"Hmm?"

The girl, who had been hugging the tree and curiously observing the outsiders, suddenly heard Hu Ma's warning.

Her face visibly registered surprise. She turned her small head and looked up into the tree.

At that same moment, the strange green snake coiled above her head suddenly sprang into action. It moved like a green lightning bolt, darting toward the girl's fair neck.

Hu Ma's heart sank slightly at the sight, but he resisted the urge to intervene rashly.

He had already learned from Old Suanpan that the customs and habits of the Wu people in these mountains differed greatly from those of the Xia people outside. Therefore, it was essential to abide by various rules during this trip into the mountains to avoid inadvertently offending anyone.

Saving the girl might be troublesome. The distance was too short; both Gui Deng Jie and Wulei Jinchan Hou were too slow. Throwing his knife was an option, but he hadn't specifically trained in accuracy, and he might accidentally injure the girl.

Besides, though it was only a glance, he could tell that the girl was peculiar. Climbing so high into a tree suggested she possessed some abilities.

While he understood, Zhou Datong and the others couldn't help but exclaim in alarm.

If Hu Ma wasn't certain, they were even less so.

The snake came down and probed the girl's cheek, but it didn't bite. Instead, it revealed its entire body.

Only then could they see clearly that the snake was as thick as a man's arm and nearly two *zhang* long. Its front half had entered the basket on the girl's back, while its back half slowly slid down the tree trunk, coiling around a spiritual *lingzhi*-like herb.

The girl happily took the herb from the snake, and its back half crawled into the basket, its head emerging from the opening, tongue flicking, trembling slightly.

The girl patted its triangular head and giggled, "Lü'er, good girl, don't be afraid of heights next time..."

Her voice was soft and glutinous, her tongue seemingly twisting more than those of outsiders, giving it a strange but crisp and sweet sound.

'This snake is helping her gather herbs?'

Hu Ma was slightly surprised by this scene. Fortunately, he wasn't a naive rookie in the *jianghu*. Although he had given a warning, he hadn't intervened. Otherwise, a nonsensical cause and effect would have arisen.

As he pondered this, the girl had already embraced the large tree again, sliding down little by little. She glanced at Hu Ma and the others, then walked over.

Her grass sandals were tied to the back of the basket, swaying back and forth. She didn't bother putting them on, her bare feet and slender ankles stepping on the withered grass and thorns of the forest.

She stopped about two or three *zhang* away, tilting her head and examining Hu Ma and his companions. She frowned slightly, then turned and picked through the bushes, breaking off a long branch and making two chopping motions in the air.

Having done this, she aimed at Hu Ma and the others and walked forward. The closer she got, the more she raised the branch, as if to whip Hu Ma.

"Hey, little girl..."

Zhou Datong hurriedly called out to her, but the girl ignored him. She only walked closer, her frown deepening, her small face sinking. She looked rather fierce.

Everyone around was surprised. Could it be that merely reminding the girl to be careful had offended her?

But what should they do now?

Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, and Zhao Zhu exchanged glances, a little flustered. Normally, if someone threatened Hu Ma, they would immediately draw their knives. But now, facing such a young girl...

As they were thinking, Hu Ma, who was standing in front, didn't move. He let the girl approach. The branch she raised didn't strike him. She simply stared at him with her pretty eyes.

Then, she brushed past Hu Ma, took two quick steps, and went behind a large tree covered with vines, striking it hard.

As she struck, she cursed a few times, but not in the official language, so they couldn't understand what she said.

"Woof..."

As she struck, there was a sudden noise behind the vines. A large yellow dog with a white spot on its forehead emerged from the grass, whimpering and threatening to bite.

But the girl simply waved the branch, fiercely striking at it. The branch was light, so the strikes weren't heavy, but the dog seemed very afraid. After being hit twice, it tucked its tail between its legs, whimpering and running into the depths of the forest.

Hu Ma and the others saw clearly that the dog was the same yellow dog that had appeared around them twice already, barking at their group.

After chasing away the yellow dog, the girl threw away the branch, tilted her head, and examined Hu Ma and the others. As she examined them, the green snake behind her poked its head out of the bamboo basket.

It maintained the same posture as the girl, curiously observing. The scene was both strange and harmonious.

Hu Ma looked at her, raised his hand in a salute, and said, "This young lady, we are merchants from outside the mountains. We are unfamiliar with this place. We don't know what that was just now..."

