plan

"The rat-head flowers have all disappeared?" Kou Qiyu didn't know whether to be happy or worried, his expression was unreadable. According to the news brought back by Kou Huai and Ye Honglanzhi, it seemed to have happened overnight.

Sheliuying also returned from Liuwu Forest and confirmed that the woman in white was not Shu Huixin, but was related to Shu Huixin. She was a sleeping demon Gu left over from back then, parasitizing a man named Wang Rongku. She should be the current Gu King, but it is unknown why she suddenly woke up.

"...In addition, Xiangxiang and the fox demon have also gone to find the materials needed for the exorcising Gu, but the Gu demons have also received the news and sent out Gu maidens."

This was also what She Liuying was vaguely worried about, but Shu Huixin comforted her, saying that Xiangxiang would be fine and that the dangerous peaks needed her more at this time.

So even though she was uneasy, she forced herself not to chase after them. Besides, the Seven Demon Mountains were so vast that even Shu Huixin didn't know where they had gone, so where was she supposed to go to look for them?

"So, does the disappearance of the rat-head flower mean that the Gu woman has a problem?" Lan Fengguang looked at the two people with their brows furrowed.

Kou Qiyu nodded slowly. "Very likely."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing for us?" Lan Fengguang couldn't help but laugh. "The Gu woman went to hunt down Xiangxiang. In this situation, at least we know that Xiangxiang is safe."

"How did you figure that out?" Shooting Shadow looked somewhat annoyed.

Lan Fengguang speculated, "Isn't this obvious? With the Gu Woman's strength, she's probably even stronger than the Gu Man. The Gu Man—"

At this point, Lan Fengguang coughed and stole a glance at She Liuying's reaction.

"Are you saying that the fox demon is no match for the Gu woman?" She Liuying asked, continuing his question.

Lan Fengguang slapped his thigh and said, "Don't you think so? So the Gu woman must have encountered someone stronger than her, no, at least someone on par with her. Xiangxiang and the others will definitely be alright."

Sheliuying seemed lost in thought, and it was unclear how much of what he had heard was actually taken in.

“I think this might be an opportunity,” Lan Fengguang continued. “Since we can’t get rid of the Gu King, let’s start with the group of Gu.”

They've failed before, but they've also succeeded; at least those venomous insects aren't invincible.

Lan Fengguang looked at She Liuying, and their gazes gradually turned cold, revealing their determination to eliminate the demonic gu no matter what.

...

"Ripples?"

Xiao Cangdao was the one taking care of Fuyi. After seeing Fuyi wake up, he smiled with relief, "You lost so much blood, I was afraid you wouldn't wake up."

Fuyi propped herself up with one hand, looked around, and asked in a daze, "Was it Ye Honglanzhi who saved me?"

"Hmm." Laughing Dagger nodded.

Their courtyard was inhabited entirely by demons. After Shu Zhuo died, Le Qing was depressed for a long time, and then she went into seclusion, and no one dared to disturb her.

As for Xiao Litian, he was nowhere to be seen all day. Ever since she failed to kill the Gu King that day, she felt that her brother seemed to have suffered a great blow. This was not surprising. Her brother, who inherited his grandfather's demon power, could already be called the strongest in Qiling Mountain, but he still had no chance of winning against the Gu King.

Thinking of this, Xiao Cangdao sighed deeply and looked at the rustling roof.

Mie Chenhuan was lying on the roof, basking in the sun with his legs crossed. Without that annoying Kou Huai coming to bother him, he was living a very comfortable life.

Anyway, the demonic gu has nothing to do with him. At worst, he can just knock that brat unconscious and run away with her.

He nodded with satisfaction at his future plans, but suddenly froze, his brows furrowing instantly.

"There's someone here—"

Bang!

The courtyard gate closed abruptly.

"Nobody's here!"

"Ouch!" Kou Huai cried out, clutching his nose where he had been bumped, "I didn't come here to see you, why are you making such a fuss?"

Mie Chenhuan's lips twitched. This was such a familiar tactic. Every time she said she wasn't looking for him, but when had she ever let him off the hook?

