Chapter 35: Mysterious Shadow

My heart suddenly turned bitter. We were already surrounded by the bloodline moths. If the wind magic failed, we would probably be completely annihilated by the bloodline moths.

It is obviously unrealistic to pin our hopes on Master Hui and Grandma Lingqing. After all, it is they two against more than a dozen of the bloodline moths!

We can’t just sit here and wait to die. That’s all I can think of. If the wind technique doesn’t work, the thunder technique can always destroy some of the bloodline moths. With this in mind, I stood up and was about to cast the spell when I was stopped by someone.

I looked at him and thought, if it wasn’t my master, then who was it? He looked at me and said, “You little brat, don’t you trust your master? Do you want to copy the Tao Te Ching?”

The familiar words made me relax immediately. I opened my mouth to explain, “Master, I…” I wanted to say that I didn’t mean to disbelieve my master, but the five elements arts, after all, are based on the power of heaven and earth, and are quite difficult. It is not unexpected that they will not be successful. However, before I could finish my sentence, a gust of wind whistled from the hillside.

In the next moment, a strong wind began to blow, and the blood-line moths were blown around by the wind, unable to fly or even stay in the air. The dust on the wings of the blood-line moths, which had originally filled the air, was also blown away by the wind.

Along with the strong wind came rolling clouds. This was not the result of the master’s magic, but rather the result of the wind blowing the clouds, which piled up to form a cloud bank.

The wind did not stop, and the clouds became thicker and thicker. In the blink of an eye, raindrops the size of beans began to fall slowly, and then began to fall in sheets. In no time at all, a vast rain curtain formed on this hillside, covering this hillside.

The stormy wind and torrential rain made it impossible for the blood-line moths to escape. Not only were they blown about by the wind, but the raindrops also hit their wings, causing them to fall to the ground, no longer a threat.

As the rain fell, even the dust in the sky was washed clean, and the sky was once again clear.

Everyone was a bit tired, so Uncle Chen gave us another pill. During a battle, who wouldn’t want to be in top form? I swallowed the pill and laughed happily, but there was one person who was even more arrogant than me, and that was Guan Xige.

He shouted in ecstasy, “In ancient times, Zhou Yu borrowed the east wind, and today, Master Jiang borrowed the strong wind. It’s all the same exhilarating, and both are equally heroic!”

I wiped the rain off my face and said to Guan Xige, “Wasn’t it Zhuge Liang who borrowed the east wind? Wasn’t it Zhou Yu who was driven to his death by anger?”

Guan Xige looked at me with contempt and said, “Do you believe in those things in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? The one who really practiced the art of sorcery and borrowed the east wind was Zhou Lang, and he was not killed by anger.”

Is that so? I was speechless, feeling like my three views of the world had been overturned. At this time, my master walked up to me and said, “It wasn’t Zhuge Liang who borrowed the east wind, but it wasn’t Zhou Yu either. At the time, the east wind did blow, but who exactly did it, there is no conclusive evidence. But Zhuge Liang is my Taoist successor. My Taoist book is a rare book of the ages, but Zhuge Liang…”

Before the master could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a voice. It was Master Hui. He said, “I’m fighting hard in Wuda, and you’re talking about history here. What’s the matter with borrowing the east wind? That’s clearly witchcraft.”

The master seemed in a good mood and didn’t want to argue with Master Hui. He just laughed heartily. This was the first time I saw Master Hui in this image, with his robe half-tied around his waist, revealing his upper body.

Although it was clear that the years had taken their toll, the muscles were simply too much to hide. I was a bit shocked.

What’s more, Grandpa Hui has a fierce-looking Arhat tattooed on his chest. I don’t know much about Buddhism, and I don’t know which Arhat it is, but the tattoo is so lifelike that the angry look makes you feel like you’re about to be burned by the anger.

I suddenly understood, and I ran up to Master Hui and asked respectfully, “Master Hui, did you stay in Hong Kong when you were young?”

“No, why are you asking me this?”

“No? Master Hui, you’re lying to me. You definitely went to Hong Kong to hang out with the triads when you were young! You must have been a gold medal fighter, right?” I asked seriously.

