Dragon Gall Grass

Niujiao Ridge!

In a wooden house on the southern peak.

The six people who had just returned here, led by Meng Dongge, were overjoyed. Beside them lay the corpse of a Strange Ghost.

"Dongge, your planning is truly brilliant. You successfully hunted another Strange Ghost tonight without breaking a sweat."

A disciple was extremely excited, patting the Strange Ghost's corpse as he spoke, completely captivated.

"Just listen to me, and you won't go wrong. Those disciples are poor beggars, they don't have much money. They're far less valuable than Strange Ghosts. It's perfect to use them as a resource."

Meng Dongge, no longer the amiable person he was before, wore a cold, mocking smile on his face.

"That's true, that's true. It's all thanks to you, Dongge, for getting a batch of Dragon Gall Grass. Otherwise, this plan wouldn't have been so easy to succeed."

"A Strange Ghost, a demon like this, if we wanted to hunt it without any cost like before, I wouldn't even dare to imagine."

The disciples beside him chimed in repeatedly, their words filled with admiration and flattery for Meng Dongge.

"Speaking of which, what's going on with Su Jie and his group? I went over to their wooden house earlier and found they had already moved. Did they discover something?"

"Impossible."

Meng Dongge immediately interrupted, speaking with great confidence, "I buried the Dragon Gall Grass under the roots of the trees. Only Strange Ghosts can smell that peculiar scent; no one else could find it.

I suspect they're just a bit suspicious and don't trust our arrangements.

This time, I'll use a visit as an excuse to sneakily bury some Dragon Gall Grass around their wooden house. I don't believe they'll be able to change their lodging again."

"That will definitely work. When they lure the Strange Ghosts over, we can just wait for them to be mutually wounded fighting the Strange Ghosts and reap the benefits."

The disciples' eyes lit up, as if they could already see wealth pouring into their pockets.

Meng Dongge and his group shamelessly discussed their schemes and how to harm others.

Little did they know, a moth was quietly perched on the windowsill, overhearing their loud plotting.

"Heh, just as I suspected. The last piece of the puzzle has fallen into place."

At the same time.

On the northern peak of Niujiao Ridge, Su Jie slowly opened his eyes, breaking his shared vision with the moth.

In the wooden house's main hall, Chen Yun, who had just been rescued, was temporarily placed there.

Her injuries were severe. Her body had been torn open by the Strange Ghost's claws, leaving wounds that exposed bone. Even her intestines were exposed to the air. If her body hadn't been far superior to that of an ordinary person, she would have already died.

"The bleeding has stopped for now, but the Strange Ghost's attack... because its claws carry some corrosive poison, to survive, it depends on whether her wounds fester later."

Gu Weinan examined her, Chen Yun's condition was not optimistic.

"I understand. Chen Yun can be set aside for now; let's discuss other matters."

Su Jie stood up from his prayer mat, called Gu Weinan and Sun Zhihai over, and asked, "Regarding tonight's events, what are your thoughts?"

"Thoughts? Wasn't it just an accident? Chen Yun and her group were just unlucky. Alas, Brother Su, you don't actually think Chen Yun and the others were killed by Fellow Daoist Meng, do you? You saw the Strange Ghost's corpse earlier; your previous suspicions were incorrect."

Gu Weinan was puzzled. Not long ago, Su Jie had suspected Meng Dongge.

But the facts proved Su Jie had misjudged. Instead, Meng Dongge had bravely rescued them and was a completely good person.

"That's right, Brother Su. Isn't Fellow Daoist Meng good enough? He personally led the team to rescue them despite the threat of Strange Ghosts. We shouldn't wrongly accuse him."

Sun Zhihai also defended Meng Dongge.

Both of them seemed to have a good impression of Meng Dongge. His kindhearted nature, coupled with his willingness to put himself in danger to help, was indeed very convincing.

"Don't you think it's too coincidental?"

Su Jie knew they would question him and proceeded to analyze tonight's events one by one: "We and Chen Yun just arrived today, and then Chen Yun's group was attacked by a Strange Ghost. It's a bit too coincidental.

Similarly, after the attack, didn't Meng Dongge and his group arrive too quickly? They were clearly farther from Chen Yun's wooden house, yet they arrived before us and even engaged in a fierce battle with the Strange Ghost, as if... they were waiting there in advance."

Silence!

Su Jie's words plunged the entire hall into silence.

Gu Weinan swallowed hard, nervously saying, "Bro-Brother Su, such things without concrete evidence... perhaps you're just overthinking it."

He said that, but Gu Weinan thought about what Su Jie had said, and indeed, there were many suspicious points.

"Elder Brother Gu, think carefully about the items Meng Dongge's group was holding when they appeared: the Nine-Bend Net, the Ground-Sinking Thunder Mirror, the Heavenly Gang Rope. Do you recall anything? These items are all used for setting traps and ambushes. Do you think if Meng Dongge was truly going to rescue them, he would bring a pile of these things?"

