Chapter 200: From Red to White
“Brother Jiang, you can’t do this!” Commander Mu, seeing his backer about to abandon him, shouted and rushed over.
Only then did Jiang Li remember that there was still a commander in the Human Sovereign Hall with the surname Mu.
“There are five Fusion Stage cultivators in the Hall. Without me, that’s only four!”
“Thank you for teaching me that five minus one equals four.” Jiang Li expressed his sincere gratitude.
The Human Sovereign Hall was a neutral organization. Once you joined, you had to sever ties with your original faction.
Conversely, if a member joined another force, they would automatically lose their status as a member of the Hall.
Of course, nothing was absolute—there were always exceptions. Take Jiang Li, for example. If he announced he was marrying into the Gu Clan, no one would think he had left the Hall to join them. Instead, they’d say the Gu Clan had joined the Human Sovereign Hall.
“I’ve rendered great service to the Hall! I’ve shed blood for the Human Sovereign! Brother Jiang, you have to save me.”
Commander Mu wasn’t lying.
Don’t be fooled by how unreliable the Fusion Stage commanders of the Hall seemed—each of them was a seasoned veteran who had once served the previous Human Sovereign and had risked their lives repelling an Outer World Demon invasion.
“How could I possibly marry a woman I’ve never even met?” Commander Mu swore to the heavens that this was just a lesson learned—he’d never mingle with low-level cultivators again.
“You make it sound like our Clan Leader is ugly!” The High Priest constructed a mental image of the Gu Clan Leader using divine sense—a beautiful, voluptuous, tan-skinned woman with a lazy, mature smile.
Sorry, I take that vow back. Commander Mu quickly retracted his oath.
So they’ve never met—so what? It’s all destiny. As cultivators, we should go with the flow of heaven. Gritting his teeth, Commander Mu agreed to the marriage.
“According to the High Priest, neither the Clan Leader nor her daughter entered the Gu Immortal Mystic Realm. How did the two of them get hit with Love-Gu?”
The High Priest explained, “The Human Sovereign may not know, but Love-Gu is hard to cultivate and a rare treasure even among our Gu Clan. Therefore, the ancestral rules dictate that only the most outstanding women of each generation are allowed to raise Love-Gu to bind their lovers.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that in itself. After all, no one has reached the final trial of the Gu Immortal Mystic Realm for years to claim the ultimate prize.”
“Who would’ve thought two people would succeed this time? Young friend Qin Luan was the first to pass and got the Love-Gu paired with my daughter. Commander Mu passed second and received the one paired with the Clan Leader.”
“What if someone else passes the final trial—do you still have more Love-Gu?”
The High Priest answered confidently, “Yes. Our most outstanding woman from two generations ago is still around.”
“Where is the Clan Leader?” Jiang Li scanned with divine sense but couldn’t find a match for the woman the High Priest had shown.
“She left the clan.”
“What?” Jiang Li thought he misheard.
“She said the Gu Clan would eventually reenter the world and that before doing so, she should scout out the outside. After saying that, she left and hasn’t been seen since. It’s been six months now.”
“Oh, that sounds familiar. Your Clan Leader’s just like our Hall Master—never stays in the Human Sovereign Hall,” Commander Mu blurted out, only to feel a chill run down his spine.
He suddenly remembered that the “Hall Master” he was referring to was standing right there.
“Bro—Brother Jiang, I didn’t mean it like that.” Commander Mu stammered.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad,” Jiang Li said cheerfully, patting Mu on the shoulder. “I just want to see what happens to a Fusion Stage cultivator if he doesn’t get married in ten days.”
Commander Mu suddenly realized something—not to mention the marriage or cutting off the Love-Gu—none of that would matter if the person involved wasn’t even around!
With the Clan Leader missing, wouldn’t he be doomed?
Commander Mu started to panic. These Gu Clan people sure had guts—the Clan Leader had left and they hadn’t even bothered to look for her.
At least we can use Remote Communication Talismans to contact the Hall. You guys don’t have anything?
“Haha, no need to worry,” the High Priest said, seeing Commander Mu’s distraught expression. “Before she left, the Clan Leader left behind both a Life-Gu and a Tracking-Gu. The Life-Gu ensures her safety, and the Tracking-Gu lets us locate her at any time.”
Commander Mu still wasn’t reassured. He didn’t know much about Gu worms. Without seeing her in person, the High Priest’s words weren’t exactly convincing.
“Come, I’ll take you to the Clan Leader’s bamboo house.”
The Gu Clan’s homes were two-story bamboo stilt houses. The stilts kept out the damp ground. The lower floor was typically for livestock, while the upper floor was for living.
Up on the second floor, the High Priest explained, “Look, this is the Life-Gu. It’s still alive, which means the Clan Leader is fine.”
“This is the Tracking-Gu. It’s also alive. We can follow it to the Clan Leader anytime.”
The High Priest proudly showed off the Gu worms.
As he spoke, both worms died simultaneously.
“!”
“!”
The High Priest and Commander Mu nearly popped their eyes out.
“The Clan Leader’s dead?!”
“I’m gonna die?!”
They blurted out, saying different things, but based on the same conclusion.
Jiang Li blinked—how did those bugs just drop dead?
Right then, Commander Liu called Jiang Li, and he picked up the Remote Communication Talisman.
“Hall Master, you asked me before how much to give at a subordinate’s wedding. Since not many commanders in our Hall have gotten married, the last ones were Commander Ma and Commander Zhu, which was a few hundred years ago. Considering inflation and changes in customs across the Nine Provinces, I calculated that you’d need to…”
“Oh, never mind. Plans have changed. Get the whole Hall ready for a feast. Also, prepare a tombstone—use good materials, don’t skimp on spirit stones. It’s for Commander Mu. The epitaph should read: He was heavier than Mount Tai in life, lighter than a feather in death.”
“And even though the Gu Clan isn’t affiliated with the Hall, and Commander Mu didn’t actually marry the Clan Leader, there was at least some engagement between them. When the Gu Clan reemerges, we should offer some support as a tribute to Commander Mu’s spirit.”
Commander Liu, standing next to the still-living Commander Mu, noted Jiang Li’s words and ended the call.
“Alright, everyone stop staring. It’s not as serious as you think,” Jiang Li said with a smile. He was just messing with Commander Liu earlier.
With Liu’s intelligence, he could tell it was a joke and wouldn’t really go through with all that.
“If the Gu Clan Leader had really died, Commander Mu would’ve exploded on the spot. How could nothing have happened yet?”
Even if Jiang Li didn’t understand Gu worms, he understood how Gu Immortals thought.
Gu Immortals would surely tie the Love-Gu directly to the host’s life force. Otherwise, if someone didn’t like the arranged pairing, wouldn’t they just kill the woman?
If the Clan Leader had died, the Love-Gu inside her would’ve died too.
Once one side’s Love-Gu dies, it activates the spell, and the host explodes.
Since Commander Mu was still alive, the Clan Leader clearly wasn’t dead.
The High Priest and Commander Mu had panicked and missed it, but Jiang Li, an outsider, immediately realized what had happened the moment both worms died.
Being a Gu Clan native, the High Priest quickly caught on too.
“The Clan Leader must still be alive. She’s just under some kind of restriction spell—like one that severs her connection to the worms. That’s why both died.”
Normal Gu worms wouldn’t behave like this, but these two were special—their entire life force came from their master. If she stopped feeding them energy, they’d die instantly.