plumnovel Chapter 35 Crisis
Chapter 35 Crisis
The sky was dark, with heavy, rolling clouds. The grass and trees all over the mountains swayed and rustled, revealing the shape of the wind.
A group of people wearing straw raincoats walked along a muddy mountain path, heading towards a valley flanked by two mountains and shrouded in mist.
Sanlaba led the way, his steps slightly limping.
"It's been raining these past few days, so it's damp and cold, which makes the blood centipedes very active."
Fan Zhou followed behind him and asked, "Would it be easier to catch the giant blood centipede in a situation like this?"
Sanlaba nodded. "Yes, especially now that the blood centipedes have just awakened from hibernation and are at their hungriest. As soon as the trap is set, blood centipedes will fall into it very quickly."
"Hopefully we can catch more big ones." Fan Zhou said helplessly.
He originally asked Hou Yi to acquire them, but now the price of blood centipedes is exorbitantly high, and there is even a continuous upward trend. As soon as a large one appears, it is bought by someone else.
As a result, Hou Yi's side hasn't received many Blood Centipedes yet.
Having no other choice, he went to Sanlaba and went with him to check out the Blood Dragon Cave.
He wanted to collect as many blood centipedes as possible now to store up, otherwise he wouldn't have any to use once the sword technique was completed.
"I also hope to catch more giant blood centipedes."
Sanlaba sighed, looking somewhat tired.
"Black Wind Stronghold is demanding that we pay double the usual amount of blood centipedes. Now every village is catching blood centipedes day and night, afraid that if they can't complete the task, they'll be captured by Black Wind Stronghold and made into slaves."
"Well, no wonder the Blood Centipede is so expensive, it turns out it's all the work of these bastards!" Fan Zhou was furious.
Sanlaba was startled and quickly gestured for him to be quiet:
"There are Black Wind Stronghold members guarding the entrance ahead; don't let them hear us."
Fan Zhou snorted and stopped talking.
After walking a little further, we saw a gourd-shaped mountain pass ahead, with a narrow path winding inwards for two people to walk side by side, eventually disappearing into the mist.
This is the entrance to the Blood Dragon Cave.
A group of men dressed in black, carrying guns and knives, stood or sat outside, numbering more than twenty.
When they saw the people from Sangma Village arrive, they did not stop them.
One of them, with a blade of grass in his mouth, stared at Fan Zhou and said lazily:
"Out-of-towners must pay three blood centipedes as a toll when they leave, and the centipedes must be at least seven inches long."
Fan Zhou paused, then asked, "Does this Blood Dragon Cave belong to your family?"
The man laughed twice and pointed to the muddy path on the ground:
"The Blood Dragon Cave isn't ours, but we built this road. What's wrong with charging a toll?"
This road was clearly made by people walking on it.
Just as Fan Zhou was about to speak, Sanlaba grabbed him.
Sanlaba smiled at the man and said respectfully:
"Gentlemen, you've worked so hard guarding this place, it's only right that you collect a toll."
The man ignored him and simply snorted in response.
Sanlaba quickly led Fan Zhou inside.
The Black Wind Stronghold members behind him began to laugh and talk loudly:
"These outsiders all think they're so great that they don't have to follow the rules here."
"Haha, in this area, Black Wind Stronghold is the law!"
"That's right, even a tiger has to lie down, and a dragon has to obediently lie still!"
Fan Zhou remained expressionless. He wasn't afraid of Black Wind Stronghold, but he didn't want to cause trouble for Sanglaba and the others, since they were still living within Black Wind Stronghold's sphere of influence.
Sanlaba led him deeper into the area, until the Black Wind Stronghold members were no longer visible, before bitterly saying:
"Black Wind Stronghold is a large stronghold with two or three thousand people. We can't afford to offend it."
"Uncle Sang, I understand," Fan Zhou nodded.
Sanlaba sighed and walked forward in silence.
The clansmen behind him also looked somber.
Compared to Black Wind Village, Sangma Village was like an ant; they had to tolerate and compromise.
After walking along the winding path for a while, the scenery suddenly opened up before them.
