CHAPTER 365: CHAPTER 362: THE GIRL WHO RAISES SNAKES

"Hmm?"

The girl clinging to the tree had been curiously observing these outsiders from the mountains when she suddenly heard Hu Ma’s warning.

She was visibly taken aback, her small head quickly turning to look up into the tree.

But at that very moment, the strange green snake coiled above her head suddenly sprang into action. Moving as swiftly as a green bolt of lightning, it shot toward the girl’s fair neck.

Hu Ma saw this and felt a slight heaviness in his heart, but he restrained himself and didn’t impulsively try to rescue her.

All along the way, he had already asked Calculation about these matters. He learned that this tribe of Witches in the mountains had customs quite different from those of the Xia people outside. Therefore, this mountain journey required adhering to various rules to avoid unknowingly offending anyone.

Now, trying to save this girl would be troublesome. The distance was too close; both Ghost Ascending Stairs and Five Thunders Golden Toad Roar would be too slow to deploy. If he tried to throw his saber, he lacked the specialized training for accuracy. Accidentally injuring the girl would make things very complicated.

Besides, though it was just a glance, he’d noticed the girl’s peculiar behavior. Climbing such a high tree suggested she might possess some skills herself.

He had just realized this when Zhou Datong and the others couldn’t help but gasp.

Hu Ma wasn’t confident, and neither were they.

Amid the cries of surprise from those below, with a WHOOSH, the vivid green snake suddenly leaped down from the tree. It flickered past the girl’s cheek but didn’t bite anyone, instead revealing its entire body.

Only then could they see it clearly. The snake was as thick as a human arm and nearly two zhang long. Its front half shot into the basket on the girl’s back, while its rear half slowly slid down the tree trunk. Its coiled body clutched an herbal medicine resembling a lingzhi mushroom.

The girl gleefully took the herbal medicine from its coils. Only then did the snake’s rear half crawl into the basket, its head poking out, trembling and shivering.

She patted its triangular head and giggled, "Lv’er, be good, don’t be afraid of heights next time..."

Her voice was soft and lilting. Her pronunciation seemed to have a couple more inflections than that of outsiders, sounding peculiar, yet crisp and sweet.

Was that snake helping her gather herbal medicine?

Hu Ma witnessed this scene with some surprise. Fortunately, he wasn’t a greenhorn in the jianghu. Although he had called out a warning, he hadn’t intervened. Otherwise, an inexplicable karmic bond or feud might have just been formed.

As he was thinking, the girl, once again hugging the large tree, slid down bit by bit. She glanced at Hu Ma and the others, then walked over.

Her straw sandals were tied to the basket on her back, swaying as she moved. She made no move to put them on, her slender ankles stepping directly onto the withered grass and thorns of the forest floor.

When she was about two to three zhang away, she stopped. Tilting her head, she observed Hu Ma and the others, her brow furrowing slightly. Then, she turned, rummaged through the nearby bushes, picked out and broke off a long branch, and swished it through the air twice experimentally.

Having done this, she turned back towards Hu Ma and the others and continued walking. As she drew nearer, the branch in her hand rose, looking as if she intended to strike Hu Ma with it.

"Hey, little girl..."

Zhou Datong quickly called out to her, but the girl ignored him. She only walked closer, her brow furrowing deeper and her small face hardening, giving her a rather fierce appearance.

The others were somewhat astonished. Could it be that simply warning the girl to be careful had offended her?

So, what should we do now?

Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, and Zhao Zhu exchanged glances, feeling a bit uneasy. Normally, if someone posed a threat to Hu Ma, they’d draw their sabers immediately, but now they faced such a young girl...

While they were wondering, Hu Ma, standing at the front, remained motionless, letting the girl approach. However, the branch she held aloft did not strike Hu Ma. Instead, she met his gaze with her bright, pretty eyes.

Then, she brushed past Hu Ma, took two quick steps towards a large, vine-covered tree nearby, and struck forcefully behind it.

While striking, she also muttered two curses, but not in the official dialect, so they couldn’t understand her. SWISH! And as she struck, a commotion suddenly erupted from behind the vines. A large yellow dog with a white spot on its forehead darted out from the undergrowth, growling and baring its teeth as if to bite.

But the girl just waved the branch fiercely at it. The branch was light, so the blows naturally weren’t heavy. Yet the large yellow dog seemed terrified. After being hit twice, it tucked its tail, whimpered, and fled deeper into the forest.

Hu Ma and the others watched closely. It was indeed the same yellow dog that had appeared near them twice before, barking at their group both times.

After driving away the yellow dog, the girl tossed the branch aside, tilting her head to study Hu Ma and the others. As she did, the green snake in the bamboo basket behind her also poked its head out.

The girl and the snake maintained the same posture as they curiously observed the group. The scene was both bizarre and perfectly synchronized.

