The Clown Turned Out to Be Me

Seeing Yulan stand up, Jiang Yiming was finally reassured.

The strange man in black wore a mask, hiding his expression. He merely fixed his eyes on Yulan and said, "I thought you were just an ordinary independent Gu Master. Looks like you're not!"

"Yulan, first-grade Gu Master from Fallen Flower Village in Xiangxi." Yulan briefly introduced herself, then took out her phone and opened a picture.

The picture showed a handsome, sunny young man. He wore Miao clothing: a blue-green homespun jacket and trousers, with a blue-green headscarf wrapped around his head. His clothes were adorned with silver ornaments, and judging by his dress, he looked like a Miao from Eastern Guizhou.

Miao villages were widely scattered, but most were concentrated in three places: Xiangxi, Eastern Guizhou, and Southern Yunnan.

"This is your photo, isn't it? Lu Yan, from Lu Family Village in Eastern Guizhou!" Yulan stated his identity outright.

The strange man in black didn't deny it. "Since you know who I am, you must be a Gu Exorcist, right?"

"That's right. This is the notice your village chief issued!"

As she spoke, Yulan took out a handkerchief-sized piece of white cloth threaded with gold, covered in red brush-written characters.

"I, Lu Li, chief of Lu Family Village, hereby inform all fellow cultivators that Lu Yan, a second-grade Gu Master of our village, has lost control of his mind and fallen onto the evil path, becoming an Evil Gu Master. He has now fled to Qiuyang City. Fellow cultivators may send people to kill him, and our village will reward them handsomely."

These days, very few people still wrote with cloth and a brush.

Looking at the notice on the white cloth, the strange man in black still made no move. He said flatly, "According to the rules of the Gu world, since you accepted this notice, no other Gu Masters will come."

"Of course."

"In other words, you think you two first-grade Gu Masters can take down a second-grade Gu Master like me?" Lu Yan pulled off his mask, revealing numerous earthworm-like black lines on his fair face. Not only had his former good looks vanished, but he also looked quite frightening.

Yulan wasn't frightened by his face. She said calmly, "You're wrong. First, you've fallen onto the evil path. You're no longer a Gu Master, but an Evil Gu Master! Second, I'm the only one here to deal with you. The man beside me isn't Miao, and he isn't here to capture you."

Only then did Lu Yan show a hint of surprise. "You want to fight me one-on-one? I really don't know where you get your confidence!"

Before he had finished speaking, he stretched out both hands at once. A cloud of white mist rose from each of his pitch-black palms, and two Gu insects crawled out of the mist.

Seeing the Gu insects appear, Jiang Yiming spoke up. "Hey, can you handle this? He already caught you once. If you really can't, let's retreat together first."

With her back to Jiang Yiming, Yulan said calmly, "You think he could really catch me?"

"To tell you the truth, you're the one I'm more interested in. When I found I could no longer track you, and happened to see your message, I came up with a plan: use a little self-inflicted injury ruse to lure you out."

"So I deliberately let him catch me, then sent you a message."

"You really are a good person who enjoys helping others. You actually took the risk and came."

Jiang Yiming's expression turned strange when he heard that. I enjoy helping others? Would I have risked coming here if you hadn't used the power of money?

But the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off. He asked, "Wait, that's not right! He really did restrain you. If I hadn't helped you..."

"You don't understand," Yulan interrupted. "Even without you, I could have freed myself. But if I had, I'd have used up a great deal of Gu Essence in an instant and wouldn't have been able to keep fighting. I'd have had to retreat first. Once you came and supplied me with Gu Essence from the outside, I could draw on it to break the restraints from outside much more easily, using up almost none of it. That way, I'd have the strength to deal with Lu Yan."

So that was it. Only then did Jiang Yiming realize that the clown was actually him.

Yulan had done all that just to lure him over!

By then, Yulan had summoned her Gu insect and was ready to attack.

After hearing her out, Lu Yan dismissed her words. "You've said so much, but you need the strength to win in the end. All I have to do is kill you two right now, and all your schemes will vanish like smoke!"

In the end, strength was what decided success or failure.

Lu Yan was a second-grade Evil Gu Master, while Yulan was only a first-grade Gu Master. In a real fight, Yulan should have been at a disadvantage.

But in reality, not only was she unafraid, she took the initiative and attacked Lu Yan.

"Hey! Be careful!" Jiang Yiming called out.

Since Yulan didn't want his help, he was too embarrassed to shamelessly rush in. But truth be told, he was still very worried. If Yulan failed and got killed, his money would go down the drain.

In a life-and-death fight between Gu Masters, they generally didn't use Gu right from the start.

Although they all raised Gu, many Gu insects were relatively fragile and easily killed.

Some people even practiced techniques specifically for killing Gu, targeting the insects to weaken a Gu Master's strength.

If they threw their Gu insects at the other side right away, the Gu they had painstakingly refined might be killed in a single exchange.

That was hardly worth it.

So in a life-and-death fight, Gu Masters generally started by competing with fists, feet, sabers, and swords.

Gu insects played a greater role in support.

Using the right Gu insect at the moment best suited for it was what Gu Masters strived for.

Facing a Gu Master a grade above her, Yulan didn't hold back this time. As she charged, she drew the flexible sword at her waist.

The blade quivered like a gleaming spirit snake, striking straight for Lu Yan's throat.

Lu Yan was no pushover either. He flicked both hands, and a pair of black iron claws slid from his sleeves and fitted precisely over his palms.

"Clang!"

The flexible sword thrust forward, only to be blocked by his left claw with a crisp ring. At the same time, his right claw lashed out at Yulan's lower abdomen.

Yulan pushed off with both feet and sprang lightly into the air, her slender, willow-like waist slipping past the sharp claw. Once airborne, she flicked her wrist, sending the flexible sword between Lu Yan's fingers and piercing a small hole in his black clothes.

"Hah!" Lu Yan gave a low shout, knocked the flexible sword aside, and struck out with both clawed palms at once.

A fierce palm wind swept toward Yulan, and she blocked it with her sword held crosswise.

With no foothold in midair, she couldn't put any strength behind her defense. After taking the palm wind, she was blown back like a kite, landing more than ten paces away.

Neither of them had used their Gu insects yet. They had only been testing each other.

Jiang Yiming, watching from the side, released the Red Tail Centipede, the Ghost-Faced Spider, and the Iron-Backed Black Scorpion, sending them crawling in three different directions across the ceiling.

Ten Thousand Gu Communication!

He silently chanted the name, and in an instant, he could share all five senses with the three Gu insects!

Under these circumstances, he could see every movement Yulan and Lu Yan made, with a 360-degree view and no blind spots.

By now, the two had exchanged several moves, and each had begun using their Gu insects.

As Yulan thrust her sword, an ice arrow suddenly shot from its tip. It was the work of the Ice Arrow Frog on her wrist.

Lu Yan bent down to dodge the ice arrow, then carried his momentum forward and rammed his head toward Yulan's shoulder.

Yulan hurriedly drew back her sword. The flexible blade turned like a spirit snake, its edge aimed at Lu Yan's head.

If he rammed into it, wouldn't he be splitting his own melon open?