Secrets of Insect Valley

Liu Feng did not raise any alarm. He lingered where he was for a moment, and seeing that neither the other Gu Children nor Third Senior Brother had noticed him, he continued moving.

"One, two, three, four..."

He examined each so-called Exotic Gu with Dharma Eye Insight. Without exception, every one contained human remains.

With his current knowledge, he knew that the Exotic Gu Egg he had just implanted was almost incapable of naturally growing into a human skeleton.

That left only one possibility: these people had once been Gu Masters, and during some stage, they had transformed into Exotic Gu.

"No wonder Insect Valley has produced only three Gu Master disciples over all these years! The rest of the Gu Masters have likely become fertilizer, or simply been refined into Insect Medicine!"

"Is this practice unique to Insect Valley? Or is the path of a Gu Master inherently this cruel?"...

Turmoil churned within Liu Feng. As his gaze swept across the Exotic Gu, it suddenly halted on two lying close together.

One was a gray-black Exotic Gu, the other pure white. Their heads rested together, their bodies pressed close—at least, that was what they looked like to the naked eye.

But viewed through Dharma Eye Insight, the shapes of the skeletons revealed them to be a middle-aged man and woman leaning against each other!

Seeing the feelers beneath the jaws of the two Exotic Gu still faintly wriggling, Liu Feng's eyes widened. They're not dead yet.

He glanced around, swiftly approached the two Exotic Gu, sat cross-legged on the ground, and released part of the Intermediate Gu within his body, using them to cover the two Exotic Gu's heads.

Naturally, under his control, the Intermediate Gu merely covered their heads and did not actually gnaw at them.

Using the Intermediate Gu as cover, Liu Feng tried to communicate in a low voice. "Senior Brother, Senior Sister."

When neither Exotic Gu responded, Liu Feng waved his hand before their eyes. There was still no reaction.

"Their hearing and sight are completely gone. Are they about to fully merge into insect bodies?"

A bleak feeling welled up in him. If he did not think of a way out, perhaps one day this would be his fate as well.

After pondering briefly, Liu Feng did not give up. He tried writing with his finger on the soft skin beneath the gray-black Exotic Gu's jaw.

"Senior Brother, I am a Gu Child who has just had an Exotic Gu Egg implanted in Insect Valley..."

Before he could finish writing that sentence, the gray-black Exotic Gu before him trembled slightly and actually responded.

The insect feelers beneath its jaw moved slowly, touching Liu Feng's palm and, stroke by stroke, began to write as well.

"I am Insect Valley's... Eldest Senior Brother... Chen Chuanru. Beside me is Second Senior Sister... Wu Qiaoyun, also my wife."

"So Gu Masters really do transform into Exotic Gu!" Feeling each character take shape in his palm, Liu Feng's eyes nearly split open.

Insect Valley currently had three senior brothers: Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Third Senior Brother. All were men.

By that reasoning, the two Exotic Gu before him were most likely the previous generation's Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister.

Earlier, in the Gu Cave, he had seen Gu Servant Liu Xing use Gu insects to devour a person's essence and blood. That alone had dealt no small blow to his mind.

Now, learning that Insect Valley used Gu Masters of the previous generation as nourishment for later newcomers to refine, his mind suffered an unprecedented shock once more.

"How did you and Senior Sister transform into Gu?" Liu Feng forced himself to steady his thoughts and hurriedly wrote his question.

For the better part of an hour afterward, Liu Feng communicated laboriously with the "previous generation's Eldest Senior Brother" on the ground through this slow method of writing.

From time to time, delighted cries from the other Gu Children rang out within the Inner Herb Field, most of them rejoicing over the potent medicinal effects of the Exotic Gu.

Other than Liu Feng, no one present—including Third Senior Brother Zhu Li—looked closely at the Exotic Gu half-buried in the soil, much less noticed the writhing feelers of a few living specimens!

In their eyes, these Exotic Gu were simply Exotic Gu: fertilizer, medicinal ingredients, nourishment for feeding Gu insects.

Beneath the tall medicinal herbs stretching endlessly together, Liu Feng's eyes gradually turned incomparably dark. The small measure of childlike innocence that had longed for the light was mercilessly crushed to pieces.

The feelers continued moving slowly across his palm, writing much that Liu Feng had never known before.

First came the path of Gu Master cultivation. Just as martial artists, Daoists, monks, and demons had to break through major realms, Gu Masters too had to break through realms. This was called "Metamorphic Rebirth." Each Metamorphic Rebirth was no different from shedding one's skin, and success meant being reborn into a new life.

Successfully implanting an Exotic Gu made one a First-Life Gu Master. Undergoing Metamorphic Rebirth once made one a Second-Life Gu Master. Thus, every Metamorphic Rebirth was another shattering of the mirror.

