Chapter 135 Black Blood

As the Wugong clan leader approached, the insect noises grew louder, as if ringing in everyone's ears, creating a strange sensation that made them uncontrollably drawn to the gu basin.

Gradually, their gazes became fixed, their attention solely focused on the gu basin, and even their thoughts seemed tethered to it.

Amidst the crowd of countless people standing like wooden puppets, the Wugong clan leader took a deep breath, his expression gradually becoming calm. He had considered everything from the initial preparations, probing, and words to the horse that could withstand the insects' bites.

Having come this far, how could it have been easy?

He could only feel that the closer he got to the mine with the gu basin, the more excited he became, as if sensing the insects' excitement and approaching a great secret.

"Clan Leader Wugong, this isn't a very honorable thing to do..."

But in this oppressive silence, a voice suddenly rang out, filled with a helpless sigh, "Didn't you say you were here to help us, aside from your crazy little boy?"

With this voice, even the Wugong clan leader, who was walking forward, slowed his pace and turned his head, seeing Zhuang Erchang, the mine foreman, standing not far away with a knife in his hand, approaching little by little.

Everyone else was unable to move, unable to withstand the insect noises, but he was still inching forward with the skills of a Shousui.

However, it was clear that it was extremely difficult. The hand holding the knife was trembling slightly, and traces of dirty blood were seeping from his mouth and nose, making him look weak.

"I am helping."

The Wugong clan leader raised his head grimly, glanced at Zhuang Erchang, and then, seeing the black blood seeping from Zhuang Erchang's mouth and nose, dismissed him and said indifferently, "When the Witch God descends, he will naturally kill Wu Song and eliminate all the scourges for our people."

"That naturally includes you!"

"..."

"Clan Leader Wu, those words are truly hurtful..."

Zhuang Erchang seemed to be struggling to get closer, a bitter smile on his face as he said, "I've always treated you witch people well, trading grain and meat, salt, bowls, and iron pots. Have I ever been lacking?"

"I even cut off Hei Taisui for you when you needed it for refining gu."

"Usually, when there were conflicts between the craftsmen in the mine and your witch people, I always reprimanded them first, never letting your witch people suffer..."

"This time, after I was infected by the gu, I thought of asking you, old brother, to dispel the gu for me. Little did I know that as soon as you received my letter, you were planning to harm me, to kill everyone in my mine, right?"

"..."

The Wugong clan leader did not refute, but chuckled softly and said, "You Han people have taken enough good things."

"It's a pity that you only know how to pick the good ones, the green, the red with golden threads, not even bothering with the white ones. We witch people also want to seek some good fortune, so we can only get something from between your fingers, taking the unwanted Hei Taisui to refine gu."

"But who would have thought?"

"The gu worms are one with us, and when the gu worms eat Hei Taisui, it's the same as us eating Hei Taisui..."

"The things you value the least, we come into contact with more often, and we can hear the call of the Gu God from them..."

"..."

As he spoke, he stepped forward again, walking slowly and saying, "The Witch God is looking forward to coming into the world and saving us, the people..."

"Now I'm helping the Gu God refine a clone, just to welcome him..."

"..."

"You..."

Hearing his words, Zhuang Erchang's face suddenly flashed with anxiety, but before he could speak, a foul-smelling stream of black blood surged to his lips. He reached out to cover it, and said in a muffled voice, "Old Wu, did you take Hei Taisui?"

"Hei Taisui cannot be eaten. Eating that stuff will drive people mad, and even evil spirits will become strange..."

"You... you're simply..."

"..."

He seemed to be sincerely persuading him, as if trying his best to stop him with his last bit of strength.

But no one expected that when he was only about three zhang away from the Wugong clan leader, his eyes suddenly turned fierce. The hand covering his mouth suddenly dropped, and he threw out a burst of dark light with a backhand.

It was actually three iron pellets, thrown out with the strength of a Shousui, with the force to split rocks and pierce armor, instantly smashing towards the Wugong clan leader's face. At the same time, his body followed, and the knife in his hand slashed out a ray of light, directly chopping at the gu basin in the Wugong clan leader's hand.

Just looking at the movements in that instant, there was not a trace of weakness. It was as if the appearance just now was all an act.

Even the Wugong clan leader was stunned by this sudden scene. He knew that Zhuang Erchang, the mine foreman, was infected by the gu, and his injuries were not fake. He could even control the extent of his injuries and keep them in his palm.

But now he realized that he had underestimated the physique of a Shousui. Even if his internal organs were injured, he could suppress the injuries with a breath and unleash this tyrannical force.

How dangerous it was to get close to a Shousui.

Wu Ya and the Neng Neng next to him were protecting him, but they were unable to react to this desperate knife from the Shousui and were unable to stop it.