"What's wrong?" Xiao Cangdao asked, helping Fuyi push open the door and come out as he heard the voice.

Fuyi had been lying down for too long and it was time to get out and move around. Upon seeing the fierce-looking Miechenhuan in the yard, Fuyi's nerves immediately tensed up.

"It's nothing, he's just like that. It must be Kou Huai who's here. He doesn't react as strongly to the others."

Xiao Cangdao explained, and opened the courtyard gate to let Kou Huai in.

Kou Huai was also aggrieved. He didn't know what was going on. Now, everyone in the entire Dangerous Peak Range, including his master, was saying that he and Mie Chenhuan were the closest. The two of them were often seen with their arms around each other, calling each other brothers. You have to know that Mie Chenhuan is a ghost demon and does not belong to Qiling Mountain. No one can force him to do anything.

So, whenever Mie Chenhuan was needed, he was the one who had to call for help. Heaven knows how aggrieved he was. This living father really went all out to kill him; it hurt so much.

"What is it?" Xiao Cangdao asked directly, knowing that the other party had come to ask for a favor.

Kou Huai glanced cautiously at the bristling Mie Chenhuan and swallowed hard.

"actually……"

After an incense stick had burned, Xiao Cangdao pondered for a moment and said, "Can I go? My injuries have fully healed, and Fuyi has just woken up. Right now, only I can cooperate with you."

She knew that Mie Chenhuan had reluctantly agreed to help several times because of her, but after seeing the power of the Gu King, she also began to worry and did not want Mie Chenhuan to get too involved.

Her acquaintance with Mie Chenhuan was nothing but a tragic fate. This guy was wandering around in the mountains when he stumbled upon the place where Granny Lizard was healing her. Granny Lizard and she joined forces but couldn't kill him. Instead, they aroused his interest, and he would pop up and stir up trouble whenever he had nothing to do. During that time, she was afraid that her identity would be exposed, and she lived in constant fear and anxiety, wishing she could chop him to pieces.

But when the Yin Palace fell, Granny Lizard was captured while trying to save her. She was seriously injured, and it was he who came to her rescue in the critical moment. She didn't know why this person was so annoying, but she was grateful to him from the bottom of her heart.

As they spent more time together, their relationship evolved into what it is now. Mie Chenhuan had nowhere to go, and she didn't want to get involved in Qiling Mountain's affairs, nor did she want her to get more and more involved. After arguing a few times, Mie Chenhuan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she simply stayed there.

Kou Huai trembled inwardly. From the moment Xiao Cangdao spoke, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if a cold wind was blowing past his ears.

“You haven’t met Master Gu, you won’t get any benefit from going.” Mie Chenhuan’s face was ashen, and he glanced at Kou Huai seemingly casually, but Kou Huai was so shocked that his hair stood on end and his whole body ached.

"Cough cough cough..."

“Actually, you—” Xiao Cangdao had just started to speak when Mie Chenhuan interrupted her, “I still have some scores to settle with that Gu Master. He made a fool of me before. Do I look like the kind of person who would be bullied and not fight back?”

After saying that, he grabbed Kou Huai and pulled her outside, saying, "Come on, let's go together."

Xiao Cangdao looked at the two of them with their arms around each other, her expression somewhat conflicted. She could tell that Kou Huai was afraid of him, but looking at it this way, it was no wonder that rumors were spreading that Kou Huai was the closest person to him.

Fu Yi smiled slightly as she looked at Xiao Cangdao's thoughtful expression. Noticing his gaze, Xiao Cangdao quickly looked away, wanting to explain, but not knowing where to begin.

The autumn wind is bleak, blowing down a carpet of osmanthus blossoms. Their fragrance drifts away on the wind, carried further and further.

Deep in the woods, Gu Ye suddenly looked absentmindedly towards the winding path.

The place where he was sitting was bordered by rugged caves on the left and winding paths on the right. There was a bamboo forest there, and he sat on an old tree, his figure almost blending into the old tree.

He had just taken a short nap when he suddenly dreamed of some distant memories, so distant that he thought he had long forgotten them.

On such an afternoon, dappled sunlight streamed through the forest. His adopted son, carrying his wife and children, scrambled to escape, pursued by four or five ferocious demons, their bloodlust palpable.

