Chapter 172

“Duo… Duo duo… Duo duo duo… Da da da da!”

Tan Wenbin gripped the handle and quickly rotated it to start the tractor.

Once everyone was seated, Tan Wenbin drove the tractor along the mountain road.

Behind them lay the Miao village, asleep after the celebration.

Li Zhuoyuan sat in the back compartment, lifting his head to gaze at the starlit sky.

As they neared the lake, Li Zhuoyuan closed his eyes, breaking his peaceful state.

“Get ready.”

Everyone began to check their equipment.

Xue Liangliang, sitting beside Tan Wenbin in the driver’s seat, took over the tractor’s controls and drove them the final stretch.

They reached the edge of the lake.

Li Zhuoyuan held a compass, confirmed the direction, and selected a diving position and direction.

Runsheng squatted, picked up the child, and immediately leaped into the lake.

Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng followed closely.

Tan Wenbin took a few hurried puffs from the cigarette he had just lit before handing it to Xue Liangliang, then also jumped in.

Xue Liangliang remained in place, finished the rest of the cigarette, then restarted the tractor and turned it around.

Inside the vehicle were their packed clothes and belongings, as well as food and medicine. His task was to drive the tractor to a relatively distant safe location and wait for them to return ashore.

Xue Liangliang knew he wasn’t capable of helping on the front lines, so there was no need to cause trouble. He would use his abilities to ensure the logistics were handled properly.

After parking and covering the tractor, Xue Liangliang sat in the back compartment, looked up, and, in place of Xiao Yuan, continued to appreciate the starry sky.

Guizhou possessed extremely rich human and scenic resources. Once this matter was resolved and the construction team resumed work, their mission would be complete.

After that, they would have a significant amount of free time and wouldn’t need to stay at the work site.

Xue Liangliang took out a small notebook and pen from his pocket. He felt he could create a travel guide for Xiao Yuan and the others, taking them on a fun trip.

But as he worked on the guide, a sense of wistfulness suddenly rose in his heart.

It wasn’t that the mountains of Guizhou weren’t beautiful enough, but rather that the rivers of Nantong were more charming.

He felt that compared to a detailed travel guide he put together, Xiao Yuan would probably prefer to hear him say:

“Let’s go, back to Nantong.”

…

The lake water was very cool at night.

After entering the water, everyone dove towards the northwest part of the lake.

The closer they got to that position, the lower the water temperature became.

As they dove deeper, the light from their waterproof flashlights illuminated the bottom of the lake, where they could even see a layer of white frost.

And in the middle of the white frost, there was a black, dark cave entrance, surrounded by large swathes of black water grass swaying.

Runsheng was the first to approach the cave entrance. The black water grass actively entangled around him, attempting to drown him.

Unfortunately, Runsheng’s strength was immense. He was already more at home underwater than on land, and after receiving guidance from Uncle Qin, he was even more like a fish in water when submerged.

The water grass was continuously broken. The Yellow River shovel in Runsheng’s hand was like a sickle, harvesting wildly while also clearing a path for his companions behind him.

He waited for a moment, seeing that they had followed, before swimming into the cave.

The water currents inside the cave were chaotic. An ordinary person entering here would likely be swept away and lose their direction.

Li Zhuoyuan held Runsheng’s neck with his left arm and gripped the compass with his right hand.

The child only needed to hook or draw on the back of Runsheng’s neck with his fingertip, and Runsheng could immediately understand and adjust their direction.

They swam and swam, and a black shadow appeared in front of them.

Li Zhuoyuan shone his flashlight on it and discovered rows and rows of corpses. In the special environment, the corpses were relatively well-preserved and didn’t resemble the ghastly appearances seen elsewhere.

There were both male and female corpses, but judging from their sizes, children made up more than half.

Many of the children, even in death, still held the hands of their ‘father’ or ‘mother’ beside them.

Old Bian Po primarily collected children as her sacrifices. The adults here were likely pulled down along with their children when trying to save them.

Shining the flashlight further down, they could see the black shadows piled up into small mounds below, but they were mostly broken.

The corpses that floated to the surface were relatively intact.

There weren’t many fresh corpses. Judging by their clothing, they were all from the previous year.

These were all sacrifices gathered during Old Bian Po’s last ‘production’.

The destructive power of the evil creature’s disaster became concrete in this moment.

