Black Worm

Black Insect

The strength in my arms grew greater and greater, and Wu Daochao's neck gave off brittle cracks.

Yet his expression did not change in the slightest. He even let out a mocking laugh. "Hei Moyun must have planted a Gu insect inside your body. It's perfectly normal for it to exert force at a time like this. Unfortunately, I've already died once. Borrowing the power of a Gu insect, you can't kill me at all."

My eyes were bloodred, insect shadows flashing through them.

Wu Daochao's pupils dilated, and he cried out in shock, "What Gu insect is inside you?"

My half-kneeling body slowly stood up. I grabbed Wu Daochao's long hair, easing the pain in my throat. His hair was covered in filth, and tiny insects crawled through it.

Wu Daochao suddenly cried out in alarm and kicked me in the chest. I flew backward, and he immediately rolled his hair back. Bloody marks had been strangled into my neck. I crashed down beside Xiao Yudao. The Black Snake Staff was still lodged in her chest, fresh blood flowing nonstop.

Rage burned in my chest. My blood vessels felt as if they were about to burst.

"I'm very angry... You stole my Gu insect and killed my friend. I want you dead..." My eyes were bloodshot as I stared Wu Daochao down.

Wu Daochao held the jar containing the Three-Corpse Snake Gu. The bamboo tubes on his body clattered against one another with crisp sounds. He froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth and shouted, "You little brat, you're damned uncanny. Today I'll cut off all future trouble for good." When his mouth closed, two canine teeth jutted out, turning into zombie fangs.

Wu Daochao stamped his right foot hard on the ground, sending out a signal. The various vessels piled on the stones began to make noises, the sealing oil paper splitting open from the middle. Several black shadows, red shadows, green shadows, and even rainbow-colored shadows all leapt out together.

Wu Daochao had released all the Gu insects he used for the jars. His purpose was to kill me. Deep in my heart, a voice rang out: I can't die. I, Xiao Kunlun, can't die.

Seeing so many Gu insects flying toward me, I roared, "You rotten pieces of trash think you can kill me? It won't be that easy." Some Gu insects were shaken by the force and fell straight to the ground.

But two Silver Snake Gu and one Seven-Colored Gu still landed on my shoulders. With a sizzling sound, they burrowed in from both sides. My body swayed, and I nearly failed to stay on my feet.

Wu Daochao laughed smugly. "The Seven-Colored Gu is second only to the Golden Silkworm Gu, and the Silver Snake Gu is also one of the Miao Borderlands' ten great Gu insects. No matter how powerful the Gu insect inside you is, it can't possibly withstand the attack of three Gu insects."

Three Gu insects burrowed into my body. My vision went black, and I only felt saltiness in my mouth as a fishy taste surged upward, filling my mouth with fresh blood. I had once faced off against the Blood Mantis, but this time three Gu insects had come at once, and their killing power had increased by quite a bit.

I forced the blood down and still laughed wildly. "I'm very angry. If I don't kill you today, I'll live on carrying humiliation. I'm telling you, so what if they're the Seven-Colored Gu and Silver Snake Gu? To me, they're nothing but little Gu insects."

The Innate Insect inside my body was even more formidable than the Three-Corpse Snake Gu. Xiao Guo, the Innate Insect was the most yin and evil poisonous insect in the world. It was linked to my bloodline. If I died, it would not live well either. It was impossible for it to let the Seven-Colored Gu and Silver Snake Gu kill me.

With that confidence, I took two steps forward.

Wu Daochao looked at me in disbelief, holding the jar in his hand, which seemed to tremble slightly. I widened my eyes and looked at Wu Daochao, slowly opened my mouth, and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Within the black blood, the shadows of the Silver Snake Gu and Seven-Colored Gu could still be seen.

Under my towering rage, the Innate Insect had used the fastest and most direct method to finish off the Seven-Colored Gu and Silver Snake Gu.

The flames in the brazier burned brighter and brighter, and the light inside the cave grew increasingly clear.

Wu Daochao cried out in shock, "Impossible. There can't be an insect this poisonous in the world. Even the Golden Silkworm Gu would need a full day and night to finish off one Seven-Colored Gu and two Silver Snake Gu. In this world..."

Wu Daochao suddenly stopped. Only after a long while did he shout, "It's the Innate Insect. It's the most yin and evil Innate Insect, the poisonous insect that ran from the underworld into the world of the living!"

Wu Daochao's eyes bulged wide, and at last he shouted again, "You're that child. The child they've always been looking for. So Junior Brother found you long ago."

I tilted my head and looked at Wu Daochao. "What child? Who wants to find me?"

Wu Daochao retreated two steps and said, "The child carrying the Innate Insect, the one who descended into this world thirteen years ago. They are them... I never thought you'd fall into my hands. Martial Nephew, I've changed my mind. I won't kill you. Kowtow to me and acknowledge me as your master. I'll teach you how to drive the Innate Insect, and you'll become more and more powerful."

Wu Daochao's expression suddenly changed. He stamped his right foot hard on the ground, and the Gu insects scattered around began to retreat. From the look of it, he seemed to want to make peace with me.

I sneered inwardly. A zombie like you, hiding in a cave, thinks you're worthy of making me kneel? What a joke. Truly the biggest joke under heaven.

"You won't kill me, but I'm going to kill you. I'm very angry, and when I'm angry, the consequences are very serious." I shifted my steps and began walking toward Wu Daochao, my fists filled with strength.

Everything inside the cave was covered in a layer of blood-red. Only one thought remained in my mind: kill Wu Daochao. Just like when Luo Chui had insulted me with his words back then, and I had wanted to kill him too.

