Chapter 198: Time, Place, and People

"Ah—"

Seeing that the person before him had been brought in by Hong Jiaozhu Hong, the wounded man assumed he was a reinforcement, so he had not made a sound when this person suddenly flew over and approached him. But when this person released the gu-insect to bite him, he was suddenly so shocked he could not speak. Yet, watching his own blood being sucked away continuously, and seeing that the terrifying-looking gu-insect's belly had swollen to such a size yet still refused to let go, he finally could not suppress the panic in his heart and let out a loud cry.

His cry drew the surrounding people to gather around. Seeing that it was a few Daoist priests releasing gu to drink blood, they assumed they were enemies who had snuck in, and in a fit of rage, they drew their weapons on the spot.

"This is a guest brought by Hong Jiaozhu Hong!"

Fortunately, someone recognized these three Daoist priests and said a word.

Hong Changbao's status in the hearts of the Red Wood Ridge remnants is very high. Hearing this, everyone hesitated and didn't dare to do anything.

But the wounded person was still howling. Cheng Xinzhan was about to explain, but at this time, someone in the crowd spoke again, his voice surprised and happy,

"Are you Cheng Zhaizhu?!"

Cheng Xinzhan looked in the direction of the sound. The man squeezed out of the crowd. It was a sallow old man. He waved his hand at Cheng Xinzhan. Cheng Xinzhan looked carefully and finally recognized this person,

"Uncle Langshan!"

It was actually Langshan Liu!

"Cheng Zhaizhu is here?"

Someone came following the sound. Seeing Cheng Xinzhan, everyone was overjoyed. In this chaotic world where life is at stake, seeing an old friend is really happy.

"Baihe Qiao, Dongtian Dang, Heqiu Mo, Gaoshan Xiang..."

Cheng Xinzhan called out the names of these people one by one. These were all old friends from Qilihe Square back then! It's just that everyone was sallow, and some were missing arms and legs, which made people feel sad.

He held hands with these old friends one by one, and asked,

"Lanshui Yu, Weiqingtian, Wu Amei, where are they?"

Langshan Liu just shook his head repeatedly, "Gone, all gone..."

Seeing that this Daoist was familiar with the Miao people, others asked who the Daoist was.

Langshan Liu raised his head high when he heard this, "Everyone, this is Daoist Cheng Qieqing. When the Lantao evil appeared back then, it was Daoist Cheng who went in to collect the corpses for my Miao people, fought with the Shushan thief Daoist, and finally was seriously injured because of the evil energy!"

Everyone was in an uproar. The appearance of the true evil is a big event, and everyone remembers it vividly, and the righteous Daoist who went into the evil to save people was also remembered.

"So it's him!"

That wounded man also stared blankly at Cheng Xinzhan, forgetting even the gu-insect on his arm.

At this time, Hong Changbao also rushed over. Seeing everyone surrounding the three Daoist priests, he thought there was some conflict, and shouted,

"What are you doing! Retreat!"

Hong Jiaozhu Hong shouted, and the onlookers hurriedly scattered.

Hong Changbao saw the gu-insect perched on the wounded man's arm, his gaze fixed, and then he looked at Cheng Xinzhan.

"Daoist Cheng, what are you doing?"

Cheng Xinzhan beckoned, and the mosquito-gu flew off the wounded man with great reluctance, hovering between Cheng Xinzhan and Hong Changbao. He said,

"Hong Jiaozhu Hong, your subordinates are sallow, vomiting gastric water, don't you suspect anything?"

Hong Changbao frowned and said with his heart's voice,

"Didn't Daoist Cheng ask this question before? I said that Lost Trace Lake's reserve is insufficient and it won't last long. My disciples have become like this because they haven't been supplemented for a long time. Why ask it in front of everyone?"

Cheng Xinzhan intended to establish prestige in front of the Red Wood Ridge remnants, so he didn't answer with his heart's voice, but opened his mouth and said directly,

"Hong Jiaozhu Hong, the Red Wood Ridge disciples are so weak now, not because of the lack of meat supplementation, but because they have been plagued!"

