Chapter 692: Blood Leech

As Ink painting stepped onto the ground, his body felt light, though his soles were slightly numb.

After landing, Ink painting raised his head and looked around. The mist at the bottom of the well wasn't thick, but the blood color was more uniform, flowing slowly at the bottom.

In the bloody mist, it seemed like something was being nurtured.

Ink painting felt a slight palpitation in his heart.

He felt as though he was getting closer to some origin.

"Young Master?"

Gu An and the other two inquired softly.

Having entered the bottom of the well, they found it surprisingly difficult to breathe, and their hearts were uneasy, so they all instinctively looked towards Ink painting.

Ink painting examined the surroundings, seeing that the bottom of the dry well was a stone-built tunnel that led in four directions, and he didn't know where it extended to.

Gu An and the other two couldn't see the blood color, so they didn't know which way to go.

Ink painting then nodded and said, "Follow me."

Ink painting chose one path and walked directly inside.

Gu An walked slightly in front of Ink painting's side, Yu Dahe followed behind Ink painting, and Gu Quan brought up the rear guard.

The three of them vaguely protected Ink painting.

Gu An and Gu Quan had received instructions from Gu Changhuai that they must protect Ink painting thoroughly.

Yu Dahe knew that the life and death of his two sons depended entirely on this young master, so this young master absolutely could not have any mishap.

The tunnel was dry, withered, and dark, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

After walking for a while like this, a pool of stagnant water suddenly appeared in front of them. It seemed to be a large pit dug by people, filled with water.

Ink painting's gaze condensed slightly.

He remembered that his small tiger seemed to have fallen into the water, was attacked, and instantly shattered its body.

Ink painting released his divine sense and swept it for a moment, his gaze sinking.

"There's a demonic beast in the water."

This demonic beast's aura was obscure and powerful. Because it was hidden in the water, it was not easy to detect.

The mastermind behind the small fishing village seemed to have specially raised a demonic beast and thrown it into the water to block the road to prevent discovery.

Gu An and Gu Quan looked at each other, slightly shocked in their hearts.

The water was turbid, and with their divine sense, they hadn't detected any demonic beast hidden in the water.

Although he was an array master, wasn't young master Ink painting's divine sense quite sharp?

He was only in the early stage of Foundation Building, right?

Yu Dahe weakly asked, "Young Master, can you see what kind of water demon it is?"

Ink painting shook his head.

Gu An pondered and said, "Why don't I go back and call more people down? We can join hands and kill this demonic beast?"

"No." Ink painting shook his head. "This demonic beast should be a second-grade late stage water demon. It's too powerful in the water. It's estimated that at least seven or eight cultivators who practice water-based techniques, are proficient in water nature, and are in the late stage of Foundation Building would need to join hands to be able to hunt it."

Ink painting speculated based on his demon hunter experience.

Gu An and Gu Quan both frowned.

Seven or eight Foundation Building late stage cultivators could indeed be mobilized by the Gu family, but they must practice water-based techniques and be proficient in water nature, skilled in water killing. This condition was too harsh.

The fish cultivators in the small fishing village were indeed proficient in water nature, but they were not skilled in killing, and there wasn't even one in the late stage of Foundation Building.

"Also," Ink painting continued, "if we make a move here and forcefully kill this water demon, we will inevitably cause a big commotion, which is highly likely to alert the enemy and let Over Jianglong and the others escape."

"Those two children might also not be saved back..."

"Young Master, then this..." Yu Dahe looked at Ink painting, his gaze painful, full of expectation.

Ink painting sighed slightly, "Let me think..."

He looked at the dangerous deep pool in front of him, his eyes showing thought, and he couldn't help but think of a question.

How did Over Jianglong pass?

Although Over Jianglong was proficient in water nature, he was only in the mid-stage of Foundation Building cultivation, fundamentally not an opponent of this water demon.

Moreover, the water demon was a demonic beast and would eat people indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe.

Ink painting recalled the entire process of encountering Over Jianglong again, and naturally thought of those several dead fish.

Listening to Yu Dahe say, this kind of fish was called "dead spot fish".

Ink painting then asked, "What is the use of dead spot fish?"

Yu Dahe said, "This fish has poison. After death, its body has gray spots, like 'dead person spots', so it's called dead spot fish. After eating it, it will cause blood stagnation and flesh numbness, like a 'dead person', unable to move..."

Ink painting suddenly realized in his heart.

"So that's it."

Over Jianglong and the others simply used "dead spot fish" to feed the water demon, making the water demon unable to move, and then they could cross the river.

