Peril

Peril

Enraged, the man in black issued a kill order. After the Blood Mantis Gu killed Ma Huoxin, I would be its next target.

That was why Ma Huoxin had shoved me away with all his strength, telling me to run.

The force sent me rolling more than six feet away.

Under the bright moonlight, Ma Huoxin's entire body was blood-red. His head had swollen several sizes larger than before, and blood was beginning to seep from his eyes and ears.

Blood flowed from all seven orifices!

Only then did I understand why people turned pale at the mention of Gu. When Gu poison flared up, it was simply too terrifying.

If I ran now, I would be no hero. I shouted, "Uncle Ma, between the Blood Mantis and the Three-Corpse Snake Gu, which one is more poisonous... Tell me..."

Ma Huoxin lay on the ground, gasping through his nostrils. He no longer had the strength to speak, only shaking his head faintly. His eyes were bloodshot as he urged me to leave quickly.

My mind raced. Master had said that the Three-Corpse Snake Gu was the most vicious Gu insect of the Dong People. Then the Blood Mantis certainly could not compare to the Three-Corpse Snake Gu. Besides, an even more formidable Innate Insect was hidden within my body.

I had no reason to fear the Blood Mantis.

Of course, that was only my guess. At a moment like this, there was no time to test it.

I gathered my courage and rushed forward, grabbing Ma Huoxin's hands. The instant I seized them, waves of mournful infant wails rang in my ears, incomparably shrill and filled with resentment.

"Blood Mantis, if you've got the guts, crawl into my body!" I shouted with all my strength.

I did not know how to remove Gu, so I could only hope to provoke the Mantis Gu and draw it into my body. With the Innate Insect inside me, along with the Three-Corpse Snake Gu I carried, I would definitely be able to kill the Blood Mantis.

Waaah! Heehee! The shrill cries circled my ears. I could even see a blood-red infant standing before me, baring red teeth and glaring at me with venomous hatred.

I gritted my teeth and shouted, "Blood Mantis, I'm going to kill you! Grudge Spirit, little ghost, little bastard, I fear neither heaven nor earth. You think I'm afraid of your teeth? I'm not afraid of you!"

Just as I began cursing wildly, I felt something tear through my right palm. Joy surged through me. The Blood Mantis had crawled over from Ma Huoxin's palm. Compared with the torment of the Innate Poison Insect, I could endure this tearing pain.

The entire process lasted a full five minutes before the Blood Mantis completely entered my body. All strength drained from me, and I fell face-first to the ground. The bright moon hung high in the sky, silently watching me.

Pain spread out from my right hand. Within seconds, it had reached every part of my body. With every passing second, the pain doubled. In the end, it felt as if more than a dozen steel blades were carving up my flesh.

I felt that I could not endure it any longer. My will was about to collapse.

I stared at the moon. Slowly, it turned into Master's face, and I could not help crying out, "Master, it hurts so much. Save me!"

Master smiled and said, "Kunlun, you are one in ten thousand. You should not die at the hands of a mere Blood Mantis."

My eyes flew wide open. A domineering force surged through me, followed by a clogged sensation in my throat. I could not stop coughing. Bracing myself against the ground with my right hand, I rolled over and coughed up a great mouthful of blood. Amid the blood, I could see half of a formed Mantis Gu.

Very soon, the half-formed Mantis Gu vanished into the blood.

The shrill cries of the infant that had lingered in my ears also disappeared.

The Blood Mantis was dead.

I panted heavily. After resting for quite some time, I struggled over to Ma Huoxin's side. His eyes were already closed, and his body was stiff. I hurriedly checked his breathing and found that he still had a faint breath.

What should I do? I racked my brains. Although Uncle Ma was still breathing, there had to be poison remaining in his body. If it was not removed, he would surely die.

I was weak all over, my head spinning and blank. After slapping myself heavily a few times, I remembered how Master had once treated someone afflicted by Gu. He had cut open the bruised areas on that person's body and drained blood to detoxify him.

I decided to take a risk. Feeling for my dagger, I said, "Uncle Ma, if I accidentally treat you to death, don't blame me."

I decided to gamble on it. First, I used the knife to cut open Uncle Ma's head, which had swollen like a red lantern. I made three cuts in total, then squeezed hard. Sure enough, large amounts of black blood gushed out, some of it flowing into his eyes.

Then I made a cut in each of Uncle Ma's palms and squeezed hard again. More black blood flowed out.

After finishing all that, I sat on the ground and panted heavily. Fortunately, although Uncle Ma remained unconscious, his breathing gradually returned to normal. As long as he woke up, his life would no longer be in danger.

