Warning: This chapter contains a lot of worms.
Feng Yongrui bought the poison from the System -- the poison that he had to ingest to lure the Gu worms away. The poison was called Haunting Dreams and cost him 200 points.
Feng Yongrui did not eat the poison immediately. Instead, he went over to his disciples and told them that he had a method to lure the Gu worms out of their bodies.
"Master, will it be dangerous?" Ma Bo asked, twisting his fingers nervously.
"No, you don't need to worry. I'll definitely be okay," Feng Yongrui said. He didn't know if he was lying to Ma Bo or reassuring himself.
Feng Yongrui knew that the Gu worm would be rushing towards himself later on, but the System had told him that there was a possibility that the Gu worm would be attracted by Hou Renshu or Ma Bo's internal energy.
"For the Gu worm, internal energy is like candy. They naturally like it very much. Someone with abundant internal energy will naturally be their main target, but there might be Gu worms who simply like the smell of Hou Renshu or Ma Bo's internal energy..." the System trailed off.
"Not to mention, Ma Bo has a unique Demonic Constitution. This means his aura is unique, and some Gu worms might find it extremely enticing."
Feng Yongrui immediately understood. When he was extracting the Gu worms, it was better for his disciples to be somewhere far away. This would prevent anything bad from happening to them.
Especially Ma Bo...
When they were still on the fourth floor, Feng Yongrui had put a spell on Ma Bo to hide his Demonic Constitution. Even if Hou Renshu and Feng Yongrui accepted Ma Bo, there were bound to be wicked people who discriminated against him.
To prevent anyone from knowing about Ma Bo's constitution, it was better to be on the safe side.
Back to the present, Feng Yongrui reassured his disciples again that nothing would go wrong. He told them to go far away from this place.
"It's going to be really messy later... I'll feel better if you all stay far away from here," Feng Yongrui said.
His disciples were not convinced. "Master," Hou Renshu spoke. "I want to stay with you, Master."
Ma Bo nodded his head as well.
"Just tell us how to extract the Gu worm. Since you said it isn't dangerous, we can help too, right?" Ma Bo said, his eyes twinkling like stars.
The youth, who had clung to Ma Bo's side all this time, also looked at Feng Yongrui with his deep eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.
"No, no... you're just kids... Go to that side and stand there. Yes, that's right."
Then, before any of them could realize what was happening, Feng Yongrui cast a spell around the three of them. It was a barrier that would stop them from leaving and repel anyone who tried to enter.
This way, his disciples would remain safe even if there was an enemy attacking them while Feng Yongrui was busy.
"Master!" Ma Bo cried, his face filled with shock and slight anger. "Why are you doing this?"
"That's right, Master," Hou Renshu felt incredulous and pounded on the barrier with his fists. "Is there something wrong with the Gu worms or something? Master, we want to help you too!"
Feng Yongrui felt touched, but how could he put his disciples in danger? If it weren't for the side quest, Feng Yongrui wouldn't want his disciples to come here at all!
"Be good and wait here until I come back, okay?" Feng Yongrui said. After waving goodbye to them, Feng Yongrui headed to the place where the children were gathered.
The children were confused when they saw that it was only Feng Yongrui who returned. Ignoring that gazes, Feng Yongrui directly made them fall asleep.
About 500 children or so fell to the ground and began snoring, dreaming peaceful dreams.
Feng Yongrui sat cross legged on the ground, about two meters away from the children. Then, he took out the Haunting Dreams Poison and put it into his mouth.
A bitter taste spread through his mouth, making his taste buds endure the acidic, biting flavor. A frown creased his eyebrows and Feng Yongrui swallowed the poison in one big gulp.
Immediately, the System began a countdown inside his head -- he had 3 hours and 59 minutes...
Feng Yongrui did not waste any time. He gathered his internal energy in his right palm and looked at the children.
Come on, Gu worms... come out...
Feng Yongrui did not know how long he had to wait, but then he saw something wriggling out of a child's ear. A few torturous seconds passed, and Feng Yongrui held his breath in anticipation.
