The few people were momentarily flustered, but the old voice sighed helplessly.
"I don't want to die either, but what can I do?!"
"We're dead, but we have to leave a way out for our descendants!"
"The daughter of 'that person' has gone to Shuntian Prefecture with several Great Witches... This time, the imperial court will be determined to wipe us out. With 'that person' around, at least we still have some capital to maneuver with."
The few people fell silent.
After a long while, one person gritted his teeth and said,
"Why?! What kind of Miao King, what kind of ancestors?! They've been dead for hundreds of years, and they still want us to be filial sons and virtuous grandsons, to die for them!"
"We were born naked, so why did we inexplicably incur debt?! What kind of world! What kind of logic!"
"This damn Witchcraft, passed down and down, it's better to just abolish it!"
"Shut up!"
The old man roared.
"Without Witchcraft, what will we rely on to live?!"
"Drinking poison to quench thirst, at least it can temporarily prevent us from dying of thirst!"
The few people sighed one after another, and finally the old man made the final decision.
"That's how it is. We'll give our lives to him, only asking that he protect our descendants."
"Let's go, let's go unseal him now."
Footsteps sounded, reaching the doorway.
The door swung open, revealing an old face, heavy with emotion.
He was suddenly startled by Li Miao, who was standing at the door, arms crossed and smiling.
"!!!"
"Yo, gentlemen, finished chatting?"
Li Miao waved, revealing a friendly smile, a trickle of blood running down his glove.
"When you're done chatting, chat with me for a bit."
----------
"Master, wait for me, my martial arts aren't very good, I can't keep up with you!"
An Ziyang used his lightness skill, barely trailing behind Yongjie, already panting.
His martial arts were originally piled up with natural treasures, and his internal energy was only slightly stronger than that of ordinary second-rate masters. Coupled with the dozens of pounds of hidden weapons all over his body, it was even harder to endure long journeys.
Yongjie frowned upon hearing this, turning to look at An Ziyang.
"Benefactor, with your martial arts foundation, you shouldn't be like this."
"Lust is a bone-scraping knife, most damaging to one's foundation. In daily life, one must pay more attention to it to achieve anything."
Yongjie could naturally see An Ziyang's kidney deficiency.
Then he became even more displeased with An Ziyang; he couldn't even tell where this displeasure came from.
An Ziyang smiled honestly, nodding in agreement, but secretly grumbled.
"Stinky monk, do you really think you're a big shot? Putting on airs with me, young master?"
"Didn't I just coax your daughter for you? How old is she, do you need to guard against me? I wouldn't even thank me, young master, but you deliberately made things difficult for me. When the time comes, I'll definitely complain about you to Lord Li!"
Both of them were quite dissatisfied with each other, but one showed it on his face, the other in his heart.
After Yongjie received the message from Li Miao, he immediately set off for Miao territory. He didn't even ride a horse, traveling day and night by lightness skill, which exhausted An Ziyang.
At present, Yongjie showed no intention of slowing down.
Seeing this, An Ziyang's eyes darted around, and he started a conversation to try and slow Yongjie down.
"Master, before you became a monk, were you 'Pillar of Heaven'?"
"Counting the days, the time your reputation in the martial arts world plummeted coincides perfectly with Ling'er's age... So, back then, you suddenly went crazy collecting all sorts of treasures in the martial arts world for her?"
Yongjie's footsteps involuntarily paused, and after a moment, he nodded.
"Yes."
An Ziyang suddenly realized.
"I often deal with the Tang Sect and am most familiar with poisons. The day I spent with little Ling'er, after I returned to my room at the inn that night, I actually found traces of my anti-poison items being triggered."
"Little Ling'er... was she poisoned when she was young?"
Yongjie shook his head.
"No. This poison came from her mother."
"Miao people's Gu poison."
"In these past few years, it was my master who used his own internal energy to suppress the Gu poison, allowing Ling'er to grow up normally. My master passed on his position to me, a large part of the reason was to give me his internal energy so I could save Ling'er. Otherwise, how could a monk like me, who became a monk halfway through life, be worthy of this abbot position?"
"It was also on the way to Miao territory, searching for a way to resolve the Gu poison on Ling'er, that I met Lord Li."
An Ziyang was silent for a moment before continuing to ask.
"Uh, your wife..."
"She is a Miao person and also a Great Witch. After giving birth to Ling'er, she left without a word and disappeared without a trace. So I simply told Ling'er that she had died, to cut off her hopes, which is better than waiting bitterly every day."
"Then Ling'er..."
"No worries, before my master passed away, he had already instructed my fellow disciples. They will suppress Ling'er's Gu poison on my behalf. My leaving for a period won't matter."
"Your wife..."
"I don't know her background, her age, or why she left Miao territory, why she suddenly disappeared, or whether she's alive or dead now, I don't know."
Yongjie's feet did not stop, but a hint of sadness appeared in his eyes.
"In the end, I only knew her name."
"Her name is Ge Pu Qi."
----------
"Outsiders have broken in!"
Before the old man in front of Li Miao could speak, someone behind him suddenly shouted.
In an instant, a clamor was heard all around.
From various depressions in the stone wall, hundreds of shadows suddenly sprang out, densely surging towards them.
Li Miao glanced around; there was everything among them.
There were people, tigers, pigs, wolves, and countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Several Great Witches chanted incantations, driving these Gu Beasts and Gu Insects towards Li Miao.
The few people in front of Li Miao were also Great Witches, and for a moment, they all chanted incantations, and countless Gu Insects crawled out from various parts of their bodies, covering the ground in an instant, raising their mouthparts, all baring their fangs and claws at Li Miao.
To be honest, it looked quite intimidating. If it were an ordinary major martial arts sect, even if they came out in full force, they would be stumped by this scene.
However, for Li Miao, the threat was not as great as the five hundred Gu Soldiers outside Tai'an city at that time.
After all, if Witchcraft could truly be invincible, it wouldn't be confined to this small corner of Miao territory.
Firstly, refining a Gu Beast or Gu Soldier that can rival a first-rate master costs far more time and resources than cultivating a first-rate master, it's just that the accumulated numbers over the years are quite intimidating; secondly, these things are not fast, lack intelligence, and can only suppress ordinary masters by relying on their thick skin, rough flesh, and the Gu poison they carry, but when they encounter top experts, they can't catch up or defend, so they are not very useful.
Against Li Miao... they could only pray that they wouldn't be shattered too thoroughly.
Li Miao chuckled softly.
"Alright, what I say now, you don't feel it carries much weight."
"I'll show you a couple of tricks first, then we can talk."
With that, Li Miao flipped up and then plummeted down.
Bang!!!
In an instant, the ground within several zhang shattered, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.