433 Insect Man

The gloomy expression on Mu An's face made him look more and more like a stone statue. His skin, unlike ordinary people, was an ashy grey, but it was not particularly conspicuous in a world full of Descendants of Divine Devil. There were many queer-looking beings of all shapes and sizes on the streets, even some with four arms and two faces.

"Lead the way." There was no way he could just return to the government office to report the clue and turn the matter over to the Left Oracle and head of the office without actually discovering the enemy himself. Moreover, since he believed his own strength far outmatched that of that rubbish Ji Tao, who had managed to request for backup and survive, it was only right that he meet them himself.

He might even be able to kill the enemy!

The skinny man with the handlebar mustache looked shocked, as if he were terrified of the enemy who had previously killed most of his companions. However, under Mu An's severe gaze, he lowered his head and cowered into the alley.

After a few steps, Mu An flipped his left hand and another black insect appeared in his palm. It spun around on the spot, trying to sense the enemy's breath.

The bug suddenly released a series of bird-like chirp, a pair of transparent wings sprouting from its back as it soared into the air and flew to the corner of the alley.

"Hmph, if she had been walking in a busy area, her breath would have been mixed with others'. My Seeker Bug has yet to break through the constraints of heaven and earth, it shouldn't have been able to find her tracks but it seems like a different story now though, heh..." Mu An muttered to himself, evidently a little pleased with himself.

If his memory served him well, the handlebar mustached man next to him worked for that worthless trash Ji Tao. Having gone through life and death together, had gained Ji Tao's trust. Mu An would have to resort to some tricks to avoid looking worse than Ji Tao any further.

He had used the Seeker Bug to remember the blue-clothed girl's breath back in the Turf Lord's residence. Unfortunately, it was a bustling marketplace outside with people coming and going and all kinds of breath mixing about. That seriously interfered with the insect's seeking abilities and rendered it unable to track her down. However, now that they were in a remote alley, it was the perfect opportunity for him to display its abilities!

Jiang Zhiwei, who had the two strips of mustache stuck on her face, was a little baffled upon seeing Mu An reveal the insect. Had they not been extra cautious and made Ruan Yushu dress as the girl in blue this time, their ambush would probably have already failed. Voodoo art was bizarre and unpredictable indeed-- She was in charge of the frontal attack and had to lead the way. At the same time, she could not reveal her breath lest Mu An had some special blood lineage that enabled him to tell apart even the slightest differences in her breath.

Such a choice was an indication of how well-versed they were in the ways of Jianghu. If Yuanyang and Weng Lingyu's team had been in charge of the mission instead, they would never have thought of such an idea. Even if Yuanyang was skilled in Voodoo arts, she knew close to nothing about the Descendants of Divine Devil.

The Seeker Bug zipped ahead of them, turning corner after corner, entering areas that were more and mroe remote, with dense vegetation and few houses around. Ocassionally, one could hear the sound of people's voices and hazy wisps of smoke curling upwards to the sky, a picture of peace and serenity.

Under such circumstances, Mu An suddenly shivered. He was overcome with an overwhelming urge to be vigilant and on guard.

Just as he was considering backing off, a gentle song disrupted the quiet. Its ethereal sound and the sensation it gave Mu An was indescribable. It seemed to have been emitted from the high heavens, evoking hundreds of bird cries.

All of a sudden, his brain began buzzing and he started to tremble all over. He could feel himself growing disoriented and confused to the point of having no idea where he was and what was going on.

"Heavenly Phoenix Cries", one of the 12 Magical Sounds of Langhuan!

Meng Qi and the others had been worried that their opponent's Voodoo art would be so unusual that just a little carelessness and he would escape. On top of that, they wanted to capture him alive to get information out of him. After the team had discussed things over, their final verdict was not to hesitate but go all out!

The phoenix's cries echoed through the heavens and gradually faded. Various birds flapped their wings and flew low, circling around the area while gently chirping.

Seeing Mu An in a daze, Jiang Zhiwei immediately drew her long sword and went right for the man's mid-brows. She attempted to penetrate his mid-brows with Sword Qi in order to lock his Vital Spirit and capture him alive.

But her stroke was not fancy or complicated, but was purely borne of speed and accuracy. However, just then, countless tiny bumps began appearing on Mu An's skin. Densely packed together, it spread all over his body. It made one's skin crawl just watching it.

What was worse, the little bumps were all wriggling as if they were living beings, like there was a layer of insects hiding beneath Mu An's skin.

