Chapter 0:51 My Stone Spirit Brother
“Two Extremes Armor, Cold Mountain.”
Gu Yinjiu clutched his bleeding right arm, his face filled with fear as he retreated repeatedly. With a roar, the Two Extremes Armor around his body, enveloped in flames, instantly shed. The scorching flames, at this moment, reversed their fortune, transforming into a small ice mountain that crashed down on Qin Gou like a golden mountain toppling.
The two quickly retreated to a distance.
At the same time, Gu Yinjiu, whose heart had been shattered by fear, did not hesitate to use the opportunity to flee desperately into the gray mist and disappear without a trace.
The ice mountain, which seemed to possess immense destructive power, crumbled and dispersed after Gu Yinjiu lost control, causing no significant damage to Qin Gou.
There’s no point in pursuing a cornered enemy, especially in a place as perilous as the gray mist labyrinth. The thought of kicking someone while they’re down is simply a fool’s dream.
However, to prevent Gu Yinjiu from feigning an escape and launching a sneak attack, Qin Gou immediately transformed a Senluo Seed into a Sheathed Fruit as tall as a person. He then stepped inside, and the two Senluo Seed clones transformed into pitcher plants, one large and one small, swallowing the Sheathed Fruit containing Qin Gou. They nested within each other like Russian dolls, providing him with heavy protection.
“Fortunately, that fellow Gu Yinjiu, in his own delusion, mistook me for True Man Wangji’s stone spirit. Otherwise, if we had engaged in a prolonged battle, who knows who would have emerged victorious.” Qin Gou hid in the small space within the Sheathed Fruit, gripping spirit stones and swallowing pills to quickly replenish the spiritual power he had heavily expended in the recent battle.
Ten minutes later, the giant pitcher plants ripped open from the inside, spilling sweet juice all over the ground.
Qin Gou sniffed the thick, pungent scent of blood in the air. He didn’t need to think to know that the entire gray mist labyrinth had likely already turned into a living hell.
Switching his Natal Spirit Tool from the Senluo Seed to the Dream Person Lantern, Qin Gou held the lantern, using its azure light to resume his journey. This gray mist was no ordinary substance, and common light-summoning spells would be useless. Staying in one place would also not be safe; there was a higher chance of being targeted by the stone spirit that indiscriminately hunted all life.
“Who’s there!”
A sharp female voice rang out.
Qin Gou stopped, listening to the familiar, cold yet clear voice. A look of pleasant surprise crossed his face as he said, “Xiao Yan? It’s me, Qin Gou! I’ve been looking for you for a long time. Are you injured?”
He couldn’t see Gu Feiyan’s figure at all, only able to determine her general direction by her voice. It was clear that Gu Feiyan’s Eye of Revelation had a much greater visual range in this gray mist labyrinth than Qin Gou’s Dream Person Lantern.
“Bad news, Senior Sister Gu, he’s a stone spirit!” It was Liu Ying’s voice. She had the good fortune to reunite with Gu Feiyan so quickly.
“Damn it! Why is this infernal stone spirit so persistent in chasing us!” Gu Feiyan’s angry curse was heard, and then Qin Gou could only hear the sounds of the two fleeing in haste.
“What the hell?”
Qin Gou was utterly bewildered, wanting to cry but having no tears as he shouted at them, “How in the hell did I become a stone spirit?”
How could that idiot Gu Yinjiu’s crazy ramblings spread so quickly? Even Gu Feiyan and Liu Ying had heard the rumors? Besides, wasn’t Gu Feiyan usually quite sensible? Why did she so readily believe such nonsense?
Qin Gou, feeling helpless, hurried in the direction Gu Feiyan and Liu Ying had gone, wishing that these two foolish girls would come to their senses sooner and realize that the one relentlessly pursuing them was not a bloodthirsty demon, but a completely reliable and dear teammate.
“Ah!!”
A piercing scream sounded from behind Qin Gou. It wasn’t the voice of anyone he knew, so with his own safety in jeopardy, Qin Gou had no intention of meddling further and continued on his path.
“No, don’t kill me, help, someone save me!”
But who would have thought that the man’s screams for help would get closer and closer to Qin Gou, as if, by sheer coincidence, the direction of his escape was precisely Qin Gou’s location.
Qin Gou pondered that since this fellow insisted on dragging him down, perhaps he should transform his Senluo Seed clone into a patch of thorns and throw it behind him, sending the poor wretch on his way? He dismissed the thought. They had no enmity. Doing so would mean that the man had died by his hand? It was never good to increase one’s karmic debt.
Baseness, if not for justice, is merely baseness.
“I am Xi Pingchen, the chief disciple of the Corpse Mountain Sect… If anyone saves my life, I, Xi, shall amply repay them in the future! Cough…” The man spoke intermittently, his breathing ragged, clearly severely wounded.
But why was the person pursuing him silent until now, as if they were mute?
As he was thinking this, Qin Gou decisively quickened his pace. But who could have imagined that the sound of Qin Gou’s footsteps would be clearly heard by the luckless Xi Pingchen behind him? He closely followed, crying loudly, “Friend, save me, I don’t want to die here! Junior Brother, Junior Brother is waiting for me to return and marry him!”
Hearing this, Qin Gou became even more annoyed. You don’t want to die, but what about me?
For a moment, Qin Gou stopped, turned around, and decided to see what kind of person this ill-fated individual was, and why he was fixated on Qin Gou, a mere latecomer in the early Hidden Weapon Realm.
“Friend, lend a hand, I, Xi, shall certainly…”
Xi Pingchen finally rushed to Qin Gou’s front, a glimmer of hope appearing in his desperate eyes. However, before he could even catch his breath, he only took a cursory glance at Qin Gou’s appearance before his legs went weak. His face, filled with terror and shock, caused him to collapse to the ground, wailing at the top of his lungs: “How, how is this possible? Please, please don’t kill me! Even if I die, I, Xi Pingchen, would rather die at the hands of my Junior Brother than at the hands of an emotionless, broken stone like you!”
The next second, a pale, slender arm pierced through Xi Pingchen’s back and emerged from his chest, lifting his entire body into the air.
The owner of that hand was a handsome young man with his hair tied up in a high crown, wearing a green shirt, and carrying a staff sword at his waist.
Xi Pingchen coughed up a mouthful of blood, and with great difficulty, turned his head. He glanced at the person behind him, then looked at Qin Gou with disbelief, his tone sorrowful: “Why, why are there two stone spirits?!”
“Pfft!”
The green-shirted youth ruthlessly smashed Xi Pingchen’s head off with a palm strike, then tossed his headless corpse onto the ground like trash. His eyes, devoid of human emotion, mechanically locked onto Qin Gou.
Qin Gou stared dumbfounded at the stone spirit before him, whose attire, appearance, hairstyle, and face were exactly the same as his own. The word “two” echoed in his mind, refusing to dissipate.
“Your mother!”
The stone spirit had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with its “twin brother.” Qin Gou believed that its simple mind, only capable of attack and slaughter, probably had no ability for interpersonal communication. The stone spirit’s face suddenly contorted, transforming into the appearance of the recently deceased Xi Pingchen.
Then…
For some reason, it reverted to Qin Gou’s appearance, opened its mouth, and uttered two words with difficulty.
“Your mother?”
In the blink of an eye, it lunged at Qin Gou like a hungry beast.
