Liu Feng left Li Xiang'er and walked over to the pile of medicinal mud.
He took in the girl before him and silently praised her striking beauty.
Though Leng Qiuyue had smeared mud over her face, it did little to hide her delicate features. With her graceful figure, it was no wonder people had their eyes on her.
His gaze finally settled on Leng Qiuyue's neck, where a small piece of broken jade strung on a thin cord caught his attention.
It has to be her. Good thing I got here in time. Liu Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
Huddled in the medicinal mud, Leng Qiuyue was terrified. She mistook Liu Feng's gaze at the broken jade for lustful eyes fixed on her body.
"Don't come any closer!" The girl held a long blade against her own neck.
Nearby, Big-Headed Gu Child stared blankly for a moment before catching on.
"This red-skinned beast wants to keep her all to himself!" Big-Headed Gu Child's gaze turned cold.
Li Xiang'er, standing beside him, was more perceptive. Her eyes fell on Liu Feng, and she realized he probably hadn't come for the girl's looks.
"Put the blade down first. I mean you no harm." Leng Qiuyue looked ready to fight to the death, and Liu Feng didn't know how to explain himself.
Should he take out the other half of the broken jade and use her parents' names to earn her trust? He didn't want to do that just yet.
He'd only planned to find her and secretly lend her a hand. But he hadn't expected Leng Qiuyue to run into trouble as soon as she arrived, so he had no choice but to step forward early and shield her from it.
Still, he figured that as long as Leng Qiuyue's identity remained hidden, getting involved with her shouldn't put him at much risk.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Leng Qiuyue, Liu Feng glanced at Big-Headed Gu Child's resentful, contemptuous expression and realized he'd got the wrong idea. He simply said, "I've taken a liking to this girl. Don't treat her like this again."
"Your mother! You want to keep her all to yourself, huh? Who do you think you are, a Gu Master—" Big-Headed Gu Child was about to explode.
But the next moment, he shut his mouth!
Without Liu Feng seeming to move, five insect legs sprang from his back. Each was seven or eight feet long, and every one bristled with canine teeth.
With several screeches, the stone floor was raked into five trails of sparks, left scarred and battered.
Looking at Liu Feng again, the boy who had seemed so refined now had a face dark as ink. The five swaying, tooth-studded insect legs on his back made him look like something out of a nightmare.
Big-Headed Gu Child and Li Xiang'er were both newcomers. They'd never seen anything so terrifying. Their teeth chattered as though they were staring at a demon.
Big-Headed Gu Child said hoarsely, "I can keep the Gu Children in line, but I really can't stop the stewards."
"Tell any Gu Servants who come looking that I sent them your way. My name is Liu Feng. You'll soon find out who I am."
Hearing Liu Feng speak so boldly, Big-Headed Gu Child didn't dare take him lightly. He thumped his chest and promised, "All right. I'll make sure it's done."
With that settled, Liu Feng turned to Leng Qiuyue in the corner.
The girl had lowered the long blade in her hand. A faint blush showed through the mud covering her face, lending her a tender, delicate charm.
Liu Feng was still a boy, and he couldn't help feeling awkward. He improvised, "I've always been kindhearted. I can't stand to see old people, women, or children bullied. Don't get the wrong idea!"
Li Xiang'er, who had been frightened of Liu Feng just moments ago, let out a soft, foolish giggle.
Liu Feng shot the giggling Li Xiang'er a cold glare, withdrew the Soldier Gu, and strode away.
Night had deepened. Inside the stone passage at the foot of the mountain,
the passage stretched into the mountainside, with several Stone Chambers carved into its left wall. One of them belonged to Liu Feng.
Now, beneath the dim light, the silhouettes of a young man and a young woman stood beside Liu Feng's Stone Chamber.
When Liu Feng returned, he spotted the two from afar. One look at their faces told him they meant trouble.
"Were you waiting for me? I imagine you've been waiting a while."
