C8 Chasing Bugs!

Spirit animals are indeed spirit animals; they deserve the finest food.

Su Jiuming, equipped and ready, followed the system's guidance for a while, passing by the mountain where Lee Daoquan was. Lee Daoquan, emerging from the mountain, called out to him:

"Junior brother, where are you off to this early?"

"I'm off to catch some bugs for my Jabberwocky."

Su Jiuming had chosen the name Jabberwocky for its meaning: the king among chickens. However, despite its size, the chicken never changed shape, which frustrated Su Jiuming to the point where he sometimes wished he could stew it. Nevertheless, it was his own rearing, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Oh? Can't you just catch bugs on Misty Peak? There's no need to go so far, is there?"

Lee Daoquan had grown accustomed to Su Jiuming's chicken-raising antics and was merely making conversation.

"I thought I'd take a stroll and stretch my legs. The Jabberwocky gets fussy if it's hungry for too long. I should be on my way."

"Sure, I've got things to attend to as well."

After responding, Su Jiuming continued on the path the system map indicated. Lee Daoquan, too, had matters to attend to and left to handle sect affairs.

Oh no!

It was only after Su Jiuming had been flying on his sword for a good while that he slapped his forehead, realizing something amiss. He turned back and looked in the direction Su Jiuming had gone, a sense of panic setting in.

The direction Su Jiuming was heading toward was a solitary peak, directly opposite Misty Peak. That place had always been a forbidden area for the Veiled Moon—the Poisonous Insect Peak.

True to its name, the Poisonous Insect Peak was infested with venomous creatures and shrouded in a year-round haze of poison, chilling to the bone.

Yet, for disciples of a great sect like the Veiled Moon, the peak itself was not the most terrifying aspect. The real horror was the thousand-year-old centipede that lurked atop the Poisonous Insect Peak.

Previously, the Poisonous Insect Peak was a mountain rich in spiritual energy. However, after becoming overrun with venomous insects and dominated by the thousand-year centipede, any disciple who mistakenly wandered in met a gruesome end.

Fortunately, the thousand-year centipede, for reasons unknown, had taken up residence within the mountain peak upon its arrival and had not ventured out to wreak havoc on the human world. Consequently, the Veiled Moon Sect declared the area off-limits and diligently monitored it.

The centipede's vitality was incredibly resilient, and the cost of eradicating it was prohibitively high. For the sake of its own growth, the Veiled Moon Sect had no choice but to make this difficult decision, ensuring the creature remained contained and didn't escape to cause trouble.

In the midst of this, Lee Daoquan was thrown into a state of panic, the minor issues within the sect forgotten. He leapt onto his sword and sped towards the peak where Sect Master Bai Yifeng resided to inform him of the situation.

"Don't panic. Jiuming is the chosen one; he will be fine," Bai Yifeng assured with unwavering calm, showing no concern for Su Jiuming's safety.

Despite Bai Yifeng's reassurance, Lee Daoquan couldn't shake his unease. He quickly gathered several disciples with formidable cultivation and sent them to Poisonous Insect Peak to stand guard at the entrance.

"What is this bizarre odor? It's absolutely foul," Su Jiuming remarked as he ventured deeper into the peak, following the path laid out by the system map and grumbling about the mountain's air quality.

Common wisdom suggested that an abundance of trees equated to better air quality, yet this mountain was an anomaly. Despite its lush greenery, the air was tainted with a putrid stench that Su Jiuming found quite displeasing.

He had been following the map for what felt like an eternity, expecting to have exited the mountain by now, but instead, he found himself going in circles.

This was not good. He was lost!

By the time Su Jiuming realized his predicament, an hour had slipped by, and to make matters worse, he was now feeling dizzy and fatigued.

Thinking he was just exhausted from the trek, Su Jiuming located a large rock to sit on and rested there, setting his handmade bug cage beside him.

"How odd, why am I becoming increasingly... dizzy..."

In the end, Su Jiuming couldn't fight off the overwhelming drowsiness. His eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep.

"Eldest Senior Brother, the chief has been inside for four or five hours now. Why hasn't he emerged? Do you think something's gone wrong?"

"Let's give it another hour. If Junior Brother hasn't come out by then, we'll storm in."

Su Jiuming slept through to the afternoon, resting peacefully, while the disciples at the base of Poisonous Insect Peak were fraught with worry.

Lee Daoquan was beside himself with concern, but one does not simply enter Poisonous Insect Peak. Despite their considerable strength, it would be a life-threatening risk. Better to wait than to needlessly sacrifice the lives of his disciples.

Having had his fill of sleep, Su Jiuming's eyes snapped open to the sight of a red and black centipede crawling before him, its appearance screaming deadly poison.

Holy smokes! Startled, Su Jiuming stumbled and fell to the ground, instantly jolting awake. But upon glancing at the stone, his fears subsided.

A thick centipede, along with various other venomous insects, writhed helplessly inside a cage. The cage was teeming with bugs, all securely trapped with no chance of escape.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Su Jiuming cheerfully picked up the cage and started back the way he came, humming a tune as he went. Perhaps it was the good night's sleep, but the mountain air seemed fresher to him, and he descended with remarkable speed.

"Why is everyone here? What a coincidence!"

Before he knew it, he was at the foot of the mountain, warmly greeting Lee Daoquan and the others who had been anxiously waiting at the entrance.

"Junior Brother, are you okay? Did you run into anything?"

Seeing Su Jiuming emerge, the group was visibly relieved. Lee Daoquan approached with warm concern.

"Nope, I just went up to catch some bugs. What could possibly happen?" Su Jiuming said, puzzled by Lee Daoquan's anxious expression and the tense disciples behind him. He lifted the insect cage, gave it a shake, and grinned broadly.

"I'm relieved you're okay. Junior Brother, are you sure you didn't encounter that creature?"

Lee Daoquan breathed a sigh of relief as he eyed the centipede in Su Jiuming's insect cage, recalling the thousand-year centipede and decided to ask once more for good measure.

"I really didn't come across it. Rest assured."

After responding, Su Jiuming turned away from his senior and made his way toward Misty Peak, where he was stationed.

However, Lee Daoquan's concern lingered. Logically, after spending several hours there, Su Jiuming should have encountered the thousand-year centipede.

Could it be that the centipede had left the mountain?

If that were true, the situation would be dire. Without delay, Lee Daoquan led the disciples present on a search up the mountain.

Despite their lengthy search, they found no sign of the thousand-year centipede, but they did come across numerous fresh traces it had left behind on the mountain, clearly from earlier that day.

With no other choice, Lee Daoquan reported back to Bai Yifeng. Bai Yifeng immediately commanded the disciples to scout the nearby villages for any information on the thousand-year centipede, all the while murmuring to himself,

"It doesn't make sense... The thousand-year centipede left in such a rush. With so many disciples watching the base of the mountain, how could it have escaped unnoticed? Where could it have gone?"

Upon hearing Bai Yifeng's musings, Lee Daoquan suddenly remembered the centipede in Su Jiuming's cage—it looked strikingly familiar. It couldn't be...

If his suspicions were correct, his Junior Brother was in danger!

Without a second thought about how the thousand-year centipede ended up in the cage, Lee Daoquan felt an urgent need to help Su Jiuming. He bid farewell to Bai Yifeng and, mounting his sword, sped directly toward Misty Peak.