Urban Martial Saint

Wrapped in Ye Qing’s jacket, Huangfu Ziyu felt a warmth in her heart. She grabbed Ye Qing’s hand and softly said, ”There’s still some food in the car. Should we just give it all to her?”

”Give it all to her? Then what will you eat?” Ye Qing asked with a smile.

Huangfu Ziyu laughed and said, ”It’s fine. If I get hungry, Mr. Ye, you can hunt for me and cook some wild game. After all, there’s no shortage of game in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, as long as you know how to cook.”

”Hahaha…” Ye Qing couldn’t help but laugh. He stepped forward, took all the remaining food from the car, packed it into a bag, and placed it in front of the woman. In a gentle voice, he said, ”Miss, we’re leaving now. Keep this food for yourself. I’m not sure if you can understand me, but the mountains here are incredibly dangerous, and there’s no food around. You should head down the mountain to find some villagers—there’ll be more food down there.”

The woman ate bread while staring at Ye Qing, and it was hard to tell whether she understood his words. Her expression betrayed no obvious reaction.

Seeing her like this, Ye Qing sighed, stood up, and pulled Huangfu Ziyu away as they prepared to leave.

”Wait…” Suddenly, the woman’s voice rang out.

Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu turned their heads simultaneously, surprised that the woman could speak—and even speak in Mandarin.

”You… understand Mandarin?” Ye Qing asked excitedly.

The woman didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she retrieved a small bottle from her belongings and handed it to Ye Qing.

”What’s this?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

”This is Gu Divine Holy Water. It can dispel most of the curses placed by Gu Masters in the Miao Borderlands.” The woman’s Mandarin sounded stilted but was understandable. ”I’m giving it to you.”

”Gu Divine Holy Water?” Ye Qing was even more astonished. He took the bottle, looked it over, and asked in surprise, ”Does this kind of Gu Divine Holy Water work to dispel Twin Life Gu?”

”No,” the woman replied bluntly. Just as she was about to say more, a strange howl echoed from a distance—the same as the one earlier. This time, the sound was closer to the nearby stone heap. It appeared the Gu Insect was heading in their direction.

Upon hearing this noise, a flash of panic crossed the woman’s eyes. She quickly retreated a step and urgently said, ”You need to leave now! This place isn’t safe…”

”What’s wrong?” Ye Qing also grew tense and asked, ”Is your enemy coming? I can deal with them for you!”

The woman hastily replied, ”No need. It’s my sister. You… you shouldn’t stay here. Hurry and leave; she doesn’t like Han people…”

Upon hearing this, Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu exchanged glances. They had assumed the woman was homeless, only to discover she had a sister. Given her words, Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu decided it wouldn’t be wise to linger. Since the approaching person was her sister, she likely wouldn’t harm her. Just as they had only recently entered the Miao Borderlands, Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu didn’t want to provoke a Gu Master, so they left promptly.

Ye Qing thanked the woman, then took Huangfu Ziyu and drove the car away from the vicinity of the stone heap.

The woman watched as the car carrying Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu disappeared into the distance. Slowly, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Turning to the pile of food left beside her, she hurried over, picked it up, and began devouring the food ravenously.

Not long after, a third howl echoed. Shortly after the sound faded, a tall woman stepped into view. Though the woman was undeniably beautiful, her expression radiated hostility, making it clear she wasn’t to be trifled with. Her long hair was tied with a brown cord that reached her waist.

The beautiful woman approached, glaring disdainfully at the scattered corpses at the site and sneering coldly, ”Han people are all like this—fighting like dogs, killing one another endlessly.”

As she spoke softly, she gave a light shake of her right hand, and the brown cord tied to her hair suddenly unfurled, crawling down her body. Looking closely, one could see this wasn’t a cord at all but a small brown snake. Yet, this snake was unlike ordinary snakes. Its abdomen had four claws, resembling a lizard, but its elongated and exceptionally flexible body differentiated it from a typical lizard. It appeared three parts lizard, seven parts snake—altogether strange and eerie.

The creature descended from the woman and immediately leaped onto the nearest corpse. It circled the corpse a few times before crawling toward a wound, then audaciously burrowed straight into the dead body.

As the creature entered the body, the corpse’s skin visibly began to undulate. Its movements could be tracked through the flesh as it made its way toward the corpse’s head. A gruesome grinding noise came from the area of the skull. After approximately five minutes, the skull cracked open, and the creature emerged, covered in brain matter, greedily licking its surroundings with satisfaction.

