I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

The mountain winds swept through, and the bamboo forest surged.

The carriage stopped on the road at the edge of the bamboo forest. A slender young man walked quickly out of the bamboo forest, holding a section of emerald green bamboo pole, about two feet long, and handed it to the woman inside the carriage.

Su E took the piece of green bamboo from Lu Jing's hand, took out a small knife as thin as a cicada's wing from her waist, brought the green bamboo to her eyes, and began to carefully carve it with her nimble and slender fingers.

A moment later, a small bamboo flute had taken shape. The woman handed it to the boy and said softly with a smile:

"It's been a long time since I've heard you play the flute. Would you be so kind as to play a tune today?"

Lu Jing took it without saying a word, but brought it to his lips and tried it.

A moment later, the melodious sound of a flute began, its gentle and clear notes echoing between the bamboo forest and the mountain stream.

Jiang Chao and Chu Ning had just returned from watching a chaotic battle in the martial arts world. Following the sound of the flute, they saw Lu Jing in a blue robe standing by the carriage, his eyes closed and focused on playing a tune. Both of them were taken aback.

However, he did not go forward to disturb them, but waited quietly for the music to end.

clap clap-

Applause erupted almost at the same time the boy opened his eyes and removed the bamboo flute from his lips.

  

Jiang Chao clapped as he strode over:

"Brother Lu can actually play the flute, and play it so beautifully. He's truly a hidden talent."

Lu Jing smiled modestly: "This is something I figured out by myself in my spare time, using a musical score. I'm just showing off."

Jiang Chao, however, did not think it was just idle speculation.

Although he didn't understand music, the tune Lu Jing played was soothing and had a lingering charm, giving him a feeling of lofty mountains and flowing water.

More importantly, this piece of music gradually calmed his inexplicably agitated mood.

The effect of this piece of music seems rather mysterious...

However, now is not the time to think about these things.

The battle between the martial arts practitioners, who had been fighting fiercely in the valley for reasons unknown, had already come to an end.

The dozen or so victors, wounded, hurriedly left, leaving behind a pile of corpses.

This matter may seem like a typical feud between江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world), but it is strange in many ways.

To find out exactly how strange it is, we'll have to go and investigate.

"The group of martial artists in the valley ahead have finished their battle, and there should be very few survivors. We can go over there now," Jiang Chao suggested.

Hearing Jiang Chao's words, Chu the Heroine pouted and muttered, "I told you to go before, but you wouldn't. Now everyone there is dead. What are you going to do? Collect their corpses...?"

Ignoring Chu's complaints, Jiang Chao spoke again: "The mountain path leading to that valley is narrow and cannot be passed by carriage, so we will have to walk."

After setting off from that abandoned post station, the four of them traveled for a day and camped in a sheltered mountain valley at night. As they began their journey in the early morning, they heard faint shouts of battle coming from afar.

To be on the safe side, Jiang Chao told Su E and Lu Jing to wait where they were, while he and the female knight Chu quietly went around to a high point above the valley to check the situation.

Now that the danger had passed, Jiang Chao felt relieved and let them go together to investigate.

Led by Jiang Chao, the four arrived at the valley, which was in a state of chaos and devastation.

The strong stench of blood hit them the moment they stepped into the valley.

Young Lu Jing's face turned slightly pale. He was clearly seeing such a scene for the first time and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Jiang Chao and the other two remained calm... In fact, Chu, the heroine, also felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing this scene.

Since running away from home, she had seen many dead people along the way, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a large-scale bloody scene.

But since she was a woman who had vowed to be a female knight-errant, she naturally couldn't show it.

So as not to be laughed at by Jiang Qilin.

After spending these days together, she had a general idea of ​​Jiang Qilin's temperament.

Although he's reliable most of the time, he can be quite annoying at times, saying things that make you want to punch him.

Chu Ning had tried more than once to teach him a lesson and show him that she was not someone to be trifled with.

However, after weighing her own strength and the gap between herself and Jiang Qilin, and considering that he had helped her more than once, she decided to give up.

Although the girl was often impulsive and reckless due to her sense of chivalry, she still had a certain degree of restraint.

As the group walked deeper into the valley, they saw more and more corpses everywhere. These people were dressed in luxurious clothes, unlike ordinary martial arts practitioners, and looked quite extraordinary.

But no matter how extraordinary something is, if it's worn on a dead person, it won't exude any elegance.

The bodies of these men were covered in wounds from knives, spears, and swords, demonstrating just how brutal the battles these martial artists had endured before their deaths were.

Jiang Chao counted them; there were about a hundred corpses here, and their clothing was divided into three types, with gray, white, and red colors respectively.

A plum blossom was embroidered on the sleeve of the gray robe, and a hawk was tattooed on the collar of the white robe.

The last type of person in red has a sword-shaped pattern printed on their chest.

Of these three groups of martial arts practitioners, the group dressed in red with sword-shaped patterns has the fewest members but the strongest. The two groups dressed in gray and white have the most members but are slightly weaker.

The four searched the valley carefully but found no living person; everyone present was dead.

Obviously, it's impossible to find out exactly what happened from these people.

After all, the dead cannot speak.

Just as Jiang Chao saw Lu Jing's pale face and his occasional dry heaving, he couldn't bear it and suggested that everyone leave, Su E, who was hiding next to a corpse and doing something, suddenly spoke up.

"This group of people has been bewitched."

Upon hearing this, both Jiang Chao and Chu Ning were taken aback.

Poisoned?

Jiang Chao strode forward and bent down to examine the corpse of a middle-aged man in front of Su E, whose throat had been ripped open and whose face was contorted in grotesque horror.

After looking closely for a long time, Jiang Chao still couldn't find anything.

"Mr. Su, you say they're under a spell, what makes you say that?"

He asked.

Su E took out a piece of red rope from her waist and wrapped it around the corpse's wrist. The next moment, the red rope turned black, and the corpse's mouth began to open and close.

It was as if they had suddenly come back to life.

Jiang Chao's eyes narrowed, and his fingers shot out like lightning, clamping a transparent Gu worm the size of a fingernail. He wrapped it in his true energy and brought it close to his eyes for a closer look.

This Gu worm was completely transparent, shaped like a tadpole, with no mouth or eyes, and looked extremely strange. Even after Jiang Chao caught it, it kept twisting its body.

"This is the Blood Fiend Gu. Those who are afflicted by it will have their inner ferocity awakened, lose their sense of pain, experience a surge of blood and qi, and have their internal energy flow backward, directly filling their Tian Gui acupoint, eventually leading to a state of madness. Only through killing can they vent their anger."

Su E explained, "This kind of Gu poison is extremely insidious, and it often targets not just one person, but a group of people."

Jiang Chao casually crushed the struggling Gu worm to death, frowning as he said, "So, these martial artists don't have any deep-seated hatred for each other, but have fallen for the tricks of some sorcerer?"

Chu Ning walked over from a distance at this moment. The girl's face was slightly pale. She raised her head, glanced at Jiang Chao, and said:

"Hmph, I told you long ago to come with me to stop this fighting, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened..."

Su E shook her head.

"This matter is not that simple. Although the Blood Fiend Gu is extremely insidious and can affect a person's mind, there are many restrictions when casting the Gu. It is impossible for so many people to be infected at the same time. Someone must have done this deliberately, and the purpose is probably..."

"what!"

Before he could finish speaking, a scream suddenly came from afar.

The scream sounded familiar; it was Lu Jing!