Chapter 55: Using Oneself as Bait

“Fine, fine, fine. You don’t believe I can solve the case?”

Gao Sheng was extremely dissatisfied with the behavior of this Beast Taming Sect Disciple.

“Since you’re also here to investigate this matter, let’s compete and see who uncovers the truth first!”

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving a bewildered Lin Jing behind.

“He seems to truly want to investigate the case, but I feel like he’s not cut out for it,” Lin Jing remarked.

Divine Pine said, “A young human cub still needs to grow. However, his heart to subdue demons and uphold the Dao is already worth encouraging, even though I am a demonic Cultivator.”

“Senior Divine Pine, could you please tell fewer Hell jokes?”

At this time, Lin Jing deduced based on the existing information, “So, Senior Brother Ouyang’s poisoning and the disappearance of the Spirit Beasts in Snow Moon City weren’t caused by a person?”

“There should be a masterless Gu insect active in Snow Moon City.”

“The bizarre disappearance of ice-attribute Spirit Beasts was the Gu insect feeding.”

“The reason I deduce it’s a masterless Gu is that if a Gu Master were feeding it, there would be absolutely no need to cause a commotion in Snow Moon City. Masterless ice beasts are everywhere on the snowy plains. Coming here to provoke the Beast Taming Sect and Snow Moon City… isn’t that like lighting a lamp in a latrine—seeking death?”

“Senior Brother Ouyang must have been injured by the Gu insect by chance—perhaps his Yang Qi was too abundant, which didn’t sit well with this Ice Gu. A clash between Yang and cold~”

“It’s also possible that since ice and cold are Yin, the Ice Gu wanted to harvest Yang to supplement Yin, thereby injuring them!”

Divine Pine said, “You and that Gao Sheng are evenly matched.”

Lin Jing replied, “I should still be a bit stronger, right?”

“Anyway, if it’s a masterless Gu, then things will be much easier. Whether they are bugs or Gu insects, it’s said their intelligence isn’t very high,” Lin Jing said. “Senior Divine Pine, can you find its location?”

“If you can’t find it, then I’ll take action.”

Divine Pine said, “Searching in your way is indeed faster than me searching.”

Before long, a snow-white rabbit with staring blue eyes hopped along the snowy ground.

It was precisely Lin Jing after using Thousand Transformations.

Most of the Snow Rabbits raised in the Beast Valley were only at the Qi Training First Layer and had no spiritual intelligence. If even such Snow Rabbits could attract the Ice Gu, Lin Jing had added even more potent ‘ingredients’.

Although he had only transformed into a Qi Training Snow Rabbit, this rabbit’s leg had a wound. From that wound, the faint aura of Chang Sheng Blood was being emitted!

The Longevity Physique was a fatal temptation for Yao Beasts, and naturally, the same applied to Gu insects.

“Gu-gu~”

“Gu-gu~”

Lin Jing sang as he hopped along.

A night of wind and snow passed.

Lin Jing’s face had turned purple from the cold.

He glanced inside the Beast Taming Space and found that the Pine Leaf Squirrel was resting and wiping its Mechanical Bamboo Gun, preparing for the upcoming big battle. It looked quite comfortable.

Seeing this, Lin Jing dragged the Pine Leaf Squirrel out, covered it with an illusion, and made it accompany him as bait.

“With Senior Divine Pine here, you won’t have a chance to act. Come and do some proper work with me.”

After the Pine Leaf Squirrel came out, it had a look of misery on its face. It hated the heat, and it also hated the cold.

Fortunately, reality didn’t torment them for too long.

After Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Squirrel had spent some time as a pair of peerless rabbits, Divine Pine seemed to sense something.

“It’s here.”

The snowflakes falling in mid-air miraculously condensed into White Silk, dancing like white snakes, attempting to entwine the Snow Rabbit that Lin Jing had transformed into.

Before the White Silk could get close, the Pine Cone Lin Jing carried flashed with a surge of golden-green spiritual power.

Immediately afterward, a mass of golden resin appeared, completely swallowing and enveloping the flying White Silk within it, floating there.

“Senior Divine Pine, how is it!” Lin Jing looked at the densely packed White Silk wrapped in the resin. Hmm? Only silk?

“It failed,” Divine Pine said. “Just as I thought, it’s not an ordinary Gu insect.”

“This Gu insect… should not have been born yet.”

“A formless thing naturally cannot be caught.”

“Squeak!!!” The Pine Leaf Squirrel suspected that Divine Pine simply failed to catch it and was making excuses!

“How can an unborn Gu eat a Snow Rabbit!”

“It was freezing to death!”

“Do you know how Gu come to be?”

