Chapter 34: Sudden Change

Following the crowd, Baichuan also quietly crept closer to the scene of the incident and silently climbed up a tall tree.

With his keen eyesight, he got a clear look at the situation below.

One look was enough to make Baichuan's eyes go wide, his expression full of shock.

Because below, the scene had clearly split into three factions—one group on the outer perimeter was fighting amongst themselves, with a large number of people desperately trying to charge into the center to interrupt whatever was happening there.

The second group was fighting desperately to hold the center, not letting anyone else break in.

And at the very center, there were four or five people holding fine nets of some unknown material, trying to capture a streak of flowing light—a forest-white streak of flowing light that was fluttering about.

No, that wasn't a streak of light!

It was a white worm, crystalline and translucent all over, but with a single notch in it!

No one knew where the worm had come from, but right now it had been spotted by people.

Whether or not it sensed the danger it was in, it was darting left and right, trying to break through the encirclement.

However, the material of those fine nets was far too special, and on top of that, at the edge there was a burly man with a staff who would occasionally strike out with his rod to interrupt its movements.

Although that burly man didn't strike often, every time he did, it was precisely at the moment the worm was trying to escape the fine nets.

And so, under these circumstances, the worm was being driven step by step into a predicament where capture was imminent.

Seeing this, from within the chaotic fighting crowd, a young man suddenly shouted, "Fellow daoists hiding around the perimeter, aren't you going to make a move? If you don't act now, this Ice Blood Cold Silkworm will be taken by those Li family people, and when that happens, who among you will be able to snatch it from the Li family's hands?"

The moment those words fell, before the people still hiding around the perimeter could make a move, an aged laugh rang out: "Hehe, young friend Zhou makes a fair point. In that case, let this old woman make the first move."

As she spoke, a kindly-faced old woman wearing a curved-hem deep robe stepped out, and accompanying her appearance, a snake with an emerald-green body and a triangular head poked out from her shoulder.

The next moment, she stepped forward, and with a flick of her withered arm, a large cloud of green powder drifted out, the smell a foul, fishy stench.

The drifting powder, as if possessed of a spirit of its own, flew forward, and everywhere it passed, people dropped.

No matter which side they belonged to, everyone collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests and groaning in pain.

Seeing this, the young man who had spoken earlier unconsciously clenched his fist and cursed under his breath, "Damn it!" but didn't dare say anything more.

Because the other party was the renowned figure of the jianghu, She Po, whose mastery of poison had reached a divine level, and who, according to rumor, had even broken through to the Six Limits the year before last.

Once she had set her sights on someone, unless his clan stepped in to protect him, death was hard to escape.

"Hahaha, what She Po says is right—Zhao Yu has also come to join in the fun."

Under the bright, clear laughter, a young man was seen bringing a woman with him as he too joined the battle, and before long he arrived at the old woman's side.

For a time, the faction that had been trying to hold everyone back now found itself in a precarious position.

"Is it them?"

Up in the tall tree, Baichuan narrowed his eyes and looked at the two who had just appeared, realizing these weren't the same two he had run into at the very beginning, were they?

Below.

The old woman looked over, a kindly smile appearing on her face as she said, "Heh, young Zhao, lass Zhao, you've come too? Where's your father?"

"Granny…" the delicate, pretty woman had only just begun to speak.

Crack—crack!

At that moment, another violent burst of cold energy erupted.

Countless currents of cold energy transformed into razor-sharp ice crystals that swept out in all directions, and the first to bear the brunt were those few people who had been trying to surround and capture the white worm.

In an instant, the fine nets were sent flying, people were thrown head over heels, their bodies covered in fine, dense cuts of blood.

This violent commotion made everyone involuntarily turn their heads to look, only to see that the few people in the center who had been on the verge of succeeding were now suddenly sent flying to the ground, with only the staff-wielding burly man still standing, leaning on his rod and holding on.

Even so, his entire body was covered in white frost, and he was swaying, on the verge of collapse.

"G-good… what terrifying cold energy. Is this the power of the Ice Blood Cold Silkworm?"

A voice of shock rang out.

"With such terrifying power, just how terrifying must the Zhang family of old, who once controlled this kind of power, have been?"

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"……

Several sounds of something tearing through the air rang out.

Several masked mysterious figures were seen shooting forward like shadows, reaching out to grab the cold silkworm that was in its exhausted state.

"Don't even think about it!"

A furious roar exploded.

The burly man who had been leaning on his staff earlier was seen glaring with round, furious eyes, and with a great shout he strained to raise his rod and swung it out.

However, two fists were hard pressed against four, let alone a single staff facing so many people.

One of the masked men, a short and small fellow, was seen nimbly tapping and pausing his feet, then doing a flip in the air to dodge the incoming staff.

His entire body was as nimble as a dragonfly skimming the water, and not only did he dodge the staff, he also slipped past the other masked men, reaching the cold silkworm first.

At the same time, the sudden turn of events finally allowed everyone to react.

Just then, a beguiling voice from within the crowd called out: "Friends, the cold silkworm is about to be snatched away by those masked men. If we don't rush up and block them now, they'll be gone. Besides, with so many eyes and so many people around, if we all rush in together, whoever grabs it, it's theirs—wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The crowd thought it over and felt it made sense! Knowing this was probably the only chance they'd get to snatch it, they all abandoned their opponents and charged forward with everything they had.

For a time, all manner of curses and angry shouts rang out one after another.

They bunched up together as if they were at a market fair.

"Granny, should we go up and fight for it?"

Zhao Yu asked She Po beside him with some hesitation, his expression seeming somewhat tempted.

"No, we won't go up." Who would have thought She Po would shake her head—as the saying goes, an old person becomes a spirit.

She Po had lived most of her life; what storm had she not seen? The crowd's chaotic behavior gave her an ominous premonition in her heart.

This premonition, combined with the fact that her treasure on her shoulder, usually bold beyond compare, was now uneasy and tinged with fear, made her rein in her desire.

It was a kind of fear like facing a natural enemy, as if when she was young she had accidentally stumbled into a deep forest and discovered a fierce beast lurking in the dark corners around her, watching her.

Could it be that her treasure had sensed some terrifying existence nearby?

Of course, not everyone in the crowd had been dazed by the fumes; some clever ones had noticed something was off, but they were too weak and were swept along by the mob charging forward.

Only a few who had sensed something wrong early on managed to leave.

At this moment, the short man, who was closest to the Frost Silkworm, squatted down with a face full of joy, wanting to reach out with his fingers—wrapped in white cloth strips—to grab the Frost Silkworm.

However, at that moment, another accident occurred.

The plump, tender Frost Silkworm, exerting itself, suddenly threw back its head, and its tiny, barely visible mouth opened and spat.

In an instant, a streak of white flowing light was spat out, shooting straight toward the short man, striking first the fingers he had reached out.

"Crack~ crack~"

A teeth-aching sound of freezing rang out—the sound of a human body rapidly freezing, and it was starting from within the body.

The short man didn't even know what had happened before he was completely frozen, turning into a lifelike ice sculpture.

"Not good, retreat!"

The staff-wielding big man was the first to react; with a low cry he was about to retreat, but it was too late!

A large crowd was charging forward as if delivering themselves to death, leaving him with nowhere to retreat.

Just at the moment he lifted his foot to retreat.

Along with the freezing of the short man, a wave of cold even more frigid than before emanated outward.

(End of this chapter)