Yuan Ling did not even know she was already dead, so there was even less hope that she could explain who had killed her.
Jiang Li sorted out the rough sequence of events.
First, Yuan Ling had slaughtered the people of the two towns, controlled them all with Corpse Gu, and made them continue their normal work. But at her level, she could probably only use dantian Corpse Gu to control the corpses' actions, not their way of thinking.
Then someone killed Yuan Ling as well, controlled her with Corpse Gu, and implanted Gu Worms into everyone's sea of consciousness. This way, the people of the two towns were no different from the living. Even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm would not spot anything amiss.
What Jiang Li could not understand was the purpose.
What was this mastermind trying to accomplish? The Pure Heart Saintess smilingly told Jiang Li to leave, intending to be alone with Yuan Ling. Her smile made Jiang Li's scalp crawl, and he retreated far away.
Yet Jiang Li's senses were extraordinarily sharp, and he could still faintly hear cries coming from the room.
The cries gradually grew quieter before vanishing altogether. The Pure Heart Saintess used a spell to wash the blood from herself, then stepped out of the room with a smile and heard Jiang Li's message.
"Something seems to have happened on Du Xiner's side. I'm going to take a look."
The Pure Heart Saintess quickly arrived at Lower River Town and found Jiang Li and Du Xiner in a kitchen. Something was still steaming atop the stove.
"What happened?"
Jiang Li held a handful of rice, seemingly lost in thought, while Du Xiner stood blankly in place, her eyes devoid of focus.
"I kept this place under watch with my Divine Sense just now, and I saw Du Xiner pouring these things into already-husked Spiritual Rice."
This went against all reason. The eight towns did not directly provide Spirit Grain to the Red Dust Pure Land. Instead, they husked the Spirit Grain into Spiritual Rice and sent the rice to the Red Dust Pure Land, while keeping the bran to bury in the soil and increase its spiritual energy.
Du Xiner did not need to handle this process herself. She only needed to supervise it. Yet not only had she failed to supervise it, she had also carried over a rice vat from the cellar, intending to pour its contents into the freshly husked pile of Spiritual Rice.
Jiang Li pointed to the side. The Pure Heart Saintess followed his gesture and found nothing but a vat of Spiritual Rice, with no visible abnormalities.
"I advise you not to inspect that vat of Spiritual Rice with Divine Sense. Your heart may not be able to bear it."
Had Jiang Li not said that, the Pure Heart Saintess would not have done so. But because he warned her, she instead insisted on scanning it with her Divine Sense.
Hmm, it could resist Divine Sense?
The Pure Heart Saintess increased the intensity of her Divine Sense and saw the hidden things beneath the skins of the Spiritual Rice.
"Ugh—"
The Pure Heart Saintess's face turned pale, and she began to retch.
She had long since abstained from food and was free of impurities, so there was nothing she could actually vomit.
This was not a vat of Spiritual Rice. It was a vat of Gu Worms disguised as Spiritual Rice! "Junior Sister Xiner, what are you doing?!"
Du Xiner came back to herself and asked in confusion, "Wasn't there a sect rule requiring us to pour this vat of Spiritual Rice into the pile of Spiritual Rice?"
"Who told you that? Since when did the Red Dust Pure Land have such a rule?"
Du Xiner tried hard to recall it, only to discover that she remembered the rule itself but could not remember who had told her.
Jiang Li cracked open a grain of Spiritual Rice with his fingernail, revealing an extremely tiny white Gu Worm inside, and showed it to Du Xiner.
"Do you recognize this?"
Jiang Li's action only confused Du Xiner further. "Isn't it just Spiritual Rice? Is there something else?"
Jiang Li said nothing more and had Du Xiner leave.
"Someone altered her perception, making her believe this vat held ordinary Spiritual Rice. That is a Corpse Gu method."
Jiang Li lifted the steamer from the stove, revealing a bowl of fragrant Spiritual Rice.