Suddenly, everyone laughed, including Grandma Ling Qing, who had just returned. She smiled slightly, while I was slapped on the head by Master Hui and couldn’t recover for a long time.

A strong wind, heavy rain, a group of people laughing in the rain and wind, laughing in the face of the upcoming battle of life and death. This is a picture I will never forget in my life.

When the rain stopped, the sun broke out of the clouds and shone warmly. We finally reached the top of the mountain, and the entrance to the Black Rock Miao village was right in front of us.

Along the way, we learned that Grandpa Hui and Grandma Lingqing had already eliminated the dozen or so guxiao, but it was Grandma Lingqing who had killed them. Grandpa Hui was a monk who didn’t follow the rules very well, but he never broke the rules.

The dozen or so gubiao were just small-time thugs, and of course there was no problem with Master Hui and Grandma Lingqing working together to deal with them. But the problem was that we later learned that they were not the ones controlling the bloodline moth swarm at all. They were just carrying a special drug to prevent the bloodline moth swarm from flying into the village. The person who was controlling the bloodline moth swarm had already retreated back into the village.

In that case, if the wind magic had not been successfully cast, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Standing at the entrance to the village, looking at this quiet and eerie village, none of us took the first step to enter the village.

I had been here before, and the people who ‘welcomed’ me then were ‘very impressive’. After entering the village, although there were not as many people as in the Yueyan Miao village, there were people everywhere, full of the breath of life.

Now, the houses are still there, but the people have left. The entire village looks like a dead city, as if the history of Heiyan had come to an abrupt end here.

Looking at this scene, everyone’s heart inevitably rises a sense of desolation.

But what does it matter? Everyone knows that this is just the surface. No one knows how many dangers are hidden in this empty village. After all, the relevant departments have said that the village is under a three-line blockade by land, sea and air. The people of the Heiyan Miao Village cannot escape, so they can only be trapped here.

They can’t just sit there and wait to be killed, waiting for us to come and take them.

“Mr. Jiang, let’s go in.” Guan Xige was a impatient person. In his opinion, sooner or later there would be a battle, so there was no need to waste time.

The master looked at his watch. It was already 5:17 p.m. and the deadline for completing the task was no later than 3 a.m. The master nodded, crossed his arms, and took the first step toward the village.

His tone was a bit desolate, and he said to everyone, “Let’s go in.”

It didn’t feel like a battle, but rather like entering a place where one is helpless.

I followed my master closely and entered the Black Rock Miao village together. I thought that once we entered the village, something would definitely happen, but I didn’t expect it to be so quiet and nothing to happen.

The livestock left behind by the tribe members, such as chickens and ducks, were still there. Occasionally, there would be a sound of argument, and occasionally a dog would bark, its eyes wet, as if asking where the departed owner had gone.

Master walked around the village with his hands behind his back, but there was still no movement. No one was in sight, and everyone’s faces were full of confusion. What was going on in this Black Rock Miao Village?

Even if they are hiding, they can’t hide forever. Anyone who isn’t a fool knows that the only way to survive is to fight.

Everyone present knew that the village was only superficial, and the real mystery was hidden in the ground. The master glanced around and said, “Let’s go. Let’s go down there. They won’t fight us on the ground.”

I remembered the cave that Gao Ning had taken me into before. Could it be that we were going down there? But why would so many people go to climb that cave? It shouldn’t be the case, right?

Soon, Master gave me the answer with his actions. Obviously, it was not. He was leading us down a different path. Master said as he walked, “I’m afraid that only I know about this entrance among outsiders. In order to keep it a secret, I haven’t even reported it to the relevant departments. Especially after this village and that organization became involved!

Master explained as he walked, “I said that when I reported everything underground to Uncle Li, he would be so surprised. It turns out that Master has always been aware of it but has not moved until the operation began. Only then did Master report what he knew to the relevant departments, right?

Thinking about this, we had already walked to a place that looked like an open space. Suddenly, a figure appeared on the other side of the open space, hiding behind a house, and it only flashed by.

Without saying a word, he fired a shot in our direction. The bullet hit the ground at our feet, but it didn’t really hurt anyone. But what was going on? Didn’t Master say that this level of combat no longer involved modern power because of special constraints?