Chapter 310: The Black Witch Clan, Different from Rumors

Ba She opened his huge mouth, and Ye Feng followed Wu Ze out.
The scene before them was clearly beyond Ye Feng’s expectations—a small village made up of simple, small buildings. There weren’t many people in the village; by Ye Feng’s estimate, there were less than five hundred houses of various sizes in total.
The simple structure of the houses stood in sharp contrast to the sounds of children playing in the alleys nearby. Ye Feng glanced at Wu Ze beside him and realized only then the burden Wu Ze carried.
“There are 483 households here, with over 1,100 people in total, including adults and children…” Wu Ze took a deep breath before smiling. “The Black Witch Clan isn’t as evil as you might think. Those evil rumors were all fabricated by us and spread deliberately. The purpose was simple: to prevent us from being targeted by outsiders or caught up in wars.”
“In the past, members of the Black Witch Clan were those who were expelled and secretly practiced the forbidden texts. But things are different now. The Black Witch Clan has existed for many years. Those who secretly practiced the forbidden texts back then can be considered the ancestors, and those still alive today are mostly their descendants. Although the content of the forbidden texts has been passed down, not many people practice them. We’ve set limits on the strength that can be achieved through practicing them to prevent greater harm,” Wu Ze explained. “As you can see, there are also many innocent children here. They were born here and have never done anything to harm others.”
“What do you want me to do?” Ye Feng knew Wu Ze hadn’t brought him here just for a tour.
“We need your help,” Wu Ze said seriously, looking at Ye Feng.
Ye Feng didn’t answer right away whether he was willing to help but patiently waited for further explanation.
“Over the past few years, we’ve noticed that whenever a strong member of our clan possesses a Gu King within them, after using that Gu King, the Gu King becomes extremely weak. This has never happened before. And this state of weakness makes it seem like they’re on the verge of death, ready to perish at any moment…” Wu Ze’s expression darkened as he spoke.
“As far as I know, if the Gu worm inside you dies, you too will die, right?” Ye Feng raised his eyebrows. He had read something related to this in the “Compendium of Witch Clan Gu Worms” not long ago.
“That’s exactly why I’ve come to you,” Wu Ze nodded helplessly.

“Why should I help you?” Ye Feng stared at Wu Ze. “Anyway, it’s only the strong within your clan who are affected. Children, the elderly, and women and children are unharmed. Besides, creating vicious parasites like the Poisonous Worms and implanting them in others’ bodies is absolutely unforgivable.”
“The Poisonous Worms we created were failures—their toxicity was too strong for living beings to withstand. So, those controlled by the worms are just corpses, and they were volunteers from our clan. They volunteered to become hosts for the worms before dying, just to protect our race once again.”
“How do I know if you’re telling the truth or not?” Ye Feng was slightly moved. Those Black Witch clan members who volunteered their corpses reminded him of Yi Fan and the others—those who still cared about him even after death, wanting to protect him.
“He’s telling the truth,” a deep voice came from behind Ye Feng. “I’ve been with the Black Witch clan since its inception. I’ve seen everything they’ve done. Their sacrifices for their companions, their struggles, their joys and sorrows—everything. That’s one of the reasons I’ve guarded them for so many years. In fact, sacrificing for companions isn’t just a tradition of the Black Witch clan; it’s a long-standing tradition of the Witch clan as well. Since their cultivation methods differ from mainstream practices, their people are easily targeted by other strong beings who want to study their techniques. So they’ve been avoiding this trouble all along.”
Only then did Ye Feng recall that he had also seen in the “Compendium of Witch Clan Parasites” that the Poisonous Worms could indeed control corpses, but because the brains of the corpses were dead, it was harder to control them, and their power was greatly reduced.
“Did you bring me here not to keep me?” Ye Feng frowned. According to what Wu Ze had said before in front of Xue Sha and Tie Niu, he wanted to take Ye Feng back, detain him, and extract useful information from him.
“If I didn’t say that, how would it fit our image as fearsome beings among outsiders? If these outsiders knew we were in crisis, the news would surely leak, and more than a few would come to cause trouble,” Wu Ze explained. “Whether you can cure us or not, I’ll let you go. If you don’t believe me, I can swear by the Ancestral Witch.”

“That’s not necessary.” Seeing Wu Ze’s appearance, which didn’t seem fake, Ye Feng fell silent for a while before asking again, “Why me?”
“Because ever since you learned about the Poisonous Gu Worms, I knew you must have some knowledge about gu worms. And since we can’t solve this problem on our own, we can only place our hopes on you, trying a last resort.” Wu Ze didn’t hide the fact that he wasn’t very confident in Ye Feng.
“Alright, I agree to help you, but I’m not sure if I can resolve your crisis. Let’s talk about your symptoms first!”
Seeing Ye Feng agree, Wu Ze became somewhat excited. “Actually, the symptoms are quite simple. It’s those who possess a Gu King inside them. After using the Gu King’s power, the Gu King inside them becomes weakened. The longer it’s used, the worse the Gu King’s condition, and the longer it takes to recover.”
“Are all those with a Gu King inside them in this state? What about the others?” Ye Feng frowned slightly.
“Only those with a Gu King inside them are like this, including me, the three elders, and the two most outstanding warriors in the tribe,” Wu Ze nodded. “Right now, except for the Grand Elder, they’re all on missions and not in the tribe. The Grand Elder is already extremely weak due to this situation and has fallen into a deep sleep.”
“Don’t the others have any symptoms at all? Are there any other signs?” Ye Feng pressed further.
“No, after this situation occurred, I’ve investigated, and the others haven’t shown any symptoms at all,” Wu Ze shook his head slowly.
“In other words, this disease is targeted at the Gu King…” Ye Feng frowned. “First, take me to see the Grand Elder, whose condition is the worst…”