When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

Events followed one after another, and the situation on the island changed rapidly.

From the initial capturing of cultivators by the natives, to the cultivators' counter-killings, to the brief period of peace between the two sides, until now when the cultivators decided to directly confront the native tribe—all in all, it hadn't even been seven days.

After a brief period of recuperation, the cultivators took advantage of the night to attack the native village that very evening.

The two sides clashed in close combat. In terms of numbers, the cultivators were actually fewer than the natives this time, but fortunately, not all natives possessed the same skills as their hunting parties. Among the roughly three hundred people in the tribe, there were elderly, children, and those with weaker physiques who couldn't join the hunting parties. The cultivators, however, had powerhouses like Zhu Baiyi, originally a Grand Achievement stage expert, leading them. Thus, the two sides fought to a relative stalemate.

Precisely because they were evenly matched, the chaotic battle lasted a long time, from the depth of night until dawn broke. As morning light filtered in, the cultivators noticed that although many had fallen, most of those who had died were actually natives!

This wasn't because the cultivators' fighting power surpassed the natives', but because they showed no mercy, while the natives seemed to be holding back even now, still attempting to capture them alive. This was good news, but also chillingly so—the cultivators couldn't imagine what reason could possibly make these natives continue to hold back in the face of mortal danger.

When things are abnormally strange, something sinister must be afoot—and this island was full of oddities, making it impossible not to overthink.

The more uneasy the cultivators felt, the more merciless they became. Among them were both righteous and demonic cultivators. As a result, not only the strong young adults but also children and elderly with little fighting capability fell victim and couldn't escape death.

Even though the number of casualties was limited by the overall population, there was no denying that the scene before them resembled a living hell.

Pools of fresh blood spilled onto the ground—from the wounded and the dead—the thick smell of blood almost nauseating. The cultivators were accustomed to life and death, but that didn't mean they enjoyed witnessing such scenes. Most focused their attention on the battle before them, at most using their peripheral vision to keep track of their surroundings. That was until a shout broke through the situation: "Something's wrong! Everyone, look at the blood on the ground..."

These words were spoken in the common language of the mainland, clearly from a cultivator's mouth, so those who heard couldn't help but divert some attention to check. And with one glance, many broke out in cold sweat, their hair standing on end.

The reason was simple: despite so many injuries and deaths, there wasn't a single trace of blood on the ground.

One cultivator had just been wounded on the hand and watched with his own eyes as his fresh blood dripped onto the ground. However, the crimson mark remained for only a breath or two before disappearing completely. It was as if some man-eating monster beneath the ground was gradually devouring his blood. Or as if some formation underneath was instantly transferring his blood elsewhere.

Zhu Baiyi had never concealed the matter of the sacrificial altar on the island. The moment the cultivator discovered this anomaly, he thought of the altar and realized that his blood, or through his blood, he himself, had already become a sacrifice on that altar...

Just this thought—who could remain calm?

The cultivator group, which had gradually gained the upper hand, instantly fell into chaos. Many no longer had the heart to fight their enemies and only wanted to leave this eerie village as quickly as possible. The natives couldn't stop them, but what was despair-inducing was that even after leaving the village boundaries, their blood droplets on the ground still disappeared just as quickly. It was as if the entire island was devouring them!

Panic began to spread, but in the face of powerlessness to change anything, panic quickly transformed into madness.

The fleeing cultivators ran back, becoming increasingly savage in their battles against the natives. As they fought, they questioned: "Tell us, what exactly is wrong with this island? Where has our blood gone? Are you planning to use us as sacrifices?!"

Questions came from different individuals, but their content was largely the same. Even if those natives hadn't understood at first, after hearing it several times, they grasped the meaning. However, even after understanding, no one answered them. Instead, those natives quickly became bloodthirsty themselves, and the battle intensified further.

More people were injured, more people fell, yet strangely, the ground remained clean without a trace of blood. Until the natives suffered heavy losses and the tribe faced the danger of extinction, the chieftain finally raised his head to the sky and shouted something.

The other natives, upon hearing this, also began to shout in unison, one call after another.

This time, the cultivators couldn't understand what they were shouting, but seeing this scene, the swords and knives in their hands inexplicably slowed by a fraction. Some who had been blinded by bloodlust and wanted to continue were held back by their companions—they didn't know what the natives were calling for, nor did they know what they themselves were waiting for, but in this situation, a strange sense of anticipation arose.