Li Zhuoyuan put away the compass, closed his eyes, and slowly lowered his right hand.

【Fengdu Twelve Laws – All Ghosts Silent.】

Though invisible in reality, from the perspective of the Walk Yin, one could see black patterns continuously surging from the child’s palm, rippling outwards.

Li Zhuoyuan was performing a pacification ritual for ‘them’.

This kind of corpse, which had been dead for a long time and imprisoned in a Yin tide location, could easily transform into a walking corpse upon contact with the breath of living people.

Rather than dealing with such trouble underwater, it was better to pacify ‘them’ beforehand.

Before facing the main enemy, any strength they could conserve was beneficial.

With the child’s pacification, the corpses remained very still, and everyone swam through them.

Then, they reached the end of the space completely filled with water. Upon surfacing, they found themselves in an empty valley. Everyone came ashore.

After a quick rest, they continued their advance.

This wasn’t an underground palace; it exuded a natural, primitive feel.

As they walked, they could see crystals inside the karst cave, which reflected dazzling colors, especially when illuminated by the flashlight.

Tan Wenbin: “What a great place! Really suitable for tourism development.”

Lin Shuyou: “But Bin bro, there are dirty things here.”

Tan Wenbin: “We can clean up the dirty things.”

Lin Shuyou: “But won’t tourists feel unlucky coming here? After all, so many people died here.”

Tan Wenbin: “Aren’t there plenty of tourists flocking to those tomb scenic areas during holidays?”

Lin Shuyou: “You have a point.”

The path underfoot widened as they walked, and a relatively flat area appeared ahead.

There were twelve grooves on the platform, with eleven stone coffins embedded in them.

The shape of the stone coffins was exactly the same as the one in which the noblewoman had been placed during the extermination at the construction site that day.

Li Zhuoyuan had suspected at the time that Old Bian Po had dug up the noblewoman from some nearby ancient tomb. Now it seemed he had guessed wrong; that noblewoman was originally Old Bian Po’s ‘burial object’.

‘Saint woman’ was originally an occupational title within a faith system.

Historically, some saint women became the common faith of a large surrounding area, while others might only be worshipped by their own small village.

Old Bian Po’s former self should have been a very high-ranking saint woman. Otherwise, even a single burial object wouldn’t be so rich in treasures.

However, among the remaining eleven coffins, nine had already been opened, and they were empty.

The two unopened coffins were also bound with chains.

Those nine empty coffins should have been cleared out by the Zhao family’s Dragon King when he came here.

Li Zhuoyuan noticed that the chains binding the coffins had already corroded and lost their original effect.

The child pointed at them, and his companions understood. Everyone began to approach the two coffins step by step.

When the Dragon King came here, he drifted in, suppressed the matter, and then潇洒离开了.

That was the Dragon King’s style.

They were still far from the Dragon King’s level. A small team had its own way of operating.

If the threat was too great, they would avoid it if possible and only complete the main task. If the danger was controllable, they would rather spend more time clearing these two obstacles in advance.

This would prevent unforeseen problems after finishing the matter and coming out.

However, just at this moment, a miserable cry suddenly came from deep inside, followed immediately by a second, then a third…

Tan Wenbin: “What the hell, is it production time?”

Yin Meng: “Didn’t the Dragon King’s character stele say she needed a blood sacrifice during production?”

Lin Shuyou: “Yeah, isn’t she supposed to start a big killing spree now?”

Runsheng: “Premature birth.”

Along with the miserable cries, the chains on the two coffins fell off, and the coffin lids lifted.

Inside, two female corpses stood up. Originally, their skin wasn’t as smooth as condensed fat, but at least they looked quite fair. In life, they should have also been of noble status. But soon, their skin turned iron-blue, black gas lingered around their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and sticky, foul-smelling liquid seeped from their bodies.

“Bang!” “Bang.”

The two corpses, now fallen dead, jumped out of their coffins. But they didn’t attack; instead, they stood on tiptoe and slid towards the entrance, seeming to act as guardians.

The miserable cries continued.

Li Zhuoyuan faced two choices.

One choice was to continue steadily, opening a road through mountains and building bridges across water, pushing forward step by step.

The other choice was to clear the obstacles with the highest cost-effectiveness and rush into the core area, which was the ‘delivery room’, as quickly as possible.

