Chapter 9: If You Became a Gu, You Would Surely be Beautiful…
Two days later.
Yun Wuxiang was feeding seagulls by the seaside. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an unidentified object drifting over from the surface of the sea.
[Sanjiu, there seems to be… on the sea] someone riding a fish and waving.
Before he could finish his sentence, 3339’s ear-piercing scream rang out in his mind.
[Ahhh! Why is there another bug?! The World Consciousness clearly reinforced the barrier and changed the restriction conditions. Neither the living nor the dead should be able to enter.]
[What is this thing?!]
Amidst 3339’s breakdown, the unidentified floating object on the sea changed posture, standing up from the fish’s back, raising an arm, and waving cheerfully to greet Yun Wuxiang.
[Song Yilou! Why is it this guy again?!]
Yun Wuxiang watched silently as the person rapidly approached from the sea, a question mark slowly forming in his mind.
Why is he so enthusiastic?
I recall our last meeting didn’t end on very friendly terms? Isn’t your mood a bit off?
The sailfish beneath Song Yilou’s feet leaped high, and in the moment it was airborne, he jumped onto the shore, walking briskly up to Yun Wuxiang and greeting him: “Guanzhu, long time no see.”
As he spoke, he pulled a dagger from his lower back with one hand while reaching for Yun Wuxiang’s hand with the other.
Naturally, he failed to grab it. Yun Wuxiang brushed his hand away and asked, “What are you doing with a knife?” Do you want to fight?
“Guanzhu, I peeked at your cultivation manual. This is me asking for punishment.”
Song Yilou tilted his head, raising the tip of the dagger to point at himself. “I originally wanted you to do it yourself, but if you don’t want to waste the effort, I’ll just do it myself.”
“Dig out the heart, slit the belly, cut the throat—which one do you want to see? I’m fine with any of them.”
Yun Wuxiang looked at the smiling face of the person before him, his knuckles twitching slightly. Choose one? Asking such a question when he knows I can’t stand the sight of blood.
This guy is doing it on purpose.
Song Yilou smiled as brightly as a sunflower, without a hint of gloom: “If the Guanzhu doesn’t choose, then I’ll choose myself.”
The dagger moved from his heart up to his throat. “Let’s go with cutting the throat.”
It was the same spot where he had bled the pheasant before.
Yun Wuxiang’s gaze deepened slightly. He raised his finger, but before he could tap Song Yilou’s forehead, the man dodged by turning his body and tilting his head.
“Wah, wah, this move again. I don’t want to sleep.” Song Yilou spun and retreated, putting distance between himself and Yun Wuxiang.
Then, with a clean and decisive motion, he slashed the dagger across the center of his neck.
Flesh parted, crimson blood spilled out, and the metallic scent of rust permeated the air.
Yun Wuxiang immediately closed his eyes, raised his hand to cover his nose and mouth, held his breath, sealed his sense of smell, and turned his back.
A hand rested on his shoulder from behind.
“Guanzhu, don’t go. Look at me.”
He slit his throat; what is he using to speak?
The moment this doubt flashed through Yun Wuxiang’s mind, he felt as if he had instantly stepped into a horror story.
With a flick of his sleeve, he cast a spell, smashing the person behind him away with a single attack.
When faced with a sudden scare, some people run, while others swing their fists directly in an attempt to beat the ghost to death. Yun Wuxiang was the latter. by the time he came back to his senses, Song Yilou had already been knocked into the sea by his reflex reaction.
Looking at the water surface, which had shown no movement since a certain someone fell in, Yun Wuxiang asked the System: [Sanjiu, is Song Yilou… dead?]
He shouldn’t die that easily, right?
[Not dead. The wound on his neck had mostly healed even before he hit the water.]
3339 had also been startled, its virtual little heart thumping wildly. Then, seeing the scene where Song Yilou’s wound healed rapidly, it suddenly recalled some unholy things from the original novel.
[Host, do you remember the Poison Mist Marsh from the original novel?]
