48. Danger
Raging water fails to stifle the Blood Torrent Python’s pace! Instead, it swims ferociously while Lo Jik’s and Bai Ning Bing’s hearts teem with anxiety. It’s nighttime, but their vision isn’t obstructed. Bai Ning Bing possesses the Lightning Pupil Gu, and Lo Jik has the Heaven Piercing Eye Gu. The sight only makes them more stressed.
There is nothing behind the python until they notice the giant shadow resurface.
*Splash*
A pink-skinned mantis, the size of a bear, tears out from the raging waves. Its movements look elegant and effortless. A small blue lantern hangs from its head and exudes a chilling glow, revealing a mouth underneath with jagged fangs that can stretch enough to gulp an adult!
A Lantern Cave Mantis!
Why it’s hunting in open waters is not something the duo has the luxury to consider. It’s a mutated beast with two Rank 4 Gu on its body!
Attack!
Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing attack the floating mantis. Even though Lo Jik located the Gu on the Mantis’ body earlier…
A blue glow flashes from the lantern, forming a giant blue bubble that defends against the wave of icicles and three Moonblades!
A Rank 4 Big Bubble Gu!
“Shit!”
They curse again. Lo Jik controls the python to suddenly dive underwater as the duo holds their breath.
*Fsssshhhhh*
Blue flames carpet the water's surface. The duo narrowly avoids the attack.
A Rank 4 Water Combustion Gu!
‘The fucker has prime Gu Worms. How do you luck into a Fire Path Gu Master’s dream of combusting water?’
Lo Jik grits his teeth. They are in a difficult situation. The river banks have no place to land since they are all steep cliffs. This tributary cuts into Jiang Mountain while traveling east. The Jiang Mountain also accommodates two Clans at each peak. Recklessly entering their territory is ill-advised.
Lo Jik’s eyes suddenly widen. He almost opens his mouth as something sharp pierces into his skin. He glances down to see an arm-sized thorn sticking from his thigh! The Bamboo Armor on his body suddenly trembles before quickly disintegrating.
The Rank 3 Bamboo Armor Gu perished.
Bai Ning Bing and Lo Jik further see the Mantis’ tail in the river. It’s pointing at them before shooting a dozen thorns!
Goddamnit!
A Rank 3 Thorn Stab Gu!
Lo Jik maneuvers the Python to dodge the attacks. He’s clearly inexperienced in controlling the Python. Although the Gu Worm is one of his oldest partners, Lo Jik never got to train with it. Also, its best use is revealed in waterbodies. Where was Lo Jik going to practice with a 10-meter-long python without alerting others?
Bai Ning Bing grunts when one of the thorns gets her ankle. She glares at Lo Jik as he tightens his brows and avoids the Mantis.
A shore!
The Python shoots out of the water before jumping into the thicket! The duo looks back, ignoring their injuries. The Mantis floats near the riverbank. Although it’s strangely hunting outside its underwater domain, usually chilling in Underwater Caves, it refuses to chase after the duo further. The woods aren’t its territory.
*Huff*
Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing simultaneously exhales sharply.
There are several other injuries on their bodies. The duo looks tired and spent. They haven’t eaten anything for 4 days now. They were chased around by the Bladewing Blood Bat once they emerged in Qing Mao, and Lo Jik’s Earth Hole cannot be used in waterbodies. Not only that, riding the python for two days is draining.
The Rank 3 Gu isn’t wide enough for them to sleep on. Taking a step back, they cannot sleep!
The Mantis weren’t their first danger!
They encountered several creatures that wanted to eat them!
Only the Blood Torrent Python is healthy. It consumed the blood of the fish it snatched from the river, and the Gu didn’t tire.
Lo Jik lets the Python steadily navigate around the woods as he grits his teeth and plucks the thorn from his thighs. Unlike Bai Ning Bing’s shattered ankle, the thorn stopped in Lo Jik’s flesh.
Bai Ning Bing also refined her flesh into the Rank 3 Ice Muscles Gu. However, the concentration of flesh near her ankle is the lowest.
