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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, I wanted to tell him that if I didn't do this, I would die just the same. But the biting pain from the insect on my body left me unable to utter a word; I could only curl up and roll on the ground, crying out in agony.
Just then, a few drops of cold rain fell on my face, mingling with the sweat that streamed down due to the pain. Accompanied by a loud thunderclap, heavy rain poured down, drenching my face and washing away the foul liquid completely.
Lying in the muddy ground, clutching my aching body, one thought consumed me: "Am I really going to die like this, so pathetically?!"
As despair enveloped me, I heard a soft "pitter-patter" sound nearby. As the sound drew closer, I vaguely saw an old woman wearing grass sandals and a cloth garment, standing before me with a cane in her hand.
"Buddy, I can sense that you are a good person. Don't worry; I will save you..." Upon hearing this, I looked up. At that moment, a flash of lightning illuminated her face, and I saw her looking down at me with a kind smile. Then, overwhelmed by pain, I lost consciousness and fainted.
...
I don't know how long it had been when I slowly opened my eyes. Looking at the somewhat dilapidated beams above me, I tried to sit up. Just as I moved, I realized my body was wrapped in thick bandages; any slight movement sent sharp pains coursing through me.
"Where... am I?" I slowly turned my head to look around and discovered that I was lying in a somewhat shabby thatched hut. The tables and chairs around me were crudely assembled from dry wood and twigs. At that moment, I was lying on a stone pile serving as a bed, with plenty of straw beneath me.
Just then, an old woman walked in from outside. The sun was shining brightly outside, and due to the backlight, I still couldn't see her face clearly; I could only vaguely discern from her silhouette that she seemed to be the same old woman from that night.
Seeing that I was awake, she leaned on her cane and approached me. "You're awake..."
I responded weakly, "Um, may I ask who you are?"
"It doesn't matter who I am..." the old woman said kindly. "What matters is that you did a great deed that night by getting rid of an evil person."
"We?!" I muttered to myself, suddenly remembering Yao Long. I hurriedly asked, "But you haven't seen my friend, where is he now?! How is he?!" I sounded a bit anxious.
Old Woman smiled and replied, "Don't worry, he's fine now. In fact, I've saved your friend twice already."
"Twice?" I was confused and pressed on, "What exactly happened? Who are you? Can you tell me the whole story so I can understand what’s going on?"
Hearing this, Old Woman chuckled and turned to pick up a broken porcelain bowl from a nearby withered wooden table, handing it to me. "Here, drink this first, and I'll explain everything slowly..."
Seeing this, I gritted my teeth against the pain and stood up to take the bowl from Old Woman. Inside was a black liquid with some remnants of Insect floating on top. Just looking at those remnants made my scalp tingle; my hand trembled slightly as I nearly dropped the bowl.
"This, this..." I stared at the bowl of black "soup," feeling apprehensive. After everything that had happened, even if I wasn't afraid of Insect, I would still try to avoid such things.
"Don't be afraid. I won't harm you. If I really wanted to hurt you, I could have done it while you were unconscious for those two hours. There was no need to wait until you woke up. Just drink it." Looking at Old Woman's kind expression, I didn't sense any malicious intent; instead, I felt a hint of warmth in my heart.
Seeing this, I steeled myself and thought, "If I'm going to die, then so be it..." With that resolve, I pinched my nose and tilted my head back to gulp down the liquid in the bowl.
I handed the empty bowl back to Old Woman and said, "Alright, now can you tell me what happened?"
Old Woman nodded and placed the empty bowl back on the table. "Actually, the person you killed that night was a traitor from this Miao Village. She was obsessed with creating the Worm King and had repeatedly tried to get me to share the secret recipe but was always refused because of her wicked intentions."
"But she didn't give up. After failing to get what she wanted from me, she colluded with those smuggling bandits and used some of her knowledge of Gu Technique to control those bandits and some villagers, trying to coerce me into handing over the Worm King. But I knew that with her character, even if I gave her the Worm King, she wouldn't stop there; it could lead to even more deaths."
"So, out of desperation, I had no choice but to hide. When she couldn't find me, she sent those bandits into the mountains multiple times searching for me. She even crossed borders into other countries looking for traces of me. Because of this, she clashed with some residents of those countries and killed many of their families, which led them to come seeking revenge..."
Hearing this, I finally understood that the two smugglers I encountered with Yao Long earlier were likely not real smugglers at all, but rather individuals seeking revenge. As for the disappearances of villagers mentioned by the village chief and others, they might have been killed by those seeking vengeance.
Pondering this, I asked in confusion, "But you saved Yao Long twice; how does that fit into all of this?" The Old Woman touched her cane and replied, "That was ten years ago..."
"At that time, the village was inhabited by people who practiced Miao Gu. Although we all belonged to the Black Miao, many grew weary of engaging in schemes that harmed others and sought to hide away in the deep mountains. Later, I discovered that some in the village were plotting something sinister and still sought the highest level of Gu Technique. So, during an opportunity, I used this Gu Technique on your friend, hoping to pass it down."
"However, due to the circumstances at that time and the brutal nature of the Worm King's concoction, I couldn't directly inform your friend. But I knew he would eventually come back..."
Suddenly, the Old Woman began to cough violently. She turned to the side and covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to ease her coughing. At that moment, I was shocked to see a dark purple blotch on her exposed arm, reminiscent of Yao Long's poisoning.
"Are you okay?!" I asked with concern as I looked at the dark purple mark on her arm.
"I'm fine..." she hurriedly pulled down her sleeve to cover the purple blotch. At that moment, her previously kind expression had vanished, replaced by something unsettling...
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