Something Fishy

Liu Jie's words were perfunctory in the extreme.

Zhou Feng's gaze darkened slightly, yet he still wore the innocent look of a clueless newcomer and did not press further.

He heard it clearly. Beneath the waves of tiger roars were not the sounds of an ordinary ritual, but the shrill screams of living people—heart-rending cries shredded by the wind and scattered through the mountains, carrying a bone-chilling eeriness.

"Keep up. Talk less, watch more."

Liu Jie shed the relaxed air he had maintained during their journey. His expression turned utterly grave as he pressed a hand to the standard Gu pouch at his waist, slowed his pace, and headed deeper into Blood Tiger Mountain along the winding trail.

The mountain winds were crimson, and even the scattered stones on the ground were stained with a faint bloody hue. The air reeked of blood and the peculiar fishy sweetness of Gu insects, mingled together into a nauseating stench.

Sparse vegetation lined both sides of the trail. The exposed rocks were riddled with countless tiny holes, within which innumerable dark-red insects burrowed and lay dormant. They were the Blood Tiger Gu Larvae upon which Blood Tiger Mountain depended for survival.

This place radiated the vicious aura of something that devoured people without even spitting out their bones.

"Remember what I told you before."

Without looking back, Liu Jie warned in a low voice, "Blood Tiger Mountain may seem like one of the weakest tax sources on the outskirts of Nine Void Mountain, but whenever the Blood Tiger Festival comes around, the people here go a little madder."

"No matter what you see later, don't act rashly and don't talk too much. Collecting the taxes comes first."

Zhou Feng nodded slightly. "Understood."

The two continued deeper along the blood-colored trail. The closer they