Chapter 7: The Onslaught
Outside the bamboo village, a vast expanse of lush bamboo groves stretched out. Su Xiao sat by a small river, recalling the events of the previous night.
In the cave, as soon as they clashed, he had identified his opponent as the Clan Leader, Qing Zhang. Everyone had a unique aura; close blood relatives might have similar auras, but they were never identical.
Moreover, the overall feeling of the bamboo village was strange to Su Xiao. It seemed isolated from the outside world. He deduced this from the items in the room of the white-robed youth, Liu.
Bubu Wang had scouted that Liu's room contained a set of clothes, several ornaments made of gold mixed with an unknown metal, and a suit of armor.
These items were completely different in style from the ornaments within the bamboo village. The armor, in particular, was estimated to have belonged to someone over two meters tall and very strong. The emblem on the armor was a dragon-like creature with spread wings, which Su Xiao thought resembled an Ancient Dragon—fleshy wings, vertical pupils, and a scaly tail.
The most crucial thing now was to figure out what was hidden in the bamboo village. Something seemed to be observing the village from the periphery, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
As Su Xiao was pondering, Baha flew over and brought news that something had happened in the bamboo village.
When Su Xiao returned to the bamboo village, he saw dozens of villagers surrounding a courtyard. Seeing Su Xiao approach, they blocked his path, refusing to let him enter.
"Let him in."
The Clan Leader's voice came from within the crowd. Though reluctant, the villagers didn't disobey the Clan Leader.
Bringing Bubu Wang and Baha into the small courtyard, a smell of blood wafted over. The scent was strange, carrying a faint sour and foul odor.
A corpse lay in the courtyard, its death gruesome. The villager had fought before dying, holding a half-meter-long short blade in each hand.
The corpse was male, thin, in his early thirties, with no family, and was the village tailor. None of this mattered much, but what was horrifying was that his internal organs had been hollowed out. The bloody hole in his chest bore bite marks, and the edges of the wound were very irregular.
The wound was covered in blood, but even more so in a fluorescent blue liquid. Su Xiao crouched beside the corpse, hesitated for a moment, then directly touched the fluorescent blue liquid on the body with his finger.
There was no corrosive sensation, nor any energy intrusion. This fluorescent blue liquid seemed more like the saliva of some creature.
Bubu Wang sniffed it and let out a low bark, meaning the scent was similar to the thing that had been gnawing on the doorframe last night, but also different.
There was more than one source of the strange occurrences. Su Xiao's gaze fell on the Clan Leader. The Clan Leader frowned, then after a moment, he shook his head slightly, subtly indicating that the strange events in the village had nothing to do with the "Withered Moon Tree" underground. That was his secret, one he would never reveal to outsiders.
"Based on your experience, how big... is this thing?"
The Clan Leader spoke in a low voice, thoughtfully looking at the corpse on the ground.
"About three meters tall, fangs over five centimeters long, upper and lower rows of teeth tightly interlocked like a saw, humanoid form. Judging by its... fingers, that thing is very strong but not bulky, fast, and has tough skin. It probably struck around midnight last night, and the fight ended within twenty seconds."
Su Xiao's preliminary assessment made the Clan Leader's heart sink. He was already wondering what Su Xiao used to do for a living.
"That thing's goal seems to be the organs of living creatures, or the energy within the organs..."
"That's enough. Knowing this is sufficient."
The Clan Leader interrupted Su Xiao. Su Xiao glanced at him but didn't say what he was thinking: the thing that had come might already be getting impatient.
The villagers carried the corpse away to bury it in an open space outside the village. Strangely, the Clan Leader ordered them to burn the corpse first, then bury the ashes.
Returning to the courtyard of the Clan Leader's house, Liu was sitting on the steps in a daze, eyes vacant, clearly uneasy, hugging his knees with both hands.
The Clan Leader hadn't returned; he was mobilizing the villagers for something. From the earlier incident, Su Xiao realized that the villagers' overall strength wasn't that great. The village was only strong because of the Clan Leader. The villagers' clothing styles were similar to the Clan Leader's, which gave the false impression that everyone in the village was formidable.
However, there was an exception named Woqifu. Just from the name, it was clear he was an outsider. He wasn't particularly sturdy, always carried two short-handled axes at his waist, wore a somewhat worn-out helmet, and dressed completely differently from the bamboo village villagers.
Woqifu was a maverick. Sometimes he hunted, sometimes he went to the surrounding area to chop bamboo, trading it with the villagers for food.
Earlier, Su Xiao had seen Woqifu from a distance. He didn't need to sense it to know this guy was a brute.
The sky was overcast to the point of dripping water, and sure enough, by five in the afternoon, a torrential downpour began.
The bamboo village fell silent. That evening, there was no sight of cooking smoke rising. In the dark sky, thunder rumbled occasionally as the rain poured down. Two villagers braved the heavy rain, leading the village children as they hurried along.
In Su Xiao's room, the door creaked open, and a soaking wet Amu walked in.
In the innermost house of the courtyard, the Clan Leader, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes. After a moment, he closed them again, not bothering to question where Amu had come from.
Boom!
A flash of lightning split the rainy night. It was now ten in the evening. The torrential rain gradually lessened and finally stopped.
Plop, plop...
Two large, mud-covered feet moved forward. A flash of lightning illuminated the surrounding bamboo grove, revealing over a hundred figures over three meters tall, their skin rough and tinged with blue.
Their clothes were tattered and worn. From the outlines, it could be seen that the clothes had originally been loose, with wide sleeves, but the specific style was too damaged to discern.
"Give... back... the Source."
In the darkness, pairs of fluorescent blue eyes looked terrifying.
"The Source... is... in their blood."
"The Source... belongs only... to us."
These humanoid monsters held various weapons, some quite crude—just a wooden stick with a broken sword blade tied to the tip.
Though crude, these weapons were covered in dried blood. One of the monsters, whose clothes were slightly more intact, carried a nearly three-meter-long giant axe. The axe head alone was the size of a bucket, and at the center of the heavy single-edged blade, a blue heart was beating.
"This is the last... village. Kill... them all."
The monster leader grasped the long-handled axe behind him and swung it, producing a crisp metallic ring.
"Roar!"
With a roar, over a hundred humanoid monsters charged forward. Their movements were very agile, even able to leap among the green bamboo.
Bang.
A sharp sound rang out. A long arrow cut through the night. The arrow was nearly two meters long, with tricolored feathers at the tail and a slender metal tip, overall diamond-shaped.
With a *puchi*, the arrow embedded itself in the forehead of one humanoid monster. It staggered back a few steps before crouching low.
On the rooftop at the edge of the bamboo village, a young girl held a longbow. The bowstring, woven from various materials, vibrated lightly. She had fired that arrow.
The girl's name was Ji, the one who had urged Su Xiao to leave quickly last night. Now she stood on the front line because this was her village, and she would defend it herself. Besides, she was confident in her speed and planned to kite the enemies.
Ji drew an arrow from the quiver at her lower back, nocked it, and pulled the string. In the darkness, the corner of her mouth slightly lifted. After ten years of hard training, her skills could finally be put to use today.
Bang.
Ji's fingers released the bowstring. For some reason, she felt her hands had become completely light.
With a *clatter*, a longbow and two severed arms fell onto the rooftop. A humanoid monster holding a long-handled axe stood beside Ji, watching her. Blood dripped from the sharp axe blade.
"Wait..."
After a dizzying spin, Ji knew nothing more. The monster leader grabbed Ji's remains with one hand. Fluorescent blue particles drifted out from Ji's body and merged into the axe in the monster leader's hand. The heart at the center of the axe head became even more fluorescent blue.