Longzang

Chapter 833 Slapping Off a Shoulder
Shengxin turned the Liao tribesman over and saw that he was injured in many places, but he was still alive and had a strong smell of medicine on his body.

Hui Xin also smelled the medicinal scent, a scent she was very familiar with—it was the drug the Wu tribe used to control the Liao tribe's sacrificial offerings. The Wu tribe offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, with humans being the best choice, though other tribes were also acceptable. However, due to their years of war with the Liao tribe, the Liao tribe made up the majority of the sacrificial offerings.

The medicines used in the sacrifices of different tribes are different. As a powerful shaman, it has always been one of Huixin's duties to deal with the sacrifices, so she has naturally learned these basics.

Clearly, this was a runaway sacrifice, and of considerable quality at that, possessing the cultivation of a perfected Dharma Aspect. Hui Xin exclaimed happily, "If we hand him back, the bounty will at least buy us a decent meal!"

Before Shengxin could speak, several sorcerer soldiers entered the courtyard, complaining as they walked: "Lord Nayan sent us to capture escaped sacrifices, but he didn't even give us a reward! As soon as others hear that we are working for Lord Nayan, they won't even let us in the door. How are we supposed to capture them?"

"Stop talking nonsense, search these abandoned houses, and then go back and report."

"Wouldn't that mean my wages would be docked again...?"

Several sorcerer soldiers pushed open the door and entered, only to find Shengxin and Huixin searching for something in the room. Upon seeing the soldiers, Shengxin's face darkened, and she coldly asked, "Who are you? Who allowed you to come in?"

"We are Lord Nayan's..."

Before the leading soldier could finish speaking, Shengxin revealed his unparalleled cultivation at the late stage of the Dharma Aspect realm, and his magical power was extraordinary, clearly that of a Daoist sorcerer. He then shouted, "We are working for Lord Huiyue and are searching for a fugitive. If you disturb the scene, Yan will be in deep trouble! Get out!"

The leader of the group was only at the early stage of the Dharma Aspect realm, while his soldiers were all at the Foundation Establishment stage. How could they dare to say a word? They quickly retreated.

As soon as they left, Shengxin hurriedly opened the wardrobe, dragged out the Liao tribesman, and asked, "Is there really a hefty reward for saving you?!"

The Liao man nodded hastily: "Of course! I'll first take you to the border between Liao and the people to open a small secret realm we've discovered. The spoils inside should be enough to satisfy you both. Then I'll return home and pay another ransom."

"Alright, I believe you!" Shengxin then cast a spell to remove the medicinal smell from the Liao people and also neutralize most of the medicinal effects.

The Liao people were clearly surprised and asked, "You believe me so easily? Aren't you afraid I'll lie to you?"

Shengxin laughed and said, "I think you're a real man, it's that simple! If it weren't for the war, we would probably be brothers."

After a moment of silence, the Liao tribesman said, "If I can return to Liao territory alive, you will be my best brother!"

Sacred Heart smiled brightly: "It's a deal!"

Then, Shengxin asked Huixin to carry the Liao tribe. A dim bead appeared in her hand. She wanted to throw it away, but after thinking about it, she put it away.

This bead can temporarily store witch power. Just now, Sacred Heart released the witch power stored inside to reveal his identity as a witch and scare away the pursuers.

But Huixin looked strange and asked, "Whose witchcraft did you just unleash?"

"It's my junior brother's magic power. He's currently our teacher's most prized student and will inherit everything from him in the future. Before I left home, I took some of his magic power to keep in reserve, and now it's come in handy."

"Your teacher? Isn't that your father?"

“Yes, I am the biological son, but my junior brother is not. But in Father’s eyes, my junior brother is the one who is like a biological son, and he gives him all the good things.” Shengxin smiled bitterly.

Hui Xin remained silent for a moment before saying, "...Perhaps your father is right."

Shengxin appeared somewhat dejected, silently cleaning up the scene with a practiced skill that was heartbreaking. To distract him, Huixin asked why he had used his junior brother's witchcraft to cover it up, implying that it would lead back to his junior brother and easily reveal that Shengxin was behind it.

Shengxin, however, claimed that by using witchcraft to impersonate a Taoist sorcerer, the pursuers would assume he wasn't a Taoist sorcerer and wouldn't suspect him. Without evidence, they wouldn't bother chasing Shengxin across vast distances, and the matter would likely be dropped.

Soon, Shengxin cleaned up all the traces, stole some food from the neighbor's house, and left the abandoned house with Huixin. They left Moon City and headed east, following the directions of the Liao tribe.

……

Wei Yuan was currently in Sun Yu's clinic, in front of a dozen transparent cells, each holding a member of the Wu clan, all of them able-bodied men and women.

The cells were one-way transparent, so the witches inside couldn't see or hear anything outside. Some were manic, some were desperate, and they were all different.

Sun Yu handed Wei Yuan a thick stack of reports, saying, "Over the past six months, we have developed more than sixty viruses specifically targeting the Wu Clan, but the results have been poor. Ordinary Wu Clan members have extremely strong resistance to viruses, and as long as they possess even a little cultivation, the viruses quickly become ineffective in them." Wei Yuan quickly reviewed the case files. Among the hundreds of cases, only a few viruses showed promising results, but even those were only effective in the initial stages. As long as the Wu Clan members lived for more than a month, the subtle structure of their flesh and blood would change, rendering the viruses ineffective.