Hu Ma looked at her, raised his hand in a cupped fist salute, and said, "Miss, we’ve come from outside the mountains to do business. We’re unfamiliar with this area. We’re not quite sure what that was all about..."

"Heehee..."

Before Hu Ma could finish, the girl suddenly spoke, mimicking Hu Ma’s earlier words, "Be careful."

When she had been comforting the little snake in the tree, her voice was melodious, soft, and clear, with a standard Witch accent. But now, she deliberately imitated the official dialect of the outsiders. The two short words sounded exceptionally cute.

After saying this, she didn’t engage in further conversation with Hu Ma and the others. Instead, barefoot, she turned, skipped, and hopped into the woods beside the path, quickly vanishing from sight.

"What was that?"

Zhou Datong and the others were completely bewildered, utterly confused. They exchanged glances. Including the donkey, they looked like four dumbstruck geese.

Even Hu Ma could only make a vague guess and wasn’t certain. He looked at Calculation beside him and asked in a low voice, "Old Brother, what exactly was that all about? You can tell us now, right?"

"The little girl was being kind..." Calculation also looked in the direction the little girl had disappeared and said in a low voice, "She helped us resolve a crisis, saving us who knows how much trouble..."

"Resolved a crisis?"

Hearing this, the assistants all grew tense. They quickly looked around, but the forest was empty. The twilight gloom remained, but the strange mist and the oppressive, eerie atmosphere that had weighed on their minds had significantly lessened.

"As soon as we entered the forest, we were being watched." Calculation also lowered his voice, a hint of lingering fear in his tone. "I only confirmed it when I saw that dog the second time," he whispered. "That’s no ordinary dog. It’s a Gu Dog."

"Some Witches specialize in this art. They use refined gu insects to bite a dog, turning it into a Gu Dog. It’s then controlled by the person who cast the gu. The dog would come and bark at people three times. The first bark startles the heart, the second drives out the soul, and by the time it barks the third time, we would have been afflicted by a gu."

"..."

"Could such a thing actually happen?"

Zhou Datong and the others recalled the dog from moments before and indeed felt it was somewhat strange. A sense of lingering fear and unease crept over them.

Hu Ma frowned. "Since you recognized it, why didn’t you warn us sooner? I was confident I could have killed it with one slash of my saber."

"It’s a good thing you saw my look and didn’t actually attack," Calculation said hastily. "Just now, we were in the depths of the old forest, surrounded by an eerie atmosphere. Who knew what strange things were hidden around us? If you had attacked, who knows what you might have provoked to come for us."

"Besides, since that dog was a Gu Dog, if you had really killed it, you might have fallen into their trap instead. Witch gu techniques are impossible to defend against effectively. How could you know they didn’t deliberately send that dog over for you to kill?"

"..."

"Could such sorcery exist?"

Hu Ma thought about the dog’s appearance and asked, "Then if one is afflicted by the gu, what happens?"

Calculation shook his head. "That, I wouldn’t know."

"The Gu Dog barking three times is just one method of implanting a gu, much like a method of administering poison. But what happens after being afflicted by the gu still depends on what kind of gu the other party used!"

"..."

Saying this, he looked up. They were surrounded by a dense forest with lush foliage. According to their initial plan, they should have reached the blood food mine by noon today. But now, dusk was approaching, and there was still no sign of it.

Getting lost while traveling in the mountains was common and not surprising. However, this inexplicable encounter with the Gu Dog made them uneasy.

The trees, wild grass, vines, and mountain rocks had all looked normal. But now, as the sun gradually set and the light dimmed, everything in their eyes began to look increasingly strange. Not the slightest sound could be heard from their surroundings, and a faint, fishy odor seemed to be wafting out from the depths of the forest.

"It looks like taking over this blood food mine won’t be easy..." Hu Ma sighed softly. "That little girl warning us to be careful wasn’t just about that Gu Dog. She was trying to tell us that there will be more trouble ahead..."

"I wonder about her origins. She seems to have some real abilities..."

"..."

"This shouldn’t be happening. Before I set out, I performed a divination for myself. It indicated that this trip was supposed to bring wealth..."

Calculation also clearly realized something. He muttered to himself for a moment, then turned to Hu Ma and said, "Young Brother Hu, the disturbances in these mountains... they don’t feel right..."

Hu Ma asked, "Are they directed at us?"

"Most likely," Calculation said. "Even if there are Witches refining gu nearby and they don’t want humans to enter, they would at least give some kind of warning to make people take a detour. But to inexplicably send out a Gu Dog without even a greeting is too domineering..."

Hu Ma nodded. He suddenly raised his voice and called out into the forest, "Which friend is ahead? Could there have been a misunderstanding?"

"If you don’t mind, please show yourself. Whatever it is, let’s talk about it openly!"