Hearing the mockery in Liu Feng's voice, the young man rose without a word and stared at him coldly.
The woman beside him said expressionlessly, "You certainly kept us siblings waiting."
"Let's get straight to it. We came to trade these two boxes of medicine, which will greatly replenish your blood and vital energy, for the Soldier Gu on your back, Split-Tooth."
Liu Feng glanced at the medicine box in the woman's hand, curled his lips into a cold smile, and examined the two with his Zen Eye.
The man and woman before him both had deformed bodies, clear signs of failed Exotic Gu implantation. They were undoubtedly Gu Servants.
Moreover, he saw through their organs and discovered that the vitality in their internal organs was bizarrely vigorous. It didn't resemble a Gu Master's technique, nor did it seem to come from taking potent medicine.
"No need. You two can leave." Liu Feng looked away and replied coolly.
As he spoke, he paid no heed to their vicious expressions and ignored them, stepping into his Stone Chamber in two strides.
The Gu Servant siblings showed no intention of leaving. The man looked ready to attack on the spot, but the woman held him back.
"You've probably heard that Second Senior Brother went out to find a suitable Soldier Gu. Split-Tooth is a good fit, and Second Senior Brother will be back soon. We're close to him, so you'd better think carefully."
"Second Senior Brother? So that's what this is about." Liu Feng's cold smile deepened.
Second Senior Brother's surname seemed to be Shen, and the Exotic Gu he had implanted was the Mountain God.
The Mountain God could help a Gu Master merge his consciousness with the mountain's true spirit. It could be used to scout the surroundings within a certain range and control plants that had gained awareness.
Thinking it over, Liu Feng realized that the vigorous vitality in the siblings' organs most likely came from the Spirit Monster blood Second Senior Brother had given them.
"So you want to use my generosity to curry favor with Second Senior Brother and get Spirit Monster blood? You spineless rats aren't even as brave as Liu Xing, that Mad Dog. He dares to undergo a second Exotic Gu implantation, while you're still here hoping to slowly strengthen your organs with Spirit Monster blood."
Liu Feng had laid bare their intentions. The siblings, Su Jing and Su Anjie, instantly fixed him with murderous glares and stopped wasting their breath.
They exchanged a glance. Their skin turned pale at the same time, growing rough and coarse.
In the dim light, their figures blurred as they rushed into the Stone Chamber. One swept a leg toward Liu Feng's head, while the other reached for the Soldier Gu on his back.
"How overconfident." A disdainful scoff rang out inside the Stone Chamber.
Two of Split-Tooth's insect legs sprang forward. The siblings withdrew in time to block them, but the sharp teeth scraped across their arms with two screeches.
Both were Gu Servants whose attempts to implant the Exotic Gu Cotton Spitter had failed. The cottonlike fibers beneath their skin stopped the teeth, but only just. The insect legs still tore shallow cuts across their arms. In the end, they were merely cripples who had failed to implant a Gu.
Then several dull thuds rang out inside the Stone Chamber. Liu Feng exchanged a few blows with the pair and was already their equal in sheer physique.
The siblings endured having several wounds torn open and still tried to close in and seize the Soldier Gu.
Liu Feng had lost patience. With the Mind Eye Technique, he instantly dodged their punches and reached behind himself with one hand.
A poison-sac tube a full foot long formed the hilt. The five tooth-lined insect legs coiled around one another, and in the blink of an eye, the Soldier Gu Split-Tooth transformed into a sinister greatsword studded with canine teeth.
"Pfft! Pfft..."
Flashes of blood lit the Stone Chamber as two arms covered in cottonlike fibers were hacked off!
The man and woman screamed in agony, drawing Gu Children out of the nearby Stone Chambers. But no one dared approach. All they heard was Liu Feng's angry shout.
"Leave the medicine and get out."
Under the horrified gazes of several Gu Children, the two Gu Servants fled with their severed arms, leaving the floor awash with blood.
Before you continue