With a sickening sound, brightly-colored insects started crawling out of Mu An's skin and soaring in all directions. They all carried some of Mu An's breath, as if he were a lizard trying to sacrifice his tail in order to save himself!

As Gu Poison Bugs of the lowest class, their Vital Spirits were weaker, unable to recognize a phoenix cry and mostly unaffected by it. The best option to counter any of the 12 Magical Sounds of Langhuan was the "Soundless Sound".

The sword struck Mu An's mid-brows and his skin and muscles shriveled. He seemed to have become a gigantic insect himself while the colorful bugs continued emerging in great quantities like fireworks exploding in mid-air.

All of a sudden, their surroundings darkened. Stars appeared, shining brightly against the black backdrop, as they formed a purple Milky Way. The twinkling galaxy descended upon them, vast and mighty.

The purple Milky Way swallowed everything whole. All the Gu Poison Bugs were instantaneously crushed into dust. None escaped alive.

Blood streamed from Mu An's eyes, nostrils and mouth. His gaze was blank yet ferocious.

"Boom!" Jiang Zhiwei's sword struck Mu An's mid-brows, and the latter's brain suddenly exploded.

Even with his Vital Spirit confused by the zither music and locked by the Sword Qi, he was still able to blow himself up!

The headless body did not collapse. Instead, its arms and legs detached and transformed into four long black bugs. They hastily squirmed off in all four directions.

Jiang Zhiwei swung her long sword and sword light flashed. One of the long black bugs was split right down the middle. It twitched on the ground in a pool of black blood.

Red sword light cut through the air as a vast and awesome aura spread, as if dragons had descended amongst them. Tongues of fire circled around them entangling with one another. Swooping down close to the ground, they sped after the three remaining bugs, leaving scorched trails in the grass.

The "fire dragons" traveled at top speed. In a blink of an eye, they had hunted down the three black worms and turned them to ash.

At this stage, it was impossible for them to even consider capturing him alive!

Up against Meng Qi and the others who were working as a team, Mu An had no chance to retaliate. However, thanks to his bizarre Voodoo skills, he managed to wiggle his way out, preventing all chances of his survival from being sealed off.

Right at that moment, his torso which had fallen to the ground suddenly began moving. The protruding skin formed an ugly bulge which then ruptured, and out crawled a humongous centipede.

It was greyish-white in color, like it had been formed from the bones of his spine. Its body was a series of clearly defined sections, and there seemed to be the faint image of a person's face on its head. That face was none other than Mu An's!

As the centipede emerged from the torso, it immediately began burrowing into the ground. It appeared to have Earth-blending abilities!

A figure descended from the skies, its body surrounded by a faint gold glow and flames rising from its face that obscured its appearance. It resembled Vajra.

"Thud!" The contact of figure's two feet on the ground caused the land to quake. Then, his two hands reached down and grabbed the centipede's body, and started yanking it out of the ground.

The centipede had mystical strength to begin with, but no matter how it struggled, it could not break free from the Vajra-like figure's iron-clad grip. It was like being pinched by a pair of steel pliers and squashed beneath a mountain. It was a matter of pure, brute strength.

Instead of fighting, the centipede coiled upwards, wrapping itself tightly around its attacker. Its numerous feet scratched and clawed at his body at full strength, and it sprayed poison from its mouth.

The faint gold glow was clear and bright. Despite the disconcerting scratching noises, the greyish-white centipede's attacks were futile. Not a single one of them left a scratch on its attacker.

Right when it was about to activate the Nine Inborn Apertures, its opponent's body suddenly blazed a layer of red-hot burning flames. The centipede experienced the most torturous pain as the fire scorched and burned it. It went limp all of a sudden, hanging around the attacker's arm like a dead snake.

The attacker was none other than Meng Qi. If things had smoothly proceeded, he would not have had to fight at all. However, Mu An seemed to be comprised of many different insects and impossible to defend against as it was constantly searching for a way to escape. More than an hour ago, Meng Qi had already reported the information to the head of the bodyguards, Jiang Shenghong, sprinkled a few words of flattery about Jiang Shenghong's powerful kung fu and how he would easily overpower the enemy, whereas Mu An was conceited despite his average abilities.

Hence, Jiang Shenghong had been perfectly content with sending "Ji Tao" to help Mu An with the search.

With the burnt centipede on his arm, Meng Qi's aura changed. He resembled not only a fire god who had decended to earth, but also an immortal gazing upon the mortal world, aware of all the vicissitudes of life and cycles of Samsara!