I was afraid the man in black would return to see whether we were dead. Once I had recovered some strength, I gritted my teeth and carried Uncle Ma on my back. I had wanted to take the eight Walking Corpses with us, but no matter how I struck the Yin Gong, they would not move. They stood stiffly by the stream.

I could only take the Yin Gong, carry Uncle Ma, and leave the stream. Following the path we had come by, I walked slowly onward. I was utterly exhausted. At a gentle slope, my foot slipped, and the two of us rolled down together.

By the time we reached the bottom of the slope, I no longer had the strength to walk. The Blood Mantis had tormented me badly too. Getting out alive was already a blessing.

I snapped off some branches and covered Uncle Ma and myself, hiding us away. I prayed that Uncle Ma would wake soon and that we could survive the long night.

I lay motionless, recalling the perilous events that had just happened. If Master had not encouraged me, the Blood Mantis would already have killed me.

Thinking more carefully, when I had fought the Mantis Gu, a domineering force had suddenly surged forth. It was exactly the same as when I had been enraged and used my strength to choke Luo Chui.

I reached out and touched my stomach. What kind of insect is the Innate Insect inside me? Does it have something to do with my birth? If only Master were beside me, then I could ask him.

With all those questions in my mind, I fell into a deep sleep. Vaguely, I saw a faint white glow shining from the iron canister beside me, but it was quickly covered up.

At daybreak, I woke up.

I wiped the bloodstains from Uncle Ma's body with my sleeve and found that his complexion had returned to normal. Only the three scars on his head stood out sharply.

I waited until sunlight blanketed the forest. Uncle Ma's fingers moved, and his lips twitched a few times as well.

I cried out in delight, "Uncle Ma, are you awake?"

"Kunlun, are we in the Netherworld?" Uncle Ma opened his eyes and asked weakly. "Why is it so dark around us? I can only hear your voice and see... see you. It seems that after people die... only souls remain, things that cannot be touched or seen."

I froze, then waved my hand before Uncle Ma's eyes. He did not react at all. Only then did I notice that his once-bright eyes had lost their luster and become hollow.

Uncle Ma could no longer see. Perhaps the poison had not been completely removed.

I said, "Uncle Ma, the Blood Mantis is dead. We're both still alive and well. The poison in your body hasn't been fully cleared, so you can't see for now."

Uncle Ma blinked several times. He seemed to want to say something, but held it back. "You released Xiao Tianxing before, but you saved me last night. We're even now."

I helped Uncle Ma sit up, then gave him the briefest possible account of what had happened the night before.

Uncle Ma gave me a thumbs-up. "Kunlun, you've got guts! You dared draw the Blood Mantis into your own body. And you had the wisdom to think of bloodletting to remove the poison! Incredible."

While recounting it, I skipped over the part about the Innate Insect's power and said only that it was all thanks to the Three-Corpse Snake Gu.

Uncle Ma did not press me for details.

I asked, "Uncle Ma, when the Blood Mantis acted up, I heard the shrill crying of an infant. I kept feeling that it would come forward to drink my blood. What was that about?"

Uncle Ma said, "Kunlun, the Blood Mantis uses an infant's blood. Perhaps that crying was the resentment left behind by that infant. Once the Blood Mantis was destroyed, the crying naturally disappeared."

So that was it. It seemed the man in black was truly evil, using an infant's blood to raise Gu.

I helped Uncle Ma leave the slope. Under his guidance, I made a trap and caught a wild rabbit, then built a fire and roasted it. I also gathered medicinal herbs for wounds and bandaged Uncle Ma's injuries.

Since Uncle Ma could not see, he had no way to control the eight Walking Corpses over a long journey. We found a cave and shut them inside, planning to come back for them later.

I said, "Uncle Ma, we've delayed for two days. We need to reach Clearwater Creek as soon as possible. I'm afraid my Master is already waiting for me there."

Uncle Ma nodded.

Since Uncle Ma could not see for the time being, I used a bamboo stick to lead him along.

Along the way, Uncle Ma told me much about the sorcery and taboos of raising Gu, including methods for raising Mantis Gu and the differences between how the Dong People and Miao People raised Gu. It greatly broadened my horizons.

Uncle Ma pointed ahead and said, "Guizhou, Hunan, and part of Yunnan all broadly belong to the Miao Borderlands. Since ancient times, Gu arts have flourished there, combining with all kinds of sorcery and becoming one of China's greatest wonders. In Guizhou, the Three-Corpse Snake Gu is famous. In Western Hunan, the Golden Silkworm Gu is the strongest. Once we cross that mountain ahead, we'll enter Hunan."