Lo Jik wills as a Midnight Spider with Golden Eyes emerges from his aperture before crawling around Lo Jik, spewing its silk. It fills the hole in Lo Jik’s thigh and swiftly brings Lo Jik to his peak condition. Unlike the Rank 2 variants where the spider silk ‘clots,’ the spider silk of Rank 3 Twilight Spider Gu transforms into the needed tissue material at the cost of Lo Jik’s essence drained heavily!
“Finally!” Bai Ning Bing sighs. She pulls out the grey thorn from her ankle. Snorting, Lo Jik heals her ankle before storing the Gu.
“Hey!” Bai Ning Bing frowns. “What about the rest?”
“What about it?” Lo Jik narrows his eyes. “You refined Ice Muscles Gu, so healing you consumes more Essence. Besides, Ice Muscles prevent perspiration and heavy bleeding. I have medicine. You can use that when we find a place to rest.”
Bai Ning Bing grits her teeth.
However, she doesn’t lash out. Instead, she suddenly frowns again and grows silent.
Lo Jik observes all this.
Being a Clan genius, Bai Ning Bing shows signs of arrogance once the fatal encounters end. She’s been plenty helpful. However, Lo Jik cannot trust Bai Ning Bing with the knowledge of an inheritance. Like Bai Ning Bing, he wants to take the slow approach of traveling on foot and see if there’s a way he can build a steady relationship before exploring an Inheritance Ground. After all, the Bai Gu hints at 2 people earning the inheritance.
“Let’s rest soon,” Bai Ning Bing mutters, overlooking their earlier argument. “I’m also hungry.”
*Kuuuuu*
Their stomachs growl.
Lo Jik decides to manage the Eight-Sectioned Gourd and the Earth Hole Gu’s storage.
The duo finds a cave and butcher the small pack of dogs before Lo Jik uses the Dismemberment Gu.
His Earth Hole Gu has several utensils for cooking purposes. Before all that, he takes out clean clothes.
“Let me change first,” Lo Jik comments as he tosses a bottle of medicinal paste at Bai Ning Bing. “You will need more time changing and dressing your wounds.”
“Hmph!” She snorts.
‘Yep,’ Lo Jik wryly smiles once she leaves. He can’t treat Bai Ning Bing nicely—not now, anyway.
Treating her with kindness paints a target on Lo Jik’s back. She’s only respectable with Lo Jik because he grasped the weak point of her secret technique and defeated her soundly at the cost of injuring his Gu. However, she’s a wolf in a fairy’s skin.
Instead, even if riskier, it’s better to ‘show’ caution and a more impartial side by not giving in to her demands like her foster father, the Bai Clan Leader, did.
‘There’s some way to Bai Gu. Let’s see if it’s feasible.’
He changes clothes. Although his former uniform is in shreds, Lo Jik doesn’t throw it away. He hangs it in the cave to dry it. The strips from the uniform can be used for several meager needs.
As Bai Ning Bing enters the cave, Lo Jik divides a few materials between the Earth Hole Gu and the Eight-Sectioned Gourd Gu. The Gourd Gu cannot keep the contents fresh, but each section has 2 cubic meters of space! One of the eight sections is filled to the brim with wine. Lo Jik can sustain the Liquor Worm with that since he won’t drink wine and dull his senses in the wilds.
“Eugh! It stinks!” Bai Ning Bing’s disgusted groan echoes from the interiors.
‘I won’t be able to just treat her bad. That will play things against me. Sure, she cannot recover her essence. However, her decorated past should be acknowledged. The key is to find an equilibrium. She must be feeling anxious internally. After all, we’re down to our last 400-something Primeval Stones. She also spent quite a lot against the Mantis. She will start using her Gu sparingly. But it will also hurt her pride. It’s upto me when to rub salt in those wounds or provide a salve.’
He finishes moving the materials through the two Storage Gu before feeding some of the hungry Gu. Lo Jik then inspects the progress of the Gu refinement inside the Kindling Will Gu. His current priority is to refine the Blood Skull and Yin Gu. He cannot bum rush the process using the Lotus Gu since that will reveal his secrets to Bai Ning Bing.
