Leaving a Contingency

The Intestine-like Strange Fish contracted, folding up like a garment and slipping into Lu Huai's red robe.

Liu Feng stood rooted to the spot, unable to keep the sorrow from welling up inside him. Yan Hongda had been swallowed whole just like that.

He couldn't help thinking of the "Exotic Gu" in the Medicine Garden. They were all Gu Masters who had undergone Gu Transformation, and their fate was to become fertilizer.

Now Liu Feng had become the fourth disciple of Insect Valley. But how long would he be able to live in peace?

Just then, Lu Huai tossed down a length of Blood Vine from the stone platform.

"This will help you recover from your injuries. Go rest. Once the Medicine Slave wakes, you'll go out with Second and Third."

"Yes, Master."

Liu Feng took the Blood Vine, his heart weighed down with gloom.

On the path of a Gu Master, one either became nourishment for others or rose above them!

If he couldn't surpass this "Master," then one day he still wouldn't escape the fate of becoming nourishment.

At the foot of the eastern cliff in Insect Valley.

The passing Gu Children pushed wooden carts, each transporting Insect Medicine and dead Gu toward the cave entrance.

A sharp-eyed Gu Child stopped in his tracks and cried out in surprise, "Look, someone's coming down from the mountainside!"

All the Gu Children turned to look. At the cave entrance halfway up the mountain, a handsome young man was slowly making his way down.

He held three strange Gu in one hand and a length of blood-red vine in the other. Not a trace of joy showed on his face.

"It's Liu Feng. He's the only one who made it back alive."

"How dare you call him by his name? He's Fourth Senior Brother."

"We congratulate Fourth Senior Brother..."

Except for a few Gu Children still busy elsewhere, nearly a hundred of them present called out their congratulations in unison.

At the cave entrance, Third Senior Brother Zhu Li, who was on watch over the Medicine Slave, also looked up.

Zhu Li paid little attention to the Exotic Gu and Blood Vine in Liu Feng's hands. His focus was on the changes in Liu Feng himself.

The young man before him had changed in more than just his aura; even his inner bearing had transformed.

"Now that he's truly come to understand Insect Valley, it's only natural he'd change." Zhu Li understood. He nodded to Liu Feng as he came down the mountain.

Liu Feng no longer treated Zhu Li with the utmost deference as he had before. He merely gave him a faint nod in return.

As Liu Feng approached, all the Gu Children below bowed to greet him.

Even the Gu Servants who had once bullied the Gu Children now had no choice but to bend their backs and offer Fourth Senior Brother their congratulations.

Liu Feng's expression remained calm as his gaze swept across the Gu Children. He silently activated the Mind Eye Technique.

The scene before his eyes slowed in an instant, and every face fell into view.

Once the Medicine Slave wakes, I'll have to leave with my two senior brothers on an errand. I need to leave some contingencies behind. Some people will have to be dealt with, too.

According to Lu Huai, once the Medicine Slave was awakened, Liu Feng would have to go out on an errand with his two senior brothers. By then, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on what was happening in Insect Valley.

Whether for his own sake or for Leng Qiuyue's, he had to eliminate any hidden threats.

Soon, his gaze settled on a figure hurrying away in a panic.

The man's body was deformed: one arm was swollen, the other as thin as a stalk of hemp, and a scrap of cloth covered his face.

Four similarly deformed figures stood beside him, all with their faces hidden behind scraps of cloth.

"Ma Kun, where do you think you're going?"

At Liu Feng's words, the surrounding congratulations fell silent. Everyone turned to look at the deformed figure.

"Greetings, Fourth Senior Brother."

"Congratulations, Fourth Senior Brother." As Liu Feng strode over, four of the five masked men immediately bowed.

Beneath the scrap of cloth, Ma Kun's face was stricken with terror. He rasped, "Liu... Fourth Senior Brother, I—I still have things to do. I'll take my leave."

But the moment he took one step, Liu Feng gave him no chance to take another.

Whoosh! A Gu limb nearly eight feet long shot out and pierced straight through Ma Kun's heart.

"You might as well join Liu Xing on the road. With you looking like this, an early release is a good thing." Liu Feng spoke coolly.

The other four were horrified. They didn't dare raise their heads, much less say a word.

As for the Gu Children around them, not one showed any sympathy. Instead, quite a few looked pleased.

They were all from the newest batch of Gu Children, and few of them knew this former leader of the Gu Children, now a Gu Servant.

