Chapter 62: The Luo Book (6)

Hundreds of believers, driven by the eerie sounds, gradually surrounded Yan Xu in the center. The most terrifying thing in the world is not falling into corruption, but failing to realize it even after falling! Yan Xu gripped his sword tightly. Though he didn’t want to harm innocents, he would use it to defend himself if necessary.
“Throw torches into the crowd! The light will restore their senses!”
Zhang Yanji accidentally knocked over a pile of firewood, scaring away a few of the surrounding believers. Seizing the opportunity, he shouted at Yan Xu.
Hm? Yan Xu also noticed this anomaly. After a moment’s thought, he bent down, picked up some kindling, and threw it at the believers who had lost their senses.
“Whoosh!”
The kindling, blown by the strong wind, instantly caught fire and spread along the valley. The believers, who had earlier appeared dazed, seemed to regain their senses upon seeing the flames. They scratched their heads, having no memory of what they had done.
“The holy water is poisonous. The fire will dry out the moisture and neutralize the poison!”
Zhou Wucui pushed aside a mad believer with his elbow and said with a bitter smile. Relying on just a few people to drive back thousands of believers was nothing but delusion. The only way was to use the light to restore the senses of a small number of believers, then use their own momentum to push the rest back!
But this method had a major drawback: only a few of the front-row believers would regain their senses. This meant forcing those who had just regained their awareness to fight against those still under the drug’s influence—a cruel solution! Yet they had no other choice. Nan Jiyun was unconscious, and Lei Wanchun’s eyes were poisoned. Including Yan Xu, only four people in Li Kuo’s group were capable of fighting. Without this strategy, none of them could escape this hellish valley.
“Don’t rush!”
Li Kuo knocked out a believer and joined Zhou Wucui and Zhang Yanji under a large rock. “We’re upwind. Let’s gather more dry grass and wild herbs to burn—this will surely stun them!”
“Where do we have time to collect wild herbs now?”
Zhou Wucui twisted his obese body and pushed several believers trying to climb onto the rock back down, shouting.
“Then throw the torches first to block their path!”
Li Kuo gritted his teeth and made a compromise.
“You go gather the herbs to burn. Leave this to me!”
At some point, Yan Xu had broken through the barriers of the believers and brought Nan and Lei to the side of the rock.
“Pfft.”
He tossed the two aside onto the grass and drew his sword, heading toward the rock.

“Can’t you be gentler? They’re already so badly injured!”
Zhang Yanji, unyielding in his anger, kept complaining.
Yan Xu stopped but didn’t turn around. “Wait until you’re alive and out of the valley before saying such things to me.”
Li Kuo grabbed Zhang Yanji, who still wanted to argue, gave him a sharp look, and signaled that they needed to quickly gather wild grass and dry reeds for burning.
“Sigh!”
Zhang Yanji had no choice but to shake off his robe and turn away.
The three youths began gathering as many wild grasses and dry reeds as they could at full speed—clumps, two clumps, three clumps…
It wasn’t enough. Such a small amount wouldn’t produce enough smoke to suppress the crowd, yet the youths couldn’t cut more grass right away!
Yan Xu stood resolutely on top of the boulder, knocking down those who tried to climb up again and again. But more and more followers kept pouring in from that direction, growing denser and denser…
The people whose senses had been awakened by the campfire turned around only to have their throats bitten by the rushing followers, who then pinned them to the ground. The remaining people were forced to retreat under pressure.
Yan Xu continued to swing his sword, protecting the group of youths and his promise. But his figure grew weaker, his movements slower—how much longer could he hold on?
“Throw the cut reeds onto the fire pile in the far right. Blow the south wind hard this time!”
Li Kuo threw a bundle of wild grass into the pit beside him and shouted at his two friends.
The reeds and weeds fell into the campfire, making crackling sounds and producing thick black smoke that drifted down toward the boulder with the south wind.
“Add more damn stuff! These few piles of grass stems aren’t enough to burn!”
Zhang Yanji, watching the growing crowd at the foot of the boulder, grew more and more vicious.
The first wave of thick smoke drifted down with the wind, choking those who had lost their senses, making them cry. Yes, though their minds were controlled by demonic sounds and evil water, they were still flesh and blood, with normal physiological reactions.

At first, Li Kuo, Zhang Yanji, and the others were merely trying it out, not expecting the thick smoke to truly play a decisive role in defeating their enemies. But within less than half a column of incense time after the smoke rose, they changed their minds. The effect of the smoke was astonishing—several dozen steps away, the three of them could still hear the victims’ screams and curses. Out of instinctive physiological reactions, after being choked to tears, these delirious victims stopped obeying the demonic voices and fled backward. Li Kuo was very satisfied to be able to repel the believers without bloodshed. After all, they were also subjects of the Tang Dynasty, with Han blood in their veins. They were only temporarily lost in delirium; under no circumstances should they turn weapons on their own kind!
“Wu Zui, go seal off the west entrance—the wind is a bit weaker there!”
Seeing dozens of believers approaching from the west, Li Kuo’s heart sank, and he ordered loudly.
“Got it!”
Zhou Wu Zui ran over and pushed the lit haystack down the entrance. To enhance its effect, he deliberately added some potent ingredients like poisonous mugwort and heart-breaking grass, though he didn’t tell Li Kuo. (Note 1) Yan Xu struggled to kick a frenzied believer off a boulder, finally gaining some respite. Looking down from the slope, he could hardly see any groups of believers anymore. The thick smoke had done an excellent job in the valley—grayish-white mist covered the valley with no sign of dispersing, forcing the coughing victims to run backward. This disruption completely threw off the rhythm of the demonic voices. The effect of the holy water was also gradually fading, with more and more believers no longer under the control of the Tibetan monks.
As long as they could hold out through this wave, they would succeed! Yan Xu clenched his fists, firmly holding to his promise. Alone, with just a sword, dressed in black with black hair, at this moment, his silhouette resembled that of a celestial being.
Unnoticed, night had fallen completely, yet the believers did not regain their senses as expected. Although the pressure from the front had diminished significantly, the uncertainties of the night still troubled Yan Xu, leaving him exhausted. The weeds and grass on the original slope had already been burned by the youths, making smoke attacks impossible. Moreover, the wind direction had changed overnight—even if there were plenty of weeds, could they really go against nature?
“I’m exhausted!”
Zhang Yanji lay face up on the ground, complaining loudly. They hadn’t stopped since afternoon, constantly cutting grass, tying it up, and burning it. It had taken a lot of effort to slow down the believers’ attacks, only for night to fall. Still, those experts in black robes and guardians hadn’t intervened yet, allowing them some respite.
“Hmm, what’s that green light in the distant woods? Could it be fireflies?”

