Chapter 42: The Savior Arrives

The Dao arts are few; with just one word, I can subdue the north mountains and rivers from the south, and all demons in the world.

Just as we two were about to be corroded by the poisonous insects, a familiar voice rang out, and then a fierce hot wind rose from the flat ground; the insects crawling around us instantly burned up more than half.

"It's him, how did he come here?" The newcomer was indeed Shen Yuanning, and even this incantation was unchanged, the same as always. In the blink of an eye, he had flashed to stand before us two, blocking us, facing off against Ou Yaofeng.

I was about to ask him something, but Shen Yuanning instantly shoved something into my and Pangzi's mouths.

"This is an antidote from my sect; swallow it quickly."

As soon as the pill entered my mouth, I felt my dizziness lessen a bit, but why does this medicine taste so strange? It's a bit numb and a bit salty.

"Shu Aizi, thank you." Pangzi moved his pale lips and said weakly.

Shen Yuanning returned the salute with clasped hands and said, "It's just a small effort, Brother Qiang really doesn't need to be so polite."

"Hehe, of course, of course."

"Brother Qiang is really polite."

"Not at all!"

I: "..." Damn it, you two goofballs, can't you stop making me vomit blood? At this life-and-death juncture, you're still being polite to each other, for fuck's sake.

"You bastards, have you forgotten where you are?"

I hadn't even spoken when Ou Yaofeng flew into a rage and hurled insults. I realize that being blatantly ignored, unable to feel one's presence, really drives one crazy.

Shen Yuanning turned his head to glance at Ou Yaofeng, then, naturally clueless, turned to ask me and Pangzi, "Who is he?"

I and Pangzi exchanged a glance and said in unison, "A bad person."

"You bastards, go die." Ou Yaofeng, flying into a rage, controlled the poisonous insects to crawl toward us.

The Dao arts are few; with just one word, I can subdue the north mountains and rivers from the south, and all demons in the world.

The move was still the same old one, only this time he changed weapons—Shen Yuanning no longer used that withered dry brush, but switched to a fan covered in talismans.

As the incantation fell, a rift opened in the void, unleashing a scorching gust that swept the poisonous insects into disarray.

Indeed, with a light shake of the fan, the scholar's casual talk made the strong crossbow's ashes scatter and smoke vanish—but the scholar was no ordinary scholar; he was also a Daoist. And the strong crossbow wasn't a person, but a swarm of insects.

"I didn't expect it, but Shen Yuanning is pretty formidable," I whispered into Pangzi's ear. "Last time Shen Yuanning broke my spell altar, I still didn't realize he was this strong."

Pangzi curled his lips: "This move is fresh—effective everywhere."

I: "..." Pangzi, are you just openly jealous of him?

Whether it's one move or half a move, Shen Yuanning's appearance completely turned the tide; we, who had been at a disadvantage and on the verge of collapse, instantly surpassed Ou Yaofeng, and the embarrassed roles swapped—from us to Ou Yaofeng.

Those poisonous insects hadn't even approached us when they were already thrown into disarray by Shen Yuanning's talisman fan; moreover, the gust emanating from the fan carried a scorching sensation, like that of brilliant light and earthly fire.

After the poisonous insects were knocked down by the fan, they instantly began to emit green smoke from the heat, and within a short time, more than half of the hundreds or thousands of insects died again.

"Who... who are you exactly?" Seeing that his poisonous insects were nearly wiped out, Ou Yaofeng also lost his composure, staring at Shen Yuanning with a panicked expression.

Shen Yuanning didn't answer; he simply frowned and took a deep breath of air.

"You too have been poisoned, and you're even a Poison King—who did this, and why would they do it?" Shen Yuanning didn't answer Ou Yaofeng's question; instead, he stepped closer.

As Shen Yuanning spoke those words, Ou Yaofeng jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, his face full of disbelief.

"How do you know?" Ou Yaofeng blurted out.

His words confirmed Shen Yuanning's speculation and made my heart sink; it seems this matter is far more complicated than I imagined, and there may be someone behind Ou Yaofeng.

"Take me to find him." Shen Yuanning stepped closer again.

Ou Yaofeng kept retreating, then gritted his teeth and snarled, "Delusional fantasy—try blocking this move of mine first!" After saying that, he waved his hands, his black robe fluttering, as if preparing to attack us again.

Seeing this, Shen Yuanning hurriedly turned back, standing firmly in front of us.

But Ou Yaofeng merely made a feint; after Shen Yuanning stepped back, he fled toward the woods behind the training field.

"Hurry up and chase him, don't let him get away!" I urged Shen Yuanning.

Shen Yuanning nodded: "Exactly what I had in mind; I also want to see who's behind him." Then he turned and went after Ou Yaofeng.

But what happened next left all of us stunned.

A shrill, piercing scream suddenly rang out on the flat ground, startling even Shen Yuanning into stopping his steps.

"Ah... ah...," the one emitting the scream was none other than Ou Yaofeng, who was fleeing.

At that moment, he knelt on both knees, his eyes streaming red blood, his hands pressed over his abdomen as if suppressing something.

"Don't, Master, please... don't." Ou Yaofeng vomited white foam and collapsed to the ground.