This could be a trap, but it could also be an opportunity.

However, reflecting on it, the second choice was easier to make.

Historically, when Old Bian Po produced her child last time, the Dragon King personally resolved the matter, and the Zhao family’s Dragon King personally killed the Gu child.

From this, it could be inferred that the threat of the Gu child was much greater than that of the mother, Old Bian Po.

Even if this was a trap, it was merely falling into a plan to divide their forces. The risk was acceptable.

Li Zhuoyuan made up his mind and said:

“Lin Shuyou.”

“Here!”

“Stop them.”

“Understood!”

Lin Shuyou first reached out and patted the talisman needle inside his backpack. This served as a psychological hint to himself and also a clear signal to the child who was about to descend.

The warm-up from the daytime was over; the main event was starting now.

Lin Shuyou spread his left hand, clenched his right fist, stepped on the ground with one leg, opened his vertical pupil, and the White Crane child descended!

After descending, the child said nothing, changed his stance after three steps, and upon approaching one of the fallen dead, grabbed its clothes with one hand and dragged it back.

At the same time, he extended his right hand, and an invisible vortex appeared in his palm, forcefully pulling the other fallen dead, forcing it to follow his pace.

Even with the official general Ji child, the first of the main line, it was rare to see an adult Yin God use techniques. This gradually led to the official general line’s established perception of fighting evil creatures in close combat.

In fact, they could use techniques, but using them consumed their own strength, so they were reluctant.

Now, the child was reluctant.

He undoubtedly still had his own thoughts, but he had to face reality.

Compared to the rules dictated by this boy, what he found even more unacceptable was that after so much compromise and enduring so much grievance, in the end, because he didn’t perform well, that boy had forcibly changed Ji child into a Yin God.

The night of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Shuyou stayed up all night, touching the images of the two general gods to increase damage. That action had deeply stimulated the child.

As soon as the child arrived, he forcefully displayed his power, pulling the two fallen dead apart and clearing a path forward.

Li Zhuoyuan climbed onto Runsheng’s back again, waved his hand, and the others rushed forward.

Those two fallen dead were on the same level as the noblewoman from the daytime. Their strength wasn’t outrageous, but they were relatively hard to kill. At this moment, it wasn’t worth wasting too much time on them here.

After rushing out of the platform area, they encountered a sticky water pond.

The water pond didn’t contain water, but rather foul-smelling fresh blood.

As they arrived, a huge black hard shell floated up from within. This should have been an insect.

But this insect was already dead. On its shell, there was a huge dent, likely caused by being forcibly smashed and directly killed.

However, even though the dead insect couldn’t revive, it had become a new carrier for cultivation.

From its body, small insects continuously crawled out, some even flapping their wings and beginning to fly and dance.

“Yin Meng.”

“Understood!”

Yin Meng drew out her demon whip. The whip had broken during the fight that day, but after being retied, it was still usable. Besides, her whip was now increasingly serving as a poison carrier.

She might not be like Runsheng, possessing that kind of powerful brute force. If she had it, she wouldn’t use a whip; a shovel would be more suitable.

The demon whip shook, and poison fog scattered outwards.

Gu insects originally contained poison, but clearly, they were more afraid of Yin Meng’s poison, perhaps because Yin Meng was also very afraid of her own poison.

After the path was cleared, Runsheng carried Li Zhuoyuan and jumped onto the insect’s shell, then jumped to the other side of the water pond.

A mountain cave appeared ahead, with a strange pattern carved on it, which should be the totem of the village Old Bian Po once belonged to.

Tan Wenbin made two continuous jumps and followed, with Yin Meng coming over last.

“Hua la la… Hua la la…”

Just then, above the cave entrance, dense crowds of insects appeared, pouring down like a black waterfall.

The insects in the water pond, after the poison fog dissipated, also began to approach again.

Yin Meng knew what Xiao Yuan bro’s goal was. This was a good opportunity to meet professional counterparts, and she had to seize this chance to perform.

She unzipped her backpack, which was filled with various small bottles.

Some bottles had labels, while others had no markings at all.

Tan Wenbin felt a twinge in his teeth just looking at them. Before setting out, he had personally seen Yin Meng preparing and mixing poisons.

The unmarked bottles weren’t because Yin Meng could recognize them by color or form, so labels were superfluous. Rather, it was because Yin Meng had forgotten what poisons they were after mixing them halfway.

