Chapter 37: The Nemesis of Paper Effigies, Zhao Yu Arrives

This was an array disk carried by the four peerless experts, Lingxuzi and his companions.

The four of them were all envoys under the Provincial Governor, each possessing combat power nearing the absolute pinnacle below the level of a True Monarch of Spirit Transformation. This array disk was the ultimate trump card Lingxuzi carried. Once activated, it could summon a supreme deity from the Provincial City to descend, capable of suppressing any unforeseen disaster. The fact that this item was now in the hands of the paper figurine meant only one thing: Lingxuzi and his three companions had been killed.

The paper figurine could not only understand their conversation but had even recognized the function of the object. Its act of arrogantly presenting the item—was it goading them to summon the supreme deity of the Provincial City?

The prodigy Fang Hui hissed, "Ignorant evil spirit, you shall pay the price for your arrogance!"

The leader of the men in black moved his lips and sighed, "It requires the true forms of four Star Gods to activate the array disk for summoning. We only have one among us who possesses a Star God's true form; we cannot trigger the array."

Fang Hui’s face went rigid.

Tie Shi, meanwhile, glared hatefully at the men in black. If not for them, how could his Youxiong Tribe have been reduced to such a wretched state? Soon, Tie Shi looked toward the distance with a vacant expression: "Brother Zhao, where have you gone..."

Only Zhao Yu could suppress this terrifying paper figurine. Although Zhao Yu had never actually attacked the paper figurine, he remembered vividly how the creature had fled the moment Zhao Yu arrived that day.

As he thought this, Tie Shi hurriedly rubbed his eyes. He saw the arrogant paper figurine suddenly turn its head to look into the distance. The gesture seemed somehow… familiar. Then, Tie Shi saw a look of unwillingness flicker in the paper figurine’s cold, lifeless eyes before it vanished in a blur. The evil spirits on the ground also flickered away one by one. In the blink of an eye, there were no more evil spirits outside the tribe.

*This is…* Tie Shi and the others exchanged glances, their eyes filled with immense joy.

The group of men in black, however, had their expressions shift drastically. "This is bad! The evil spirits must be attacking again. Prepare for battle!"

One of the men in black did not hesitate to invoke a divine statue. The statue radiated divine light, and a god-like figure manifested in the sky. Then, they saw Zhao Yu strolling toward them.

The divine figure stared at Zhao Yu for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "In my perception, this evil entity appears no different from an ordinary person. This creature must be even more terrifying than the paper figurine from before." The men in black were struck with horror.

Tie Shi, however, was overjoyed and cast aside the defensive array. "Brother Zhao!"

"Brother Zhao, you’ve come!" Tie Hu and the others also hurried forward. It really was Zhao Yu.

The group of men in black, who had been on the verge of fighting for their lives, looked at each other in confusion. *Not an evil spirit?*

The god-like figure in the air remained silent for a moment before its divine light dissipated and it disappeared without a trace.

Zhao Yu, having just arrived, looked surprised. "What is going on with you all?" Tie Shi and the others looked so miserable.

Tie Shi instinctively gave a bitter smile. "Alas, that sinister paper figurine reappeared. If not for Brother Zhao’s arrival… Brother Zhao, you have saved the Youxiong Tribe once again."

Though he didn't understand the specifics, Zhao Yu nodded. "Oh, I see." These people loved to overthink things; the more he explained, the more troublesome it became, so he might as well save his breath.

As for the paper figurine… his wife liked to cut out paper figures, and he had always assumed they were easy to bully. He hadn’t expected there to be such powerful ones.

Suddenly, Tie Hu let out a roar: "Don't think you can leave!"

Tie Shi, who was still talking to Zhao Yu, looked back. It turned out the men in black were trying to sneak away, but their path had been blocked by Tie Hu and the others.

Tie Shi’s anger flared up again. "You want to leave?"

