Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jiang Haoyan breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled his feet out of the mud and walked toward the edge of the field. Just as he was about to sit down beside me, I looked at his legs and sucked in a sharp breath.

He had rolled up his trouser legs, revealing a pair of firm, long calves. Right now, those calves were covered in a dense cluster of thumb-sized leeches.

“Holy crap, what are these?!”

Jiang Haoyan jumped up on the spot, frantically slapping at his legs.

“Don’t move-”

I grabbed his arm and pulled a talisman from my robe. Holding it between my fingers, I gave it a flick and whispered a short incantation. The talisman began to burn, emitting a faint, ghostly white light.

I dropped the talisman on the ground and watched it burn into a pile of ash. Then, I smeared the ash onto Jiang Haoyan’s legs. The leeches on his calves immediately curled their bodies into tight balls and fell off one after another.

Old Hou stood there, completely dumbfounded. He stood up, shot several suspicious and unsettled looks my way, and then suddenly turned and ran off in a hurry.

I scooped up a handful of the dead leeches. Despite having been soaked in the water for so long, their bodies were actually warm to the touch.

Jiang Haoyan grabbed my hand excitedly.

“Master Qiao, that was incredible! What kind of spell was that? What was that incantation you just said? An Ignition Curse?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Use science. This talisman paper contains a large amount of white phosphorus. The temperature is so high right now that it’ll spontaneously combust after a bit of sun. Besides the phosphorus, there’s lime and a high salt content in the paper. Leeches are terrified of that stuff.”

Jiang Haoyan let go of my hand and looked at me unconvinced, as if I were lying to his face.

“Then what was that incantation you just muttered?”

Me: “‘Watch me show off for a second.'”

Jiang Haoyan: “…”

I held the leeches in my hand and squinted at them against the sun. Ordinary leeches were pitch black, but these had a faint red line running down their bellies.

I pretty much understood what was going on now. This village wasn’t a normal village, the farmland wasn’t normal farmland, and the leeches, naturally, weren’t normal leeches.

I had intentionally shown my hand just now to prompt Boss Hou to contact the person behind the scenes. I wanted to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.

Sure enough, Boss Hou ran back into the village, found a telephone in the red brick house, and made a call.

“This girl named Qiao isn’t easy to deal with. I’m afraid things might go sideways later.”

A raspy, low voice came from the other end of the line: “Understood. No need to keep her around. Just kill her.”

As soon as Boss Hou left, everyone immediately started slacking off. People climbed out of the fields grumbling and plopped down on the ground.

President Xu groaned, “My back… my back is about to break. This is no life for a human being. Sect Master, what do we do? Let’s make a run for it!”

Brother Da immediately discouraged him. “You can’t run. I’ve tried. This village is like a ghost wall; you can’t find your way out at all.”

The group sighed and lamented. They rested until noon, when an old man came over carrying a tray of steamed buns. Beside them was a large porcelain bowl filled with fresh water.

Before I could say anything, Brother Da was the first to rush over. He grabbed a bun and shoved it into his mouth, complaining while he wolfed it down, “Can’t we get some meat? If there’s no meat, at least some pickled vegetables would do!”

The old man let out a cold snort. “Hurry up and eat so you can get back to work! Anyone else caught slacking will be stuffed into the water vats!”

Everyone immediately behaved. Jiang Haoyan stood up, intending to go grab a bun, but I quickly grabbed his hand.

“Don’t eat yet. I have something to tell you.”

As I spoke, I pulled him toward the nearby woods. The old man guarding us instantly grew tense.

“Where do you two think you’re going?!”

“A man and a woman heading into the woods-what do you think we’re going to do?”

I rolled my eyes and linked my arm with Jiang Haoyan’s. His face turned beet red instantly, and he walked stiffly as I dragged him away.

The group of seniors let out a round of chuckles. “Heh heh, Master Qiao, I really couldn’t tell.”

President Xu nodded repeatedly. “I think young Jiang is quite a catch. Look at those features, those abs… he’s almost as good as I was in my youth.”

The old man watched the direction we were heading, looked back at the rest of the group hesitantly, and couldn’t make up his mind. Finally, he scurried back to consult with Boss Hou.

Inside the woods, I pulled Jiang Haoyan behind a large tree and scanned our surroundings warily.

“Take your clothes off.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Haoyan’s eyes widened, his face turning a shade of red that was almost purple.

“Qiao Moyu, I… you… you and I… here isn’t really appropriate, is it?”

“Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!”

Losing my patience, I reached out to strip his clothes myself. Just as my hand touched the hem of his shirt, Jiang Haoyan grabbed it.

He swallowed hard, his sword-like brows furrowed as he looked at me with an expression of grim resolve.

“Qiao Moyu, I’ll do it, but afterward, you have to take me as your disciple.”

I shook my head.

“No way. Your aptitude is a bit lacking. I can’t go ruining the Qiao Family’s reputation.”

With that, I yanked his shirt up. Then, freeing one hand, I pinched a talisman, stuffed it into my mouth to chew it into a pulp, and smeared it onto Jiang Haoyan’s chest.