29: Chapter 29 The Myriad Gu Cult and its Descendants

Jiang Hanzhou held his breath, his gaze sweeping over the massive claw prints on the muddy ground like a hawk, the furrows at the claw tips still holding traces of undried water and a few strands of dark brown animal fur.

It was undoubtedly that strange tiger, and it had passed by not long ago.

His mind steadied slightly, and just as he was about to follow the trail, suddenly, a sharp sound of clashing metal and angry shouts came from deep within the forest ahead, piercing through the wind!

"Someone is fighting?"

Jiang Hanzhou's brows twitched, and his body immediately crouched low like a civet cat, silently dashing behind an ancient tree that would take several people to encircle, peering through the gaps in the vines.

The forest was in a mess, with broken branches and fallen leaves flying about.

There were three people in the clearing.

Opposite them were a young man and woman, both dressed in exotic clothing.

The man had a tall and sturdy build, wearing an indigo cross-collar short jacket, with intricate silver thread patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs, a colorful woven belt around his waist, and a silver headband tied across his forehead; though a man, he possessed a certain rugged, handsome air of the wilderness.

The woman wore a purple-red pleated long skirt, with the hem also embroidered with insect and bird patterns, wearing several thin silver rings around her neck and wrists, which jingled as she moved.

Their attire was vastly different from that of the Central Plains, looking more like Miao descendants from the deep mountains of the southern border.

Confronting them was a thin, middle-aged man with a pale, greenish complexion.

This person wore plain, unadorned grey-black martial attire, with deep-set eye sockets and purple lips, his whole body exuding an icy, decaying aura, as if he had crawled out of a grave.

"The Five Poison Gu is a sacred object that my Black Miao tribe has protected for generations; how could we hand it over to you evil disciples of the Ten Thousand Gu Sect!"

The youth in Miao attire had blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, using his blade to support himself, and shouted sternly, "Old Ghost Yin Bone, don't even think about getting your way!"

The thin middle-aged man, called "Old Ghost Yin Bone," heard this and gave a sinister laugh: "You don't know what's good for you."

Before his voice had even faded, his figure drifted forward like a ghost, striking out with a palm, a foul wind rushing towards them.

The Miao youth swung his blade to block, but the blade was corroded by the palm force, making a "hissing" sound, and with a muffled grunt, he was sent flying again.

"Brother!" the woman screamed and rushed forward.

Old Ghost Yin Bone curled his five fingers into a claw, aiming straight for the woman's back: "Since you refuse to hand it over, then I will refine both of you and the Gu into my blood food!"

Jiang Hanzhou watched coldly, understanding in his heart.

So it was a dispute over some "Five Poison Gu."

He didn't know much about Gu arts, having only seen sporadic records in the secret record of blood gu, knowing that the Five Poison Gu was a strange Gu refined from five highly poisonous things.

It could be used to harm people or as medicine, and was of extremely high value.

However, this had nothing to do with him; that strange tiger was his target.

He was about to retreat quietly when suddenly, a sky-shaking tiger roar came from deep in the forest—

"Roar—!!!"

The roar was powerful and violent, rolling like thunder over the treetops, shaking the leaves until they fell, and the fierce, malevolent aura contained within it far exceeded that of ordinary beasts!

"It's it!" Jiang Hanzhou felt a surge of joy, his gaze suddenly sharp.

The direction from which the tiger roar came was exactly the direction the claw prints extended, and the voice was full of energy, clearly it had not gone far.

This was a golden opportunity!

His body moved slightly, and he was about to dash towards the sound of the roar.

—At that very instant!

Old Ghost Yin Bone, who had been lunging at the Miao woman, suddenly stopped without warning and whipped his head around.

A pair of dark, gloomy eyes, as if having discovered some rare treasure, stared fixedly at the place where Jiang Hanzhou was hiding!

"Hmm? This is... the aura of the Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu?!"

His face showed an incredulous, wild joy and greed, and he actually abandoned the Miao man and woman, his figure like a wisp of grey smoke, rushing straight at Jiang Hanzhou with even greater speed!

"Hahaha! It truly was a case of 'finding something without looking for it'! Brat, hand over the Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu mother Gu on you! That good-for-nothing He Yunqi is dead, so be it; this Gu rightfully belongs to me, Old Ghost Yin Bone!"

While speaking, his withered, bony palm had already pierced through the vines, carrying a poisonous, foul wind, and grabbed towards the location in Jiang Hanzhou's bosom where the jade bottle was hidden!

Old Ghost Yin Bone's sinister smile stopped abruptly, and a flash of surprise and suspicion crossed his eyes.

His poison-laced palm wind was enough to cover a radius of three zhang, yet that dark shadow had, in the nick of time, shifted half a step sideways with an almost slippery movement technique, narrowly avoiding it!

Jiang Hanzhou drifted out from behind the tree, landing steadily on the edge of the clearing, his bamboo hat slightly raised, revealing a pair of calm, unruffled eyes.

"Your breath-concealing technique is not bad, but unfortunately... I can smell that 'Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu' aura on you from three zhang away."

Old Ghost Yin Bone withdrew his palm, his gaze scanning Jiang Hanzhou like a venomous snake, then he suddenly grinned, revealing ghastly white teeth:

"That good-for-nothing He Yunqi... actually died at the hands of a brat like you in the Iron Bone Realm? You really have shamed my Ten Thousand Gu Sect!"

Jiang Hanzhou suddenly realized.

So that was it... the aura of the Gu mother insect in the jade bottle had been sensed by this person.

People of the Ten Thousand Gu Sect actually had a special sensitivity to Gu objects of the same origin.

Killing intent surged in his heart, but his expression remained calm as he only glanced indifferently at the direction where the tiger roar had vanished.

The forest returned to silence; the strange tiger had clearly been startled, and whether it had fled far or was lurking, tracking it further would be difficult.

A waste of my time.

An unnamed anger flared up in his heart, and Jiang Hanzhou couldn't be bothered to waste any more words.

He took a step, the rotting leaves on the ground exploding, his figure shooting out like an arrow from a bow, his right palm pushing out levelly—

It was a seemingly ordinary palm strike, yet the moment it was pushed out, his muscles and bones resonated together, his Qi and blood surged, a pale golden jade luster flowed beneath his skin, and a vast, majestic force containing the momentum of a Dragon and Tiger exploded forth!

The first move of the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill—Tiger Subduing Mountain Push!

"You dare to strike first?"

Old Ghost Yin Bone gave a cruel laugh, neither dodging nor evading, and met the strike with his own palm, his palm emitting purple-black mist, "Let you taste the flavor of my 'Heart Corroding Palm'... urgh?!"

The moment their palms connected, his expression changed drastically!

The scene he had envisioned, where the opponent's Qi and blood would be eroded and collapse from the poison, did not occur; instead, a massive force, as unyielding as a mountain and incomparably fierce, pressed down like a landslide!

"Crack—!!!"

A clear sound of bone breaking rang out.

Old Ghost Yin Bone's entire right arm bent unnaturally in the opposite direction, his body sent flying backwards like a broken sack, smashing through two small trees as thick as a bowl before rolling onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of mud and dust.

He struggled to prop up his upper body, his eyes filled with incredulous horror, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth:

"You... you are not in the Iron Bone Realm... this force... these muscles and bones..."

Jiang Hanzhou slowly withdrew his palm and walked towards him step by step, his tone so calm it was chilling:

"The perfect opportunity to hunt the tiger was ruined by you."

"Therefore, you must die."