Lu Dayong emerged from the robber's cave. Opening his big mouth, he bit down on my wrist.
With the young Taoist blocking my way, I had nowhere to dodge!
The pain of his teeth gnawing at my flesh quickly spread from my arm to my whole body. I heard the young Taoist let out a low shout, "Black zombie?! Little girl, you've been bitten by a zombie!!"
Saying so, he reached out to pull my arm, and with his other hand, he instantly slapped a talisman on Lu Dayong's forehead.
Lu Dayong immediately froze in his clawing posture, as if he had been immobilized by a spell. His lower body was still stuck in the robber's cave and hadn't fully emerged.
"Ugh!!"
I reached out to pry open Lu Dayong's upper jaw and pulled my wrist out. Two rows of dark purple tooth marks had almost bitten through my flesh, and blood gushed out from the wound.
"You're going to turn into a zombie!"
There was a hint of concern on the young Taoist's face. "Let this Taoist help you expel the zombie poison."
"No need!"
I took out the handkerchief that Si Jiangchen had given me to cover my nose and mouth, wrapped it around my wrist a few times, and tied a tight knot. Then I reached out to grab Lu Dayong's body and yanked him out like pulling a radish.
At this moment, I actually felt a bit relieved.
So the black smoke coming out of the cave can turn people into zombies? Then Si Jiangchen should still be safe. I have to rescue him from inside!
"You ungrateful girl. My master is willing to save you, yet you don't even show gratitude?"
The older Taoist turned out to be his attendant. I couldn't help but take a look at the young man. What an imposing manner!!
The young Taoist was also looking at me, mumbling numbers under his breath, "... three, two, one..."
"We're all family. No need to talk about gratitude."
Suddenly, he smiled slightly and slowly walked up to me. "Niece Xinghe, it's been quite a while since I last saw you. Uncle has been looking for you everywhere!"
My face instantly turned pale. His words were very clear.
This was a member of the Du family, the bloodline of that side branch that was the only one not exterminated by Si Jiangchen. If I remembered correctly, the patriarch of that branch was Du Peiyun!!
Since that side branch was too weak and always ranked last in the clan sacrifices, I wasn't familiar with him. I'm sure he didn't know me well either. That's why he lured the zombified Lu Dayong out to bite me to confirm my identity!
A chill ran down my spine. Could it be that my separation from Si Jiangchen was also his doing?!
Suddenly, I remembered what Chen Jiu had said, "The highest bidder gets it." Since the Taishang Soul-Returning Spell was an extremely rare and powerful spell to reverse zombies, I'm afraid families like ours who made a living by driving corpses would value it even more!
That Chen Jiu probably hid his father and the Zhu Youjian who carried the spell here, and then went looking for a buyer willing to pay.
Naturally, Du Peiyun would be his first choice!
Unexpectedly, before he could make a deal with Du Peiyun, he was captured by Si Jiangchen first... So, was Du Peiyun just lucky enough to stumble upon this great opportunity?
"Niece Xinghe, don't be afraid. Uncle just wants to take you back to the Du family."
Noticing me taking steps back, Du Peiyun and his attendant blocked my way from both sides.
"Be a good girl and save yourself from getting hurt."
Du Peiyun still smiled gently, and his tone was like that of an elder patiently guiding me.
"Get out of my way!" My body was already pressed tightly against the stone wall, and there was nowhere else to hide. I even started considering whether to bite him when he came to grab me.
Just then, a man crawled out of the robber's cave in the stone wall. When I took a closer look, it was that unremarkable assistant of Chen Jiu's. He crawled out on all fours, glanced at us, and immediately pointed at me and shouted at Du Peiyun, "Patriarch, she has the Taishang Soul-Returning Spell!!"
So there really was a Du family member among us!!
We had all been deceived!
Whether I came out with the Taishang Soul-Returning Spell or Si Jiangchen stayed in the cave with it, it seemed that we had all been calculated.
That Du family spy who had been in the black smoke without a scratch could only mean one thing! That is, he had released the black smoke, and he had the medicine to counteract it!
"Hehe."
After hearing what the spy said, the smile on Du Peiyun's face became even more brilliant. "This really came without any effort, niece Xinghe."
I didn't have time to pay attention to Du Peiyun! I reached out to grab that guy who had just crawled out of the cave. "Where's Si Jiangchen?!"
I believed that although Si Jiangchen didn't have the medicine to counteract the poisonous smoke, like me, it shouldn't have any effect on him. But that spy suddenly rolled on the ground and dodged my hand. By the time I wanted to grab him again, he had already hidden behind Du Peiyun and sneered, "Your lover? I stabbed him in the back when he wasn't paying attention. Now he's keeping company with Chen Jiu and his father!"
"Liar!"
I also sneered. "Aren't you afraid your master will kill you for lying to him?"
I simply didn't believe that anyone could sneak up on Si Jiangchen with his skills!
"Why not!" The spy hid behind Du Peiyun. "Who can defend against the patriarch's zombie gu? The tomb was such a small place, and even guys like Chen Jiu and Lu Dayong, who were used to crawling through caves every day, were caught. What chance did that stupid guy who only knew how to hold a gun have..."
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud "slap". Du Peiyun slapped him across the face.
"You didn't cut off his head?!"
Du Peiyun scolded angrily, "You idiot! How did I tell you?"
Taking advantage of the moment when Du Peiyun was scolding his subordinate, I turned around and fled into the forest as fast as I could. As long as I could reach the outside, there was a chance of running into Si Jiangchen's army who were hiding from the black smoke.
It now seemed that the black smoke didn't rise and moved very slowly because it wasn't real smoke but the so - called "zombie gu worms" refined by Du Peiyun. The reason it dissipated quickly was that once the gu worms left their hiding places, they would quickly die if they couldn't find a host.
"Help!! Someone!!"
I didn't like being a delicate young lady who needed to be rescued and protected. After wandering for so long, I had already learned how to run and fight back.
In this dense forest, if I didn't shout out, I might really be silently captured and killed!!
Du Peiyun had just slapped his subordinate twice when he realized that I had already escaped. He couldn't help but scold in anger and amusement, "Little brat, do you think you can escape?"
With a flick of his hand, a light blue talisman soared into the air and, as if guided by an invisible hand, smashed straight towards my head.
I had heard from Granny Bai that Taoist talismans were divided into five types: gold, silver, purple, blue, and yellow. Yellow talismans were the ones that ordinary Taoists could control and were the most commonly used. Although blue talismans seemed only one level higher than yellow talismans, they were a height that many Taoists could never reach in their lifetimes.
Blue talismans were talismans that borrowed the power of the sky and had a suppressing effect.
When a light - fluttering talisman landed on my head, it felt as if a huge mountain had suddenly pressed down on me!