Chapter 159: Impending Disaster

To his absolute astonishment, among the three Gu-witchcraft practitioners, there was a familiar face.

It was none other than Miao Lu, the shirtless warrior who had fought in the martial competition atop Fotian Peak. When Ding Zhi and Ding Cike had previously arrived with the city-guard martial artists, this fellow had been standing near the back of the procession.

Never had he imagined that after such a brutal battle, this man would still be alive—and furthermore, fleeing while carrying the unrecognizable corpse of the Miao Clan Chief.

"Big Brother Miao Lu, look quickly! It's that—it's that demon!" A sharp-eyed martial artist nearby caught sight of Su Ye and let out a startled shriek.

Miao Lu immediately looked toward Su Ye as well. Terrified, he stumbled back three paces. In their eyes, Su Ye was a terrifying figure capable of turning the entire sky pitch-black. Their vision had only recently recovered, and having barely managed to escape Thunder City, how could they possibly have run into this demon again here?

"H-How could he be here?"

As Miao Lu and the other two retreated, the corpse of the Miao Clan Chief they were carrying abruptly slipped and fell to the ground.

Panic-stricken, as they reached down to pick up the Chief's body, they suddenly froze. A deep wave of sorrow and fury welled up within Miao Lu. He jerked his head up and glared furiously in Su Ye's direction.

Clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, grinding his teeth, he said word by word, "It was him! He killed the Chief! He killed our clansmen!"

"Big Brother Miao Lu, what are you doing? Let's run! He's a demon! He even killed the Chief, and not even the Gu King was his match. He'll blind us again! Don't go over there, don't!" the other two Gu-witchcraft practitioners cried out tremblingly, clearly still traumatized, trying to drag Miao Lu away. But Miao Lu remained completely unmoved, stepping forward one stride at a time.

"Miao Lu, hurry and leave! What are you trying to do?"

Miao Lu was exceptionally stubborn, the flames of anger in his eyes burning brighter. Reaching behind his back, he whipped out a sharp horn-handled knife, locked his gaze onto Su Ye, and gritted his teeth. "He can't move! He must be bound by the demonic trees here! I'm going over there to kill him."

These words were spoken without the slightest attempt at concealment, carrying directly to the ears of both Su Ye and Jiang Liuying.

Jiang Liuying looked at Su Ye in shock and whispered, "Think of something quickly! He's coming over! He's coming to kill you!"

"What kind of ideas could I possibly think of? You usually have so many malicious schemes, why don't you think of a few now?!"

Annoyance surged within Su Ye. He never expected to encounter Miao Lu at a time like this. Miao Lu's temperament was unlike that of ordinary martial artists; back at the Fotian Peak settlement, in order to force Jiang Liuying to watch his martial competition, Miao Lu had barbarically blocked her path and demanded she watch it to the end.

With half of his body practically buried in the grave-like mound, Su Ye struggled, but his legs remained completely immovable. Outwardly, however, he maintained a nonchalant expression, shouting in a deep voice, "Hahaha, Miao Lu! You dare to walk right into a trap!"

At these words, Miao Lu's body stiffened. He looked at Su Ye in shock, as if wondering whether Su Ye had truly been waiting for him here all along. As for the other two Gu-witchcraft practitioners, upon hearing Su Ye's declaration, they were so terrified that they hoisted the Miao Clan Chief's corpse onto their shoulders and bolted away at top speed.

Miao Lu called out twice behind them, only to find that they were running even faster. Yet he did not leave. Instead, he gripped his horn-handled knife tighter and shouted, "Su Ye, you don't need to try to scare me—you can't move at all! Even if I die today, I'll drag you down with me. I'm going to avenge our Chief!"

***

Saying this, Miao Lu's gaze suddenly shifted toward Jiang Liuying, a fresh wave of deep hatred erupting in his eyes.

Jiang Liuying turned pale with fright and shrieked, "Miao Lu, I have no grievances or enmities with you! If you want revenge, go after Su Ye—don't you dare come after me! He was the one who attacked you, and the two of us are good friends, aren't we? You said so yourself back at the settlement, didn't you?"

Hearing this, Su Ye felt so enraged he thought he would explode. Even at a time like this, this little demoness Jiang Liuying was still pulling such a stunt on him; she was truly inhuman.

He shouted angrily as well, "Jiang Liuying, do you have any conscience left? I saved you, and now you're selling me out?"

