Chapter 50 50 “No more bitterness!”

When they met the main force at the entrance of Gu Forest, Su Xiaoyuan was still frustrated with her own IQ.

Of course, this matter is entirely her master's fault, and the puppet cannot be blamed.

After all, in the combination of one person and one puppet, she is still the one with the most intelligence.

"What game did you play, Xiao Yuanzi?" Ruan Mianmian walked over to her, nudged her waist with her elbow, and asked in a low voice, "Why is your face so red?"

"It's just a little game...you're blushing because you drank..." She didn't lie. The last time she succeeded, the puppet held the cup and fed the wine into her mouth without leaving a drop.

"Ah, that's the one about feeding wine through the air," Senior Sister Wu leaned her head against Senior Brother Foodie's arm. "We used to do that too. I miss this game so much..."

Ruan Mianmian became excited: "What? Tell me in detail."

Su Xiaoyuan's face was burning hot, and she quickly changed the subject: "Kaishan, do you have ten star stones?"

"Yes," Ruan Mianmian said. "Didn't Senior Brother Shao win the Iron Stick Triathlon? He got a bunch of Star Stones. He couldn't use so many by himself, so he gave them all to his friends. I took advantage of Senior Sister Wu and the others and got a handful too, so I got a total of twenty."

She said as she showed her the bulging bag: "How about you? You've been playing this game for so long, how come you only have ten?"

Su Xiaoyuan: "...Don't mention it."

Ruan Mianmian was very loyal and immediately offered to give her half.

Su Xiaoyuan waved her hands hurriedly: "I only need one draw, it's just for fun, don't give it to me, I have bad luck."

Ruan Mianmian looked at the handsome puppet next to her best friend and said, "You call this bad luck?"

Su Xiaoyuan understood her expression, glanced at her own puppet, pursed her lips and smiled secretly: "All my luck in this life has been used up."

Seeing that she was determined not to accept it, Ruan Mianmian had no choice but to take it back.

They lined up at the entrance to hand in the star stones and listened to the senior sister explain the rules of catching Gu.

"First, you can only catch them with your bare hands. You cannot use spells or magical tools. There are formations in the Gu Forest. Once discovered, you will be immediately expelled and will never be allowed to enter the Gu Forest again. Remember, remember, don't test the law.

"Secondly, you can catch any poisonous insects in the forest. What you catch depends entirely on luck and skill. The poisonous insects recognize their owners, so you can't ask others to catch them for you, and you can't exchange them.

“Third, catch one of the pair of Gu insects and put it into the spirit bag, and the other one will fly over on its own;

"Fourth, you can release the Gu worm before putting it into the spirit bag and catch it again. Once it's in, even if you use up your chance, you'll need a new Star Stone even if you release it again. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

The senior sister then began to distribute the spirit bags.

The so-called spirit bag is a small fish-shaped sachet made of silver wire. Put the poisonous insects into it through the open mouth of the fish, and the mouth will automatically close. Pairs of poisonous insects can live in it and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through the formation of the spirit bag.

When you want to plant the Gu, just cut open the "fish belly".

Those who received the spirit bags walked into the depths of the Gu Forest in pairs.

The further you go in, the taller and more lush the trees become, filled with an ancient and vibrant aura that makes people feel awe from the bottom of their hearts.

Everyone who stepped into the woods unconsciously lowered their voices.

That foodie senior brother was an inner disciple of Moon Village, and naturally acted as a tour guide.

"The Gu Forest has been a sacred place for Moon Village for thousands of years. The youngest tree here is over 1,300 years old, and the oldest is the Twin Trees in the center of the forest. It's said to have existed since the beginning of the Chaos."

Among the powerful beings in the fairy world, the longest lifespan is less than a thousand years.

"The Gu insects of our Yunyu Sect were all bred and multiplied in this Gu Forest, and they are all born with their own spiritual powers," said the senior brother. "Master estimates that there are at least a million species of Gu insects here, but we know and understand less than a thousand.

"The duty of our Gu Masters in Moon Village is to explore, study, and utilize the power of these Gu insects."

Su Xiaoyuan had taken an introductory course in Gu studies and had some knowledge of these things. The Yunyu Sect's Gu technique was unique. They did not use Gu that was artificially selected and bred, but naturally occurring Gu.

Simply put, they do not create the poisonous insects, they are just the carriers of the poisonous insects.

Ruan Mianmian raised her hand: "Brother, what if we catch a Gu worm that we don't recognize and whose function is unknown?"

The senior brother smiled and said, "The area open to you is only the edge of the forest. The Gu insects here are all 'familiar insects'. Among the unknown Gu insects, there are some so-called 'evil Gu' and 'devil Gu'. If you don't have a certain level of Gu Shu attainments, it is very dangerous to touch them rashly."

