Chapter 455 Sui Sui, I know you're here

Yu Sui was bound and trapped in the insect pool by the Sea-Stabilizing Needle. The chirping of insects around her was like a sonic boom, making her ears ring and bleed.

The swarming worms entered her body through her skin and blood, and the dormant Gu worm within her, Duanxue, trembled and awoke. It was a Gu worm refined from a true Dao Gu worm body, which usually curled up into a pure white flower deep within Yu Sui's soul.

Now, it trembles with excitement as it unfurls its petals, absorbing all the insects that approach Yu Sui, becoming vibrant and glistening.

Yu Sui originally planned to use the Breath Soil to deal with the viper worms. Even if she were parasitized by the viper worms, she could get rid of them by changing her light core. Unexpectedly, she didn't even need to lift a finger; the Gu worms that Xue Mushi had given her earlier were easily dealt with.

She was momentarily at a loss as to whether to lament the uselessness of the venomous insects created by the Xun family, or the sheer power of Xue Mushi's Dao Gu insect body.

Yu Sui examined the venomous insect in the water. It was blue-purple and thread-like, with the same shape as the blood-severing venomous insect that Xue Mushi had given her. They both resembled the blood vessels inside the human body.

Lightning tore at Yu Sui's protective aura. She moved her wrists, which were bound by the Sea-Stabilizing Needle, and secretly controlled her qi.

While struggling in the water, Ah Ling accidentally bumped into the insect mother that was glowing with a white light. Her finger was accidentally cut by the corpse in the water, and the blood that spilled out congealed into beads and flowed with the water toward the insect mother.

No one noticed this scene. Ah Ling was bleeding more and more blood. They were all attracted to the insect mother and were devoured by her.

The shimmering white silk threads trembled and breathed in the water.

It was as if something that had been sleeping was awakening.

Zhu Laosan and the others on the shore noticed this scene and felt incredulous, excited and shocked at the same time.

"It's done, it's done! The insect mother is responding! This child also knows the Nine Streams Technique! Quickly offer her to the insect mother!" Zhu Laosan anxiously directed from the shore.

Gu Gan was originally going to deal with Yu Sui, but he stopped when he saw the attraction between the Insect Mother and A Ling.

Xuehe pushed forward with a palm, and the golden spirit flew towards A-Ling in the water, transforming into a flying bird and a long snake that grabbed her and moved closer to the insect mother.

Ah Ling's hands and feet were bound and she couldn't break free. She stared wide-eyed at the approaching insect mother.

Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, Ah Ling felt her dizziness worsen, and the chirping of insects in her ears became weaker and weaker when she pressed her face against the insect mother.

Zhu Laosan and the others were waiting to see what would happen when the Insect Mother absorbed A Ling when suddenly waves surged on the black water, and countless serpents rushed out of the water as if they had gone mad.

The pool water surged, like a hurricane whipping up raging waves. The freezing cold water vapor rushed towards him, causing Zhu Laosan to raise his hand to defend himself, but he was drenched by the giant wave. He screamed in fright and immediately activated his protective aura, fearing that a few serpents might fall onto his body.

The sudden situation caught them off guard. Wang Jun, who was chasing Ah Ling, was deprived of his breath by the water vapor and drowned in the pool with his hands around his neck.

Everywhere were shimmering serpents, densely covering the raging black water waves, causing Gu Gan and his group to lose track of Ah Ling and the serpent mother.

"What's going on!" Zhu Laosan shouted, but no one answered him. He was swept away by the waves.

Xuehe waved his hand, conjuring a golden barrier of energy to defend himself: "Young Master! Come quickly! Be careful not to be parasitized by the vipers!"

Gu Gan led Xun Zhiya to the back of the snow crane's protective barrier, only to find that the insects that had come out of the pool didn't have time to attack them. They were panicking as if they were fleeing for their lives.

What happened in the water?

Before Gu Gan could investigate or think further, he was overturned by the water wave that broke through the air barrier.

Zhu Laosan practically flew to the other dragon ladder door and frantically pounded on it. The ladder opened the moment he struck it. The three people standing inside looked on in bewilderment at the anxious Zhu Laosan outside.