A desolate and gloomy valley overgrown with weeds came into view.
The area is surrounded by mountains on both the east and west sides. Tall ancient trees block out the sunlight, and a snow-white mist lingers overhead, occasionally dripping a few dewdrops. It is much colder than outside.
But Fan Zhou could sense that the spiritual energy here was much richer than outside, no wonder there were powerful demons living here.
What's even more peculiar is that this desolate place, overrun by venomous insects, still bears traces of human habitation.
The weeds in front of us cover many collapsed houses, and the wooden beams covered with green moss are very old, but from the remaining stone buildings, we can still see some traces of its former prosperity.
Fan Zhou glanced around and asked疑惑地问道, "Could there have been a village here before?"
Sanlaba directed his people to set up the traps, and casually replied:
"According to Grandpa Sanggu, there used to be a village called Blood Centipede Village. They worshipped that old blood dragon and prospered for over a hundred years. It was a large village with more than a thousand people."
"And then what happened?" Fan Zhou asked.
"later……"
Sanlaba's gaze drifted into the depths of the valley, his eyes filled with fear and awe.
"One day, they were all drained of their blood by the blood centipedes, leaving only withered corpses scattered on the ground."
Fan Zhou felt a chill run down his spine, recalling how the people of Deer Horn Village had all been killed by domesticated deer.
Could these two things have something in common?
"Uncle Sang, do things like this happen often?"
Sanlaba shook his head. "It might only happen once every few decades."
"Is it because the powerful demon they're worshipping has gone out of control?"
The thought arose in Fan Zhou's mind, and he couldn't help but glance at Sambara, hesitating to speak.
Sambala saw through his thoughts and said with a smile:
"Our village worships the mulberry tree god; such a thing could not have happened."
Fan Zhou was immediately relieved and went with Sanlaba to set up the trap.
While waiting for the blood centipede to take the bait, he casually wandered around the valley and found that many people had already gathered there.
There were both local villagers and wandering monks from the surrounding area.
Some of them kept a close eye on their traps, while others were rummaging through dead wood and rocks, all giving him a hostile look.
Fan Zhou ignored them and walked alone to the eastern hillside, looking into the depths of the valley.
At the very back, a huge cave suddenly appears on the overgrown ground.
The cave is surrounded by deep red rocks, with drops of water sliding down from above. The innermost part is pitch black, and from a distance it looks like a demon opening its blood-red maw, drooling with desire.
"This is the Blood Dragon Cave."
Sambara ventured into the Blood Dragon Cave to fulfill the New Year's tribute for Black Wind Village, only to encounter a two-foot-long, exotic blood centipede, narrowly escaping with his life.
According to the local villagers, there is an ancient blood centipede in this cave that has lived for hundreds of years and can fly and move around like a dragon.
Fortunately, the Blood Dragon hasn't appeared for a long time, otherwise they wouldn't dare to come here to catch the Blood Centipede.
Fan Zhou clicked his tongue, "A blood centipede that's hundreds of years old..."
If this were made into liquor, how potent would it be?
However, he only thought about it; he would never venture deep into the Blood Dragon Cave, after all, he only had one life.
Time flies in the mountains.
Fan Zhou would check on his traps every half hour, and quietly cultivate during his free time.
And so it went, from morning till night, from night till morning.
He worked all day and finally caught six large blood centipedes, most of them about seven or eight inches long, with the longest reaching nine inches.
It has to be said that guarding the Blood Centipede's homeland makes a difference; if you were outside, it would be difficult to catch so many large Blood Centipedes in a month.
Fan Zhou was quite happy at the time, but when he went out and handed over three items to the Black Wind Stronghold people, he immediately felt terrible.
This is the income from a single grain of spirit sand!
Not only him, but almost everyone was cursing in anger, but no one dared to offend the Black Wind Stronghold.
After they came out, Sanglaba and the others went back to the village to rest, and then the next group of people would come to catch the blood centipedes.
They had to prepare offerings for the Black Wind Stronghold, so they dared not rest for even a day and could only take turns working tirelessly day and night.
