C9

The man left quietly, and Zhou-Shou did not go to bed.

He sat cross-legged behind the peacock mica's screen. His five hearts faced the sky as he operated the soul restriction technique, Void Nail Soul Formation. Strands of strange rays of light, which were hard to see with the naked eye, were emitted from every part of his body. They were like dense spider webs as they continuously converged on the deepest part of his forehead.

It was similar to a chrysalis, curled up into a ball. Its chrysalis shell was as thin as silk, and within it eight pairs of transparent wings could be vaguely seen. The wings moved up and down, opening and closing, emitting a hazy white-gold light.

After another Circulatory Cycle Revolution, he felt his vision darken as cold sweat poured out all over his body. His bones and flesh were in so much pain that they felt as if they were going to collapse at any moment. He knew that his body had reached its limit so he stopped immediately. He grabbed onto the shelf and struggled to stand up.

It was after midnight, and everything was quiet. Only the mountain wind was like a surging wave, slapping against the windows and turning the small building into a floating island.

There was no light around him, nor was there any shadow. As far as he could see, it was even darker.

Just like countless nights before, he silently stood there, listening to the sound of the wind. The dark island seemed to be floating amidst the endless howling of the mountains and rivers. Now that he was no longer there, time was no longer there. Loneliness with its sharp edges was like a reef emerging from the abyss.

This was the only time in a day that belonged to him. However, at this moment, he felt an indescribable emptiness, as if he had fallen from a high cliff. He was unable to land, and he couldn't grab onto anything to climb up to.

In fact, his life had been very thin. Day after day, he continued on the path he had decided to follow. It was his father's way to cultivate in secret and become a shaman. His father's way of doing calligraphy and painting, singing and dancing, was to act before Barley. Once he left this place, he would have nothing to do and would be at a loss. Just like at dawn, the mountain winds were like the ebbing tide, leaving only the barren leaves on the ground. Lying under the brilliant sunlight like a knife, he didn't know where he was going.

"Bang!" After a long time, ZhouShou finally opened the window and allowed the violent mountain breeze and the dark night to pour in. His loose Chinese robe puffed out with a 'hu' sound, as if he was opening his wings towards the night sky.

He suddenly had the urge to leap up and fly out of the mountain, leaving everything behind. The mountain wind cried out to meet him, like a great wave that had been lifted with all its might, but he stood still all the time, letting the impulse pass, the sweat drying on his back, the growing cold covering every tiny pore of his skin, so that the wind could no longer penetrate.

He slowly closed the window and let his robe fall to the ground. Suddenly, his eyes focused. Flames burst out from the gaps between the leaves of the bamboo bushes outside the window. With a shake, he was approaching the bamboo building.

The chrysalis between his brows suddenly palpitated and a trace of unease surged into his heart.

This was the natural instinct of a witch spirit to sense its good fortune.

He then turned around and walked over to a golden purple sandalwood shelf. The shelves had a total of three floors and were filled with a large amount of gorgeous embroidery silk, Jin Chu calligraphy and paintings, as well as a few chests filled to the brim.

At the top of the drawer, there was a beautiful collection of paintings of the Spring Palace, and underneath it were a dozen or so volume books:《 The Secret Scripture of the First Scholar of the Eight Desolations》,《 The Art of Showing off the Immortal Prince Joe》,《 My Concubine and my son Qiao》,《 The Spring Rain in a Blue House》,《 The Ten Great Evildoers of the Prince Qiao》,《 The True Scholar and Mantra of the Mystery》 … They were all commissioned merchants from different bookshops in Jinchu. These books contained anecdotes about Prince Qiao that were spread through the world. Most of them were exaggerated and exaggerated, but when Liu Zhen studied them over and over, he was able to figure out some of Prince Qiao's personality.

Otherwise, why would he carelessly "invite" this famous person to the stronghold as the final link in his plans to ascend the altar and sacrifice the heavens?

Outside the window, the fire was burning through the bamboo forest as it got closer and closer. Relying on the chrysalis between his eyebrows, Zhuan Shou could hear the sound of hurried footsteps from afar. "He lit a candle made of whale oil and threw numerous books into the brazier." "Bang!" Flames rose as the pages of the book quickly rolled up in the air.

The window suddenly lit up, and a few witch clan men holding torches aggressively rushed in front of the tower. The two young maids who were dozing off woke up from their stupor and walked over while rubbing their sleepy eyes.

"It's Lord Wu Wu who sent us here." The leader with a yellow face shouted, "Xiao Cui, Xiao Kou, open the door!"

When he leaned against the window, he could clearly see the person's face. It was Barley's nephew, Ba Heng, and a few of his trusted subordinates. After a moment's hesitation, he tore off a 'Snow Night Palace Banquet' hanging on the wall and threw it into the brazier. Flames leaped up as the picture scroll vaguely depicted a person wielding a sword in various positions before being engulfed by the flames.

The 'Snow Night Palace Banquet Diagram' originally came from the work of Da Jin's number one painter, Huang Zhanzi. It depicted the snowy night of Ba Ba, Prince Jin drinking wine and having fun with a group of famous scholars in the imperial garden. The real work was collected by the Great Jin Dynasty Palace, and the fake copy was given by a peddler. Who would have thought that this fake would actually have the image of a person dancing with a sword under the light of a candle? As he observed, he discovered that this was an extremely simple set of basic swordplay training. There was no corresponding circulation method for the sword aura, nor were there any profound and unfathomable sword moves. However, after practicing for several months according to the pictures, he felt that his fingers, wrists and elbows had become extremely flexible, as if they had turned into a formless stream.