Actually, everyone in the team knew that Yin Meng’s poisoning technique was somewhat unreliable.

But no one advised her to change, not even Li Zhuoyuan, who chose to implicitly allow it.

Because a precise and well-behaved Yin Meng was just an ordinary poison master, while Yin Meng, who brought a bit of randomness according to her original habits, had a very high level of fluctuation and a very high upper limit.

“Xiao Yuan bro, position four-nine!”

This was a term used in array layout and also a “multiplication mnemonic” created by the boy for them.

Runsheng nodded forcefully, and Tan Wenbin began to recite the mnemonic aloud.

Immediately, Yin Meng started.

She first threw out a bottle, then struck it with her leather whip in the air. The bottle broke, and the poison hidden inside the leather whip reacted with the poison in the bottle, causing a direct explosion.

The first explosion released a green cloud, scaring away the nearby Gu insects.

Runsheng carried Li Zhuoyuan, followed by Tan Wenbin, and everyone began to run at the same time, following a curved path.

Every time they turned a corner, it meant that a poison bottle had broken in the area ahead of them, and poison fog had scattered.

While driving away the Gu insects and clearing the path, they also tried their best to avoid injuring their teammates.

Runsheng ran very seriously, and Tan Wenbin recited the mnemonic loudly as he ran.

The Gu insects were afraid, but their teammates were even more afraid, because a slip of Yin Meng’s hand could potentially lead to their own poisoning.

Finally, the big guys finally broke through the Gu insect blockade and ran into the mountain cave.

And Yin Meng, having cleared the path for everyone, remained behind.

Looking at the receding figures of her companions, Yin Meng smiled.

She continuously whipped the leather whip around herself, creating a temporary safe isolation belt of poison fog.

She couldn’t get out, and the Gu insects outside temporarily didn’t dare to rush in.

She didn’t feel abandoned; instead, she quite enjoyed this feeling of contributing and dedicating herself to the team.

In fact, several times in her dreams, she had fantasized about this scene:

She stood there and said:

“You all go first, I’ll cover the rear!”

Then the camera would first give her a positive close-up shot, then pull back to give her a tragic back view.

It was a pity that she never had such an opportunity before, nor the environment to create this opportunity. She couldn’t experience this sense of fulfillment.

Last time, Xiao Yuan bro said that because of her, Fengdu Great Emperor was involved, and she had performed a great service.

But the problem was, she didn’t remember anything, and neither did Xiao Yuan bro and everyone else. This kind of great service wasn’t even worth remembering!

This time wasn’t bad; at least she had a chance to perform.

Yin Meng patted her bulging backpack. She had brought plenty of poison bottles this time, and she didn’t feel panic.

However, looking at the dense mass of Gu insects outside the poison fog, an idea suddenly came to her mind:

Should I catch a Gu insect for research?

She knew that her master, Aunt Liu, was most skilled in Gu techniques.

However, that kind of Gu technique was derived from Feng Shui Gu raising methods, raising Feng Shui image Gu, which was different from Miao border Gu.

Aunt Liu hadn’t taught Yin Meng to raise Gu insects, but Yin Meng had only learned Walk Yin in Zhangjiajie, and her Walk Yin was still very strenuous now. Her understanding of Feng Shui methods was also very shallow…

So, Aunt Liu had taught her several times, and given her several young insects to cultivate, but she had killed all of them.

Feng Shui Gu law insects were too delicate. Yin Meng felt that Miao border Gu insects had strong resistance, perhaps she could find insects suitable for her cultivation?

Yin Meng looked around. There were already quite a few Gu insects on the ground that she had poisoned earlier.

Gu insects were raised, so weren’t the insects suitable for her the ones she poisoned herself?

As long as an insect could withstand several rounds of her poison without being poisoned to death, wasn’t it naturally compatible with her?

However, she didn’t know how long she needed to hold out here. Maybe when Xiao Yuan bro and the others returned, she would still need to clear the way for them again, and the poison medicine in her bag might need to be used sparingly.

Forget it. After this matter was resolved, she would come down again to regroup these Gu insects. Hmm, she would let Runsheng carry her down secretly.

The three people who left the insect pond area continued to advance along the mountain cave.

Tan Wenbin had already been soaked once from diving, and now he was soaked again.