"Lord Zhu, this..."

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Zhu Laosan squeezed into the dragon ladder and started banging on the door again.

"What's going on?" Xun Zhan, standing in the middle, stepped forward in confusion to grab him. A black wave surged into the dragon ladder, slamming everyone inside against the wall.

The two protectors and Xun Zhan were caught off guard. They hurriedly activated their protective energy to stabilize themselves, but their expressions changed drastically when they saw the worms struggling all over the Dragon Ladder.

"Zhu Laosan! What's going on?!" Xun Zhan's voice turned shrill with fright as he frantically hid behind the two protectors. "How did these vipers get outside?!"

He visibly panicked and became terrified of the insects.

Zhu Laosan was hit by the waves and slammed against the hard wall of the Dragon Ladder, seeing stars. Hearing Xun Zhan yelling and cursing at him, he felt a fire burning in his heart: "Are you blind like those ingrates? Can't you see the commotion outside, you stupid thing!"

Xun Zhan was a brainless fool who was pushed out by the Xun brothers to take the blame. Zhu Laosan was not afraid of him at all, and when he spoke angrily, he did not give him any face.

Xun Zhan was also terrified by the scene before him. He didn't refute it, but looked out with trembling body. He found the water vapor colliding, the waves surging, the scene in complete disarray, and insects everywhere. He was so frightened that he fainted.

"Lord Xun, Lord Xun!" The two protectors lifted the man up from either side.

Seeing Xun Zhan faint, Zhu Laosan was stunned for a moment, then cursed, "Useless thing! You didn't even have the courage to look at the monster you created!"

"What are you two standing there for? Hurry up and start the dragon ladder to get out of here! Do you want to wait here for vipers to swarm and bite me to death?"

Zhu Laosan kicked Xun Zhan in anger: "Quickly get rid of these worms! Oh, and that brat too, go find her!"

Only then did he remember Ah Ling, and he hurriedly ordered, "We must find her! She is our hope! We absolutely cannot let her die! Go find her now!"

Zhu Laosan left on the dragon ladder and summoned a large number of Wang's soldiers to go down and search for people.

Black-faced Liu busied himself, handing Zhu Laosan a handkerchief to wipe his face, bringing him a chair to sit down, and asking about the situation downstairs, reminding him, "Sir, the young master and the others are still downstairs."

Zhu Laosan: "..."

When you're panicking, who cares about the young master!

He sat bolt upright. "Send more men! Tell them the young master is still down there, and that they should risk their lives to get him..."

"Isn't it a bit too late to think about this now?" Gu Gan's cold voice came from the broken dragon ladder well.

Zhu Laosan and the others looked over in surprise. Gu Gan, carrying the unconscious Xun Zhiya, and Xue He used their wind-riding technique to ascend from the Dragon Ladder Well.

"Master Xue! Young Master!" Zhu Laosan rushed over with tears in his eyes. "The scene was chaotic, and I couldn't get through. I happened to run into Xun Zhan coming down, and in my haste, I rescued Xun Zhan first. Master Xue, I..."

"Enough with the nonsense." Xuehe flicked her sleeve and slapped Zhu Laosan across the face, causing Zhu Laosan to fall to the ground.

"Seal off the lower layer. No one is allowed to approach without my order," Xuehe said.

"Yes, yes, I'll send someone right away. Seventh Brother, hurry up and do what Elder Xue said!" Zhu Laosan shouted to the Black-Faced Seventh Brother.

After Zhu Laosan got up from the ground, he turned his back to Gu Gan and Xue He and looked down into the Dragon Ladder Well:

Below, the wind and waves continued to surge, countless worms swirled in the black water, and horrifying corpses were washed up from the pool, piling up in the Dragon Ladder Well.

Even a single glance at it sends chills down my spine.

Zhu Laosan quickly looked away and chased after him, asking, "Old Xue, young master, has that damned bastard been caught? And that brat who was attracted by the insect queen..."

Xuehe turned around with a sullen face and didn't say a word, so Zhu Laosan immediately shut up.

That expression clearly shows that he hasn't caught anyone.

