txolops Chapter 87 The Golden Gu Old Man
Chapter 87 The Golden Gu Old Man
Luo Ming's heart sank suddenly. Looking at the boundless, churning gray-white sea fog in front of him, an ominous premonition lingered in his mind.
The sea fog covered an extremely wide area. When one tried to probe into it with one's divine sense, it was like trying to sink a mud ox into the sea; the perception was severely weakened and could only be extended to a few dozen feet away.
From the depths of the mist, a low, suppressed roar of a beast could be faintly heard, along with some unsettling fluctuations of spiritual energy.
"Is this the remote island you were talking about?" Luo Ming asked in an unfriendly tone.
"This... I didn't notice this situation when I last came here two years ago!" Liu Shi was also very confused. He didn't expect that his secret cave would be in such a state after two years.
At the edge of the mist, four Foundation Establishment cultivators had gathered, each with a solemn expression and a wary demeanor, maintaining a distance from one another.
One was a middle-aged sword cultivator with a cold and stern face, carrying a long sword, whose aura was at the late Foundation Establishment stage; another was a short and stout old man holding a compass with shifty eyes, who was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage; and there was also a pair of cultivators who seemed to be siblings, the man being burly and the woman petite and delicate, both at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
They were clearly attracted or blocked here by this unusual sea fog.
As soon as Luo Ming approached, several wary gazes swept over him. He remained calm, revealing his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level, and stopped his flying shuttle a short distance away, also frowning as he observed the sea fog.
According to Liu Shi, his secret cave is located deep underground on a deserted island in front of him. He doesn't know what's inside yet, and it's even attracting other cultivators to stay here. How can he feel at ease cultivating in seclusion here?
Just as he was pondering what to do, a vast and chilling divine sense swept over him like a tidal wave, instantly enveloping all the cultivators present.
This divine sense contained a nauseating stench and an indescribable sense of oppression, causing the five Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Luo Ming, to change color and their internal magical power to freeze for a moment.
"Hehehe... I'm lucky to have run into a few little scouts right away."
Amidst the eerie laughter, a streak of gray-black light streaked across the sky and hovered above the sea mist in the blink of an eye.
The light dissipated, revealing an old man with a hunched back, wearing a tattered gray robe.
The old man's face was covered with wrinkles and dark green spots. His eyes were small and narrow, but they shone brightly when they opened and closed. Most striking were the seven or eight small leather bags of different colors that bulged slightly at his waist, and a strange insect about the thickness of a finger, dark gold in color, resembling a centipede but with a pair of wings, that was perched on his shoulder.
"The Golden Gu Old Man!"
The short, stout old man holding the compass cried out in alarm, his face instantly drained of color. The others, upon hearing this, also paled in shock, their eyes filled with deep fear.
Luo Ming's heart also tightened. He had known about this person's reputation before. He was a notorious rogue cultivator in this sea area who had reached the peak of the early stage of Core Formation. He was eccentric and vengeful, and was especially skilled in raising and controlling various strange poisonous insects. His methods were ruthless and vicious, and ordinary cultivators avoided him like the plague.
"Senior..." The cold-faced swordsman forced himself to bow and say, "I am a disciple of Master Miao from Kui Xing Island. I am merely passing through this place today and have no intention of offending anyone. I will leave now." After saying this, he tried to retreat by riding his sword light.
"A disciple surnamed Miao? He's not worth my attention." The old man with the golden gu sneered, his small eyes sweeping over the crowd as if he were looking at a flock of lambs to the slaughter.
"I find this fog rather strange; it seems to conceal something interesting. You lot, why don't you go in and scout it out for me?"
Before he finished speaking, a black shadow flew up from the spirit beast pouch at his waist with a "whoosh," so fast that it left only a blur. The five people present felt a slight pain on the back of their necks or hands, as if they had been bitten by mosquitoes. Immediately afterward, a cold and eerie aura entered their bodies through the wounds and traveled along their meridians.
"What is that?" Luo Ming was shocked and hadn't even reacted before he was hit.
Luo Ming looked inward and saw a strange insect egg, thinner than a hair and almost transparent, attached to his magical energy channels. It was wriggling slightly and emanating a faint sense of confinement and threat.
He tried to attack it with his magic, but the insect was exceptionally tough and faintly connected to his magic. Forcibly removing it would likely damage his very meridians.
"Don't waste your energy. This is my 'Tai Mai Ling Yu'. Be obedient and I will remove it for you after the deed is done. If you dare to move or run away..."
The old man with the golden gu gave a sinister smile, glancing at the cold-faced swordsman who had been the first to suggest leaving.
The sword cultivator's face turned deathly pale, a struggle and ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, remembering the man's infamous reputation, and knowing that the man had no respect for his master, he knew he had no way out today.
His sword energy surged forth, transforming him into a beam of sword light. With a speed far exceeding that of a typical late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he shot off towards the distance from the sea fog! He was actually risking damage to his foundation to force out the Gu worms and escape this place.
"You're courting death." The old man with the golden gu snorted coldly, without even making a move himself.
A black leather pouch at his waist opened automatically, and several thin, almost invisible figures shot out, arriving faster than the sword light in an instant. The dark light entered the sword cultivator's body, the sword light abruptly stopped, revealing his figure. The sword cultivator's face was filled with horror and pain, and his body trembled violently.
The next moment, a scene that sent chills down everyone's spines unfolded.
Beneath the sword cultivator's skin, countless tiny protrusions writhed rapidly, as if countless tiny worms were crawling inside. His eyes quickly lost their luster and became empty. Then, one after another, strange worms, as thin as hair, with sharp heads and grayish-white bodies, slowly emerged from his seven orifices and the pores of his skin, swaying slightly.
The swordsman's body remained standing, but it had lost all life, becoming a bizarre shell controlled by the swarm of insects.
"Iron Wire Corpse Puppet Worm." The short, stout old man's voice trembled, clearly recognizing this terrifying worm. "Once parasitized by it, one's soul is destroyed, and the body becomes a puppet..."
The old man with the golden gu looked with satisfaction at the "sword cultivator puppet" that was slightly twisting and beginning to turn towards them, as if admiring a work of art.
"See that? This is what happens when you disobey. Now, does anyone have any objections?"
The remaining four, including Luo Ming, were all ashen-faced and silent as cicadas in winter.
"You absolutely cannot run around in front of a Core Formation cultivator, or you'll only die faster. It seems the only way to survive is to search for something in that mist."
Against Core Formation cultivators, especially against such insidious and difficult-to-defend Gu cultivators, their cultivation level is indeed no different from that of ants. If they forcefully resist, they will only face death, and a very miserable one at that.
"You, both of you, and you." The old man with the golden gu pointed his withered fingers at the short, fat old man and the brother and sister one by one, and finally landed on Luo Ming.
"You four, go in now, go ten miles in this direction, and see what's inside. If you find anything unusual or anything special, immediately use this 'Mother-Child Sound Transmission Conch' to notify me." He tossed each of them a thumb-sized, dusty conch.