Chapter 21

Two new terms were heard by Buye for the first time: "Shangguo" and "Constellation Essentials." He had a faint memory of "Shangguo," a country that was separated by thousands of mountains and rivers from Xiaoguo, with a power so immense it was almost legendary. However, "Constellation Essentials" was something he had never heard of before, and neither had Buye in this world.

At this moment, not only was Buye stunned, but almost everyone in Dongmang Village was also stunned.

Shangguo, how far away must that country be, a place many people had never even dreamed of!

What were the Constellation Essentials? They had never heard of them!

The most absurd thing was that the great disaster that befell Dongmang Village was actually because of these two things that had nothing to do with them at all!

Everyone felt as if they had suffered an unjust calamity, it was truly unfair!

However, in the darkness, no one noticed that at least three people in Dongmang Village had expressions that were very different from the others. They were also surprised, but their expressions were more complex, with other emotions.

Hong Zhongwei, Liang Xiong, and the crippled old man Du Sanhui!

Unfortunately, Buye did not see this; his attention was completely focused on the leader of the Mangshan bandits. That man's aura was like that of a jungle bear, perfectly matching the Dongmang Mountain, where fierce and dangerous beasts roamed!

At this moment, Liang Xiong suddenly shouted harshly, "Fools!! If Dongmang Village really had the Constellation Essentials, how could we have fallen to such a state?!"

The leader of the bandits was not angry at all, but calmly waited for the others in Dongmang Village to respond. His eyes, illuminated by the torches, were like burning cold stars, revealing his inner desires without reservation.

Perhaps only the second and third leaders behind him knew how much he hoped that someone in Dongmang Village would stand up and say, "I have it."

Footsteps sounded again among the villagers, and Hong Zhongwei finally stepped forward, looking at the leader who was clearly stronger than him, and mocked, "A rumor that was nothing but a fabrication, and yet someone still remembers it. Don't you know that the Constellation Essentials can only be passed down in Shangguo? In a small country like Xiaoguo, even the royal family has no right to possess them, let alone learn them. How could a small village like Dongmang have the Constellation Essentials?"

The leader's expression did not change, but the second and third leaders, hidden in the darkness, both changed their expressions slightly. They feared this answer, as it would mean all their efforts were in vain. They had all fought with Hong Zhongwei and Liang Xiong in the chaos and had not sensed anything particularly unusual about them.

...

The Mangshan bandits did not get a satisfactory answer and, with the night not favorable for battle, they had to retreat. However, they had achieved another goal: to create internal strife in Dongmang Village.

On the way back, the third leader could not help but ask, "Brother, what do you think the Constellation Essentials are?"

The leader, who rarely spoke, was already a rare occurrence to negotiate with Dongmang Village tonight, simply replied, "I don't know."

Before the third leader could ask more, the one-eyed second leader immediately said, "I know even less."

"Damn!" the third leader could not help but curse.

Indeed, the fact was that none of the three leaders of the Mangshan bandits knew what the Constellation Essentials were, not even a general idea! The only thing they knew was that after obtaining the Constellation Essentials, practicing according to the method could enhance their strength.

In Dongmang Village, most people were also confused, but some who did not understand the situation and could not control their tempers started to cause trouble.

Chai Ren once again took on the demeanor of a candidate for village chief, leading his son Chai Wangming, Lu Kun, and a few villagers who were close to him, loudly accusing, "Who brought such a great disaster to our village?! If you have any conscience, stand up now! You have caused so many families to be destroyed and people to suffer, what a sin! Stand up now!"

"Yes, we don't care about the Constellation Essentials! We just want to live well, just want to go home! If anyone has it, hand it over quickly! Please," a villager pleaded loudly.

Seeing that there were still people supporting him, Chai Ren became even more arrogant and intensified his threats: "If this is true! You had better stand up now! This way, everyone might forgive you! But if you persist in your stubbornness and refuse to stand up, when we find out, don't blame us for being ruthless! Those who bring disaster to the whole village are unforgivable!"

Normally, with Buye's current character, he would have already beaten up someone like Chai Ren, but now he had no such mood and was just coldly observing.

He did not know what the Constellation Essentials were, but he was sure they were something valuable, the only thing that could save Dongmang Village. Compared to Chai Ren's clumsy threats, Buye preferred to use his own eyes to find the answer.

Hong Zhongwei, not likely...

Liang Xiong, even less so, this guy only came to Dongmang Village a few years ago...

Who else?

After much thought, Buye could only think of the old crippled man Du Sanhui, who had only recently come to prominence when the Mangshan bandits attacked.