Fan Zhou, on the other hand, returned to the market.
He didn't want to keep catching blood centipedes here; he felt like he was just working for Black Wind Stronghold.
"This place is controlled by Black Wind Stronghold. No matter what good things come out, these people will try every means to take them away."
Fan Zhou walked alone on the mountain path, feeling quite uneasy.
"The villagers here are also enslaved by them and have no right to choose for themselves."
He walked in silence, his mind churning.
After a while, he suddenly stopped and said coldly:
"You've been following me for so long, it's time you showed yourself."
Suddenly, a tall man emerged from the shadows behind him.
This man had a face full of scars and held two short axes in his hands. He sneered:
"You brat, you're still pretending to be a master. I advise you to hand over all your valuables, and I might spare your life."
Fan Zhou, sword in hand, exhaled a deep breath:
"There are two more, let's bring them out as well."
As he finished speaking, a person walked out from in front of him and another from his side.
There were three robbers in total, surrounding him.
Beside Fan Zhou stood a tall, thin middle-aged man, holding a nine-section whip, who said in a sarcastic tone:
"Wow, this kid wasn't just guessing."
Another short, elderly man with snow-white hair stroked his beard and said:
"Be careful, don't let this baby bird peck your eyes out."
Fan Zhou's gaze swept over them, and his brows immediately furrowed:
"Are you from the market area?"
The man wielding two axes sneered, "Do you think we're barbarians?"
Fan Zhou's gaze was gloomy. The development of the market town had not only brought convenience to this place, but also brought disasters from the outside world. These rogue cultivators who came for profit, no one knew their true nature.
The white-haired old man, with his hands behind his back and a calm expression, said to Fan Zhou:
"Young man, you don't need to resist. Just hand over your valuables to us. We're just robbing you."
Fan Zhou did not answer, but silently observed the physical characteristics of the three people, guessing their strength and characteristics.
The old man shook his head helplessly, slowly walked towards Fan Zhou, and said gently:
"I advise you to think this through carefully. You're so young, you have plenty of time to make money in the future. Why waste your precious life on some external things?"
Fan Zhou snorted coldly, "I earned all my money with my life."
The old man sighed, his gaze kind, as if he truly felt sorry for him.
"Young man, why don't you think about your parents and your family? I believe they would rather you live a good life than suffer financial loss."
Fan Zhou's expression suddenly changed, and his eyes twitched uncontrollably, as if he had really been persuaded by him.
The old man nodded in affirmation and continued to patiently guide him:
"My grandson is about your age, so I really don't want to..."
Before he finished speaking, his hands, which had been behind his back, suddenly appeared, and two gleaming throwing knives stabbed towards Fan Zhou's eyes from the left and right!
The old man's eyes were wide open, his face twisted and terrifying, filled with sinister pleasure.
You callous brat, die in fear and despair!
Unfortunately, Fan Zhou remained calm.
He had anticipated the old man's move; after all, the old man's excessive talking was undoubtedly an attempt to attract attention.
"A winding, circuitous path."
Fan Zhou turned around and used the soft sword technique from the dual sword style of hard and soft. With a gentle flick of his wooden sword, he caught the two flying knives. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he instantly converted the technique into hard force and returned the flying knives to the old man.
The white-haired old man was taken aback. He never expected that Fan Zhou would not fall for his trick, and he was even more surprised that Fan Zhou could return the flying knife. He hurriedly tried to dodge, but he was unable to completely avoid it and a flying knife pierced his left eye.
"what!"
The old man roared in pain, covering his eye with one hand, blood seeping from between his fingers and streaming down the left side of his face. His remaining eye was bloodshot, and he roared furiously:
"Why aren't you killing him right now!"
However, before he could speak, Fan Zhou had already strode towards him, the wooden sword in his hand shining with a gleaming light, aiming straight for his remaining good eye.
The white-haired old man felt a chill in his heart. He had taken the initiative to walk towards Fan Zhou, which made the two of them the closest. Now, with Fan Zhou pointing his long sword at him, they were already within arm's reach. There was no time to dodge. He could only try his best to tilt his head, and his other hand had already grabbed the throwing knife, ready to use offense as defense.