“Alas, I should have let Meng Meng mix some antidote or something. Isn’t that how it’s always done in TV dramas? Take the antidote beforehand, and you won’t be afraid of these poisons.”

Runsheng: “You go try if an antidote is effective?”

“Fine, just pretend I farted.”

At first, the mountain cave was relatively normal, but the further they walked inside, the more murals appeared on the cave walls. They were very rough and primitive murals, all smeared with fresh blood, depicting various monsters and curses.

In the middle of the top, there was a very thick gully that extended all the way, which should have been forcibly broken by someone with a sharp weapon.

However, the biggest characteristic of Yin evil creatures was that as long as they were given time, they could revive from the dead. Even if they didn’t fully recover, they could still cause trouble.

Laughter, scolding, and the roars of wild beasts continuously entered everyone’s ears.

The things on the murals gradually changed from static to dynamic, as if they had come alive.

They were originally resentment sealed here, used as reverse door gods.

When encountering such a situation before, Li Zhuoyuan would choose to stop, first set up an array, and then gradually develop and suppress it with the array’s momentum, isolating its influence.

But now, they couldn’t afford to do this.

Tan Wenbin reached out and patted his shoulders, scolding: “What are you two laughing at?”

The two resentful infants outside were also starting to make noise, just like children seeing a group of children playing and wanting to join in.

Just as he finished scolding, Tan Wenbin paused for a moment. Immediately, he saw Xiao Yuan bro looking at him from Runsheng’s back.

Tan Wenbin immediately patted his shoulders again: “Children, hurry, jump up lively, call all those little friends and small animals over to play with you all!”

The two resentful infants followed Tan Wenbin. Although they were cast by Tan Wenbin using ghost techniques, overall, it was far more gain than loss. Their resentment was already much more solidified than when their mother first entrusted them.

The murals here had been destroyed and still remained. Their vitality was severely damaged. Although there were many of them, in terms of single quality, they were truly no match for Tan Wenbin’s two righteous sons.

Under Tan Wenbin’s encouragement, the two resentful infants began to ‘call friends and companions’.

With high quality, they were like the older children in a group, naturally holding the right to speak.

Gradually, the杂音 around Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng quieted down, and their vision returned to normal.

Tan Wenbin kept retreating, hooking his fingers as he did so: “Come, all of you, Uncle will tell you stories, tell you the story of Prince Snow White and the seven Little Red Riding Hoods.”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Runsheng started running. With no obstacles or interference, he quickly rushed a large distance. The rock walls around them no longer had murals.

Runsheng: “Everyone is different from before.”

Li Zhuoyuan: “Everyone is growing.”

Li Zhuoyuan had always been very clear about the rational paper data. Even their development plans were formulated by Li Zhuoyuan.

But until things truly happened and they were able to stand on their own, Li Zhuoyuan would also feel a strange sensation in his heart.

Perhaps, this was just like navigating a river.

As waves crashed over them one after another, everyone also grew stronger in these waves, everything proceeding in silent nurturing.

Runsheng: “Xiao Yuan, since he came here, why didn’t he clean it up completely?”

This was the question Runsheng had suppressed in his heart and wanted to ask.

Since that Zhao family Dragon King had come here, why didn’t he clean up every nook and cranny, still adding difficulty for later generations?

Li Zhuoyuan: “Don’t blame him. From his perspective at the time, he did clean it up completely.”

Of the twelve burial coffins, he cleared out nine and sealed the remaining three.

The largest Gu insect in the insect pond, he smashed to death.

The resentment and curses on the murals, he directly broke through with a gully.

An ordinary family only does a thorough spring cleaning once a year. His cleaning lasted for at least a hundred years. You truly can’t say he didn’t do a good job.

But even a Dragon King could only manage his own generation.

On the stele, he himself wrote: ‘Years are long, human power is limited.’

Sometimes, that generation didn’t want to finish things completely. Believing in the wisdom of later generations was actually a kind of helplessness.

The miserable cries became more and more urgent, seeming to reach labor point.

This meant that the time for them to wait was truly running out.

But just as Runsheng was about to step out of the mountain cave, a huge tail swept over.

Runsheng quickly retreated. With a loud ‘Hong long long’, the tail swept over, sending rocks tumbling.

That thing resembled a snake, yet had four legs.

