My sudden appearance didn't draw anyone's attention until I walked towards Wang Defa. Gui Jianchou glanced at me casually, his brow furrowing slightly, but he remained silent.
"Old Wang, are you performing a show?" I teased, looking at Wang Defa, who was tied up like a pig ready for slaughter.
"Wuwuwu..."
"Look at you, talking and talking, why the 'wuwuwu'? Oh... sorry, I forgot your mouth was stuffed. Look at my eyes." In Wang Defa's furious gaze, I pulled out the stinky sock that someone had stuffed into his mouth, tossed it far away, and wiped my hands on him with disgust. Smelling the lingering odor, I wondered how Wang Defa endured it.
I expected Wang Defa's first action to be a torrent of curses, but to my surprise, his first words were a plea for help, asking me not to let Gui Jianchou clash with Wu Yun.
"What... what did you say? Don't let there be a conflict? Do you think this young lad has any say in this situation?" I dug into my ear, feeling a bit uncomfortable from his loud shout.
"Then what are you still standing there watching for? Hurry up and untie me! These damn guys, don't they know some people can't be provoked?" Wang Defa's voice sounded a bit urgent.
I shrugged, indicating I couldn't help. If someone wanted to court death, what could I do?
After untying the ropes on Wang Defa, he fell to the ground with a muffled groan from the pain. He then limped towards Gui Jianchou, shouting loudly for him to stop, to talk things through.
The person guarding Wang Defa was pinned down by Zhang Dabiao, his face red, his eyes nearly spitting fire. Even if he glared until his eyeballs popped out, it was useless, as Zhang Dabiao was stronger. Sudan Novel Network
I walked over, patted his face a few times, and said, "Let me teach you something. Sometimes, what your eyes see isn't the truth. You think you're powerful, but in the end, you're worse than mud."
Before my words had even finished, a chorus of pained wails erupted from the other side, so loud it almost pierced eardrums.
Ignoring the task of reprimanding Gui Jianchou's subordinate, I quickly rushed over with Zhang Dabiao to understand the situation. The next leg of our journey required Wu Yun's help; without her, we couldn't enter the mountain, nor could we rescue those old Daoists. The plan to leverage their influence to understand what happened in Molu Village back then would be impossible. Therefore, no matter what, we couldn't let them clash again.
Pushing aside the people blocking the way, I saw several individuals lying on the ground, their faces dark and purplish, foam at their mouths, undeniably dead.
Wang Defa was hopping with rage in front of Gui Jianchou, spewing curses like a shrew, unleashing a barrage of unheard-of insults.
Gui Jianchou's face was ashen. His eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, were invisible, but the throbbing veins on his forehead suggested he was at his limit.
"Damn it, this has escalated. How are we going to explain these deaths?" Zhang Dabiao remarked with a grin.
"What else can we do? Just let it be. It depends on how much those old Daoists mean to Gui Jianchou." Saying this, I walked towards Gui Jianchou.
"I told you, don't go, don't go, why don't you listen? That's the Witch Gu woman, how dare you order an attack? You're treating human lives like dirt..."
"I do things my way, you don't need to manage me. Can a mere Witch Gu woman flip the sky?" Gui Jianchou shoved Wang Defa aside and simultaneously ordered the use of rocket launchers.
The gunner, who had been itching to act, heard the command and prepared to pull the trigger. The expected explosion didn't happen; the rocket shell fell from behind, startling everyone nearby to jump far away.
"You..." Seeing the rocket launcher casing cut in half in his hand, the enraged gunner wanted to curse. This was money, hundreds of thousands gone with Zhang Dabiao's single saber strike.
"What 'you'? I don't want to die! This is saving your life, understand?" Zhang Dabiao completely ignored the angry expressions of those around him, slinging his saber across his shoulder, embodying the image of a mountain bandit.
"Song Qingyun, you'd better give me a reasonable explanation! Otherwise, don't blame me for apprehending you on the spot. Without you, we can still enter Qingfeng Mountain and rescue people." Gui Jianchou's already ashen face turned the color of the bottom of a pot, incredibly dark.
"I naturally have a reasonable explanation. I believe Old Wang has already told you, the person in the car is the Witch Gu woman. If you kill her, the Gu King within her will go berserk. Then, within dozens of miles, there won't be a single living creature, not a single living creature, including insects underground. If you want to die, that's fine, I won't stop you, but can you wait until we leave before you attack? By then, even if you blow her to smithereens, I won't care. How about that?"
"Qingyun is right. You've seen the terrifying nature of Witch Gu in the archives. If you want to die, it's your business, but you can't implicate your subordinates, can you?" Wang Defa said this very loudly, aiming to attract the attention of those around.
When the gunner, who was preparing to attack the vehicle with a rocket launcher, heard that the person he was attacking was the Witch Gu woman, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted with a gulp. This demonstrated the terror of the Witch Gu woman.
"Are my men just dead in vain? She must pay a price." Gui Jianchou looked stubbornly in Wu Yun's direction, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked. This was the first time he had suffered such a significant loss, with over a dozen subordinates injured and seven or eight dead. To him, this was an utter disgrace.
"What price do you want her to pay? She was perfectly fine inside the car, not coming out. Your subordinates insisted on looking for trouble. It's good enough that she didn't come looking for trouble with you, and you still want to find trouble with her? Don't forget, this is deep in the mountains. If you enrage her, no one will escape."
Hearing this, Gui Jianchou's expression softened slightly. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Let it go like this. How do I explain this to my subordinates?"
"The dead can only be considered unlucky. Those who are not dead can still be saved. This is the only way."
"Then you feel like letting us pass to rescue people. Otherwise, even if I die, I'll drag you down with me."
"I..." I really wanted to curse him out. He's not doing good deeds but is bent on doing bad ones!
However, on second thought, I decided against it. We still needed his help to enter Qingfeng Mountain, and offending him too much wouldn't be good.
After driving away everyone surrounding the car, I took out an old, small ceramic bottle. Opening a small gap, I saw the Gu worms around the car become agitated, buzzing and chirping incessantly...
"Kid, where did you get the Gu King corpse powder?"