Ink painting thought for a moment, then let Gu An take one dead spot fish and throw it into the water.

The dead spot fish fell into the water, but after a moment, the water surface surged, revealing a huge, ugly water demon head, which swallowed the dead spot fish in one gulp.

Ink painting's pupils shrank slightly.

Gu An and the other two also had horrified expressions.

This water demon was of an unknown species, but its body was huge, at least five or six people long, its head was deformed, its big mouth was like a blood basin, and its demonic blood was thick, its skin covered in scales, firm and unbreakable.

Its protruding eyeballs had black and yellow pupils, cold and cruel.

This was a second-grade peak water demon that had lived for an unknown amount of time.

After swallowing the dead spot fish, the water demon's pupils were somewhat scattered, and its body was also involuntarily numb for a while, but after no more than ten breaths, it recovered as before.

Ink painting was startled, then slightly inhaled a cool breath.

It wasn't enough to feed the fish to numb the water demon and cross safely.

This water demon's blood energy was too thick.

Eating dead spot fish only numbed it for ten breaths. To cross the river, they had to swim to the opposite bank within these ten breaths, otherwise, if the water demon woke up, it would still swallow the person crossing.

Gu An and the other two obviously also understood, and their faces were all somewhat pale.

Ink painting looked at Gu An and the other two, not speaking, but his gaze showed some inquiry.

Yu Dahe's face was firm, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I am here to save my sons. Even if I die, I have no regrets."

Gu An and Gu Quan heard this and nodded slightly.

Gu An also said afterward, "Young Master, there's no need to worry about us."

Conversely, Gu Quan looked at Ink painting with some worry, "Young Master, you still shouldn't take risks."

"It doesn't matter." Ink painting said, "I'm not slow when swimming in the water either."

He had also roughly learned Over Jianglong's white wave body technique in his leisure time before. Although not very proficient, it was still usable.

Ink painting thought for a moment again and said:

"There are still three dead spot fish. Wait a moment, we will feed them to this water demon together, and then we will immediately swim towards the opposite side."

"Feed them together?" Gu Quan was startled. "Then how do we come back?"

"There's no need to worry about coming back."

Ink painting said casually.

When they came back, they wouldn't be afraid of alerting the enemy. A water demon trapped in stagnant water was a living target, and he had a hundred ways to send it to heaven.

Gu An and Gu Quan didn't know Ink painting's plan, but after the trip to the Bi Shan demon cave, the two had gradually become accustomed to following Ink painting's instructions.

The water demon finished eating one fish and slowly sank into the water again.

It seemed completely unaware of things on the shore, but its perception was sharp only towards prey in the water.

The three people discussed and decided to cross the river.

Gu An, Gu Quan, and Yu Dahe each held a fish and simultaneously threw it towards the distant water.

The dead spot fish fell into the water, and the water demon immediately revealed its head again, swallowing two in one gulp, and then, as before, its pupils lost focus and were somewhat numb.

"Go!"

The moment the water demon ate the fish, Ink painting decisively said.

Then several people jumped into the water together and swam with all their might towards the opposite shore.

Yu Dahe was a fish cultivator, and his water nature was extremely good, so he swam very fast.

Although Ink painting was not a fish cultivator, the passing water step was originally a water-based body technique. He had also cultivated the white wave body technique additionally, so he was like a flexible small fish in the water, and his speed was not slow.

Gu An and Gu Quan's body techniques were a bit worse, but their cultivation was deep, so they could also keep up.

However, the two of them still deliberately slowed down a bit, protecting Ink painting from behind.

The second-grade peak fish demon, having swallowed two dead spot fish, was only numb for about fifteen breaths. Its black and yellow ferocious pupils then blinked.

Ink painting detected the danger and immediately said, "Faster!" Then he urged his body technique to the extreme, using both hands and feet, paddling desperately.

The edge of the shore was within sight.

Gu An and the other two also began to exert all their strength, approaching the shore.

At this time, the fish demon had completely woken up from its numb state. Its protruding eyeballs turned, and the tip of its ugly nose also sniffed the breath of living people.

It abandoned the other dead spot fish and gradually sank into the water.

The fish demon's figure sank to the bottom of the water, but at the same time, a dark current ripple appeared on the water surface, rippling towards Ink painting and the others at an extremely fast speed.

Ink painting and the others were shocked in their hearts and swam desperately.

Finally, Yu Dahe, who was proficient in water nature, was the first to go ashore. After going ashore, he immediately turned around and reached out to pull up Ink painting, who was at the bottom of the river.

Gu An and Gu Quan also reached the shore.