As soon as Cheng Xinzhan said this, there was another uproar, followed by a panic shout,

"Plague! It turns out it's plague!"

"It must be, it must be plague, I said why I can't even walk!"

"Not bad, not bad!"

"It's the Yin River Ghost Master! His water is the most poisonous!"

Many people echoed.

Hong Changbao's face became very bad. In fact, he had tested for poison and guessed plague, but he couldn't find anything, so he attributed it to the lack of food supplementation. Now hearing Cheng Xinzhan say this, he asked,

"Does the Daoist priest have any real evidence?"

Cheng Xinzhan turned his hand, and the mosquito-gu landed on his palm. He pointed at the mosquito-gu's belly and brought his hand before Hong Changbao's eyes.

"Hong Jiaozhu Hong, please look."

Hong Changbao leaned his head forward. The mosquito-gu's belly was slightly transparent, like green glass, and one could see the blood sloshing inside. At the same time, looking closely through the mosquito-gu's greenish belly, one could also see tiny glowing specks within the blood.

"This is?"

Looking at those small dots, Hong Changbao's pupils shrank to the size of a needle.

"This is a mosquito-gu, which loves to feed on plague-insects. These tiny specks are the plague-insects."

Hong Changbao was already eighty percent convinced in his heart. He looked at Cheng Xinzhan again; he had never even seen this kind of mosquito-gu, so it certainly wasn't a Miao Border gu, but rather a Southern Wilderness gu. Southern Wilderness gu were not as numerous as Miao Border gu, but they were fiercer and stranger. How could this Sanqing Daoist have one?

Everyone was panicked and asked one after another,

"Cheng Zhaizhu, and Hong Jiaozhu, is there any way to cure it!"

"Cheng Zhaizhu, Hong Jiaozhu, think of a way quickly!"

Unknowingly, everyone put Cheng Xinzhan in front of Hong Changbao.

"Cheng Zhaizhu!"

The wounded person just now, I don't know where the strength came from, suddenly got up and grabbed Cheng Xinzhan, "Cheng Zhaizhu, let that mosquito bite me quickly and suck away all my plague insects!"

Everyone woke up like a dream and rolled up their sleeves to expose their arms one after another,

"Suck mine!"

"Suck mine!"

Cheng Xinzhan hurriedly stopped everyone,

"Everyone, relying on mosquito-gu to suck up plague-insects will not clean them out completely. As long as a plague-insect remains in the body, even just one, it will grow to cover the whole body within a few hours."

"Then what should we do!"

"Please Daoist priest, think of a way!"

Hong Changbao raised his hand to stop everyone's shouting. The movement here was getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people were gathering around. He looked at Cheng Xinzhan,

"Daoist Cheng must have a way?"

Hong Changbao said quite firmly. This Daoist, under the eyes of everyone, if he exposed this rotten matter and had no way, he would be a complete fool, and he is a person who is not afraid of wearing shoes, not a good person.

As expected, Cheng Xinzhan nodded, "There is a way."

Everyone's face suddenly showed joy, and Hong Changbao also breathed a sigh of relief. To tell the truth, it is easy to put plague, but difficult to cure plague. He was really afraid that Cheng Xinzhan was a tiger. "I would like to hear the details."

He asked hurriedly.

Cheng Xinzhan said, "By chance, I got a prescription for plague. I will refine the elixir, and everyone will take it with water, which should solve it."

"Does the Daoist priest know what kind of plague this is, and is the prescription symptomatic?"

Hong Changbao was still a bit worried. There are many kinds of plague, and it is not so easy to cure. If the prescription is wrong, don't make a mistake and aggravate the condition.

"It can't be wrong, Hong Jiaozhu Hong, don't worry."

Cheng Xinzhan replied, letting Hong Changbao rest assured. This is the prescription of the righteous god of the plague department. What kind of fierce plague has not been cured? What's more, this plague that makes people weak and ruins the stomach and obviously only takes effect on those below the Third Realm.

"Then what treasure materials does the Daoist priest need to open the furnace?"

Cheng Xinzhan still shook his head, "No need, I have them all here. The Hong Jiaozhu has many people, so some things should be saved."

