Chapter 298: Chapter 253: Turbulent
Deep underground, sand and soil churned. Countless ink-colored threads condensed into the shape of a drill, burrowing forward. Soon, the moisture in the soil ahead grew heavier, and Mo Si burst through the rock layer, entering a river. It swam upstream against the current and finally entered Taihu Lake.
SWISH—
Accompanied by the rippling lake water, Mo Si rapidly transformed, reconstructing itself into the form of a blackfish—head, body, and tail, all remarkably lifelike. It even simulated the python-like patterns on the blackfish’s surface using dark-gold silken threads. Mo Si’s overall Dark Gold transformation progress was nearing forty percent; it only needed to devour about three hundred more taels of precious metals to become completely dark gold.
The appearance of the massive blackfish caused the fish, shrimp, and crabs on the lake bottom to instinctively swim away, while the blackfish itself flicked its tail, gliding forward with a lazy air.
Blood-sucking Worms, so many... Countless tail cercariae of Blood-sucking Worms darted around in the water, searching for hosts to parasitize, ready to tear open their skin with the spikes on their bodies. If not for its sturdy scales, these tail cercariae would have probably burrowed into the fish’s body by now. The vast waters were like a pot of sediment-rich thick soup.
If there was a way to directly exterminate the parasites without harming water conservancy and agriculture, how wonderful that would be... The Academic Palace’s most radical proposal had even considered using massive Corrosion Techniques to first destroy the Taihu Basin, then applying opposing spells to reverse the corrosive effects. This plan was theoretically feasible and could kill all the nail snails. However, the corrosion effects would persist for five to ten years. During this time, the entire ecosystem of the Taihu Water System would be completely dismantled. Furthermore, the livelihoods of the people in Jiangnan East Road would collapse, creating millions of refugees. That wasn’t even mentioning the idea of terraforming to divert seawater and flood the Taihu Water System, thereby eliminating the nail snails with seawater—the seawater would remain on the soil surface, salinizing the land...
The gliding blackfish suddenly paused. Its body’s delicate threads could sense subtle fluctuations in the water. Hmm? The number of Blood-sucking Worms... increased?
It wasn’t an illusion. As the fish’s body moved forward, the number of tail cercariae in the water subtly increased. Even high-level cultivators would find such a change hard to detect. Perhaps only Mo Si, whose entire body acted as a sensor, could quickly notice it. The closer to the lake’s heart, the more tail cercariae there are... Why is this happening?
It was known that the intermediate hosts for the Blood-sucking Worms, the nail snails, were amphibious creatures. Juveniles favored living in water, while adults preferred the moist grass above the waterline. This meant there should be more nail snails along the lake shores. So why were there more tail cercariae of the Blood-sucking Worms towards the center of the lake?
With burgeoning doubts, the blackfish accelerated, flicking its tail and silently gliding along the lake bottom. CRACKLE, POP, SNAP— The number of tail cercariae increased so much that their impact against its scales, carried by the current, produced a dense, faint sound. Finally, when the number of Blood-sucking Worms reached a critical point, the blackfish stopped.
Was that... light? A dim light emanated from the heart of the deep-water lake, a place untouched by moonlight. It was a giant spherical object with a diameter of over ten meters. Its surface was covered with spiral patterns, each with a hole in the center. The exact material was indiscernible; it resembled ceramic, stone, and also some kind of mummified, desiccated creature’s corpse.
HISS— The gigantic sphere pulsed as if breathing, drawing lake water in and out through the pores on its surface. Between each ’breath,’ the sphere itself emitted a faint, pale blue luminescence.
And below the sphere, an old man and a young man stood on the lakebed, deep in conversation. A layer of air bubbles enveloped them, likely the effect of a Water Avoidance Talisman.
"...Teacher, the Suzhou Clinic has already started distributing Alum Medicine to various villages and towns. The patients taking the medicine would suffer from fever and discomfort, but a significant portion of the Blood-sucking Worms inside their bodies would indeed be eradicated."
"It’s no longer important," Situ Zhi said with a smile. "Our goal has already been achieved. This so-called Alum Medicine will only serve to further drain Yu Country’s national strength—seriously ill patients who remain alive lack the strength to work the fields and need care, which will continue to consume food, labor, and materials, whereas burying the dead only requires preparing a coffin."
He raised his head, looking at the giant sphere above, and said with a smile, "In three more days. After three days, this Zhu Gu Demon will release enough Gu Worms to reach a critical point. No matter how much effort the Academic Palace and Yu Country put forth, it will be impossible to completely eradicate the Gu Poison from Taihu Lake. After that, every twenty years, the Water Poison Gu will have a large-scale outbreak, ravaging the eastern and western roads of Jiangnan. This will be enough to drain Yu Country’s strength without completely crushing it."
"But," Yu Shi frowned and said, "Zhao Ming’s requirement for us was to crush Yu Country. If they found out we intentionally held back..."
"Don’t worry about what Zhao Ming thinks." Situ Zhi shook his head. "We have a collaborative relationship with them. I joined Zhao Ming merely to share resources and achieve mutual benefit. Remember, you are first and foremost the last generation disciple of the Parmenides Monastery, and only then a member of Zhao Ming."
Zhao Ming?! Far away, the blackfish did its best to conceal its presence, simultaneously using the Ink Silk Clone’s detection capabilities to infer the content of the distant pair’s conversation from their lip movements. First Jun Qianzi, now these two. If they are members of Zhao Ming, then why didn’t Ya Jiu, who knew I was coming to Suzhou when I was in Chang’an, give any warning? Had Ya Jiu already left Chang’an, or was it a lack of trust in me? What ulterior motives might these two have?
The blackfish’s gaze grew vacant as it undulated its fins, meandering along the lakebed. It occasionally darted its mouth out to chase and prey on small fish and shrimp, all while eavesdropping more intently on the duo’s conversation.
"After we’ve taken care of things in Suzhou, I’ll take you to the Western Country to see the remains of the monastery," Situ Zhi said. "You now possess the high-order cultivation of the Rain Listening Realm; it’s about time you cultivated your own Gu Demon. Have you thought about what kind of Gu Worm you want to raise?"
"I haven’t thought about it yet, Teacher," Yu Shi replied.
"Well, you better think quickly." Situ Zhi smiled, resembling an ordinary teacher offering guidance. "Qu Gu, Snake Gu, Blood Gu, Insect Gu, Sand Gu... There are all sorts of Gu Worms. Once you start cultivating one, you’ll have to scour the world for the materials needed for its evolution. Otherwise, you would run the risk of a backlash..."
Suddenly, he paused mid-sentence, turned his head to look into the distance, and the corners of his mouth curved upward. "It seems we have a guest..."
The lake water suddenly surged, and a violent, ferocious torrent blasted accurately towards the blackfish’s position.
Discovered.
With no time to think, the Ink Silk Clone flicked its fishtail, darting to the side and narrowly avoiding the violent current in the nick of time. Simultaneously, it morphed octopus-like tentacles underwater, hooking onto the lakebed and frantically fleeing away from the lake’s center.