Chapter 19 Yin Yang Ravine (Part 7) This Song San is full of wicked schemes...
Song San was no child, so he was naturally not afraid of the wooden sword in the man's hand. After withdrawing his gaze, he questioned, "Did you release the cat?"
A soft snort escaped from the boy's nose. "So what if it is?"
So what if it is? Listen to this, is this something a human being would say?
Then the man pointed at Gu Lianzhou and said, "Ma Tuan only catches living creatures that are breathing. If I don't let it out, how will I know the difference between you and those monsters?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou pointed to his own nose and laughed in exasperation, "I see him as a person, don't I?"
Song San chimed in, "What does it matter to you whether he's alive or not? What is your purpose in stopping us here?"
That's finally the right question.
The young man in black raised his chin slightly, glanced at the two "desperate criminals" in front of him, and slowly said, "Logically speaking, you should thank me and Ma Tuan."
"Meow—" The black cat returned, taking small steps back to the boy's side, tilting its furry head and rubbing against the hem of his clothes.
Song San frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
The boy smiled mysteriously, "You think you could get out if I didn't stop you?"
Gu Lianzhou's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "Why do you say that? Is it a dead end ahead?"
After saying that, the boy's smile faded, his shoulders slumped, and he looked dejected. He muttered, "If I could get out, I would have taken Ma Tuan and left long ago. What am I still doing here, playing around?"
Song San clicked his tongue and said, "You speak in such roundabout ways that it's really annoying. Why don't you just say what you mean? The road is right in front of us, why can't we take it?"
The boy was somewhat embarrassed by the disdain he received, but he knew that things had priorities, so he stopped teasing him and turned around to reveal two forked paths behind the crooked tree.
He pointed to the road on the left and said, "This road leads to a cliff with an unfathomable bottom, where many people could fall to their deaths."
He then pointed to the road on the right and said, "This road leads to quicksand, beneath which lie countless skeletons and broken limbs. If you step in, there is no chance of survival."
He lowered his hand, turned to look at Gu and Song, and politely invited them, "Gentlemen, would you like to go and take a look together?"
The young man's tone was as if he were inviting them to go for a spring outing.
The air fell into a moment of deathly silence.
After a moment of silence, Song San nodded, raised his hand to the other party, and said, "Please lead the way."
Seemingly surprised by the man's calm reaction, the young man paused for a moment, then suddenly found it amusing and smiled, "I haven't yet asked the two heroes their names."
Song San raised his eyebrows. "Song San."
Gu Lianzhou then added, "Gu Si."
Upon hearing this, Song San turned to look at him, but seeing his unchanging expression and his blatant lying, he slowly looked away.
The young man in black was silent for a moment, then cleared his throat and said with a lack of confidence, "My name is Yu Qi."
Gu Lianzhou couldn't help but chuckle. Noticing two pairs of eyes looking at him, he quickly covered his mouth with his fist and pretended to cough.
The smile in his eyes was neither hidden nor concealed.
What a fine example of "Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu"!
None of the people present gave their real names.
Thinking of this, he glanced silently at his senior brother, just as the other looked over. As their eyes met, he was caught off guard and met a pair of calm, unwavering eyes.
-
What Yu Qi said was true.
However, just one day later, the road leading out of the village had been completely transformed.
Below the precipice, mist swirled, obscuring the bottom. Stones thrown down there echoed for a long time. Golden quicksand rippled like waves of wheat, interspersed with countless severed limbs, creating a scene resembling a living hell.
Song San pulled out a demon-seeing talisman from his hidden bag, rolled it into a tube, and held it in front of his eyes, his brows slowly furrowing.
With the blessing of the talisman, the sky and earth suddenly darkened, and thousands of demonic energies spread across the quicksand, their momentum overwhelming, rushing towards us like a tsunami.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flicker of firelight appeared, and the Demon-Looking Talisman, unable to withstand the overwhelming demonic power, spontaneously combusted.
Seeing that things were about to get really bad, Song San finally let go, letting the talisman fall, his gaze darkening.
Valley of Resentment.
How could the Valley of Resentment, which is said to exist only at the boundary between Yin and Yang, appear in a village?
"Brother Song is a sorcerer?" Yu Qi's eyes lit up when he saw this. He half-squatted down and stared at the burning yellow talisman in amazement. "I have seen sorcerers before in my mansion, but this is the first time I have seen someone as young as Brother Song."
"Brother Song, who is your teacher? Do you have any seals?" He stood up, his eyes filled with undisguised excitement.
Song San glanced at him and said, "Knowing so much, Young Master Yu must be someone of considerable importance. May I ask where the Yu family ranks among the prominent families of Tianshui?"
After being rebuked like that, Yu Qi immediately shut his mouth and focused on his own thoughts.
Seeing that his senior brother's expression was off, Gu Lianzhou stepped forward and asked, "Senior brother, did you see something?"
Song San recounted what he had just seen, and Gu Lianzhou nodded and said, "What you saw is exactly the same as what I saw. This sea of sand is filled with countless demonic energies, as if this is their lair."
“We also call it ‘Valley of Resentment’.” Song San looked at the endless sea of sand. “Humans and demons originally belonged to two different realms. But a hundred years ago, Tai Sui was born, and the balance of Yin and Yang was broken. This is how the place where Yin and Yang meet came to be—Valley of Resentment.”
"Legend has it that the entrance to the Valley of Grudges is extremely hidden, and ordinary people have no way to enter it. So how could it appear in this Joyful Village..."
