Chapter 335

The sneak attack Wen Xing suffered didn't look like a simple poison at first glance.

Helian Chen pondered silently, then took out a small jade bottle from his bosom and released a few leech-like creatures into Wen Xing's wound.

Unlike ordinary leeches, they were entirely black, with only a bright red line on their backs.

These creatures were somewhat at a loss when they touched Wen Xing's wound.

They only sucked blood and were not interested in the green pus flowing from Wen Xing's wound.

Helian Chen had to make another cut on Wen Xing's body to let the leeches drill in.

After a while, these things drilled out.

But as soon as they came out, their bodies slowly stiffened, becoming hard as a board within ten breaths.

Helian Chen picked them up and looked at them carefully, unable to help but be moved:

The leeches had actually turned into small wooden chips, making a sound when tapped against the head of the bed.

Wen Daolun was anxious on the side: "Is this a toxin, or a divine ability?"

"I'm afraid... neither." Helian Chen smiled bitterly. "Wen Xing's pulse is peaceful; except for excessive blood loss, I can't find any toxins, and there are no signs of witchcraft taking effect."

"What do you mean?"

"If I didn't look at the wound, I would think he only suffered some flesh wounds." Helian Chen looked at him and said, "You didn't find out what kind of divine ability he was hit with, right?"

Wen Daolun darkened his face and nodded.

At this moment, footsteps sounded outside, as if more than a dozen people had rushed over, followed by an announcement:

"Commander Zhong is here!"

He Lingchuan's gaze froze.

The supreme helmsman of this legendary city, the owner of the Great Fanghu, Zhong Shengguang, was finally going to appear! He had entered the Panlongcheng in his dreams more than twenty times, but he hadn't seen Zhong Shengguang yet. He didn't expect that Wen Daolun's attack and Wen Xing's injury would actually move Zhong Shengguang to come forward.

The wooden door creaked open, and someone entered, dressed in casual clothes.

Just one person, and he closed the door behind him.

He Lingchuan looked carefully; Zhong Shengguang didn't have three heads and six arms, just a bit taller than ordinary people, with handsome features and sufficient divine light in his eyes. His appearance was more weathered than He Chunhua's, and there were white hairs on his temples, but He Lingchuan knew that Zhong Shengguang at this time was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, and still had cultivation, clearly managing Panlongcheng and resisting foreign insults was truly a laborious and mind-consuming job.

He ignored He Lingchuan and the others on the side and walked to the bed with big strides: "How is it?"

Wen Daolun only stared at his son: "The monster's target was me, Xing'er blocked the disaster for me."

Helian Chen also felt ashamed: "No poison, no divine ability, no witchcraft; I can't find the symptoms."

Without symptoms, there was naturally no way to prescribe the right medicine. Facing Zhong Shengguang, he could only be honest, so as not to delay the critical moment.

Zhong Shengguang carefully examined Wen Xing's wound while saying: "I was also ambushed on the way here; this time three Jin Du cubs attacked at once."

Everyone's face changed slightly, but seeing that Zhong Shengguang was fine now, they knew that the one who suffered wasn't him.

Helian Chen looked at his whole body, searching for wounds: "Are you alright?"

"I was prepared after hearing that Wen Xing was injured. I didn't expect their target to be you." Zhong Shengguang frowned deeply. "Those three monsters, two dead and one injured, are all brought to you."

Having guarded Panlongcheng for more than a dozen years, he didn't know how many assassination attempts he had dodged, and could be called experienced.

Helian Chen looked at the unconscious Wen Xing and hesitated before saying: "I suspect this is... divine art."

Zhong Shengguang turned his head suddenly: "Wen Xing was injured by the ninth child of the Jin Du Mother?"

No way? He Lingchuan couldn't help but look at the tray; could such an inconspicuous cricket-like monster be the most powerful cub of the Jin Du Mother? The one he encountered on Chifeng Mountain had turned the entire mine cave into its own nest, occupying the home-field advantage. If it weren't for General Hong's intervention, all the patrol guards would probably have died on the spot.

"Only the last child might be able to cast divine art." Wen Daolun looked at his son. "The big one that ambushed us under the bridge was just a decoy."

He supported his forehead: "We were careless, thinking that the battle of Chifeng Mountain had cleared out the remnants, and let down our guard, never expecting that a second nest of Jin Du ghosts would mix into the city."

The Jin Du Mother gives birth to at most nine cubs in one litter; they had already killed nine before, so they canceled the martial law measures and no longer sent out three-corpse bugs to patrol everywhere at night.

After all, three-corpse bugs themselves were not good things; if they were released too many times, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't cause new trouble.

But now new monsters had emerged, which only had one explanation: the Jin Du cubs causing trouble were not just one nest! The Jin Du ghost mother gives birth to nine children in one litter, and the last one born is the strongest. But the "ninth child" is not necessarily the Flesh-Abuser.

In fact, the probability of a Flesh-Abuser appearing is pitifully small; even if the Jin Du ghost mother gives birth a hundred times, it's not certain that one litter will produce this kind of thing.

Not to mention that under current conditions, the Jin Du ghost mother's production is not that easy either.

But even if it's not a Flesh-Abuser, these Jin Du cub runts each have their own skills.

Zhong Shengguang nodded: "Search the whole city, there will be results soon." He asked Helian Chen again, "Can you be sure this is divine art?"

