Volcanic Age

"What…"

Surprised murmurs reverberated throughout the search party.

Just then, someone shouted, "ROAR!!"

The shouts of sixty warriors echoed throughout the temple. The uproar was so loud that the surroundings trembled.

"Ugh…"

"Argh—cough!"

When the High Priest died, his sorcery waned. The warriors of the cannibalistic tribe reacted immediately to his death. Streams of black mist rushed out of their figures and dissipated into the wind, and the tattoos that had been wriggling like earthworms across their bodies stopped moving at the same time.

Their muscles that had swollen to an uncanny degree shrank instantly, and their flesh withered away.

The hostility mixed with madness faded gradually before eventually disappearing.

"Now is the time! Take them all down!" Duan Hecheng roared, bringing those who were still in awe of what Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost had done back to reality.

"Ha!"

"Die!"

There would be no mercy for these cannibalists. The tribesmen had been incapacitated, so they had to kill as many of them as possible before they could cause trouble again.

The cannibalistic tribesmen didn't resist the attacks, so it was more like a one-sided massacre than a battle. However, none of the search party members felt particularly uneasy about it.

"I can finally rest." Zhou Xuchuan exhaled and wiped away the blood on his sword.

The cannibalistic tribe originally had one hundred and fifty members, but they had been reduced to just fifty thanks to the efforts of the search party.

The cannibalistic tribesmen attempted to help the High Priest, but it was already too late. The climb to the temple had left them utterly exhausted, so they became sitting ducks in the eyes of the search party.

To make matters worse, the High Priest's death meant that the sorcery he had cast on them was dispelled. Thus, they were incapacitated, and they died without even being able to put up a proper fight.

The fifty cannibalistic tribesmen were further culled to twenty or so, and the tribe was effectively no longer a tribe.

"Enough! Take the rest of them as prisoners!"

The search party decided to spare some of them in case they needed information.

They stopped the massacre, sparing about fifteen people.

"Now I can finally relax a bit as well."

Duan Hecheng left the cleanup to the others and walked over to greet Zhou Xuchuan.

"This junior of the gangho is here to greet you, Senior," Zhou Xuchuan said, greeting Duan Hecheng first.

"Please, speak comfortably. I owe you my life in the Poisonblood Valley, and I owe you my life again. I don't think I can repay this favor in this lifetime."

"It's nothing. If something happens to me next time, you can just come help me then."

"I cannot take on a disciple due to my circumstances, but I swear on the Galaxy Manor's name that I will help you whenever to the best of my abilities."

The Diancang Sect had accepted the Galaxy Manor Lord's son as the Sect Master's legitimate disciple in exchange for the Galaxy Manor's help in resolving the Diancang Sect's financial difficulties.

However, there had been some conditions for doing so, including a ban on revealing any techniques that he had learned to others. Thus, he could not accept any disciples.

"Are you okay, Seventh Young Master of Diancang?" Tang Lian asked, walking over.

"What are you guys talking about? I'm curious," Tang Hui remarked, walking over to Duan Hecheng with Zhou Xuchuan.

"Oh, hello. Thank you so much for the help. I owe the Tang Family a debt of life."

Duan Hecheng greeted Tang Lian and Tang Hui.

"It's good to see that you're okay. Can you tell me more about what happened?"

"Of course, but I think we should talk about that as we go."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going into the temple."

The temple of the Cannibalistic Tribe wasn't built just for the sake of the altar at the top. The temple itself was the lifeblood of the tribe. There were sleeping quarters to avoid the rain, warehouses, and armory within the temple.

There was also a prison to contain outsiders.

The Diancang Sect had been spending their time within the Cannibalistic Tribe's prison until recently. Duan Hecheng told them what he knew, and Zhou Xuchuan was already aware of what Duan Hecheng knew except for some specific details.

"By the way, who's that girl?"

Tang Lian's eyes turned to Little Ghost.

The High Priest seemed to be no longer human, and Tang Lian had witnessed Zhou Xuchuan's fight against that monster.

Little Ghost and Zhou Xuchuan's god-like combat prowess had bedazzled Tang Lian, especially the scene when the two burst out of the eerie flames unscathed—that scene was particularly memorable.

