Chapter 63: The Beginning of the Thousand Silk Mound
Shao Yanzhe stared at the jade hairpin pen swaying with the willow branches, his heart pounding with anxiety, fearing that his precious jade hairpin pen might fall and break if he wasn't careful.
"Hahaha! I only need ninety-nine more people to succeed. It's been worth all these years of planning!" Liu Fusi's eyes swept over everyone present, filled with ill intent.
Shao Yanzhe's gaze swept over the crowd, and he counted that there were a total of ninety-eight people. Adding Xiaoliu, there were exactly ninety-nine people.
Wow, they really don't waste a single bit!
"Fu Si, your plan will not succeed. Even if you gather enough people, the resentment on your body alone will attract heavenly lightning, which you cannot resist," Xiao Liu advised.
Liu Fusi glanced at him and sneered.
"Of course I know that, so I'll have to trouble you, my good friend, to take the hits from now on!"
After he finished speaking, he flashed and appeared under the black willow tree.
He closed his eyes, stretched his hand diagonally upwards, and muttered incantations.
His voice was very soft, and Shao Yanzhe did not hear what he was saying.
But he knew he had to stop him.
He glanced at Xiao Liu and found him staring blankly at Liu Fusi, showing no intention of stopping him.
As for the other ninety-eight scholars?
Shao Yanzhe sighed. Oh well, he still had to rely on himself.
He quickly ran towards his jade hairpin pen, and Liu Fusi didn't have time to pay attention to him, which made it easier for him to move.
He ran smoothly to the foot of the black willow tree, looked up at the location of the jade hairpin pen, which was nearly three meters above the ground.
Without hesitation, he rolled up his sleeves and climbed the tree.
The other scholars looked at his actions as if he were crazy.
There were so many ghosts hanging from that tree!
Even if those ghosts are wrapped in willow branches, who knows if any ghosts will come out?
Shao Yanzhe was clearly a weakling, and for him to approach that ominous-looking tree now was practically suicide!
Zhou Jiming glanced at Shao Yanzhe and became somewhat anxious.
But he knew his own limitations; in the current situation, even protecting himself would be difficult.
He looked around anxiously, and finally saw Xiao Liu. He rushed over, grabbed his shoulder, and shook him.
"Xiao Liu! What are you standing there for! Hurry up and stop Mr. Liu!"
Xiaoliu was so dizzy from being shaken that he managed to ask with difficulty, "Why did you stop him?"
"Didn't you come out to stop him?" Zhou Jiming looked at him like he was an idiot.
Xiaoliu then looked suddenly enlightened: "Oh right! Hehe, I forgot!"
Zhou Jiming was speechless: "Then hurry up and make your move now!"
Xiao Liu said, "It's too late to stop him. Fu Si has already started the ritual. There's no way to stop him now. We can only wait for him to finish the ritual."
Zhou Jiming immediately became anxious: "If you don't act now while he's doing it, won't we all die if he finishes the ceremony?"
Xiao Liu tilted her head and blinked, saying, "Don't worry, he won't succeed. Even if he devours us, he won't be able to survive the tribulation. He's doomed."
"But I don't want to die!" Zhou Jiming said with a blank face.
"It's okay. Everyone has to die eventually. It's just a matter of a few decades. Maybe you'll be reborn as a longer-living species in your next life."
Zhou Jiming immediately turned around; this Xiao Liu was a real oddball!
He moved closer to Wen Yanqing and Su Yuheng, his face contorted with worry, and said, "Are we really going to die here this time?"
Chen Yunhe said, "Impossible! Brother Shao will definitely solve it!"
Liu Mingyuan, Wen Yanqing, and Su Yuheng all nodded, the four of them having full confidence in Shao Yanzhe.
At this moment, Zhou Jiming finally realized that, without realizing it, they had begun to rely on Shao Yanzhe, waiting for him to solve any dangers they encountered, without ever considering the possibility that they could solve the dangers themselves.
This won't do!
Thinking of this, he said solemnly, "This won't do! We can't wait for Brother Shao to solve it; we must help too!"
"But how can we help?" Chen Yunhe asked hesitantly.
"Although we have a little more ability to protect ourselves than ordinary people, we are like ants trying to shake a tree when facing Mr. Liu. We probably won't be able to do any harm to him at all."
"That's right, we're too weak."
"The literary energy within you is probably not enough. Moreover, judging from your conversation with Xiao Liu just now, once Mr. Liu started, there was no way to stop him. It's better not to waste your energy."
Zhou Jiming frowned, and after thinking it over carefully, his eyes lit up: "Mr. Liu seems to be afraid of fire. Why don't we light torches? Maybe that will help."
"really?"
"really!"
"Alright! Let's light the torches now!"
The group immediately sprang into action, searching everywhere for suitable tools, but Shao Yanzhe encountered some trouble.
After climbing up the tree, the willow branches that were originally drooping on the tree became restless. Like hunters who have spotted their prey, they gathered together and probed around him.
A very thin willow branch slowly approached, tentatively hooking onto the hem of his clothes, before quickly letting go and moving away.
After finding that the other party did not resist and that there was no danger, she tentatively hooked her arm around his clothes again.