"Seventy percent, I'd say." Helian Chen said. "When we cast water and fire spells, they all hurt people from the outside in; these three sharp spikes are like three seeds, planted in Wen Xing's body and then began to transform, turning the flesh-and-blood body into wood. This is completely different from ordinary divine abilities; only divine art can explain it."

He glanced at Wen Daolun and whispered: "The wounds on the hands and feet are fine, but the one in the abdomen is more troublesome; if even the internal organs become wood, it will endanger his life."

If the internal organs stop working, how far is a person from death?

The muscles on Wen Daolun's face jumped.

Zhong Shengguang asked: "How much time is left?"

Judging by the speed of the wood transformation spreading on Wen Xing's body... "At most seven more hours."

Zhong Shengguang nodded and threw a crescent-shaped whistle to He Lingchuan: "Send an order via sparrow hawk: General Hong return to the city immediately."

He Lingchuan was startled. The front line was fighting fiercely, and Zhong Shengguang wanted to recall the leading general? Wen Daolun also raised his head suddenly and said repeatedly: "No! Absolutely not! If we lose White Crane Ridge, even Wei City will be in danger..."

"If we lose it, we can take it back." Zhong Shengguang said lightly. "Besides, there are other generals on the front line; it's not like only General Hong is useful." He glared at He Lingchuan. "Why are you still standing there, pass the order!"

This moment was truly a race against time, so He Lingchuan ran all the way to handle it.

He stood behind the Yue Wu Hall and blew the whistle away from the crowd.

The whistle sound wasn't as sharp as ordinary people imagined, but rather low and hoarse; he didn't know what animal's horn it was made of.

Not long after, a small black dot appeared in the sky, and it didn't get much bigger when it landed.

It landed in front of He Lingchuan and tilted its head: "Why did you come to blow the whistle?"

This guy was already an old acquaintance of He Lingchuan, having been injured by the Jin Du cubs last time, and was raised in his room until it was half-healed before flying away, during which time it was supplied with good meat and didn't drink without wine every day.

After flying away that day, it hadn't appeared again.

He Lingchuan smiled without warmth: "You wouldn't appear even if I didn't blow the whistle." A scumbag eagle that eats and drinks well and then flies away! "Pass Commander Zhong's oral order, General Hong return to the city immediately!"

"Got it!" The sparrow hawk flapped its wings and rose, flying west all the way.

Because Wen Daolun was attacked, various gatherings including the Wenxian Hall lecture were immediately canceled, and the whole city was under martial law. Zhong Shengguang sent out dozens of teams to search every household in the city.

If this were anywhere else, it wouldn't cause public resentment, but it would at least cause panic. But the people of Panlongcheng themselves had high awareness, and with the timely publicity, everyone was mentally prepared, and most of them would cooperate when they heard the patrol guards knocking on the door.

The patrol guards and city guards focused on searching empty houses, sheds, river ponds, etc., and sure enough, they found another Jin Du cub, which was killed on the spot after a fierce battle.

What was chilling was that the hiding places of the ghost cubs were all very close to the residences of Panlongcheng's high-ranking officials.

There was another point: when Helian Chen, Alo, and other physicians dissected the corpses of the Jin Du cubs, they all found ash in their stomachs.

These monsters had been born for at least two or three days, but compared to the same kind that had harmed Panlongcheng in the previous batch, they hadn't eaten a single bite of human flesh since birth, and only chicken feathers and dog bones were found in the stomachs of two of them.

In other words, they would steal chickens and dogs, but they didn't eat people.

Eating is an instinct; they suppressed even their instincts, certainly not because of a kind nature.

The pharmacists naturally conducted research on this fine ash and soon reached a conclusion: this is the powder of the Underworld Pearl.

Cultivated spellcasters or great demons might produce Underworld Pearls after cremation, which contain spiritual energy.

And these were probably the ashes of some kind of monster, which was not small in size during its lifetime and likely lived in lakes and seas, because there were a few unburned algae mixed in.

Feeding on this kind of Underworld Pearl, the Jin Du cubs could survive for a short time without eating living meat, which reduced the possibility of exposure.

The opponent's plan revealed to this point was already chilling.

Clearly, the batch of Jin Du cubs born to Yun Gu was in the open, attracting everyone's attention in Panlongcheng; this batch that ate Underworld Pearls and didn't eat ordinary people was in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate important figures in Panlongcheng.

Just at this time, Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang returned with his team; besides the Jin Du cub that had escaped and turned into a corpse, they also brought back an old woman.

He Lingchuan saw her and couldn't help but take a deep breath:

"It really is her!"

Skinny was on the side: "Who is this? You recognize her?"

"Do you remember that I have a shop on the main street of Panlong?"

"I remember, what about it?" A shop supports three generations, that's a golden chicken laying eggs; Skinny was drooling with envy.

"When I was cleaning up things in the shop, an old woman came, which is her—" He Lingchuan pointed to Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang's captive, "—and asked for a jar from my shop, saying she would take it back to pickle vegetables. I had no use for the jar, so I gave it to her. I also remember others calling her Sister-in-law Ji, in her early forties."

Skinny looked at her messy hair, wrinkled face, and thin body, and was startled: "Forty? I think she's sixty!"

"Both her children died on the battlefield." He Lingchuan still remembered the scene at that time. "Alo accidentally took her pulse and said she was four or five months pregnant, and pregnant with more than one."

(End of chapter)