Chapter 190
Chapter 190
“Good heavens, what in the world was that? I dreamed about my childhood.”
Fat Chef sighed and stared fearfully at the inconspicuous pinkish-purple mushrooms nearby.
“The spores from those mushrooms mix with the fragrance of the surrounding flowers and draw people into hallucinations,” Shen Qingzhu explained.
The grown men, each sporting handprints across his face, searched the area.
They found the corpses of animals and people rooted to the ground, their bodies pierced through by a type of shrub.
Pale-blue flowers grew on the shrubs, releasing a faint fragrance. When that scent combined with spores from the tiny, inconspicuous mushrooms among the branches, it created an airborne hallucinogenic toxin.
Anyone who fell into the illusion and failed to escape would end like these corpses, becoming nourishment for the shrubs and mushrooms.
Jiang Yunsui went to collect the mushroom spores and some seeds from the shrubs.
“This place will kill you horribly if you make one careless move,” Fat Chef said. “A rough fellow like me wouldn’t last a day in here. I’d rather fight those Barbarians head-on.”
He might die without ever knowing what killed him.
The danger struck silently and was almost impossible to guard against.
“Fat Chef,” Song Jin said, “you have an awful lot of handprints on your face.”
Fat Chef touched his cheek. It did sting.
“That little cub hits hard.”
Jiang Yunsui ran over wearing an innocent expression.
“You all fell asleep. I couldn’t wake you, so I had to hit you.”
She was weak, while these adults had thick skin and tough flesh. Fat Grandpa had been the worst. She had slapped him several times without waking him, and her hand had started to hurt.
If no one had awakened soon, Jiang Yunsui had been ready to find a stick.
“Someone is following us,” she suddenly warned.
No one doubted her. They drew their weapons at once.
“It should be the people from Wushan Cavern,” Song Jin said.
As soon as he finished, several figures appeared ahead.
Some had venomous snakes of every color coiled around their bodies. Others stood in the trees with bows aimed at the party.
“Outsiders.”
“There’s even a child. Take her back and raise her. Lord Serpent God will certainly enjoy her at the next sacrifice.”
They all knew the Serpent God favored tender young children.
Jiang Yunsui was exactly the right age.
“Didn’t the High Shaman order us to find new sacrifices? The ones we prepared were stolen. This child is perfect and saves us the trouble of searching.”
The leader waved one hand.
“Capture them.”
Venomous insects of every kind surged toward the party like a tide. Within a few breaths, the creatures had surrounded them.
“Medicine! Medicine! Shen Qingzhu, scatter the powder!”
“Qianqian, Houhou, your feast is here! Eat them! Eat as many as you can!”
“Good heavens, there are too many! Qianqian and Houhou couldn’t finish them even if they stuffed themselves!”
Shen Qingzhu took out an enhanced insect-repelling powder.
He dusted some over every member of the party. The insects no longer dared approach and circled at a cautious distance.
The people from Wushan Cavern lost their casual expressions.
“So one of you understands Gu. Then today we’ll see whether your Gu or ours is stronger.”
One woman produced a bone-white flute.
As the flute began to play, the Gu insects that had hesitated surged forward again.
The forest even disgorged venomous centipedes taller than a person and a giant python as long as a three-story building.
The people from Wushan Cavern sneered.
“How could your paltry Miao Gu compare with ours?”
“They’re coming! They’re coming!” Fat Chef howled. “They’ve already chewed a hole through my shoe! Think of something!”
Shen Qingzhu drew a deep breath and glared fiercely at the people from Wushan Cavern.
“You forced me to do this.”
Then he pulled a suona from his pack.
Everyone stared.
“Can any of you play this?” Shen Qingzhu asked.
Every head shook.
Shen Qingzhu’s face went ashen. As expected, he would have to do it himself.
He lifted the suona to his lips, drew a deep breath, and blew.
“Waaah! Woooo!”
The suona’s piercing blast erupted through the forest and frightened birds from the trees.
His companions gaped at him.
The woman controlling the Gu insects with her flute flinched so badly that her melody broke for an instant.
In that instant, the swarm under her control descended into chaos.
She quickly recovered and resumed playing, but the suona was too loud. Before long, it disrupted her again and made her strike a wrong note.
“Shut that thing up!” the woman roared.
“Are all of you standing up there waiting to die? Kill the man with the suona!”
Meanwhile, Shen Qingzhu’s companions suffered a profound sense of disillusionment as they watched the mild, soft-spoken, perpetually smiling man play the suona.
Was this truly Doctor Shen?
The instrument did not suit Shen Qingzhu in the slightest.
After a moment of shock, Song Jin struggled desperately not to laugh. No wonder Shen Qingzhu had said that the Wushan Cavern people forced him into this.
They truly had driven him to the brink.
“Ji Yi, protect Shen Qingzhu,” Song Jin ordered.
Shen Qingzhu’s refined face had turned crimson from blowing.
“This thing is exhausting.”
He thrust it at Fat Chef.
“You play. You saw what I did just now. I don’t need a melody. Just make noise.”
Fat Chef certainly looked as though he had enormous lung capacity.
Shen Qingzhu reached into his pack again, pulled out a small brass gong, and gave it to Jiang Yunsui.
“You take this. Strike it as loudly as possible.”
Her eyes sparkled. “All right!”
She took the gong and immediately began hammering away.
Fat Chef finally managed to squeeze a series of shrill toots from the suona.
The chaotic honking combined with Jiang Yunsui’s enthusiastic gong produced an incredible racket.
The flutist could no longer endure it. Her control shattered completely.
“Red-Eyed Centipedes, attack! Kill them!”
Her expression twisted with rage.
Several centipedes larger than people, along with snakes and spiders, charged at Jiang Yunsui’s party.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The two Nuqing Roosters perched in the trees raised their heads and crowed together.
Their cries overwhelmed even the suona and gong.
The venomous creatures already closing in on Jiang Yunsui’s party went rigid.
The two Nuqing Roosters spread their wings, flew down from the trees, and launched a ferocious attack on the centipedes and spiders.
Their bodies were smaller than their enemies, yet the two roosters held off three Red-Eyed Centipedes and two Venom-Patterned Spiders as large as sheep.
They did not lose the slightest ground.
The Wushan Cavern fighters were locked in battle with Ji Yi and the others. When they saw the two great roosters, their eyes widened.
What kind of chickens were these? How could so many powerful Gu insects fail to defeat them?
One person recognized them.
“They’re Nuqing Roosters!”
“Damn it! They have Nuqing Roosters, and there are two of them!”
The Wushan Cavern people immediately grew grim. Nuqing Roosters were practically born to counter their arts.
They wanted to kill the birds, but Ji Yi and the others held them back. Three Wushan Cavern fighters were already dead.
Their greatest strength lay in their Gu insects. Their own martial arts were only mediocre.
With their Gu suppressed, they were no match for Ji Yi’s group. They did not dare send the most powerful Gu away from their own sides.