latelenovela Chapter 328 The Gu of the South
Chapter 328 The Gu of the South
One of the men stepped forward first, saluted Zhong Ming, and spoke with a strong voice, “Sir, we really did our best to search. It was too dark at night, and the torches couldn’t illuminate a large area. The surrounding fields and ditches were crisscrossed, and in the height of summer, the rice and weeds grew lushly. We really did our best.”
He thought it was because he had done a poor job and that Zhong Ming wanted to punish them.
Zhong Ming silently used the "Spirit Detection Technique" to observe the soldier from all sides, and after confirming that there was no problem, he asked him to stand aside.
This did not comfort him at all; on the contrary, it made him even more nervous.
The immortal is so serious, could it be... that another immortal has really made a move?
As fear spread over time, Zhong Ming remained silent, only continuing his inspections. Finally, some villagers couldn't hold back their tears.
"Sir, I have never done anything wrong in my life. I have always been honest and law-abiding, and I have never even done anything petty like stealing chickens or dogs."
"Shut up. If you have news about traditional Chinese medicine, then say so. If not, then shut up."
The soldiers showed no sympathy; like steel statues, they surrounded all the villagers in the darkness, doing nothing but standing silently.
"Sir, I saw him earlier. I saw that old Chinese medicine doctor hurrying south. There weren't many people coming to see him. I guess he went to find medicinal herbs," an old peasant woman said, pointing to a road.
Zhong Ming naturally heard it, and he was also unsure whether or not to go and search.
Li, the deputy captain standing nearby, leaned over and asked, "Master, should we send an elite force to pursue them?"
The elite force he referred to was the best horses selected from the cobbled-together horses, specifically those used for communications, to form a rapid scouting team to go on reconnaissance missions.
“It’s too dangerous.” As soon as Zhong Ming said this, the man’s heart sank. “If the old Chinese medicine doctor were alive, it would be easier to handle. The worst thing is if you find his human skin on the roadside.”
Zhong Ming spoke softly, only a few soldiers around him could hear him. Even so, the men around him were so frightened that their legs went weak and their teeth began to chatter.
"My lord...we...are not afraid of death."
Zhong Ming glanced at him sideways and then said, "Pass on my order: the search team members should be spaced five meters apart to ensure that everyone can see the person in front of them. If there is any abnormality, immediately wave the torch and search forward along the road in a single file. Soldiers I have checked should go first."
As soon as he gave the order, the soldiers began to move in an orderly manner.
Zhong Ming quickly surveyed the soldiers, then ignored the villagers.
To put it bluntly, they are not important now, even if they stay here until dawn, it doesn't matter.
He first confirmed that his men were alright, then immediately took to the air on his sword.
"Immortal Master!" The villagers all knelt down. Immortals who could ride swords were extremely rare, and even the younger ones had never seen one before.
"Immortal Master!!!" These two words, spoken by the soldiers, turned into terror. With such a huge operation, they were worried that the Immortal Master might run away on his own.
"I'll call for backup immediately. Follow my orders and I'll be right back."
Now, Zhong Ming put all his strength into it.
The mother and child swords flew like rainbows, covering a distance of more than ten miles in less than half a day, and he almost crashed directly into the central army tent.
The deputy battalion commander inside was startled; good heavens, he thought it was an attack on the camp.
"whats the matter?"
Zhong Ming told the truth, took out the two clumps of flesh and blood, and handed them to the deputy battalion commander.
The man examined it for a moment, then suddenly became alert, "Gu?"
Upon closer inspection, he was instantly terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately sent someone to summon the battalion commander.
"You kid... Captain of the Third Guard, you've done a great job. These are a type of Gu worm that the enemy occasionally uses on the southern battlefield. They come in many different forms, some of which are completely invisible and can infiltrate your soul, your Great Dao, or swim into your body like spiritual energy. They are very difficult to deal with. These two are relatively low-level Gu worms, but they shouldn't be here."
With just a little thought, they came to a startling guess: were the enemies on the southern front of Yunzhou now joining forces with the merfolk?
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend; we cannot ignore this possibility.
While he assigned people to support the village, he also sent out elite members of the observation team to search for the "old Chinese medicine doctor" along the path described by the villagers.
Zhong Ming was also filled with lingering fear. If he had encountered a master who could have planted one of these things in his soul, wouldn't he have been doomed?
"Deputy Battalion Commander, then I..."
"Remove your spiritual power and let me see."
After Zhong Ming dissipated the spiritual energy from his armor, a chilling sensation washed over him from head to toe.
High-precision divine sense scanning was still too much for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The deputy battalion commander looked tired after finishing the task, but he managed to hide it well.
"It's alright, you're fine. You've done a great job today, so leave the rest to us."
Zhong Ming didn't know if this was to let "professionals do professional work," or if they thought Zhong Ming had already completed the most important "discovery" task, and the next chase was just a "merit-grabbing" phase.
In short, Zhong Ming was not very willing to get involved in this kind of thing.
The battalion commander strode into the central command tent.
Sigh, I was just atoning for my sins in bed, but I got dragged down halfway through. Now I don't know how hard I'll have to work to appease my partner when we get back.
Let me see which brat is causing trouble for me!
Holy crap, it's you again!
The battalion commander looked frustrated. After listening to the deputy battalion commander's words, he told Zhong Ming to get out of there immediately, and that the Second Guard Team should send men to handle other matters. He was to go and fill the gap in the Second Team's defenses.
Zhong Ming had the same idea. Since he dared not go back to sleep anyway, he might as well stand guard and earn some military merit.
After he left, in the central command tent, two high-ranking officials looked at each other with solemn expressions.
"This is not a simple form of poison."
“I’ve heard of this.” The battalion commander took out a very precious sheepskin scroll, compared it with others, and selected several similar Gu worms.
This is easy to find, because there are not many Gu worms of such "huge" size, and given its function, it is easy to identify.
"The Life-Snatching Substitute Gu is not limited to just one or two. These are all offspring Gu, which can pass on their knowledge from one parent to another. These two are typical examples. However, they have a mother Gu. No matter how far away the controller is, they can know what the offspring Gu know. There could be as few as ten, or as many as... depending on their abilities."
At the same time, an image of a shaman appeared in both of their minds: a headdress adorned with brightly colored feathers and a body covered in stripes of various colors.
.....
At this moment, the old Taoist priest started running around again, muttering to himself, "Oh dear, my good disciple, how dare you get involved in all sorts of karma? Oh, my old bones..." He had no intention of teaching Zhong Ming to avoid karma, and was even a little proud, his legs kicking as fast as they could.
His white beard is practically flying sideways!