Chapter 166: Ship of Theseus

Li Miao had been looking for the location of that Gu insect.

By rights, the Gu poison in the Miao King's body was too fierce; it would be best for Li Miao to stay far away, release True Energy externally, and slowly grind the Miao King to death. He shouldn't be engaging in close-quarters combat, constantly sticking his hands into the Miao King's body and tearing her flesh.

He was doing this precisely to find that Gu insect.

After digging out the heart, he had to crush it into meat paste; besides Li Miao's intention to torture the Miao King, it was also to prevent the Gu insect from escaping. Unfortunately, having tried until now, every organ and limb on the Miao King's body had been dug out and crushed by Li Miao, and no trace of the Gu insect had been found.

At this moment, there was only one place on the Miao King's body that Li Miao hadn't dug open to look at.

Her head.

As Li Miao's gaze swept toward her head, the Miao King's expression changed slightly, and for the first time, she retreated half a step.

"Lord Li, you have already killed me thirty-seven times; it's about time to let off some steam, right?"

The Miao King laughed.

"I deliberately sought out this Pupa Chamber, not just to delay time. No matter how high your Wu Gong is, it is ultimately not the same path as my Miao witchcraft. You can guard against Great Shamans, but you might not be able to guard against me."

"The things the Ming Sect did were all my daughter's handiwork; at most, I just helped out, providing some witchcraft and venomous insect soldiers. If you want to find the culprit, you can go to Shuntian Prefecture to find her; there's no need to entangle with me. Why don't we just stop here."

"I'll tell you the truth: if we keep fighting, I'll have to use some methods I'd rather not use. By then, you might not be able to retreat unscathed, my lord."

Li Miao sneered.

"Use them."

"I said I would kill you; do you think I'd take back my words?"

Having said that, he turned to Yong Jie and said.

"Master, this thing is a bit hard to kill. We have to find that Miao King Gu insect on her body."

"I've dug out and looked at all the other places; only the head is left."

"Smash the head, dig out the thing occupying your wife's body, and send her to rest in peace."

Yong Jie replied in a deep voice: "Good."

Before converting to Buddhism, he was a supreme expert famous throughout the Jianghu. And he wasn't the kind of "watered-down" expert raised by a sect, but one who had realized his own Wu Gong and fought his way up punch by punch.

Li Miao was even more of an Embroidered Uniform Guard background; although he hadn't made many personal moves, he was a "Red Stick Double Flower" under Zhu Zai, and everything he had experienced were hard battles that ordinary people couldn't fight.

The two didn't need to communicate to know how to cooperate.

Li Miao's muscles and bones suddenly relaxed, his True Energy instantly became harmonious; he had already switched from "Vajra" to "Sumeru."

He hadn't perfected the second path of the realm; the Miao King's difficulty lay not in being unable to be attacked, but in being unable to be killed. In Li Miao's past life terms, the Miao King wasn't a "stat monster," but a "mechanic monster." No matter how hard or fierce Li Miao was, if he couldn't find the Gu insect, he couldn't kill the Miao King.

It was noon now, and he couldn't play the time difference to connect the two days' "eight hours"; retreating the realm would cause him to fall into a deep sleep.

Therefore, before finding the location of the Gu insect, Li Miao would not rashly use his trump card.

Yong Jie was responsible for entanglement, and Li Miao was the main attacker.

The Miao King scanned the two of them and sighed long.

"I have retreated many times, yet you, my lord, do not show the slightest mercy. And you even bring my unfaithful husband along to beat and kill me."

Yong Jie's fists creaked.

He spoke in a hoarse voice: "Do not use my wife's face to speak again."

"I will dig you out of my wife's body, you beast."

"You call me a beast?"

The Miao King actually smiled sweetly.

"Did you get something wrong, thinking it's the Gu insect talking to you?"

"No, no, no, the Gu insect is just a bug. How could it think or speak?"

"I am who I am; I remember everything clearly—from childhood, to youth, to womanhood, marrying you, and giving birth to Ling'er. From beginning to end, there has never been a second Ge Puqi in this world. I am Ling'er's mother, your wife."

"I have never died; I have just changed. I am both the Miao King and Ge Puqi."

"Husband, do you really want to kill me?"

At this point, a gentle smile, exactly like the Ge Puqi Yong Jie knew, actually appeared on the Miao King's face.

The more Yong Jie heard, the uglier his expression became, and his fists clenched tighter and tighter.

If a person's body and inner self haven't changed, and they possess all previous memories, just with a changed personality—are they still them?

Yong Jie was a martial monk, and a late convert; when it came to these twists and turns, his muscular brain really couldn't figure it out.

Li Miao, however, let out a cold snort.

"Ship of Theseus, right? It's old and stale."

"You were originally a dish, now you're a pile of shit. The thing is still that thing, just the taste has changed, yet you still want us to put you on a plate and serve you?"

Li Miao looked at Yong Jie.

"Master, I ask you. Does she deserve to die?"

"She does."

Yong Jie answered without the slightest hesitation.

"If you lead her to Ling'er, will she use Ling'er as a hostage to threaten you?"

"... She will."

"If she has a chance to kill you, will she do it?"

"She will."

"Then that settles it, doesn't it?"

Li Miao clapped his hands.

"She doesn't recognize feelings, and you shouldn't either; then we can only talk about justice. By justice, she deserves to die."

"Bury her properly after killing her. If witchcraft turned her into this, then destroy witchcraft. If the Ming Sect turned her into this, then destroy the Ming Sect. This is what you should be doing."

At this point, Li Miao smiled slyly.

"Master, you are a late convert, different from other monks in Shaolin. Don't waste your time on Buddhist philosophical debates."

Yong Jie gritted his teeth and nodded.

"It was the monk who was obsessed; thank you, Patron, for the reminder."

Seeing that she could no longer use words to shake Yong Jie, the Miao King stopped speaking.

Jianghu matters, in the end, must be washed with blood.

Words had been exhausted.

What remained was only struggle, and life and death.

Boom!!!

Yong Jie stomped on the ground violently, the huge force exploding the ground for several feet around, propelling his body like a meteorite, rushing toward the Miao King.

Upon reaching her, Yong Jie raised his hand and threw a punch, blasting toward the Miao King's head.

"Sky-Propping Fist," first style, Raising Fire to Burn the Sky!

Before the fist arrived, the wind it brought up had already lifted the Miao King's hair.

Li Miao had also appeared at the Miao King's side, raising his hand to strike with an "Artillery" from the Iron Punishment War Post.

This artillery punch, carrying the vast True Energy of "Sumeru," smashed toward the Miao King, sealing all her space for evasion.

"Gather!"

Facing the crisis, the Miao King no longer hesitated and shouted in the Miao language.

Suddenly, in the pool where the Gu insects were stored in the Pupa Chamber, the sound of insects crawling and hissing suddenly went quiet.

Slap!

Clatter—

The stone slab under the Miao King's feet shattered violently, and a tide of insects surged out from within, flying toward Yong Jie's seven orifices.

Yong Jie had no choice but to withdraw his move, returning with a "Deceiving Heaven and Earth," his fist wind sweeping, smashing the insects down.

Looking at the Miao King again, she was already covered in Gu insects.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 167 =====