Imperial Treasure

Chapter 553 - 360 Hou, Poison Dragon Gully

Chapter 360

"It’s a pity we couldn’t capture that bizarre creature... Did any of you see clearly what it was?"

Sui Yi thought for a moment and shook his head, "No, the candlelight was extinguished, and it was pitch-dark. I only knew that the opponent’s shape was very strange, like a snake, and extremely slippery... unpredictable, with a speed not inferior to mine, and moreover, it was very strong. I barely managed to hold my own against it."

If it weren’t for the dark and cramped environment, the odds of victory would have been much greater, but Sui Yi did not say as much, considering neither she nor the creature had unleashed their full power at the time.

Second Master Gong frowned upon hearing this, such a formidable creature was no different from ghosts and demons.

"What the hell is this thing?" As the fat man shouted, Skinny Waist, who had already approached the creature that Sui Yi had gravely injured on the ground, let out a shrill scream: "It’s a Hou!"

"Monkey?" Sui Yi and the others misheard it as monkey, but looking at its shape, it did indeed resemble one...

"It looks like a monkey but also like a human. At first glance, you’d think it was Sun Wukong," blurted out Pang Shuai, while Mount Mover and Third Lady Yin remained unfazed, the former stroking his beard and speaking in a low voice, "Ancient mountains harbor deep miasmas, poisonous insects and ferocious beasts roam free, places unfit for human spirit; yet there exists a spirit monkey resembling a human, unseen as it wanders the mountains, its tail extraordinarily unique, incredibly long, capable of changing colors in myriad ways, hovering with special abilities... That is a Hou!" (Ha, I made this up. But there are countless unique creatures in this world, I’ll choose some typical ones to include~~ You know~)

Everyone listened and turned their gaze to the creature. Xue the Skillful Hand, with sharp eyes capable of seeing clearly in the dark, chuckled, "But this thing has no tail, look here..." He suddenly paused.

Third Lady Yin pointed at the wound on the Hou’s rear, saying, "This guy has a bleeding wound on his butt, it’s either been... assaulted or lost its tail, right, Miss Sui?"

Assaulted... Sui Yi didn’t quite get the meaning of being assaulted for a moment, but she didn’t care, simply stating, "The tail is in the house, it can indeed change color and blend into the environment, making it seem as if it’s suspended..."

With that mysterious demon god already here, and now a Hou as well, this place really is filled with all sorts of oddities.

"Is this Hou also with the demon god?" Second Master Gong asked the village chief.

"No, we have never seen it before... I guess it came from Poison Dragon Gully," the village chief’s expression darkened as if recalling something, "I didn’t deceive you when I said there have been many people around here recently, but more than a month ago, Poison Dragon Gully became exceedingly dangerous... There were frequent odd occurrences, and even we mountain folk who went in wouldn’t return, perhaps the demon god is enraged..."

"Damn, you’re still trying to scare us now, you really think a demon god will take revenge for you?"

Pang Shuai raised his long knife, about to give the old man a blow, while Feng Sha and others aimed their guns at these villagers...

Second Master Gong smiled but did not intervene, and the villagers fell silent, yet they said nothing...

Sui Yi and her companion watched with cold eyes.

After a while, the village chief let out a deep sigh and said, "You all must be here for Poison Dragon Gully, just like those before you... If you don’t mind, I can take you there..."

The old ginger is indeed spicier, the old man was very shrewd. Truth be told, Second Master Gong and his people didn’t really want to cause a massacre; firstly, their side hadn’t suffered any damage, and secondly, although these villagers were no match for them, there were many people. If each had chosen to struggle to the death using gu techniques, it would have undoubtedly cost them some effort, and as for the people previously harmed...

They were not the Cosmic Peacekeeping Organization, what was most important now was to find the whereabouts of Gong Jiu and the others...

Since an agreement was reached, there was no further outbreak of hostilities. The Hou, an exceptional creature unseen by people before, was either exceptionally good at hiding or had only appeared recently. And it showed up the same night as the demon god, so there must be some connection. Thus, Second Master Gong had Pang Shuai take the Hou for treatment so that they could bring it along when they set out the next day...

Everyone returned to their previous rooms, but Sui Yi and her companion were moved to a different room, obviously, the village chief thought it inappropriate to keep two young ladies in this "haunted" room, so they were relocated.

"This is my daughter’s room, after she left, my wife and I have always kept it tidy, it’s still clean. Rest early, and I’ll take you to Poison Dragon Gully tomorrow," he said.

His daughter left? Was she also harmed by the demon god?

The village chief might have been deferential to Second Master Gong and the others, but towards Sui Yi and especially her, he displayed both fear and respect.

After he left, Yhan Qingwu immediately opened the medical kit she was carrying and looked at Sui Yi, "You’re hurt, your breathing is off..."

Sui Yi pulled at the corner of her mouth, gently pressing her right shoulder, "Yes, it seems I was hit here earlier."

I knew it.

Yhan Qingwu’s brow furrowed, "You can really endure, not uttering a sound and talking with them for so long..."

Sui Yi undid the buttons on her shirt, revealing the fair shoulder. Half of it was now a shocking bruise, particularly black around the center.

"Poison!" Yhan Qingwu’s expression turned solemn, but Sui Yi calmly said, "No need to worry, I’ve confined the poison to the wound and it hasn’t spread throughout my body..."