Upon seeing this, Shao Yanzhe used his hand to push the willow branches aside.
"hiss!"
His palm was immediately scratched by willow leaves on the willow branch, and a few drops of blood appeared from the thin wound.
With a whoosh, the willow branches around him trembled, as if they had smelled some extremely delicious food, and all of them rushed to his side.
This time they didn't test him; it seemed the smell of blood had piqued their interest, making them determined to keep him.
Shao Yanzhe frowned, reached out and wiped away the drop of blood. Fortunately, the wound wasn't deep, and it didn't bleed any further.
He looked up and around, then quickened his pace.
The willow branches around him tangled around his clothes and began to climb up his body.
This time, Shao Yanzhe didn't use his hands, but instead wrapped his palms in his sleeves and swung them at himself, knocking down quite a few willow branches.
But more willow branches climbed up, which slowed him down.
He glanced at Liu Fusi, who was emanating black energy, and quickened his pace. His intuition told him that he had to be fast!
Liu Fusi glanced at Shao Yanzhe below, not understanding why he was deliberately courting death, but this was fine too, as it saved him some effort.
He felt the surging power within him, his smile widening as his sinister gaze swept over the people around him; the time was almost up.
With a thought, he swished the willow branches on the black willow tree and then swiftly rushed towards the scholars.
Shao Yanzhe now only has a dozen or so willow branches left, but compared to the impact of the hundreds of branches before, the damage is much more severe.
At Liu Fusi's command, the willow branches no longer hesitated and quickly wrapped around his limbs, and then his body, circle after circle, as if they were packing up their favorite toy.
Shao Yanzhe tried to pull it apart, but the willow branch was extremely flexible and he couldn't pull it apart at all.
He glanced at the jade hairpin pen, which was only half a meter away from him, and decided to give up the willow branches wrapped around his body and continue climbing upwards with them.
The scholars around them, who had been staring at Liu Fusi with worried expressions, were suddenly startled when they saw the willow branches on the black willow tree rushing towards them like thin snakes.
They scattered in all directions, trying to escape, but soon discovered that they had no way to leave. They ran away for a short time before returning to the same spot.
"What should we do? Why can't we leave here?"
"Help me!"
"Get away! Don't come any closer!"
"Someone, please save me!"
The crowd scattered and fled in panic under the attack of the willow branches, no longer caring about maintaining the etiquette that belonged to scholars.
“They’re afraid of fire!” Zhou Jiming held a torch and let the flames scorch the willow branches. The willow branches retreated a little in fear, but they did not leave.
Upon hearing this, the other scholars saw that the torch in his hand kept the willow branches at bay, and they immediately began to look for ways to light some fires.
Soon, some scholars picked up the pieces of wood scattered from the damaged tables and chairs, ran towards Zhou Jiming and the others, tore off pieces of their clothes to make torches, lit them, and carefully faced the willow branches around them.
"Ah! Help!"
A scholar, caught off guard, stumbled and fell to the ground.
The willow branches seized the opportunity, swarming up and quickly wrapping around the body before dragging it away.
His movements were incredibly smooth and fluid.
Those scholars who were far away from Zhou Jiming and his companions knew that they could not get there by themselves, so they had no choice but to ask them for help.
"Brothers, could you please come and save us?"
By this time, they were entangled with some willow branches, but fortunately, they reached out and hugged the house built by Liu Fusi, preventing the branches from dragging them away.
As one scholar after another was dragged away, fear was evident on everyone's face.
They knew that being dragged away this time would likely mean their imminent death.
Those who are able to read are all intelligent people. They listened to Liu Fusi's words and wanted to use their lives to achieve some purpose.
Upon hearing the call for help, Zhou Jiming and the others slowly approached, extending their torches toward the willow branches.
The willow branches immediately shrank back in fear, and even the willow branches that were wrapped around the scholar loosened and hid to the side in fear.
After discovering that what Zhou Jiming and the others said was true, the scholars who had not yet been caught picked up a stick that could be burned, lit it, and drove away the willow branches.
Liu Fusi clicked his tongue impatiently, and the willow branches seemed to be startled, trembling all at once. When faced with the flames, although they were afraid, they still chose to continue.
"No! They're not afraid of fire anymore!" a scholar said, his face ashen.
"Quickly, grab onto the pillar!" a very clever scholar suggested.
The remaining scholar gritted his teeth, threw away the torch in his hand, and turned to run towards the house where Liu Fusi had previously lived.
Zhou Jiming and the others stood back to back, their expressions extremely solemn. They hadn't expected that these willow branches could actually overcome their fear of fire.
What should we do now?
"There's nothing we can do but leave it to fate!"
Zhou Jiming was somewhat helpless. They had really tried to think of a solution, but it seemed that they were really not up to the task.
As he thought this, he turned to look at Shao Yanzhe and saw that he was also wrapped in willow branches, and his situation was even worse than theirs!
The jade hairpin pen hanging on the tree swayed with the willow branches, but he couldn't get his hands on it!
It looks like this is really the end for us!
His expression immediately turned ashen.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
Shao Yanzhe, who was wrapped in willow branches, struggled out and grabbed the jade hairpin pen that was right in front of him.
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