Qingya Village's Trump Card

Qingya Village's Killer Move

Ma Shi was silent for a long time before finally nodding. "I cannot abandon Qingya Village's reputation and renown simply because I pity my own son's life." Ma Bianlang was overjoyed.

I sighed inwardly. The Ma father and son really were stubborn. At the same time, I began to grow wary, wondering just what kind of Gu insect this thing they spoke of really was.

Ma Shi said to me, "Xiao Kunlun, tonight we will go and invite out Qingya Village's Super Divine Gu. Tomorrow night, we will settle this once and for all. I'll have someone escort you to the stilt house to rest, and absolutely no one will disturb you."

Changing the date of the Gu duel so suddenly put Ma Shi in the wrong. But if I did not fight this match, it would be very hard for me to leave in one piece.

I nodded. "No problem. I'll wait for you one day. As for Miss Guo Ni, how do you plan to arrange things?"

Ma Shi said, "Miss Guo Ni may stay with you in the stilt house, or she may stay with her father. She can decide for herself."

I glanced at Guo Ni. Guo Ni said, "I'll go with Xiao Kunlun. Chen Junfeng has nothing to do with me at all."

Chen Junfeng's face turned exceptionally ugly. With a flick of his sleeve, he snapped, "Once Xiao Kunlun loses the Gu duel, I'll deal with you properly."

Ma Shi made an inviting gesture. Guo Ni and I, escorted by a group of people, returned to the stilt house through the light rain. Ma Shi and Ma Bianlang, meanwhile, left Qingya Village that very night.

"Brother Kunlun, you're finally back. A strange bug suddenly appeared on Xiaodao, and I can't drive it away no matter what!" Ma Erlei said anxiously. He glanced at Guo Ni, a little surprised, then asked, "When are we leaving?"

I said, "We'll stay one more night. No rush for now. Take me to see Xiaodao."

Xiao Yudao was lying on the bed, her face pale, her breathing steady. I stepped closer and saw that it was a Qingfu Larva. My heart settled back into place, and I said, "It's a Qingfu Larva used for tracking. If I'm not mistaken, it was Master Ma Huoxin who placed it on Xiaodao. The Qingfu Larva has suddenly grown restless, so Ma Huoxin must have come out looking for us."

Ma Huoxin had placed the Qingfu Larva on Xiao Yudao because he was afraid something might happen to her, or that she might get lost. Several days had already passed since we had gone out to gather herbs. Ma Huoxin must have gotten anxious and come searching. Judging by the Qingfu Larva's reaction, Ma Huoxin should be somewhere not far from Qingya Village.

Late at night, when all was quiet, Ma Erlei and Xiao Yudao had both fallen asleep.

I lit the brazier and asked, "Miss Guo Ni, why does your stepfather want the Seven-Colored Gu?"

Guo Ni lifted her head and glanced at me. "I'm not very sure. But my mother told me that after marrying into Qingya Village, I wouldn't have to follow Chen Junfeng anymore. She also told me to listen to Chen Junfeng, and said Ma Bianlang was a young, handsome boy. I thought leaving home and living in a new place might be a good beginning for me, so I agreed to them."

I laughed twice and said, "Looks like your birth mother and stepfather tricked you. To tell you the truth, the first time I saw Ma Bianlang, I almost vomited from disgust. He puts on the face of a gentleman while using ghostly tricks to scheme against me."

"Xiao Kunlun, there aren't only three insects on you, are there?" Guo Ni clearly did not want to talk about Ma Bianlang, and changed the subject. "There's one inside your body, and another wrapped inside a stone."

I was slightly startled. I had not expected Guo Ni to be able to sense that merely by sitting beside me. Could it be that she had some kind of special ability? I said, "You're pretty amazing!"

Guo Ni added, "The Gu insect Ma Bianlang uses tomorrow night should be stronger than the Seven-Colored Gu. If you use the Gu insect inside your body, you should be able to beat him."

I grew even more surprised. Guo Ni had actually seen how formidable the Innate Insect was. I could not help giving her a thumbs-up. "You're simply a genius. How did you know there was an insect inside me?"

Guo Ni said, "My ears are very special. I can hear the faint sounds insects make. I judge their strength from the sounds they give off, and I'm usually not wrong."

So it was an innate gift. I thought to myself that I had assumed she had mastered some kind of method for sensing Gu insects.

I added a piece of firewood to the brazier. The flames rose, reflecting until my face was flushed red.