“By putting various highly toxic insects into a container and letting them slaughter each other, devouring each other’s toxicity. The one that remains at the end is the Gu,” Lin Jing provided the most basic explanation.

“Yes, Gu are toxic insects cultivated by Cultivators through Acquired means; they are not Innate insects. Therefore, the forms of Gu are varied and strange.”

“Among the countless Gu insects refined by the Gu God Sect, there are ten types of Strange Gu.”

“They take the form of toxic insects, but their bodies are composed of elements. They are immortal and indestructible. Every time they are eliminated, they don’t truly die in the literal sense. Hundreds or thousands of years later, they can absorb nutrients in a place with the corresponding element and achieve Rebirth.”

“Although they will forget all memories after Rebirth, like a new life in Reincarnation, they will retain their Bloodline power. It can be said that every one of them is a king among Gu.”

“If I’m not mistaken, an Ice-type Strange Gu is about to be nurtured and reborn in this place,” Divine Pine said. “That White Silk is its instinctual absorption of nutrients, using the ice and snow as its organs, preparing to transform from formless to form.”

Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Squirrel had their horizons broadened. To think there was such a Strange Gu. No wonder the Gu God Sect could be one of the few demonic sects that didn’t completely perish during the Tian Yuan Ancient Kingdom’s demon-slaying operation.

“Then what should we do? Wait for it to be reborn and then capture it?” Lin Jing asked.

“That’s the only way. However, I think what you should be doing right now is searching for the real culprit who injured your Senior Brother.”

After Divine Pine finished speaking, Lin Jing paused, suddenly realizing what was wrong.

“An unborn Gu insect only possesses the most primitive desire to feed, while Gu poison is an attack method used after a Gu insect has taken shape.”

Lin Jing asked, “Is there a Cultivator from the Gu God Sect… waiting here for the Gu insect to be born? Was Senior Brother really injured by a demonic Cultivator?”

“It’s not necessarily a Gu God Sect Cultivator, but it’s definitely a Cultivator who understands ‘Gu Arts’.”

“Newborn Gu are different from mature Gu. Right after being born, they will instinctively look for a host to parasitize, entering a slumber to digest and grow.”

“Ordinary Cultivators would certainly be unwilling to serve as a container for a Gu insect’s growth. After all, to a Cultivator, a Gu insect is a bloodsucker that brings many negative effects.”

“But if you look at it from another angle—as long as one can bear the consequences and utilize each other, then the power of the Gu insect can be used by the Cultivator.”

“The Cultivator branch known as Gu Masters originated from this. If it were just that, Gu Masters wouldn’t necessarily become demonic Cultivators. Unfortunately, there are too few Cultivators who can withstand Gu parasitism, and most Gu Masters are loath to give up the Gu’s power. Thus, they can only use others’ bodies as nutrients to nurture the Gu.”

“Every different type of Gu insect requires a different parasitic environment. If someone knew in advance that a Strange Gu would be nurtured and reborn in this city, they would have ample time to prepare, training their Physique into one suitable for an Ice-type Strange Gu to slumber and grow, becoming a Gu Master.”

“Furthermore, if they also obtained the refining method for a Lower-tier Gu of that Strange Gu, they could first parasitize their body with that Lower-tier Gu to increase the compatibility between themselves and the Ice-type Strange Gu. The birthplace of a Gu king is also the best place to refine its Lower-tier Gu.”

“A Physique suitable for an Ice Gu to slumber and absorb nutrients…” Lin Jing immediately thought of City Lord Tang’s Acquired Ice Spirit Body. Could it be that Young Master Gao was actually right???

“No, that’s not right. Although an Ice Gu and an Ice Spirit Body seem like a good match, if that were the case, why would City Lord Tang attack Senior Brother Ouyang?”

“He’s a Golden Core Cultivator. No matter how strong Senior Brother Ouyang is, it would be impossible for him to escape. Besides, it’s said that Cultivators from the City Lord’s Mansion were the ones who found the injured Senior Brother Ouyang and provided immediate medical treatment.”

Lin Jing said counter-intuitively, “Could it be that the most suitable Physique for an Ice Gu to parasitize is of the fire or Yang attribute? The Cultivator waiting in the shadows for the Strange Gu to be reborn has a Physique of that attribute. He learned that the Strange Gu would soon revive, but then discovered Senior Brother Ouyang, who also possesses a Yang-attribute Physique. Fearing that Senior Brother Ouyang’s presence would affect his own chance to become the Gu’s container, he used a Sub-Gu to secretly harm him?”

“Do Gu insects actually play the game of Yin-Yang harmony and the fusion of ice and fire? Or is it simply that fire-attribute Cultivators won’t freeze to death too quickly, so the Gu insect won’t be left homeless?”