This is a natural ability of the Wu tribe, which allows them to grow limbs or even organs of other species on their bodies. Some Wu tribe members can even undergo complete transformation from head to toe, inside and out, which renders Wei Yuan's genetic weapons useless.

After all, genetic weapons target specific genes, meaning they are only effective against specific species. Viruses that are highly effective against dogs are mostly useless against cattle and horses.

Wei Yuan was also deeply troubled and asked, "What about the bacteria?"

Sun Yu shook his head again.

It was Sun Yu who distinguished between viruses and bacteria. After reviewing Wei Yuan's records of the extraterrestrial world, he noticed that viruses and bacteria seemed to be different. So, he filled in the relevant gaps on his own, clearly distinguishing between bacteria and viruses.

If this were in the outer world, Sun Yu would probably win countless awards based on this alone, becoming a pinnacle figure in the history of medicine and biology.

Sun Yu explained in detail that through his research on the Wu tribe over this period of time, he discovered that the Wu tribe's physical structure was not particularly strong, and that many poisonous insects and waters in the Wu domain were equally harmful to the Wu tribe.

However, most of the lower-class people of the Wu tribe had no cultivation. Faced with plagues and various toxins, all they could do was rely on their physical bodies to endure them. Those who could withstand it survived and continued to pass on their lineage; those who couldn't returned to the world and became nourishment. Over millions of years, the surviving Wu people became almost immune to all poisons, but their bodies, having been ravaged for so long, inevitably became fragile and gradually stunted.

Sun Yu consulted ancient texts and discovered that the shamans of that time were generally tall, about two feet taller than humans. However, the current shamans are now slightly shorter than humans.

Having endured millions of years of trials, the Wu tribe is immune to most germs, let alone ordinary ones. Even if a superbug developed by the Umbrella Corporation were injected into their bodies via blood, it would only be like giving them a snack or adding some nutrients.

After reviewing all the materials, Wei Yuan frowned and said, "The new gene structure designed by Human Fireworks is almost ready. Let's continue the experiment."

Sun Yu nodded and then said, "I don't think it will be of any use no matter how we design it. The Wu Clan doesn't have a stable genetic structure, so how can we launch an attack on their genes? This approach probably won't work."

Wei Yuan knew this too, but he still refused to give up, saying, "Let's try again, maybe we can succeed."

Sun Yu shook his head again, saying, "Theoretically, it's not very feasible."

Wei Yuan put down the documents, left the clinic, and went to find Yu Zhizhuo. Wei Yuan and Yu Zhizhuo arranged to meet at the No. 7 firing range of the weapons field, which was the largest firing range, encompassing dozens of miles of barren mountains.

At this moment, hundreds of dummy targets were placed on a gentle slope, while another group of targets were gathered on the flat riverbank. Yu Zhizhuo stood in the air with Wei Yuan, and suddenly exclaimed, "They're here!"

Two missiles flew in from a distance, one after the other. As they approached the target range, their trajectories changed significantly, and under Yu Zhizhuo's spiritual guidance, they landed on different target groups.

Both missiles exploded several meters above the ground, scattering thousands of lead pellets and kicking up plumes of dust. Wei Yuan scanned the area with his divine sense and knew that most of the hundreds of targets had been penetrated, with only sixty or seventy escaping. In short, the airburst coverage effect was quite significant.

Yu Zhizhuo said, "The next step will be to improve the missile warhead, changing it from the current all-around explosion to a concentrated spray of fragments within a relatively small area. This will avoid wasting power and make the killing effect more obvious."

Wei Yuan was very satisfied: "Excellent!"

Yu Zhizhuo picked up a few fragments about the size of a thumb and said, "But the drawback is also obvious. The fragments are too weak. Not to mention that they are difficult to threaten Dao Foundation cultivators, they are also ineffective against targets with heavily armored bodies. They are almost unable to kill the heavy cavalry of the Witch Clan, so this kind of missile can only be used against civilians or slave cannon fodder."

"That's enough. The main purpose is to kill and injure civilians of the Wu tribe. We need to prevent them from properly repairing the canal."

Yu Zhizhu frowned and said slowly, "Nephew, I know you have the world on your mind, and your current cultivation and combat power are far above mine. But I'm taking the liberty of seniority and still want to advise you. This move can only buy you some time, but the karma it creates is not small. You have a bright future and unlimited possibilities in the future, so too much karma is not a good thing."

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "I already had enough karma from the last battle, so having a little more won't be a big deal."

Thinking back to the previous bloody battle with the Witch Clan, where Wei Yuan's last Red Lotus Karmic Fire burned away 800,000 Witch Clan members, Yu Zhizhuo was at a loss for words.

Wei Yuan, however, acted as if nothing had happened and continued discussing various weapons with Yu Zhizhuo, most of which were designed to target the common people and slave cannon fodder of the Wu tribe. The Wu tribe's true combat force consisted of noble soldiers, and they relied heavily on common people and slaves to transport supplies during peacetime marches, sometimes referred to as "the army on the shoulders of the common people."

Therefore, Wei Yuan's plan was to first knock off the shoulders of the common people of the Wu tribe, so that the noble lords could walk on their own two feet through the mud and walk all the way to him.

(End of this chapter)