But before they went ashore, there was a "boom" sound on the water surface, and an ugly water demon head floated up, opening its blood basin-sized mouth and swallowing towards Gu An and Gu Quan.

The two were swimming in the water and couldn't dodge in time.

Ink painting was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He put his fingers together and immediately condensed several fireballs, hitting the water demon's protruding eyes, hindering the water demon for a moment.

Gu An and Gu Quan seized this moment, simultaneously drew their knives, urged their knife energy, and chopped at the water demon's lower jaw.

Alas, the water demon's skin was thick and its flesh was tough. These two knives didn't cut deeply, only barely breaking some skin.

Yu Dahe immediately took out a fish fork quenched with poisonous algae juice from his storage bag, threw it out, and stabbed it towards the water demon's throat.

This was a method commonly used by fish cultivators when fishing, to deal with water demonic beasts.

The fish fork stabbed into the water demon's mouth, and the poisonous algae seeped into its throat. The water demon was in extreme pain, rolling around and sinking into the water again.

Seizing this gap, Gu An and Gu Quan both went ashore.

After that, several people immediately retreated.

But after a moment, the water demon floated out again.

The entire fish fork was hatefully swallowed into its abdomen. The water demon was furious, but the breaths of several living people in the water were already gone. It could only roar at the shore.

The roar was low and deep, but the foul wind was fierce.

Ink painting was wrapped by the foul wind, staggered several steps, and with a "thump", fell to the ground, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Gu An immediately helped Ink painting up, "Young Master, are you alright?"

"Nothing."

Ink painting rubbed his forehead, turned his head back, looked at the water demon somewhat angrily, and silently said in his heart:

"Ugly monster, you wait until I come back and see how I deal with you."

The water demon's ugly and ferocious eyes were still staring at Ink painting, completely unaware that it had already been put on Ink painting's "blacklist".

Having gone ashore and left the water, the water demon was powerless.

The crowd was also temporarily safe and began to continue walking forward.

They didn't know how long they had walked when they discovered a cave entrance in front, with some slight light.

Passing through the cave entrance, it suddenly opened up in front. It was no longer a narrow well bottom, but a gray and dim world.

There was fine rain in the sky, and underfoot was a muddy road paved with stones.

Faintly, a pale yellow mist floated in the air.

In the eyes of Gu An and the others, the mist was pale yellow.

But in Ink painting's eyes, these mist colors were a deeper blood red.

And not far away, there was vaguely an outline of a fishing village, which merged with the bloody mist here, revealing deathly silence and strangeness.

Gu An secretly cursed, "Over Jianglong and these traffickers, I don't know how they found such a gloomy place to hide."

Yu Dahe also nodded, saying with a puzzled expression:

"I've also never heard of such a place nearby... Is this a fishing village? How does it look like there's not even a single person?"

"Let's go over and take a look first." Ink painting sighed.

He knew clearly in his heart that it might not be just traffickers inside this fishing village.

The crowd walked along the muddy road underfoot towards the distant fishing village.

But just a few steps in, Ink painting pulled Gu An and suddenly said:

"Stop!"

Gu An was startled, looked around, and looked at Ink painting somewhat unclearly, not knowing what had happened.

Clearly, there was nothing around.

However, Ink painting's pupils slightly shook.

He discovered that in front of Gu An, there was a group of blood mist, and in the blood mist, there was a wriggling, blood leech-like evil thing.

This blood leech was completely red, dirty and bloody, floating in the air with the blood mist.

It was just swimming in Gu An's eyes.

Gu An couldn't see it at all.

If he had taken another step forward just now, he would have directly touched these blood leeches.

Ink painting didn't know what would happen after touching the blood leeches yet.

But based on his experience, these blood leeches were probably evil spirits divided from an evil god. Once they touched a living person with divine sense, they would very likely drill into his sea of consciousness and conduct pollution and parasitism.

"There is danger." Ink painting said in a deep voice.

Gu An and the others looked at the thick fog around them, their hearts all on alert.

"You all follow me, and don't move around casually!"

Ink painting instructed with a serious expression.

Since he had brought the three people into the bottom of the well, he had to do his best to protect their safety.

Yu Dahe was a hardworking fish cultivator, and his life was not easy.

Gu An and Gu Quan were even more so acquaintances sent by Uncle Gu to protect him, so he couldn't let them have an accident.

Gu An and the other two all nodded.

Ink painting then walked in front, leading the three people, avoiding the blood leeches, and carefully walking forward.

After walking for a while, the blood mist in front was thick, and the blood leeches were also much denser.

