Chapter 360: Acupuncture

That group of cows charged up to the teahouse with a thudding thudding thudding.

But they hesitated, afraid to enter.

The lead cow, unusually massive, swayed its long, curved horns, peering into the teahouse again and again, then ventured cautiously: "Sister Hei, has something happened?"

The woman glanced down at the ten counting rods embedded in her body and thought: Don't you see that already?

My brothers are truly stupid!

But the cows genuinely couldn't tell.

Because although the counting rods pierced the woman's body, no blood flowed.

The woman herself didn't understand: why, after my transformation, do wounds no longer bleed?

After their transformation, the cows suddenly gained spiritual awareness and could speak human language, thus learning some things of the human world.

The big black cow said: "Sister Hei, you look just like a human practicing acupuncture…"

The woman nearly cursed it, but held back. Not only did she hold back, she pinched her nose and admitted: "You're right—I'm doing acupuncture. Nothing's wrong here, go away quickly…"

Xu Yuan flicked his fingers, and the remaining counting rods shot up, hovering above the heads of each cow!

The woman screamed: "No!"

The cows were baffled: Are you telling us to go, or not?

In the woman's round, wide eyes, a plea flickered.

Xu Yuan controlled the counting rods and said: "Answer my questions truthfully, and I'll spare their lives."

The big black cow finally understood, bellowing: "So you're threatening Sister Hei!"

It blasted two red plumes of hot air from its nostrils, dug its hind hooves furiously into the ground, then lowered its head and charged straight at Xu Yuan.

Boom!

Master Xu pinned it to the ground with one hand.

The big black cow bellowed in fury, eyes bloodshot, muscles bulging like rocks.

It was the largest in the village, and without doubt the strongest.

Even a century-old tree, if fully strained, would be uprooted by its force.

Yet Master Xu held its horns with one hand, rendering it utterly immobile.

After cultivating the Dragon Transformation Art, his physique became immensely formidable.

The strength disparity between cow and dragon was obvious.

The woman's eyes widened further.

She had originally believed that in raw strength, her eldest brother "Hei Yi" would never lose.

But how could this evil man be so strong?

He didn't even seem human.

Xu Yuan held down the big black cow; the counting rod that had hovered above its head slowly drifted back, pressing directly against its forehead!

"No! Please don't!" Sister Hei begged frantically: "I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!"

Xu Yuan lifted the counting rod, then flicked his wrist—the big black cow rolled over with a thunderous crash.

It was indeed thick-skinned and tough, unharmed; it rolled over and scrambled to its feet.

Clearly furious, yet it dared not charge again.

Sister Hei told the cows: "Don't move!"

Then she told Xu Yuan about her transformation.

A few days ago, after the final plowing before the New Year, Sister Hei returned home with her master.

She was truly exhausted.

So she walked slowly, curling her tongue around wild grasses and flowers by the roadside to temporarily fill her stomach.

The village's fields bordered irrigation ditches.

Her master walked ahead, unaware, but Sister Hei suddenly saw a string bean shoot emerge from the ditch like a water snake.

She was so hungry she curled her tongue around it, swallowing the entire shoot—stem, leaves, and beans.

But after eating it, she felt her body grow heavier and heavier.

She walked slower and slower.

Even the master's shouts and the crack of his whip sounded muffled, distant, unreal.

In the end, her master forcibly dragged her back to the cowshed.

The mistress had already prepared the fodder.

It was mixed with roasted soybeans.

In the past, the scent would have made her salivate.

But this time, she had no appetite at all.

She entered the cowshed, collapsed, and fell asleep.

When she woke again, it was midnight—she had become a Deviant.

Xu Yuan's mind stirred; the Beast Sinew Rope extended, ready to pierce through her nostrils.

Sister Hei resisted fiercely: "I don't want to be led by the nose again."

Xu Yuan sneered: "Fine. But you must behave. Don't even think of running."

"Alright, I agree—as long as you don't pierce my nose, anything's fine."

Xu Yuan retracted the counting rods from her body.

This Deviant was large, but only ninth-rank level.

The cows outside weren't even ranked.

My lord isn't afraid they'll cause any trouble.

"Take me to where that string bean sprouted from the water."

"Alright."

Blackie truly led Xu Yuan there without resistance.

She had no intention of hiding anything or running away.

In her cow-brain, concepts like conspiracy, betrayal, or deceit simply didn't exist.

When they arrived, it was just an ordinary Tian Geng, a plain irrigation ditch.

But as Xu Yuan looked out, all the rice seedlings beneath the Tian Geng were dead.

As if something had drained away all their vitality.

Xu Yuan pointed upstream along the ditch and said to Blackie, "Go block the water."

"Oh." She obediently went, heaving a large stone with effort—boom—the ditch was blocked.

She also grabbed handfuls of yellow mud and mixed in dry grass, sealing the gaps.

After finishing, she gazed proudly at her work, feeling she was truly skilled at labor!

The water in the ditch quickly drained dry, and Xu Yuan carefully observed, soon spotting something odd.

The beast-tendon rope extended downward, burrowing into the rotting mud—he pulled upward—

And lifted up a patch of dark red, withered silk netting.

Like a withered network of blood vessels!

Though utterly dead, the thing still emitted a faint taint.

The direction the vessel-network extended matched exactly the patch of dead rice seedlings.

Xu Yuan ordered Blackie again: "Follow these things and dig open this entire field—be careful not to break them. I need to see exactly how they're distributed underground."

"Oh." Blackie answered again, beginning to dig without need of urging, whipping, praise, or encouragement.

For a full hour, Blackie meticulously and carefully dug open the entire field.

Xu Yuan finally found the true source of these vessel-like evil things.

A seed shaped like a human heart.

Its interior was hollow, leaving only an outer shell.

Its surface was covered in a layer of gray-white fur—very much like the Bai Mao on ancient zombies!

Xu Yuan frowned. Did this thing first grow the vessel-network, then drain the rice seedlings, then sprout a string bean that Blackie ate?

Turned Blackie into a strange creature.

Why go through such elaborate trouble?

Blackie was merely a ninth-rate strange creature, and not even mad.

She hadn't killed a single person so far.

Xu Yuan didn't understand this kind of evil, so he thought to pack the things in Xing Guo Zi and take them back for Zhou Leizi to advise him.

"Where are the villagers? Take me to see them."

Blackie continued her tireless duty, leading Xu Yuan to the largest cowshed in the village, where over a dozen people were locked inside, each with a nose ring and a head cage, tied down.

"There are six more sheds," Blackie truthfully reported.

Xu Yuan glanced around, his heart sank—he immediately asked, "Where are the children?"

The cowshed held only adults—not a single child!

(End of Chapter)