Fortunately and Unfortunately—The Gu are healthy.
So, the Rank 4 Gu will need food after several months. It also means they aren’t easy to refine. So, Lo Jik wills the Gu to focus on the Hemp Grass Sac Gu while maintaining pressure on the two rare Gu.
“Come on!” Bai Ning Bing excitedly beckons once she wears dry clothes and thinks of food. “Let’s eat!”
They already have clean and fresh Dog meat. Lo Jik uses the water in the gourd since the river may give him some surprises. As they cook the dog’s meat in boiling water through the coal Lo Jik prepared, he takes out his Bladewing Blood Bat Gu.
The Bat flies into the pile of organs, drinking the blood.
“How much blood does it need to birth bats?” Bai Ning Bing questions.
“Who knows?” Lo Jik shrugs. He knows. But he doesn’t want Bai Ning Bing to get the idea that he may have some Blood Inheritance.
“I only read about the bat in Mo Family’s records. I never owned one.”
“Hmm,” Bai Ning Bing nods. “How long till we eat?”
“Hold your horses.”
They finish all of it!
But an awkward silence descends between the duo.
“We can’t sleep simultaneously,” Lo Jik frowns.
“I know,” Bai Ning Bing narrows her eyes.
Dry clothes, medicine, and hot food! All this raises their spirits, allowing them to regain some of their sharpness.
They stare at each other for some time. It’s a hurdle. But it’s also an opportunity. Sleeping will put them in their most defenseless state. It’s a serious topic that might as well end their run now.
“I will sleep first,” Lo Jik admits. He takes out 100 Primeval Stones. “You can recover some of your Essence.”
Bai Ning Bing's eyelids jump in surprise. She watches Lo Jik lying on a pile of clothes as her gaze flashes darkly.
‘Does he trust me? No. Is he looking down on me, believing I rely on him for survival?’ Cold killing intent bursts from her eyes. However, the corner of her eyes twitch as a red light flashes around Lo Jik. The Rank 3 Blood Torrent Python coils near Lo Jik’s head, hiding most of his body from Bai Ning Bing.
However, such vigilance relieves Bai Ning Bing. She snorts in amusement before questioning, “Can’t we use your Gu to sleep on the same schedule?”
“I can,” he replies sleepily.
His words leave her frowning.
“But can you?”
Such words may sound threatening. But it directly challenges Bai Ning Bing’s decision-making. To trust someone with your life is the higher form of decision-making! She already did this once. The threat of Crane and Blood Calamity made the duo temporarily depend on each other.
Can she repeat it without any external pressure?
Can the lone Bai Ning Bing be vulnerable?
She realizes something.
‘Won’t the situation be the same when he wakes up? I have to sleep someday.’
She refines the Primeval Stones before hesitating and lying down. However, the cold ground is uncomfortable.
Instead, she half-sits and leans against the coiled serpent before closing her eyes.
The threat of death during sleep will be present even if she is alone.
Might as well rest.
She has always been bold. If she can cope with the threat of her Extreme Physique—What’s a Lo Jik?!
<<<>>>
The Next Morning.
“This is too much. We’ve been around for a few days. But we cannot approach the mountain because of the Blood Guillotine.”
Several Gu Masters gaze at the bloodied mountain. The Gu Masters wear dark grey Gu Uniforms. All their uniforms are tied together with a white belt and silver brackets!
Among them is a Gu Master with a copper mask on her face.
Tie Ruo Nan!
She looks tired and anxious. Her father’s Gu protected her and took her away. However, they were corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu. They turned into blood puddles midway. Tie Ruo Nan rushed back like a crazed animal to find her father.
She struggled against a beast pack when the Tie Family’s reinforcement arrived!
But they couldn’t scale the mountain.
Ruo Nan’s copper mask hides her dried tear stains as she gazes at the tall ‘tower.’
