Gou Zai Yao Wu Simulated Immortal

Li Qian paused slightly, crouched behind a black rock, and looked up into the distance.

The valley is deep and surrounded by ridges on all sides.

On both sides of the pass, many dried animal bones, including deer antlers and wolf skulls, were stuck crookedly in the ground.

There were also some deformed skeletons whose names were hard to describe, all of which creaked in the wind.

Between the bone stakes, hanging banners for summoning souls were displayed. The banners were black and worn, but the edges were stained with dark red marks.

I don't know if it was blood or some other kind of filth.

Laoya'ao.

The demonic aura here is even stronger than that of the snake demon She Zhuyin and Xiong Da.

Having learned his lesson, Li Qian not only used a concealment talisman but also some plant sap to cover himself up, ensuring that no strange monster could detect him.

Using the rocks and fallen trees as cover, they crept inside.

The ground was covered with dark brown stains made of mud, water, and old blood.

Further in, you can see several partially collapsed stone caves, with dim yellow oil lamps burning outside, their flames small.

The shadows cast by the light made the surrounding figures sway like ghosts.

Li Qian concealed his aura and moved forward, his figure close to the shadows.

The stone prison was seen in a sheltered depression.

The place was originally a natural crack in the cliff, which was widened by people who then nailed in large wooden fences to make several cages.

Two lanterns stood outside the fence, their pale green light illuminating the scene inside the prison clearly.

There are people locked up in the jail, and more than one.

There were four or five figures, some leaning, some crouching, all chained between the stone wall and the wooden stakes.

Two of them were wearing what could still be vaguely identified as the standard uniforms of the Demon Slayer Division.

The others were dressed in tattered clothes, covered in blood and scabbed, making them almost unrecognizable.

These people are still alive, but they're barely clinging to life.

All ten fingernails had been pulled out; his head hung low, and his shoulders twitched occasionally.

The other person's face was half-eaten by something, with flesh torn and torn.

There was another creature whose legs disappeared below the knees, haphazardly wrapped in blackened strips of cloth, with white rice grains wriggling inside.

Leaning against the corner, her chest rose and fell so faintly that it was almost invisible.

Xue Duan's body was not among them.

Li Qian's eyes narrowed slightly as he memorized the appearances of these people.

Those who are imprisoned here and still alive must have some use to them.

Just then, a bell rang out from outside the valley.

Ding.

Ding, ding.

The bell rang at a steady, unhurried pace, in sync with the footsteps, following a strange rhythm.

Step by step, they walked out from the depths of the night.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Mountain Goddess, Mountain Goddess, you bring peace and prosperity to the people, leaving them without worries..."

The sound of the cane tapping the ground, combined with the song, carried an indescribable eeriness.

"Mountain Goddess, Mountain Goddess, you save me from suffering and bring me joy..."

I heard singing and the sound of a cane.

The shadows that had been moving back and forth in the hollow fell silent upon hearing this sound.

Even the attendants, who were neither human nor demon, who were guarding outside the stone cell, lowered their heads at the same time.

A moment later, several figures slowly walked in from the direction of the pass.

The leader was wearing a wide black robe that trailed on the ground, and he leaned on a gray bone staff.

The staff appeared to be made from the leg bone of some large beast, with half of an unknown skull embedded at the top.

Inside, a tiny, flickering flame glowed uncertainly.

Only when he got closer could one see that beneath the black robe was an old woman.

He was thin and wiry, with a slightly hunched back. Half of his face was hidden in the shadows, while the exposed half had skin and flesh as withered as old tree bark.

Yet, as she walked, there was an inexplicable, strange composure about her, as if the entire Laoya'ao was one with her.

Behind him followed a string of figures.

Wearing a straw raincoat and hat, he moved silently, with a thin snake coiled on his shoulder and his sleeves bulging, concealing countless snakes and insects.

Further behind was someone Li Qian recognized.

Liu Haoshen.

Previously, in Heixi County, the head of the Liu family had kept his doors closed to guests and kept a low profile.

