Chapter 32 – Wu Fei Yu

Zhan Changfeng had no interest in the affairs between Wu Xingshan and the Founding Emperor — she only wanted to figure out what use the Emperor’s Flower served, and where the souls of the sacrificed craftsmen had gone.

Those souls should have been here. Otherwise, there was no way there would be so much resentment lingering about.

“Little one, such arrogance is unbecoming.”

Wu Xingshan’s expression surfaced on Wu Cheng’s face, filling Wu Bing with unrestrained joy. He immediately kowtowed. “Founding Master, you’ve finally come!”

What — the Founding Master’s neck was still in Zhan Changfeng’s grip?

That was nothing!

Wu Bing firmly believed the Founding Master would never be pushed around by a mere child.

In truth, however, Wu Xingshan could feel the icy chill of the Ink-Jade Archer’s Ring pressing against his neck and dared not move at all. He gestured with his eyes for Wu Bing to restrain Zhan Changfeng, but Wu Bing was too busy staring at him with reverent, overjoyed eyes.

Damn it all — how had his disciples gotten more and more stupid with every generation?

Zhan Changfeng noticed Wu Xingshan straightening his back, so she casually kicked him in the back of the knee. Thud — a dull, heavy sound. Wu Xingshan’s face split into a grimace of pain, and Wu Bing’s eyes went wide with horror.

It seemed…

“Great-great Founding Master, is your knee alright?!”

Wu Xingshan knelt on one knee, his expression dark. “You’ve got some nerve.”

Zhan Changfeng felt not the slightest bit of remorse. In truth, she had no habit of kicking people in the knee to make them kneel — it was mainly that, in the past, people would bow before her, or she would stand atop the golden steps. She’d never once had to look up at anyone.

She never accommodated others, and moreover, she still had her hand around his neck. If Wu Xingshan stood up, wouldn’t she be unable to reach him?

But after that kick, Wu Xingshan rolled his eyes and his gaze turned flustered. “What are you trying to do? Be careful, or I’ll curse you with a gu!”

Zhan Changfeng furrowed her brow. “Wu Cheng?”

Was Wu Xingshan going to play the tortoise and hide in his shell?

Fine. It didn’t matter whether she knew or not — when the time came, she’d just blow this whole place up.

Just as Zhan Changfeng was considering running him through with her sword to eliminate any future trouble, a few sounds came from outside the hall — something like the thud of objects falling to the ground.

What was outside? Only those thirty-odd coffins hanging from the ceiling.

“What have you done?” Zhan Changfeng set aside her original plan for now and kept Wu Cheng as a hostage.

Wu Bing had clearly heard the sounds too. He glanced at his subordinates, then looked over at Jiang Wei, Songshi Zi, and Qiao Shan Ke — everyone was still here.

Everyone’s nerves tensed. Who was outside?!

Shh, shh, shh~

The sound was faint yet dense, like swarms of insects crawling their way toward this place.

“Not good!” Wu Bing shouted. The Gaotian Tribe member closest to the hall doors instantly understood and spun around to shut them tight.

That member of the Gaotian Tribe let out a breath of relief and smiled. “Thank goodness we were in time.”

But the expressions of everyone else had turned strange.

“What’s wrong with all of you — why are you making those faces?” he asked in bewilderment, touching his own cheek. His fingers came away with a handful of rotting flesh — and inside the flesh, black insects were crawling!

A living person had been reduced to a pile of rotting meat within just a few breaths. The impact of witnessing that was no small thing.

The rustling sound was unceasing. The windows became covered in a dense, crawling shadow.

Qiao Shan Ke thought of the gu inside his own body and his legs instantly went weak. “You Wu bastard — your insects are absolutely revolting! If you want me dead, just give me a clean cut with a blade!”

Wu Bing’s face went rigid as he forced out the words, “Who said these belong to me?”

“Then where in the hells did these things come from?!”

The black insects burst free from the rotting flesh and crawled swiftly toward the nearest people, moving with terrifying speed. Everyone scrambled in all directions, desperate to avoid contact.

“Damn it all, think of something!”

“Fire! Use fire!”

Wu Bing frantically ordered his men to burn the insects with fire, while also shouting at Zhan Changfeng, “Hurry and release the Founding Master! The Founding Master is a master of gu — he will surely be able to control these gu insects!”