But with Du Sanhui's poor condition, how could he possibly have the Constellation Essentials that the Mangshan bandits were willing to risk everything to obtain, even defying the soldiers?

And what was the fabricated rumor that Hong Zhongwei mentioned?

Clearly, Hong Zhongwei knew about the rumor. If he had long suspected Du Sanhui, how could he have let Du Sanhui be a burden to the village defense team for so many years, allowing Yang Yuanda to bully him without interference?

Buye was truly puzzled.

However, no matter what, he was most interested in the Constellation Essentials themselves.

Since coming to this world, the blood-red magic moon and stars had surprised him; the Fengfeng trees that glowed under the night sky and shimmered with a wave of fluorescence in the wind had amazed him even more; ghosts and mammoths, all were things he had never seen before... but the most miraculous were the Heart Cloud Blood Stars, whose wonders he had already experienced firsthand. Intuitively, he felt that the Constellation Essentials must be closely related to the Heart Cloud Blood Stars.

If he could not obtain the Constellation Essentials here, then he would certainly be able to in the legendary Shangguo, as he was bound to leave eventually.

So, although he could not see any clues, Buye was not anxious. He quickly calmed down and prepared to attempt to activate the eighth Blood Star again.

The night was deep, and Buye sat quietly by a tree on the outskirts of the camp, looking as if he were asleep.

But inside his body, it was far from peaceful!

The seven already awakened Blood Stars were continuously exerting force, injecting energy into the liver in a manner similar to a teleportation array, and the resonance in the liver was becoming increasingly noticeable, almost reaching the same amplitude as the other seven Blood Stars. The only difference was that a true Blood Star had not yet appeared in the liver.

As time passed, Buye was almost certain that his eighth Blood Star was on the verge of awakening. This accurate judgment was thanks to the experience he had gleaned from Hong Zhongwei and Liang Xiong.

One more push!

Just as Buye was making his final effort, the entire camp was quiet. Apart from a few on night watch, there was not a single person standing in the camp.

Chai Ren's threats had no effect; no one came forward to admit it, making him look like a laughingstock. By the late night, he could not even shout anymore and had already fallen asleep with his small bag of money.

Everyone was resting, except for one person.

The old crippled man Du Sanhui was wide awake in the darkness, the light from the distant torches reflecting in his eyes, indicating that he was having a fierce internal struggle.

He had a secret that had been hidden for over twenty years, which had almost brought ruin to Dongmang Village...

He did not know whether he should reveal this secret now...

On the other side, after much effort, Buye finally felt a change in the Heart Cloud!

Indeed, it was not the eighth Blood Star in the liver that had not yet awakened, but the Heart Cloud in his heart!

At that moment, Buye knew he was about to succeed!

Sure enough, the center of the Heart Cloud in his heart quickly turned blood red, and the red color continued to spread, soon covering the entire Heart Cloud.

At that moment, Buye seemed to hear a faint sound of a passage being opened, and then the red energy in the Heart Cloud did not flow through his body but was directly teleported to the liver!

Then, Buye's already blood-rich and powerful liver finally lit up!

The eighth Blood Star was activating!

At this moment, he did not need to do anything deliberately; everything happened naturally, like water flowing smoothly!

In the dark forest, a faint light could be clearly seen in the center of his upper body, where the liver was, as if a star were lighting up! Due to the obstruction of his flesh, the color of the Blood Star seen from the outside was not red but similar to that of a real star.

Next, Buye's solitary Blood Star grew brighter and larger, eventually reaching the level of the other seven Blood Stars.

Then, silently, it gradually faded away.

Buye, who was observing internally, watched as the Blood Star was activated, and the red light in the Heart Cloud gradually faded and disappeared, leaving him filled with joy!

The eighth Blood Star was finally activated, and he could clearly feel his liver function becoming unprecedentedly strong, and the area around his liver also saw a significant improvement. For him, the most useful was that this increased his overall physical fitness by 0.2, making him even stronger!

Although the cancer cells also benefited slightly from the awakening of the eighth Blood Star, the improvement was negligible compared to his physical body. In other words, he had successfully widened the gap between his physical body and the cancer cells!

There was hope for fighting cancer!

After carefully observing his body again and finding no unexpected conditions, Buye finally relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

When the night dew inevitably dampened Buye's hair, and he did not know how long he had slept, he suddenly felt someone gently patting him.

In a completely unfamiliar world, Buye's alertness was quite high, and he immediately opened his eyes, even preparing to counterattack.

However, his arm was held down by a strong hand, and he heard a familiar hoarse voice, "It's me."

"Uncle Du?" With the light from the distant torches, Buye recognized the person beside him.