Gu Spirit Collector

Gu Spirit Collector

Not good, I thought. This color had appeared when I fought Gu against the Nine-Colored Divine Gu too. Later, after the Innate Insect drove the Nine-Colored Divine Gu away, it returned to normal. Why had it appeared again now? Could the fire have triggered the residual poison?

The chirp, chirp, chirp kept coming, extremely distinct.

I looked at the others. They had all closed their eyes to rest and had not noticed the strange cry.

Could I be the only one hearing this bizarre sound?

My heart stirred. The Nine-Colored Snake Gu had deliberately let me off. Could this change in color and the appearance of that strange cry be related to the Nine-Colored Divine Gu?

I decided to go out and take a look.

When I reached the cave entrance, Ma Huoxin suddenly asked, "Who's there? What are you going out for?"

"Martial Uncle, it's me. I don't know why, but my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. I want to find somewhere to relieve myself. I'll be back in a bit." Cold sweat seeped from my forehead. When I had swept my gaze over everyone just now, I had overlooked Ma Huoxin, who was wrapped in gauze.

Ma Huoxin thought for a moment, then said, "We can't rule out there being something wrong with Qingya Village's food. Be careful and make sure you haven't been hit by a Gu insect! I'll have the Walking Corpse go out with you. Don't go far."

I slipped quietly out of the cave, the Walking Corpse following behind me. The chirping sounded again, coming from a small grove more than fifty meters from the cave. I quickened my pace and ran toward the trees.

The Walking Corpse followed with hopping leaps.

"Come out. Why did you ask to meet me?" I called. "Don't hide in the dark like you can't show your face."

After two chirp, chirp sounds, a ghostly shadow flashed out from a larch and landed on a rock beneath the tree. Moonlight fell through the treetops and shone onto the ghostly figure.

I fixed my eyes on it. It was the Gu Spirit Ma Bianlang had driven—the Eight-Handed Monster. Its strange skin looked especially hideous and terrifying under the moonlight. It crouched on the rock, and on its head was an insect over ten centimeters long.

The insect's Sha Qi was oppressive, wrapped in a cloud of mist. Looking closely, one could see brilliant, variegated colors, while its head and tail were black and white.

It was precisely the Nine-Colored Divine Gu.

The Gu Spirit and the Gu insect appearing here at the same time still startled me somewhat. After all, I had only been thinking about it in my heart just now. Now that it had truly happened, I was still a little surprised and chilled afterward.

I cupped my fists and said, "Nine-Colored Divine Gu, I know you're powerful. Today in the Qingya Village ancestral hall, if you hadn't shown mercy, I, Xiao Kunlun, would not be standing here right now. No matter what, I still have to thank you."

These words came from the heart, regardless of whether the Eight-Handed Gu Spirit and the Nine-Colored Divine Gu could understand them or not.

The Nine-Colored Divine Gu shifted its body. The Eight-Handed Gu Spirit tapped its arms on the rock, its mouth opening slightly as it made a "chirp, chirp, chirp" sound. I understood that it was responding to me, but as for what it meant, I was utterly lost.

I waved my hand, indicating that I did not understand, and said, "I don't know what you're saying. If I haven't guessed wrong, you want to ask me about Senior Ma Chunyu's whereabouts, right?"

The Eight-Handed Gu Spirit's eyes froze. It immediately nodded, then made another "chirp, chirp, chirp" sound. I had actually guessed right.

I said, "Senior Ma Chunyu died in Chiyou Valley. For the time being, I don't know how many people harmed him. But one of them is called Wu Daochao. Based on my observation and deduction, Senior Ma Chunyu's physical body has already been destroyed, but his soul should be with Wu Daochao. However, I don't know Wu Daochao's whereabouts."

The Eight-Handed Gu Spirit fell silent for a moment, then leaped forward several meters and stopped about two meters in front of me. Its two uppermost hands came together in a gesture of thanks.

At that moment, the Nine-Colored Divine Gu on its forehead shifted, and what seemed to be a ball of Sha Qi flew out, heading straight toward me. My heart stirred. The Nine-Colored Divine Gu had asked me about Ma Chunyu's whereabouts; it had no reason to kill me.

I chose not to move. That ball of Sha Qi split in two and wrapped around both my hands. A tingling numbness spread out. After roughly a dozen seconds, the Sha Qi flew back.

I felt my hands become much lighter, no longer so uncomfortable. Under the moonlight, their skin color also returned to normal. I understood in my heart that this was the Nine-Colored Divine Gu making a move and removing the Gu poison it had left in my body.

I also cupped my fists and said, "I suppose we can be called friends made after a fight. In the eyes of the world, all of you are evil things. Actually, I'm the same. Many people say I'm an evil spirit, a life-claiming malicious ghost, and that I should have died long ago. But I, Xiao Kunlun, insist on living well, living free and unrestrained, making them suffer, making them regret."

Under the moonlight, the Eight-Handed Gu Spirit's gaze was no longer so vicious. The ghostly power and resentment on its body had weakened greatly.

Perhaps it had sensed my sincerity;

Or perhaps it had detected the utmost-yin, utmost-evil Innate Insect inside me and, out of closeness to one of its own kind, had withdrawn its resentment and ghostly power.

Curious, I asked, "Eight-Handed, with so many ghost hands, how exactly did you make them? When you were refined into a Gu Spirit, were some grafting-type modifications made?"

The Eight-Handed Gu Spirit's state of having eight hands made it look like a spider. This change was very likely Ma Chunyu's arms being used, along with a number of souls, to nurture an Eight-Handed Gu Spirit.