All the Gu Masters who transformed into Gu here had failed while advancing from the first life to the Two-Life Body. They suffered backlash from their Exotic Gu, while the Gu Master's consciousness also scattered the Exotic Gu's own intelligence. In the end, they could only become ignorant, senseless Gu insects.

"Has anyone in Insect Valley ever become a Second-Life Gu Master?" Liu Feng asked again.

"From what I know... apart from... Lu Huai himself, no one has ever become a Second-Life Gu Master!"

There was no need to think about it. The Lu Huai mentioned by this previous generation's Eldest Senior Brother was Lu Yao's black-hearted father—the Valley Master of Insect Valley.

Not a single person had succeeded in Metamorphic Rebirth. There had to be something suspicious about it.

"Remember, beware... Lu Huai. Remove the restriction he planted as early as possible..." The feelers continued to wriggle.

By this account, from the very first time every Gu Child entered Insect Valley to implant Gu, a restriction had been planted within their bodies, binding them to Insect Valley from then on.

A gentle breeze drifted in from beyond the herb field. The medicinal plants swayed one after another, giving off waves of herbal fragrance, yet Liu Feng's entire body was ice-cold, his face so dark it seemed ready to drip water.

"Is there a way to break it?"

"Difficult, difficult, difficult... To break the restriction, one needs a Spirit Gu or King Gu, or else contaminate oneself with an 'Evil Object.'"

"Otherwise... even if your realm later surpasses... Lu Huai's by one life, you still cannot escape being controlled by him!"

Liu Feng's clenched fists gave a muffled crack as his bones ground together. His body shook uncontrollably with indignation.

He had only just heard of Spirit Gu and King Gu from Third Senior Brother. He did not even know their specific traits or what kind of Gu insects they were, much less how to refine a Spirit Gu or King Gu for his own use.

As for "Evil Objects," he had heard of tragic cases of Evil Objects taking lives while wandering outside in the past, and knew the rough outlines.

So-called Evil Objects were Evil Specters formed when the resentments of the world attached themselves to tangible things—neither human nor demon, whether person, beast, or object.

Whenever an Evil Object appeared, it would often contaminate every living thing within an entire region. The more powerful the Evil Object, the greater the area it contaminated.

"King Gu and Spirit Gu are hard to come by. Contaminate myself with an 'Evil Object'? Would I still be myself then?"

Liu Feng knew that every survivor contaminated by an Evil Object became utterly deranged. Even if they managed to cling to life, they would be hunted down by government martial artists or Daoists of the Imperial Observatory.

"Junior Brother, my wife and I do not have long to live... We have a matter to ask of you..."

New words slowly formed in Liu Feng's palm, yet they did not surprise him in the least.

These two were about to fully merge into insect bodies. They surely had final matters to entrust to someone, and as for speaking with a Gu Child who was not even a Gu Master, they truly had no one else to ask.

"By your account, that old dog Lu Huai is a Gu Master at the peak of the second life, about to undergo Metamorphic Rebirth into the third life! I fear I can barely protect myself."

The instant Liu Feng finished writing those words, the two Gu lying side by side began to wriggle faintly.

Half a moment later, the gray-black Exotic Gu spat three objects from its mouthparts: an Insect Crystal, an Exotic Gu Egg with a fiery red shell, and a fragment of jade.

Almost at the same time, the pure-white Exotic Gu spat out two objects: another Insect Crystal and an Exotic Gu Egg.

"Take the Insect Crystals and refine them... strengthen your power. Of the two Exotic Gu Eggs, one is... 'Fire Eater,' and one is 'Flower Immortal.' Please leave the 'Flower Immortal' for our daughter, A Yue..."

"That fragment of jade... you may use it as a token, so A Yue will trust you."

Liu Feng's eyes lit up. With a sweep of his sleeve, he immediately collected all five objects, knowing that what the couple wished of him most likely concerned their daughter.

Liu Feng knew that powerful Gu insects could form Insect Crystals within their bodies. What surprised him was that this couple had somehow obtained two Exotic Gu Eggs, both kinds that Insect Valley had never even heard of.

"I have taken your things, so I will bear this karma. Please tell me your daughter's full name and where she lives."

As Liu Feng asked again, the two Exotic Gu before him visibly weakened. Their writhing feelers grew increasingly feeble. After spitting out the Insect Crystals, they were already struggling to sustain themselves!

"We only ask that you... do your best to protect A Yue... Fearing that her identity would be exposed, she did not take either of our surnames. Her name is 'Leng Qiuyue.'"

"The Seed Gu I planted in her body... has reacted. In order to find us, that child entered Insect Valley some days ago. She may already have become a Gu Child..."

The feelers of both Exotic Gu wriggled at once, writing their final words in Liu Feng's left and right palms. Liu Feng's heart shook violently as the words "please, we beg you" appeared over and over in his palms.

Perhaps the two did not trust him, but they did not have long to live, and their daughter had become a Gu Child. They had already reached the depths of despair.