“That’s the stem of the Turnip Womb Earth Gu. There are survivors!” Tie Ruo Nan clenches her fists.
“They either escaped or died. One of my teammates noticed a commotion on the other side of the mountain. The survivors probably left through the Yellow Dragon River.”
“But we cannot leave the Blood Calamity. I already sent another request to the Clan Leader. He is sending a team of elders— What is that?!”
Others stare in stunned disbelief as they see a half-wooden creature charge at them with bloodshot eyes!
“Die!”
It roars!
“Gu Yue Fang Zheng?!” Tie Ruo Nan shouts in surprise before speaking. “He is one of Gu Yue’s Clan Elder. He must know what happened on the mountain!”
The other members look at each other, nodding.
“Let’s capture him. His body is decaying into a tree spirit. However, something must have affected the process.”
<<<>>>
Blood Torrent Python is slow on the ground compared to other beasts. So, Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing escape on foot. Their faces are slightly pale, and their eyes look yellowish. Looking at Lo Jik, one can see that his left eye looks better than his right.
They are poisoned.
The Mantis’ tail must be refined using a weak Rank 1 Poison Gu, making its thorns poisonous. It was a slow-acting poison that only allowed Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing to sleep for 3 hours. They woke to vomit their dinner.
Prepared for an odd poison or two, Lo Jik had some disinfectants and medicines. Unfortunately, the Spider Gu cannot deal with poison.
An earth-shattering howl echoes behind them as the duo runs faster.
Another mutated beast with Rank 4 Gu.
They are down on their shitty luck.
Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing killed a pack of dogs to secure a cave and dinner. The dogs were ordinary. However, they were the Small Pepper Hound’s family!
Small Pepper Hound is slow and weak. However, it is born with the ability to breathe fire. Once it matures, its size is the same as an Ordinary Dog. However, the amount of flame they produce and control is refined like a professional fire path Gu Master!
Lo Jik’s and Bai Ning Bing’s bodies are flame-licked at various spots, bits of their clothes outright burnt!
At this point, Bai Ning Bing’s expression changes. The Icicle Gu suddenly stops forming and shatters into bits of cold and frost.
She’s exhausted her essence!
Lo Jik notices that, too.
But the situation worsens when Bai Ning Bing gets dizzy, suddenly catching her foot against some soft soil as her body falls face-first. Her body shudders as she bites back her vomit. Nausea hits Bai Ning Bing in the face as the rageful presence of the dark-brown hound turns more intense behind her.
A Moonblade half the size of an adult man shoots at the hound. The beast suddenly opens its mouth, creating a concave flaming shield that absorbs the Moonblade before releasing a fiery attack!
A Rank 4 Flame Counter Gu.
But Lo Jik already achieved his objectives.
He tugs Bai Ning Bing’s hand before picking her on his back, dashing forward!
Things would be simpler if he refined the Wings Gu. The Rank 3 Featherd Boots only support the Gu Master’s weight and nothing extra. However, his speed is nothing to scoff at. Behind him, Bai Ning Bing bites her bottom lips. There’s suspicion in her gaze. But she doesn’t say a thing.
Her expression suddenly changes.
“It’s using the Rank 4 Flame Shot!”
This Rank 4 Gu has an open ‘tell.’ The hound opens its mouth, collecting fire between his fangs. Lo Jik grits his teeth as Blood escapes his body, creating a thick wall behind the duo. That’s not all. Soft white light appears around them.
The Rank 2 White Jade and Rank 3 Blood Jade Change!
Just when Bai Ning Bing believes Lo Jik plans to use her as a human shield, making her killing intent reach an all-time high, he suddenly ducks!
*Pew*
A soft voice passes above them as a fiery laser punctures the two Gu Worms’ defenses.
The weak and injured White Jade Gu perishes. Meanwhile, the Blood Jade Change only has a few more shots’ worth of defense before dying.
“Fuck!” Lo Jik curses. “Your Water Shield Gu! Hurry!”
Bai Ning Bing’s gaze glitters as a blue jellyfish enters Lo Jik’s aperture.
