CHAPTER 376: CHAPTER 373: THE GIRL WUYA

"Wugong Clan Chief?"

Hearing the joyous shouts of the meat cutting workers in the valley, Hu Ma couldn’t help but pause, thinking, Had the Witchman Clan Chief, who ordered the Sealed Valley, really come over?

Looking intently, what drifted from outside the valley wasn’t fog, but rather people walking and sprinkling handfuls of mysterious white powder. As they moved forward, it seemed as if they walked with the morning mist.

The three figures walking within the mist appeared quite mysterious and elusive.

As the powder was scattered, from the lush forest on both sides of the path leading into the valley, a great RUSTLE arose. Countless insects hurriedly escaped to the sides of the road, like a tidal wave.

The three people walked to the edge of the valley and stopped. They set down the bamboo flutes from their lips. By then, someone had already informed Mine Chief Zhuang, who rushed over, wearing an outer robe, and brought others to welcome them.

In the valley, the meat cutting workers who were patrolling or preparing meals quickly threw down their tasks and flocked over in a crowd.

Hu Ma just stood in place watching. He saw three people in black clothes adorned with silver ornaments walk into the valley. Each carried a bamboo basket on their back, with bamboo containers hanging from their waists.

The leader, an older man of about fifty, had a circle of black cloth around his head. To his left was a tall, pale young man. A radiant young woman with bright eyes followed on the right, curiously looking at the valley people.

"Hm?"

Seeing the young woman, Hu Ma and Zhou Datong, who had just come out after hearing the commotion, both had their eyes light up.

Although she had changed her clothes, she still wore those familiar silver ornaments, carried a bamboo basket on her back, and wore a shy, uniquely girlish smile. It was the same person they had encountered in the forest before.

She followed them to the mine but didn’t stay by the Clan Leader’s side to speak with the welcoming Mine Chief Zhuang. Instead, she wandered off to one side and squatted down to play by herself.

As she approached, the meat cutting workers at the mine changed their expressions in an instant, hurriedly dispersing. They seemed very welcoming to the Clan Leader but were extremely fearful of this girl, with some even hiding back inside their huts, daring not to show their heads.

"What’s going on here?"

Zhou Datong curiously tugged at an older man with a blackened face, a flat nose, and two missing front teeth, asking, "Why are you all running?"

"Didn’t you see the Witch girl come?"

The old man widened his eyes. "Witch girls are not to be messed with. If she takes a fancy to you, she’d put a gu on you. Once you’re cursed, you’d be stuck with her for life..."

"Bah, breaking the rules. The Witch people knew the taboo before and never let their girls come to the mine..."

"Well..."

Zhou Datong looked the old man up and down, asking, "Are you married?"

"Of course not."

The gap-toothed old man replied, "A married man wouldn’t dare to come to the mine for a living!"

"Then there’s nothing to worry about."

Zhou Datong released him, patted the creases on his clothes, and said, "Go on, hide well!"

Then, he turned to look at the young girl, puffing out his muscular chest and trying hard to put on a friendly and gentle smile.

The girl glanced at him, then shifted her gaze, coming over to the horse by the village entrance, her eyes filled with wonder as she squatted down.

Datong felt a bit hurt instantly.

"Big Brother, we’ve finally managed to see you arrive..."

Meanwhile, Mine Chief Zhuang hurriedly met the incoming Witchman Clan Chief, his face full of excitement, giving a deep bow. "All our people at this mine, young and old, have been waiting for you to save our lives..."

Hearing his words, the Witchman Clan Chief sighed deeply, saying, "Upon receiving your message, I intended to leave right away. It just took some days due to the preparations required."

"Have there been any major troubles these past few days?"

"..."

"There haven’t been..."

Mine Chief Zhuang hastily replied, "It’s just that this whole baffling situation is truly perplexing."

"Big Brother Wu knows that we’ve always been amicable, scraping Tai Sui here to make a living. Yet, we don’t know whom we offended for someone to seal off my mine directly, even causing the death of several of my men?"

"Say no more."

Clan Chief Wu waved his hand and sighed softly, saying, "I know this has caused a significant stir."

"Actually, if it were someone else, I’d have come to mediate long ago and wouldn’t have needed such extended preparations. But this time, the one who sealed your blood food mine was actually..."

"..."

At this point, he paused slightly before saying in a low voice, "Actually, it was my son, Wu Song!"

"What?"

This sudden revelation caught both Mine Chief Zhuang and Hu Ma by surprise. Mine Chief Zhuang turned to glance at the girl squatting in front of the horse, her small hand reaching out to touch it, astonished. "Wuya has a brother?"

"Why have you never mentioned it?"

"..."

Hu Ma was equally stunned.

