Chapter 349: Can't Compare (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

This stone niche is only about seven chi long.

The diagonal is not even more than one zhang.

The Ancient Gu Xianniang had already stretched to a full zhang, yet still could not match that rope.

The Ancient Gu Xianniang was ultimately somewhat unwilling to give up; for the last time, she stretched her body to its thinnest and longest.

It has been several decades; finally, a living person has come to this stone niche again.

Starved for so long, who wouldn't want to eat when seeing such a delicacy?

But this time, that rope suddenly shot out, extending all the way from the stone niche directly into the stone cave outside!

The Ancient Gu Xianniang compared again and was terrified: No, this person cannot be eaten.

If I swallow him, my belly will surely burst.

It withdrew from My Lord Xu's dream, seething with silent hatred: I let this person taste the sweetness for nothing!

Fortunately, there are still two others.

The Ancient Gu Xianniang was choosing between the two, wondering which one to eat first?

Evil spirits do not make choices; evil spirits want them all.

So it entered the dreams of both simultaneously...

Suddenly, it sensed some movement.

That rope had stretched into the stone cave and was poking Dafu's neck.

Dafu was woken up; having slept poorly, he was in a terrible mood.

He lifted his head, his pair of dull goose eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

Hmm? Is there something in the cave?

Dafu suddenly stood up; just as he spread his wings, the Ancient Gu Xianniang had already zipped past him.

Dafu was very angry, thinking this thing had woken him, so he chased after it urgently.

He crashed headfirst into the stone blocking the cave entrance.

The bump on his head grew even larger.

Dafu angrily quacked a few times and helplessly went back to lie down again.

He brushed his head with his wing; it hurt so much.

Then he inhaled a mouthful of the thin "Sleep Qi" in the cave and fell asleep in a daze once more.

Just before dawn, Xu Yuan woke up first.

He touched his head and realized something was wrong.

Gao Guanzi had not called him.

The two of them were still sleeping soundly.

Xu Yuan looked at the beast-tendon rope pressing beneath him and seemed to understand something.

"Hmph, let them keep sleeping."

My Lord Xu felt some resentment.

Because he trusted these two mountain runners, he had come to this Divine Lady Niche with them.

They had explained all the various situations of the Ancient Gu Xianniang in great detail, seemingly making perfect preparations... and the result is this?

Xu Yuan sat up leaning against the stone wall, quietly watching the two of them, waiting for dawn.

In the darkness, the mountain wind near Pig-Call Rock grew stronger.

Those pig-like screams of agony rang out frequently.

But because it was night, where various strange cries and roars rose and fell in the mountains, these sounds did not seem so out of place.

Suddenly, a heavy black wind blew in from the distance.

It circled below Pig-Call Rock and transformed into a shadow with a crow's head and a human body.

It wore a pitch-black feathered cloak.

It bore some resemblance to Bai Laoyan.

The difference was that its entire body was made of crow feathers.

Bai Laoyan's, however, used feathers from various hawks and falcons.

Its eye sockets were empty holes without eyeballs, burning with two points of dark red blood-fire.

After landing, it turned its crow head left and right, then began to walk.

Its posture was very strange, swaying and somewhat unsteady.

This was because what stepped on the ground were not feet, but a pair of bird claws.

The structure of bird claws is not meant for walking.

Yet its speed was fast, and it was very agile.

It seemed to be running and jumping simultaneously, with black wind swirling around it, and occasionally it could glide for a distance.

It quickly grabbed small beasts one by one from the surroundings.

These were the very beasts released by the four people during the day, all carrying illnesses.

These small beasts were extremely irritable; the sickness on their bodies made them completely forget "awe."

It plucked feathers one by one from its pitch-black feathered cloak and inserted them into these small beasts.

These small beasts immediately became unable to move or cry out.

The hands hidden beneath its feathered cloak were also bird claws.

Doing certain things is actually not appropriate.

It observed the small beast, and the blood-fire in its hollow eye sockets drifted lightly, as if a look of some contempt.

Then the crow's beak opened and inhaled—

the illnesses on these small beasts were all sucked into its mouth.