Do you want to help them?

As if sensing his hesitation, a tall figure behind him blocked out all the sunlight and looked down at him, asking a question.

He gave a bitter laugh, unsure whether to nod or shake his head, and slowly said, "I found him in the snow back then and treated him like my own son. I thought that at least I would have someone to rely on when I got old, but I never expected to be so disliked. Now..."

"Help! Help!"

The man screamed as he fled for his life. As the demon behind him drew closer, he yelled and shoved his wife and children away, shouting, "Run!"

"Father, Father—"

The child struggled desperately in the woman's arms, but at the same time, a demon soared into the air and landed in front of the mother and child, its bloody claws slamming down.

In his panic, he instinctively tried to rush out, but his shoulder was firmly held down by a hand.

"Ahhh!"

"Going there will only be suicide for you."

"But aren't you a demon master? Why didn't you save him? At least that child, that..."

The screams went from rapid to slow, and finally, there was no sound at all, only the crunching of bones being chewed. His pupils dilated, and his face turned deathly pale. The demon was on top of the mother and child, tearing at them and eating them until blood and flesh flew everywhere.

He couldn't help but feel a churning in his stomach, and his knees buckled, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Sigh..." He heard a faint sigh coming from above him. "Although I am a demon master, I am also the weakest demon refining elder. I can't even protect my own closest relatives and loved ones, let alone others?"

He paused for a moment, then, as if he had figured something out, a bitter smile appeared on his lips. "Liao Wanchuan, so you don't care about other people's suffering at all; you just want everyone to suffer like you."

"Haha..." Liao Wanchuan laughed, but his gaze suddenly turned cold. "So am I wrong? Wasn't my desire to kill all the demons for their own good? What's a little pain? Why can't they bear it? Why can I? Tell me! Why?"

"Why? Heh..." He unconsciously asked this question. Yes! Why? He gave everything he had to that child, why did he end up like this?

Master Gu took a deep breath, slowly pulling himself back from his sinking thoughts. How long had it been since he'd thought of that person, that unpredictable man whose thoughts you could never fathom, a complete madman?

"Eat it! Don't you want to die? Then eat it. This is a demonic gu that can kill all demons. Of course, if you can't withstand it, you'll die too..."

When Liao Wanchuan excitedly handed the demonic gu to him, he admitted that he was scared. Perhaps out of instinct, he still vehemently refused, but was later forced to swallow it.

Suddenly everything went black. Gu Ye took a deep breath and shook his head with lingering fear.

Why am I thinking about something so far in the past? Liao Wanchuan died long ago... he died without leaving a trace, but he miraculously came back to life.

These sub-Gu can create countless puppet Gu, but the sub-Gu are not created by the Gu King.

All the Gu King possesses is Gu poison.

“Once a venomous worm dies, there will be one less; there will be no more.”

Inside the misty forest, Shu Huixin shook her head.

During this time, Shui Buyun listened to Shu Huixin recount the past. She spoke for a long time and very slowly. There were some things that Shui Buyun wanted to know more about, but Shu Huixin glossed over them. There were other things that Shui Buyun was not interested in, but Shu Huixin remembered them very clearly.

"Do you recognize those 'child gu'?" Shui Buyun asked casually.

Shu Huixin pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "I wouldn't say we knew each other. Back then, Brother Rong and I depended on each other for survival. I was blind, and he took me through a lot of hardship. But there were good people there too. Those who had been kind to us, Brother Rong and I secretly buried them elsewhere after they died, otherwise their bodies would have been eaten by others..."

"Eat... a corpse?" Shui found it incomprehensible and felt disgusted.

Shu Huixin shook her head, unwilling to continue. Brother Rong had never let her eat those things. She vaguely remembered burying four corpses with Brother Rong, and the last one was Brother Rong, who was tortured to death by the demonic Gu. She buried him herself.

And then...

Liao Wanchuan also died. The fire that almost engulfed the entire Yang Palace burned for five whole days. When the flames were extinguished, of all the test subjects who had received the demonic Gu, only she survived.

Until now.