Water vapors emerge from his nostrils—
*Shhk*
It doesn’t even get a moment to form when an earthen claw emerges from the side, smacking the duo with tremendous force!
As their bodies roll against the dirt and grass, a Blood and Shadow stream leaves Lo Jik’s body.
The shadow manifests as an ink-black Tiger. Meanwhile, the Bladewing Blood Bat Gu chitters aloud.
Lo Jik refuses to sacrifice the Multi-Shadow Beast Gu yet. It will only get injured. But it’s unfortunate for the Bladewing Blood Bat Gu.
“Come on,” he picks Bai Ning Bing as she coughs blood while vomiting. It doesn’t matter. Lo Jik is feeling worse. He consecutively used the Battle Instincts Gu, and his head is killing him. But they cannot stop.
His expression changes when he’s only a few steps into escaping with a weary Bai Ning Bing.
*Puh*
He coughs blood. His ears also bleed.
“What happened?” She questions anxiously. The poison hit her worse due to the lack of body refinement compared to Lo Jik. She is also without any Primeval Essence. Despite her independent nature, her survival depends on Lo Jik.
“Probably a Gu Worm that transfers the injuries to the Gu Master,” Lo Jik grits his teeth.
This is their second Mutated Beast with a powerful defense. The duo can do nothing but escape. Although Lo Jik has a Stealth Scales Gu, it’s useless against the hound. It already revealed two Rank 4 Gu and two Rank 3 Gu!
The wilderness is on steroids!
‘Should I drop Bai Ning Bing—’
As the thought emerges, he feels Bai Ning Bing tilting sideways and vomiting again. Although she will survive the weak poison ordinarily, the same is questionable in their current setting. Two of Bai Ning Bing’s Gu are destroyed by the hound, too.
She’s become what she feared the most!
A deadweight.
“What the fuck?”
Lo Jik gasps.
A few steps from him is a dark-brown, red-eyed hound. Licks of flame dance around its paws as the duo pales.
A Rank 4 Movement Gu.
‘How much more time?’
Lo Jik grits his teeth, flooding the Kindling Will Gu and injuring it to quickly refine a Gu inside it.
A few more minutes.
However, can Lo Jik survive that long?
Blood-red mist emerges around Lo Jik as he inhales it all. The adrenaline pump barely eases his throbbing head. It also excites the poison inside his body. Bai Ning Bing also gets a whiff of it as her head jerks.
‘Should I give Bai Ning Bing the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus? No. I’m using it to refine the Gu.’
Using Three Tasks at Once makes his head feel like a watermelon on the brink of explosion!
Bai Ning Bing sighs as the hound pounces at them.
‘Leave me,’ she speaks internally. ‘Dying to a Myriad Beast is also not bad. I wish I could have fought against it.’
However, these words never reach her mouth.
“It’s using the same Earth Gu from before! Watch out!” Bai Ning Bing notices the movement from the side. Her desire to survive is just as intense!
Lo Jik quickly rolls forward, escaping into the forest as the hound howls. Flames charge hot near its paws as it rushes at the duo with blinding speed!
“Ugh!”
Both of them grunt when the beast tears a chunk of flesh from the duo’s right shoulder. Their injuries suddenly combust, injuring their ears.
Rank 3 Explosive Bite Gu.
Disoriented, the duo grows dizzy.
Lo Jik’s concentration wavers. The use of Three Tasks as Once Gu backlashes, causing him to sway without any movement.
‘Almost—’
He grits his teeth.
*Grrrrr*
The hound suddenly growls before yelping and running away.
‘What?’
The duo blink as the sudden relief takes all strength from Lo Jik’s knees.
He collapses on the ground while observing his surroundings using the Eye Gu. Nothing. So, why did the hound run?
It was as if it found something extremely uncomfortable—
“The poison!”
The duo gasps at once as Lo Jik crumbles on the ground. Bai Ning Bing lets go, feeling weakness shroud her body.
Their ragged pants fill the quiet thicket as Bai Ning Bing finally questions, “Why didn’t you let go of me?”