Back then, when he was under Honglu Island, he had practiced "Tianhuang Detoxification Pills," and he had saved some on his body, and also took a lot of sulfur main materials in the cave. It is not difficult to open a few more furnaces.

!

Cheng Xinzhan took out an elixir he refined on Honglu Island, and used magic to ingest a group of river water, dissolved the elixir in the water, and then separated a share, asking,

"I want to test the concentration and medicinal properties of the elixir water. Who will try it?"

Looking at the yellow elixir water in Cheng Xinzhan's palm, everyone suddenly hesitated. Yes, Hong Jiaozhu Hong said it right, is this elixir symptomatic?

"Cheng Zhaizhu, I will try it."

Langshan Liu stood in front and said.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded at him, and sent the share of elixir water over. Langshan Liu didn't hesitate and swallowed it.

And Langshan Liu swallowed the elixir water, only feeling a sense of dryness filling his whole body, like fire burning. In less than ten breaths, he felt comfortable all over, as if all the stagnant blood in his whole body had dispersed, and the feeling that he couldn't breathe and something was blocking his chest also disappeared.

He smiled at Cheng Xinzhan, "Cheng Zhaizhu, I feel like I'm all better!"

Cheng Xinzhan once again commanded the mosquito-gu to suck up the plague-insects, but this time, the gu-insect could only suck up essence-blood; there were no more plague-insects in the blood. He nodded; the efficacy of the "Heavenly Yellow Detoxification Pill" was indeed strong. Even when diluted into a hundred-fold elixir water, it could still cure the disease. It seemed that opening the furnace five more times would be enough to resolve this epidemic.

Seeing this, everyone opened their mouths to ask for elixir water one after another.

Cheng Xinzhan distributed the elixir water in his hand, and told the rest not to worry. In half a month, everyone will have it. Their current plague will not take their lives in a short time.

Cheng Xinzhan asked Hong Changbao for a quiet place. Hong Changbao gave up the place with the most spiritual machine on the island. It was the highest island in Lost Trace Lake. After sending it to the place, he bowed deeply to Cheng Xinzhan,

"Daoist Cheng, you have really done a lot of kindness to my Red Wood Ridge. Master is not here, I don't know how to thank you."

Cheng Xinzhan helped him up, "It's just a small effort."

Hong Changbao left. Shen Zhaoming and Huang Miaoluo stayed to protect the law. The two looked at Cheng Xinzhan very surprised. Shen Zhaoming said,

"Xinzhan, I really didn't expect you to have the craft of alchemy. Then why didn't I see you make a move at the Longhu Dharma Assembly?"

Cheng Xinzhan smiled, "It's all learned later, and the skill is not yet home."

Subsequently, Cheng Xinzhan refined elixirs under the protection of the two. Next, people on Lost Trace Lake could see the elixir smoke lingering on the peak every day.

Every two days, Cheng Xinzhan would let Hong Changbao come up once, give him the refined elixir, explain the dosage, and then let him dissolve it into elixir water and distribute it to everyone. By the ninth day, Cheng Xinzhan was handy, refined the last furnace of elixir one day in advance, and called Hong Changbao up again.

However, this time, two people came up.

Besides Hong Changbao, there was also a cold-faced young man in black clothes and black hair.

Cheng Xinzhan understood. It seems that Hong Changbao's guard against his group of people has decreased a lot. He still handed the elixir over first. Hong Changbao collected the elixir and introduced,

"Daoist Cheng, this is my sworn brother, Wu Xuanmiao. Brother, this is Daoist Cheng Xinzhan, who has great kindness to Red Wood Ridge."

"Daoist friend Wu, the poor Daoist greets you."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded and greeted.

The young man is a snake species. Being so close to Cheng Xinzhan, he was a bit uncomfortable. He endured the discomfort, arched his hands and returned the salute, "Greetings to Daoist Cheng."

He wondered in his heart, why is the dragon power on this person so heavy? Although there is a drop of essence blood from the benefactor, it shouldn't be so heavy.

He looked at Shen Zhaoming beside him again, and also felt that it was very obstructive.