Every single small beast recovered its health.

It smacked its lips, seeming not very satisfied with the "taste."

"Pah!" It spat it all out in one go.

All the illnesses just sucked in instantly turned into a mouthful of thick phlegm that fell to the ground.

That patch of ground immediately turned into a sickly dark yellow.

Then it casually glanced over, picked out a wild rabbit from among those small beasts, opened its mouth, and blew out a wisp of purple-black light Qi.

The moment the wild rabbit was healed, its whole body immediately began to rot and suppurate, falling into another, even more terrible illness.

It was satisfied, twisted its body, and with a "whoosh" transformed once more into a heavy black wind, rushing into the sky and vanishing quickly.

It had not been gone long when a tree root drilled out from beneath the ground.

Then a single tree root rapidly grew a patch of rootlets, weaving them into a net that covered that patch of dark yellow soil and dragged it down into the ground.

The soil and the rootlets were gone.

The sky gradually brightened, light filtering through the stone cracks, becoming brighter and brighter.

Gao Guanzi and Bai Laoyan were startled awake almost simultaneously, sitting up together.

Bai Laoyan instinctively drew the firewood knife from his waist.

Gao Guanzi's large ears stood wide open, and he gripped an arrow in his hand.

He used a bow and arrow.

Bai Laoyan could also wield a bow and arrow, but his skill did not compare to Gao Guanzi's.

"Awake?"

From beside them came the voice of My Lord Xu, carrying a touch of mockery.

Both looked over; My Lord Xu sat leaning against the stone wall, with Da Fu lying beside him, and he was gently stroking Da Fu's feathers.

Both of their old faces turned bright red.

They stammered, unable to speak.

They knew Gu Gu Xianniang must have come last night.

After all, they had both had those happy, delightful dreams.

But since they were still alive and well, it meant someone had saved them.

Who else could it be but My Lord Xu?

Two mountain runners, in Ghost Wushan, yet receiving care from someone else!

If this got out, they would have lost all face.

Bai Laoyan felt the most ashamed, after all, he was on the first watch, yet he slept straight until dawn.

He hadn't even called Gao Guanzi.

If anything had truly happened, his responsibility would have been the greatest.

Seeing their appearance, My Lord Xu waved his hand: "Enough, after all, nothing happened."

"Ashamed," the two lowered their heads and quietly apologized to My Lord Xu.

Xu Yuan said, "No more talk, let's go up."

Gao Guanzi quickly removed the stone blocking the cave entrance.

Outside floated the rope left from yesterday.

This rope was specially made by Bai Laoyan and would not easily undergo strange changes in the mountains.

But Gao Guanzi's ear twitched, and he snorted coldly: "Something is crouching above us."

Bai Laoyan, eager to make amends, clamped the firewood knife in his mouth and began to climb up: "I'll go, chop it to death!"

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "No need for such a risk."

My Lord Xu stepped up on a wheel of fire—but saw no evil spirit at all.

The moment Xu Yuan rushed out of the cave entrance, that evil spirit, being quite sensible, had already fled...

Bai Laoyan felt even more ashamed.

Had he come up himself, there would have been no escape from a fierce battle.

"Eat something, then go check Pig Cry Rock," Xu Yuan said.

Yesterday, those four arrived at the foot of Pig Cry Rock very early; the small beasts still had black feathers stuck in them and could not move.

They carefully loaded the small beasts into bamboo cages.

Especially that wild rabbit.

But even though they had never touched that wild rabbit, the four still discovered that a patch of rot spread rapidly from their hands, with signs of suppurating!

The four were terrified: "Quick, go back and ask the Master for help!"

Not long after they left, Xu Yuan and the other two arrived at the foot of Pig Cry Rock.

Bai Laoyan and Gao Guanzi stood in one spot.

With their rich experience, they said: "This trace... looks like something was dragged directly underground by tree roots or the like."

Xu Yuan pondered: "Ghost Needles Wood? Is there any way to track it?"

"Watch this!" Gao Guanzi got fired up, dropped to his belly, and pressed one ear flat against the ground.

(End of this chapter.)