He added, "Of course, the insects themselves are neither good nor evil, neither righteous nor wicked. These are all things people put on them."

Su Xiaoyuan and Ruan Mianmian nodded together: "Oh."

Before they knew it, they had reached the depths of the forest. There were huge trees everywhere that were so big that several people would hug them. Their branches and leaves blocked out the sun, and there were vines hanging between the branches. The exposed roots on the ground were twisted and tangled like a group of snakes, and were covered with moss.

Countless poisonous insects floated and danced among the branches and leaves, glowing brightly, like a galaxy flowing among the treetops.

Su Xiaoyuan felt that every breath she inhaled into her lungs was filled with green, cleansing her body and mind. The fresh and cool spiritual energy seeped into her muscles and bones like water, making her feel so light that she almost flew.

"How can we catch the poisonous insect when it's flying so high?" she asked.

Without waiting for her senior brothers and sisters to answer, she suddenly found that the spiritual energy in her body continued to rise, carrying her body up with her, and her feet left the ground.

She really flew!

Su Xiaoyuan lost her balance, leaned back, and spun in the air.

She couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise, and then an arm reached out and wrapped around her waist.

The puppet helped her steady herself, then offered her his hand: "You can hold my hand."

"Thank you, Fu Tingyun..." Su Xiaoyuan held his hand tightly, feeling very depressed.

"Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, don't be embarrassed." Senior Sister Wu and Senior Brother Foodie also held hands. "It's inevitable that it's the first time. Every time I come, I still need someone to hold my hand."

Su Xiaoyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the other senior brothers and sisters were also flying all over the place.

Ruan Mianmian, relying on her extraordinary body control as a Jindan stage cultivator, quickly found the knack of flying and flew very steadily, but her puppet lagged behind.

Song Jinshu's puppet twisted its long, thin limbs in the air, spinning and rolling in all sorts of bizarre shapes. Ruan Mianmian could only lift him up by the collar and carry him flying, saying angrily, "You're a waste, a burden. What use are you to me?!"

The group of people finally flew to the vicinity of the treetops after some bumps and bruises. The poisonous insects here began to become dense, and the light spots gathered into pieces, like a river of light.

All the poisonous insects looked similar, and Su Xiaoyuan had difficulty making a choice.

"There are probably two to three hundred species of poisonous insects here," the senior brother continued, "and about twenty to thirty of them are relatively rare."

"Brother, can you tell which ones are rare?" Ruan Mianmian asked eagerly, "Could you help us identify them?"

The senior brother laughed and said, "Junior sister, you are too kind to me. Master may be able to distinguish hundreds of common Gu insects with the naked eye, but my cultivation is still shallow and my skills are not well-developed. I can't tell them apart by appearance."

Ruan Mianmian: "Then we should just pick the big and bright ones?"

"Not everything that's big and shiny is necessarily good. You have to choose carefully," the senior brother said. "You are searching for the Gu worms, and the Gu worms are also searching for you. Meeting each other is fate."

Ruan Mianmian: "I understand the principle, but I still want the rare Gu."

The seniors all laughed.

Su Xiaoyuan was wandering among countless poisonous insects, and she had difficulty making a decision. She had no choice but to ask the puppet for help: "Fu Tingyun, I'm unlucky. Why don't you catch them?"

Even the knowledgeable Immortal Master Ling Yue could not identify the poisonous insects that were a specialty of the Yunyu Sect.

"Together."

How did this happen? Su Xiaoyuan was wondering when the puppet released her hand, flew behind her, and held her in his arms, one hand around her waist, the other covering her small hand, leading her to stretch her arms forward.

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened.

"Close your eyes," he whispered in her ear.

Su Xiaoyuan closed her eyes, and the afterimage left on her retina was brilliant and bright.

Time seemed to stand still, a river of light flowed past them, and something crystal clear was flickering inside.

Together they reached out and grabbed the star that belonged to them.

She opened her eyes and carefully looked into the palm of her hand, and was surprised to find that the poisonous insects she caught were actually a pair.

When she looked again, her face suddenly felt hot.

This pair of poisonous insects are actually mating.

Ruan Mianmian had already caught the Gu, and had just put the other Gu insect into the spirit bag. She closed the mouth and came over: "Xiao Yuanzi, what did you catch? Let me see."

Su Xiaoyuan quickly stuffed the pair of poisonous insects into the spirit bag.

The poisonous insect emerged clearly from the silver belly of the fish.

"No more!" Su Xiaoyuan shook the spirit bag, trying to separate the couple, but no matter how she shook it, their glowing tails were still firmly connected.

