Chapter 4: 004 The Monsters of Wang Gu Lin (Four)

After saying goodbye to Shu Niang, Wang Wu set off on the road to Zhu San Niang's home.

Zhu San Niang's home is not far from where Wang Wu lives, about a ten-minute walk. On the way he must pass through a grove; it is autumn now, and the leaves on the trees have mostly fallen, leaving only bare branches.

Wang Wu stepped on the ground covered with fallen leaves; the soil beneath his feet was very soft, as if a little force would make him sink in entirely.

As he passed through the woods, Wang Wu could catch white shadows out of the corner of his eye—these were the wandering solitary souls and wild ghosts in Wang Gu Lin.

For monsters, such wandering souls pose no threat at all, so Wang Wu simply ignores them.

Even for humans, the harm such ordinary wandering souls can inflict is similarly limited—nothing more than listlessness, a lack of vital energy, making one easy prey for invading influences.

Of course, if one encounters them at night, that is another matter altogether.

Wang Wu hurried toward Zhu San Niang's house; when he had gone about halfway, he suddenly saw a tall, thin figure standing under a tree ahead of him.

That thing was very tall, obviously over two meters, taller than Wang Wu's 1.85 meters by more than a head.

Its head was narrow and elongated, with dull yellow skin stretched directly over the bones, no flesh visible underneath, like a jagged odd stone.

Its split-open huge mouth stretched all the way to its ears, filled with interlaced sharp teeth.

At that moment, it fixed its severely bulging eyes on Wang Wu; the black pupils were only the size of a grain of rice, and the yellowish eyeballs were threaded with bloodshot lines.

Seeing Wang Wu also looking at it, it raised its extraordinarily long hand—whether arm, fingers, or the curved black nails.

"Little… little master, come over, come over…?" it said in a voice neither male nor female, sharp and terrifying with laughter, calling out to Wang Wu:

"I want, I want to eat you, I want to eat your flesh… heehee, heeheehee… I want to rip open your belly and eat your intestines, your heart, your…"

Wang Wu had originally intended to avoid this thing and was about to do so, but in the next moment he changed his mind.

Because at that moment a huge figure appeared behind it; seeing that familiar silhouette, Wang Wu also stopped in his tracks.

"Pff!"

Accompanied by a muffled thud of flesh being pierced, a long pincer fell from the air and nailed the monster's skull into the ground.

Without even a scream, only shattered fragments of the body remained on the ground.

White mist drifting through the woods obscured that figure's true appearance, but Wang Wu immediately recognized who it was.

"San Niang."

He raised his head, looked into the mist ahead, and called out.

The next moment, the massive body moved its steps forward a few paces, and immediately a beautiful face descended from the air.

"Wu Lang, what business do you have with me? Or do you miss me?" Looking at the man before her, this beautiful yet icy face also gained a faint smile; she looked at Wang Wu and said.

"How did you reveal your true form?" Wang Wu did not answer her question right away, but asked curiously.

"You also saw it—these monsters have appeared near my home." Zhu San Niang shifted two steps to the side, revealing the mangled flesh already torn apart by her pincers.

"It's not very convenient to deal with a human body," Zhu San Niang said.

"Be careful." Wang Wu glanced at the remains on the ground and said. The thing's blood was not red, but congealed black.

"Wu Lang, you really know how to care for people." Zhu San Niang obviously took pleasure in his words.

Afterwards, two bent lotus-root-like arms emerged from the mist, lifting Wang Wu off the ground; he offered no resistance and was held in her embrace like a child.

Zhu San Niang fixed her scarlet eyes on Wang Wu, smiling sweetly as she asked: "You came to see me today—could it be that you missed me? But this true form of mine probably isn't to your taste, Wu Lang…"

"How could it be?" Wang Wu chuckled, running his hand over Zhu San Niang's face, "I hadn't expected your true form to be this beautiful; if it weren't for the fact that I still have some business today…"

Saying that, he shifted his body, jumped down from the crook of her arm, and returned to the ground.

