Chapter 42: Midnight Phantom
At the very moment that massive serpent moved, Qin Mu also leaped up abruptly, his butcher knife slashing like wind and rain, madly chopping down at the vulnerable spot between the snake's head and body!
Butcher Knife Technique: Sun Illuminates the Eastern Sea, A Thousand Waves Stacking!
The Butcher's move required a momentum like the great sun rising, a thousand waves of the Eastern Sea stacking together, a peerless blade momentum that could shatter everything!
Qin Mu's mind was empty, holding only one thought: slash, chop! Chop! Chop! Chop! Chop!
He had to cut off this head!
Chi—
Snake blood sprayed out, and the triangular head of this serpent, as large as a tabletop, separated from its body. The snake head still opened its bloody maw, lunging toward the family of three ahead, seemingly unaware that it was already dead.
Just as the enormous snake head was about to crash into the family of three, Qin Mu suddenly leaped onto the snake head suspended in midair. He exerted force with both feet, crouching his body, and stomped the snake's mouth shut.
The snake head, along with the boy on top of it, fell like a heavy lead weight, crashing with a thunderous boom right in front of the terrified family of three.
The three stood frozen, staring dumbly at the boy before them.
Qin Mu bent down, grinning at the little girl, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Little sister, it's all right now."
At that moment, the cry of a baby came from inside. A woman rushed out of the house, which had been smashed open by the great serpent, laughing: "Congratulations, congratulations! Mother and child are safe!"
Qin Mu quickly sheathed his butcher knife back into the oxhide scabbard on his back, turned around, and ran back into the courtyard. He saw the man already rushing excitedly into the house, while Granny Si walked out, washed her hands, and turned to look at the loving couple and child inside.
"Mu'er, are you satisfied?" Granny Si asked with a smile.
Qin Mu watched the tender scene of the family of three and nodded gently. His hand unconsciously lifted, grasping the jade pendant on his chest.
Granny Si saw his hand and sighed inwardly.
Blind came over, yawning: "This business is done, time to sleep. Granny, their house doesn't have many rooms. How about we two squeeze together..."
Granny Si turned around, her gaze icy. Blind couldn't help but shiver, tapped his bamboo staff on the ground, and turned to leave: "These days, even a blind man gets bullied. Times have changed. I'll sleep on the street..."
"Granny, why did the villagers in this place never discover that great serpent?" Qin Mu asked, puzzled, as he watched some villagers pour into the courtyard, struggling to pull the serpent's tail out of the tree hole.
He had grown up in Cripples' Village, where every villager had some disability—even Granny Si was a hunchback—but in his heart, the old folks there were all capable of soaring through the heavens and diving into the earth, omnipotent.
But the villagers here were mostly ordinary people. Though there were some martial artists, their cultivation and strength weren't very high, which left him confused.
"In the Great Wasteland, there is only one Cripples' Village."
Granny Si's gaze was deep: "Most people here are ordinary folks—those who couldn't escape during the Great Wasteland catastrophe, or those who couldn't survive in the outside world and fled here to avoid harsh taxes and landlord oppression, trying to stay alive."
"The outside world?" Qin Mu's eyes lit up.
"The outside world is even more dangerous than the Great Wasteland!"
Granny Si snorted coldly: "Otherwise, Granny and Blind wouldn't have been forced to hide in the Great Wasteland! Don't keep thinking about the outside world!"
Qin Mu scratched his head, wondering why the usually kind and amiable Granny Si had suddenly lost her temper.
Granny Si lowered her voice, speaking softly: "This great serpent is strange. Normally, exotic beasts can't enter villages at all, yet this snake managed to hide in this settlement for years. This serpent was likely deliberately placed here by someone... This method of raising snakes seems like a technique of the Demon Cult. Heh heh, tonight, there might be some interesting developments..."
"The great serpent was deliberately put into the village to harm people?"
Qin Mu's heart tightened. Wasn't this too malicious, too devoid of virtue?
That snake had clearly already eaten several newborn infants. What benefit could raising snakes with babies bring him?
"Mu'er, tonight some strange things might come looking for you. If you see them, don't move, don't make a sound. Wait until dawn, and things will resolve themselves."