"Go light incense!" Xuehe ordered. "The worms below have gone out of control. If they continue to devour the Five Elements Qi, they will completely engulf the entire underground city!" We need to use a large amount of orchid poison to make them fall into a deep sleep and quiet down.

If the number of insects is too large and left unchecked, the situation described by Xuehe, where locusts sweep across the land and leave nothing but desolation, will truly occur.

“What about that brat? She’s still down there, and there’s another one…” Zhu Laosan asked as he caught up.

Xuehe said angrily, "Didn't we send people down to search? If a viper has emerged from the pond, does it have some extraordinary ability to survive down there?"

Zhu Laosan thought so too, but he couldn't see the other person die with his own eyes, and he always felt uneasy.

Besides... the opponent's strength is indeed not to be underestimated, otherwise he would have been crushed by your hand long ago.

Zhu Laosan stole a glance at Xuehe and dared not say anything more. The old man seemed to be in a bad mood and appeared even more concerned about the whereabouts of the insect mother.

Xuehe used most of his cultivation to set up a barrier below to prevent the vipers from rushing out. Looking down from the Dragon Ladder Well, he pondered that the number of vipers seemed to be several times greater than before.

The number of venomous insects surged dramatically in a short period of time. The venomous mother was absorbing Ah Ling's blood, and the flow of water vapor below was also unusual. Previously, the venomous pool was filled with death energy, but now this water vapor... increasingly resembled the five elements energy that originated from heaven and earth outside and could be refined by entering the body.

The only way for the two to leave alive was through the Dragon Ladder Well.

Xuehe raised his hand and looked at his palm; the tracking spirit was flashing.

The person is still down there.

Xuehe sent more people to guard the entrance to the Dragon Ladder Well.

Zhu Laosan directed people to light the Resurrection Incense around the insect pool floor. Due to the high demand and the fact that almost all the stock was in the workshop, they found that they didn't have enough stock when they needed a large quantity of Resurrection Incense.

Blackface rushed over to report to Zhu Laosan that they were short of orchid poison. Zhu Laosan felt a surge of anger rising to his head: "What are we for? How dare you tell me we're short of orchid poison!"

"My lord, it's not that we don't have enough orchid poison, it's that 80% of the orchid poison is in the workshop, but we can't get into the workshop now, and we can't get the orchid poison out either." Black Face knelt down in fright.

"If you don't have enough, go get some from the workshop!" Zhu Laosan said angrily, his face contorted with rage. "Do you want those worms to crawl out from underground and bite me and the young master to death?"

The black-faced man said, "The workshop is under the control of the intruders, and we can't get in yet. The two protectors have already..."

"I'll go take a look," Gu Gan said coldly.

Zhu Laosan had been waiting for these words, but he said anxiously, "Young Master, you mustn't! Those are all vicious and ruthless criminals. Let the protectors handle them!"

“If your protectors were useful, things wouldn’t be like this now.” Gu Gan glanced at him coldly.

Zhu Laosan lowered his head in remorse: "They failed in their duties, and I will definitely punish them afterwards!"

"Uncle Xue, I'm going there. I'll leave this place to you for now." Gu Gan looked at Xue He.

Xuehe nodded and agreed.

Before leaving, Gu Gan ordered his men to tie Xun Zhan up, lest he disappear upon his return. Zhu Laosan, unaware that Gu Gan intended to hand him over as well, thought that selling Xun Zhan would solve everything, so he readily agreed and personally went to tie Xun Zhan up.

Zhu Laosan secretly looked down into the well of Longting, silently burning incense and praying that Ah Ling would be caught.

Large swarms of insects swam rapidly in the water, resembling streaks of blue-purple lightning, both terrifying and horrifying.

The entire space on this floor was submerged in black water, which was chaotic and violent, with surging undercurrents, yet countless serpents were circling around Yu Sui.

Yu Sui activated her protective aura, searching for Ah Ling's figure in the water. The corpses in the water were like weeds and broken branches, obstructing her vision and movement.

The blood severance of the Gu worms within her body temporarily deterred the vipers in the water, but Yu Sui was unsure how long the blood severance could last. The vipers in the water continued to grow, and the blood severance could not absorb all of their attacks.

