Chapter 123: Parasitic Insect

Inside the guest room.

Driver Lao Zhao's shrill, eerie laughter echoed.

The laugh sounded neither human nor beast, as if it could stir primal fears deep in the heart—even Wu Xian felt a chill crawl up his spine.

The failed ambush meant the martial advantage the Lotus Juanren gained through her deity-given artifacts held no weight against Driver Lao Zhao.

They were prey again.

Was the evil spirit the hunter—or the hunted?

After laughing for a while, Driver Lao Zhao tore open Guan Daorong's bandaged wound and sucked on it again.

"What are you waiting for?"

"For me to come over and attack you, then get killed by your strange spells like those fools?"

Driver Lao Zhao lifted Guan Daorong in front of him, his expression twisted and grotesque.

"No, I'm not that stupid…"

"From now on, let yourselves be consumed by fear—watch every corner, dread every moment, for I may appear anywhere, at any time!"

"Whether you're using the latrine, sleeping, eating, drinking… every dark corner may harbor me… ah!"

As Driver Lao Zhao reveled in his words, he suddenly let out a piercing scream.

"Ah, aaaa!"

Driver Lao Zhao's shriek was horrific—like a pig pinned to a chopping block, screaming its final, desperate cry until its throat tore apart.

He rolled wildly on the ground, forced to release Guan Daorong as he coughed up thick black blood, his chest swelling visibly before their eyes.

The three men stared at each other, unable to imagine what could make an evil spirit scream like that.

Du E's eyes suddenly gleamed with delight.

Puff!

Under the horrified gazes of all, Driver Lao Zhao's chest suddenly split open—a fat, fleshy insect's proboscis burst forth.

The creature's body was bloated and semi-translucent, revealing its internal tissues; its head was reddish-brown, like a fusion of caterpillar and spider, with two rows of ten or more pincer-tipped claws at its mouth, relentlessly tearing off Driver Lao Zhao's filthy flesh and shoving it into its maw…

It kept devouring Driver Lao Zhao's flesh, growing visibly before their eyes.

A chilling smile spread across Du E's face.

"Finally, the time has come—my baby has grown!"

With a hum, she flung another Thousand-Pound Spell, pinning Driver Lao Zhao down, then turned to Wu Xian and Hu Yun.

"What are you two standing there for? Attack!"

"Ah… right!"

Wu Xian and Hu Yun snapped out of their daze.

One raised his ritual ruler, the other swung his shield, striking the immobilized Driver Lao Zhao.

Once, twice…

They alternated blows until cracks appeared on both the ritual ruler and the shield—only then did the once-formidable snake-like evil spirit die beneath their hands.

After killing Driver Lao Zhao, their expressions grew distant, numb.

As an evil spirit, Driver Lao Zhao was far from weak—though inferior to Wang Zhiwu, he far surpassed Ying Hua; he could easily be classified as a Major Evil.

Yet such a Major Evil had been killed so easily.

Wu Xian wiped sweat from his brow. He imagined himself in Driver Lao Zhao's place—thinking of being hollowed out from within made his whole body crawl with dread, and his gaze toward Du E grew wary.

"What is that insect? You call it 'baby'—you didn't actually give birth to it, did you…?"

Du E shot Wu Xian a withering look.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a parasitic gu—gained through my devotion to the deity. It crawls slowly, its body is weak; under normal circumstances, it rarely succeeds in parasitizing."

"But once it completes parasitization, at my signal, it will devour surrounding flesh without hesitation—whether cold or hot, poisonous or rotten—it will eat until it bursts."

Hu Yun suddenly felt a chill run through him: "If it crawls so slowly, how did you get it to parasitize Driver Lao Zhao? You didn't… plant one in each of us, did you?"

Du E sighed: "I only have one. And since it's too weak for combat, I planted it as a quiet move—never expected it to activate so soon. Honestly, I didn't even want to use it on Driver Lao Zhao… it's a waste."

A quiet move…

Activated so quickly…

Wu Xian glanced at Guan Daorong—and suddenly understood Du E's method.

Guan Daorong wasn't slow either. Still dazed from his wounds, he grasped the truth and instantly felt his hair stand on end—he snapped fully awake, realizing Du E's threat now outweighed even his physical pain.

Her act of saving him and bandaging him hadn't been out of compassion!

It was to make him a living incubator for the parasitic gu—any evil spirit that fed on him would be doomed.

Was the gu truly only one?

Could it trigger prematurely while lying dormant inside?

The thought made Guan Daorong feel itchy all over—as if worms were wriggling beneath his torn, ruined skin.

Wu Xian's expression was no better.

Since entering the Blessed Land, Du E had been secretly trailing him—had she also planted some strange gu on him?

Seeing the wariness on their faces,

Du E's cheeks flushed slightly.

"Don't go thinking strange things—I only have one gu, and I'm a good girl, never harm anyone without cause…"

Guan Daorong shuddered again.

"You don't harm people without cause—so I'm not even a person, then?"

…

As they spoke.

Driver Lao Zhao's corpse also vanished.

In its place remained two silver sui incense sticks and a skin covered in black snake scales.

Wu Xian walked over to Hu Gai, prodded him twice with an iron rod, but Hu Gai showed no reaction—only a dazed, blissful expression, mumbling incoherent words.

"Daybreak… hehe, I won't get up till daybreak. There are evil spirits among you, Xiuwen, you smell so good…"

"Pfft."

Wu Xian's lips twitched.

This scumbag ending up like this? He got what he deserved.

"This guy's done for. Let's split the spoils first."

But Hu Yunkuan had no such thoughts—he stood frozen in place for a long time, humiliated and ashamed after his fake identity as a Creed member was exposed.

Like having your browser history displayed in front of friends and family.

"I… I…"

Wu Xian shook his head and shoved him.

"Enough, it's over. What's with all this 'I'? So you faked your identity? Big deal. When I worked before, I impersonated anything and everything…"

"Cough, forget it. Just pretend you didn't hear that."

"But if you really want to join the Creed, I can hook you up—I know a big shot in the Creed!"

Hu Yunkuan's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Why would I lie? But… how much are you paying me as a finder's fee?"

"…"

Instantly, Hu Yunkuan felt he was about to be scammed.

But Wu Xian's interruption had buried the matter of his fake identity; finally, everyone relaxed. Guan Daorong was re-bandaged and laid on a bed.

The group began dividing the spoils.

The Investigation of Things Scripture, Volume 99, quoting the Snake Catalogue

Seven feet long, color like ink, with a snake's head, snake's tail, snake's body; tail about a foot long, yet possessing human feet and human hands, each three feet long, walking upright. When it appears, it gathers in groups; upon encountering a person, it giggles—then immediately turns to devour. Yet it moves slowly; if one hears its laugh, one can escape by running. If one lingers, one is slain.

(End of Chapter)