Chapter 19: Vengeance Must Be Taken
The night grew deeper, and Niu Xin Village had all extinguished their lights except for Niu Han’s courtyard, pitch black all around.
Su Yan took advantage of the night to quietly leave the village, leaving only the Yin Water Centipede in Niu Han’s house.
He returned to Yun Qian Village overnight and quietly entered his own room.
Early the next morning, Su Yan went to find Xie Yuzhu.
“Second Uncle, you…”
When he saw Xie Yuzhu, he was truly startled.
Xie Yuzhu had his hemp clothes chest open, and that footprint was even more bruised and swollen than yesterday, like a raised steamed bun.
“It’s nothing,” Xie Yuzhu lowered his voice. “I used a bit more Wood Red Flower…”
His tone was relaxed, but his smile was somewhat forced and tired.
Wood Red Flower can promote blood circulation and dispel blood stasis, but if used at the wrong time or in the wrong way, it would instead make the bruised area more swollen and more painful.
As a Mountain Hunter, Xie Yuzhu could not possibly not know how to use Wood Red Flower; he did it on purpose.
Xie Yuzhu knew he was just an ordinary person, and now his nephew was no ordinary person. If he wanted to do something, the only help he could offer was this.
Su Yan took a deep breath, suppressing the emotion in his heart: “Uncle, I’ll take you to find a doctor.”
“Mm, alright.”
Xie Yuzhu nodded, and Su Yan helped him out the door.
“Mom, where are Yan Ge’er and Dad going?”
A Bao saw the two going out and looked up to ask his mother.
A flash of worry passed through Li Lian’s eyes, and she said softly: “Dad is going to see the doctor. A Bao, be good and help Mom take the Fern Grass out to dry.”
Su Yan helped Xie Yuzhu to the Village Head’s home.
“Village Head Grandpa”
Su Yan called out into the courtyard. Soon, the Village Head old man came out and stood in the courtyard.
When he saw Su Yan supporting Xie Yuzhu, he was shocked and hurriedly asked: “Yuzhu, what happened to you?”
Xie Yuzhu said in a muffled voice: “I don’t know what that damned Zhao Er Laizi kicked, but overnight it swelled up like this. A Yan wants to take me to the Marketplace to find Doctor Du, and we’re borrowing a cart from you, Uncle.”
“Sigh,” the Village Head old man sighed and cursed: “They’re all bullies.”
“Da Lang, go push the cart over and go with Yan Ge’er to send your Pillar Bro to the Mountain Market.”
In Yun Qian Village, everyone was related by blood or marriage, and at worst, friends who had played together since wearing open-crotch pants.
By seniority, Xie Yuzhu was exactly playmates with the Village Head’s son Zheng Penggang, and they had called him Pillar Bro or Yuzhu Bro since childhood.
“Got it, Dad.”
Zheng Penggang immediately went to move the cart in the courtyard, unloaded the clutter from it, swept it with a broom, and pushed it in front of Xie Yuzhu.
“Pillar Bro, get on first. I’ll push you there.”
He was even more indignant: “Yesterday we should have beaten those bastards to death, Blood Ghosts.”
Zheng Penggang hung the cart straps over his shoulder and lifted the cart with his hands.
“Dad, you go back first. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get Pillar Bro to Doctor Du.”
Zheng Penggang instructed his father, then turned to Su Yan: “Yan Ge’er, hold your second uncle steady.”
One pushed the cart, one supported, and they headed along the path toward the Mountain Market.
When they left the village entrance, the sun had just risen, with sporadic rooster crows coming from afar.
——
Meanwhile, at Niu Han’s home, Niu Dang had overnight gathered the young underlings in the village who followed Niu Han, as per his instructions.
About five or six young men, all in their twenties or thirties, bleary-eyed, but perked up at the mention of drinking and something to do.
Perhaps worried about urgency the next day, Niu Dang also called in underlings from the neighboring village. By around two or three in the midnight, about twenty people had gathered in the courtyard.
Niu Han had people kill two chickens and slaughter a sheep, set up a pot for simple wine and dishes, and they started drinking in the courtyard.
To get people to do things, one must be willing to spend. Thus, those called in the middle of the night didn’t feel disturbed and patted their chests, saying tomorrow’s matter was on them.
After a bout of eating and drinking, it was lively at the fifth watch.
At this time, the first rooster crow rang out, and the roosters in Niu Xin Village began crowing one after another.
The Yin Water Centipede hidden among the tiles heard the crow and began to move.
Over a thousand appendages rustled, crawling down from the eaves along the beams and pillars.