Yun Wuxiang: [Mhm.]
After reading the original novel once, it was hard to forget the name Poison Mist Marsh.
The Poison Mist Marsh was an organization specializing in Gu poison. It didn’t appear often, but its presence was extremely strong.
The poison in the Protagonist Gong came from the Poison Mist Marsh; the Love Gu that created misunderstandings between the two protagonists came from the Poison Mist Marsh; and the biggest crisis in the late stage of the plot also originated from the Poison Mist Marsh.
In the original novel, no matter what natural or man-made disasters occurred, they could all be linked back to the Poison Mist Marsh in the end.
[The Poison Mist Marsh has a wicked specialty called Gu Humans—half-human, half-Gu, with astonishing self-healing abilities. Judging by the speed of Song Yilou’s wound healing, he is at least a high-level Gu Human.]
[I finally understand why the barrier couldn’t stop him.]
Knowing Song Yilou’s species, 3339 felt it instantly understood all the unreasonable aspects.
Gu Humans were neither alive nor dead, resembling evil spirits or monsters. They maintained the human skin they had when they were alive, but in reality, they were a completely different species from humans. They were fused with Gu, and as long as their Vital Gu was still alive, they could reattach their heads even if they were chopped off.
The barrier blocked the living and the dead, but Song Yilou, this Gu Human…
[He doesn’t count as a person!]
Gu Humans were rare in number and simply hadn’t been added to the barrier’s defense list.
Yun Wuxiang looked toward the barrier outside the island and said: [But he can’t get out.]
[Because Gu Humans can disguise themselves as living people.]
[In the original novel, the Gu Humans were basically all eaten by the Grand Shaman of the Poison Mist Marsh. Only one Snake Envoy who picked the right side early on remained. Song Yilou has a scorpion tattoo on his body; he should be the Scorpion Envoy. I get it, this guy ran here to take refuge.]
3339 felt like it was possessed by a master detective at this moment, its deductive skills skyrocketing.
Yun Wuxiang agreed: [That makes sense. That should be it.]
No, besides taking refuge, there is another possibility: Song Yilou is that Grand Shaman.
Unlike the System, which focused mainly on the plot of the two protagonists, Yun Wuxiang had read the entire book carefully. From the details, he deduced that the Spider Envoy and Toad Envoy were female.
The Centipede Envoy had a scar on his face. The Snake Envoy and Scorpion Envoy were unknown, but Dange had told him that Song Yilou’s subordinates secretly released snakes at them, meaning those people used Snake Gu.
Yet, the tattoo on Song Yilou’s body was a scorpion.
The Snake Envoy was clearly in cahoots with Song Yilou now, and seemingly subservient to him.
Either the Snake Envoy defected later, or Song Yilou was that Grand Shaman who would eat all the other Gu Humans.
Especially given the premise that the other Five Poison Envoys were all mentioned in the text while the Scorpion Envoy had no information whatsoever, the formula “Scorpion Envoy equals Grand Shaman” was entirely plausible.
Yun Wuxiang had another slightly far-fetched reason in his mind to prove that Song Yilou was the Grand Shaman: the other Five Poison Envoys all used the Gu insects they were affiliated with, while the Gu insects he killed in the Library Pavilion were of all types.
With him being so unique, the possibility of him being the Grand Shaman was even higher.
The Poison Mist Marsh was the evil organization in the original novel, and the Grand Shaman was the most evil person in it.
To refine Gu poison, he harmed the people of an entire kingdom, annihilating his humanity, cold-blooded and ruthless, his sins heavy.
This part of the plot in the original novel was too tragic, but it didn’t involve much of the plot related to the two protagonists. If there was a chance, he wanted to change this part of the plot as well.
Of course, the person causing the plot deviation couldn’t be him. He was staying on the island honestly; the character from the original novel ran over by himself, so he was innocent too.
Though many thoughts ran through his mind, Yun Wuxiang’s conversation with the System didn’t pause. He immediately asked: [What should we do now? Sanjiu, can you still wake up the World Consciousness?]