Granny Si chuckled, revealing her sparse teeth: "He used the snake to absorb the essence and souls of infants, then absorbed the snake's essence to reverse his innate nature. He must have been cultivating this for many years, with extraordinary skill. But if he did this in the outside world, someone would surely eliminate him to uphold righteousness, so he entered the Great Wasteland to stir up trouble. Mu'er, whoever comes tonight, you can't handle. Just watch."
Qin Mu nodded, feeling uneasy.
The household was bustling for a long time, the family laughing and crying. After a while, they remembered to arrange a place for Granny Si and Qin Mu to stay. The couple gave up their main hall and inner room, inviting Granny Si and Qin Mu to sleep there. Qin Mu felt it was inappropriate, but Granny Si didn't decline, letting Qin Mu sleep in the main hall while she slept in the inner room.
Soon, they both lay down. Qin Mu initially forced himself to stay awake, but as time passed, his eyelids slowly closed. At midnight, when all was silent, Qin Mu suddenly shuddered involuntarily and quickly opened his eyes, only to find he couldn't move!
The door to the main hall creaked open, dim light filtering through the crack, and a long shadow appeared on the ground.
Qin Mu opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound, unable to warn Granny Si!
The shadow on the ground swayed, then moved. It climbed from the floor onto the wall, where it twisted and writhed, baring its fangs and claws, looking even more ferocious.
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Mu's forehead as he watched the shadow on the wall crawl and crawl, up to the ceiling, where it hung upside down, staring intently at him.
Qin Mu's eyes went wide. What hung down was a shadow—a real shadow, very flat, but incredibly agile, like a martial artist skilled in contortion!
But this was just a shadow! How could a shadow move freely? And where was the shadow's owner?
Whoosh—
A gust of wind blew through the door crack, carrying a small triangular white banner, which the shadow grabbed and waved at Qin Mu.
At that moment, the door to the inner room where Granny Si slept creaked open a crack. A silver, shimmering orb floated out—like the silver pellet Qin Mu had seen in Granny Si's room—and stopped right at his brow, motionless. The orb spun silently, emitting countless nearly invisible, hair-thin sword beams.
The shadow on the ceiling waved the white banner, drifting and flitting around the room. The banner moved like lightning, repeatedly attacking Qin Mu as he lay on the bed. The orb suddenly moved as well, silently colliding with the white banner, always blocking it.
These two strange objects fought fiercely in the room, clashing left and right, but not a single sound emerged. It was eerily quiet, and nothing was damaged.
After a moment, the shadow suddenly trembled, spitting a mouthful of blood from its shadowy mouth. The white banner fluttered away with a rustling sound, while the shadow flowed like water out of the room and vanished.
The silver orb paused for a moment, then returned to the inner room, disappearing from sight.
Qin Mu then found he could move again, gasping for breath. He didn't understand what had just happened, but the bloodstains on the floor proved it was all real.
Outside, all was silent. After a while, the sound of a gong rang out—the night watchman announcing the hour, to prevent villagers from waking early and being swallowed by the darkness beyond the village.
The watchman struck the gong three times, then put it away and headed home. As he reached his house, he saw a blind man passing by with a staff.
"Old brother, find a place to rest!"
The watchman quickly stopped the blind man, laughing: "It's so late, be careful not to wander out of the village and get eaten by monsters!"
Blind smiled, tapping his bamboo staff on the watchman's shadow, and said with a grin: "Thanks for the reminder." With that, he tapped and poked his way along, gradually walking away.
Puff, puff—
Two bloody holes burst open in the watchman's chest, piercing through front and back. His body swayed, then fell to the ground.
"So fast a spear, able to break my spell! Cough, cough, I know you. You're blind, but you've grown stronger..."
The watchman breathed his last, dying.
A triangular white banner drifted down from the air, covering his face.
—Thanks to the hard work of the book club activity managers and the sponsorship of A-Meng, the first weekly event for recommendation tickets achieved good results. The list of winners will also be announced on the WeChat public account (zhaizu00). Thanks also to all the book friends for their active participation. We appreciate your support!
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