But at that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and instantly lost all his strength.
A dagger had somehow pierced through him, and his close-fitting armor offered no protection whatsoever.
"How is that possible...?"
Before the white-haired old man could figure out what was happening, a wooden sword pierced his right eye and emerged from the back of his head.
Fan Zhou drew a dagger with one hand and a wooden sword with the other, holding them horizontally in front of him, coldly watching the remaining two robbers.
Since he had gone out, he naturally had to go to the warehouse to get some things. Besides the dagger, he also had a vest under his clothes.
With a thud.
Behind him, the white-haired old man lay dead on the ground, his eyes vacant, blood flowing incessantly, blurring his face and staining his snow-white beard red.
"Brother Yuan!"
The tall, thin middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise, looking at Fan Zhou in disbelief.
In just one encounter, only two of the three remained.
How could this happen? Shouldn't this kid have been stabbed in the eyes and died with immense regret?
How come the eldest brother, who launched the sneak attack first, died?
A tall, burly man wielding two axes shouted angrily:
"Old Ding, are you kidding me? Is this kid really only at the second level of the embryonic breathing stage?"
"I've been watching him in Blood Dragon Cave for ages, how could I be wrong!" the tall, thin man known as Old Ding replied irritably.
He was looking for easy targets in the Blood Dragon Cave, and after considering several, he finally chose this kid because he had the lowest cultivation level, was only carrying a wooden sword, and was traveling alone. He never expected to be caught off guard and suffer a setback.
"Old Yuan is dead, what are we going to do now?" the burly man with the axe asked.
Old Ding, wielding a nine-section whip, said grimly, "Of course, we'll kill him to avenge our elder brother!"
Brother Yuan is all alone, carrying all his belongings with him. If we don't get them back, how can he rest in peace?
The man with the axe nodded emphatically, "Alright! I'll lead the charge."
He took a deep breath, his muscles bulging as if filled with air, bent his knees, and leaped two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) away. He raised his axe above his head and swung it down at Fan Zhou.
At the same time, Old Ding crouched low, his steps light and undetectable, gliding in from the side like a snake. His nine-section whip swung and slashed, creating a series of illusions that made it impossible to follow.
Fan Zhou remained calm, taking several steps backward. Suddenly, he turned and ran away.
"Don't leave!"
The tall man missed his axe strike, and seeing Fan Zhou fleeing, he leaped up again, giving chase.
He was already at the fourth level of the Fetal Breathing stage, with profound internal energy. Although he was huge, his speed was in no way inferior to Fan Zhou's, and he caught up in just a few steps.
Fan Zhou nimbly dodged and hid behind a tree.
The man didn't even look. His axe gleamed with silver light, and with a single powerful swing, he cleaved the tree in half. Fan Zhou was nowhere to be seen.
Just then, a dark sword shadow pierced out from behind the tree, instantly piercing through his thigh.
"what!"
The tall man roared like thunder. He knelt down and swung his two axes together, creating two crescent-shaped streaks of silver light. He then cleaved down at the person behind the tree. Wood chips flew everywhere, and half of the tree trunk was instantly split into three pieces by the two axes.
But there was no one behind the tree.
Fan Zhou dodged the attack by flipping over, holding only the dagger in his hand. Taking advantage of the man's weakened strength, he used the dagger as a sword and thrust it forward, instantly piercing the man's brow as easily as putting tofu in.
The tall man's pupils dilated, and his body collapsed limply.
Fan Zhou drew his dagger and wooden sword, fixing his gaze on the tall, thin man holding a nine-section whip.
Old Ding's face stiffened, and he abruptly stopped, feeling as if he were being pricked by needles.
He never expected that he would be the only one left among the three in the blink of an eye. The situation changed so quickly, like a rabbit leaping and a falcon swooping. His hand holding the nine-section whip trembled slightly.
Fan Zhou walked slowly towards him and said calmly:
"Hand over all your valuables, and I might spare your life."