[I’m afraid not. The World Consciousness woke up last time because of a plot deviation. Now that the mission is completely normal, it’s sleeping like the dead and can’t be woken up at all.] 3339 was extremely worried.
Yun Wuxiang was very satisfied with this answer.
It’s good that it can’t be woken up. In half a month, it will be the Spring Banquet aphrodisiac plot, which is also the first “fade to black” scene for the two protagonists. I’ve already had Dange secretly send the Dual Cultivation manual away. Whether I can tamper with the plot depends entirely on this experiment.
If it doesn’t work, then I can only abandon the possibility of completing the mission, completely crash the plot, and make the World Consciousness give up on this script.
While his thoughts were flying, a voice suddenly rang out, pulling him back to reality: “What is the Guanzhu looking at? Looking for me?”
Yun Wuxiang: !
3339: !
Song Yilou had climbed out of the sea at some point. He was dripping wet all over, water droplets still falling from his hair, smiling broadly like a cheerful water ghost.
Cheerful water ghost. After this description popped into Yun Wuxiang’s mind, he felt it was absurd, yet weirdly fitting.
This guy walks without making a sound!
Yun Wuxiang’s gaze involuntarily moved to his neck. The wound where flesh had been separated not long ago had already healed, leaving only a faint white mark across the center of his throat.
Remembering how this white mark looked just moments ago, Yun Wuxiang’s stomach began to spasm again.
The water ghost held up the dagger, actively suggesting: “If the Guanzhu still won’t forgive me, we can do it again. I’m fine with changing the location too.”
Beneath the brilliant smiling face lay a thick malice.
Yun Wuxiang waved his hand, flicking out a spell that knocked the dagger out of Song Yilou’s hand.
Song Yilou leisurely glanced at the dagger flying away, formed his hand into a claw, and viciously tore several gashes into his own shoulder.
Yun Wuxiang immediately closed his eyes and waved his hand to cast another spell. At the same time the sensation of hitting an object returned, his fingertip was grabbed by a hand.
“Guanzhu, how about opening your eyes and looking at me?” The lingering voice spilled into his ear, the breath close at hand.
Dozens of talismans flew out from Yun Wuxiang’s sleeves, swarming toward Song Yilou.
“Urgh…” A muffled groan sounded, followed by a heavy object hitting the ground. Yun Wuxiang scattered another pile of talisman papers with his eyes closed before tentatively opening them.
Under the pile of talisman papers lay a bulging human figure. On Song Yilou’s face, a half-piece of talisman paper that had landed above the bridge of his nose and covered his lips was lifting and falling rhythmically.
“Guanzhu… huff… you… huff… still won’t… kill me.”
Every two words Song Yilou spoke, he would blow at that half-piece of talisman paper, seemingly having great fun.
“I guess… huff… you can’t… huff… kill people.”
The upward curve of the lips beneath the talisman paper seemed to say: I’ve discovered your weakness; you don’t dare to kill.
Yun Wuxiang countered with a question: “Are you human?”
“Ha… Hahahahaha, you knew after all.” A string of laughter finally shook the talisman off to the side.
Song Yilou looked at Yun Wuxiang with one eye through the gap in the talisman papers: “What’s so good about being human? Fragile, powerless, dying from a single bite of a venomous insect. Before long, you turn into a pile of rotting mud. Does the Guanzhu want to try being a Gu too? It’s very fun.”
“If you became a Gu, you would surely be beautiful…”
After reciting this sentence, that eye suddenly lit up. The look directed at Yun Wuxiang held a trace of eerie heat and anticipation, as if a bored venomous beast had discovered a beautiful prey and was looking forward to turning it into its own kind.
Song Yilou issued an invitation: “Guanzhu, come be a Gu.”
Yun Wuxiang couldn’t hold back anymore and stepped on him: “I am human.”
I’m doing perfectly fine as a human; who wants to become an undead, netherworld thing like you?
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