Chapter 13: Kikuya Village!

  Seeing Zhou Ji die, Long Jian's eyebrows furrowed, and he finally let out a deep sigh, saying: "It's not suitable to stay here for long, let's go. Zhang Qing, have a few people dig the soil and bury him deeply. Remember not to touch his body."

  "Hmm." Zhang Qing sighed and nodded.

  After burying Zhou Ji, Tang Lin said to Long Jian, "I still have something to attend to, let's part ways here."

  Long Jian knew he was a warrior and couldn't stay, so he cupped his hands and said: "We'll meet again someday, if you need anything in the future, just let me know and I'll rush to your aid like a dragon and tiger!"

  Tang Lin smiled lightly and nodded, then shouldered his pack and headed towards the distant forest, disappearing from Long Jian's line of sight in an instant.

  ……

  Arriving at a vast wilderness, Tang Lin opened his bundle and took out the white python tail. He carefully examined it, with a hint of excitement in his eyes. "Indeed, it's sturdy, and its scales contain rich spiritual energy. It's a natural divine whip treasure. Even if an ordinary person uses it, they can still lash out at the misty aura transformed by a demon."

  "Of course." Xiaohui said, lying beside him, "The reason why the White-tailed Python is called white-tailed is that its tail is the most tenacious among all pythons, making it an excellent material for manufacturing whip-like weapons. Moreover, using the white tail as medicine can even reconnect severed limbs."

  "It's truly amazing." Tang Lin's eyes shone brightly as he wrapped the slender white tail around his body, its silver scales gleaming like carved jade, beautiful and flawless.

  "This snake scale..." Tang Lin took out the snakeskin from his bundle, stretched out his hand to stroke it, and could feel a warm and smooth sensation. His heart moved, he drew out the Black Tooth Battle Knife and slashed at the scales.

  Hiss...

  The blade scraped against the scales, producing a metallic scraping sound, and only left a shallow mark on the scales.

  "Not bad." Tang Lin smiled and put it away, then looked at the snake head. The two-fisted-sized snake head was covered with silver scales, ferocious and frightening, its eyes closed, and the fangs in its mouth were also ferocious, as if they would wake up at any time.

  Tang Lin gripped the Black Toothed Blade tightly and slashed it down from the center of his skull.

  Pfft!

  The skull was cut open with a battle knife, and a stream of blood plasma flowed out from inside. Tang Lin moved the skull aside with both hands, revealing a bright green, round dan bead lying in the sticky brain pulp.

  "This is the Snake Dan... " Tang Lin picked up the emerald green dan bead and found that there was not a single drop of fresh blood on it.

  "Originally, the python's skull had a venom sac." Xiao Hui said calmly, "Those fools have never hunted monsters before and don't know that most monsters will produce a monster dan in their bodies, which is formed by swallowing the essence of heaven and earth. It's extremely precious, far surpassing the value of any snake gall!"

  Tang Lin's heart was burning with excitement as he looked at the demon pill in his hand, and he could smell the strange and refreshing fragrance floating on top of it.

  "This demon pellet is a concentrated poison sac." Little Gray said: "Swallow it, your body will become immune to all poisons, and your strength will double. It's best to swallow it as soon as possible before the energy on its surface dissipates."

  "Hmm." Tang Lin immediately tilted his head back and swallowed it in one gulp.

  Gulu~

  The elixir slid down his throat, and a refreshing sensation spread throughout his body. Tang Lin immediately felt the blood and flesh inside him rapidly transforming, as if stimulated, growing wildly.

  Tang Lin opened his eyes and looked into the distance, immediately discovering that his vision had greatly increased, and he could see the texture of trees hundreds of feet away.

  Clasping his fists, Tang Lin clearly felt his strength increase by two or three times!

  "I used to be able to lift a thousand-jin boulder with one hand." Tang Lin walked over to a large tree beside him, looked up at it, and the tree was incredibly sturdy, its roots extending deep into the ground, requiring at least ten thousand jin of strength to pull it out.

  Tang Lin let out a low growl and pushed his hands against the giant tree, like a fierce bull, exerting all his strength to push forward.

  Rumble...

  The ground shook with sand and stone, the roots of the trees that had been rooted in the mud were lifted up, and the originally upright big tree was actually pushed by Tang Lin to be slightly tilted.

  "Whoa!" He lightly exhaled, Tang Lin slightly panting, his face radiating an excited glow. "I can actually move such a massive tree! My strength is at least several thousand catties. Ordinary newly-minted Martial Artists aren't even my match!"

  His strength soared, making him incredibly happy in his heart.

  He turned around, shouldered his burden and set off towards the depths of the forest with a pleasant mood, "I wonder where that thousand-year-old tree demon is. With my current strength, I should be able to handle it."

  As he ventured deeper into the swamp, Tang Lin felt an increasingly profound sensation, as if he had entered the belly of a massive monster. Looking ahead at the endless black forest, his brow furrowed, "About ten kilometers further forward, we'll leave the Misty Swamp and enter the territory of 'Great Demon Mountain', which is said to be forbidden land for humans according to the map."

  Dà yāo shān is a notorious mountain in the vicinity.