Her casual tone made Yhan Qingwu chuckle wryly, "You know I won’t scold you, but if it were Gong Jiu, or the Eastern Lady, you’d have quite a bit to endure."

Indeed, among these friends, Gong Jiu had the most fiery temper yet got along extremely well with Sui Yi, always straightforward, saying whatever came to mind, while Eastern had a sharp personality and strength, never hiding her thoughts, and it was common for her to scold Sui Yi.

Actually, the person who was the least courteous to her wasn’t either of those two, it was Jiang Chenyu, only the other party...

But as soon as these three were mentioned, Sui Yi’s eyes and brows showed slight weariness, "Gong Jiu’s whereabouts are unknown, Flower Demon was with her, and no one knows where Eastern and Chenyu have gone."

Eastern and Chenyu...

Yhan Qingwu was aware of how formidable these two were, as evidenced by the situation at Fuan Orphanage before, "They didn’t go with Gong Jiu?"

"They did not... I am not quite sure; in the past few days... I have been somewhat distracted," Sui Yi admitted with a touch of self-mockery, skimming over the subject before asking Yhan Qingwu, "What was that thing you released earlier? It seemed to be somewhat fearful of it."

Yhan Qingwu had already helped Sui Yi expel the poison and treated the wound, moving with extreme care, trying not to touch the wound... or any other spot.

Her gaze didn’t waver.

After dressing the wound, Yhan Qingwu flipped her wrist, pulled up her sleeve, and revealed a miniature device worn on her white forearm, which looked like a crossbow...

With a flick of her fingertip, whoosh!

Three tiny Green Light Needles emerged halfway from the small holes beneath.

The tips of those Green Light Needles gleamed like jade... yet also had silver stripes...

"Jade?"

"Yes, this is Tang Sect’s famed Hidden Weapon ’Mountain Green and Water Color.’ If you use ordinary needles, they are for attacking and killing enemies, but if you switch to jade-crafted silver-tipped needles, they are for exorcism. Silver has always been known for its exorcising properties, and jade can store spiritual energy and intentions. Coupled with the Buddhist ’Great Vajra Sutra’ inscribed on them, they do have some effect against evil creatures..."

It was more than just some effect.

The lethality was very considerable, otherwise that creature wouldn’t have fled after being hit by the ’Mountain Green and Water Color.’

"Most impressive," Sui Yi praised, "I had thought that the Tang Sect only specialized in hidden weapons and assassinations, but I didn’t expect they also had this kind of research in exorcising evils..."

Yhan Qingwu smiled, prompting a start from Sui Yi, "Did you craft it yourself?"

"Sort of. Once I received the news a few days ago that you were coming to Western Hunan, I started researching right away. This was the first time I used it... The effect was quite satisfactory."

Although she didn’t display much pride, Miss Yhan was quite content with the outcome.

Sui Yi smiled too, realizing that the always graceful and elegant Miss Yhan actually had a great talent in the field of Tang Sect’s Hidden Weapons and even in exorcism.

As they were injured, they didn’t chat much and rested early. The next day, as dawn was breaking, they set off for Poison Dragon Gully.

Many people would naturally assume that Poison Dragon Gully was a gully, and in fact... it was indeed a gully.

However, it lay hidden in the deepest part of the mountains, as if between two mountain ridges at their meeting point, deeply sunken and with dense forests, mostly towering trees with lush branches and leaves that shielded the sunlight. The ground was overgrown with an abundance of low-lying plants, and there were many insects; as the old folks would say, it was "filthy."

No light means darkness, darkness means filth, and where there is filth, there are likely poisonous miasmas, making it easy to get lost.

Therefore, Poison Dragon Gully, just from an ecological standpoint, was unsuitable for human traversal. Had it not been for the village chief leading the way, even if Sui Yi and the others could find their way into Poison Dragon Gully, it would have taken them a considerable amount of time. Fortunately, the village chief knew the path well and took them along a shortcut that had been trodden out by prior generations.

"Our people have been walking this path for hundreds of years. It’s been walked by every generation and is very secret. Without us leading, you outsiders would definitely be unaware of it."

The implication was that he had never taken anyone else this way before, and that treating them this way was a sign of sincere goodwill...

Sui Yi and their group neither confirmed nor denied this, but they could tell from the surrounding environment that without this path, they likely would have been bitten to death by those insects.

The insect repellent they carried seemed insufficient.

The fat ones among them kept complaining about the intensity of the insect bites... they had swollen up quite a bit.

Meanwhile, Hou, who had been bound and captured, didn’t seem afraid at all and maintained silence throughout the journey.

After approximately one Shichen Chinese Time, they finally traversed the shortcut, "Here we are, this is Poison Dragon Gully..."

Emerging from that dark, dense forest that felt almost suffocating, the sight of the expansive, breezy fields was sudden. Still, despite the pleasant surroundings, no one found the place to be particularly beautiful. It was a clear day around eight or nine in the morning, not too hot, and yet this open area felt desolate. The ridges and farmhouses in the distance were in disrepair and decay, and it seemed as if the area was enclosed, with mountain ridges on one side, mountainous terrain on both sides, and a vast and dangerous forest encircling the remaining side, forming a square that felt oppressive. (To be continued. If you liked this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, subscribe with monthly passes; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)