"Su Ye, he's going to kill you anyway, can't you just make a little sacrifice? Haven't you considered your future wife? I'm practically your mother-in-law!" Jiang Liuying's face was white with fury, her hands clawing the air in agitation.

"Pui! Get lost—um, Miao Lu, it's true I killed your Chief, but we're honorable men, let's settle accounts fairly. It was your Chief who tried to kill me first. Since you're a real man, you should defeat me fair and square—that's how proper revenge works, right?"

Su Ye raised his voice, and seeing that Miao Lu actually seemed to be considering it, he quickly shouted again, "Besides, before that, think back to the Fotian Peak settlement—wasn't it Jiang Liuying who looked down on you? Do you really like a woman like that? You should tie her up and carry her back to be your bride!"

Upon hearing this, Miao Lu actually seemed tempted, though the anger on his face hadn't faded in the slightest. He pointed at Jiang Liuying and yelled, "It's you! You didn't finish watching my match, and you even hurt me. I'm going to cut off your hands and feet, and then carry you back to my home on my back so you can never run away again and never beat me again!"

Jiang Liuying was so frightened her lovely face drained of all color. She knew all too well that Miao Lu possessed an extreme personality; there was a genuine chance he might actually do such a thing.

She screamed, "Damn Su Ye, odious Su Ye—this is all your fault, you, you... Miao Lu, actually, the very first time I saw you, I fell deeply in love with you! Especially since you're the strongest warrior in the entire settlement. But what a pity, I'm already Su Ye's woman! He said there's no way I can marry you, I'm so heartbroken, wuwuwu... He was just about to elope with me, but fortunately we got trapped here, and heaven let me run into you, wuwuwu..."

By the end, Jiang Liuying had actually broken down into genuine sobs, putting on a thoroughly devastated performance.

Miao Lu's face flushed crimson. Gripping his horn-handled knife, he began striding heavily toward Su Ye, his breathing growing ragged. He roared, "So you were the one meddling! Making her leave me—I'm going to kill you! I'll avenge the Chief, and I'll avenge the Gu King!"

Su Ye felt like screaming curses at the sky. This little demoness possessed truly vicious and ruthless tricks! This time they really were flying apart in the face of imminent disaster!

"Miao Lu! Stop right there! Actually, all of this was the decree of the 'Gu King'. Aren't you even the least bit curious why I'm not afraid of the Gu King's razor?"

Miao Lu, who had been on the verge of rushing forward to slash at Su Ye, hesitated slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, the matter of Su Ye had become the greatest mystery in everyone's minds, especially for Gu-witchcraft practitioners like themselves, who found it completely incomprehensible.

"Why is that? Speak quickly!"

"Don't you have Gu poison on you? Take it out right now and try it on me, let's see if you can infect me with Gu worms. If you want to avenge your Chief, wouldn't it be even better to let me die by your Gu poison?" Su Ye said in a deep voice.

Miao Lu figured that made sense. Without standing on ceremony, he gently pulled at the hilt of his horn-handled knife, extracting a clump of black hair from inside. The hairs were tangled together, but the moment they were exposed, they began to wriggle slowly as if endowed with life.

Without hesitating, he hurled the clump straight at Su Ye.

Swish—

Mid-flight, the clump of hair abruptly darted forward of its own accord toward the top of Su Ye's head, instantly wrapping around his neck and beginning to grow at a frantic pace.

Before Su Ye could even react instinctively, he felt his entire neck gripped in a vicious chokehold.

The immense force was akin to a Qi-Gathering martial artist strangling him with a heavy rope, attempting to choke the very life out of him. Su Ye immediately burst into a fit of coughing, his entire face flushing crimson and his eyes bulging outward.

Seeing this, Jiang Liuying screamed, "Miao Lu, don't kill him! I want to kill him with my own hands. To kill him so easily would let him off too lightly!"

Boom!!

At that exact instant, a muffled, thunder-like sound erupted from within Su Ye's body.

Just as those terrifying strands of hair threatened to strangle him to death, the *Three Thousand Yanhuang Tribulation* technique he had anticipated finally stirred. A formidable surge of power burst forth, violently shattering the hair wrapped around his neck.

Feeling that surging torrent of energy rush through every part of his body, Su Ye let out a furious roar. Exerting his true qi to the utmost, with a loud *bang*, he broke free from the vines binding his feet and burst straight out of the grave-mound.

His entire body rolled steadily and landed firmly on the ground.

"Miao Lu, you really wanted to kill me!!"