Although these insects circled around Yu Sui, they never gave up, following him wherever he went.

The chirping of insects affected Yu Sui's hearing, and the floating corpses obstructed her vision, but she possessed the sensory abilities of the light core, so she could know A Ling's location without using any low-level techniques.

Just as they were about to take action, they discovered that they still had a tracking mark left by someone else on their body.

Yu Sui extinguished the spirit of the word hidden on the back of his hand and plunged into the deeper part of the black water.

Upon seeing that the spirit searching for the characters had been discovered and that Yu Sui's whereabouts had been lost, Xuehe, who was guarding the Dragon Ladder Well, immediately made a hand seal and summoned five character fish. The golden character fish dived into the black water and continued their search at the place where Yu Sui had last disappeared.

Zhu Laosan kept nagging Ah Ling, but Xue He was lost in thought. If Ah Ling was protected from the venomous insects because of the insect mother, then how did this intruder survive until now? And how could he even discover his tracking spirit?

Could this person also be a Saint? During their previous exchange, Xuehe hadn't been able to determine Yu Sui's cultivation level. Hearing A Ling call her "sister," she was a woman, and she used the Yin-Yang School's Nine Schools of Arts. But a Saint from the Yin-Yang School… wouldn't be here.

If not a Saint, then he is a Master of the Thirteenth Realm.

But Xuehe couldn't understand why the worms didn't attack Yu Sui, and why she wasn't devoured by thousands of worms and parasitized by the Five Elements Qi, turning into white bones.

Could it be...? Xuehe looked at the unconscious Xun Zhiya, her expression thoughtful.

Could this intruder be related to He Xinsi?

Suddenly, the Dragon Ladder Well trembled, as if something heavy was pulling down on the mechanism on the well wall, making a loud noise that sent shivers down everyone's spines. Old Zhu shouted, "What is that! Go check it out right now!"

Xuehe reached out to stop Wang Jun and the protector from passing by, and took out half of a jade flute from his sleeve. The jade flute had a sharp cut, indicating that it had been cleanly severed by a sharp weapon, and its color was translucent and lustrous.

The palm-sized, broken jade flute spun in Xuehe's hand. He tapped it a few times with his fingertips, and the jade flute emitted a sharp sound, transforming into three golden characters that entered the water.

Zhu Laosan vaguely saw that the three characters were "light". Suddenly, the dark well opening was brightly lit, illuminating the corpses in the water clearly. He also saw a large number of worms gathering at the well opening. They clung to the downward-facing mechanisms, causing the mechanisms to shake and knock against the well wall, making a sound.

"Why are they all running here?" Zhu Laosan was shocked.

The guardian who rushed over said, "My lord, have you forgotten? They are active by following the Qi of the Five Elements. Now that there are so many people here at the wellhead, they sensed the life force here and naturally all gathered here."

Zhu Laosan: "There are still two living people down there, but they don't eat them. Instead, they run to the Dragon Ladder Well to dream!"

"Throw the Resurrection Incense down from here," Xuehe ordered in a deep voice.

Since the insects have already been attracted here, let's just catch them all here.

But in the end, the problem remained: there wasn't enough resurrection incense. Old Zhu had no choice but to ask again, "How is things going with the young master?"

On his way to the workshop, Gu Gan heard Wang Jun's report: "The workshop has sunk into the mountains for some reason, making the previous passage a dead end. The two protectors have sent many people to search for the entrance, but no matter which passage you take, it's a dead end."

"There's another strange thing. There are more than a hundred soldiers guarding that area. Suddenly, they all lost their Five Elements Qi and couldn't sense the existence of the light core. They instantly became ordinary people." Black-faced Liu was also puzzled when he said this.

Gu Gan interpreted this as the other party having premeditated the plan, setting up some kind of barrier or using some kind of insect poison.

But none of this worked for him.

The divine techniques he possessed made him immune to any low-level techniques, and his physique was also immune to all poisons.

When Gu Gan arrived at the workshop, he met the two guardians who were guarding it.

Master of the Thirteen Realms of Farmhouse, Wild Water Cliff.

