Having witnessed the Five Connections Temple's inheritance, night had already fallen.
Aaron went somewhere secluded, put on a human-skin mask, then made his way to a valley.
He pressed against a vine-covered cliff face, revealing a mechanism.
Once it was opened, a passageway lay within. After walking several hundred paces, he found a hidden world beyond.
A chill swept over him.
There was a limestone cave within this valley. Even in summer, its interior was icy cold, carrying threads of frigid air.
"Screech, screech!"
There were also many man-made cages in the cave, holding numerous monkeys.
Only a handful of cells held several scum of the martial world whom Aaron had encountered. Their hair and beards had grown long, and they looked half human, half ghost.
Upon seeing Aaron enter, whether human or monkey, all fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to make a sound.
Aaron could not be bothered with them. He walked straight to a cave hollowed halfway into the rock wall.
Inside stood several tables and a row of bookshelves, laden with bottles and jars. Several large vats sat in the corners, filled with all manner of rustling sounds that sent chills down one's spine.
These were vats for raising Gu insects. Who knew how many poisonous creatures were sealed inside? Having devoured one another, they were at their most frenzied and violent.
Yet when Aaron approached, each fell as still as death, making not the slightest sound.
After all, Aaron carried the Golden Silkworm Gu. This Gu was the king of a hundred poisons, capable of making all Gu bow their heads.
He opened a Gu-sealing vat and took out a Gu insect shaped like a three-legged golden toad.
"Stomach Monster Gu!"
Looking at this strangely familiar Gu insect, Aaron's expression became somewhat complicated.