A long vine that was almost invisible in the night had wriggled and crept up soundlessly behind them. It had almost wound itself around Wen Buzuo’s throat.
Wen Leyang’s five fingers moved in a swift plucking motion and hit onto the vine like raindrops falling from the sky. The black long vine trembled, letting out a heart-wrenching cry in the dark before falling to the ground.
The crowd had just sighed in relief when the vine which had dropped to the ground abruptly leaped up and pounced towards Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper. It hissed with its head raised – the vine had unexpectedly turned into a grayish-colored snake!
Concurrently, the entire jungle started to tremble vigorously. The sound of squishing mud merged with the rustling of the leaves until it cascaded into a noise that made one’s blood run cold. Countless black vines suddenly attacked the group from every direction!
The people from both the Wen and the Luo families retreated with each of them pulling out a short knife to retaliate. The tempered blades of the knives flashed in the moonlight as they chopped the black vine into pieces.
Mumu’s Spirit Needles were being used on Ah Dan but she was not anxious at all in the face of the approaching snake. She sneered as she crossed her arms and reached out like lightning to grab onto the snake. However, just before her hands could touch the snake, it abruptly shrank away. Mumu stomped her foot and shouted in anger, “I can do it myself!”
“The hell you can!” The usually mild-mannered Wen Leyang suddenly cursed with uncharacteristic rage. The red scar on his cheekbone flashed cruelly and fiercely. He had grabbed the snake’s tail as it was about to pounce and pulled the snake away with one hand before Little Chili Pepper could get her hands on it.
Wen Leyang’s other hand rapidly scoured the snake’s body. The gray snake made a heart-wrenching screech and twisted its body insanely as it tried to escape the attack. Finally, it fell to the ground stiffly, never to move again.
It was then that Mumu noticed that the snake’s body was covered in bone needles, the sharp tips of the needles were almost at level with the snake’s body. Other than Wen Leyang’s steel-like hands, if anybody else were to grab the snake their hands would have been pieced mercilessly by the needles.
The other black vines which were attacking the rest of the group were unexpectedly fragile. It took only a few slashes of the knives to sever them and in just a moment the vines were all reduced to nothingness.
But none of their faces showed any relief. Everyone adjusted the state of their body’s readiness to their peak as the cautiously defended against all directions. They were prepared to deal with the next attack from The Swarm of Bees.
Something was wrong, yet no one could tell what was wrong at the moment.
The sound of mud surrounded them and continued to squish in everyone’s ears.
As expected, a moment later there was an ear piercing cry!
The usually somber nail-like person Wen Bushuo yelled hysterically as his thin, withered body jumped up ferociously. His fists oscillated like wheels as he slammed into one of The Centipede’s troops in rage.
The person cried out in alarm as he retaliated ferociously against Wen Bushuo in midair. Under the mottled moonlight, everyone could feel their scalps going numb as the two fighters looked exactly like Wen Bushuo! Both of them were desperately exchanging blows with one another and looked so alike that even Wen Buzuo couldn’t differentiate which one was his real brother.
Soon after, more cries of alarm were sounded. Everyone noticed that they had another ‘self’ nearby and the original group of thirty people had turned into sixty after being attacked by the black vines. Other than Wen Leyang, there were doubles for every other person. Even Little Chili Pepper too had been cloned and each carried an Ah Dan on her back.
The candidates who were selected by the family elders to come on this mission were masters of killing with one punch. They were fearless and were even better at turning their fear into rage. When they saw that there was an enemy that looked exactly like themselves, they pounced on them without a word and fought valiantly against their other ‘self’. Only Wen Buzuo and his double were quarreling as they fought.
Heart-wrenching cries continued to sound through the night. Some of the figures were dropping onto the ground and regardless if the person was the authentic one or the double, they would savagely attack the other and stab their weapon into the enemy’s belly. In a short while, four to five clusters of intertwined figures had fallen onto the ground. When two of the same person died, one of the bodies would distort and turn back into a small bamboo figurine. A strand of hair or a little shred of skin had been nailed onto the face of these figurines.
Ever since the enemies had appeared, Wen Leyang attempted to use his special telegnosis ability of opening and closing his pores to scan his surroundings. Unfortunately, his powers have a limited range and he could only sense a few dozen meters around him. The Swarm of Bees must be hiding at a distance away and were casting their spells from there. Wen Leyang had been unable to locate them so far.
But now, things were different and the enemy had appeared right by his side. Wen Leyang closed his eyes as the pores on his body opened and closed rapidly. He could see the scene around him in his mind’s eye and was able to differentiate the fighters from those who had followed them on this mission and the other which was a bamboo figurine wrapped in blood and black mist.
Wen Leyang shouted as he pounced like a raging leopard towards Little Chili Pepper. His hands interlocked ferociously and he snapped the fair and delicate neck with a loud crack. A sad and shrill moan could be heard from far away as a bamboo figurine with distorted facial features dropped onto the ground.
Little Chili Pepper stared in bewilderment as she stood on the same spot, “You…were you not afraid that you might have killed the wrong one?”