Perhaps they were waiting for an explanation, a truth?

༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺

In this chaotic battle, Jiang Mo was still partnered with Yun Qingyue. The two protected each other's backs, their coordination becoming increasingly seamless.

The first to notice something wrong with the blood on the ground wasn't the cultivator who first spoke up, but Jiang Mo. She had noticed the abnormal cleanliness of the ground early on. Even before today, she had discovered some clues, but harbored doubts and hadn't spoken.

Now with the changing situation, the two of them also stopped fighting, maintaining only a vigilant posture. As she felt the warmth from her back, Jiang Mo also developed a sense of anticipation—it had been seven days since she received the merperson mission, seven days of waiting for the merperson to show up. Now, she had a premonition that this mission was finally about to be completed!

As it turned out, Jiang Mo's thoughts weren't wrong. What the natives were calling for at this moment was indeed the tribe's honored and guardian figure—the merperson!

Under the morning sun, a water-blue halo suddenly enveloped the entire village. Sunlight passing through the halo onto the ground resembled light penetrating a water surface, casting rippling water patterns. Subsequently, visibly, the water vapor in the village's air became heavier. At first, it just felt somewhat moist, but gradually there was a sense of being submerged in water, with its accompanying viscosity.

Though not yet to the point of hindering breathing, some cultivators felt uneasy. One who was originally positioned at the edge of the village, just one step away from the world outside the halo, stepped forward, attempting to leave the halo's coverage.

But clearly, this halo had already become a barrier, and easy escape was no simple matter.

Soon, there were more than a dozen cultivators at the edge of the halo, pounding and kicking, trying to leave this barrier. However, most people had no time to care about these matters. They squinted their eyes and looked up, watching the figure slowly appearing from within the halo.

Flowing hair, a handsome face, a robust body, and a slender fish tail...

The legendary merperson, after a gap of ten thousand years, finally appeared before the world again. Just as the legends described, he was bewilderingly beautiful—even though most present were male cultivators, everyone's gaze was instantly drawn to the merperson, standing dumbfounded and forgetting themselves. Only a very few remained steadfast in will, their gazes lingering briefly on the merperson's face, secretly marveling.

Until the merperson gave a cold snort, sweeping a contemptuous gaze over everyone, those bewitched by his appearance finally awoke as if from a dream, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat of fear.

In the midst of battle, a moment's distraction could cost one's life. They couldn't imagine what chances they would have had to survive if the natives had suddenly attacked just now. So following beauty, the second impression the crowd formed of this merperson was danger. With tense nerves, even the most beautiful appearance became a skull beneath the red face.

Jiang Mo wasn't bewitched by the merperson's appearance. She only glanced at him once before secretly turning to look at Yun Qingyue beside her. Upon confirming that her Senior Sister had also only looked at him once before averting her gaze, a sense of joy arose in her heart.

At the same time, Jiang Mo asked the system in her mind: "System, I've seen the merperson now. Is the mission complete?"

The long-silent system opened its panel in response, but after looking at it, replied: "Host, not yet. Please wait a bit longer."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo was about to say something when she suddenly recalled the mission description she had seen earlier—"If you find him, perhaps you can learn a heaven-shaking secret"—so finding the merperson wasn't the goal; the mission would be completed when she learned that so-called heaven-shaking secret through him? But how was she supposed to learn it? Wait for the merperson to tell her himself?

These thoughts flashed quickly through Jiang Mo's mind, but now wasn't the time to delve deeper. She stopped paying attention to the system and the mission, and when she looked up at the merperson again, the people around her had already recovered from their daze.

At the same time, Zhu Baiyi, who also hadn't been enchanted, spoke up: "It was you who ordered these people to capture cultivators, wasn't it? Perhaps even the ghost ship earlier was your doing. May I ask what your purpose was in luring us here?" She paused briefly, then continued: "Could it be to find sacrifices for your altar?"

Her words were extremely direct, immediately bringing everything into the open. Everyone's hearts trembled upon hearing them.

The merperson laughed at her words—although it was a cold laugh, it was still bewitchingly beautiful: "And what if it is?"