In the room, only Zhao Er Laizi and a few like Niu Daqi were there, snoring like thunder.
With broken limbs, they couldn’t drink conveniently and could only rest in the room. On the floor beside the bed, one or two underlings with poor tolerance were also slumped, having come in to rest.
The Yin Water Centipede entered quietly, and they had no guard up.
It rustled and opened its ferocious mouthparts, biting toward the sleeping person.
First was Zhao Er Laizi on the bed, bitten right on the neck in one bite.
“Woo woo…”
He jolted awake, massive blood surging into his trachea, whimpering, mouth spraying blood foam, unable to speak.
Before he could struggle much, the poison invaded his body, and he stopped breathing.
His commotion caught Niu Daqi’s attention nearby.
“Damn Zhao Er Laizi, you—”
Before he finished speaking, a dark purple shadow pounced in his bleary eyes, his eyes stung, then he took a bite, flesh and blood mangled.
His face turned black-purple in an instant and soon lost all sound.
The two’s struggles finally woke the people in the room.
“Centipede! There’s a centipede!”
The remaining four or five panicked and got up, but the Yin Water Centipede went berserk, started killing, and charged straight at them.
Among them, some injured, some drunk, they grabbed objects to smash, but couldn’t hit the Yin Water Centipede at all.
Its mouth shot poison like swords, and soon some were injured, some dead, in utter disarray.
One grabbed a bench and smashed it with all his might onto the Yin Water Centipede’s body.
It crashed loudly, the bench shattered to pieces. Thinking the centipede dead, but suddenly it jumped out from under the bench remnants, biting his throat while he was off guard.
The commotion in the room drew attention outside, and with a bang, Niu Han kicked open the door.
“What happened?!”
He held a dao, bare-chested on one side, with a downhill tiger tattooed on his thick arm.
His eyes widened in shock.
Zhao Er Laizi and the others in the room were all down, and the surviving ones struggled as if having a stroke.
The Yin Water Centipede was gorging on flesh and blood, its bloody appearance like a vicious insect crawled out of Hell.
“Where did this Exotic Insect come from?!”
He was shocked and angry inside, but the Yin Water Centipede finally smelled a familiar scent and immediately turned direction.
Its mouth suddenly spat two slender arrow-like poison streams straight at Niu Han’s face.
Niu Han felt a chill down his spine, his drunken haze sobering by a third. He blocked with the dao in front and dodged his head aside.
Most of the poison was blocked by the dao’s broad blade, and the remaining bit was dodged by Niu Han.
An underling rushing up behind became the unlucky one, hit squarely by the residual poison, eyes corroded, collapsing in pain.
“You still dare to fight back!”
Niu Han, emboldened by alcohol, surged with hot blood and swung the dao at the Yin Water Centipede.
This poisonous insect was fierce enough to come down the mountain—perfect to chop up for wine. An Exotic Insect was no less valuable than a Treasure Plant.
He lunged forward, but the Yin Water Centipede twisted its body, swiftly weaving around the corpses, dodging the fierce attack.
The dao landed on a recently deceased underling, mangling flesh and blood.
The Yin Water Centipede attacked from the side, following the dao straight at Niu Han’s right hand.
Niu Han swung back to chop, but the Yin Water Centipede was already on the hilt.
It was too late to swing back; he was scared and let go directly.
But the Yin Water Centipede had already leaped onto his hand.
Oh no!
Niu Han’s face changed drastically, too late to pull back his hand, pain hitting instantly.
The Yin Water Centipede had bitten down, injecting massive poison into the skin.
He flung his hand violently, a chunk of flesh torn off raw by the Yin Water Centipede, thumb and index finger both mangled.
The Yin Water Centipede landed heavily but flipped over and shot more poison.
Niu Han, in pain, reacted much slower and couldn’t dodge fully; half his face was drenched in poison.
He retreated repeatedly, crying out in pain nonstop.
“Net’s here!”
The underlings finally found the Large Net to deal with this ferocious thing.
But after succeeding, the Yin Water Centipede had already burrowed under the bed, along the wall corner, up the beams and pillars.
The underlings holding fishing nets, baskets, and steel forks could only look at each other.
The Yin Water Centipede was on the beam; fishing net and steel fork were useless.
They didn’t dare approach, fearing injury from the arrow-like poison.
“Save the boss first.”
Someone shouted, and they had to drag Niu Han out first.
The crowd retreated from the courtyard, and the Yin Water Centipede hid among the roof tiles, quietly heading up the mountain.
At this time outside the courtyard, the sky was just dawning, the sun slowly rising.