Guo Ni suddenly widened her eyes and stared at me. After a long while, she still did not look away. She could not help sighing. "So alike. Really so alike."

"What's alike? What exactly are you talking about?" I hurriedly asked.

"I saw an old photograph in one of my mother's old photo albums," Guo Ni said, rubbing her temples. "There was someone in it who looked so much like you. I don't know if he has anything to do with you."

I was silent for a moment, then said heavily, "He definitely has nothing to do with me!"

That man who abandoned my mother and me back then had nothing to do with me at all!

Guo Ni noticed the subtle change in me and said, "Then pretend I didn't say anything. You really can't tell good from bad!"

I laughed. "If I couldn't tell good from bad, I wouldn't have helped you, and I definitely wouldn't have kicked Chen Junfeng."

The two of us parted on bad terms.

I even felt a few threads of regret in my heart. Guo Ni was clearly spoiled with a young lady's temper, doing things without considering the consequences. Why had I bothered helping her? I really had brought this suffering on myself.

I slept in my clothes. In the middle of the night, I felt as if a giant spider were crouched on the window, but when I opened my eyes and looked, there was no shadow of anything.

When I woke early the next morning, Xiao Yudao could already get out of bed and walk slowly. She ate two small bowls of thin porridge, and her strength had recovered quite a bit. Ma Erlei and I were both overjoyed.

By noon, the clouds and mist had retreated, and the sun drilled out from between them. All of Qingya Village was bathed in sunlight. But gradually, I sensed a faint thread of corpse qi flowing through the air. Even under the sunlight, that weak corpse qi still drifted in the air, along with a nauseating odor.

"Xiao Kunlun, they have invited out Qingya Village's Super Divine Gu. Its strange stench is floating through the air," Guo Ni stated without emotion. "Use the insect inside your body."

I said, "Miss Guo Ni, thank you for the reminder. The Gu insect inside me doesn't listen to me. I can only use the Three-Corpse Snake Gu to deal with the Super Divine Gu. I'll do my best and leave everything to the will of heaven."

Guo Ni looked as if she wanted to say something, but the words reached her lips and then she swallowed them back.

The brightly sunlit afternoon passed quickly, and night arrived.

I had Ma Erlei stay behind to look after Xiao Yudao, then walked out of the stilt house alone. Guo Ni chased after me and said, "Xiao Kunlun, if you die, I'll collect your corpse, bury you properly, and guard your grave for ten years."

"My dear grandaunt, can you say something auspicious or not? The Gu duel hasn't even started yet, and you're already cursing me to die. Are we partners in the same trench or not?" I said irritably.

Guo Ni froze for a moment. "I only wanted to put your mind at ease. Wasn't that something I should say?"

"My dear grandaunt, I really surrender." I quickened my steps. I truly could not understand how there could be someone in this world who spoke like that.

I swept a glance at Guo Ni. In her hand, she was tightly clutching half a bowl shard.

The braziers in front of Qingya Village's ancestral hall had not been lit. Instead, they had been replaced with two white lanterns. From afar, they looked especially sinister. When we entered the Qingya Village ancestral hall, every oil candle had been covered with a white lampshade.

Qingya Village's ancestral hall seemed especially gloomy and cold, as if we had already stepped into the deepest days of winter.

Under the dim light, Ma Bianlang wore a suit of white clothes. His tiny eyes bulged outward, and on his hands was a pair of black leather gloves. A table stood before him, and by his feet sat a bamboo basket.

Ma Shi and Chen Junfeng stood at a distance.

"Xiao Kunlun, you've got quite the guts! Since you dared to come, you count as a real man!" Ma Bianlang said in a sinister voice. "Today, I'll let you taste Qingya Village's killer move. Offend Qingya Village, offend me, Ma Bianlang, and you won't come to a good end."

Tonight's Ma Bianlang was completely different from the one I had seen a few days ago. He was stranger, more sinister, wrapped in a layer of evil qi that made people shudder. The tone of his voice, paired with his appearance and the light at that moment, made me feel for an instant as if this place were the underworld, and Ma Bianlang was a little ghost from the netherworld come to hook away souls.

I burst into loud laughter and said, "I, Xiao Kunlun, have dealt with poisonous insects since childhood, and I've forged myself a body full of courage. As for me, even if it were the King of Hell from the underworld, I wouldn't fear him, let alone a little ghost like you."

Ma Bianlang's eyelids twitched. His white clothes fluttered as he bent down and took a mud-covered jar out of the bamboo basket. At the same time, an eight-armed monster appeared behind Ma Bianlang.