He had discussed things with Monkey Wine, so he naturally knew that this Clan Leader was, in fact, the mastermind behind everything. He was already somewhat curious about the Clan Leader’s sudden appearance, wondering what trickery he might be planning by coming on the second day after the Red Lantern was hung.

Yet he didn’t expect him to openly admit to it?

Hearing Mine Chief Zhuang’s inquiry, Clan Chief Wu also wore a troubled expression, slowly shaking his head. "I no longer recognize him as my son. Our clanspeople never mention him either..."

"And the person who delivered my letter last time, is he still alive?"

"..."

Mine Chief Zhuang immediately shook his head. "He died as soon as he returned. His body was already full of gu insects..."

"He carried the Amulet I gave him..."

Upon hearing this, Clan Chief Wu smiled bitterly. "Even with the Amulet I gave him, he died. Apparently, Wu Song no longer acknowledges me as his father either. That’s why I needed a few extra days of preparation before coming to your mine..."

Mine Chief Zhuang was increasingly shocked as he listened, hurriedly inviting him inside the hall to sit, ordering tea to be served, and asking for the full story.

By this time, Hu Ma also stepped inside without putting on airs, respectfully bowing to the Witchman Clan Chief.

Seeing Hu Ma approach, Mine Chief Zhuang quickly made the proper introductions between him and Clan Chief Wu. He had almost forgotten that now that Hu Ma was in charge of the account books, Hu Ma was effectively the one with authority at the mine.

He himself was more of Hu Ma’s subordinate now.

"Greetings, Manager, greetings..."

As the leader of the Witch people, Clan Chief Wu, having interacted frequently with outsiders, spoke the common tongue much better than the young girl and understood etiquette, reciprocating Hu Ma’s gesture politely.

Then he sighed, still facing Mine Chief Zhuang. "You don’t know; my son, he’s a Madman..."

This sudden statement caused everyone present to momentarily freeze, looking at each other.

Clan Chief Wu also paused momentarily, a troubled look on his face, before slowly saying, "We Witch people have rules when refining gu. There are three taboos and ten prohibitions that our ancestors have never dared to break, yet he has violated nearly all of them."

"I had him learn business, but he wasn’t interested. I sent him outside the forest to study like the Han people, yet he wasn’t interested in that either, focusing solely on gu refining."

"Mother-child gu, Yin Yang Gu, Corpse-Sinking Gu..."

"His gu refining not only ignored the rules and warnings but focused solely on vicious and poisonous methods. He even once..."

At this point, he also turned his head, looking at the young girl Wuya by the village gate, and said in a low voice, "He even had the idea of using his own sister for refining a Silver Silk Gu..."

"But you..."

Hearing this, Mine Chief Zhuang was a bit frightened and hastily said, "You have always been strict, restraining your clanspeople from harming others, but you..."

"...why didn’t you deal with him?"

"..."

"Deal with him?"

Hearing this, Clan Chief Wu showed a bitter smile and said in a low voice, "I couldn’t best him..."

"When he was only in his teens, his Gu Fighting skills already surpassed all our clanspeople, naturally including me..."

"Later, seeing his increasingly excessive actions, I could only, together with other clanspeople, request an oracle from the Witch God to drive him out of the village. Since then, he has lived alone in the Black Bone Forest dozens of miles away, with no contact with the village people."

"This time, when I heard about the incidents you mentioned and the methods used, I knew they must be related to him. But I... I also have no idea why he would come to blockade your place."

"On the way here, I tried to call out to him, but he didn’t respond..."

"..."

"Then this..."

Hearing Clan Chief Wu’s words, Mine Chief Zhuang visibly grew anxious. Just as he uttered the first two words, his body suddenly trembled. He quickly covered his mouth and coughed twice, unexpectedly spitting out a mouthful of foul blood.

A nearby apprentice rushed to support him, but before touching him, he was startled and took two steps back.

It was then that they saw the foul blood cupped in his hands contained two wriggling insects, which crawled out along the edge of his palm and fell to the ground, writhing.

This scene made everyone’s skin crawl, including Mine Chief Zhuang himself, who was stunned, his chest heaving like bellows. Next to him, Clan Chief Wu was equally shocked. He hurriedly stepped forward, chanting, then raised two fingers and slowly pointed them at the worms on the ground.

As his fingers approached, the two worms in the foul blood struggled even more, then gradually withered away as if they had been exposed to the sun for several days, becoming completely motionless.

Clan Chief Wu then supported Mine Chief Zhuang, taking his pulse and saying earnestly, "Don’t panic, don’t panic. We Witch people follow the rules. When friends treat us well, we reciprocate. We will handle this issue of yours..."

"Let’s cure the gu you’ve been infected with first!"

"..."

After saying this, he urgently called out, "Wuya, stop playing, come here quickly."