In truth, Wu Bing suspected these gu insects had been raised by the Founding Master inside the coffins. He had lived his whole life without ever seeing such fearsome gu insects.

“Can you really?” Zhan Changfeng asked.

Wu Cheng didn’t stop to think carefully — he only felt the grip around his neck, which could snap it in an instant. “I can, I can, I can!”

“And Wu Xingshan?”

“He taught me the incantation — these gu are his!”

That didn’t add up. Zhan Changfeng’s gaze went cold. “So he was the one who called them out?”

It would just be simpler to kill him outright. Zhan Changfeng’s grip suddenly tightened.

“Cough —” Wu Cheng’s head throbbed and swelled. “Don’t, don’t, don’t — that’s not what happened. Someone must have opened the coffins!”

The hall doors were abruptly flung open, and tens of thousands of black insects surged in, making everyone’s scalps crawl.

“My, why would you close the doors? So heartless — it really breaks a girl’s heart.” A figure stepped in against the backlight, moving with languid, swaying grace.

Her words were coquettish, yet her voice was cold and unhurried — piercingly thin, without a trace of sweetness.

Zhan Changfeng noticed that the black insects all moved around her, giving her a wide berth. She lowered her voice. “Are you sure these gu insects are yours and not hers?”

Wu Cheng’s face went deathly pale, as though he had seen something truly terrifying.

Wu Bing also began retreating step after step. “You — you actually escaped?!”

“Surprised? Happy?” The black insects parted to form a path, and she strolled leisurely into the Great Hall. The Eternal Lamps finally illuminated her features.

Her face — one half was like a butterfly among flowers: beautiful, flawless, peerless.

The other half was laced with black markings: ugly, sinister, mysterious.

Her eyes were one blue and one silver, like vortexes set with starlight — entrancing and yet repelling. She looked at Zhan Changfeng and smiled in the dim light, like a poppy. “Little treasure, would you lend me that little gentleman in your hands for a while?”

“No!” Before Zhan Changfeng could even respond, Wu Cheng let out a wretched, shrill scream and grabbed Zhan Changfeng’s wrist, pressing it harder against his own neck. “Whatever you do, don’t let go — don’t let go! I’ll tell you what the Emperor’s Flower is!”

Zhan Changfeng’s already volatile temper had been suppressed to its absolute limit. She had been enduring her own revulsion to personally control him for so long — and he actually dared to touch her wrist!

His Highness the Crown Prince’s obsession with cleanliness finally erupted beyond all hope of restraint. With a flick of her hand, she flung Wu Cheng away.

In an instant, Wu Xingshan’s spectral form floated above Wu Cheng’s head, rapidly forming several hand seals. The black insects halted for a brief moment, then scattered like a receding tide.

They retreated to the woman’s feet and went still once more.

Wu Xingshan’s expression shifted uneasily. “Who are you, to be able to control my gu insects?”

“Founding Master, she is a monster! Please kill her at once!” Wu Bing bellowed urgently, his words earnest.

Around her pale, slender hand coiled a golden serpent no thicker than a little finger, flicking its tongue toward Wu Bing.

Wu Bing’s face changed color again. “You actually opened the Feathered Serpent Gu?!”

The Feathered Serpent Gu had been sealed in one of the coffins inside the chamber of the hidden tomb. The Gaotian Tribe had obtained it by chance from a rare beast’s Feathered Serpent egg, and it had taken six hundred years to refine into a gu.

Wu Bing felt both pained and terrified. A gu would obey whoever had refined it — yet this demonic woman could disregard all such restrictions and freely control a gu that already had a master. Was she even human?!

“Such an adorable little treasure — how could you keep it locked away?” The woman smiled as she extended her finger. “Go say hello.”

The golden serpent glided along her finger, its form growing larger inch by inch.

By the time it touched the ground, it had become a massive serpent over thirty zhang in length. Its triangular head was ferocious and imposing; on either side of its head were bony membranes that spread open like wings. Its dark gold, slit pupils were as cold and hard as stone.

This enormous golden serpent terrified everyone present, sending them all scrambling and tumbling backwards.

Oh my — our fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged, bug-breaking, lovesick poison maiden has made her appearance!

(End of Chapter)