Wu Daochao said, "You must be thinking that a zombie like me, someone who died and came back to life, has no right to teach you. But don't forget, you and I are the same. We're both evil people. You have the Innate Insect on you. In this life, don't even dream of being a good person."

I no longer paid Wu Daochao any attention and stared fixedly at him.

Kill him! Only that one thought remained in my mind.

Poisonous light once again shot from Wu Daochao's eyes, and he shouted, "Since you refuse to kneel before me, then I'll have to seize your Innate Insect."

Wu Daochao shifted his steps, leapt high into the air, and kicked over. I blocked with both hands, and a tremendous force spread out with the momentum. Instinctively, I retreated several steps. In the blink of an eye, Wu Daochao charged over again, striking out with several palm blows in succession.

I only felt that his hands were hard as iron. Every punch that came at me hurt like hell. I fell to the ground, my body aching unbearably, yet I still stared at Wu Daochao.

"Die!" Wu Daochao came in to kill me like a ghostly phantom, raising his right palm and smashing it toward my heart. If that palm struck my chest, my heart would definitely be shaken apart, and I would not survive.

I had no time to dodge and could only watch as the withered palm came down. Just when it was still half a meter from me, the Black and White Worms crawled out of the iron jar. The black insect among them shot out ferociously and burrowed straight into the center of Wu Daochao's right palm.

"Where did you get these Black and White Worms?" Wu Daochao's speed dropped sharply. His body abruptly curled, and with a somersault, he rolled off to the side, kneeling on one knee. His left hand clutched his right hand, his expression looking extremely pained.

At the same time, the white insect crawled onto my head, and a coolness spread out. The rage in my heart weakened considerably, the blood-red faded away, and when my eyes looked around, they returned to normal as well.

Of the things I had said just now, how many were truly spoken by me, and how many had conveyed the will of the Innate Insect? I felt a wave of terror. During that stretch of time just now, it had been as if I were being controlled by the Innate Insect.

As the coolness spread, my whole self became much clearer-headed.

Wu Daochao had been struck by the black insect and let out several miserable screams in succession. The corpse qi on his body rapidly dispersed, his face changed, and his eyes were no longer as terrifying as before.

Wu Daochao's left hand moved. Just now it had been clutching his right wrist, but now it was already gripping his shoulder, which showed that the black insect had slipped to his shoulder.

"Tell me, where did you get the Black and White Worms?" Wu Daochao endured the severe pain and stared fixedly at me.

I said, "From the look of you, it seems like you know these Black and White Worms. You tell me first about the origin of the Black and White Twin Insects."

Wu Daochao screamed miserably twice more and said, "These are Gu insects left behind by my master. He said that if any one of us three brothers became an evil person, the Black and White Worms would punish him. I thought it was just meant to scare us. I never thought that dead old man had truly left behind this pair of insects."

My mind quickly turned. These Black and White Worms had been obtained from the Gu God Temple, from inside the Gu God statue, back when it was burning in the great fire. I had suddenly heard a voice shouting, and only then had I turned back and found the Black and White Twin Insects.

Could the voice that called my name back then have come from Grandmaster? Was Grandmaster the statue standing in the Gu God Temple? Was he the Gu God?

Master had said back then that I was the Gu God's successor. The Black and White Twin Insects ending up in my hands happened to prove that point.

Wu Daochao had been bored into by the black insect, and he was in unbearable pain. The corpse qi on his body rapidly scattered away.

A living person relied on a single breath to live, and a zombie relied on a breath of corpse qi to walk and leap.

If the corpse qi on Wu Daochao's body was exhausted, he would become a dried corpse and would no longer be able to hop around.

Thinking of this, I let out a breath.

"Wu Daochao, this is your retribution. I'm the successor chosen by the Gu God. If you dare lay a hand on me, the black insect will naturally take your life," I shouted. After all that chaos just now, my strength had been greatly drained, and I was almost on the verge of collapse.

Wu Daochao was tormented by the black insect, his body twitching nonstop, the corpse qi scattering from him very quickly. His fists hammered the ground, full of unwillingness, and he cursed loudly, "You bastard, you've been dead so many years, yet you still held something back... You're too biased. You treated the two of them too well, but you were so harsh on me."

The "them" Wu Daochao spoke of referred to Hei Moyun and Ma Huoxin. He was blaming Grandmaster for being unfair in handling matters, for failing to hold the bowl of water level.

The more violently Wu Daochao struggled, the faster the corpse qi scattered from him. In the end, he collapsed to the ground, his body stiff, without the strength to hop around anymore.

I hesitated for a while, then slowly walked forward, wanting to confirm whether Wu Daochao was dead or not. Wu Daochao's hair was disheveled, his face deathly pale, and the long nails on both his hands had also fallen to the ground.

The black insect burrowed out from Wu Daochao's forehead. Its body sprang up and landed on my shoulder, leaning against the white insect. I could sense that the black insect's aura had weakened a great deal.

"I'm not dead yet!" Wu Daochao suddenly opened his eyes, his body straightened, and he sprang up directly. "This black insect isn't as powerful as the legends say. Martial Nephew, do you have any other tricks left?"

My heart jolted. The Black and White Twin Insects had suffered the scorching of fierce flames and still had not recovered; they had not completely killed Wu Daochao, this poisonous zombie.

Without changing expression, I shouted, "Wu Daochao, try the white insect next and see whether it can kill you!"

After saying that, my heart hung in suspense.

The black insect was an offensive insect, but the white insect was not. The chill it gave off kept people clear-headed, as if it were an insect that could help heal illness and wounds. If Wu Daochao charged at me again, I feared the white insect would not be able to deal with him.