  If it's said that the misty marsh gathers countless ferocious beasts, poisonous insects, monsters and demons, then on the Great Demon Mountain, they are all demons, and they are all deeply cultivated, extremely powerful great demons. Ordinary warriors dare not go there alone.

  Tang Lin's body fell onto a large tree, knowing that he had already ventured deep into the heart of the misty swamp. The air here was filled with a faint aura of evil spirits, and the leaves blocked out the light, making it impossible to see the sky. It was as if in some unseen dark corner, a pair of cunning eyes were staring at him.

  Tang Lin took out two sensing talismans from his body and stuck them on his clothes, ignited one of the talismans, and tracked down the demonic aura.

  Ordinary talismans can sense things within a radius of one kilometer. If ignited, they can sense the situation within a five-kilometer range.

  Whoosh!

  The talisman burst into flames and turned into a bright light that flickered erratically before suddenly dashing off towards the east.

  Tang Lin's eyes lit up, and he hastily followed up. After traveling two kilometers, the light ball disappeared without a trace. In front of him was a vast empty space, on which there was actually a small village.

  Tang Lin's eyes flashed and he walked into this village.

  At the entrance of the village, there were hunters carrying back ferocious beasts and firewood carriers with dry firewood returning from outside. When they saw Tang Lin, they were all astonished.

  Tang Lin looked at their strange eyes, lowered his head to look at the sensing talisman on his body, and found that it hadn't lit up. He became even more puzzled in his heart, "Could it be that these people aren't demons in disguise, but real humans? Or, are they all powerful demons that can't be detected by the sensing talismans?"

  He immediately negated the second idea.

  If even one's own primary sensory symbols cannot perceive a monster, then it can only be a great demon with a cultivation of over 2,000 years.

  Looking at the population of this village, there are about a hundred people. If they were all great demons, it's unthinkable.

  Tang Lin held onto a piece of firewood and couldn't help but ask: "Are you all human?"

  "Of course it's human," Chai Fu said, stunned. He suddenly thought of something and his face changed color as he trembled with fear, staring at Tang Lin, "Could you be a monster?"

  Tang Lin shook his head with a bitter smile.

  The old man let out a sigh of relief and said, "Young fellow, you look familiar. Is this your first time here? Welcome to Guiguzi Village!"

  "Gui Gu Village?" Tang Lin asked in surprise: "Could it be that your village has always been here?"

  "Hmm." Chai Fu smiled and said, "I only remember that from my grandfather's generation, we've always been here. Young fellow, it's your first time here, I'll take you around, my surname is Gui, and my name is Gui Niu."

  "What's with the surname Gui?" Tang Lin furrowed his brow.

  The Cang Xue royal family has 365 surnames, although some minority ethnic group surnames are quite strange, such as "Ye Li", "Long Gong" and so on, but there is no surname Gui.

  Looking at Gui Niu's affectionate smile, Tang Lin felt a bit strange and didn't say much, following him inside.

  The ghost cow was very affectionate, and led Tang Lin back to his own home. His home was a large thatched hut with a courtyard, where two little boys were playing on the stone bench, seemingly fiddling with something. When they saw Tang Lin, they looked up and smiled foolishly.

  "Crack!"

  Tang Lin heard the sound of bones shattering, coming from a window in the thatched hut. The ghost cow beside him furrowed its brow, dropped the dry firewood and shouted loudly: "Stinky old woman, stop bustling about, we have guests arriving, quickly prepare some good food."

  The window was pushed open upwards, revealing a beautiful face with delicate features. She saw Tang Lin's pale and tender complexion, and was taken aback for a moment before breaking into a smile and nodding repeatedly: "Good, good, hehe..."

  Tang Lin was surprised in his heart, never expecting that this rough and ordinary ghost cow would find such a beautiful woman as his wife.

  Tang Lin, at the invitation of Gui Niu, had dinner at his home, eating braised pork, Tang Lin had never eaten such a delicious dish before, and praised: "Sister-in-law's craftsmanship is really good."

  The ghost cow smiled and said, "Then eat a bit more."

  Tang Lin thought of Xiao Hui in his heart and shook his head: "No need, I'm full."

  The ghost cow was about to say something when a head suddenly popped out from outside the door. It was a middle-aged man with a sly and cunning look in his eyes, which were fixed intently on Tang Lin.

  "What are you looking at? Scram!" Ghost Cow bellowed in rage.

  The middle-aged man looked at him and shrank his body, but still slowly backed away.

  The ghost cow smiled at Tang Lin, stood up and said: "It's getting late, you should get some rest early, it's best not to come out tonight."

  Tang Lin nodded slightly.

  The sky was getting darker, Tang Lin lay in the room arranged by Gui Niu, took out Xiao Hui from his bag, looked around and saw no one, then whispered: "Xiao Hui, are you hungry? I'll take you to the kitchen to eat something."

  Xiao Hui gazed at him with an eerie expression, but didn't say a word. She lowered her head and sniffed around him with her nose, like a regular little dog searching for something to eat.

  Tang Lin was tickled by it, picked it up and laughed: "Don't make trouble, come with me." He put it on his shoulder, got out of bed, put on his shoes, quietly pushed open the door, saw that there was no moonlight outside, only the distant beast howling, mixed with the cool night wind, refreshing.