When Lin Yuan started shouting to call for reinforcements, an explosion thundered.
The massive shockwave slammed him flat against the wall. The output of the Heavenly Master Path was robust, but its self-protection methods were painfully lacking.
In contrast, Gu Jianlin, as a Second-Order Junior Fate Officer, had already activated his Ghost Transformation state. The vast dark energy coursed through billions of cells, allowing his extraordinary physique to forcibly resist the impact of the shockwave.
Meanwhile, countless charred pieces of flesh were blasted into the air, scattering to the ground.
The Butcher stood firm without moving, an overwhelming qi enveloping his entire body like an unbreakable barrier.
Even the burlap sack stuffed with money in his grasp was unscathed, as he held it tightly to his chest.
When the two locked eyes for a brief moment, the Butcher clutched his money bag tighter, his gaze suddenly sharpened with caution.
"Relax, I'm not here for your money."
To be safe, Gu Jianlin didn't remove his mask, calmly saying, "Can you recognize me?"
The Butcher froze for a moment, staring at the mask, then at the pair of pitch-black eyes—eyes as chilling as those of an Evil Spirit—and blurted out, "Holy shit? It's you? You actually tracked me down here? Wait... are you here for revenge?"
Even the slowest of people would know that this young man was here for one thing only.
What a lunatic—assassinated just yesterday, now showing up for revenge today.
Confucius once said, 'Hear the Way in the morning, die in the evening!'
Learn the way to someone's house in the morning, go kill them in the evening!
Gu Jianlin ignored his questions and instead asked coldly, "Why did you hold back yesterday?"
The Butcher was stunned, answering without hesitation, "Because your father spared my life, I won't kill you!"
Gu Jianlin felt somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected this reason at all!
Back in the Qilin Immortal Palace, the Pharmacist had mentioned a similar story. This group had been pursued by his father. If it weren't for a map guiding them, they would've long been captured.
And the Butcher was one of those who had fought against his father.
Before they could exchange more words, a rustling sound suddenly arose from the ground.
It was the heavily injured Lin Yuan, struggling to get up in an attempt to escape.
From the charred flesh scattered on the ground, countless beetles crawled out!
The beetles fed on blood and flesh, shedding their skins and growing rapidly in the blink of an eye. Countless grotesque tentacles tore through their shells, spraying nauseating bodily fluids.
These insects resembled octopuses in appearance, yet their tentacles had vicious mouths at their centers.
Teeth sharper than razors!
The sight of these insects made Gu Jianlin's scalp tingle with dread.
They looked eerily similar to the "face huggers" from a movie series he once watched.
A sharp creak echoed.
A piercing screech followed as one of the tentacle insects leaped, turning into a black shadow that hurtled toward him.
As a Fourth-Order Mad King, the Butcher's strength, speed, and reflexes were superior. In that instant, he chopped his hand down like a blade, a storm of aggressive qi surging out, cleaving the insect in mid-air!
The tentacle insect split in half, spilling out countless beetles that rapidly crawled out from its remains.
They began feasting on the mother body's flesh, transforming once again!
"Shit, it's a Parasitic Gu!"
The Butcher roared, "There's a high-level Gu Master behind this! Watch out—don't let these Parasitic Bones bite you. If it gets one bite, it can lay ten billion eggs inside your body!"
Hearing this, Gu Jianlin's expression shifted. In desperation, he stomped his foot lightly, and a cluster of pale Ghost Fire burst forth. Flames swept across the rooftop in an instant, reducing the surroundings to scorched earth.
The flames devoured the insects' life force greedily.
Earlier, when Lin Yuan called for reinforcements, he hadn't sensed any obvious life rhythms.
Instead, he detected faint life forms around those five individuals.
But there wasn't any solid way to deal with them, and now, trouble had really exploded.
What shocked him the most was—the Gu Master!
Tracing back to the Joker incident, there was a Gu Master behind that as well.
During the Black Cloud City battle, the Grave Digger Organization's sacrificial ritual was forcibly interrupted, resulting in an outbreak of countless Gu worms.