Branch Shou truly knew that this was not ordinary, so he worked hard every night. Fortunately, the "Snow Night Palace Banquet Diagram" was only a few sword movements. It did not involve the use of inner breathing or martial arts. It could not change the constitution of an ordinary person, so it would not arouse Barley's suspicion.

"Young Patriarch, you haven't slept!" The yellow-faced man stomped on the bamboo ladder until it creaked. He walked up first and shouted loudly, "Lord Wu has given the order for us to search the surrounding to prevent the horse from sneaking in and causing trouble!"

He waved his hand and the few villagers behind him immediately checked their surroundings. His eyes flashed as he cried out involuntarily, "Transformation?!" Did someone break into the stronghold? Damn it, how did you defend them? " He retreated to the corner with a frightened expression, thinking to himself, why would Barley send someone over in the middle of the night? Could he be suspicious of me after all?

"Hmm?" Ba Heng looked at the flickering embers in the brazier and asked doubtfully, "What are you burning in the middle of the night?"

"It's too cold, so of course it's to heat the fire." He grabbed a few strands of silk and threw them into the brazier. The hot flames leaped a few feet into the air, giving Zhang Tie a fright. He quickly pulled out his saber from his waist.

When he saw what was going on, he was so angry that he brandished his knife and shouted, "You prodigal kid! Such an expensive thing, you want to burn it like wood? "

"Ba Heng, what are you doing?" "This is all mine. I bought it with the gold that Abba left behind. I'll do whatever I want with it." You, why aren't you putting the blade down? I am the junior family head, could it be that you want to commit an offense? Thunder uncle, quickly come save me! Your nephew is going to kill someone — "

It was a quiet, late night. His shouts were particularly ear-piercing, echoing out into the distance. The two female attendants were so shocked that they caught up to him. Even though everyone in the village despised Zou Wuzhen, he was after all a direct descendant of the branch family, and would become the leader of the Shaman Tribe in the future. No one would do anything to him.

"Big bro Ba Heng …" Xiao Cui looked at Ba Heng timidly.

"Alright, alright, stop listening to this coward's bullshit." Ba Heng waved his hand and glared at Zhan Zhen. He bitterly sheathed his blade, "You are even afraid of playing with your sabers. You have really disgraced us Witch Clan." "Stop blabbering. The reason we came this time was because of my uncle."

"What does Uncle Lei mean by that?"

Ba Heng sneered, "Lord Wu Wu, to prevent any sneak attacks by horses, please ask the junior family head to temporarily stay in the stronghold and be in charge of supervising."

"Uncle Lei wants me to move to the back mountain?" The expression on his face changed drastically, but his heart remained calm and composed. In the end, Barley was going to make a move on him.

The two sides of the mountain were surrounded by steep cliffs, towering peaks that reached into the clouds, and endless ominous beasts that would be difficult to climb. Even if one transformed into a horse, it would still be very difficult to climb over them. The back of the mountain in the west was deserted and deserted, with a rugged path leading into and out of the village. There was a simple and crude village building built at the entrance, and it was located right at the top of the cliff at the back of the mountain.

Now that he was facing the danger of turning into a horse, Barley immediately seized this opportunity to arrange for him to go to the back mountain and avoid his clansmen. At that time, Barre would unite the entire clan under the guise of avenging himself, and the people would praise him for his righteousness.

"Yes, Lord Wu Wu said that this matter is related to the rise and fall of the Witch Clan. The responsibility of the Young Patriarch is quite heavy." "Hurry up and pack up, we'll take you to the back of the mountain now." Ba Heng said with a fake smile.

"I'm not going! The back of the mountain is so desolate, and it's also located at the mouth of the wind. He kicked over the brazier, causing the ashes to fly in all directions. The reason why Barley had chosen to bring him away in the middle of the night was probably because he was afraid that Barley would cause a huge ruckus, and thus cause his clansmen to feel uncomfortable.

"It's not up to you!" Ba Heng's face sank, "Young Patriarch, you are the leader of our Witch clan. You usually eat well, dress well, and play well. Why, at such a critical juncture, are you unwilling to even suffer for your clansmen? Don't you know how important that trail at the back of the mountain is? If we let the horse turn into horse, we would all be done for! "

"I don't care, I won't go anyway! Last year, I saw that old man in the back mountain. I heard that he was swallowed up by a giant snake and not even his bones are left! " said Branch Shou in a trembling voice. Seeing his legs trembling, Xiao Cui and Xiao Kou could not help but spit out.

Ba Heng said in a sinister manner, "Young Patriarch, don't worry. We will follow you and guard the back mountain. We will protect you well." A few of his men also surrounded him, all of them looking at him with ridicule.

"I want to see Uncle Lei. Uncle Lei dotes on me the most, so he won't let me go to the back of the mountain!"

That fool is still in the dark! His uncle's intentions had been revealed to him long ago. Now that his uncle had ascended to the clan throne, his nephew would become the well-known junior family head.

"Bang!" He then crushed another white jade basin, and with a wave of his wide sleeve, a hidden dagger at the bottom of the basin quietly flew into his sleeve.

"Stop messing around, Young Patriarch, it's time for us to leave." Ba Heng gave him a meaningful glance. A big man grabbed him by the arm and lifted him onto his shoulder. Then, he was about to leave.

"The cold is heavy, are all of you going to travel late at night?" A clear and rich magnetic voice slowly drifted over. Prince Qiao climbed the stairs and looked at the crowd with a smile that was not a smile.