Su Jie's voice was terrifyingly calm. He wasn't angry at Gu Weinan's questioning, merely stating and analyzing the facts.

Gu Weinan's face turned pale. He was rendered speechless by Su Jie's words, as all of Su Jie's analysis was factual.

"Brother Su, these are just your speculations. They don't count as evidence at all. I know you want to get that Strange Ghost's corpse, but we don't have that kind of strength, nor can we snatch it. Please don't drag us down with you."

Sun Zhihai stood up in anger, believing Su Jie was coveting the value of the Strange Ghost and had developed malicious intentions, using ambiguous speculations to drag him and Gu Weinan down.

He failed to consider their own strength. The three of them combined might not even be a match for Meng Dongge, let alone the fact that Meng Dongge had six disciples, twice their number.

"Do you want evidence? Or are you unwilling to admit the truth out of fear?"

Su Jie looked at them with deep eyes, making Sun Zhihai feel a little guilty. He wasn't sure if Su Jie truly had substantial evidence.

"You... cough cough... Are what you're saying true?"

Just then, a voice, weak as a mosquito's whine, drifted over.

It was Chen Yun, who had been unconscious until now, waking up just in time to hear Su Jie's analysis. Her eyes widened, filled with intense anger that swelled in her chest. She struggled to sit up, ignoring her injuries, tearing open the wound that had just stopped bleeding.

Su Jie turned and met Chen Yun's gaze, saying calmly, "You should rest. Even if this is true, there's nothing you can do. You're a cripple now."

"I'm going to kill them, kill them all."

Chen Yun bit her lip so hard she drew blood without realizing it, her heart filled with rage she couldn't vent.

Tonight, her closest husband and younger brother had died. She had initially thought they were killed in a Strange Ghost attack, just a matter of bad luck.

But after hearing Su Jie's analysis, she realized there was more to it, that it seemed to be a trap set by Meng Dongge and his group.

Su Jie ignored Chen Yun. When he had rescued her, he had thought she might be able to recover.

Then she could become another fighter on their side, making it easier to confront Meng Dongge.

But she had returned as a cripple, which was disappointing.

"Brother Su, what evidence are you talking about?" Gu Weinan couldn't help but ask.

"Have you heard of Dragon Gall Grass? Meng Dongge buried this grass outside Chen Yun's wooden hut. This is the biggest reason for tonight's Strange Ghost attack. Oh, and the wooden hut Meng Dongge originally chose for us also had the same Dragon Gall Grass buried under it."

"What, Dragon Gall Grass? Where did he get that stuff?" Gu Weinan broke out in a cold sweat.

Dragon Gall Grass was to Strange Ghosts what catnip was to cats.

It emitted a scent that Strange Ghosts found irresistible, easily attracting them.

However, Dragon Gall Grass was always scarce, and few people found it. Many had heard of it, but few had actually seen it.

Patting his chest in lingering fear, Gu Weinan said gratefully, "Fortunately, Brother Su, you led us to switch houses. Otherwise, we would have suffered the same fate as Chen Yun tonight."

At this point, Gu Weinan completely believed Su Jie's judgment. The tragic scene today was indeed Meng Dongge's doing.

This man, who appeared upright and honorable on the surface, harbored wicked intentions in secret, setting up such a trap to directly kill Chen Yun and the other two.

"I have to admit, it was a brilliant scheme. It was like fishing. Chen Yun and the others were the bait. Not only could it attract the Strange Ghosts, but it could also be used to weaken them beforehand, leading to a mutual destruction. Finally, Meng Dongge would lead his team out to ambush and clean up. This way, one Strange Ghost would be easily obtained, worth several hundred Blood Marrow Crystals. How insane is that!"

Su Jie sighed, thinking of the clean wooden hut they had initially occupied. Chen Yun probably wasn't the first to be trapped like this.

"Dragon Gall Grass... If I had listened to you and moved, none of this would have happened... I hate myself, I hate myself. Kou Dang, Chao Xian, I killed you, I killed you..."

Hearing Su Jie's words, Chen Yun was completely consumed by regret.

If she had listened to their advice earlier, she wouldn't have lost her brother and husband tonight.

Gu Weinan didn't know how to comfort her. He finally let out a long sigh and looked at Su Jie.

"Brother Su, what should we do now? Should we hand over our analysis to the Command Hall?"

"Do you think it would be useful?"

"That... probably not." Gu Weinan gave a bitter smile. They were a Devilish Dao sect. The killing of disciples at the lower levels was commonplace. Even open murder could be overlooked as long as enough money was paid.

To the higher-ups of the sect, outer disciples were just expendable resources. When one batch was used up, another could be replenished. The sect couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.