Wen Leyang had since pounced into the fray and his body was wrapped in a vigorous wind and he rapidly ran around the battlefield. Each time he stretched out his arms to snap a neck, a bamboo figurine would fall onto the ground and a sad and shrill moan would echo from far away…
In the midst of the pressing affairs, Wen Buzuo had managed to take his time. He roared at Wen Leyang, “Why aren’t you helping me!”
The other Wen Buzuo shouted with a piercing voice, “Kill him, quick!”
Wen Leyang grinned, “You don’t seem to be too busy.”
All of the doubles had been dispatched by Wen Leyang with the exception of the two Wen Buzuo. But they weren’t in much danger as they were basically scolding one another instead of trading punches.
Mumu took a closer look at the hair and skin scraps that were nailed onto the bamboo figurine’s heads and said, “The Qing Miao clansmen can only use skin or hair to cast their spells. Everyone should wrap your hair up and cover your hands and legs!”
Wen Leyang nodded his head in agreement. As the group had made their way through the dense jungle, it was inevitable that they would have scraped their skin or left strands of their hair behind in the tree branches. The Qing Miao had only attacked in force now as they had been preoccupied with collecting these samples. As for himself, ever since he had cultivated Wen Lazi’s method of cultivation, his hair and skin had become vital parts of his body. They were as important as his fingers and bones and if he were to drop anything it would be his eye’s discharge. He wondered if the Qing Miao could use a person’s eye discharge to cast their spells.
Mumu made a rough headcount and discovered that they had lost ten more people. The ground that had followed Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper had been reduced to twenty people. This consisted of eleven from the Death trademark and nine from The Centipede.
There’s still the matter of the two Wen Buzuo.
Wen Leyang shook his body once and one of the Wen Buzuo cried out as he cursed, “What the hell is this?” The Buddha’s Light Bug, ‘You’ve Got Me’, was lying lazily on his cheek. It seemed pleased with itself as it rolled around and the red-colored bug stood out in contrast against Wen Buzuo’s cheek.
Wen Leyang laughed as he said, “Pay attention, the one with the bug is the real one. The two of you can keep fighting but don’t accidentally kill the bug!” As he was saying that, he turned his face sideways and started listening attentively. The squishing sound of the mud was still around them but the noise was a lot softer now.
This was the second time Mumu had seen Wen Leyang in a dazed state. The first time was when the rogue cultivators were fighting the ten Modes Monastery from the Great Mercy Temple on Zhanyan Peak.
She hesitated for a while before walking lightly to Wen Leyang’s side, “What’re you thinking about?”
Wen Leyang replied in a low voice, “The sound of the mud. Every time the Qing Miao launch their attack the sound of the mud will grow louder, this is equal to informing the enemy that: We the Qing Miao are here…” As he was saying that, he held Mumu’s hand and wrote a few words lightly onto her palm.
Mumu was stunned for a while before her face suddenly blushed scarlet. She bowed her head as her red lips curved up in delight, “What’re you trying to say? How can I be in the mood to discuss that right now?”
Wen Leyang was astounded, “What do you mean?” He paused for a moment before he whispered into Little Chili Pepper’s ear, “What I just wrote was: I’ll be back soon.”
Mumu was burning with anger, her little face turned into a big red apple as she stomped her foot while cursing sweetly, “Why were you writing on my palm from out of the blue and in a mysterious way when there are so many strokes in each letter? How could I tell what you were writing about?!”
Wen Leyang continued to be astounded but this time he was also blushing as he murmured in a low tone, “What did you think I was writing about?”
Mumu stomped her foot, her face was so flushed that blood was almost seeping out, “What do you care! You said that you want to go then you should go soon…you should be more careful…” Before her voice had died away, Wen Leyang had laid himself on the ground with every inch of his skin tightly pressed against the surface. He sensed the vibrations coming from the ground as he waved his arm and instructed in a low voice, “Strike him down!”
Wen Bushuo was concerned about his brother so he was the first one to leap forward and stab his knife into Wen Buzuo’s buttock.
Wen Leyang frowned as his intention wasn’t achieved.
Wen Buzuo hissed and cursed in rage, “B*stard, you’ve got the wrong guy!” The Buddha’s Light Bug raised its head from where it was lying on Wen Buzuo’s face and looked at Wen Bushuo stupidly.
The nail-like Wen Bushuo was confused as he turned and asked Wen Leyang who was still lying on the ground, “The one with the bug is fake, am I correct?”
“Bullsh*t! The one with the bug is the real one!” Everyone spoke at the same time, the three-inch nail bowed his head in shame as he laughed lightly, “Sorry, I misunderstood earlier.” Upon saying that, he raised his hand and stabbed the bugless version of Wen Buzuo in the buttock.
As the shrill cries sounded, Wen Leyang had an elated expression on his face. Like a joyous lizard, he sensed the sound of the squishing mud as he rapidly crept into the depth of the dense jungle. Immediately after, four good hands from the Death Trademark also lay onto the ground and swiftly followed after him.
Wen Leyang was stunned but he did not say a thing for he knew that the people of the Death Trademark refused to let him face the hardships alone anymore.