The Eight-Handed Gu Spirit cried "chirp, chirp, chirp," and the resentment on its body weakened a little more. Suddenly, it was like a wildcat with its fur standing on end, and it began to shriek madly. The "chirp, chirp, chirp" grew more and more piercing.

I sensed a deadly aura of death behind me and hurriedly dodged to the side. A black umbrella flew past almost brushing my ear and shattered several rocks.

I rolled across the ground, planted my right hand on the earth, and sprang up again. Looking back, I saw the Golden Silkworm Deity in a robe of gold. The Golden Silkworm Deity's plump body was even a little fatter than before.

The Golden Silkworm Deity laughed and said, "Eight-Handed, why go to such bitter lengths to find Ma Chunyu? Wouldn't it be wonderful to be like me, free and unrestrained? Those people from Camellia Village all have to kowtow and kneel to me, constantly worshiping me with incense offerings. You should also become the master of Qingya Village, instead of going to search for Ma Chunyu."

The Golden Silkworm Deity's gaze fell on me, and he said with disdain, "I didn't expect you to still be alive. I thought that once you were afflicted with golden silkworm poison, death was certain. Pity I can't kill you within three years."

Xiao Yudao had made a wish to marry the golden silkworm, but her condition was that the Golden Silkworm Deity could not touch a single hair on my head for three years. At the time, the Golden Silkworm Deity had guessed that I would not survive the Golden Silkworm Gu and would surely die, so he had agreed to Xiao Yudao.

I gritted my teeth and cursed, "You despicable bastard. As a Gu Spirit, you actually dare rebel against humans. You won't come to a good end."

The Golden Silkworm Deity burst out laughing and said, "Xiao Kunlun, you're relying on the fact that I can't kill you to curse me without restraint and preach grand principles. You have your human standpoint; I naturally have my Gu Spirit standpoint. Why can't we pursue freedom? Why must we obey the driving and enslavement of you Gu masters? Why can't it be the other way around... Eight-Handed, you're too foolish. Come with me, and I'll let you speak. I'll help you..."

Eight-Handed waved his right arm, and the resentment and Sha Qi throughout his body grew even stronger. He must have sternly refused the Golden Silkworm Deity. His eyes glared at the Golden Silkworm Deity, and the strange skin on his body also bulged.

The Golden Silkworm Deity said, "Foolish to the extreme, rotten with pedantry. Eight-Handed, come with me. I'll make you a free being."

For a moment, I was somewhat left speechless. I actually had no answer for the Golden Silkworm Deity's three questions. The art of raising Gu had been passed down for a long time, and Gu insects and Gu Spirits all had to obey the commands of Gu masters.

But once Gu Spirits and Gu insects awakened consciousness and turned around to control Gu masters, then from their standpoint, there was not the slightest problem. But I was human. Standing from the human side, I had to resolutely deal with evil spirits like the Golden Silkworm Deity.

I said, "Bastard! Stop spouting nonsense, disrupting the rules between Gu masters and Gu, and stop bewitching people's hearts. I'm telling you, Great Gu Master Ma Xiaolou is still in the world. He's about to return. You won't be able to hop around for much longer."

"Ma Xiaolou has been missing for more than ten years. Even if he comes back, I'm not afraid of him!" the Golden Silkworm Deity shouted.

Eight-Handed's Sha Qi grew even thicker all over his body, and he looked at the Golden Silkworm Deity with extreme hostility. The Nine-Colored Divine Gu on his head also began to stir.

The Golden Silkworm Deity shook his head and sighed. "Since you won't listen to me, don't blame me for getting rough. We're the same kind, yet you refuse to stand on my side."

The Golden Silkworm Deity's words had only just fallen when, in the blink of an eye, he was at Eight-Hand's side. Eight-Hand dodged just as quickly.

The Golden Silkworm Deity snatched up the black umbrella nailed into the ground and let out a thunderous shout. His golden robes billowed, his body swelled several times larger again, and his ghostly power surged sharply.

Though the Eight-Hand Gu Spirit bristled with sinister energy, compared with the Golden Silkworm Deity, there still seemed to be some distance between them.

Sure enough, the Golden Silkworm Deity and the Eight-Hand Gu Spirit had exchanged only ten moves. The black umbrella in the Golden Silkworm Deity's hand was extremely strange, as if it could restrain Eight-Hand.

The Golden Silkworm Deity used the black umbrella to knock Eight-Hand down, pinning him to the ground so he could not move.

The Golden Silkworm Deity shouted, "Eight-Hand, I'll ask you one more time. Will you come with me or not?"

Eight-Hand cried, "Chirp chirp chirp," flatly rejecting the Golden Silkworm Deity. The Golden Silkworm Deity flew into a rage from shame, raised the black umbrella, and stabbed down viciously. I gritted my teeth, dipped my shoulder, sprinted forward, and rammed straight into him.

The Golden Silkworm Deity shifted sideways, dodging aside. The Eight-Hand Gu Spirit was extremely fast; with all eight hands crawling, he shot into the woods.

The Golden Silkworm Deity was in no hurry to chase him. He said, "Xiao Kunlun, once I've gathered the Gu Spirits of the Great Gu Masters from the thirteen dong of the Miao Borderlands, I'll be the greatest evil god in all the Miao Borderlands. Let me tell you, that day will come very soon. When the time comes, I'll kill you however I want."

I clenched both fists and said, "That sweet dream of yours will never come true. You'll live forever inside a dream. I'll stop you for sure. Just you wait and see."

The Golden Silkworm Deity shook his head and said, "You really are the most ridiculous person in the world. This divine umbrella was given to me by an eminent master, specifically to deal with all kinds of Gu Spirits. My dream will be realized very soon. I won't waste words with you. I'm going after Eight-Hand."