Ascending to the Clouds Alone

In the dark room, the shimmering stone lamps on the four walls emitted a white light, as if covered with a layer of frost.

"Thump!"

Han Xiangyu was slammed to the ground like a stray dog ​​with a broken spine.

He groaned twice, stubbornly trying to sit up, but after struggling for a few moments, he finally collapsed back down.

Seeing him in such a sorry state, Lin Su felt a pang of sorrow in his heart and could not bear to look at him any longer, yet he could not look away.

The inspector strode forward and looked down at Han Xiangyu.

He turned Han Xiangyu over with his foot, and the sole of his boot slammed down hard, making a cracking sound as Han's sternum broke.

The sound made Lin Su's chest ache, and he involuntarily shrank back into the corner.

The room was filled with cold light, which fell silently onto the floor, making even the shadows appear somewhat stiff.

A few breaths later, the patrolman withdrew his divine sense, seemingly having completed the search.

He leaned down against the light, his shadow completely engulfing Han Xiangyu's distorted face.

"Planting your own Gu? Excellent! A half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator certainly has some guts, but I wonder how pleasant it will be?"

Han Xiangyu grinned, blood seeping from between his teeth, his tone surprisingly calm:

"In the territory of the Witchcraft Cult, if you want to preserve your soul intact, you'll always need... some unorthodox remedies, won't you?"

Shamanism!

Lin Su was secretly alarmed. That was one of the major forces in the Southwest Region, a force that could rival the Green Wood Sect.

Just then, the patrolman let out a cold snort:

"Folk remedies? You seem to know how to use the things I taught the Witchcraft Hall quite well!"

He paused for a few breaths, as if pondering, then unleashed his true energy from his feet and shouted sharply:

"Speak! Where is the jade slip? Where did you obtain the Gu worms?"

The Corrosive Gu was activated by the patrol's true essence and surged violently again, but the light in Han Xiangyu's eyes shone even brighter.

Gradually, his gaze began to wander, as if he were recalling his past experiences.

After a long while, he finally spoke:

"You can't find the jade slip on me, can you? I advise you to give up on this idea, Immortal Master."

As for the Gu worms, I found them! In the mines, in the piles of dead bodies... If the Immortal Master wants them, perhaps another day... I'll take you there?"

Lin Su realized that Han Xiangyu was lying, but he couldn't figure out why he would say that.

The female deacon standing to the side had her fingers tugging at the hem of her dress inside her sleeve, her lips trembling, but she didn't dare make a sound.

The patrol officer caught a glimpse of her subtle movements out of the corner of his eye and said:

"Junior Sister Liu, you were a disciple of the Witchcraft Hall in your younger days, so you must recognize this Gu. Tell me about it."

"Reporting to Senior Brother, from what I saw of this person's appearance after being afflicted by the Gu, it is a high-grade God-Eating Gu, and a rare variety at that."

The female deacon spoke cautiously, yet it caused the inspector's expression to change drastically.

"Awesome! Hahaha..."

Han Xiangyu's tone suggested he wanted to clap his hands in praise, but he didn't have the strength to do so at the moment.

He said with a hint of disdain in his eyes:

"That's right. I obtained this Gu and the incomplete cultivation technique five years ago. As for how I obtained it, some people know the answer."

Lin Su then realized that Han Xiangyu had mentioned before that this mutated God-Eating Gu, besides being vicious, also had a certain characteristic.

After devouring its host, if it has no new host, it will self-destruct, carrying with it fragments of the host's dying thoughts, much like a dandelion; as long as it touches a trace of the host, one can know the host's final thoughts.

The patrolman's eyes widened suddenly, and he increased the force of his kick by three times:

"Trying to act tough with me? You think I wouldn't dare kill you with that monstrous God-Eating Gu?!"

Han Xiangyu was so shocked by the kick that he coughed up blood from his mouth and nose.

"Cough, cough... How dare I gamble my life with a celestial master... However, this Gu worm has bitten my remnant soul. If it explodes, I'm afraid those fragments of my obsession will be..."

Coughing and choking, he tried his best to lift his neck, blood gushing down, but the smile on his face only grew wider:

"...Besides, given your current level of cultivation, you probably haven't even learned the art of soul searching, have you?"

He gathered his strength, and after a few breaths, a defiant look appeared on his face as he slowly said:

"Are you absolutely certain? Blood, minerals... life, sacrifice..."

With each word uttered, the inspector's face grew increasingly grim.

