Chapter 866 - 866: The Death Gu

"Kai Kai?" As if he wanted to confirm what he was seeing, Yuan Ming read his words out loud. But the next second, he seemed to have recalled something and let out a tired chuckle.

"Pfft… These bastards really have no shame." Yuan Ming pulled out his own token and left it on his bed, right beside Noah's.

On the slip, the name Fang Yuan was carved.

"Looks like they are thinking of making us betray each other." Yuan Ming almost forgot the alias he had used to enter the sect, since it was the name he had borrowed from the man he had killed.

In the past five years he also came to know the name Noah used to enter the cult.

"Either they want to make us—"

"It's not that simple," Noah interrupted, his voice carrying a note of certainty that made Yuan Ming pause mid-sentence.

Yuan Ming looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean? They gave us each other's names. The test is clearly designed to make us fight to the death. One of us completes the mission; the other dies. Classic demonic sect loyalty test."

Noah shook his head slightly. "At first, I thought the same. A simple assassination test to prove our willingness to kill without hesitation. But after what I saw on the way here, I realized it's something different."

Noah began to recount the scene, his voice level and factual, as if describing the weather rather than a gruesome death. "The man collapsed mid-charge. His body seized up completely, muscles locked, unable to move. Then he started convulsing. Blood poured from every orifice. Nose, ears, eyes, mouth, asshole, and every place it could come out of. He was dead in about thirty seconds."

Yuan Ming's expression had grown more serious. " was it some sort of demonic technique?"

"No." Noah's eyes met his. "Death Parasite Gu."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Yuan Ming's face went pale. His hand instinctively moved to his chest, as if he could feel something crawling beneath his skin.

"Death Parasite Gu?" he repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's... I almost forgot about that since you helped me with it."

As he spoke, Yuan Ming could not help but recall the last time Noah and he entered the healing pond after defeating some nobodies and had a serious talk.

***

After washing up in the pond for five minutes, Noah turned to Yuan Ming and said, "It is about time I help you with 'that.'"

"That? What is that?" Leaning against the wall of the healing pond, Yuan Ming looked all confused.

"Do you see anything in this healing pond?" Noah asked, pointing at the pond they were lying in.

"Water?" The boy replied, unsure of his own answer. The way the conversation was going on, he had a feeling Noah was about to reveal something big and bad to him.

Right on his instinct, Noah said, "I can see countless bugs wriggling around in the pond trying to get in your body through your wounds."

After hearing that, he almost jumped out of the pond, but Noah's firm grip held him down.

"Don't make too much noise. It will be hard to cover with my powers." Noah continued to speak in a way to give Yuan Ming some assurance. "Besides, there are already hundreds of those Gu in your body."

Yuan Ming felt like crying but had no tears. A chill ran down his spine as he imagined several ghouls running around inside him without him even knowing.

Noah nodded, mistaking Yuan Ming's frozen state as him calming down. "And the Heavenly Demon Cult has been implanting them in every participant through this pond."

"This healing pond is infested with the Gu," Noah explained, his voice still calm and factual. "Microscopic parasites suspended in the water. Whenever we were injured and entered the pond to heal, the Gu would enter through the open wounds."

He gestured vaguely at his own body.

"They settle in the bloodstream first, then migrate to various organs. Heart, lungs, brain. Once established, they remain dormant. Completely undetectable unless you know exactly what to look for and have the right techniques to sense them."

Yuan Ming felt sick. His hands were trembling slightly as the full implications sank in.

"Then everyone in the cult..." he started.

"Might be infested, yes," Noah confirmed. "Every participant who survived long enough to use the healing pond multiple times probably has these parasites in their system."

"You said you would help me with that, does that mean you have a way to remove them?"

In the face of Yuan Ming's question, Noah nodded with confidence. "i will help you remove all the ghouls once you are done healing."

"Now, sit Down facing your back towards me and remove your upper robes." Noah instructed Yuan Ming before he proceeded to remove the Gu implanted in his body.

***

"Do you understand what I mean now?" Noah asked as he looked away from the window.

Yuan Ming shuddered just from recalling those memories; he could not imagine what the death of the person infected with the Gu might be like.

As Noah told him, the Gu was so powerful that not even he could deal with it unless he unsealed his cultivation base, which would in turn expose his situation and draw suspicions.

"Since they can use the Gu to control us, there is no point in this farce of loyalty. There must be something else they want from us in this trial." Even though he was scared, Yuan Ming did not loose his wits and instantly pieced the clues together.

"Indeed." Noah nodded along with him and added, "and I think I have an idea of what it could be."

Yuan Ming hummed in silence while stealing glances at Noah, who seemed to have noticed his actions and asked, "what?"

"By the way. I am asking just because I am curious. You don't have to answer it. But… but… can you tell me how many of those Death Parasite Gus were inside my body?"

Noah tilted his head, not sure why Yuan Ming was being so weird all of a sudden, but he still answered. "There were 799 total guts inside your body. It seems like they reproduced inside your blood stream."

"NOOOO!!! Why did you have to tell me that?!"

Several question marks appeared on Noah's forehead as he said, "…but you asked."