However, the ritual was meant to summon an ancient Primordial ancestor. Given the unimpressive level of those ragtag participants, it was evident that someone else must have instructed them—most likely this Gu Master.
To his surprise, that Gu Master had appeared here as well!
Not too long ago, when he arrived at West Port, he had sensed someone watching him. Looks like his instincts were spot-on.
"You lead, I'll follow."
Gu Jianlin's voice lowered. "Let's get rid of these Gu worms as soon as possible."
The Butcher stood close to him, their backs almost touching. Without saying much, he replied, "Alright, though there's no need to panic. My boss is nearby. As long as the Gu Master doesn't show up in person, they can't do a damn thing to us."
In just mere seconds, the tentacle insects had reproduced nearly a thousand offspring, squirming madly across the ground.
One glance was enough to make anyone nauseous.
"Your boss?"
Gu Jianlin asked bluntly, "Mr. Liu?"
The Butcher grinned. "Nope, just a little girl."
Taking advantage of their encirclement, Lin Yuan struggled to his feet, grabbing the daggers still embedded in his ribs. He staggered and rolled his way down the stairs, not daring to look back.
"What a shame—he got away."
The Butcher spat disdainfully. "You're too soft—you should've slaughtered him outright."
Gu Jianlin was being called soft for the first time. He shrugged. "Don't worry, he won't get far."
The Scholar was still waiting downstairs.
"Hold on, something's wrong."
The Butcher suddenly spoke. "Why haven't these things attacked yet?"
Gu Jianlin frowned. It had been a good ten seconds already, yet the Gu worms were only surrounding them.
It genuinely seemed like they had no intention of launching further assaults.
Just as his words ended, a massive Parasitic Gu among the swarm rose with cruel bloodlust, devouring its kin in an immensely gory fashion. Its tentacles split apart, revealing rows of blood-red eyes!
"Gu Ci'an's son, is it?"
The Parasitic Gu's mouth twisted and uttered words—it spoke human language!
The voice belonged to a man, soft and elegant.
The Butcher's face darkened, hastily looking around. He thought the real body must be nearby!
"Relax—it isn't."
Gu Jianlin fixed his gaze on the grotesque worm, coldly asking, "Who are you?"
"You resemble your father quite a bit. The last time I saw you, you were still in elementary school."
The Parasitic Gu spoke with laughter. "I'm a friend of your father."
Gu Jianlin raised his hand to stop the brutish man from charging in, asking coldly, "Are you trying to be funny? The people behind the Grave Digger Organization should be you, right? Using those Fallen to target me—doesn't seem like something a friend would do."
"Oh?"
The indifferent voice chuckled. "You even deduced the relation between me and the Grave Digger Organization. Seems you're no ordinary kid. Honestly, whether it's the Joker or someone else, they were merely pawns I used to test you."
Gu Jianlin remained silent.
The Butcher glanced at him in surprise.
"You see, you killed the Joker, and the Grave Digger Organization was wiped out by your team."
The mysterious man said mildly, "As your spoils, you ended up with two Mythical Weapons and slapped the face of the Judgement Court so hard they're still sore. Aren't these opportunities all gifts from me? If I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead."
"So by your logic, I should thank you?"
Gu Jianlin thought to himself, hardly, and raised a hand crackling with black particles. "Don't hog all the credit to yourself."
The Butcher was itching to fight, rubbing his hands eagerly.
"Alright, you don't trust me, no problem."
The Parasitic Gu squirmed, the voice tinged with laughter. "You just need to listen to my request. Though my men have clashed with you before, this should be our first direct encounter. I'll offer you one chance: hand over the Qilin Wedge."
It paused. "I don't know what method Gu Ci'an used to pass the Qilin Wedge to you, so much so that neither I nor the Ether Association have been able to uncover anything after extensive searching. But I promise—if you surrender the Qilin Wedge, I'll leave you be."
Gu Jianlin's pupils contracted sharply. He instinctively thought the figure was referring to the Qilin Mask.
If Lao Zhang no longer existed, then no one could possibly know.
However, the figure's next words shifted his understanding.
"—Friendly reminder: the Qilin Wedge is the key for the Qilin Immortal Palace to anchor itself to the real world."