As Fatty Kang was about to shake his rattle drum, I drew out the Yin Tie wood ruler I carried and swung it towards his head.
Normally, Fatty Kang should have been hit by my ruler, but my ruler struck empty air because the fellow was already on guard the moment I drew out the Yin Tie wood ruler.
By the time I swung at him, he ducked and dodged, his swift movements making him look more like a 300-jin fat monkey.
As soon as Fatty Kang steadied himself, he glared at me angrily, "Kid, if you don't give me a reasonable explanation today, next year's this day will be your death anniversary." His face was contorted, as if he already harbored murderous intent towards me.
Facing the ferocious Fatty Kang, I remained calm and composed, not taking his murderous intent to heart.
"My death anniversary next year? I think you're the one who's going to have a death anniversary. We're so close to the mountain spirits' lair, and you've attracted a large number of poisonous insects. Naturally, this will draw the mountain spirits' attention. If you want to die, I won't stop you, but can you please not drag me down with you?"
Upon hearing this, Fatty Kang's face immediately turned green, and a cold sweat trickled down his cheek. He slapped himself before saying to me, "My apologies, I forgot about that."
Although he appeared full of remorse, I didn't believe he was truly sincere in apologizing. Summoning蛊虫 (gu worms) from such a conspicuous location made it difficult not to be discovered by the mountain spirits. Even a novice like me wouldn't do such a thing, yet he did, which was completely inconsistent with his seasoned demeanor. If he didn't have some ulterior motive, I would consider it a ghost sighting.
I cupped my hands, smiling, "I was also impulsive just now and shouldn't have attacked you directly. But I was forced to, so I hope fellow Daoist Kang won't blame me."
"Haha... Naturally."
Fatty Kang laughed heartily, as if he had never laughed so freely in his life. However, I didn't overlook the lack of mirth in his eyes. It seemed he still harbored some resentment towards my earlier actions.
After I pointed it out, Fatty Kang didn't dwell on it. Instead, he walked several hundred meters down the mountain and began to set up again.
I saw him take out a small, black, three-legged, two-eared tripod with a lid from his backpack, then a small yellow cloth bag. From it, he took out a pile of foul-smelling powder.
I found it unpleasant, but Fatty Kang treated it like a treasure. He carefully poured a little into the black tripod, then quickly wrapped it up as if afraid the scent would escape.
Afterward, he opened the snakeskin bag and dumped all the蛊虫 inside onto the ground. Seeing the dismembered and still twitching scorpions and centipedes, I couldn't help but step back.
The scene was such that even someone without trypophobia would feel a bit uncomfortable.
My movement was naturally noticed by Fatty Kang, who let out a strange chuckle, "Kid, today your Uncle Fatty will show you what 'ten thousand蛊 worms pay homage' means."
As soon as he finished speaking, he ignited the powder in the small tripod. A wisp of green smoke, barely visible if not observed closely, slowly rose from the tripod. After reaching nearly half a meter high, it dissipated into nothingness.
This made my expression change slightly. When this thing was first brought out, I could smell the stench from two or three meters away. Now, igniting it below their lair, wouldn't the smell of this strange substance draw out the mountain spirits?
Mountain spirits were not only visually acute but also had a sense of smell several times stronger than humans. This dead fatty was not giving up after one attempt.
No, I had to run quickly, or I'd be surrounded by mountain spirits and die miserably.
Seeing my anxious look, Fatty Kang laughed heartily, "I won't make the same mistake twice. Only蛊虫 can smell this; mountain spirits cannot. If you don't believe me, you can go to the valley entrance and see."
Seeing Fatty Kang's confident demeanor, I felt a little more at ease.
But I also reconfirmed whether we were in a safe position. We were about five hundred meters away from the valley where the mountain spirits resided. Moreover, a wind carrying the stench of animals was blowing from the valley. Even if the mountain spirits had sensitive noses, they wouldn't be able to smell us.
I shook my head, "No need. I naturally believe what fellow Daoist Kang says. But what do you mean by pouring out these蛊虫 that have already taken the medicine?"
Fatty Kang gave me a look as if I were very stupid and explained, "Do you think this small amount is enough to feed all the mountain spirits in the valley?"
"Of course not. From what I can see, there are at least nearly a thousand mountain spirits."
"Then that's it. Once I summon more蛊虫 to devour them all, won't many蛊虫 have medicinal properties? Then, I guarantee every mountain spirit will eat to their heart's content."
Although I felt something was off about what Fatty Kang said, I couldn't pinpoint the problem. I could only watch him continue to fuss with those蛊虫.
About ten minutes after the black tripod was ignited, I saw a centipede over ten centimeters long crawl past my feet. Following closely behind the centipede were a scorpion about half the size of my palm and a bamboo viper