The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 93 - 85: Lord Corpse Insect, the Intoxicating Scent of Cured Food

Chapter 93: Chapter 85: Lord Corpse Insect, the Intoxicating Scent of Cured Food

At full speed, Yang An covered the two hundred li and reached his destination in less than two hours.

To deliberately attract the attention of Wu Jinsheng and Ding Chong Daoist, he had even cut a strip of cloth from his clothes and hung it on a bush along the westward path.

If he was successful, it would buy him a good deal of time. At the very least, he would be temporarily safe until those two realized what was happening.

While rushing toward Wuwei Peak, Yang An had even managed to multitask, mastering the Light and Shadow Escape Technique along the way.

Back when he was with the Blood Bat Gang, he had already been on the verge of mastering this Technique, which made multitasking relatively simple.

However, it was currently nighttime. Any flash of light would easily attract attention, so it was not a convenient time to use this Escape Technique.

Otherwise, Yang An truly wanted to test just how long he could stretch his shadow.

The longer his shadow stretched, the farther he could move.

Forcing down the urge to experiment, Yang An drew ever closer to Wuwei Peak.

He had found Wuwei Peak’s location on a Map he’d discovered the day before among a pile of Magic Scriptures from the Blood Bat Gang. While many locations on it were inaccurate, it was close enough.

Although called Wuwei Peak, the name actually referred to the summit of an entire mountain. That summit, the location of Ding Chong Daoist’s abode, was the heart of the whole mountain.

Yang An’s original plan was to sneak onto Wuwei Peak undetected. He had already pushed his Illusion Technique to its limits, completely concealing his aura. Unless someone’s Cultivation Level was vastly higher than his, they would find it nearly impossible to detect him.

But as he neared the foot of the mountain, he stopped and hid in a tree.

It was the dead of night, so dark that only the blurry outlines of the surrounding mountains were visible. But near the foot of Wuwei Peak, a group of people holding torches was descending from above.

This immediately caught Yang An’s attention. He wanted to see what these guys coming down from Wuwei Peak were up to.

’If they’re just doing something unimportant, I can take this chance to get around them and onto Wuwei Peak.’

As Yang An watched, the torch-wielding group quickly reached a wild patch of land at the edge of the mountain’s base. At the command of a single man, they all came to a halt.

He was a bit too far away, so Yang An concealed himself in the shadows and crept closer. Still, no one detected his presence.

He could sense from their auras that they were nothing more than Fake Food Realm Cultivators. Their Cultivation Levels were not high; most had only just entered the realm.

’They must be disciples or Children of Ding Chong Daoist.’

"Ten more steps forward and you’ll all die, remember that! Be careful when you come here in the future. First, offer some tasty treats to the Lord Corpse Insects."

As he drew closer, Yang An finally heard the voice of the man in the lead, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

’It seems this spot where they’re standing is hiding something. That’s why they have to be so cautious and on guard.’

’What were those "Lord Corpse Insects" he mentioned? Something to do with insects?’

After the man warned those behind him, he ordered them to take out the blades they carried. One person simply picked up a sharp stone shard from the ground.

The next moment, each of them did as the man commanded, freeing one hand to slash it forcefully across their wrist.

Pain flashed across their faces, yet their eyes were filled with an excited anticipation.

Blood trickled from their hands onto the ground, the dripping sounding like the soft patter of rain in the quiet night.

Suddenly, a loud, dense buzzing erupted in the distance. It grew rapidly closer, as if something was approaching at high speed.

"Don’t blame me for not warning you. Stand still and don’t move a muscle. If you disturb the Lord Corpse Insects, you’ll all die!"

At this, the man spoke again. The people behind him instantly grew tense, each holding a torch in one hand while letting blood drip from the other, not daring to move.

In less than two breaths’ time, a dense black swarm of insects flew in from the distance, completely surrounding everyone.

These insects were not afraid of the flames. They formed a massive black sphere, completely blocking out even the torchlight, plunging the area into sudden darkness.

Only after a good while had passed did another noisy buzz ring out. The insects finally departed, gradually disappearing into the distant night.

And among the group that had just been enveloped by the insects, two skeletons, picked clean of every last shred of flesh and blood, had appeared. With a series of CRACKS, they collapsed and scattered on the ground.

"Useless trash! I told you not to move!"

The leader cursed in frustration, but the others showed no fear. Instead, they sneered at the two skeletons on the ground.

’So these insects are the "Lord Corpse Insects"...’

A peculiar look crossed Yang An’s face. He recalled the dense black swarm of insects above the Blood Bat Gang when Ding Chong Daoist had attacked. He hadn’t expected to find more of them here.

’It’s a good thing I ran into these guys and decided to watch them first. It seems I’ll have to be even more careful going forward.’

After the swarm flew away, the group continued forward for several dozen more steps before stopping again. The leader ordered them to pull two long chains up from the grass.

As they pulled the chains, several wide, heavy stone slabs were hoisted up from the ground.

When the stone slabs were lifted, four pits were revealed in the ground. At the same time, a rich fragrance wafted out from them.

Yang An, still dozens of meters away and hidden in a tree, couldn’t help but flare his nostrils at the scent. It was intoxicating.

He couldn’t quite identify the fragrance. It smelled like the scent of flowers that had been refined many times over, but mixed within it was a heavy stench of rot.

Ordinarily, the smell should have been sickening, but combined with the fragrance, it became strangely alluring, making one want to take another sniff.

However, when the stone slabs were lifted, he saw the pits filled with pools of black water. The water was packed with bloated corpses, their flesh thoroughly soaked by the black liquid until it turned a swollen, dark hue. A dense layer of rice-sized maggots crawled all over them.

"..."

Yang An felt that he’d seen enough since coming to this world that he could handle the sight. It was manageable.

However, the instant he saw the scene in the pits, he immediately shut off his sense of smell to avoid breathing in the intoxicating aroma.

Unlike him, the people below all had looks of obsession on their faces, as if the pits didn’t contain corpses, but some kind of delicacy.

"If anyone gets any ideas, I’ll have them thrown in immediately!"

The leader’s immediate warning to the group behind him made them restrain themselves considerably.

He then took a packet wrapped in oil paper from his sleeve, tore it open to reveal a black powder, and sprinkled it directly into the pits. He then ordered a couple of men to grab two long poles from nearby and stir the pits’ contents.

"All of you, watch carefully. From now on, someone must come here every night to sprinkle in the curing spices.

You must ensure it’s sprinkled evenly and stirred thoroughly. Only then will the fragrance of the cured food never fade.

On top of that, you have to prevent Demon Fiends from being drawn here, so make sure the slabs are replaced securely."

"If anything goes wrong here, every single one of you, don’t even think about running. You’ll all be caught and turned into cured food!"

The others nodded repeatedly, like obedient students diligently receiving their lesson.

Yang An observed quietly from a distance, a strange light flashing in his eyes as a sudden thought occurred to him.

’If I tossed a ball of fire from the Lighting Technique into those pits, would they burn?’