He picked up a single grain, cracked it open, and revealed the same white Gu Worm inside. It was even alive, and its vitality seemed stronger than before! "Someone mixed Gu Worms into the Spiritual Rice and had your Red Dust Pure Land people eat them. We just don't know what the Gu Worms do."
The Pure Heart Saintess's face became ashen.
The Remote Communication Talisman flickered, and Jiang Li connected it.
"Brother Jiang, I found the Gu Tribesmen!" Zhang Konghu appeared before Jiang Li, built like a black bear. He spoke in a deep, booming voice. "They said that to refine Corpse Gu capable of making dead bodies move as normally as living people, one would need at least the Body Integration Realm."
"But they aren't certain either. They only inferred it from old records. After all, there are no experts in the Gu Tribe now. Their strongest are only in the Nascent Soul Realm."
Zhang Konghu sighed with emotion at that. He had only known that the Gu Tribe had withdrawn from the world, never imagining they had fallen so low. In their heyday, the Gu Tribe had produced great figures who ascended to the Immortal World.
"I also asked who could learn Gu Arts. They said one had to read the ancient books enshrined in their ancestral hall. Those Gu Arts texts are strictly guarded, so outsiders cannot possibly learn them."
"But I gave it a try and easily stole the ancient books. No one noticed. Of course, I already returned them."
"Oh, right. They also said that the Mind Control Gu, which the Gu Tribe had forbidden anyone from raising, has gone missing. They cannot leave the mountains because they live in seclusion, so they hope our Human Emperor Palace can spread the news and warn everyone to be careful."
"Mind Control Gu?"
"Yes. The Gu Tribe said this Gu Worm is incredibly terrifying. Once someone consumes it, even if they later reach the Body Integration Realm or Spirit Transformation Realm, the Gu Worm's master can still control their mind—and they themselves will not notice at all! That is why the Gu Tribe has an ancestral rule forbidding the raising of Mind Control Gu!"
"See if this is Mind Control Gu!" Jiang Li spread open his palm and displayed the white Gu Worm.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's it. It spins a cocoon like Spiritual Rice, is as tiny as a hair tip, becomes dormant in water, and grows active in fire. Brother Jiang, where did you find it?"
With a clatter, the Pure Heart Saintess's legs gave out. She knocked over pots and bowls and collapsed weakly to her knees.
For how many years had Gu Worms been mixed into the Spiritual Rice? How many junior sisters had eaten them? Had any senior aunts who abstained from food occasionally tasted some? How many people in the Red Dust Pure Land had Mind Control Gu inside them? The Pure Heart Saintess did not dare think too deeply about any of it!
"Did the Gu Tribe say how to break the Mind Control Gu?"
"Like other Gu Worms, either the Gu Worm's master must willingly undo it, or the Gu Worm inside the body must be killed. Therefore, Mind Control Gu is ineffective against those in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. The Thunder Tribulation during transcendence will destroy the Gu Worm."
"I'll explain later. I'm cutting off!"
Jiang Li ended the Communication Talisman call, his expression extremely grave. "The Mind Control Gu has not been activated. Things have not reached the final step yet! Your junior sisters are still waiting for you to save them! With me here, there is room to turn back no matter what happens!"
The unquestionable confidence in Jiang Li's low, solemn voice gradually restored the Pure Heart Saintess to normal.
That was right. Things had not reached the final step. The mastermind had manipulated matters in secret for decades, yet had not activated the Mind Control Gu even now. That meant the time was not yet ripe for the mastermind.
Mistakes could be remedied. There was still hope for everything!
"Jiang Li, thank you!" The Pure Heart Saintess's gaze hardened with resolve. She slowly rose and flew toward the Red Dust Pure Land.
Jiang Li followed close behind.
When the two prepared to return to the Red Dust Pure Land, they were blocked outside by the curtain of light formed by the Sect Protecting Array. Behind that curtain, someone sneered at the belated pair.
The culprit—the elder expelled from the Red Dust Pure Land, Daoist Xuan'ai!
Before you continue