Su Jie spread his hands, his tone grave. "We have no choice now. Either we kill Meng Dongge and his group, or we die. There are only these two outcomes."

As for escaping, without permission from the Command Hall, anyone who dared to leave their post would be waiting for a corpse.

"How can we possibly be a match for Meng Dongge's group?" Sun Zhihai immediately jumped up, his face filled with fear.

The gap in combat power between the two sides was too large. Not to mention quality, the sheer number of combatants was double. Such a fight would be suicide.

"Do you have a better option?" Su Jie's gaze fell on him.

"I... I..." Sun Zhihai's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word.

"Although they have more people than us, we are not without a chance." Su Jie withdrew his gaze and looked at Chen Yun on the ground. "As the saying goes, 'fight fire with fire.' Meng Dongge used Dragon Gall Grass to set a trap and harm others. We can use Dragon Gall Grass against them too."

"You mean, take the Dragon Gall Grass from our original wooden hut and place it near Meng Dongge's residence to attract Strange Ghosts to deal with them?" Gu Weinan quickly understood Su Jie's idea, his eyes suddenly brightening.

This plan had a high probability of success.

"Strange Ghosts are very useful. If the Strange Ghosts can't completely deal with them, we'll step in to finish them off," Su Jie set the tone for the plan. Then he said to Gu Weinan, "You need to go tonight. The Dragon Gall Grass is buried under the roots of the trees around our wooden hut. They probably haven't had time to retrieve it yet. Dig it up and bury it near Meng Dongge's hut. Be careful and cautious, don't get discovered."

"Okay, I'll go right now." Gu Weinan agreed repeatedly. He was now prepared to go all the way with Su Jie.

There was no other choice but to eliminate Meng Dongge's threat.

Su Jie watched Gu Weinan depart, a moth secretly following him.

He wouldn't trust others easily; if Gu Weinan had any ulterior motives, he would know immediately.

Among the outer disciples, none had learned insect control techniques, leaving them with no defenses against ordinary insects. Su Jie had a significant advantage in reconnaissance.

"Fellow Daoist Su, let me join the fight too. I can help."

Gu Weinan had left, but Chen Yun forced herself to stand, her eyes filled with unwavering resolve. Her determination for revenge was not shaken in the slightest by her injuries.

Su Jie sized up Chen Yun and suddenly thought of something, saying, "It's not impossible, but you might die."

"Do you think I'm still afraid of death in this state?"

Chen Yun gave a bitter smile. Having lost her brother and husband, she would rather die than let Meng Dongge off easy.

"Alright, I'll help you."

Su Jie said no more. Chen Yun's injuries could actually be healed, but she couldn't afford the medicinal pills.

Carrying Chen Yun back to the bedroom, Su Jie prepared to perform a surgical procedure on her.

Without much preparation, Su Jie released the Thousand-Hand Centipede. Using its nimble, pale arms, he snipped off a few strands of Chen Yun's hair and used them for sutures.

Su Jie had never stitched wounds before. His technique was poor, resulting in ugly, awkward stitches, with some flesh and skin not even aligned properly.

Without anesthesia, Chen Yun gritted her teeth and endured the entire process, sweat and blood soaking the bed.

After the suturing was finally complete, Chen Yun was completely drained. Her body was covered in centipede-like stitches, including her face.

Su Jie poured some wound medicine onto Chen Yun's injuries and had her take a hemostatic pill. It wasn't even a low-grade pill, but it still had a blood-stopping effect. Because it was cheap, it was a publicly acknowledged healing medicine among the outer disciples.

"Can you move?"

Su Jie asked.

"I'll try."

Chen Yun gritted her teeth and pushed herself off the bed. It had to be said that cultivators' bodies were much stronger than ordinary people. A normal person with such injuries wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least half a year to a year, yet Chen Yun could now force herself to move, albeit slowly.

Seeing this, Su Jie shook his head and said, "You're still pushing yourself too hard."

"No, it's enough. I can still control my Gu worms. Even if I have to risk my natal Gu worm and my own life, I can still launch a few attacks. Let me join the fight."

However, Chen Yun looked at Su Jie with a resolute expression and summoned the Nether Sound Bat.

But this natal Gu worm was also heavily injured now. It couldn't even fly and could only emit weak chirps in Chen Yun's hand.

"Not bad."

Su Jie looked at Chen Yun with newfound respect. This woman had a good disposition, at least she was ruthless with herself.

"When do we depart?"

Chen Yun stroked the Nether Sound Bat, her bone-chilling hatred almost burning her body. She wanted to avenge her brother and husband.

"We still need to wait for good news from Old Brother Gu. And besides..."

Su Jie pushed open the window, looking towards the east where a red dawn glow was appearing. He chuckled lightly, "There's also a hidden danger that needs to be cleared. Once all that is done, we'll be ready."