I, Pangzi, and Shen Yuanning cautiously guarded against Ou Yaofeng, worried he might pull another trick.

But what followed made our scalps go numb in an instant.

I saw Ou Yaofeng's skin swell rapidly at a visible speed, circles of bluish-purple patterns spreading across its surface, with tendons and bones bulging out above the skin.

"Save me..." he pleaded, his eyes blood-red, reaching out a hand to us—but within a second, his skin rapidly deflated.

If he had been a bloated skin balloon before, in the blink of an eye he turned into a desiccated mummy.

This sight made our three scalps tingle and our hearts fill with chill; I've followed QingSongShu for so long, yet I've never seen such a bizarre situation.

But the strangeness didn't end; instead, wave after wave piled on, the climax unceasing.

Just as we three were letting out a sigh of relief, we heard a pop, like an eggshell cracking—and then……

A black snake as long as two meters actually slithered out of Ou Yaofeng's mouth; the black snake flicked its tongue, its jade-green eyes emitting an eerie cold glow in the night—as elders say, non-venomous snakes have round heads, while deadly venomous ones have triangular heads. This black snake clearly belongs to the lethal kind.

After the black snake emerged, it coiled around Ou Yaofeng's corpse… then, with a splutch, its head shot forward like an arrow, and it gulped down his corpse in one bite.

Insect Master—Ou Yaofeng was actually an Insect Master. Watching this, I felt a chill even in my stomach.

The profession of Insect Master is more vicious than head‑lowering, more mysterious than poison craft.

Since ancient times, the Miao Frontier has been famed for poison craft, while Thailand has established itself on head‑lowering. In fact, the latter is merely a blend of poison techniques and some Chinese talismanic methods, forming its own school. Thus, head‑lowering masters who cast insect poisons employ methods quite similar to those of Miao masters.

But after these two, a new profession arose: the Insect Master.

This mysterious profession originated in Yunnan, blending the poison craft of the Miao Frontier, the head‑lowering of Thailand, the Plowshare Witch Sect, and even the talismanic techniques of minority ethnic Daoist Sect, forming its own school. Although it originated in Yunnan, drawing on the strengths of many schools, it has almost been eradicated by all religions in Yunnan, vanishing from the world.

On the one hand, the profession of Insect Master is too sinister; they believe insects are lowly creatures, and to evolve they must first absorb human vitality and gain humanity. Every Insect Master's first bound natal insect must take the life of a newborn baby as a sacrifice—first cut open the baby's belly, let the poisonous worm crawl in and eat it raw, devouring the baby until nothing remains; their heinous acts are shocking. Even among the folk, those who fear neither the Five Misfortunes and Three Deficiencies and sell their lives for money as ruthless Dharma practitioners—if you curse his conduct as being no different from that of the Yunnan Insect Masters, he will flush red in the face and neck, jump up and shout at you: "Pah, don't compare me to that pack of beasts!" From this we can see that among the hundred schools of thought, none will have any fondness for the Insect Masters.

Secondly, it is the inheritance of the Insect Masters: when a master takes on a disciple, they must plant a gu in the disciple's body. In the Miao Region, cultivating gu in one's own body is a taboo, yet the Insect Masters do the opposite—they not only plant it, but also establish a rule. If a disciple's cultivation surpasses that of the master, they may devour the master's gu king to increase their own cultivation. Conversely, if the master wishes to extract the gu king from the disciple's body, the disciple must die, and the disciple has no choice but to comply.

In QingSongShu's mouth, I had once heard rumors about the Insect Masters, though I didn't know much. But I clearly heard QingSongShu say that the profession of Insect Master should have been wiped out long ago by the Plowshare Witch Sect and the shamans of various minority peoples joining forces, and ought to have disappeared from the world. So why do I now see a trace of the Insect Masters again?

"Insect Master… damn it, this bastard is actually an Insect Master—this conscience‑less profession shouldn't have been eradicated already?" Pangzi glared with his big round eyes and burst out cursing.

The traits of Insect Masters differ from those of Miao Masters. Even if a Miao Master violates the taboo and cultivates gu in his own body, it is solely for self‑preservation. If a Miao Master is hunted to the point of having nowhere to flee, he may release the gu king he nurtures within himself to fight desperately against the enemy. At the same time, once the gu king emerges, the Miao Master also declares his own death. But for an Insect Master, when his gu king comes out, it does not first attack the enemy; instead, it devours the host until nothing remains, and only then helps the host deal with the enemy.

This Ou Yaofeng is certainly an Insect Master. But his natal gu king seems not to have been released by himself. He still has a strong will to survive, only his natal gu is being controlled by someone else.

Who that person is, there is no doubt—it is Ou Yaofeng's master; just from Ou Yaofeng's dying cry of "master!" one can tell. The people behind him feared that Shen Yuan Ning would pursue Ou Yaofeng and find him, so without hesitation they abandoned the cart to protect the commander, thereby triggering the natal gu king inside Ou Yaofeng's body.

I no longer had time to wonder who that person was… because, after that black snake finished eating Ou Yaofeng, it actually turned its head around and crawled toward us. To be precise, it extended its head and lunged forward.

Shen Yuan Ning took a deep breath, uttered that old‑folk incantation, and, grasping the Dharma fan, went forward to meet it..