Cheng Xinzhan didn't know what the young man was thinking, and opened his mouth to ask, "I don't know if Daoist friend Wu has any good news to bring back from the outside?"

Wu Xuanmiao's face was even uglier, and he shook his head. His voice was very thin, like a woman,

"The Eighteen Demon Kings of the Wu River, none of them are willing to come to rescue. When I was young, I had contributed so much to them. The Green Dragon Cave let me enter the mountain gate and gave me a lot of spiritual food and medicinal herbs to bring back, but they were unwilling to send people over. The Immortal Cave, I didn't even enter the mountain gate."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, not too surprised. There are many people in the world who are willing to add flowers to the brocade, and few who send charcoal in the snow.

Cheng Xinzhan measured the celestial phenomena and time, knowing that the flood season was coming. Just in front of the two masters, he stated his plan: take Lost Trace Lake as a stronghold, follow the time and place, cooperate inside and outside, and kill Yao Kaijiang. After killing Yao Kaijiang, there will be reinforcements from the righteous path, and then deal with Yang Xuanla and Long Youpo. At that time, no matter whether the remaining two demon heads fight or flee, Red Wood Ridge can survive this disaster.

After listening, the two thought for a long time. After looking at each other, Hong Changbao said,

"As long as the Daoist priests can invite reinforcements, my Red Wood Ridge is willing to risk our lives to accompany you."

The current situation is that the two have no choice but to agree. Cheng Xinzhan is an outsider, coming to make plans and contribute. Not only did he save many people in Red Wood Ridge, but he also contacted fellow Daoists to seek reinforcements outside. And Wu Xuanmiao didn't bring back even one rescuer. If he gave up the opportunity mentioned by Cheng Xinzhan, he would really be trapped to death here.

So for a period of time, the most important thing for everyone was to wait.

Wait for the summer flood to strike, wait for the news of reinforcements, wait for the people of Red Wood Ridge to recover their vitality.

During this period, Cheng Xinzhan and Shen Zhaoming successively discussed the techniques of raising mist and making waves with Wu Xuanmiao. After several discussions, Wu Xuanmiao agreed that when they kill out that day, he would hand over the mist formation of Lost Trace Lake to Cheng Xinzhan to control, and he would raise waves from the upper reaches to rush over, and then Shen Zhaoming would guide the flooding of the mountain.

After the beginning of summer, the heavy rain slowly increased, and the water level of the Wu River was slowly rising.

On the sixth day after the beginning of summer, the sound transmission talisman in Cheng Xinzhan's arms lit up. Song Jishu sent a letter, saying four words,

"As you wish."

Cheng Xinzhan laughed loudly, put away the sound transmission talisman, found Wu Xuanmiao, and told him that he could go to the upper reaches of the Wu River to raise waves.

On Lost Trace Lake, the atmosphere changed suddenly. Shrinking for three years, hundreds of people died in the torture of serious injuries and plague. Now, it is finally time to take revenge.

Yao Kaijiang.

The Red Wood Ridge disciples all thought about eating his flesh and sleeping on his skin day and night.

Waiting until the 17th of May, the thunder sounded from midnight, and the heavy rain poured down, and it didn't stop until dawn.

The sound of heavy rain hitting the forest and leaves, the sound of river water rolling and hitting the shore, the sound of dark currents surging at the bottom of the lake, all kinds of water sounds merged into one, echoing and exploding in the valley. The power of heaven and earth surpassed countless thousands of troops and horses. And in the sky, dark clouds hung low, as if to cover the top of the mountain, thunder surged, shaking the mountains to tremble.

The world was dim, only silver-purple thunder shuttled like snakes, making people unable to distinguish whether it was day or night. And the heavy rain hit Lost Trace Lake, splashing water beads in all directions. The heavy rain was like a bead curtain, and the rain curtain was boundless. Ten steps away, nothing could be seen.

And in such celestial phenomena, the mist of Lost Trace Lake did not disperse, but spread outward, but under the cover of heavy rain and dark clouds, it was impossible to find out whether this was mist or scattered water vapor.

At the same time, in the sound of the sky and the sound of water, a dull sound came from the upper reaches of the Wu River.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 199 =====