The martial prowess of the Plum Blossom Order Sword had already spread throughout the Poisonblood Valley and the Central Plains, so he was not particularly surprised about it.

However, Tang Lian's jaw dropped open when a girl who seemed to be around seven or eight years of age, at most ten, showed martial prowess capable of standing toe-to-toe against Zhou Xuchuan's martial prowess.

"She doesn't look like she's from Mount Hua…" Duan Hecheng replied, showing curiosity at Tang Lian's question.

However, Tang Hui had already heard about the Dark Heavens Association and the Valley of Phantoms, so she was aware of Little Ghost's identity. Of course, she didn't enlighten the two.

"I have my circumstances, so it's a bit difficult to answer that question. If it's okay with you, can you just trust me and move on?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. Due to his status, he couldn't answer directly.

However, it'd be difficult to beat around the bush, so he simply smiled bitterly and decided to hide the truth right in the face of the two men.

"Understood. Let's do that, then," Duan Hecheng replied. He didn't want to embarrass his benefactor, so he easily gave up and forgot that he had even decided to ask that question.

It also was rude to press on one's circumstances in the gangho murim. Duan Hecheng wasn't tactless to do something like that.

Tang Lian looked regretful.

When Tang Hui signaled at him, however, he licked his lips and gave up his curiosity.

"I was unlucky enough to get caught here before I could search the Southern Jungles, but we had some results."

"Did you discover the whereabouts of the Divine Physician?"

"No, but we found a clue."

The group's faces brightened at the unexpected good news.

They had no idea how they were supposed to find the Divine Physician amidst the boundless sea of trees. Fortunately, Lady Luck seemed to be smiling at them, as they ended up obtaining a clue to the Divine Physician's whereabouts.

Duan Hecheng moved deeper into the temple. He led the group to the dimmer parts of the temple until they arrived at a prison.

It wasn't just an ordinary prison.

"Tsk!" Tang Lian clicked his tongue and frowned.

Zhou Xuchuan and Tang Hui's faces distorted at the sight.

Little Ghost remained expressionless.

There was a small kitchen near the prison. There was a huge variety of ingredients in the kitchen, and the party also saw dried meat and leather. However, the meat and leather weren't from animals but from human beings.

The party was enraged, and they considered killing the remaining cannibalistic tribesmen.

"Huh?"

The party walked past the prison, and the prisoners were taken aback upon realizing that the party wasn't composed of cannibalistic tribesmen.

"We've come to free you! I'll open the doors, so don't panic or get too excited. Stay calm, maintain order, and come out!" Duan Hecheng exclaimed, shaking the bundle of keys in his hand to make jingling noises to attract everyone's attention.

Screech. Clunk.

The prison doors were opened one by one, but the people inside were suspicious of the party, and they dared not move. Some had been so traumatized by the long-term imprisonment that they crouched in the corners of their cage, casting wary gazes at the group.

"A-are you from the Central Plains?" someone asked. None of them dared to come out, and only a few heads peeked out of the cages. "How did you get here?"

The filth and grime covering their faces and figures told everyone that it had been a long time since they had taken any baths. Strangely enough, the majority of them seemed to have gained weight despite the imprisonment.

However, the reason behind their weight gain was more sinister than one could imagine. The cannibalistic tribe was deliberately feeding these people more than they could eat to fatten them up for future consumption.

Everyone knew what would happen if they were to gain weight, so some of them refused at first. However, those daring enough to refuse were either killed or tortured, so the prisoners were eventually forced to accept the extra food while trembling in fear.

"Oh, there you are," Duan Hecheng said, smiling upon seeing his target.

"Do you know him, Seventh Master?"

"A Toho from the Qinghua region of the Southern Jungles, Ye Li."

Ye Li? Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head. It was a name he had heard somewhere. It wasn't that long ago, either. For some reason, he couldn't remember it, which was quite strange. I think I've heard "Qinghua" somewhere, too…

The words were too familiar, but his memories related to them were so foggy that he couldn't really recall them properly.

