Chapter 169 – Fatebound Heartcrush Bug
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Lin Ming lightly smiled and said as he cut the tall grass, “Do you think that if I hadn’t given them the sabers that I would be able to run away?”
Na Yi paused. Indeed, Lin Ming was only a young boy at the Altering Muscle stage. Even if the bald man and monkey-faced man were unarmed, Lin Ming would still not be a match for those two deviants.
However, since Lin Ming was aware enough of the situation to remark in such a way, that proved that at least he wasn’t too stupid. Na Yi was silent for a moment, and then said, “Then what are you planning on doing? Drug them? Do you think that will have any meaning?”
Lin Ming responded, “I’m not sure if it will, but I still have to try. In the end, aren’t you the same as me? I thought that the bald man and the monkey-faced man knew the way to this so called ‘ancient site’, but it seems that you are the one guiding them. If you help them, do you actually believe that they will let you and your sister go after taking the treasures?”
Na Yi’s lips twitched. Of course she had thought of these things that Lin Ming had said. She coldly replied, “You do not have to worry about that!”
“Of course I’m worried. I’m afraid that you will have a sudden change of heart and bring us to some trap in the middle of nowhere, where we will all perish together. If that happens, then I’ll really have died unjustly.”
Na Yi coldly said, “When my parents died, I swore two absolute oaths. The first was that I would thoroughly protect my little sister and keep her safe no matter what happens. So you don’t need to worry, I won’t let my sister die.”
Na Yi finished speaking here, and no longer uttered another word. These two oaths she had made were the secret of her heart. She would never have spoken about them to a stranger, but now, at the edge of death, how could she ever carry out these two oaths?
Lin Ming’s heart was stirred. He looked back at Na Yi with a bit of surprise, and saw that innocent looking girl quietly turning her head to gaze into the distance. Her body hadn’t fully developed, and even when riding a horse, her line of sight was just above the tip of the grass.
Just by looking at her youthful appearance, it was hard to imagine that she already carried such heavy burdens on her tender shoulders. Since she had made two oaths, then was the other to avenge her parents?
Lin Ming was quiet as he silently chopped the grass. At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He felt that a few dozen feet away was a giant snake. Its darkly patterned, scaled body was the as thick as a water basin, and it was over 50 feet long. In the Southern Wilderness, the venomous serpents were of the most deadly variety.
For such a huge fellow to also be so toxic, it was creepy just thinking about it.
Lin Ming maintained his composure, but secretly stayed on high alert.
After the group walked forward another 100 feet, the bald man suddenly raised the hand which held the saber. Apparently, he too had discovered this large snake.
Although the bald man and the monkey-faced man were scum, they did have a very rich knowledge of the jungle and the land. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to wander the wide Southern Wilderness for so many years.
“A patterned anaconda. Sh*t, what bad luck. Looking at how thick this fellow is, I think his strength should be equal to a Pulse Condensation Period martial artist.” The bald man frowned, and then pulled out a strange looking musical instrument from his knapsack. It looked like a reed pipe, but it also had additional strange holes that weren’t found on a normal reed pipe.
The bald man jumped down from his horse, raised a bit of true essence, and began to play the strange reed pipe.
A hoarse and scratchy sound passed along with the notes, and a faint hint of true essence fluctuated within the melody. As the bald man blew on the reed pipe, he began to march to a bizarre beat, legs swaying from side to side. His entire face had an extremely ugly look as he shivered with the effort of this display.
To Lin Ming, seeing the bald man with his dancing movements was a bit funny. But to his surprise, just a moment later, the big snake seemed to fall under a strange hypnosis as it swayed from side to side before eventually writhing away.
“Interesting…” Lin Ming had seen and experienced many different methods that the people of the Southern Wilderness had used to handle the vicious beasts and poisonous creatures. He had been anticipating that they would have a fierce battle, but in truth, the majority of vicious beasts were repelled by these two fellows using fascinating and unusual methods. Only when they were against a much weaker foe would they attack and kill.
So along the way, there was no surprise nor was there danger.
With these two people leading the way, Lin Ming had truly saved a great deal of effort.
The bald man seemed to have consumed a lot of energy from playing that reed pip; he was very haggard looking. The bald man pulled out some medicinal herbs from his backpack and began to chew and swallow them.
This type of medicinal herb was able to restore true essence, though it didn’t have much of an effect. However, it was cheap. As for true essence stones, those were dozens of times more expensive, so those were something that these two men would never be able to use.
“Let’s go.” The bald man said proudly as he licked his lips. He was quite satisfied with his success.
The group safely passed all the way to the evening. At that time, the group of five finally came to the foot of a cliff. Lin Ming looked up and was surprised to it was over 1000 feet high. If one fell down from there, they would really experience a tragic death.
At this moment, Na Yi, who had been silent up until now, spoke up. “It’s here. We can enter the Sorcerer Holy Land from here.”
“Mm?” The monkey-faced man smiled in happiness. “Where is the entrance? How do we go in?”
However, Na Yi did not respond.