Dou Wu, a master of the thirteenth realm of Taoism.

Both men were very polite to Gu Gan, unaware of what had happened inside the Black Castle. They only had time to report the current situation to Gu Gan: "Robo let three intruders in, who should be the ones you mentioned, young master, but the one we fought was a mechanical sorcerer. Robo is currently trapped inside, but he used Xiang Zhiyuan's Divine Mechanism to send out a message saying that the mechanical sorcerer inside is a man named Mei Liangyu."

"What?" Gu Gan doubted that he had heard clearly and waved to the stone that had come to deliver the message.

After seeing the three words written on the stone, Gu Gan tightened his grip, suddenly remembering the "sister" that he had heard Ah Ling call out in the insect pool.

Could the person dressed in a black robe, concealing their figure, be... Sui Sui?

Is it her?

Was she really with Mei Liangyu?

If it really is Sui Sui, did she already recognize me when we were in the dragon ladder?

It's been years... Does she recognize me?

No, she definitely recognizes me. She was the one who tried to kill me back then, how could she not recognize me!

Gu Gan couldn't help but think of these things. He took a deep breath, stopped and crushed the stone, and heard Dou Wu say quickly, "Young Master, that mechanical sorcerer is very cunning. I don't know what kind of magic he used, but he can move the workshop around. If we attack by force, there are too many Resurrection Incense inside, and it may be more trouble than it's worth."

"When will your water-transfer divination be able to completely freeze the people in the workshop?" Gu Gan asked.

Dou Wu said, "Now that the snow has melted and the cold air is sufficient, we still need to wait for six hours."

Six hours is probably too long for the insects at the pool. The fear is that once they leave the black water pool, they will devour everything, including buildings and landscapes, like locusts swarming across the land, consuming everything they can get their hands on.

Gu Gan walked forward for a while, feeling the barrier that was hindering his progress. He listened to the two guardians talking about the mechanical sorcerer in the distance, and waited alone in the shadows for a while. Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he said to Black-faced Six, "Go and get the amplifying stone. It's mainly for releasing over the insect pool."

Although Black-faced Liu didn't know what the intention was, he did as he was told and quickly brought over the megaphone.

Zhu Laosan, unsure of what he was up to, stood by the wellhead, preparing to discuss it with Xuehe, when suddenly he heard Gu Gan's voice coming from the megaphone:

"Sui Sui, I know you're here."

"Who?" Zhu Laosan was completely bewildered.

Snow Crane also looked up in the direction of the megaphone.

Gu Gan's voice was low and obscure: "I am standing right in front of Mei Liangyu's barrier. I can break it with just a wave of my hand and lead the two protectors into the mountains to capture him. If you come out of the insect pool right now, I will spare Mei Liangyu for now."

Dou Wu and Ye Shuiya looked at each other from behind and asked in a low voice, "How do we break this barrier?"

"Don't worry about it. If the young master says there's a way, then there's a way," Dou Wu said, turning a blind eye.

Zhu Laosan, having regained his senses, hurriedly asked, "Young Master, do you also know the people in this insect pool?"

The water vapor in the insect pool churned, and the chirping of insects drowned out all other sounds. Yu Sui didn't hear Gu Gan's shout from the megaphone at all.

"Sui Sui! I know it's you in the black robe! You can't fool me anymore!"

"You came to save Shi Yuezhen to help Mei Liangyu, but Shi Yuezhen is already dead. If you don't want Mei Liangyu, Xing Chun, and Kong Yiyi to die here as well, come out and see me immediately!"

Gu Gan's words at the end carried a hint of ruthlessness and determination.

Xing Chun and the others in the workshop also heard it and looked at Mei Liangyu in unison.

Mei Liangyu sat at the table, his expression indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger.

The icy aura raged outside, and at the exit leading to the ground, a blood-stained figure was climbing upwards. Hearing the voice coming from the city's megaphone, it turned around and revealed a shocked and angry face.

Ji Hongxing, the third young master of the Ji family, took advantage of the chaos to escape. Hearing those familiar names, he felt incredulous and angry. It was all because of these bastards!