‘I'm glad I didn’t. One bite—the beast fled with disgust. That would have ruined whatever relationship we could build. However, at the last moment…’
Lo Jik recalls the few moments from before. The threat of death was too intense.
At that moment…
“I just forgot I could let you go,” Lo Jik weakly snickers.
Bai Ning Bing stares into the sky, smirking. When she opens her mouth to grin, she vomits. Lying on her back, she chokes on her vomit.
“Just lay sideways,” Lo Jik rolls his eyes before pushing her. He summons the Rank 3 Blood Torrent Python Gu. He also feels the loss of the Bladewing Blood Bat Gu.
<<<>>>
The misfortune of encountering the Pepper Hound led the duo to the fortune of discovering a secretive, natural cave inside the woods. Their issues aren’t over.
Bai Ning Bing fell sick.
Their bodies were only poisoned for the day before leaving their system naturally. However, Bai Ning Bing has never faced the hardships of wilderness. Her Extreme Physique was a double-edged sword. How could her endurance of mental stress compare to Lo Jik, who’s died in the woods once and almost died to another Blood Wolf. The spiritual and physical stress proved harsh for her body. She couldn’t use any Gu until Lo Jik reluctantly revealed his private saving of ‘2000’ Primeval Stones.
But their losses weren’t just that. Bai Ning Bing’s Water Shield and Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu were destroyed. Meanwhile, Lo Jik’s Bladewing Blood Bat and White Jade Gu suffered the same fate. His Blood Jade Change, Multi-Shadow Beast, and Kindling Will Gu were injured, too.
The few days of Bai Ning Bing’s sickness allowed Lo Jik to take out all the booklets he stole from Mo Chen’s warehouse and feed them to the Bookworm. It also allowed Lo Jik to finish using White Ape Strength Gu, which was starving.
It died a few days later.
He cultivated religiously as Bai Ning Bing rested. Rank 3 Cultivation allowed one to survive the wilderness. However, they needed to be more powerful than that to ‘explore’ it.
“Say,” Bai Ning Bing whispers with a groan. “Don’t you think our luck is too shitty? We encountered two Mutated Beasts in a few hours.”
Lo Jik opens his eyes, smiling.
“Unlucky? That’s an average day for me. Did you know I’ve always been targeted by wild beasts?”
Bai Ning Bing blinks before glaring.
“It’s your fault!”
“How can you blame luck?” Lo Jik consoles sarcastically.
“Try me!”
He scoffs a chuckle before stating seriously.
“I don’t have more Primeval Stones. You shouldn’t use your Gu unless the situation turns dire.”
Bai Ning Bing frowns before questioning dubiously.
“I know I’m pretty. But you will do all that for me just because of my looks?”
Lo Jik deadpans, stating, “I will teach you how to set traps, among other things. I couldn’t care about your looks.”
“Eh? But you treat women less beautiful than me with more courtesy!”
“And I fuck them, too. Why? Are you offering?”
She snorts in return. Her attempt at using her beauty failed spectacularly.
She is Rizz-less.
***
Alternate Title: The Mantis; Heaven’s Will Right Now: Oh, You In My Playground Now!; Chased; Dangerous Waters; Beasts Designed to Deal With Dangerous Humans; Thorned; Treating Bai Ning Bing the Right Way; Dogs; Dinner; Trust; Poisoned; The Angered Hound; Running for Their Lives; Losses; Destroyed Gu; Picking Bai Ning Bing; Plans; True Thoughts in the Face of Death; Lo Jik Hit Her With I Forgor; The Hound Be Like Damn, You Taste Nasty! Imma Head Out; Fever; Stress; Taking Care; Temporary Safety; Rizzing the Rizzler; Lost Bat; Destroyed Plans Before They Are Formed; Lo Jik is Indeed 500000 Stones Poor!; Bai Ning Bing: Our Luck Is Too Bad! *Lo Jik: Don’t Care, Bitch Ratio, Get Sick, Average Day, Loser*