It was a common sight in rural areas, called a ‘four-legged snake’ or ‘snake aunt’. Actually, it wasn’t a snake but a kind of lizard.

However, the size of this thing in front of them was somewhat exaggerated.

Fortunately, it didn’t have a skull.

Its head was placed in another corner, very large and already bone white.

But on its smooth neck, a black fleshy tumor had grown out. The tumor wriggled, resembling both a nose and an eye.

The miserable cries were just ahead. It should be the last obstacle before entering the ‘delivery room’.

Runsheng understood that it was his turn.

“Xiao Yuan.”

“Okay.”

Runsheng accelerated and jumped out of the mountain cave, avoiding another sweep of the thing’s tail.

In mid-air, Runsheng raised his hand, and Li Zhuoyuan reached out to hold on. While leaving Runsheng’s back, Runsheng顺势 turned his body and threw the boy out.

Li Zhuoyuan didn’t practice martial arts, but long-term, consistent basic training had long since made his physical quality not as simple as it appeared.

Runsheng felt this most deeply. Every time the boy was on his back after a period of time, he could perceive the changes in the boy’s strength and balance.

If Xiao Yuan was still the Xiao Yuan they met that year, he might not dare to throw him like this; he would kill him.

While in mid-air, Li Zhuoyuan had already chosen a landing posture. The moment he landed, he applied a sideways force, then rolled continuously.

By the time he stood up, the headless ‘snake aunt’ wanted to rush over and block, but it was stopped by Runsheng smashing one of its legs with a shovel.

The two exchanged a simple glance. Li Zhuoyuan nodded at Runsheng, and Runsheng nodded in response.

If the Air Gate were fully opened, Runsheng would likely smash this headless big guy to death, but there was no need for that temporarily.

Being so close, whether it opened or not was just a matter of the boy’s word.

Just like Tan Wenbin’s ghost technique, when Li Zhuoyuan was present, the permission to use Runsheng and Tan Wenbin’s secret techniques naturally fell into the boy’s hands.

Ahead were three water curtains. After passing through the water curtains, Li Zhuoyuan saw the true Zhao Jun Temple.

Compared to the one outside on the mountain, this one was simply much rougher.

It looked like it was carved on-site using local materials.

In some places, there were still obvious cutting marks.

Above, there was a stone plaque that read: Zhao Family Seal Town.

Below, there were two stone steles, one large and one small. A child was embedded in the small stele, already a dry bone, having been brutally smashed into the stone stele.

The center of the large stone stele was indented, and a human shape could vaguely be seen, but the middle was empty.

Zhao Wuchang originally intended to refine Old Bian Po and her Gu child together into a stone model.

But unfortunately, he killed the Gu child and sealed it to death, but he failed to kill Old Bian Po.

In the end, he could only choose to build a temple and set up an array here, hoping to grind Old Bian Po to death here using the power of time and the array.

However, during the first step of the array, ‘extinguish’, Old Bian Po survived and even escaped.

From the remaining traces, Li Zhuoyuan could deduce some details of the array in reverse.

He had seen too many strange arrays, broadening his horizons.

Yu Xuzi’s understanding of arrays deepened his grasp of the details; Wei Zhengdao’s guidance in dreams elevated his aesthetic appreciation of arrays.

The Zhao family Dragon King’s seal and grind array was somewhat rough.

Perhaps, the Zhao family Dragon King wasn’t skilled in the art of arrays.

This was not strange. Human life was limited, and with limited energy, it was difficult for someone to master every path.

The Zhao family Dragon King’s approach was to break through all obstacles with force, forcefully entering here. His remaining traces all proved this point.

But even a generation’s outstanding figure like the Dragon King ultimately needed the help of his family.

However, it should have been difficult for Jiujiang Zhao to provide him with such assistance, which also indirectly explained the difficulty and hardship of his rise.

If this Jianghu were truly always monopolized by the Dragon King family, it would also be quite boring.

Continuing to walk inside, the top was filled with crystal stalactites, and there were also some fallen fragments on the ground.

When stepping on them, they could be easily crushed.

The texture of this powder was exactly the same as when those fake people were broken.

Presumably, the raw material for that magical mirror technique was inseparable from this.

And to maintain its continuous production, the environment here had to remain unchanged. Therefore, Old Bian Po wanted to stop the construction of the hydropower station there even more.