He had read books about the Southern Jungles, but these memories had happened somewhere in the Central Plains. However, it had been so long ago that the details were blurry.

Zhou Xuchuan had also read some bits and pieces about them in a book, but it had been so long ago that he couldn't remember those details at all. What a shame.

"A Toho? I thought the Southern Jungles are just filled with tribes?"

Tang Lian was surprised that a Toho existed in a place like this.[1]

"If it really were a country of just barbarians, we wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. Yes, the Southern Jungles are generally under the control of major tribes like the Cannibalistic Tribe, but that isn't the case for the entire region.

"There are regular people within this region, too."

The Central Plains despised the Southern Jungles, thinking that it was a country of barbarians, but it was once a nation opposing the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Their sorry state was a result of suffering defeats in wars. If one looked closely, one would find that the people here still had remnants of a proper civilization.

"Sir Ye Li, don't worry. We've dealt with the tribe, so there's no need to be worried at all"

"That's impossible!" Ye Li exclaimed, revealing a look of disbelief. The others in the prison nodded and started whispering among each other.

The Cannibalistic Tribe's strength was no joke. As expected of monsters with a penchant for consuming people, their strength was unparalleled, even within the Southern Jungles. The sorcery of the tribe's leader, the High Priest, exceeded the level of ordinary heretical arts.

The thought of facing the High Priest alone was enough to send shivers down Ye Li's spine.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Despite that, Ye Li couldn't dispel his doubts. However, Duan Hecheng's words seemed to have some merit, and it was enough for him to consider it.

Is it true? Ye Li thought. There were supposed to be guards here, but they were missing. There was something wrong here. Soon, Ye Li was greeted by unfamiliar faces, and he actually forgot to breathe upon seeing Tang Hui.

"Gasp! A-am I looking at a fairy right now?" Ye Li asked, sounding dumbfounded.

The sight before him was so surreal he suspected that he was already in the stomach of a cannibalistic tribesman.

"I appreciate that you look at me fondly, but I'm starting to feel a little suffocated with your gaze. I hope you'll hurry up and move that unpleasant lump of flesh of yours outside," Tang Hui said. Her words were venomous despite her polite voice.

"I don't intend to beat around the bush, and I don't care enough to be considerate of your weak mind and body. Our situation is urgent, so if possible, I hope you'll come out and tell us more about the Divine Physician of the Benevolence Clinic."

"..."

Ye Li couldn't say anything as if he were a mute who had eaten honey.[ref[This is a really long idiom to explain. If you want the actual explanation come to the discord and @ me. TLDR, a man eats too much honey and has a stomachache so bad he can't answer when his wife calls.[/ref]

Even Duan Hecheng stared agape in disbelief.

"I just don't understand why you're wasting our time and taking forever while mumbling some nonsense. If you want, I can give you poison that'll tear your intestines apart so that you can finally start speaking, but do I really have to go that far?"

"D-definitely not! Young Lady!" Ye Li responded immediately, swallowing hard. His trembling eyes landed on the poison in Tang Hui's palm.

"You must be smart to be able to understand what I'm trying to say. I'm really happy to know that. I'm already exhausted from the fighting, so I appreciate your understanding."

Why do I keep getting involved with this woman? Zhou Xuchuan pondered seriously upon hearing Tang Hui's harsh words.

"I-I don't know if he's that divine physician or not, but before I was captured, I heard a rumor about a famous physician from the Central Plains."

It wasn't just Tang Hui; the entire search party grew interested upon hearing that.

It was uncommon for people of the Central Plains to come to the Southern Jungles, and a physician among those visitors was even rarer.

"The strangest part is that he asks for herbs or poisonous plants instead of gold or silver in return for his treatment."

"That's definitely the Divine Physician!" Tang Lian shouted confidently.

"Do you know where he went?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, looking a bit excited.

"I don't know that much…" Ye Li trailed off, scratching his head. "But if you take me to Qinghua, I can definitely help you find him."

"Very well. Please guide us there, then."

Just like that, the search party headed to the Qinghua Region of the Southern Jungles.

1. A toho is essentially like someone with enough wealth to start a settlement, but not something defined as a town by a government. ☜