Chapter 557: Yuan Chaoliang

Lu Wushuang turned back suddenly.

Her gaze swept past Miyoshi Ryota and Nanako, who were shocked and turned to guard, and passed through the ruined gate of the Tang Zhaotisi, seeing patches of Gu insects circling and dancing in mid-air like dark clouds, almost covering the entire sky within her line of sight.

"So... many?"

Lu Wushuang's pupils shrank.

She usually hung around the Gansu and Shaanxi regions and had not experienced the witchcraft disaster in Qi, Lu, and the Miao border three years ago, but she had inquired about the situation from familiar major sects—even in those two shocking events, the siege of the twelve branches of the Miao tribe and the witchcraft disaster in Tai'an City, there had never been so many Gu insects!

If these Gu insects spread, it would definitely be a tragedy far exceeding the witchcraft disaster in Tai'an City!

"My lord!"

Lu Wushuang turned her head.

"The Tang Zhaotisi is a trap!"

"They knew Miyoshi Ryota's identity, and thus deduced that we were coming to find Master Jianzhen's remains, so after testing your realm, they deliberately didn't continue to send people and withdrew their manpower from the Tang Zhaotisi!"

"Leaving that madman behind was meant to make us explore his moves and delay our steps, allowing them to close the encirclement! This is a premeditated ambush!"

Li Miao picked his ear.

"I know, no need to shout so loudly."

"I heard them when they were two hundred zhang away. Besides, is it rare for them to prepare an ambush?"

He shrugged and walked out with his hands in his sleeves.

"How many fools are there in this world who stay at home, don't run, don't use methods, and just wait for you to come to their door to kill them?"

"You stay here and wait until there's no movement outside before coming out. I'll go see what kind of formation they've prepared and what methods they have."

Having said that, Li Miao gathered his cloak and stepped out of the Tang Zhaotisi.

The swarm of Gu insects circling in mid-air had already prepared to attack. Seeing Li Miao walk out, a portion separated from the dark cloud and pressed toward Li Miao.

Li Miao looked up.

Hum!

The dark cloud suddenly froze in mid-air, and then, for no reason, exploded violently. Countless Gu insects scattered and flew away, and many fell directly to the ground, struggling and flapping, making ear-piercing hissing sounds.

Clap, clap, clap.

"As expected of you."

Footsteps and applause approached from afar.

"These Gu insects, even if they face the so-called peak experts of the Central Plains, can gnaw them into white bones within a cup of tea. Even a swordsman at the level of a Sword Saint would be stretched thin under this massive quantity."

"Yet you, relying only on the killing intent in your eyes, were able to disperse them... It is truly chilling. Can we really not just stop here and shake hands?"

Central Plains language, polite words, a polite request.

Li Miao looked toward the sound.

Outside the temple, it was already filled with monk soldiers, stretching out along his line of sight, with no end in sight. They were all wearing lamellar armor, and the blades of their naginata were snow-white. Just looking at their equipment, they were even more elite than the Qi family army.

In front of the military formation, dozens of monks dressed in monk's robes with black veils covering their faces were kneeling on the ground, their hands clasped in front of them, eyes closed, chanting. Without needing to get close, Li Miao could smell the stench emanating from them—Great Shamans, Great Shamans who practiced witchcraft.

Moreover, the smell on these monks was different from those Great Shamans of the twelve Miao branches; the insect smell was about the same, but the blood smell was ten times richer. Clearly, compared to the Miao tribe suppressed in the Central Plains, these people were much more unscrupulous in collecting blood food.

Further ahead, however, were not monks.

Li Miao raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously.

"Shintoism?"

Standing in front of the Great Shamans were a dozen Japanese powerhouses equivalent to the Heaven-Man realm of the Central Plains. But what was strange was that among these dozen people, the number of monks only accounted for half.

The age, clothing, and appearance of the other half were uneven, making it difficult to identify their origins for a moment. But among them was one person wearing a white kariginu with chrysanthemum patterns, wearing a high crown, shaking a round fan in his hand, looking toward Li Miao. It was he who had just spoken.

The kariginu was a set of clothing with sleeves separated from the body and a bifurcated trouser skirt for the lower body. Just hearing the form, one knew that this thing did not exist for the sake of practicality, but was a set of ceremonial clothing. ===== CHAPTER 558 =====