Song San's brow twitched, and he turned to look at the quiet Yu Qi beside him, asking, "When did you enter the village?"
"Me?" Yu Qi pointed to himself, pondering, "It should be... half a year? A year? Oh dear, the time in this village is much faster than outside, I've already lost track of the days."
Song San pressed on, "Do you still remember how you got into the village?"
Yu Qi's eyes flickered slightly, as if recalling some unpleasant memory. He put away his usual nonchalant demeanor and said, "I was chased and killed. After I passed out, I drifted downstream with the river. When I woke up, I encountered Liu Dai."
He looked up at the two of them and explained, "Liu Dai is a disciple of Qingyunxi. He went out to gather herbs alone and, by bad luck, found me."
Gu Lianzhou asked, "Is it that Qing Yunxi, the Heavenly-level Medical Master who is skilled in medicine and can bring flesh back to life from withered bones?"
"Yes." Yu Qi nodded, "Otherwise, they wouldn't have saved me from being covered in blood."
He seemed rather dejected and resigned. "Later, Liu Dai and I entered this dilapidated village together, and then we could never get out."
"It's strange, this village is no different from an ordinary village during the day, but at night, those monsters come out and move around. They look scary, but they're actually good-for-nothings. After eating many of my knives, they don't dare to provoke me anymore."
Song San's gaze returned to the wooden sword at his waist, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes: "Your sword, is it made of peach wood?"
Yu Qi mumbled "Yes," a blush creeping across his cheeks, finally revealing a hint of shyness befitting his age. Finally, he stubbornly insisted, "The black iron sword I originally carried with me was washed away by the river, so I had to make one from peach wood. Besides, I think this peach wood is very effective; the monster now avoids it whenever it sees it."
Song San raised his hand in admiration and applauded him, "Young Brother Yu is so young, yet his carpentry skills are superb. He can slay demons with just a wooden sword. He is truly gifted."
Gu Lianzhou nodded in agreement, showing great support.
Being a young man, he couldn't help but feel proud when others praised him. Despite his pride, a slight smile still appeared on his lips. "Of course, my family... I've loved doing woodworking since I was a child. An ordinary wooden sword is nothing to me."
"Oh? Young Master Yu is so modest, do you also know any other unusual skills?" Song San flattered him even more, and asked with a smile, "Then, do you have any knowledge of mechanical arts?"
Lost in the praise, Yu Qi opened his mouth to say something, but then felt a chill run down his spine. He shook his head and looked at Song San with annoyance, saying, "We've gone off on a tangent. Let's get down to business."
Song San shrugged, making a gesture of listening attentively.
Seeing him like this, Yu Qi couldn't help but feel a little scared.
After all, they were strangers who had only known each other for a short time. Although Song San was polite to him on the surface, he might be full of bad intentions and wanted to test his true strength.
Thinking of this, he gestured with his chin toward the two people in front of him and said, "I'm done speaking. Now it's your turn. How did you get in?"
Gu Lianzhou and Song San exchanged a glance, and Yu Qi couldn't help but interject, "I'd like to hear what Brother Gu has to say."
Compared to the sleazy Song San, Brother Gu looked more upright, and he preferred to be close to Brother Gu.
Song San nodded and patted Gu Lianzhou on the shoulder. "Junior brother, you tell us."
Having received the order, Gu Lianzhou did not refuse and told Yu Qi about his senior brother catching a cold, staying at the old man's house to seek medical treatment, the blood moon at night, and the flesh-eating, blood-drinking monster.
"Then we packed our bags and came this way. As you can see, we arrived yesterday and were unaware of the quicksand and cliffs at the village entrance."
Seeing that he looked normal and didn't seem to be lying, Yu Qi was relieved. Then, remembering that Gu Lianzhou had sought out the village doctor last night, he asked, "Was it the doctor who keeps the black dog?"
Gu Lianzhou nodded and said, "Yes."
Yu Qi chuckled: "There's no village doctor in this village, just Brother Liu who came to the village with me."
He looked at Song San and joked, "Brother Song is truly skilled and daring. He dares to take any medicine prescribed by anyone. Fortunately, my brother Liu is a kind-hearted doctor and did not treat Brother Gu as a monster and dismiss him at will."
Song San's lips twitched slightly. He thought to himself that Yu Qi was a perfectly normal person, but he had to have such a gossipy mouth. His words were truly unpleasant.
He put on a smile, "Dr. Liu Dai is indeed my benefactor. If there is an opportunity, I would like to trouble Brother Yu to introduce me."
“No trouble at all. It’s fate that I’ve met you two. It’s only right that I show you around the village so you can get to know the villagers. You might end up staying here for a while, so it’ll be good for us to look after each other. Don’t you think so?” Yu Qi seemed to have blended in with the locals, just like a warm-hearted villager.
Song San thought he had gone mad.
"Fellow villagers? Residents?"
Yu Qi laughed and said, "Otherwise what?"
"Brother Song, do you have the ability to fall from a cliff ten thousand feet high and not die, or do you have the skill to fly across dry bones and quicksand without getting hurt?"
He crossed his arms, his gaze passing over Song and Gu, looking ahead. "Instead of lingering here, we should explore the village together sooner, get to know the villagers, and find shelter on the night of the blood moon. After a while, we'll get used to it."
When Song San and Gu Lianzhou heard this, they felt as if the sky had fallen.
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