But at this moment, facing the pellets on his face and the knife aimed at the gu worms in his hand, the Wugong clan leader did not move or dodge. He suddenly lowered his head and said something in a low voice to the gu basin in his hand.

But in the next moment, the insects in the gu basin buzzed loudly, causing some kind of evil aura in the entire valley to resonate. The three iron pellets, upon reaching his face, were suddenly bounced away, not knowing where they fell.

The knife that was slashing over trembled incessantly, stopped by some invisible force about a finger's distance from the gu basin. No matter how hard Zhuang Erchang tried, it could not fall.

"I came to your mine to refine gu. Did you think it was just for a few pieces of Taisui flesh?"

The Wugong clan leader slowly turned his head to look at Zhuang Erchang and said in a low voice, "Don't you know that insects have territories? I refined gu here, so the entire valley is actually considered my gu releasing range?"

The expression on Zhuang Erchang's face seemed extremely surprised, even horrified. He stared wide-eyed at the Wugong clan leader, and then, this horrified expression suddenly faded.

It turned into a sneer, and he said, "Then, Clan Leader Wu, don't you know that this blood food mine is originally my territory?"

"I'm not that young steward. Would I really let you come in so easily?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

Looking at his appearance, the Wugong clan leader suddenly felt a panic in his heart and realized something was wrong. He hurriedly wanted to whisper something to the gu basin, but suddenly, a sound of metal trembling rang out around him.

This sound was extremely strange. Originally, there was only the vibration of the gu worms in the entire valley, and other sounds were suppressed, but the sound of metal trembling disrupted the insect noises.

Also at the moment when the metal trembled, Zhuang Erchang suddenly took a step forward. His body, which had just been controlled, burst out with amazing strength. He grabbed the gu basin and forcefully tried to snatch it back.

"Chi!"

But also at the moment when his palm touched the gu basin, white smoke suddenly rose up with a sizzling sound. The flesh on his palm was melting rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, only bones remained.

Zhuang Erchang's face also changed. With a "hei" sound, his palm turned from pressing to picking, directly slapping the gu basin into the air. At the same time, he quickly retreated. Seeing that the melting palm was spreading quickly up his arm, he swung his knife with a backhand.

"Pfft!"

His right arm was cut into two pieces, and the section that fell to the ground instantly turned into black bones.

"Hehe, your gu worms are powerful. Do you really think we Shousui are useless?"

Zhuang Erchang, with a severed arm, held down the gu worm and quickly retreated. With a thought, the blood from his severed arm stopped flowing.

"You..."

Even the Wugong clan leader did not expect this move. Seeing that the gu worm, which he regarded as a treasure, was flicked away and left his palm, he was both shocked and angry, his eyes turning blood red.

He disregarded everything else and jumped up, stretched out his hands, and was about to hold the gu worm back in his arms.

Wu Ya and the pale-faced young man beside him also recognized the danger and rushed forward, seemingly intending to help. Now there were no helpers around Zhuang Erchang, and others had not reacted yet, so they were obviously no match for the witch people.

"Swoosh!"

But at this moment, an unexpected scene appeared. A sound of breaking through the air suddenly rang out from outside the valley, and then a black shadow flashed. The Wugong clan leader's outstretched hands only grabbed empty air. The gu basin had disappeared.

Everyone in the valley was startled by the movement and turned their heads to look, only to see that the gu basin had been pierced by an arrow and nailed to the ground. The feathers on the tail of the arrow were still trembling.

This gu refining basin, which had been worshiped by the witch people for more than a hundred years and revered as a sacred object in the clan, was destroyed so suddenly, without any warning.

The buzzing sound of the gu worms inside suddenly disappeared, without any movement.

And the mine foreman Zhuang Erchang, seeing the arrow, had completely lost the worried look on his face. He turned to the entrance of the valley and smiled, "Master, I've been delaying for so long. I've finally waited for you to arrive..."

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that several horses were coming from outside the valley.

Sitting on the first horse was an old man dressed in brocade robes, wearing a round hat, and with a white beard fluttering. He looked very strong. He was followed by several people, some dressed in black close-fitting clothes, some wearing long robes, with sparse mustaches, and some with large knives on their backs.

Most importantly, there were actually three people dressed as witch people on the horses beside them, but their hands and feet were tied and their mouths were sealed. They were struggling on the horses, making whimpering sounds.

"It was these witch people who sealed your mine outside and released gu to harm people."

The group went straight on horseback, entered the valley, and threw the witch people on horseback to the ground, saying, "We came and went into the forest to find them. We found seven, killed four, and captured three alive."

"But where is the corpse you mentioned?"

(End of Chapter)