waste.

After all, although he now leaned towards Monkey Wine being more reliable, he was indeed crazy and could do anything...

So, during these few days, he really restrained his temper, just patrolling every night, patiently watching this gu battle between father and siblings. While cooperating, he didn't forget to eat blood food, seizing the time to improve his skills.

The situation was unclear, and the crisis was hidden. The higher his skills, the better!

And now, his limit for refining blood food pills was three a day. Any more would fill his body with blood, and before he could fill his head and meridians, it would be lost. There was no way around it. You couldn't get fat in one bite.

As four days passed, the crazed witch outside did indeed release gu into the valley to harm people from time to time.

But the Shousui Ren (Guardians) and flesh-cutting artisans in the valley, cooperating with Wu Ya and Neng Neng, under the guidance of the Wu Gong clan leader, also broke several of the enemy's gu.

There were Flying Sound Gu, Eye-Blinding Gu, Heart-Confusing Gu, etc. Each gu that came was bizarre and terrifying, but fortunately, they responded properly and it was thrilling but safe, giving everyone more confidence.

Even the Wu Gong clan leader said in a low voice, "I have been praying for these past few days, and the gu is almost complete."

"Once this gu is complete, Wu Song will be restrained and unable to fight back. Although my gu is not yet complete, its aura has already been released, and the gu sent by Wu Song is also subtly suppressed, so his gu is not working either."

"But we must not be careless, we must be careful. The more it is like this, the more powerful the gu that Wu Song releases will be."

"..."

Everyone nodded secretly. When patrolling, they were even more diligent, and when they met in shifts, there were more smiles on their faces, unlike the pressure they had felt before.

But on this day, just as they had gathered and were about to change to another group to eat, they suddenly heard a sinister laugh from an old woman outside the valley. It was so abrupt that everyone felt chills down their spines.

They hurriedly turned their heads to look, but were suddenly startled. On the path in the forest outside the valley, they saw an old woman witch with a swaying gait walking towards them. She wore dirty silver ornaments on her head and carried a girl doll on her back.

Her whole body was covered in mud, her face was greenish-blue, her smile was stiff, her mouth was always open, and she occasionally let out a series of shrill, sinister laughter. When she walked, she moved as fast as lightning, quickly walking towards the valley.

"Not good, it's the Soul-Reclaiming Gu!"

The Wu Gong clan leader in the shack, who had rarely spoken these past few days and had just been patiently praying to the gu, seemed to have reached a crucial moment with his gu. But now, when he heard this laughter, his face changed drastically and he suddenly raised his head.

Wu Ya and Neng Neng, who were holding large bowls and eating next to the shack, also hurriedly put down their bowls and stood up in a hurry.

When they saw the old woman, they clearly recognized her and their faces showed fear.

They quickly looked at the Wu Gong clan leader in the shack, then stamped their feet fiercely. One picked up the drum around his waist, and the other picked up a piece of charred ox bone, hurrying to meet the old woman walking towards the valley.

"What's going on?"

Seeing that things were not good, Hu Ma also hurriedly took two steps forward, stood next to the shack, and asked in a deep voice, "This gu seems different from the ones we've seen before. Is it very powerful?"

"The Soul-Reclaiming Gu is the most harmful thing. It needs to be fed with the blood of living people every day..."

The Wu Gong clan leader said anxiously, with some resentment in his voice, "It's all Wu Song's fault. This kind of gu is not allowed to be refined in our village. But back in the village, this old woman, A Yan, didn't watch her granddaughter properly, and she drowned in the pond."

"Wu Song... this madman, insisted that A Yan deliberately killed her granddaughter, so he planted her granddaughter's corpse on the old woman's back, turning her into this inhuman, ghostly appearance..."

"Old and young, hating each other, suffering eternal torment, they must be fed with the lives of living people to be slightly soothed..."

"This is the Soul-Reclaiming Gu..."

"..."

"Hmm?"

Although in a hurry, Hu Ma felt that something was wrong when he heard this cruel story, but before he could think about it carefully, he suddenly saw that Wu Ya and Neng Neng had just rushed to the valley entrance when they were suddenly sent flying back.

The old woman carrying the doll crossed her small feet, and her speed was as fast as lightning.

Wu Ya and Neng Neng blocked the valley entrance, wanting to beat the drum and burn the ox bone, but unexpectedly, before they could cast their spells, the old woman had already rushed in front of them, raised her hands, and with a look that was incomparably thin, actually knocked Wu Ya and Neng Neng two living people into the valley.

Following that, she flashed into the valley as well.

Her face was green and sinister, and she raised her two hands with curved nails like withered claws, and went straight for the nearest worker.