The monkey-faced man frowned and said in an icy voice, “Little girl, don’t you dare think about playing tricks on me. Tell me, where do we go?”
“Release my little sister and I will tell you.” Na Yi said.
“Impossible. I already said that I would only do so once I obtained the power of the Sorcerer and I safely leave the Sorcerer Hold Land. Otherwise, I cannot release your little sister. Don’t think I’m some idiot for you to play games with. Since only the chosen are allowed to enter the Sorcerer Holy Land, who knows what sorts of traps and mazes could be in there. If I release your little sister and you lead us into a deathtrap, who knows how we will die.”
“I’ll say it again. If you release my sister I will swear an oath upon the Sorcerer to lead you to obtain the power of the Sorcerer! Otherwise, you get nothing at all.”
“Hehe, what can’t I get?” The bald man smiled lewdly. “No, even if us brothers cannot take the power of the Sorcerer, we will still be merry. You little bitch, do you really want your sister to be…hahaha!”
As the bald man said this, Na Shui paled, and cowered behind Na Yi.
Lin Ming frowned. He couldn’t move against these men yet; he still needed them to fulfill their purpose.
Na Yi didn’t speak, she merely stood there in a cold standoff. She had no intention of backing down.
At this moment, the monkey-faced man said to the baldy, “Old Second, stop saying so much. Once you have fame and power, what sort of woman can you not have?”
He turned to Na Yi and said, “Since you led us to the Sorcerer Holy Land, then you have already betrayed the Sorcerer, and yet you still wish to swear an oath upon his name. How can I believe you?”
Na Yi was silent for a moment. Finally, she tore up her sleeve and revealed her healthy and smooth arm. On her upper arm, there was a red dot; this was a purity mark.
And beneath the purity mark, there was a pair of golden dots.
Na Yi gently swiped her finger and the two golden dots came off. Lin Ming was able to clearly see that these two small dots were actually a pair of small gold-colored beetles. Before, they had rolled up, so it had looked as though they were a pair of golden beads.
“Fatebound Heartcrush Bug?”
As the monkey faced man saw the pair of golden beetles, his complexion changed and he whispered this name.
The people of the Southern Wilderness specialized in the art of witchcraft. There were many different types of poisonous bugs, and there were also those who were capable of raising them.
“What is the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug?” The bald man asked. He had never heard of such a thing.
The monkey-faced man said, “The Fatebound Heartcrush Bugs are monogamous, and only form a pair. They must be attached to a human body and drink live human blood in order to live. If they drink the blood of a dead man, they will wither and die. In the life of a Fatebound Heartcrush Bug it will only have one companion. Once this companion dies, the other will quickly accompany it in death. After dying, their bodies will rot and unleash an immense amount of poisons.
“…What’s that supposed to mean?” The bald man didn’t understand the implications of this.
The monkey-faced man said, “She is thinking of placing a Fatebound Heartcrush Bug inside the body of her little sister and in one of us. The Fatebound Heartcrush Bug must drink live blood to in order to live. If the little sister dies, then the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug will also die wither her, and afterwards, the other Fatebound Heartcrush Bug in one of us will die, and release a deadly poison that will kill us!”
“It’s that ruthless?” The bald man turned white. He felt a bit apprehensive as he looked at the two small golden bugs.
Na Yi said, “A human may make promises, but in the end they are unpredictable. However, poison is poison, and is unwavering in loyalty! With this Fatebound Heartcrush Bug it will be impossible for me to kill you. If you die, then my little sister also dies. If you agree to the terms, I will place a Fatebound Heartcrush Bug in one of you and continue leading you. If you don’t agree, then I will kill myself here and now!”
The monkey-faced man looked at the golden beetles with a cloudy expression. He hesitated for a moment before finally clenching his teeth and saying, “You can use the bugs. But first, you must place it in your little sister.”
Na Yi nodded, “Na Shui, give me your arm.”
Na Shui bit her lips and stretched out her arm.
Na Yi placed the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug on top of Na Shui’s arm. Then the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug chewed through Na Shui’s skin, and drilled its way in.
“Ah!…” Na Shui quietly cried out in pain.
A small bump appeared on Na Shui’s arm. This bump travelled along her arm and upwards until it entered into Na Shui’s blood vessels, then it followed the bloodstream to the heart.
Na Shui’s lips trembled and her small face was pale. To a little girl, this scene was frightening. The pain and tingling of the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug drilling through her bloodstream to her heart was unbearable.
A moment later, Na Shui tightly clutched her chest, her face blue. Obviously, the taste of having a beetle bore into her heart was not pleasant.
Na Yi comforted her and said, “Ah Shui, it’s all right. After three years the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug will emerge from your heart through your blood flow. It won’t hurt you.”
“Mm.” Na Shui reluctantly nodded.
Lin Ming had been keenly watching from the sidelines. Although he had never heard of the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug before, he was able to understand from their conversation that it was a contract of some sort. However, from the sound of it, this contract wasn’t necessarily binding or strong. Even Lin Ming had means to avoid the contract of the Fatebound Heartcrush Bug and scrap it.