Chapter 20

"Bu Ye?!" Liang Xiong suddenly shouted.

Bu Ye snapped back to his senses, turned around, and said to Liang Xiong, "I'm fine."

Liang Xiong let out a sigh of relief but was still quite puzzled. He didn't believe that Bu Ye would be completely unharmed after being possessed by a ghost.

"What happened just now? Are you sure you're fine?"

However, Bu Ye was unwilling to explain further. As he walked back, he said with a dismissive tone, "Don't worry, I wasn't afraid of Yang Zhaocai when he was alive, let alone now that he's dead."

"Was that really Yang Zhaocai?" Liang Xiong had also seen the ghost's face, but he was farther away and didn't see it clearly.

"Yes."

When they returned to the group, Bu Ye didn't even bother to make excuses. He just stood there with a determined attitude: I don't want to say more.

Everyone could see that Bu Ye had stayed only because of the experience in Hong Zhongwei and Liang Xiong's stomachs. He had already cut ties with Dongmang Village, so no one dared to say more.

Finding a place to sit, Bu Ye closed his eyes and focused inward while listening to the sounds outside.

He had killed eleven Mangshan bandits during the day. If any more ghosts appeared, he would be the first to rush forward.

After a while, with no unusual sounds, Bu Ye gradually focused his attention inward.

What he most wanted to confirm was whether the cancer cells would become stronger after consuming Yang Zhaocai's soul. If that were the case, he would definitely avoid ghosts in the future.

He had been working hard to improve his physical condition to suppress the cancer cells.

Upon careful observation, fortunately, the gray cancer cells had not become stronger!

Bu Ye couldn't help but let out a long breath. After all, cancer cells were still cells, and their food should be material energy. How could they grow stronger by consuming a ghost's soul?

However, the sudden surge of gray mist from the cancer cells was puzzling. It was that gray mist that had dealt with Yang Zhaocai's soul and converted it into black mist.

Bu Ye was stumped and could only temporarily give up.

Dongmang Mountain was extremely dangerous, and now they had pursuers behind them. The most urgent task was to enhance his combat power!

Bu Ye kept his eyes closed and slowly inhaled, becoming increasingly calm.

Then, he gradually focused all his attention on the cancer cells, treating them as a life force that was his mortal enemy. He suddenly issued the most arrogant challenge with his mind!

I will fight you to the end, either you die or I die!!!

At that moment, all of Bu Ye's hostility was directed at the cancer cells!!!

The originally calm cancer cells suddenly erupted!!!

This time, Bu Ye saw clearly that it wasn't the cancer cells that moved, but the gray mist that surged out. It felt like a dozing beast suddenly opened its eyes and bared its sharp claws!

At the same time, the black mist floating above the cancer cells was forced to move quickly by the sudden surge of gray mist.

Bu Ye had been waiting for this moment. He immediately focused his mind on the small dry well in his right forearm, instinctively guiding the black mist to flow there. The feeling wasn't mysterious; it was more like he was blocking the other paths of the black mist by tensing his body, forcing it to flow to his right forearm.

In an instant, the black mist was completely absorbed into the small dry well!

It was already two-thirds full!

As long as he absorbed two more ghosts like Yang Zhaocai, or one slightly stronger than Yang Yuanda, he could definitely fill the small dry well and activate his first specialized small star!

After finishing this, Bu Ye began to activate the eighth large star.

The specialized small stars mainly enhanced combat power, while the large stars significantly increased vitality, which was the key to racing against the cancer cells.

One hour, two hours...

As time passed, the resonance between Bu Ye's liver and the other seven blood stars became more noticeable. Although he hadn't successfully activated the blood star, he was definitely close!

As dawn approached, he was still a bit short of activating the blood star in his liver. The sounds of the villagers packing up reached his ears, and Bu Ye had to stop. However, he didn't open his eyes immediately but shifted his attention to his mind, focusing on the red light and black mist there.

The red light hadn't changed, but the black mist had been reduced to three clumps.

If nothing unexpected happened, the black mist would lose another clump this morning.

Sure enough, as he watched, the top clump of the remaining three clumps of black mist seemed to be blown away and disappeared before his eyes.

Only two clumps left!

Bu Ye felt a sudden tightness in his heart, subconsciously thinking that something bad might happen when the last two clumps of black mist disappeared!

One clump per day, meaning only two days were left.

...

The sun was high in the sky, and in the canyon, Bu Ye, Hong Zhongwei, and Liang Xiong crouched behind a rock, frowning deeply as they watched the Mangshan bandits outside the canyon, who were not moving.

They were relatively calm, but the young men from the village behind them were almost driven mad with anxiety.

Hong Zhongwei had the best eyesight and could even see the three leaders of the Mangshan bandits drinking and eating under the trees, occasionally glancing in their direction.

"Although we don't know what methods they are using, they have clearly discovered us," Hong Zhongwei said in a low voice on the left.