“Ah!!!”

This was the most miserable and sharp cry so far.

After this one passed, only gasping sounds remained.

Li Zhuoyuan quickened his pace. An altar appeared in front of him, with many broken iron chains on it. A disheveled woman lay there.

“Hehe hehe… Hehe hehe…”

The woman emitted laughter. She lifted her head, sat up, and looked down at Li Zhuoyuan from the altar.

Her left eye emitted fierce light, while her right eye was like gentle lake water.

When she gazed at him, Li Zhuoyuan first closed his eyes, then opened them again, interrupting the spiritual charm she was casting on him.

A satisfied expression reappeared on the woman’s face.

She reached out and gently stroked her belly, which was flat.

Li Zhuoyuan wondered: Has she given birth?

However, the woman’s next action made the boy realize he had thought wrong.

“Pa! Pa! Pa!”

The woman began to forcefully pat her belly. Her flat, normal abdomen quickly bulged and gradually became transparent. Inside, there was a child who fundamentally should not still exist in the mother’s body at this time.

From Li Zhuoyuan’s angle, he could only see the child’s back.

But judging from its back, it was probably about five years old.

“Child, you are right. Just as you said, as long as I continuously emit similar production cries, he will impatiently rush over. See, everything is as you expected.

Truly my good child, not yet born, but already so smart and capable of calculating people.”

After saying this to her belly, the woman deliberately looked up at Li Zhuoyuan and asked:

“Do you think so?”

Li Zhuoyuan slightly clenched his right fist. The industry fire was already burning in his palm. He flipped his left hand down, and the copper coin sword fell into his hand.

Right or wrong didn’t actually matter. Compared to the benefits, this small risk was worth taking.

Behind him, there was still a rumbling sound. It was Runsheng and the ‘snake aunt’ entangled in a fight.

He only needed to call out, and Runsheng would open the Air Gate completely.

This also meant that the situation Li Zhuoyuan was facing now wasn’t that bad.

Instead, it was this woman… This was her old nest. Why did she feel that letting people directly enter her old nest was to her advantage?

The woman stood up, opened her mouth, and let out a fierce howl. The water crystals around them began to tremble.

She stepped down. Her four limbs began to twist irregularly, emitting ‘ga zhi ga zhi’ sounds, like disassembled parts of a frame beginning to reintegrate.

Her aura also grew stronger and stronger, and the resentment condensed around her body became richer and richer.

The strength of an evil creature could be seen from its momentum.

Old Bian Po’s former self was a Miao border saint woman. This kind of evil creature transformed by Xuan Men practitioners was the most difficult to deal with.

But just at this moment, a ‘dong dong dong’ sound came from inside Old Bian Po’s belly.

“Ah!!!”

She let out a miserable cry. The resentment that had condensed earlier trembled. Not only was the condensation process interrupted, but it even gradually dispersed.

Old Bian Po sat on the steps, covering her belly with a painful expression.

“Child, wait a little longer, wait a little longer. Wait for mother to kill him and his people. Mother will have free hands to give birth to you properly.”

However, the gentle voice didn’t elicit the same response from her abdomen.

The ‘dong dong dong’ sound, instead, became louder than before.

“Ah!!!”

Old Bian Po let out another miserable cry.

This time, Li Zhuoyuan’s earlier judgment was somewhat inaccurate. Was his choice right or wrong?

One moment it was clearly wrong, the next it seemed to be somewhat right again.

Old Bian Po really was as Runsheng said… Premature.

“Child, listen to mother. Wait a little longer. Mother wants to prepare a good blood sacrifice for your birth, so that you can be strong from birth, just like your brother initially!

Your brother was very strong from birth. If not for protecting mother, your brother wouldn’t have been killed by that Dragon King. He sacrificed himself just to get mother’s life back!

You wait a little longer, don’t rush, don’t rush…”

Responding to her was a piercing ‘si la!’

Her belly was cut open from the inside.

“Child, what are you doing, what are you doing, stop, you stop, stop it for me!”

“Cha cha cha cha…”

The amplitude of the belly cut continued to increase.

“Child, stop quickly, stop quickly, wait for mother to prepare good blood… blood…”

Old Bian Po’s four limbs began to dry and shrivel. Her originally disheveled hair gradually turned white and gray, as if she had aged many years in an instant.