"I came to find you to ask: when you previously captured people, where was the pit where you killed them?" Wang Wu asked.

"Huh?" Hearing Wang Wu's words, Zhu San Niang furrowed her brows, her expression turning the same as Shu Niang's earlier: "Wu Lang, if you want to catch some people to store as winter provisions, I advise you best not to lay hands on the folk of the nearby villages and towns, otherwise…"

Knowing Zhu San Niang would say that, Wang Wu was not surprised. He therefore repeated the same explanation he had given Shu Niang, of course this time adding that she could go find Shu Niang to verify it.

"Really?"

After hearing Wang Wu's words, Zhu San Niang's brows did not relax; instead she asked again.

Unlike Shu Niang, Zhu San Niang has seen much of the world, because she is not originally from here; she is not originally from here; she came from elsewhere fifty years ago.

While Wu Er Niang and Shu Niang are local monsters, Wu Er Niang, though older than Shu Niang by a cycle, has never left the bounds of Si Hun Shan.

Wang Gu Lin also lies within Si Hun Shan, merely its outer region.

But Zhu San Niang is different—she is a genuine worldly person.

Likewise, in Wang Wu's perception, the scent of blood on her is the strongest.

Since cultivating that damned technique, Wang Wu has gained this ability: he can roughly tell, by smelling others—uh, not people but monsters, possibly also including people—

By smelling that kind of "taste" on them, Wang Wu isn't sure whether it really is a taste, but for now let's call it that. Thus he comes to learn some of their basic information.

For monsters, it lets him see whether a monster has eaten humans, how many humans it has eaten, and whether it has eaten other monsters.

As for Zhu San Niang, she has eaten both humans and monsters; the human scent on her is stronger, while the monster scent is barely detectable, suggesting she has eaten very few monsters.

According to the number she herself revealed, she has eaten about fifty or sixty people.

Wu Er Niang, on the other hand, has eaten only humans, and the taste is relatively light; the number she gave and Wang Wu's earlier guess when questioning her differ little: about ten.

And Shu Niang has eaten neither humans nor monsters, after all she is still very young and has had no opportunity.

"Indeed." Wang Wu nodded, "If you don't believe me, I can go fetch the Monster-detecting Stone again and give you a demonstration."

"That won't be necessary." Zhu San Niang smiled, "Since you, Wu Lang, are so certain, I naturally believe you."

"However…" While saying this, Zhu San Niang once again lifted Wang Wu from the ground into her embrace, extended a finger, and tapped his forehead, saying:

"But in the human settlements, it's not just the Monster-detecting Stone—there's also the Great Demon-subduing Formation, and those cultivators; if you go there, you might not necessarily come back."

"I know all that."

Wang Wu jumped to the ground again, looked up at Zhu San Niang, and said.

The two monsters stared at each other for a while; after a moment, Zhu San Niang stepped back, her body sinking into the white mist, raised her hand, and pointed Wang Wu in a direction:

"Go this way; ahead, about an hour's walk, you'll reach a large pit where we slaughter and discard corpses. Since you seek death yourself, I won't stop you."

"Thanks, San Niang." Turning his head toward the direction Zhu San Niang pointed, then turning back to look once more at the figure in the white mist, Wang Wu said: "When I return, I'll bring you some rouge and powder—I remember you said before that you haven't used any in ages, right?"

After saying that, Wang Wu turned around and, without looking back, ran toward the direction Zhu San Niang pointed.

Behind him, after hearing Wang Wu's words, Zhu San Niang, who had been stunned for a moment, finally reacted. Immediately, Wang Wu heard the other's anxious shout from beside his ear:

"Wu Lang!!!!"

"I don't want that rouge and powder! Wu Lang!! Don't go!!!"

"Wu Lang!!!"

Immediately followed by the sound of countless legs and feet striking the ground, accompanied by trees falling in the forest, startling flocks of black strange birds that emitted cries like women's wailing in the sky above Wang Gu Lin.

(End of chapter)