Chapter 180

Chapter 180

Plague

“Sure. I will go anywhere. Let’s go right now,” enthused Mu Yu.

Mu Yu would rather go tackle a group of Primordial Infant Realm youths than bore himself for another day in the valley. Xiaoshuai and the dragon vine were no fun because they were two busy trying to aggravate the other.

“You have. To come. As my. Disciple, though.”

“Easy. I will even call you ‘Shifu’.”

Ku Mu wasn’t fazed. It wasn’t the second or third time Mu Yu tried to butter him up, after all. Moreover, for the half a year they had been together, Mu Yu cracked jokes daily and often forewent formalities. Letting Mu Yu get to him emotionally would equate to one tiresome life.

It was a luxury to breathe the fresh air beyond Ku Mu Valley. The sight of flying cultivators, small houses and picturesque scenery was the free lifestyle Mu Yu craved. The dragon vine didn’t join them, but there was no way Xiaoshuai was going to pass up a chance to reward his taste buds. Ku Mu, of course, brought food back when he went out, only for Xiaoshuai hoard it.

“I want chicken drumsticks. Lots and lots of chicken drumsticks!” Xiaoshuai voiced.

They arrived at a small remote village that gave off a spooky vibe.

“Plague,” remarked Ku Mu.

“Are we here to save them?” asked Mu Yu.

“Y-your job is to s-s-s-”

“Save them, got it.”

The villagers had black rings around their eyes and coughed profusely. Some of them were covered under sheets of hay and carried out on stretchers. Those working had ghastly pale faces. Evidently, the plague was an epidemic that took countless human lives once it hit.

Mu Yu was educated enough to be privy of the plague’s catalyst and how it triggered. One of the poison’s in “Poison Scripture” was concocted using the blood of patients diagnosed with the plague.

“Gramps, you aren’t the one who spread it, are you?” questioned Mu Yu, puzzled why Ku Mu would save someone.

Ku Mu glanced at Mu Yu out the corner of his eyes. “P-poison users. D-d-don’t necessarily. H-Harm people.”

“Are you telling me you save people using poison?”

“M-m-my poison c-can only save ordinary folks.”

“You went behind Third Heaven Palace to kill innocent people?!” expostulated Mu Yu.

The Ghost Gate disciple showed a condescending expression. “Who cares about those weaklings? They only forbade us from killing cultivators indiscriminately. We have free reign to kill these ordinary folks.”

“What do you need so many spirit souls for?” Mu Yu queried, refusing to argue with someone who practiced crooked reasoning.

“You think I’d tell you? Release me now. Else, you know what’s coming.”

Ku Mu took out a white potion. “I don’t. Like. Questioning,” said Ku Mu, pouring the white liquid onto the Ghost Gate disciple’s spiritual soul.

“Aaargh!” The disciple looked as though he fell into a daze.

“Speech spirit potion?” remarked Mu Yu, blinking. “It works on spirit souls, too?”

According to Poison Scripture, speech spirit herb was found at the peak of Northern Mountain. Merely smelling it would befog one’s mind. Once afflicted, one could pry the truth out of the victim effortlessly. For that very reason, it was difficult to obtain.

“I specifically. Created it. To handle. Ghost Gate.” Ku Mu stored the vial away. “Ask away.”

Interrogating with a stutter would probably frustrate the daylights out of the suspect. Hence, Mu Yu shrugged and began. “What are you planning to do with ordinary people’s spirit soul?”

“Elder Gui Jiuming wants to use their spirit souls and fiend spirits to create Walk-in Nine Formation,” answered the Ghost Gate disciple, in a monotone voice.

“What’s that?”

“Elder Gui Jiuming intends to take the body of one of the fiend race’s Ten Great Fiend King’s – White Ape Fiend King. It is believed fiend kings’ bodies never decay. They are the result of fiend beasts cultivating human bodies. Thanks to the process, their bodies are impregnable and invulnerable to magic. It is an avenue to immortality.”

“Didn’t the ten of them go extinct millenniums ago?”

“Since they can’t be killed, humans sealed them as an alternative. E;der Gui Jiuming found out the White Ape Fiend King...”

The disciple abruptly stopped mid-speech. His eyes widened, and his soul was reduced to shards.

“What happened to him, Gramps? We didn’t find out anything useful.”

“The poison. Doesn’t. Last long.”

“Man, as if humanity doesn’t have enough on their hands since the elemental demons’ resurgence. Are the fiends joining the fray now, as well? Gramps, is there anything we can do?”

“No.”