Without a prepared blood sacrifice, she used her own body as blood food.

Li Zhuoyuan suddenly realized that the ‘mother-child connected heart Gu’ recorded in Wei Zhengdao’s book had gone wrong in Old Bian Po’s body.

Old Bian Po didn’t want to give birth to a second self; she truly wanted to give birth to her own child!

Strong selfishness and ambition could lead Xuan Men practitioners astray. No matter how grand they claimed their motives were, it was all for themselves. And Old Bian Po, who had caused such a storm… surprisingly, it was for giving birth to a child she thought was perfect?

What kind of terrible obsession was this, and to what extent had it twisted and polluted the word ‘motherly love’?

At the same time, this also explained why Zhao Wuchang’s actions initially dealt with the Gu child and Old Bian Po together. Logically, when the Gu child was born, Old Bian Po should have died, and she would have been reborn in the Gu child’s body.

Her first child, when crisis came, sacrificed himself to save her, thus deepening her obsession with giving birth to a perfect child again.

It seemed an accident had happened this time.

This second child seemed unwilling to listen to his mother’s words.

Li Zhuoyuan frowned slightly. What kind of monster was Old Bian Po pregnant with now?

Old Bian Po was very panicked. Her figure grew older and older, and her vitality continuously surged into her abdomen. If this continued, she would die, she would die!

Several times, she lifted her hand, wanting to reach into her abdomen and try to pinch her child to death, but in the end, she withdrew her hand. She was unwilling.

She felt that this second child of hers was more perfect than the first and would definitely satisfy her. She was unwilling to destroy the crystallization of her painstaking efforts.

“Ka cha!”

Her belly was completely broken open.

A child stood up from inside.

Earlier, while still in the belly, he was only the size of a five-year-old. Now that he was ‘born’, looking from the back, he was close to the size of an eight-year-old.

And the price of growing up was the frantic plundering of the mother’s body.

Old Bian Po lay on the ground, extremely weak, but she was still not dead. The remaining vitality allowed her to continue lingering on.

She had once survived a difficult time during the Dragon King’s offensive and suppression. This time, she would also overcome it.

She looked at the child standing in front of her with a smile, struggling to lift her hand, wanting to touch his face.

But that child reached out and pushed away the intimate touch from his ‘mother’.

He lifted his foot and stepped on his mother’s neck.

A ‘Ka cha!’ sound came.

Immediately, he bent down and reached out. He only heard a continuous pulling friction, and finally a ‘pa’ sound, as he pulled Old Bian Po’s head off her body.

Then, like throwing a piece of garbage, he casually threw it away.

Old Bian Po’s head, like a ball, rolled far across the altar. After stopping, her frozen expression was one of disbelief.

No one could have imagined that this folk legend character, used countless times by parents to scare disobedient children, would die in this manner…

The matter that the Dragon King hadn’t been able to complete that year was done by this child who had just been born.

“Hee hee…”

The child emitted laughter.

He turned around and faced Li Zhuoyuan.

This was the first time Li Zhuoyuan saw the child’s front, saw the child’s true appearance.

In this moment, Li Zhuoyuan felt as if he were looking in a mirror at his eight-year-old self from several years ago.

Even ignoring the age gap of several years, he was almost identical to himself, carved from the same mold.

At this time, the boy put his right hand into his mouth and sucked, a shy smile appearing on his face. He called out to Li Zhuoyuan in a naive childish voice:

“Brother, look, I helped you kill her.”

Having just come out of his mother’s womb, sticky liquid continuously dripped from the boy’s head. He walked forward a few steps, stepping on Old Bian Po’s corpse, emitting ‘ba ji ba ji’ sounds.

It seemed he saw that Li Zhuoyuan hadn’t reacted. Three parts incomprehension, three parts grievance, three parts panic, and the most important one part anticipation appeared on the boy’s face.

Li Zhuoyuan could see a pie chart on the boy’s face.

Because he had always been used to this precise performance.

The boy opened his mouth and asked again:

“Brother, don’t you like me?”

Li Zhuoyuan took a deep breath. At this moment, a strong feeling of repulsion rose from the depths of his heart.

The illness that had been suppressed and had not recurred for a long time due to Ah Li’s reasons and his own efforts showed signs of relapsing.

Li Zhuoyuan said in a low voice:

“You make me feel disgusted.”