Su Xiaoyuan had no choice but to stuff the spirit bag into her sleeve and said vaguely: "I don't know what I caught..."

At this time, everyone else also caught the insect.

The senior brother took them to the exit to identify the poison.

At the exit stood a large earthenware bowl half the height of a person, half filled with a mercury-like liquid. This was a magical tool used specifically for identifying poisons.

There were many people gathered around the pottery bowl to watch the Gu being opened.

"Who will go first?" The Gu-Jian senior sister asked the group of people.

Ruan Mianmian volunteered: "I'll do it, I'll do it!"

Following the instructions of the senior sister, I put the spirit bag into the bowl. Once the fish-shaped spirit bag came into contact with water, it began to swim like a live fish.

After a while, the pottery bowl began to shine.

Only then did Su Xiaoyuan discover that the pottery bowl was densely engraved with symbols that she could not understand. They looked like some ancient writing or talismans.

Some of the words turned silver, as if the liquid in the bowl had seeped into the inscriptions.

The Gu-Jian senior sister used a pen to copy down the glittering inscriptions one by one. When the silver light disappeared and the pottery bowl returned to its original shape, she stopped writing and opened a thick booklet bound with some unknown leaf.

I saw that the leaves were also covered with silver characters, exactly the same as those on the pottery bowl.

Senior Brother Foodie whispered to Su Xiaoyuan and Ruan Mianmian, "This is the Gu Code that has been passed down from generation to generation in our village. Each rune represents a characteristic or ability of the Gu worm. After you get the corresponding rune from the Gu Bowl and compare it with the Gu Code, you will know the ability of the Gu worm."

Senior Sister Jian Gu flipped through a few pages and closed the leaf book.

Ruan Mianmian couldn't wait to ask, "Senior Sister, what kind of Gu did I catch?"

Gu Appraiser: "Heart-Changing Gu."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd of onlookers burst into exclamations.

The senior sister explained, "This is a rare Gu. As the name suggests, it can make a lover who has changed their mind change their mind."

Ruan Mianmian's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really?"

She further explained the method of planting the Gu, and then warned: "However, the Gu that can control people's hearts can also have a strong backlash and will deplete the vitality of the person who planted it. Be very careful when using it."

"Forget it then," Ruan Mianmian muttered, "That fellow isn't worth wasting my energy on."

The senior sister fished the spirit bag out of the water with a small net and returned it to her: "Who's next?"

Senior Sister Wu said, "Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, you go first."

Su Xiaoyuan nervously took out her spirit bag from her sleeve, secretly hoping that the pair of poisonous insects would behave a little more decently.

However, the shameless pair of insects were still connected, shaking and flashing, and it was obvious that they had no idea what the world was.

Senior Sister Jian Gu couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh!" "The little ones are so affectionate."

The crowd watching laughed joyfully.

Su Xiaoyuan dug out a mansion in an instant.

She put the spirit bag into the clay bowl.

Unlike Ruan Mianmian's poisonous insect, this time the pottery bowl only showed one symbol before it dimmed.

The foodie brother explained in a low voice: "The fewer runes, the older the Gu."

The Gu-Appraising Sister didn't even need to flip through the leaflet book and immediately concluded, "It's Lianli Gu."

The crowd sighed in disappointment: "Ugh, chicken ribs."

The Gu Appraiser glanced at them and said, "What do you know?"

He said to Su Xiaoyuan, "This is a very good Gu. If lovers who love each other deeply plant this Gu, they can sense each other even if they are thousands of miles apart."

Su Xiaoyuan finally understood why it was called "chicken ribs Gu". People who loved each other deeply generally did not need to plant Gu, and they had communication tools, so they could transmit messages even thousands of miles away.

Both its scope of application and functions are useless.

Senior Sister Wu comforted her: "Actually, this is also a rare Gu. Even if it's not very useful, it's still good to grow it for fun."

Su Xiaoyuan was not too disappointed. After all, she had never been lucky and didn't expect to get anything good.

The foodie brother pointed to a small path and said, "You two junior sisters, are you going to pray to the Twin Trees? Go straight along this path. At the end, there's a spiritual formation that will transport you directly to the Twin Trees."

"Aren't you going?" Su Xiaoyuan asked.

Sister Wu laughed and said, "We just prayed last year. It would be a bit greedy to pray every year. Besides, we also have to go to the holy land to keep vigil."

Su Xiaoyuan just remembered this.

Senior Sister Wu patted their shoulders and said, "The moonlight will be at its brightest soon, and that's when wishes will be most effective."

She added, "Wishes related to love affairs are more likely to come true."