The worm wriggled slowly out of a child's ear. This child was relatively close to Feng Yongrui, so the Gu worm was able to smell the scent and quickly emerge. The child frowned in his sleep, but did not move.
Slowly...
Slowly...
Every second passed in slow motion...
The Gu worm inched out of the child's ear, moving leisurely as if it had all the time in the world.
When the Gu worm finally emerged, Feng Yongrui shuddered. The worm was plump and fat. Its outer layer was a clear, milky white color. However, inside the worm, Feng Yongrui could see a blood red orb that sparkled like a jewel.
...Feng Yongrui didn't want to know what that orb was. He just wanted to get this over with!
"Host, that worm is completely outside of the child's body. You can kill it now!" The System cried.
Feng Yongrui moved almost instantly. With his left palm, he condensed his internal energy into a blade-like form and pierced the worm.
Blood splattered everywhere, and a watery brown liquid flowed out of the Gu worm.
Feng Yongrui gagged reflexively, but he pursed his lips and did not move. He had to maintain his position and kill the other Gu worms that were popping out of the other children's bodies.
Feng Yongrui did not know how much time had passed. He kept killing the worms one after another, and he soon grew numb to the worms' disgusting form.
"How many more children need to be cured, System?" Feng Yongrui asked.
"Host, you still have about 300 children left," the System said.
"What?!" Feng Yongrui was stunned. His right palm had been staying in the same position for so long that he couldn't feel it anymore... He thought he only had about 20 more children to cure!
"...How much time do I have left?" Feng Yongrui asked.
"Host... you only have two hours left," the System said. He could hear a slight tremor in its voice.
"Urgh," Feng Yongrui felt a stabbing pain in his abdomen.
"System, what's going on?" he asked.
"Host, the poison has spread to your stomach... It should be harmless for now. Host, you should focus on extracting the Gu worms first," the System said.
Feng Yongrui groaned in reply. Some of the Gu worms took a long time to exit the child's body. He couldn't do anything to speed up the process... This was very tiring and consumed his stamina...
Wait.
Feng Yongrui had an idea. If he used both of his hands to condense his internal energy to lure the worms out, wouldn't it be more effective? He would be able to lure the Gu worms faster!
On the downside, this meant that his speed in killing the Gu worms might be slower... But that should be alright.
With that thought in mind, Feng Yongrui condensed in energy on his left hand as well. The Gu worms began to move more ferociously than before.
The smell of his internal energy was laced with the Haunting Dreams Poison, an exquisite delicacy for the Gu worms.
All this time, the Gu worms had stayed inside children's brains. Those children had little to no internal energy. The Gu worms managed to survive mainly because of their strong will to survive and because of the meager amounts of food the children ate.
Now that they were presented with such a tempting meal, how could the Gu worms resist?
The Gu worms moved faster than before and began squirming and running to Feng Yongrui, as if they were on drugs.
Feng Yongrui was slightly stunned, because the Gu worms that had been moving slowly suddenly rushed towards him like a tidal wave.
Panicked, Feng Yongrui began killing the worms left and right, doing his best to get rid of the worms.
However, when Feng Yongrui was concentrating on killing the worms, he felt his abdomen stinging with pain. This time, the pain was more severe than before.
He felt as if his stomach was on fire.
Gritting his teeth, Feng Yongrui asked, "System! What's happening to me?"
The System was also panicking.
"Host, according to my information, the poison will not do you any harm unless it reaches your heart... I really did not know this poison would hurt you this badly... Host, hold on, okay?"
"You only have about one hour left, Host," the System said. "Hold on.... Just endure it and kill the Gu worms!"
Feng Yongrui ignored the pain in his stomach. Beads of sweat clung to his skin and he was panting hard.
Feng Yongrui could see the Gu worms charging at him and he grew nauseous. Some of the worms were less than one meter away from him! His situation did not look good...
***
Feng Yongrui: Urgh, all these worms are so disgusting!
Worms: *offended*
***
Oh no, will Feng Yongrui survive this ordeal?
Just like Feng Yongrui, have you ever been in a difficult situation, but you still persist in doing it because you know you should?
Comment below~