Han Xiangyu kept talking, as if he were talking to himself:

"For five years, I have been feeding the Gu with my life essence every month, which caused my cultivation level to drop. Today, I have released the control and let it backfire on me. It can be considered to have served its purpose."

Hearing this, Lin Su felt a deep sorrow in his heart, regretting his own weakness. If he had started cultivating earlier, Uncle Han wouldn't have had to suffer such extreme torture.

The patrolman and the female deacon both frowned, clearly shocked by Han Xiangyu's ruthless attitude towards himself.

The inspector suppressed his anger and said:

"Are you that sure?!"

Han Xiangyu went so far as to be direct, but his tone seemed to carry a hint of earnestness:

"Immortal Master, regarding the jade slip... according to the laws of the Great Yin Dynasty, the Bureau of Extermination of Evil will surely intervene. At that time, your Wuxian Sect will likely be in an embarrassing situation."

I've heard all too well about your sect's methods of disposing of its internal waste. Hahaha, doesn't the Immortal Master think about his own future?

The air seemed to have fallen silent; the room was eerily quiet, with only Han Xiangyu's labored breathing remaining.

A spasm-like sensation rippled through Lin Su's chest. He instinctively hugged the guqin tightly, and the warmth of the instrument soothed him somewhat, gradually clearing his muddled mind.

When Uncle Han patted my shoulder just now, what was the force of his thumb?

Yes, three short and one long!

My father taught me this when I was a child; it's the secret code used by the Lin family's private soldiers in dire situations:

Seize the opportunity to escape.

But given Han Shu's current situation, how can he possibly escape from this Thousand Machine Shuttle filled with array formations?

Calm down, calm down!

My father once said that if you panic even slightly when a knife is held to your neck, you're really going to die.

Thinking of this, Lin Su clenched his teeth and bit his tongue hard, the pain calming him down.

The patrolman, his face grim, stomped down again, and Lin Su nearly cried out.

But when that foot stepped down, there was a slight tremor, as if it was trying its best to suppress something.

Does this person, who is high above, also have moments of concern or fear?

The female deacon beside him had already withdrawn her hand into her sleeve, with a faint spiritual energy emanating from her fingertips.

Was she secretly forming hand seals, or was her spiritual energy in disarray?

As Lin Su was pondering this, the female deacon suddenly turned her head, her gaze seemingly meeting his, which startled him so much that he quickly lowered his head.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

At that moment, the patrolman paused.

After a brief silence, as if having weighed his options, he loosened his grip slightly, staring into Han Xiangyu's unfocused yet stubborn gaze, and said:

"What do you intend to do?"

Han Xiangyu finally managed to breathe in some air, and after a few breaths, he let out a long sigh:

"...Let us go, and we will return the jade slip to you."

He stopped smiling, looked at the patrolling guard, and said seriously:

"We are but insignificant cultivators, mere ants in the dust, how dare we... presume to comment on the great deeds of the Immortal Master?"

Hearing this, Lin Su felt that Han Xiangyu was like a completely different person.

The old man, who drank cheap Red Flame liquor and called him a "bastard" all the way, is now curled up on the ground and speaking in such a tone.

But the hand that had been on his shoulder earlier was clearly familiar.

"Senior Brother Yang, you mustn't!" the female deacon exclaimed urgently. "If those two leave the shuttle, the consequences will be dire. This man is extremely cunning!"

Han Xiangyu laughed again, spitting out blood foam:

"Hahaha, if you kill me, the information will spread throughout this place immediately. That would be a real disaster."

Even if you manage to suppress everyone's resistance, how many intact goods can you possibly deliver? ...By then, you two will probably be 'enjoying life' in the blood mine before we are!"

Lin Su finally understood.

If all the independent cultivators in the entire region knew they were commodities, knew they were to be sent to the blood mines as catalysts, as human sacrifices, they would definitely rebel, many would die, and then…

So that's what the patrol officers were afraid of!

At the same moment, the patrol officer's words flashed through his mind, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he had already made up his mind.

As long as the Gu worms are not detonated on the Thousand Machine Shuttle and the jade slip can be retrieved, there is room for maneuver no matter how much commotion is caused.

In the past, the escort was always handled by Senior Brother Wang He. However, because he went into seclusion to refine his golden core the day before yesterday, I was temporarily replaced. I never expected to run into this tough nut to crack.

He was about to form his core, but he was being threatened by a piece of trash who was a whole realm lower than him. He wished he could tear him to pieces to vent his anger!