"Hee hee..."

Before Hu Ma could finish speaking, the girl suddenly opened her mouth, imitating Hu Ma's way of speaking, "Be careful."

When she had comforted the little snake in the tree, her tone was gentle, soft, and crisp, a standard Wu accent. But now she was deliberately imitating the official language, and the two short words were quite charming.

After speaking, she didn't say anything more to Hu Ma and his companions. She simply turned around, barefoot, and skipped into the forest by the roadside. Her figure quickly disappeared.

"What was that all about?"

Zhou Datong and the others were stunned, feeling confused. They looked at each other, and with the donkey, they resembled four silly geese.

Even Hu Ma only guessed a little. He wasn't sure, but he looked at Old Suanpan beside him and whispered, "Old brother, what exactly was that all about? Can you tell me now?"

"That little girl was kind..."

Old Suanpan also looked at the place where the little girl had disappeared and whispered, "She helped us avoid a disaster, saving us a lot of trouble..."

"Avoid a disaster?"

Hearing this, the shop assistants were all nervous. They hurriedly looked around, but the forest was empty. The twilight remained, but the strange fog and the eerie atmosphere that had enveloped their hearts had dissipated a lot.

"We were targeted as soon as we entered the forest."

Old Suanpan also lowered his voice, seemingly still shaken, and whispered, "I only became sure when I saw the dog appear for the second time. That's no ordinary dog."

"It's a *gu* dog."

"Some Wu people are skilled in this art. They use refined *gu* insects to bite the dog. This dog then becomes a *gu* dog, controlled by the person who planted the *gu*. It comes over and barks at people three times. The first bark startles the heart, the second drives away the soul, and after the third bark, we would have been infected with *gu*."

"..."

"There are such methods?"

Zhou Datong and the others remembered the dog from before and indeed felt that it was a little strange. They were all apprehensive and uneasy.

Hu Ma frowned and said, "Since you saw it, why didn't you warn us earlier? I was confident I could have chopped it up with one strike."

"It's a good thing you saw my look and didn't really attack."

Old Suanpan hurriedly said, "We were in a deep mountain forest with an eerie atmosphere everywhere. Who knows what strange things were hidden around? If you had attacked, you might have attracted something that would have attacked us all."

"Besides, since that dog was a *gu* dog, if you had really chopped it up, you might have been infected. Wu people plant *gu* in unpredictable ways. How do you know they didn't deliberately send that dog over for you to kill?"

"..."

"It's that evil?"

Hu Ma thought about the dog's appearance and said, "If you're infected with *gu*, what happens?"

Old Suanpan shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"The *gu* dog barking three times is just one method of planting *gu*, like a poisoning technique. But what happens after being infected with *gu* depends on what kind of *gu* they planted!"

"..."

As he spoke, he looked up. He saw a forest of lush trees and leaves. According to their original plan, they should have reached the blood food mine by noon, but now it was almost dusk, and they still hadn't seen any sign of it.

Getting lost in the mountains was common, so it wasn't strange, but the sudden encounter with the *gu* dog made them uneasy.

Originally, the trees, weeds, vines, and rocks all looked normal, but now, as the sun gradually slanted and the light dimmed, everything looked increasingly strange in their eyes. They couldn't hear a single sound around them, and there was a faint smell of blood, as if it was spreading from the depths of the forest.

"It looks like this blood food mine won't be easy to take over..."

Hu Ma sighed softly and said, "That little girl reminded us to be careful, but she wasn't just telling us to be careful of that *gu* dog. She was trying to tell us that there will be more trouble ahead..."

"I don't know her background. She seems to have some ability..."

"..."

"It shouldn't be like this. Before I set off, I calculated that I was going to get rich on this trip..."

Old Suanpan also clearly realized something. He muttered to himself, then turned to look at Hu Ma and said, "Brother Hu, the situation in these mountains is not right..."

Hu Ma said, "Is it directed at us?"

"Most likely."

Old Suanpan said, "Even if there are Wu people refining *gu* nearby who don't want outsiders to enter, they would at least give a warning, telling people to detour. But inexplicably sending out a *gu* dog without saying a word is too overbearing..."

Hu Ma nodded, then suddenly raised his voice and shouted into the forest, "Is there a friend ahead? Could there be a misunderstanding?"

"If you don't mind, show yourself. Let's talk openly about what's going on."

(End of Chapter)