Liang Xiong, angry, lightly pounded the ground with his right hand and said, "These damned people. We can't wait any longer. Uncle Du has already led the main force at least ten miles away. If they encounter a fierce beast, we won't be able to save them in time."

Bu Ye, on the right, had some say, but he didn't want to speak much. He was acting like a hired hand, only contributing physical effort and not strategy. However, Hong Zhongwei seemed to want to hear his opinion and slightly turned his head to ask, "Aye, what do you think?"

"I lack experience, so I'll follow your lead," Bu Ye said directly.

Hong Zhongwei nodded, his face expressionless, but he sighed inwardly. He knew his injuries wouldn't heal soon, and the Mangshan bandits were relentlessly pursuing them. The leader with the Heart Cloud Twelve Stars would have to bear the brunt, and his injuries would only worsen. So, he really wanted to tie Bu Ye firmly to the Dongmang Village war chariot, but Bu Ye wasn't falling for it...

When the young men from the village behind them became restless, Hong Zhongwei finally made a decision. He waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and said, "No more waiting! We'll quietly go down the mountain and quickly reunite with the villagers."

With these words, their ambush plan was declared a failure, and they had wasted half a day and a lot of energy.

The group began to quietly descend the mountain and head in the direction the villagers had fled.

However, at this moment, the Mangshan bandits, who had been resting in the canyon, suddenly stood up and accelerated their pursuit.

The Mangshan bandits didn't bring any dragon mammoths, so they had to chase on foot. However, their average physical condition was much higher than that of the ordinary young men from Dongmang Village, and they gradually closed the gap.

By late afternoon, the two sides finally clashed again!

The battle started and ended quickly. Both sides suffered casualties, but the Dongmang Village side was clearly at a disadvantage. Especially Hong Zhongwei, who was further injured in the fight with the leader of the Mangshan bandits.

It wasn't until Uncle Du arrived with another group of young men from the village that the Mangshan bandits temporarily retreated, but they still followed like a tail.

Hong Zhongwei, pressing his hand on his chest and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, said after catching his breath, "From the reaction of the Mangshan bandits, they probably intend to capture all of us."

It was getting dark, and Hong Zhongwei, Liang Xiong, Bu Ye, and Uncle Du were walking at the back of the group. Hong Zhongwei wasn't worried about being overheard.

Uncle Du immediately spoke, his voice hoarse, "The villagers must not know."

Bu Ye didn't speak, but he agreed inwardly. If the villagers knew the Mangshan bandits' plan, they would likely panic.

Liang Xiong glanced at Hong Zhongwei's injuries and frowned, "At our current speed, we can't leave Dongmang Mountain and reach the official road in three days, but can we hold out for three days?"

If they fought a battle every day, Liang Xiong and Bu Ye might last three days, but Hong Zhongwei, the strongest among them, would find it very difficult.

"Hack..." Hong Zhongwei coughed violently, even coughing up half a mouthful of blood. After a while, he said, "Starting tomorrow, have the villagers speed up and send more people to scout ahead."

Bu Ye couldn't help but glance at Hong Zhongwei. Clearly, Hong Zhongwei had no good plan and was taking it one step at a time. In this man's mind, there was never a thought of escaping alone. In contrast, Bu Ye felt ashamed because he had never thought of staying.

According to Bu Ye's memories in this world, Hong Zhongwei wasn't a native of Dongmang Village but was sent by a nearby town to organize the village's defense when he was young. Unexpectedly, he later married and had children in Dongmang Village and never left.

When Bu Ye looked at Liang Xiong, he saw no such determination. Liang Xiong had been rescued only a couple of years ago, and his debt of gratitude was almost repaid. He had no deep feelings for Dongmang Village. Bu Ye was almost certain that if the situation became uncontrollable, Liang Xiong would run.

The four of them couldn't come up with a solution and could only take it one step at a time.

As the sky grew darker, Hong Zhongwei finally ordered the villagers to stop and set up camp, starting a fire to cook.

After a hearty meal, Bu Ye eagerly found a place to sit down, as he was confident he could activate his eighth blood star tonight!

However, to his surprise, he had been closed-eyed for less than half an hour when he suddenly felt the villagers becoming restless.

Bu Ye immediately opened his eyes and saw several people with torches approaching the camp from the distance.

Mangshan bandits!

Bu Ye immediately stood up and looked for Hong Zhongwei in the crowd behind him.

However, before he could find him, the Mangshan bandits stopped in the distance. Two bandits held torches, illuminating the tall and fierce figure of their leader.

Through the night, the leader coldly looked at the people of Dongmang Village and said, "Listen, people of Dongmang Village. This attack on Dongmang Village is for one thing. About twenty years ago, it was rumored that the constellation secrets of the Upper Kingdom had fallen into Dongmang Village. We are here for those constellation secrets! No matter who has the constellation secrets, if you care about the lives of all the villagers, hand them over immediately. Otherwise, none of you will leave Dongmang Mountain alive!"