The men in black could not help but reveal a murderous aura. However, as their gazes swept over Zhao Yu, they became cautious again. Since the paper figurine had truly retreated, it could not have been without reason.

Thinking of this, the leader spoke in a stiff tone: "What happened before was our fault. We are willing to make amends."

"So many lives lost—can a simple 'amends' compensate for that!" Amidst an icy voice, a thirty-foot-tall phantom rose behind Tie Shi. The phantom was the image of Tie Shi himself. At the same time, within the Youxiong Tribe’s temple, the Bear God manifested its divine body, gazing coldly at the men in black.

Divine light bloomed among the men in black. The previous divine manifestation appeared again, its voice resonating with divine authority: "You barbarians, do not bring ruin upon yourselves!"

Tie Shi’s eyes grew even more furious. "You are courting death."

The leader of the men in black lifted his eyes slightly. "We are envoys under the Provincial Governor. We are willing to offer reparations for what happened, but if you insist on causing trouble… even if you manage to keep us here, I wonder if the Youxiong Tribe can withstand the subsequent purge from the Governor’s Mansion!"

Tie Shi’s gaze sharpened. The million-mile Yin Mountains were vast, but in the Great Qian Empire, the people of the Yin Mountains were nothing more than "barbarians beyond the reach of civilization." Tie Shi did not know how large the Great Qian Empire truly was, but he knew that in its great cities, countless gods stood tall. The Youxiong Tribe only had the Bear God, but in Great Qian, there were countless gods like him.

Seeing Tie Shi’s reaction, the leader of the men in black softened his tone slightly. "What happened before was indeed our mistake. Name whatever compensation the Youxiong Tribe requires."

Tie Shi did not speak; he only stared fixedly at the men in black. It was clear that Tie Shi wanted to kill them, but he did not quite dare to.

Zhao Yu, who had been ignored, stepped forward, curious. "Um… may I ask what happened here?"

Although he had just arrived, he could tell that Tie Shi and these men in black had been working together to resist the so-called paper figurine crisis—why were they suddenly hostile toward each other now? These outsiders were truly hard to understand.

Tie Shi looked at the men in black with resentment for a long while before turning to Zhao Yu with a bitter face. "Brother Zhao, you may not know this."

"After you left, our tribe continued our migration along the original route."

"During the day, there were no accidents. But when night fell, inevitably, a group of evil spirits attacked. However, the Bear God had recovered, and since the paper figurine did not manifest to attack, our tribe held them off, albeit with difficulty, and nothing went wrong."

"But I didn't expect… I didn't expect…"

"After my tribe struggled all night to resist, finally forcing the evil spirits back, these damned bastards took advantage of our weakness and launched a surprise attack!"

As he reached this point, hatred flared in Tie Shi’s eyes once more. "Before, the Heart-Bewitching Trickster had deceived Tie Hu, leading my tribe into chaos, but even then, the number of tribesmen who died at the hands of the evil spirits was only one hundred and forty-two. Yet, these people took the opportunity to slaughter their way into our tribe. We had nearly three thousand people, and now, only five hundred remain!"

That night, even when the evil spirits broke into the tribe, they had lost fewer than one hundred and fifty people! But these men in black had caused the deaths of two thousand and five hundred!

The more he thought about it, the more hateful Tie Shi felt, his voice trembling: "They are truly ruthless. Compared to them, those man-eating evil spirits are kind!"

Zhao Yu remained silent, looking at the men in black with sheer surprise. Two thousand five hundred people? So many? Killed by these people?

The men in black remained silent, standing guard secretly, perhaps realizing that today would not end easily.

A murderous glint flashed in the leader’s eyes. If not for the fact that he couldn't see through Zhao Yu, would a mere tribe like the Youxiong dare to question him like this? Thinking of the unfathomable Zhao Yu, the leader addressed him in a slow, measured voice: "I am Zeng Fan, an envoy under the Governor of Biyun Province. May I ask how to address you, Fellow Daoist?"