At this moment, they followed behind the old woman with their heads bowed and eyes lowered.

He was still wearing a silk robe, but the hem of the robe was covered in mud, and his forehead was beaded with cold sweat.

His appearance had completely lost the dignity of a local tycoon; instead, he resembled a docile dog.

Li Qian held his breath and watched as the old woman in black robes and Liu Haoshen's group slowly walked towards the stone prison, stopping in front of it.

When the wealthy man saw her stop, he hurriedly crawled forward on his knees.

He didn't care that his robe was covered in mud and water.

With trembling hands, he pulled a thin register from his bosom.

He raised both hands high and said, "Grandma...Grandma, I have already reorganized the trade routes in this area."

"We're just waiting for your word, and then we can deliver the rest of the goods."

Upon hearing this, the old woman in the black robe tilted her head slightly. Half of her withered face was hidden in the shadows, while the other half of her shriveled lips lifted up.

"You're not entirely useless," she said in a hoarse voice, like the cawing of a crow.

"Then, where are the virgin boys and girls I requested?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Haoshen visibly trembled.

More cold sweat trickled down his forehead and down his nose.

He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, before finally managing to squeeze out, "This...this boy and girl will require some time to prepare...please, Mountain Goddess, grant me a few more days..."

He was replying verbally, but his mind was in complete turmoil.

He had only wanted to borrow the power of Chief She to open up trade routes for the Liu family and then take the opportunity to climb onto a bigger path.

Who would have thought that one wrong step would lead to a series of wrong steps?

They went from hiring people to harm others to taking lives for demons.

Let's not talk about ourselves now.

The entire Liu family and their relatives on the magistrate's side were also dragged into the quagmire, and it was impossible for them to extricate themselves now.

Greed is truly a poison that burns through the intestines.

But now it's too late for regrets.

He dared not look up, hoping that the old man in front of him would be in a good mood tonight and not have a fit on the spot.

Just then, in a corner of the cell, a figure that was already on the verge of death suddenly trembled.

The man was leaning against the wall with his head down, his breath barely a whisper.

At this moment, he somehow managed to draw up a last breath.

He suddenly raised his head, staring intently at Liu Haoshen, his eyes bloodshot: "Liu... Liu the old dog!"

Upon hearing this shout, the two half-demon servants beside him were slightly taken aback.

The man seemed to be experiencing a final burst of energy before death, his chest heaving rapidly.

He struggled, the iron chains on his wrists rattling loudly, tearing a layer of flesh from the stone wall.

"So it was you!!"

"You tipped off the monster! You betrayed us!!"

"Those women...those dead people...it was all you..."

Liu Haoshen was struck dumb, and his whole body shrank back.

I didn't dare look in that direction, I just closed my eyes tightly and covered my ears with my hands.

He mumbled incoherently, "It wasn't me...it wasn't me...I was just following orders, following orders...I had no choice...I had no choice..."

The old woman in the black robe smiled.

"There's even someone who can actually swear out loud."

She raised her bone cane and slammed it down heavily, saying, "Drag him out."

Two demonic figures dressed in straw raincoats immediately stepped out from behind.

They opened the cage from the left and right, grabbing the man's shoulders and ankles.

They dragged him out of the stone cell like an animal waiting to be slaughtered.

The man was already covered in wounds, and this tug further injured him.

The old sores on his back were completely reopened, leaving a dark red trail of blood on the muddy ground.

But he continued to struggle, blood and foam flowing from his mouth.

His eyes were fixed on Liu Haoshen, as if he wanted to pounce on him and bite off a piece of his flesh.

The old woman in the black robe glanced at him, somewhat bored.

"Cut off the tongue first."

"Then slowly peel it."

"Let all those people in jail see what happens when they talk nonsense."

A servant with bulging sleeves and snakes coiled around his shoulders bowed his head and replied, "Yes."

He took out a pair of shiny black short scissors from behind his waist, bent down, and was about to pry open the man's chin.