Chapter 389: Catch Me If You Can

The well-off merchant’s face turned grim as he listened, but he still forced himself to get up from the floor and then loudly spread the news.

Before long, everyone had gathered on the deck. The jiangshi had already woken up and was frantically struggling in the cage, while the crowd looked on with complex expressions.

Ye Wenxin also had a severe headache, feeling that even if she didn’t go looking for trouble, trouble seemed to always find her. She couldn’t understand why, after just leaving for a short while, the man who had been fine earlier had suddenly succumbed to the corpse poison and turned into a jiangshi so quickly.

Normally, corpse poison takes three to five days to manifest, and with proper medication, there was even hope for a full recovery. But the current situation reminded Ye Wenxin that the jiangshi hiding on the ship was not ordinary and might even possess some intelligence, making it indistinguishable from a human on the outside.

If that were truly the case, it would be very difficult to identify the jiangshi among the people. Ye Wenxin’s gaze wandered before locking onto the woman in the black cloak, feeling that she was the most suspicious.

However, she had no evidence, and there were witnesses who saw the woman standing on the deck at the time, ruling her out as a suspect. As the others watched the merchant leave, they too dispersed. If they were to give out alibis, even Ye Wenxin wouldn’t have one.

“Roar! Roar!” The man who had turned into a jiangshi continued to struggle, baring his sharp fangs.

Some of the more timid women were already crying in fear, while the men looked troubled, unsure of how to deal with the situation.

Ye Wenxin searched through her inherited memories, and found numerous ways to kill a jiangshi. The simplest method would be to wait until the next day and let sunlight kill the jiangshi.

However, Ye Wenxin was worried that the real source of the infection might still be hiding among them. So, she suggested, “Let’s go with the most cautious approach. Groups of five will take turns watching over this jiangshi until daylight comes, and then I’ll kill it.”

Ye Wenxin ultimately decided to lure out the jiangshi’s companion and eliminate them together. Since the other jiangshi had intelligence, it would likely try to rescue its companion and create more allies.

The crowd was already beginning to grow anxious, and hearing Ye Wenxin’s suggestion made them even more uneasy. Ye Wenxin had no choice but to ask Wang Cuihua to wake up Gu Xiangsi, so that the two of them could help the others keep watch. When the others heard that cultivators were going to assist, they had no further complaints and began to allocate the tasks.

Ye Wenxin arranged to be paired with the woman in black, so she could monitor her closely, and see if the woman was the jiangshi she was looking for.

The night went on, and those on watch remained vigilant. Those who weren’t on duty gathered together, but they didn’t sleep much.

The events of Yangzhou City were still fresh in their minds, and given how unusual this jiangshi was, everyone didn’t dare to be careless. They feared that someone among them might suddenly turn into a jiangshi and attack, prematurely ending their lives.

Everyone moved in groups, partly to help each other, and partly to keep an eye on one another, preventing any abnormal developments.

Ye Wenxin quietly kept watch, the umbrella sword floating beside her, ready for battle at any moment.

As the night grew deeper, Ye Wenxin started to feel a little bored. She was about to take out a Buddhist scripture to pass the time when she suddenly heard a scream not far away. Looking over, she saw the previously normal merchant suddenly pounce on a man who had been sleeping nearby.

With a ferocious expression and sharp fangs fully revealed, the merchant had undergone a mutation right under Ye Wenxin’s nose. The people retreated in fear, and Gu Xiangsi quickly subdued the merchant before locking him in the cage with the man from earlier.

Now, no one had any desire to sleep. The sudden transformation that had occurred right before their eyes baffled them. They had no idea when this person had been bitten, or why the mutation had happened so quickly.

Ye Wenxin stepped forward to inspect the jiangshi, and noticed that the wound on the merchant’s neck was identical to the one on the previously bitten man. However, the jiangshi seemed to be able to turn invisible, making it impossible to track. Ye Wenxin searched through her memories, confirming that no records mentioned any jiangshi with invisibility magic, yet she still couldn’t find an explanation.

The crowd was anxious; their hearts stuck in their throats. Each person dreaded that they might be the next to turn into a jiangshi. Ye Wenxin was equally puzzled and was just considering whether to conduct a thorough search when suddenly, she heard Gu Xiangsi scream. Looking over, she saw Gu Xiangsi wielding her axe, screaming as she struck at the floor.

Ye Wenxin’s gaze immediately focused on the floor, where she saw a dark green insect moving at lightning speed. The others were confused, unable to understand where the bug had come from, considering they were on a ship. But to Ye Wenxin, this insect was all too familiar.

“A corpse worm!” she shouted, identifying the creature, and immediately commanded the umbrella sword to strike it, instantly slicing the worm in two. Instead of dying, however, it split into two worms, each scurrying off in opposite directions.

People were thrown into chaos, as they tried to follow the movements of the corpse worms, using whatever items they had on hand to try and kill them. But the corpse worms were cunning and incredibly fast, constantly splitting into new worms, each more vicious than the last.

The mother worm even raised half of its body to glare at Ye Wenxin, as if taunting her.

“What is this disgusting thing? It’s so gross!” Ye Wenxin shuddered, finding it impossible to like these corpse worms. She instinctively thought of using Flower Burial, but remembering the suspicious black-clad woman, she instead pulled out a talisman and inscribed it with a blasting spell.

The talisman struck the corpse worms, and in an instant, they exploded, only to split into countless smaller worms. Ye Wenxin frowned slightly and had to write another fire talisman, finally burning the corpse worms to ashes, leaving only the mother worm from earlier.

She easily captured the smug mother worm and was about to place it into a sandalwood box, but when she opened it, she saw a Yin Fetus writhing inside.

“Ah, I forgot I hadn’t dealt with you yet.” Ye Wenxin suddenly remembered she had yet to take care of the Yin Fetus she brought back from the secret realm. With a sigh, she used a pair of chopsticks to pick up the corpse worm, tossing it into the sandalwood box, letting the two poisonous creatures make do with the cramped space.

The space quickly became tight, and the Yin Fetus gave the corpse worm a bright smile. The corpse worm, as if it had encountered its natural nemesis, desperately tried to escape within the small confines of the box. The chase was quite lively.

The onlookers, seeing both the corpse worm and the legendary Yin Fetus for the first time, looked at Ye Wenxin with even stranger expressions. Ye Wenxin appeared awkward, but she had no such obsessions, and could only offer, “How about placing bets to see who comes out on top?”