I Have Medicine

Chapter 564 - (Bai Rou Market) Saving Lives.

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

After killing the Giant Rock Tribe member, Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng swiftly flew over and arrived beside the corpse. Although Gu Zuo found this man-eating race utterly repulsive, there were two things on a Giant Rock Tribe member’s body that were extremely beneficial to the human race.

First was the layer of stone skin covering their body, which could be refined into protective spirit armor. Second was their brain matter, rich in the essence of the Giant Rock Tribe, which, after refinement, could be used to temper spirit weapons and enhance their spiritual properties.

However, given that they were in the borderlands, Gu Zuo didn’t extract these materials on the spot. Instead, he directly stored the corpse away, planning to take it back with him.

After all, the Giant Rock Tribe treated humans as food—now that one was dead, its corpse could be used to feed the tamed wild beasts. This was simply making full use of resources and returning the favor in kind.

With this threat eliminated, Gu Zuo extended his psychic power once more and continued advancing deeper into the borderlands, with Gongyi Tianheng accompanying him.

Perhaps because they had ventured further in, it wasn’t long before Gu Zuo detected the presence of another group of foreign beings. This time, it was a small squad from the Demon Wolf Tribe—more than ten Demon Wolf Tribe members accompanied by over a hundred wild wolves, forming a rather formidable force.

However, the strongest among them was only at the peak of the Immortal Realm. Even if their numbers doubled, they wouldn’t be a match for the two of them.

Gongyi Tianheng didn’t even bother revealing himself. He simply fired a few arrows from a distance, and with his unerring accuracy, instantly wiped out the ten-plus Demon Wolf Tribe members. As for the hundred wild wolves, he struck out with a distant palm, crushing them all beneath a massive blood-colored handprint.

Afterward, the two approached the area, and with a wave of Gu Zuo’s hand, all the corpses were stored away.

They continued deeper.

Perhaps due to the direction they had chosen, they never encountered any Blue-Eyed Tribe members. Instead, they kept running into the Demon Wolf Tribe and the Giant Rock Tribe at roughly equal frequencies.

Gu Zuo was puzzled. “Could this whole area be their territory?”

Gongyi Tianheng pondered for a moment and replied, “Something doesn’t seem right.”

Gu Zuo thought so too.

It was normal for them to encounter more foreign beings as they moved deeper, but even for the inner regions, the frequency of these encounters was unusually high.

This led him to suspect that something was happening between these two tribes—perhaps some event or a conspiracy was unfolding.

With that thought, both of them proceeded even more cautiously.

Suddenly, Gu Zuo’s psychic power picked up something unusual, causing him to halt at once.

Gongyi Tianheng asked, “What’s wrong, Ah Zuo?”

Gu Zuo’s face darkened in anger before shifting to urgency. “Big Brother, we need to save them!”

In that instant, a new scene appeared in Gongyi Tianheng’s consciousness.

Just five li away, a fierce battle was taking place.

Three human warriors—two men and one woman—were fighting against four Giant Rock Tribe members. The men were strong and sturdy, while the woman exuded heroic spirit.

On the other side, a thick iron chain was fastened to a tree trunk, binding over a dozen people. Their internal energy had been sealed, leaving them helpless. Some wore expressions of defiance and worry, while others barely concealed their fear. All of them were scantily clad, looking utterly wretched.

The Giant Rock Tribe members had obvious weaknesses, but breaking through their defenses was extremely difficult. Moreover, the two men and one woman were at roughly the same cultivation level as their opponents. In a one-on-one fight between a human and a Giant Rock Tribe member of equal strength, while the human wouldn’t necessarily be at a disadvantage, the battle would still be challenging. And now, with an extra Giant Rock Tribe member in the mix, the three were being completely suppressed.

At this moment, the four enemies were surrounding and attacking the three humans. All three were already wounded, and their situation had become extremely precarious—they were on the verge of collapse.

Gongyi Tianheng’s expression turned slightly serious. “Ah Zuo, get on my back.”

Without hesitation, Gu Zuo immediately leaped onto Gongyi Tianheng—his speed was nowhere near as fast as his big brother’s.

With Gu Zuo on his back, Gongyi Tianheng shot forward at incredible speed, pulling out his longbow as he moved and firing several arrows at the four Giant Rock Tribe members.

If there had been only one of them, these arrows would have been enough to kill. However, with four working in perfect coordination, it wasn’t so easy.

That was why Gongyi Tianheng hadn’t aimed to kill from the start—his goal was to disrupt them.

Sure enough, the moment his arrows struck, the seamless cooperation of the Giant Rock Tribe warriors was immediately broken. Seizing the opportunity, the three human warriors broke through the encirclement, launching a fierce counterattack against their enemies in the openings created by the arrows!

And just a few breaths after they escaped danger, two more figures arrived at the scene.

Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo had made it just in time!

The three warriors remained locked in a deadly struggle with the Giant Rock Tribe members, fully focused on the fight and unable to spare attention for anything else. However, the dozen or so people bound to the tree had already noticed the new arrivals—their eyes lit up with hope.

“Brother, please set us free!”

“Lend us a hand!”

“Could the two of you…”

Hearing this, Gu Zuo quickly rushed toward the large tree.

A Giant Rock Tribe member noticed him and immediately flew into a rage. One of them broke away from the fight, moving to stop him at once.

At the same moment, Gongyi Tianheng blurred into motion, intercepting the Giant Rock Tribe member and sending him flying back with a single slap.

That’s right. The Giant Rock Tribe members were indeed thick-skinned and heavily armored with stone, making them difficult to break through. However, this difficulty was only relative to humans of the same cultivation level or even those slightly above. For someone like Gongyi Tianheng, who had reached the Ascendant Realm, it was hardly an issue.

