Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

"Not feeling well? We're studying medicine, perhaps we can help take a look?" Shen Qingqiu asked with concern.

"No need, no need! You can't cure the ailments in the mountains!" The proprietress practically snatched the keys and shoved them into their hands.

"The room is on the second floor, it's fine... It's best not to wander around unless absolutely necessary, and get some rest early tonight!"

After saying that, he hurriedly went back to the inner room and closed the door.

The four exchanged glances, understanding dawning on them: Mu Qingyao was indeed suspicious, and the townspeople were keeping it a closely guarded secret.

Back in the room, the group gathered together.

"The landlady reacted strongly, more with fear than rejection." Ye Qingcheng leaned against the window, looking at the quiet streets outside. "Something must have happened in this town."

Chu Ling'er closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then whispered, "There's resentment in the air above the town, very faint, but definitely there. And... it seems like something is monitoring the entire town, very subtly, like... insects?"

"Gu?" Lin Chen's eyes sharpened.

"That's possible." Shen Qingqiu nodded. "Let's hold back tonight and gather information. Tomorrow we'll go directly to the school to find Mu Qingyao."

As night falls, Falling Moon Town is plunged into darkness early on, with only a few scattered lights.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, regulating his breathing, when suddenly his ears twitched slightly.

Outside the window, there was an extremely faint "rustling" sound, like countless tiny feet crawling across the tiles.

He quietly approached the window and lifted a corner of the curtain.

Under the moonlight, countless dark shadows could be vaguely seen wriggling on the streets and rooftops—they were insects!

All sorts of venomous insects: centipedes, scorpions, spiders, brightly colored beetles... They seemed to be guided by something, converging towards the west end of the town.

Lin Chenyang activated his spiritual eye and saw that the insects were all wrapped in a very faint black aura.

It's not a malevolent spirit, but more like... being controlled by some kind of evil Gu magic.

He tapped gently on the wall.

Soon, Shen Qingqiu and the other two also gathered around.

"An insect swarm." Ye Qingcheng's expression was grave. "It's quite large, and their target is clear. To the west... it seems to be in the direction of the old forest behind the town?"

"Should we follow them and see?" Chu Ling'er asked nervously, but her eyes were firm.

Lin Chen pondered, "It's better to be cautious than to alert them. Let's see what the person controlling these insects is up to."

The four changed into dark clothes, silently leaped out of the window, and like owls, rose and fell between the stilted houses, following the swarm of insects at a distance.

The swarm of insects eventually converged in a remote mountain valley behind the town.

Here stands an ancient altar, long abandoned, its stone platform weathered and etched with indistinct totems.

In the center of the altar stood a person.

By the moonlight, Lin Chen and the others could see clearly that it was an old woman dressed in black Miao clothing, thin as a rake, with strange indigo tattoos on her face, and holding a white bone staff in her hand.

On the ground in front of her lay three unconscious Miao youths.

The old woman chanted obscure incantations as she brandished her bone staff.

The swarm of insects split into three streams, slowly crawling up the bodies of the three men and burrowing into their mouths, noses, and ears!

The unconscious man's body convulsed violently, and his face quickly turned bluish-black.

"She's using living people to raise Gu gu!" Shen Qingqiu exclaimed, his eyes flashing with anger. "And it's an extremely vicious 'human Gu,' using the essence and soul of living people as nourishment to cultivate a Gu king!"

"Let's do it!" Lin Chen decided immediately.

The old woman exuded a sinister aura, likely somewhere between the late Qi Refining stage and the early Foundation Establishment stage. The four of them working together should be able to defeat her.

Lin Chen rushed out first, his figure as fast as lightning, and struck the old woman in the back with a palm!

The palm strike was fierce, but the Nine Yang aura was deliberately suppressed, revealing only the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage—this was part of the disguise.

The old woman reacted extremely quickly, letting out a strange cry as she blocked with her white bone staff.

boom!

The energies clashed, and the old woman staggered forward, turning back in horror: "Outsider?! How dare you ruin my 'Ghost Gu Granny's' plans!"

She slammed her white bone staff into the ground, and the poisonous insects that had not yet burrowed into the human body immediately went berserk, rushing towards Lin Chen and the other three like a tidal wave!

"Beware of insect poison!" Shen Qingqiu shouted lightly, raising his hands to sprinkle out a light green powder.

When the powder touched the poisonous insects, they immediately became sluggish, and some even began to bite each other—this was her specially made insect-repelling and mind-dispelling powder.

Ye Qingcheng drew her longsword, and the frost-like aura clung to its blade. The sword light was as white as snow, and wherever it passed, poisonous insects froze to death.

Chu Ling'er formed hand seals, releasing her spiritual power in an attempt to disrupt the faint controlling intent within the insect swarm and throw the insect tide into chaos.

Lin Chen then went straight for Granny Gui Gu.

The old woman used unorthodox methods, constantly releasing various poisonous insects: moths that could spew poisonous mist, blood-thread insects with incredible speed, and earth insects that could burrow underground to ambush people...

However, under Lin Chen's exquisite Nine Yang Soaring Dragon Step and powerful true energy, they were all broken and burned.

"Who exactly are you people?!" The more the Ghost Gu Granny fought, the more alarmed she became. The opponent's moves were upright and honest, yet they were able to counter her Gu techniques.

Especially that young man, whose vital energy was extremely yang, made her feel uncomfortable all over.

"A person who stands up for justice on the road."

Lin Chen swatted away several venomous scorpions with a single palm strike, then approached the old woman. "Speak! Did you cause the disappearances in town? Where is Mu Qingyao?"

Upon hearing the name "Mu Qingyao," a glint of greed and resentment flashed in Granny Guigu's eyes: "So it was all for that little bitch!"

"She's mine! Her Gu spirit body is mine! As long as I refine her, I can become a true Gu Immortal!"

She bit her tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the white bone staff.

A black skull embedded at the top of the bone staff suddenly lit up, emitting a nauseating stench.

"A myriad of poisons devour the heart!"

A cloud of black mist flew out from the skull, containing countless phantom images of Gu worms, emitting sharp mental shocks that rushed straight towards Lin Chen's sea of ​​consciousness!

This is a Gu technique that attacks the soul!

With the Nine Yang True Qi guarding his sea of ​​consciousness, Lin Chen naturally had nothing to fear.

But a thought struck him, and he deliberately swayed, revealing a flaw in his movements.

The Ghost Gu Granny was overjoyed and thrust her white bone staff straight at Lin Chen's heart!

Just as the tip of the staff was about to touch it, a golden light flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, and his right hand gripped the bone staff like an iron clamp, unleashing a burst of Nine Yang True Qi!

"Ah!" Granny Guigu screamed as her bone staff shattered with a "crack," and the arm that held the staff instantly turned black. Her evil true energy was scattered by the power of supreme yang.

Lin Chen used his left hand, fingers pointing like a sword, to strike several acupoints on her chest, sealing her cultivation.

The battle is over.

Shen Qingqiu examined the three unconscious men and breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, the Gu worms have only recently entered their bodies, so they can still be saved."

She quickly applied acupuncture and medicine to force out or kill the venomous insects that had burrowed in.

Ye Qingcheng and Chu Ling'er cleaned up the remaining poisonous insects.

Lin Chen brought over the ghostly old woman, whose face was ashen.

"Tell me, where exactly is Mu Qingyao? What is your relationship with the Netherworld Sect?"

The old woman, venomous as she looked at him, said, "Speaking will only lead to death..."

"If you don't talk, you'll die right now, and you'll die a horrible death." Ye Qingcheng pressed his long sword against her throat, the frost rising on her skin to give her goosebumps.