Seeing the creature so pleased, the beautiful woman nodded contentedly. She gave a soft whistle, and the creature immediately leaped onto another corpse. She, however, didn’t pay any more attention to it, heading straight toward the veiled woman nearby.

”You wretched girl, didn’t you hear me calling you?” The beautiful woman spotted the veiled woman’s pile of food and the clothes she was wearing. Her eyes widened in anger as she snarled, ”You lost Father’s Gu Divine Holy Water. He punished you by forbidding food for five days, and yet you dare sneak off here to eat? Are you courting death?”

As she scolded, she kicked away all the food near the veiled woman.

The veiled woman let out a startled cry but didn’t dare resist. She shrank back timidly, staring at the beautiful woman in terror.

”You little wretch! Looks like I haven’t disciplined you enough! Daring to defy Father’s orders—if sneaking food wasn’t enough, where did you get the guts to wear these clothes?” The beautiful woman suddenly stepped forward, ruthlessly tearing the veiled woman’s clothing to shreds, scattering the pieces on the ground.

The veiled woman stared blankly at the fragmented clothes on the ground, her eyes reddening in anguish. This time, however, she clenched her teeth tightly, refusing to let her tears fall.

The beautiful woman, still unsatisfied, reached over and knocked the veiled woman’s cloak to the ground, shouting at her venomously, ”With a face like yours, wearing a cloak is pointless! Even when you cover yourself, I can still imagine your hideous face. Stop deluding yourself—it doesn’t change a thing!”

As the cloak fell, the veiled woman’s face was fully revealed. If Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu had been present, they would have been shocked. The veiled woman’s face could only be described as nightmarish.

While her features weren’t inherently flawed, her face was marred by festering wounds, leaving no patch of skin intact. Those wounds seemed alive, writhing as if there was something moving underneath them. It was undeniably grotesque and horrid—one look would plant a deep, unforgettable fear, enough to haunt one’s dreams.

With her face exposed, the veiled woman let out a startled cry and quickly covered her face with her hands. Yet, however much she tried, the sheer horror of her appearance couldn’t be concealed. It was truly unforgettable, embedding terror deep within anyone who saw it.

The beautiful woman burst into manic laughter, ”Haha! So, you know you’re ugly enough to cover your face, huh? You, living like this, have no purpose left. Just die—it’ll be your liberation! Hmph, you’re the greatest disgrace to the Huo Family. Your existence is a stain and a sorrow. Only your death will free our family from this humiliation!”

The veiled woman remained silent, frantically covering her face with one hand while searching the ground for her hood with the other. After a moment, just as she was about to reach the hood, the beautiful woman kicked it aside. Watching the veiled woman desperately search again, the beautiful woman leaned back and laughed uproariously, her face full of smug satisfaction.

At that moment, the eerie howl rang out once again, slightly more urgent this time, sounding particularly peculiar.

”It’s time to leave!” The beautiful woman’s expression sharpened instantaneously. Casting a cold glance at the veiled woman, she said harshly, ”Little wretch, Father’s Zi Ying has fed enough. We’re setting out now. You’d best pray that Father’s Gu Divine Holy Water returns quickly. Otherwise, this trip back from the Ten Thousand Gu Festival will be your death sentence!”

It seemed Bu Deng was correct. The strange call earlier was indeed the signal of a Gu Master nearby releasing their Gu Insect. But what exactly was this Zi Ying—it sounded so peculiar?

The veiled woman had retrieved her hood by now. Upon hearing the beautiful woman’s words, she trembled from head to toe, not daring to utter a single word.

The beautiful woman ignored her, let out a sharp whistle, and the same creature she’d used as a hair tie darted out from the head of another corpse.

The beautiful woman gently caressed the creature, which displayed a deep affection for her as it slithered back to her head and coiled itself around her hair once again. From a distance, it once more resembled a typical brown cord.

Having secured the creature, the beautiful woman turned and glared at the veiled woman. ”Still standing there? Hurry back! If you delay Father’s journey, I’ll break your legs!”

The veiled woman bowed submissively and quickly fled in the direction of the earlier sound.

The beautiful woman lingered a moment longer, examining the corpses on the ground. Her brows furrowed as she murmured to herself, ”Where did the killer go?”