Night deepened. Apart from Niu Han's estate, every house in Oxheart Village had put out its lights, leaving everything pitch-black.
Under cover of darkness, Su Yan quietly left the village, leaving only the Darkwater Centipede behind in Niu Han's house.
He returned to Yunqian Village that same night and slipped silently into his room.
Early the next morning, Su Yan went to find Xie Yuzhu.
"Second Uncle, you..."
The sight of Xie Yuzhu gave him quite a shock.
His hemp-cloth shirt hung open at the chest. The footprint there was even more bruised and swollen than yesterday, bulging like a steamed bun.
"It's nothing," Xie Yuzhu said in a lowered voice. "I used a little extra Redwood Blossom..."
His tone was light, but his smile looked strained and weary.
Redwood Blossom could promote blood flow and disperse bruising, but applied at the wrong time or in the wrong way, it would only make the bruised area swell further and hurt more.
As a mountain trekker, Xie Yuzhu could not possibly have been ignorant of how to use Redwood Blossom. He had done it deliberately.
Xie Yuzhu knew he was only an ordinary man. Now that his nephew was no longer ordinary, this was all he could do to help if the boy wanted to take action.
Su Yan drew a deep breath, suppressing the emotion welling up inside him. "Uncle, I'll take you to a doctor."
"Mm, all right."
Xie Yuzhu nodded, and Su Yan supported him as they went outside.
"Mother, where are Brother Su Yan and Father going?"
Seeing the two leave, A Bao looked up and asked his mother.
A flicker of worry crossed Li Lian's eyes. She said gently, "Father is going to see a doctor. Be good, A Bao, and help Mother take the ferns outside to dry."
Su Yan helped Xie Yuzhu to the Village Head's house.
"Grandpa Village Head!"
Su Yan called into the courtyard. Before long, the elderly Village Head came outside and stood in the yard.
Seeing Su Yan supporting Xie Yuzhu, he was startled and asked urgently, "Yuzhu, how did you end up like this?"
Xie Yuzhu said in a muffled voice, "Who knows what that plague-ridden Zhao Erlaizi damaged with his kick? I woke up swollen like this. Su Yan wants to take me to the Market Ward to see Doctor Du, so we came to borrow a handcart from you, Uncle."
"Ah." The old Village Head sighed and cursed, "A pack of bullying bastards."
"Eldest, go bring the handcart. Help young Su Yan take your Brother Yuzhu to the Market Ward."
Everyone in Yunqian Village was related in one way or another. Failing that, they were friends who had played together since they wore split-crotch trousers.
By generation, Xie Yuzhu belonged among the childhood companions of the Village Head's son, Zheng Penggang, who had called him Brother Yuzhu since they were little.
"Got it, Father."
Zheng Penggang immediately went to fetch the handcart from the courtyard. He unloaded the odds and ends piled on it, swept it clean with a broom, and pushed it over to Xie Yuzhu.
"Get on first, Brother Yuzhu. I'll push you there."
His indignation grew. "We should've beaten those bloodsucking bastards to death yesterday."
Zheng Penggang slung the cart's hauling straps over his shoulders and lifted its handles.
"Go back inside, Father. Don't worry. I'll make sure Brother Yuzhu gets to Doctor Du."
After reassuring his father, Zheng Penggang turned to Su Yan. "Young Su Yan, keep your second uncle steady."
One pushed the cart while the other supported its passenger, and they headed along the path toward Mountain Market Ward.
As they left the village, the sun had only just risen, and scattered rooster calls still rang out.
Meanwhile, back at Niu Han's house, Niu Dang had followed his orders overnight and roused the village underlings who ran with him.
There were five or six young men, only in their twenties or early thirties. They were bleary-eyed, but the mention of drinking and a job soon perked them up.
Perhaps worried that the next morning's business would be urgent, Niu Dang and his companions also summoned underlings from neighboring villages. By the middle of the night, ten or twenty men had gathered in the courtyard.
Niu Han ordered two chickens and a sheep slaughtered. They set up a pot, prepared some simple food and drink, and began drinking in the courtyard.
If he wanted people to work for him, he had to be willing to spend. The men summoned in the dead of night therefore felt no resentment at being disturbed and thumped their chests, promising to handle the next morning's business.
After all that eating and drinking, the gathering was still lively in the hours before dawn.
Then the first rooster crowed, and the roosters throughout Oxheart Village began singing out one after another.
Hearing the calls, the Darkwater Centipede hidden among the roof tiles began to move.
Its thousand jointed legs rustled as it followed the eaves and climbed down a supporting post.
Inside the room, only Zhao Erlaizi, Niu Daqi, and a few others lay snoring like thunder.
