Chapter 740: Extra Chapter 2: Poison Vat

Those birds had long existed in the Nine Abyss Deep Abyss, and they likely carried Hundred Spirit Poison on their bodies.

I don't fear Hundred Spirit Poison, but Zhao Zixun is at a critical moment.

His physical body had previously been invaded by a hundred ghosts, so it might also not fear Hundred Spirit Poison.

But as the filth in his physical body is gradually forced out, turning to ash and smoke, his body will develop toward normality; at this point it is extremely fragile and extremely susceptible to invasion by Hundred Spirit Poison.

I must protect him.

But just as I was about to loosen my grip and turn to face those birds, Zhao Zixun's voice sounded in my ear: "Don't move!"

I dared not move again, only able to hold Zhao Zixun tight while pricking up my ears to listen to the birds' movements.

Bang!

At the moment Golden Light flashed again, it emitted a dull thud.

Another batch of filth was forced out of the body, turning to ash and smoke.

Thud…

A faint heartbeat sound came through, barely audible, yet I still managed to catch it with my keen senses.

I heard Zhao Zixun's heartbeat.

Not only the heartbeat, I also felt his chest soften a little, and a bit of viscous blood seeped from the knife wound on his chest.

The color was somewhat dark.

But these changes at least indicate that Zhao Zixun's physical body is developing toward normality.

This is an excellent sign.

Unfortunately, before Zhao Zixun could completely cleanse the filth from his body, we were already surrounded.

Around us, a circle of black birds wheeled; I couldn't see what was behind me, but I was certain someone was there.

And it's very likely that person is someone I know.

Xiao Jiu had said she saw an acquaintance in the Nine Abyss… a witch spirit.

That is, the former teahouse owner, Gu Yan.

Zhao Zixun didn't give them a chance to approach; with a sweep of his hand, a fierce palm wind swept up the shattered blades on the ground, the blades as if grown eyes, shooting in all directions, stabbing toward those birds.

His motion didn't stop; another palm wind struck toward the person behind me.

Before the opponent could make a move, my body was already lifted by Zhao Zixun; the portion of battle soul he had just condensed had already completely enveloped me, carrying me upward.

Zhao Zixun actually repeated the same trick, intending to send me away this way.

But without that portion of battle soul, and having lost his own weapon, what could Zhao Zixun use to fight the Hundred Spirit Poison?

As I floated up, I finally saw what was behind me that I couldn't see before.

There, indeed stood a person.

She wore a black mage's robe that enveloped her entirely, even her head covered by a large attached hood.

She was slightly hunchbacked, her left hand lifted upward, holding a coarse pottery jar the size of a tea canister, from which came a faint rustling sound.

This is a poison vat used for cultivating gu!

This poison vat looks very ancient, its surface carved with some patterns that resemble the totem of a certain bird.

Upon seeing this poison vat, an ominous premonition welled up in my heart.

The bird totem on the poison vat's surface inevitably reminded me of the Garuda.

The Garuda had long been dead, and even the mythic bird had turned to ash and smoke.

Xiao Jiu and the others had several times cleared the remnants of the mythic bird; could there still be a slip through the net?

No, if the mythic bird still had such remnants, they wouldn't have been so peaceful over the past year or more.

Therefore, this portion of birds lurking in the Nine Abyss Deep Abyss belongs neither to the mythic bird nor the Garuda, nor to the Feng Clan.

Who are they? Why do they survive in the Nine Abyss Deep Abyss?

At present, it's utterly impossible to obtain a definite answer.

At that moment, I saw the woman wrapped in the mage's robe raise her withered hand and tap the surface of the poison vat.

Her motion of tapping the poison vat was slow yet rhythmic.

As she swept her hand violently toward Zhao Zixun, the birds circling around instantly had their eyes turn red, went mad, and lunged at Zhao Zixun.

Oh no!

Zhao Zixun is about to be afflicted by gu!

I had no time to ponder further, directly forming a sword finger and pressing it to my own abdomen while murmuring an incantation.

Not long ago, this portion of battle soul wrapped around me was personally severed from my body by me.

Since I can sever it, I have a way to temporarily draw it back into my body, thereby breaking its hold on me.

Zhao Zixun obviously hadn't anticipated this.

I seized the opportunity to retract the battle soul that had been lifting me upward, then backhandedly unleashed a Coffin Nail, shooting it straight at the woman's occiput.

As the Coffin Nail flew out, I also landed steadily on the ground.

The woman instantly sensed the anomaly, turned around, and as she raised her hand again, I saw blood on her fingertips.

Her bloody fingertip pressed against the poison vat, then pointed toward the direction from which the Coffin Nail came; everything happened in a flash, leaving no time to react.

I only saw a bloody centipede burst straight out of the poison vat's belly, rushing to meet the Coffin Nail.

At the instant the woman turned, the airflow surged, lifting her large hood, and I saw her face.

Even though it was just a fleeting glance, I still made out a rough outline.

Half of this woman's face was… a black-and-white skeleton, while the other half was covered in wrinkles, pallid and bloodless; yet I still recognized from her brows and eyes that this was the teahouse owner, Gu Yan!

She… how could she have become like this?

Xiao Jiu, when she saw her in the Nine Abyss back then, must have been frightened as well.

After returning from Zàng Qū, Xiao Jiu had been looking for her for a long, long time; how could she appear in the Nine Abyss Deep Abyss?

Xiao Jiu had said that Gu Yan was a very, very good person.

She had hidden in the teahouse of Wufu Town for many years, always kind to others; later her identity was exposed, she returned to Qian Dongnan, and by her own efforts passed on all she had learned in her lifetime.

Afterwards, she hid near Feng Xianqiu, assuming the alias Wu Ling, and helped Xiao Jiu a lot.

Such a person with correct values, if she still had a shred of reason, could never act against Zhao Zixun.

Therefore, this half-human, half-skeleton creature before us had long been controlled and turned into a puppet.

The blood centipede collided with the Coffin Nail; the condensed Coffin Nail qi was scattered, and as the Coffin Nail disappeared, the blood centipede fell straight down, and Wu Ling reached out and caught it.

The blood centipede fell into her hand and was placed back into the Gu Vat.

And I also felt the Coffin Nail return to my lower abdomen.

I shouted at the woman: "Wu Ling, perhaps I should still call you Gu Yan; do you still remember Xiao Jiu? She has been looking for you for a long, long time; do you want to see her again? Do you dare let her see you now, neither human nor ghost?"

I tried to provoke the woman using Xiao Jiu.

The woman, however, showed no reaction; her bloody finger pressed again against the belly of the Gu Vat.

This time, getting a bit closer, I clearly saw the pattern on the Gu Vat's belly; a flash of blood-colored flow passed through, and that blood flow was clearly being sucked from Wu Ling's finger wound into the Gu Vat.

So, has Wu Ling been nourishing this Gu Vat with her own blood all along?

Immediately, I thought of her half-skeleton face.

Perhaps, the matter is even more cruel than I imagined……