If they had any impression of him, it was that he'd failed at Gu implantation and become hideously deformed. He might have made trouble for them one day, so it was just as well that he was dead.

Liu Feng recalled the Soldier Gu and noticed Zhu Li watching him. Casually, he said, "Once the Medicine Slave wakes, please have someone come summon me, Third Senior Brother."

Zhu Li didn't rebuke Liu Feng for killing Ma Kun. He had no standing to do so anyway, and all he did was give another faint nod.

After dealing with Ma Kun, Liu Feng quickened his pace. As he passed two Gu Servants, he said under his breath, "You two, come with me."

"Yes, Fourth Senior Brother." The two Gu Servants exchanged a glance, then hurried after him.

The Stone Chamber still held a table, a bed, and a single green lamp.

Now that Liu Feng was the fourth disciple of Insect Valley, this place no longer belonged to him.

Within three days, they would carve out a private cave for him halfway up the northern mountainside. He could move then.

Liu Feng looked at the two Gu Servants before him and got straight to the point. "I know your names. One of you is Fang Xing, the other Hu Xiangyang. You're not exactly good people, but neither of you is as deranged as Liu Xing."

"I called you here to have you secretly look after a Gu Child named Leng Qiuyue while I'm away. You'll be rewarded for it."

"We'll do as you say, Senior Brother," Fang Xing and Hu Xiangyang replied respectfully.

Words were easy; he couldn't just rely on his status and make empty promises.

Liu Feng immediately took out a wooden box. Inside were the pills he'd obtained from Su Jing and Su Anjie: thirty-six Blood Qi Pills in all.

He took out sixteen and handed them over.

"These sixteen pills will replenish your blood and qi. They're for you."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

"Go on. And stop by the place where they prepare Medicinal Mud and ask Leng Qiuyue to come here."

Fang Xing and Hu Xiangyang accepted their reward and cupped their hands before turning to leave.

Alone in the Stone Chamber, Liu Feng murmured, "Ma Kun's taken care of. I've also put contingencies in place."

If he could, he'd also have liked to get rid of Second Senior Brother's two dogs, Su Jing and Su Anjie.

But Second Senior Brother was right there in the valley, so Liu Feng had no chance to make a move. In that case, all he could do was leave two Gu Servants behind to watch over her in secret.

Her parents entrusted her to me with their dying breaths. I've done all I can. Once she's stronger, I'll give her the Exotic Gu Egg, "Flower Immortal."

As he wondered if there were any other hidden threats, the two Gu Servants didn't keep Liu Feng waiting long.

Light footsteps soon sounded in the passage outside the cave.

A pretty figure appeared at the Stone Chamber's entrance. The young woman's face was flushed. It was Leng Qiuyue, who had come alone.

Now that she and Liu Feng were face-to-face again, Leng Qiuyue seemed tongue-tied, her manner oddly awkward.

"Greetings, Fourth Senior Brother. I wonder why you called me here... Is there something you need?" Leng Qiuyue twisted her slender fingers together, growing more and more flustered.

"Here are twenty pills to replenish your blood and qi. Take them and build up your strength."

Liu Feng casually held out the wooden box. When he glanced up, he couldn't help but freeze.

He found Leng Qiuyue staring at his profile, bashful, her cheeks flushed. Something was very off.

As she reached for the box, her face grew even redder, as though it might turn purple.

"Hm!" Liu Feng froze for a moment, then thought it over and understood.

He had yet to experience love between a man and a woman, but he could still guess at some of her feelings from the signs.

A woman's heart was said to be mysterious, but it wasn't all that hard to read.

After his Metamorphic Rebirth, his appearance was quite good. To Leng Qiuyue, he was also powerful, and now he had the status of Insect Valley's Fourth Senior Brother.

Of course, the key was that he'd repeatedly shown her kindness and even bluntly said, "I've taken a fancy to this girl."

Leng Qiuyue was alone and helpless, searching desperately for her parents. Now he had appeared to help her, so it was only natural that her feelings would change.

Leng Qiuyue, bashful before him now, was truly charming. For a hot-blooded young man, she was undeniably alluring.

As though possessed, Liu Feng reached out and laid his hand against Leng Qiuyue's flushed cheek.

Leng Qiuyue's delicate body trembled, but she didn't pull away. As she felt his large hand brush over her right cheek, her heart pounded wildly.