With their arms and legs broken, drinking was inconvenient, so they could only rest in the room. One or two underlings who could not hold their liquor had also come inside to rest and sat slumped on the floor beside the bed.
The Darkwater Centipede slipped inside, and none of them was on guard.
With a rustle, it opened its hideous mouthparts and bit at the sleeping men.
First came Zhao Erlaizi on the bed. A single bite sank into his neck.
"Urgh... urgh..."
He jerked awake. Blood flooded his windpipe, reducing his cries to muffled gurgles. Bloody froth sprayed from his mouth; he could no longer speak.
Before he could struggle for long, venom invaded his body, and he stopped breathing.
His movements alerted Niu Daqi beside him.
"Damn you, Zhao Erlaizi, you..."
Before he could finish, a dark-purple shape rushed toward his bleary eyes. Pain stabbed through both eyes, and then he too suffered a bite that left his flesh mangled.
His face turned blackish-purple in an instant, and he soon fell silent.
Their struggles finally woke the others in the room.
"A centipede! There's a centipede!"
The remaining four or five men scrambled up, but the Darkwater Centipede's ferocity erupted. Having begun its slaughter, it charged straight at them.
Every one of them was either injured or drunk. They grabbed objects and swung them, but not one blow struck the Darkwater Centipede.
Venom shot from its mouth like swords. Before long, they were wounded or dead, reduced to a wretched state.
One man grabbed a stool and smashed it into the Darkwater Centipede's body with all his strength.
With a crash, the stool shattered across the floor. He thought the centipede was dead, only for it to leap from beneath the wreckage and, catching him off guard, bite through his throat.
The commotion inside caught the attention of the men outside. With a bang, Niu Han kicked the door open.
"What's going on?!"
He held a Broad Saber, one shoulder bare, with a Descending Tiger tattooed on his thick arm.
His eyes widened in shock.
Zhao Erlaizi and the others had all collapsed in the room. Those still alive convulsed as though they had suffered strokes.
The Darkwater Centipede was devouring flesh in great mouthfuls. Drenched in blood, it looked like a monstrous insect that had crawled out of hell.
"Where did this strange insect come from?!"
Shock and anger filled him. At last, the Darkwater Centipede caught the familiar scent and immediately turned toward him.
Two thin, arrowlike jets of venom suddenly shot from its mouth, flying straight at Niu Han's face.
A chill ran down Niu Han's spine, clearing some of his drunken haze at once. He raised the Broad Saber before him and tilted his head aside.
Most of the venom was blocked by the Broad Saber’s broad, thick blade, and Niu Han dodged the small amount that got through.
An underling rushing up behind him became the unlucky victim. The remaining venom struck him squarely, corroding his eyes, and he collapsed in agony.
"You dare attack me!"
Liquor had bolstered Niu Han’s courage. Hot blood surged through him, and he raised his saber to slash at the Darkwater Centipede.
This venomous insect was fierce enough to venture down from the mountain. He could chop it up and steep it in liquor—a strange insect was worth no less than a Treasure Plant.
He lunged forward, but the Darkwater Centipede twisted its body and scurried around the corpses, evading the vicious strike.
The Broad Saber landed on an underling who had only just breathed his last, mangling his flesh.
The Darkwater Centipede attacked from the side, rushing along the Broad Saber toward Niu Han’s right hand.
Niu Han turned his blade to slash, but the Darkwater Centipede had already climbed onto the hilt.
It was too late to swing back. Frightened, he let go at once.
But the Darkwater Centipede had already leaped onto his hand.
No!
Niu Han’s expression changed drastically. Before he could pull his hand away, pain struck.
The Darkwater Centipede had sunk its fangs into him, injecting a flood of venom into his flesh.
He shook his hand violently, and the Darkwater Centipede tore away a large chunk of flesh. His thumb and forefinger had both been bitten to ruin.
The Darkwater Centipede hit the floor hard, then flipped upright and spat venom again.
Wracked with pain, Niu Han was far slower to react. Unable to dodge in time, he took the venom across half his face.
He staggered backward, crying out in agony.
"The net's here!"
The underlings had finally found a large net to deal with this vicious creature.
But after landing its attack, the Darkwater Centipede had already slipped beneath the bed, then climbed up the corner of the wall onto a beam.
The underlings holding fishing nets, baskets, and steel forks could only exchange helpless looks.
The Darkwater Centipede was up on the beam, where neither their nets nor their steel forks were any use.
They did not dare approach either, afraid of being struck by that arrowlike venom.
"Save the boss first."
Someone shouted, and they could only drag Niu Han outside first.
As everyone withdrew from the courtyard, the Darkwater Centipede vanished among the roof tiles, then quietly headed toward the mountain.
Outside the courtyard, dawn was only just breaking, and the sun was slowly rising.
Before you continue