Chapter 33: Purple Gold Toad

He Lingchuan's roar echoed across the deck: "Kill them! Don't hold back!"

It wasn't as if they couldn't turn around or retreat, nor were they bound and gagged—so why were they standing there like mere spectators?

Was this the time to worry about the bonds of brotherhood?

The crowd had only been momentarily paralyzed by indecision, but his sudden, sharp reprimand jolted them back to their senses. Gritting their teeth, they raised their blades and axes against their possessed comrades.

In times like these, one's own life was paramount; the bonds of fellowship had to be pushed to the back of the line.

Before long, the puppets were all slain, and the Three-Corpse Worms that had possessed them were squeezed out of their bodies before they could even get warm.

By now, the Walnut Boat had passed through the city gates, navigating through the undulating ruins of the old city and through patches of mottled light and shadow.

Some of the Three-Corpse Worms successfully scurried back into the shadows, but the last few were forced out into the direct sunlight.

Under the intense glare, these phantoms instantly dissipated, leaving nothing behind.

Without a physical shell for protection, the Solar True Fire was their nemesis.

The fortified city was not large, and there were few buildings; the Walnut Boat soon moved far away from the city walls, once again cruising through the sand dunes.

Sheltered by the sunlight, everyone breathed heavily, finally able to turn their heads freely.

Nian Songyu's voice drifted from another boat, reminding all the troops: "Discard the corpses to lighten the load! We need to accelerate."

Darkness was falling; they had to make haste.

The corpses strewn across the deck had once been good comrades who fought side by side. The survivors remained silent for a long while before they began collecting food, water, and weapons from the bodies.

Supplies were precious; nothing could be wasted.

He Chunhua's personal guard had died with eyes wide open. He Lingchuan walked back and closed the man's eyes.

He Chunhua sighed. "His name was Zhao Shaogang. He had followed me for five years and handled many affairs for me."

"I know. I remember." He Lingchuan pursed his lips, pulling out Zhao Shaogang's last bag of naan, his last flask of fresh water, and an ordinary silver hairpin.

He was the one who had killed this man with his own hands.

"This hairpin is..." He Chunhua was about to use the object to remember the man, but He Lingchuan interrupted him. "Death is like a lamp going out; there is no use in saying more. His family will receive generous compensation."

Every living person has a story behind them, but so what? What they earned was, by nature, blood money.

He Chunhua fell silent and patted his shoulder. "You're right."

At this moment, self-indulgent sentimentality was useless.

He held up the broken comb in his left hand. "I always thought the resentment on this comb could drive these ghostly things away. It seems it's useless."

This comb was the source of all their troubles, yet it seemed to be of no use in the desert.

He Chunhua was deeply disappointed.

He Lingchuan gave a guilty glance. "Perhaps it was used incorrectly?" The divine bone necklace hanging around his neck was also a "token," and perhaps it was the most important piece of all, but no one else knew that.

Then again, the pendant had never shown any peculiar use—was it because the trigger conditions hadn't been met?

He pushed the corpse off the boat. Below seemed to be a large pool, its edges built of black stone, though it was, of course, empty of water now.

Sand burials had always been a tradition in Black Water City and the Panlong Desert.

Listening to the thud of the body hitting the ground and looking at the bloodstains on his arm—accidental splashes from the killing and looting just now—his heart felt heavy.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time he had killed someone after becoming He Lingchuan, and it was his own father's personal guard.

He knew Zhao Shaogang; they had chatted and laughed together.

The situation had been too urgent to hesitate just now, but now that the adrenaline had faded, He Lingchuan felt a sense of remorse.

"Are you alright?" He Chunhua asked, seeing him keep his head down.

"A bit seasick." He Lingchuan lifted a waterskin and took a gulp, swallowing his agitation along with it.

Killing one's own kind was different from killing chickens or dogs; he was actually surprised that he hadn't collapsed by the gunwale to vomit uncontrollably.

Since coming to this world, his heart seemed to have hardened.

What was subtly influencing him?

Over on the other side, Situ Han was also packing his things, his eyes rimmed with red. One of the sand bandits had been possessed and was slain by his own hand.

This man had plundered wealth and stolen women alongside him; just a few days ago, they had even bought wine together and slept side by side. Now, before the warmth had even left the body, he had been tossed overboard.

And everyone knew that such things would be frequent on the journey of exploration.

This was merely the beginning.

He Lingchuan took several deep breaths to calm himself, then leaned closer to He Chunhua and whispered, "On the State Preceptor's boat, there are the fewest dead." The fewest corpses thrown overboard.

"There has never been such a thing as fairness in this world."

When a person is possessed by a Three-Corpse Worm, they become a puppet. Aside from the old Panlong City, no one could provide a method for rapid cure. It was said that during the later stages of the allied siege, the Xianyou State possessed several treatment methods, but they were time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. The success rate for expelling the worms was no more than twenty percent, and the process took three to five days.

The Three-Corpse Worms originally lurked within the human body; the first step for a practitioner to achieve enlightenment was to sever their own Three-Corpse Worms. How could it be easy to expel them by other means?

Furthermore, once a possessed puppet went into a frenzy, how could they be treated submissively?

Therefore, decision-makers like Nian Songyu had agreed long ago: once someone on the boat was possessed by a Three-Corpse Worm, they must be dealt with swiftly and decisively to prevent future trouble!

Every possessed person would become a burden; they simply could not afford to wait, nor could they afford to save them.

He Chunhua shook his head, casting the troublesome thoughts aside, and patted his son's shoulder. "It was thanks to your timely intervention just now that several lives were saved. By the way, since when did your flying knife aim become so precise?"

That throw just now had grazed his shoulder with incredible accuracy.

This useless son had not only saved his life but also helped him eliminate a threat; he was truly growing up.

Governor He felt immensely gratified.

"Aim? Uh!" He Lingchuan said bashfully, "It was just now. Wasn't it just out of desperation?"

He Chunhua: "..."

￥￥￥￥￥

Whether it was He Lingchuan's words acting as a prophecy or not, the other two boats remained unscathed, but State Preceptor Sun's Walnut Boat encountered uninvited guests—

Two massive Purple-Gold Toads.

These creatures were mutated monsters; not only were they shaped like toads a hundred times their normal size, but their method of attack involved suddenly shooting out tongue-arrows to snatch and chew their prey.

The mountain-like Purple-Gold Toads leaped from the dunes, nearly capsizing the Walnut Boat upon landing. Even the rushing earth dragons were constricted, nearly making the boat impossible to pull.

They ate humans just as ordinary toads eat flying insects. They would even lift their forelimbs to help shove the prey into their mouths, swallowing them without even chewing.

Furthermore, when a Purple-Gold Toad encountered an enemy, the bumps on its body would explode, releasing a purple-gold toxic mist. Anyone who inhaled it would become dizzy, foam at the mouth, and collapse within seconds.

That was how they got their name.

Fortunately, the Purple-Gold Toads ate very slowly, chewing and swallowing each person meticulously, which gave State Preceptor Sun and his men ample time to deal with them.

The He father and son were on another boat, too far away to help; they could only watch the spectacle from a distance.

(End of Chapter)