Earlier, he had chosen to attack from a distance with arrows simply because it was convenient—not because exploiting the Giant Rock Tribe’s weaknesses was his only option.

Just like now, after slapping a Giant Rock Tribe warrior away, cracks immediately spread across the stone armor on the enemy’s body. It was like a shattered mirror, as if it would completely break apart at any moment. Without hesitation, Gongyi Tianheng struck again, and this time, the stone armor fully crumbled. With its protection gone, the Giant Rock Tribe warrior’s internal organs were instantly shattered under Gongyi Tianheng’s palm strike, killing him on the spot.

The entire process took less than two breaths.

Without pausing, Gongyi Tianheng moved in a flash to intercept another Giant Rock Tribe warrior. His palm force surged, shattering the enemy’s stone armor before he swiftly turned and did the same to the remaining two.

With their stone armor on the verge of collapse, the two men and one woman—though unsure of who Gongyi Tianheng was—could tell he was helping them. Their spirits immediately lifted, and they each took on one of the remaining enemies. After a brief exchange, they quickly gained the upper hand.

Meanwhile, Gu Zuo examined the chains binding the captives and frowned. “Are these Hei Jing Tie Chains?”

Among the captives, an older man responded, “Indeed, they are. Young man, do you have a way to free us?”

The others had initially called for help out of instinct. But now, recalling the toughness of Hei Jing Tie Chains, they couldn’t help but feel disheartened. However, they quickly rallied their spirits. After all, while these chains were incredibly strong, they still required keys. If they could kill the remaining Giant Rock Tribe members, they would naturally find the keys and unlock their restraints.

After assisting the three warriors, Gongyi Tianheng walked over to Gu Zuo’s side. A single glance at the Hei Jing Tie Chains told him why the captives were still bound. Saying nothing, he simply stood by and observed.

At this moment, the three warriors finished off their enemies and approached, expressing their gratitude. “If not for you, brother, we would have fallen to those creatures.”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled faintly. “Think nothing of it. It was just a small effort.”

The female warrior quickly searched the Giant Rock Tribe corpses. The captives’ eyes brightened, realizing she was looking for the keys. They watched expectantly.

But when the woman finished searching, she came up empty-handed. The moment she shook her head, the captives’ faces darkened once more.

One of the young men who had fought alongside her asked, “What’s wrong?”

The woman replied in disappointment, “There’s no key.”

Upon hearing this, the captives fell into despair, sighing in frustration.

The three warriors hurriedly tried to comfort them, but they were just as anxious.

Standing to the side, Gu Zuo finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that the two men and one woman who had just been fighting the Giant Rock Tribe members were strangers to the group of captives. The only reason they intervened was that they were also hunting in the borderlands and accidentally discovered that these fellow humans were being dragged around by the Giant Rock Tribe with iron chains, like pigs or dogs. Out of anger, they acted swiftly to try to save them. At that time, one of the Giant Rock Tribe members had tied the chains to a tree, while the other three fought with the two men and one woman. Later, the first Giant Rock Tribe member joined the fight, leading to the situation that Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo had witnessed earlier.

Now, the woman and her companions had removed the chains from the tree, but the captives were still bound by the iron chains. The chains had pierced through their shoulder blades, causing them excruciating pain while sealing their cultivation. Walking was now harder for them than for ordinary people.

Although the Giant Rock Tribe had been killed, if they couldn’t remove the chains afterward, their lives would likely be worse than death.

The mood of the group was low, but Gu Zuo still had some doubts and asked, “Do you know where these Giant Rock Tribe members were planning to take you?”

He had a feeling that some of the suspicions he and his brother had earlier might be answered by these people.

The oldest among them, a white-haired elder, sighed deeply and said, “We are hunters and cultivators who came to the borderlands in recent days. After being captured, we were controlled and intended to be sold as goods at the ‘Bai Rou Market’.”

Gu Zuo furrowed his brow. “What is the Bai Rou Market?”

A flash of grief and anger crossed the white-haired elder’s face. “It is a trading market initiated by the Giant Rock Tribe. In this market, the flesh of different races is traded. Among them, the flesh of humans is the most favored by the Giant Rock Tribe. I’ve heard that people of various ages and cultivation levels are captured and brought there alive. At that time, there will be a feast of raw flesh, comparing the quality of each…”

In just a few sentences, he painted a horrifying picture.

Gu Zuo felt a lump in his throat. A surge of anger rose within him, and he almost wished he could kill those Giant Rock Tribe members several more times.

A cold gleam flashed in Gongyi Tianheng’s eyes as well.

The two carefully examined the captives and noticed that they were a mix of men, women, and elderly. Though their cultivation had been sealed, the two could still tell from their observations that most of them were in the Immortal Realm, with a few being in the Houtian and Xiantian realms. It was clear that their cultivation levels were quite diverse.

The white-haired elder continued, “I’ve heard that the Demon Wolf Tribe, in exchange for more wolf-blood ore, has already made preparations and captured many humans to bring over.” He showed a trace of sadness as he spoke. “It’s said that, in order to secure the best quality, they’ve selected people very carefully. Some are kept alive, while others are killed, with only the most vital parts chosen…”

At this point, he could no longer continue speaking.

Gu Zuo rubbed his forehead. “Do you know where this trading market is, elder?”

The white-haired elder answered, “It’s in Giant Rock City. The Giant Rock Tribe controls the resources and acts arrogantly. Whenever they want to do something, they require the other two tribes to go to their location.”

Gu Zuo nodded and turned to Gongyi Tianheng. “Brother, I remember that the Hei Jing Tei Chains, aside from needing a key, are also afraid of exotic fire and extreme heat…”