Ink painting could avoid them himself, but Gu An and the other two, even if they followed him, were very likely to be parasitized by the blood leeches swimming behind.

Ink painting was somewhat troubled, and then suddenly started.

He thought of a question again.

He could see the blood leeches, so he could recognize the road.

That Over Jianglong, he couldn't see the blood leeches, so how could he avoid the blood leeches and find the road to enter the village?

There must be some trick inside.

Ink painting released his divine sense and spied around for a moment. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he squatted on the ground, digging up soil and stones at his feet.

Gu An and the others looked puzzled, but were very sensible and didn't disturb Ink painting.

After a while, Ink painting finally dug out something from the ground underfoot.

This was an array stone plate!

Above the stone plate, obscure and profound array patterns were engraved one by one.

Although Ink painting had never seen these array patterns before, they looked very familiar. Their array style was exactly the same as the array patterns Over Jianglong had drawn at the well mouth.

"God path array!"

Ink painting was overjoyed in his heart.

He quickly remembered all these array patterns one by one.

However, the god path array on the stone plate was incomplete. Relying on several array patterns could not form a complete array structure, nor could he understand the meaning of the array patterns.

Ink painting walked a few steps forward again and squatted down to dig again.

After a moment, he sure enough dug out another stone plate.

There was still an incomplete god path array on the stone plate, with both new and old array patterns.

Ink painting compared them with each other, remembered the new array patterns, and then continued to turn forward, finding several stone plates. In total, he remembered five completely new god path array patterns.

Then Ink painting took out a piece of paper and constantly simulated, combined, and pieced together these five array patterns on the paper.

Through dozens of attempts, Ink painting finally successfully pieced together these five array patterns, forming a simple but capable of circulating divine thought power back and forth and forming a closed, prototype god path array!

This prototype was still very rough, similar to the five elements arrays composed of only a few array patterns when Ink painting first started learning arrays.

But it was indeed a complete, entry-level god path array.

Ink painting compared this array with the array patterns drawn by Over Jianglong at the well mouth and discovered some key points.

Strictly speaking, the array patterns drawn by Over Jianglong did not count as a god path array.

His array patterns were in an opportunistic form, temporarily cutting off the circulation of the god path array's array force through array pattern blocking, achieving a temporary "unsealing" effect and opening the seal at the bottom of the well.

In other words, the "unsealing" array patterns drawn by Over Jianglong were based on a complete set of god path arrays.

This complete set of god path arrays was precisely drawn in the bloody dry well.

Or...

Ink painting's gaze was distant, looking towards the distant fishing village shrouded in gloomy blood mist.

This entire fishing village, which had been polluted by the evil god and thus disappeared, was all built upon this set of "god path arrays".

Whether it was the array patterns at the well mouth or the array on the stone plate, they were all just a small part of the extension of this set of god path arrays.

Ink painting was shocked in his heart, but at the same time, more doubts arose.

Where exactly did this set of god path arrays come from?

Who put this set of arrays and built it inside this fishing village?

What was the purpose?

What was the specific application of the god path array?

Ink painting frowned.

"It seems I need to go deep into the fishing village to look. The core of the god path array is probably hidden inside..."

There should still be some god path array stone plates buried underfoot, but time was limited, and Ink painting didn't have time to lift them up one by one to look.

He would wait until he solved the matter of the evil god, then turn back and flip over the entire ground.

Ink painting nodded.

And at this time, Ink painting also figured out the function of the array on the stone plate.

These arrays were used to isolate the blood mist, especially to drive away the "blood leech"-like evil spirits in the blood mist.

These arrays were connected sequentially, opening a safe road in the blood mist.

Over Jianglong definitely also passed through this road, which was why he could not be polluted by the evil god, not be parasitized by the blood leeches, and thus smoothly enter the fishing village.

Ink painting had a preliminary glimpse into the god path array.

Now this winding "god path" small road was also clearly presented in his eyes.

Having a road was always safer.

Ink painting himself could see the blood leeches, so it didn't matter whether there was a road or not, but Gu An and the other two were different.

They couldn't see the danger, and even if they followed him, it would be dangerous step by step.

"Follow me, step on my footprints, don't walk wrong, and don't look around." Ink painting said.

Gu An and the other two knew the stakes and all nodded.

Then Ink painting took the lead, walking in front, and Gu An and the other three also strictly remembered Ink painting's instructions, following step by step, not daring to make a single wrong step.

Like this, step by step, not knowing how long they had walked, the four people finally passed through the place of blood leech parasitism and stepped onto the land of the disappeared fishing village.

This was a land soaked in blood.

(End of this chapter)