Chapter 582: Ability

As she withdrew her right hand, the insect tide converged once again, forming a river of insects.

"Amazing, Mengdie, do all your clanspeople possess such abilities?" Ye Qingning asked with a sigh of admiration.

"No, not at all," Mengdie shook her head slightly and said, "These insects are the guardians of our Witch Clan. Under normal circumstances, unless one is an Elder in the clan who possesses Witch Power, no one else can command them. Their purpose here is to keep outsiders from entering and to keep us from running around as we please."

"Then why are you able to command these insects?" Ye Qinglong could not help but ask curiously.

"Because our Mengdie is a genius." Ye Qingning's praise immediately won the little girl's favor, and the two, one big and one small, walked forward holding hands, giggling.

"Mr. Chen, is this the Witch Clan?" Looking at the breathtakingly beautiful landscape before him, Wei Hongye was also somewhat surprised. He had originally thought that Ten Thousand Gu Valley was an extremely dangerous place of rugged mountains and treacherous waters, but he never imagined it would look so beautiful here.

"That's right, who would have thought the scenery here would be so beautiful," Chen Yu sighed. "Let's enter the village. Everyone remember our current identities: we are merchants here to purchase rare medicinal herbs who stumbled into this place by mistake."

"Understood, Mr. Chen," Huang Wei nodded.

"Chen Yu, I'm telling you, the identity you have with my sister is just a pretense," Ye Qinglong glared fiercely at Chen Yu.

"Right, it's a pretense, so what?" Chen Yu asked with a sidelong glance.

"You are not allowed to have any improper thoughts about my sister," Ye Qinglong said.

"That's impossible. I'm not a gentleman who can sit with a woman without being moved. I can choose not to act, but I can't guarantee I won't think about it," Chen Yu shook his head.

"You dare! You must remember that you two are just acting," Ye Qinglong was furious. His sister was like a goddess, and this guy Chen Yu had such filthy thoughts; he shouldn't even be allowed to think about her.

"That's right, we are acting, but I can't guarantee whether we might turn the act into reality," Chen Yu laughed heartily and walked forward, leaving the furious Ye Qinglong behind.

"Mengmeng, where did you go, Mengmeng? Everyone has gone out to look for you; you've worried your grandfather to death."

At the village entrance, an old man was calling out Mengdie's name everywhere with a group of villagers.

Seeing Mengdie, the old man hurriedly pulled her over and said with a mix of anger and worry.

"Grandfather, I just went out for a trip. I don't want to go to the ancestor worship, and I don't want to practice the Gu Technique. I just want to live with you, Grandfather," Mengdie lowered her head; although she knew she was wrong, she still looked unwilling.

"What are you saying? Every child must go to the ancestor worship. We believe in the Gu Ancestor, and you possess talent. If you are chosen by the Gu Ancestor to stay in the ancestral land, that is a supreme honor," the old man said angrily. "Why are you trying to escape?"

"I'm not escaping. Grandfather is getting old, and I just want to stay and take care of you. I heard the old madman in the village say that everyone who goes to the ancestral land dies; not a single person has ever come out alive," Mengdie shouted.

"Shut up! You believe the old madman's words? You dare to insult the Gu Ancestor? See if I don't hit you," the old man said, raising his hand as if to strike.

"Old sir, the child is just speaking without thinking; please don't be angry," Ye Qingning hurriedly stepped forward to block the old man and protect Mengdie.

"Who are you? How did you get in?" The old man was slightly stunned, only then noticing Chen Yu and his group.

"It's like this, old sir. We are herb merchants looking for some rare medicinal herbs in the mountains. This is our boss, President Chen, and this is our boss's wife, Ms. Ye," Wei Hongye stepped forward and said with a smile.

"Is what you say true?" The old man looked at the group with suspicion; he did not quite believe Chen Yu's words.

"Of course it's true, old sir. We got lost in the mountains and stumbled in here. Please forgive us for the intrusion," Chen Yu walked forward and smiled.

"Hmph, girl, since there are guests from outside today, I won't hold it against you. If you dare to speak so recklessly again, see if I don't hit you," the old man finally let it go.

In fact, everyone could see that the old man had only raised his hand to scare his granddaughter; he couldn't bear to actually hit her.

"Old Bamu, since Mengdie is back, we can rest easy. Now that there are guests, let's go report to the village chief," someone stepped forward and said.

"Alright, dear guests, welcome. Let's go to the village chief's house first," old Bamu said with a smile.

The village chief was a man in his forties. Seeing Chen Yu and the others, he also expressed his welcome and immediately arranged accommodations for them.

"Mr. Village Chief, stumbling into your land was truly abrupt. We may need to impose on you for a few days. This is a small token of our appreciation, please do not refuse," Wei Hongye, acting as the steward, took out some cash and handed it over.

"Guests from afar are welcome. We rarely have people come to the Witch land. You may stay as long as you like," the village chief laughed heartily and refused Wei Hongye's cash.

In fact, this place was basically isolated from the world. It was fortunate that the village chief was knowledgeable and knew what RMB looked like; if it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have known what it was.

The people here were indeed warm and hospitable. Soon, someone had arranged a place for Chen Yu and his group to stay—a vacant courtyard in the center of the village. The courtyard was large enough and had plenty of rooms; it was no problem at all for nine people to stay there.

The surnames of the people here were not from the Hundred Family Surnames; they were all strange. The village chief's name was "Bayi," and he was quite enthusiastic, personally leading the group over.

Just after settling Chen Yu and the others in, a villager wearing blue ethnic minority clothing ran over to the entrance. He shouted in a hurry: "Village Chief, it's bad! Gengzi in the east of the village has had a relapse."

"Quick, invite the village Witch Doctor over," the village chief was shocked.

"Village Chief, have you forgotten? It's the time for Gu ancestor worship. Everyone in the village who possesses Witch Power is currently at the ancestral land and won't be back for half a month," the villager said anxiously.

"What should we do? Quick, let's go over and take a look first," the village chief was so anxious he was stamping his feet.

"Mr. Village Chief, I know some medicine. Why don't I go with you and take a look?" Chen Yu said.

"Really? That's great, thank you for the trouble," the village chief was slightly stunned, then overjoyed. It was best if someone knew medicine.

"I'll go take a look too," Ye Qingning turned to her bodyguards and said, "You all tidy up the things here first."

Once Ye Qingning left the door, Ye Qinglong naturally had to follow. The village chief led the three of them hurriedly into a small house built from a two-story wooden pavilion.

Before they even entered the room, they heard shrill, miserable screams coming from inside, along with the crying and shouting of women and children.