Mu An's Vital Spirit that had been enclosed in the centipede's body convulsed. It felt the color of its surroundings fade away, and saw a bottomless ocean beneath it. Gold light shone all around it, sometimes leaping out and sometimes gradually emerging, bringing with it a web of countless memories.

After executing Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth, Meng Qi noticed that Mu An's Vital Spirit that was suspended above his spiritual sea kept changing unsteadily. Unusual, greyish-white patterns tumbled about within it, as if it were a malevolent puppet.

Mu An, who had barely suffered a few serious blows previously, did not have the strength to resist Meng Qi's assault on his spirit. Influenced by Supernatural Power, fragments of his memories flew out, displaying "Samsara", and revealing his secrets.

Out of the blue, the golden shards gathered together into a round mirror. Reflected in the mirror was a secret room, dim and gloomy, with a lone man seated inside it. He was around 20 years old, garbed in black robes and a cold and gloomy feeling emanated from him. His face was deathly pale and his chin was shaped like a hammer.

"Yin Lenghui?" Meng Qi's Vital Spirit shook.

The person in the mirror was the one Ji Tao had mentioned before-- "Dissimilated Man" Yin Lenghui. There seemed to be someone sitting opposite him, but it was hard to tell through the mirror.

Yin Lenghui's eyes suddenly flew open. He swallowed and another greyish-white puppet materialized in his hand.

In a flash, black flames rose from his palm and engulfed the puppet.

At the same time, Mu An's spiritual sea began burning like a sea of fire. It enveloped his Vital Spirit and started spreading towards Meng Qi.

The black flames were deep. They emitted neither light nor heat, but gave Meng Qi a feeling of great danger.

Without a second's hesitation, he withdrew his spirit from within, enduring the countercharge of Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth and hurled the centipede away.

"Everyone split up!" He shouted.

Jiang Zhiwei and the others took off at once. They all had immense faith in Meng Qi.

The centipede had already turned to ash mid-air, completely swallowed by the black flames. Then, the flames stretched and contracted and extended into a large hand. Black gas billowed out of its fingers as it reached out to grab Meng Qi.

Meng Qi was seized by a sudden chill, as if his Vital Spirit were about to be snatched away by the large hand.

It was trying to steal his soul!

Flowing Fire circled around Meng Qi's body and masked his breath and face, protecting his identity. Using both hands, he formed several seals before him that resembled blooming lotuses.

His entire body seemed to become one with the ground. He stood tall and steady like a firmly rooted mountain.

The black flame hand reached out towards Meng Qi once again and was struck by his hands in turn. Slapping sounds continually rang out and fire shot out in all directions, but the black flames were trying to snatch Meng Qi's soul from the ground. There was no way it could compete with the strength of the entire earth.

The black flame hand crumbled and Meng Qi leaped into the air and disappeared, reappearing in the stove of a nearby house where the "Humanity Fire" burned.

Since there was fire nearby, Meng Qi took the opportunity to flee, eliminating all his tracks at the same time.

A short while later, a man in black robes appeared in the location where the battle had occurred. A cold and gloomy air hung around him, and his face was a deathly white.

He scanned the surroundings for a moment with a fierce gaze. Failing to find any clues, Yin Lenghui huffed heavily and left.

...

Back in the government office, Mu An's death had Zuo Hanfeng furious. He assembled all the bodyguard generals and Dissimilated Men for a meeting.

Meng Qi's face was wrapped in bandages. He could not help but feel a little nervous because he was standing before an Exterior-level master. Even the slightest mistake could give him away.

As for Yin Lenghui, although they had failed to uncover any information about him this time, they had more or less been able to roughly guess his strength and unusual power. He was definitely not on the Exterior level, but he was not far from it. They reckoned that he was around the same level as the Matriarch of the West.

Zuo Hanfeng's eyes were a dark green and his beard was tinted green. His aura was as majestic as the oceans as he paced back and forth with his hands folded behind his back. Nobody dared to even breathe loudly because of the intimidating air he gave off.

His only son had perished at the hands of Red Coat Army, leaving only survivors and his daughter behind. As such, Zuo Hanfeng hated Red Coat Army to the bone.

Near him was a woman around 40 years old, dressed in imperial robes and wearing a sorrowful expression on her face as if she were reminded of her dead husband. She had beautiful facial features and unusul breath, like that of a ripened fruit. She looked rather similar to Zuo Yiqian, who stood beside her.

Yin Lenghui was the most at ease. He sized up the crowd with his cold gaze and suddenly, pointed at Meng Qi and saying,

"Ji Tao, even Mu An wasn't able to escape from the opponent, so how did you survive given your level of strength?"