Translator: CinderTL

Feng Mu didn’t directly answer Song Wen’s question. Instead, he glanced sideways at Mi Man, who stood nearby.

"Fellow Daoist Feng," Feng Mu asked, "besides attacking you, does your Gu attack others?"

Song Wen replied, "It also attacks its own kind and has already devoured one."

"Do you believe your Gu is turning against its master?" Feng Mu inquired.

Song Wen asked, puzzled, "Senior, are you saying this isn’t a case of a Gu turning against its master?"

"In my opinion, it isn’t," Feng Mu stated. "Like humans, a Gu’s soul undergoes a qualitative transformation upon reaching the fifth-tier. However, some Gu are born with weak foundations and were never destined to reach this level. Yet, through fortunate circumstances or their master’s forced advancement, they ascend to the fifth-tier. This disrupts their soul, muddles their will, and renders them exceptionally violent."

"Since you know the cause, Senior, do you have a solution?" Song Wen asked.

Feng Mu replied, "This matter isn’t urgent. We can discuss it in detail after the exchange conference concludes."

Song Wen glanced at Feng Mu, puzzled by his deliberate air of mystery, but he still expressed his gratitude.

"Then this junior thanks you in advance, Senior."

Song Wen clasped his hands in a formal bow before turning back to his low table.

"Senior Brother Feng, did you get what you wanted?" Mi Man asked, leaning closer.

Song Wen shook his head slightly.

"Well, that’s your problem now," Mi Man said. "You can’t break your promise to me."

Song Wen flipped his hand and handed her a storage pouch containing three thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Mi Man accepted the pouch, checked its contents, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.

Earning three thousand high-grade spirit stones in just one night, without taking any risks, had clearly put her in a good mood.

Another hour passed.

Feng Mu returned to the center of the plaza and announced the end of the exchange conference.

The crowd dispersed, heading back along the narrow path they had taken to arrive.

Suddenly, Feng Mu’s voice echoed in Song Wen’s mind:

"Fellow Daoist Feng, please wait by the small river a thousand miles to the east. I have a minor matter to attend to and will join you shortly."

Hearing this, Song Wen and Mi Man followed the others down the path.

After emerging from the Mist, they traveled together for several hundred miles.

By then, all the other cultivators who had attended the exchange conference had scattered, leaving the pitch-black night sky devoid of any figures.

"Lei Yue, let’s part ways here!" Mi Man declared. "Though I hate you, if you ever need my assistance in the future, don’t hesitate to ask. As long as you pay enough spirit stones, I’ll do everything in my power to help."

With that, Mi Man flew toward Great Tan City.

Song Wen, meanwhile, headed north, flying over twenty thousand miles before circling back to the small river Feng Mu had mentioned.

It was now the final hour of Yin Hour, the darkest part of the night.

The river, several dozen feet wide, flowed as black as ink. The gnarled branches of the riverside trees twisted like the claws of Fierce Ghosts.

Song Wen waited quietly for about fifteen minutes before Feng Mu finally appeared.

Feng Mu stood high above, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings before he spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Feng, why are you here alone? Where is Miss Yue?"

"She has already returned to the sect," Song Wen replied. "Didn’t you instruct me to wait here, Senior? You never mentioned Junior Sister Yue."

Feng Mu’s voice suddenly turned icy.

"I summoned you here precisely for her! From the moment she first attended the exchange conference, she deliberately flirted with me, stirring my desires to a fever pitch. Yet she refused to grant me the slightest intimacy, all while extracting numerous benefits from me. At the last conference, she even swindled me out of several thousand high-grade spirit stones."

"Since then, she has avoided the exchange conferences for a long time, until today. When I saw her again, my heart surged with joy, but she remained aloof and indifferent. I immediately resolved to take her by force. Feng Mu has never failed to claim the woman he desires!"

As he spoke, the eyes visible beneath Feng Mu’s mask sharpened to a piercing glare.

"She’s your junior sister, isn’t she? Why didn’t she accompany you here?"

Song Wen’s expression darkened instantly.

"So, you have no way to resolve my Gu problem after all?"

Feng Mu sneered, "You’re still worried about the Gu worms? You should be more concerned about your own life!"

Song Wen cursed inwardly, thinking, What a femme fatale!

Yet the trouble Mi Man had stirred up had somehow landed on his shoulders.

He couldn’t tell if it was his own bad luck or Mi Man’s extraordinary fortune.

"Youngster, since she’s not here, this old man will just have to take his anger out on you!" Feng Mu roared, his spiritual power surging violently.

An invisible force erupted, instantly snapping countless towering trees in half.

Just then, another anomaly occurred. A second powerful aura rapidly approached.

Song Wen and Feng Mu both turned their heads, their gazes fixed on the distant, pitch-black sky. The newcomer was none other than the late-stage Void Refinement cultivator who had worn a ghost-faced mask at the exchange conference.

"Mu Tu, I’ve finally found you. I never expected you’d have the audacity to hide near Great Tan City," a sinister voice rasped from beneath the mask.

Feng Mu’s expression twisted in alarm. Forgetting Song Wen entirely, he demanded coldly, "Who are you? How do you know my true name?"

The Ghost-Faced Cultivator removed his mask, revealing the slightly aged face of a woman.

But her face was covered in rigid scars, resembling a swarm of scorched brown centipedes crawling across her skin.

Feng Mu... no, Mu Tu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Bi Xiaoyu! It’s you! You’re still alive!"

The old woman, identified as Bi Xiaoyu, glared coldly at Mu Tu.

"Mu Tu, my current state is all your fault. You stole the Gu God Scripture, preventing me from suppressing the Bloodcry Mother-Child Gu. That’s why I’ve become this monstrous thing..."

Mu Tu, visibly terrified, turned to flee before Bi Xiaoyu could finish speaking.

But suddenly, nine Gu appeared around him.

The Gu resembled translucent, azure jellyfish, each with two trailing tentacles. At the tip of each tentacle glowed a crimson crystal, leaving phosphorescent trails as they drifted through the night sky.

The crystals on the tentacles erupted in scarlet beams that converged high above, forming an intricate array.

The array cast a blood-red curtain of light, sealing off an area spanning a hundred miles in all directions.

Mu Tu seemed to recognize the array’s power, his expression turning utterly despairing.

"Xiaoyu, I was wrong to steal the Gu God Scripture back then. But your current state has nothing to do with me! You couldn’t control the Bloodcry Mother-Child Gu yourself and suffered the backlash."

Bi Xiaoyu’s gaze was like a blade, her eyes piercing Mu Tu with icy fury.

"Still trying to weasel your way out of this! I’ll take you back and make you suffer the agony of a thousand Gu devouring your body every day!"

The array diagram in the sky suddenly materialized several Blood Sui chains, which coiled around Mu Tu.

"Fellow daoists," Song Wen’s voice cut through the air, interrupting their exchange.

"Your feud has nothing to do with me. But Mu Tu promised to resolve my Gu’s violent tendencies. Before you settle your score, shouldn’t we address my problem first?"

(End of the Chapter)

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