Chapter 20: Slaying the Demon

This eerie scene left me utterly shocked. I never expected Uncle Hu’s family to end up like this.

After a brief moment of numbness, Uncle Tiehu rushed anxiously toward the child lying on the ground.

This was his only son, Xiaojun.

“Xiaojun!”

Uncle Hu quickly regained his composure and shouted as he ran to his son. He grabbed Xiaojun’s limp body in his arms, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

The situation made me sense something was terribly wrong.

A dark premonition arose within me, and I reached out to feel Xiaojun’s body.

His skin was ice-cold, utterly devoid of any sign of life.

I couldn’t believe it—Xiaojun was already dead.

I then touched his nose but found no breath at all.

Yet, to my astonishment, Xiaojun’s body twitched again. Even stranger, he occasionally stuck out his tongue, flicking it like a venomous snake tasting the air.

“Bastard! How dare you harm my son’s life! I will kill you!”

Uncle Tiehu gently placed Xiaojun on the ground, then drew the large knife strapped to his back.

Next, he pulled out a purple incense burner from his chest, lighting five sticks of incense.

This method was exactly the same as the incense divination technique my grandfather taught me.

However, Uncle Hu performed it far more skillfully than I ever could.

As the incense smoke rose from the burner, he grabbed a handful and held it in his hand.

Muttering a few incantations, he swung his large knife fiercely forward.

Burning incense to slay demons—that was the true power of the incense divination art.

Though I had learned this technique from my grandfather, I was not proficient.

All I could do was glimpse the identity of spirits through the incense smoke.

As for slaying demons and catching ghosts, my cultivation was insufficient.

With Uncle Hu’s blade strike, Xiaojun’s body ceased all movement, falling stiffly to the ground.

At that moment, a rustling noise began to rise.

I looked up toward the courtyard gate and saw countless snakes of various colors slithering inside.

The scene was utterly chilling.

“Uncle Hu, let’s retreat first. These snakes…”

I intended to have him take Xiaojun’s body and withdraw for the time being.

These snakes clearly seemed controlled by someone. Staying here recklessly would put us in grave danger.

Uncle Hu, however, was already consumed by fury, his eyes bloodshot as he charged forward with his knife.

He wanted revenge!

One slash!

Two slashes!

Three slashes!

With every strike, dozens of venomous snakes were cut down instantly.

If not sliced into pulp, they were severed cleanly in two.

Yet still, countless snakes continued to crawl over the courtyard walls.

It was as if we had stepped into a sea of snakes.

Seeing this, I was momentarily stunned.

Where on earth did so many snakes come from?

There were no snake dens nearby, and even if there were snakes, they wouldn’t appear in such numbers.

The person controlling this snake formation must possess formidable skill and power.

Now I understood why the Chen family mansion was so renowned in the provincial capital—their strength was truly no joke.

Not only did they have Miao tribal witch doctors, but also a master who could command snake formations.

Though I had yet to see this master myself, judging by these tactics, their power must be considerable.

Watching Uncle Hu wield his large knife in the courtyard, I shook my head helplessly.

If he kept fighting like this, exhaustion would come sooner or later.

Even as a practitioner of martial cultivation, he could not withstand this tide of snakes endlessly.

Continuing to fight would mean death within this courtyard.

“Uncle Hu, stop. This won’t hurt the mastermind behind this. Let’s leave for now.”

I reached out to block him, signaling him to cease the slaughter.

But Uncle Hu, overwhelmed by the grief of losing his son, showed no intention of stopping.

He had lost all reason and kept striking at the snakes relentlessly.

His face was splattered with crimson snake blood.

Yet still, he did not relent.

“It’s useless, Uncle Hu. Acting like this will only drain your strength. The mastermind behind this is waiting for that moment when you’re utterly spent. The angrier and more irrational you become, the more you play into their hands.”

I grabbed his sleeve, urging him to retreat.

Though I did not know the art of driving away snakes, I understood that creatures like these feared realgar wine and tobacco oil.

The suddenness of the situation meant we couldn’t obtain realgar wine immediately.

But we had tobacco oil right here with us.

Uncle Hu carried a tobacco pipe on his waist, something he used to pass time during leisure.

Today, it would finally prove useful for driving away snakes.

“Uncle Hu, step back quickly. I’ll hold off the snakes.”

I took the tobacco pipe from his waist and gestured for him to withdraw to a safe distance.

Killing snakes now served only to vent frustration; it held little practical value.

What we needed was to escape this courtyard temporarily.

Surrounded by so many venomous snakes, even if they didn’t kill us, just their presence was terrifying.

Hearing this, Uncle Hu regained some clarity.

He realized that survival was his only hope for revenge.

With a face full of unwillingness, he howled toward the sky, thrusting his large knife fiercely into the ground.

“Come out! You bastard! Sneaking around to harm my family—what kind of hero are you? If you have the courage, face me in a fair fight!”

“I swear, what happened to Chen Qiyue is my business. I, Hu Tiehu, the heir to the Qingma physiognomy art, will settle this!”

“Even if you kill my wife and children and destroy my ancestral hall, I will never stop!”

There was a trace of sorrow in Uncle Hu’s roar, stirring a lump in my throat.

All this suffering inflicted on his family was ultimately because of me.

If not for me, he would never have endured such a calamity.

Seeing Uncle Hu in such agony, I did not know how to comfort him.

At this moment, the only thing I could do was to help him achieve his revenge.

I would not stand by idly.

“Uncle Hu, let’s go now.”

After saying this, I took the tobacco pipe from him, extracting the tobacco oil inside.

Mixing it with the talisman I had prepared earlier, I threw it into the snake formation.

Almost immediately, the snakes began reacting.

They writhed on the ground, seeming to forget our presence.

Their pale bellies, illuminated by the moonlight, looked especially sinister.

Honestly, I had never encountered such a scene before.

But for Brother Hu, I would never retreat!