Zhang Yanji closed his eyes contentedly, intending to rest for a while before suddenly realizing it was already autumn—how could there be fireflies! The young man sat up abruptly, cold sweat streaming down his neck. Pairs of dark green wolf eyes flickered like ghostly lights in the dark bushes, exuding an icy chill. “Brother Kuo, there are wolves!” Zhang Yanji turned and ran, crying out as he headed toward the campfire where Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun were recovering. Brother Kuo and that fat idiot were there too! At that moment, Zhang Yanji deeply regretted being so stubborn as to go alone to the west side of the slope to relieve himself! From Zhang Yanji’s cries, Li Kuo gradually realized he had encountered a pack of wild wolves. These wolves must have come from the back mountain; they had smelled the blood in the valley and followed, aiming to feast. During the day, with so many people and thick smoke, the wolves hadn’t dared to attack. Only when night fell and the smoke dissipated did they prepare to strike deadly blows! With a long howl, the alpha wolf led the pack forward, testing the ground with their paws. With the help of the campfire, Li Kuo finally saw the size of the pack—there were at least seventeen or eighteen wolves, slowly closing in on the group under the alpha’s leadership. Perhaps realizing these prey weren’t easy to handle, the wolves merely circled around them without rushing to attack. Li Kuo stared intently at the alpha wolf, which stood out from the others—its entire body covered in silver fur except for a patch of brownish-black hair between its eyes, as if declaring itself the king of the pack. Li Kuo swiftly drew his two-stone-hard bow, nocked an arrow, and drew back the string with strength. With a sudden snap, the arrow flew toward the alpha wolf’s forehead. The alpha wolf was shocked and leaped aside just in time to avoid the deadly strike. Angered by escaping death, the alpha wolf howled loudly. The other wolves, as if receiving a signal, rushed at the young men fiercely. Seeing the situation worsening, Li Kuo quickly ordered Zhang Yanji and Zhou Wucui to pull the injured Nan and Lei back. But the two refused, growling as they drew their knives and attacked the nearby wolves. Next to Zhou Wucui was a gaunt female wolf. Perhaps due to extreme hunger, it defied all logic and charged straight at Zhou Wucui. Zhou Wucui sneered, swung his knife, and with a flash of light, a deep cut appeared on the wolf’s snow-white belly. “Ugh, ugh, ugh…” The beast let out pitiful cries, licking its wound repeatedly in an attempt to ease the pain. But it soon found more blood and intestines pouring out, staining the withered grass red.

The male wolf in Zhang Yanji’s sight was much smarter. After lightly dodging the boy’s deadly strike, it didn’t rush to attack. Instead, it quickly circled around the boy. Once it reached behind him, it leaped high on its hind legs and lunged at Zhang Yanji’s neck. Seeing Zhang Yanji frozen in place, Li Kuo quickly drew a short feathered arrow, charged it with strength, and shot it. The gray wolf was pierced through the head by the arrow, let out a mournful cry, and fell to the ground. As more wolves approached, Li Kuo threw away his long bow, drew his curved sword, and began slashing around. Several wolves that got too close were knocked to the ground by Li Kuo before they could understand what was happening. They let out low whines and groans before their eyes lost their luster. Seeing this, the wolf king grew furious and charged at Li Kuo with a roar. Its leap attracted dozens of wolves, and in an instant, Li Kuo found himself surrounded! Li Kuo took a deep breath, shielded his face with his hands, and searched for a way to break through. Brother Yan was currently fighting with the messengers; surely he wouldn’t notice me? Am I going to die at the hands of wolves today? Li Kuo smiled bitterly inwardly, then slashed at the approaching wolves at lightning speed. Rather than wait to die, he might as well fight! Determined, Li Kuo ignored everything else, his curved sword swinging like the scythe of death, claiming lives one after another. The cold glint of the blade and the splashing of warm wolf blood only fueled the boy’s fighting spirit. Despite being bitten multiple times by the wolves, he didn’t slow down. Just as Li Kuo was about to break through from the southeast corner, a sharp pain shot through his left calf. The boy let out a cry and knelt down in pain. It turned out the wolf king had taken advantage of his distraction, circled behind him, and with a single leap, knocked him to the ground and bit hard into his left leg. Seeing that Li Kuo couldnu get up, the wolf king let out a long howl and rushed straight for his throat. The boy closed his eyes tightly and instinctively raised his sword to defend. After a while, however, there was no intense pain as expected. Li Kuo slowly opened his eyes and saw Pu Dachui’s honest and kind smile under the light of the fire. Note 1: Poisonous mugwort and heart-breaking grass were looked up online—use with caution.