Translator: CKtalon
“Master Gu, what’s the situation now?” Li Mobai asked Gu Shanshui.
Gu Shanshui didn’t answer. All he did was summon a butterfly Companion Beast and bring back White Silkworm’s corpse.
Then, Gu Shanshui cut off a portion of White Silkworm’s corpse and fed it to another spider. The spider was fine after eating the silkworm’s corpse.
Gu Shanshui picked out a strange Buddha plaque from his various Buddha plaques. It looked like a transparent glass bottle with yellow liquid inside. Inside the liquid was a baby-like figurine.
Gu Shanshui opened the glass bottle and poured some yellow liquid on the remaining White Silkworm corpse. When the liquid touched White Silkworm’s corpse, it immediately seeped in.
Gu Shanshui held the Buddha plaque and muttered something as he injected his Essence Energy into it.
However, after a while, there was nothing from White Silkworm’s corpse.
Gu Shanshui put away his Buddha plaque and looked at the spider that had eaten a portion of the white silkworm’s corpse. He said with a heavy expression, “There’s no poison in White Silkworm’s corpse. It didn’t die from poison. I tried using Spirit Control to condense the remnant spiritual consciousness left in the white silkworm, but I failed.”
When Li Mobai heard this, he understood what Gu Shanshui meant. “In other words, the Flower of Life isn’t poisonous. Did White Silkworm die because it lost its soul?”
“That’s probably the case. However, spiritual consciousness isn’t completely equivalent to a soul,” said Gu Shanshui.
“Can you find out what sucked White Silkworm’s spiritual consciousness?” Li Mobai asked.
“No other creatures have been discovered. The greatest possibility is that the Flowers of Life have sucked away its spiritual consciousness. However, this is only a guess,” Gu Shanshui said.
This made Li Mobai and Zhou Wen’s hearts sink. If the Flowers of Life were really up to no good, it would be very dangerous for them to cross the Flower River. If they weren’t careful, their spiritual consciousness might be sucked away.
“This seems to be similar to the Spirit Absorbing Valley’s Spirit Absorbing Worms. Could they be related?” Li Mobai asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I need to further study it.” Gu Shanshui summoned many avian Companion Beasts and made them fly across the Flower River and into the distance.
The Companion Beasts flew over the Flower River a few times without any problems. This made Zhou Wen and company feel better.
If they could cross the Flower River by flying, it could save them a lot of trouble.
After unsummoning his Companion Beasts, Gu Shanshui got Gu Lou and Gu He to open the bamboo cages on their backs. Inside the bamboo cages was a hive with countless wasps entering and exiting.
Zhou Wen sized up the hive curiously. He hadn’t noticed it before, but he never expected Gu Lou and Gu He to be carrying such an item.
The wasps inside were clearly not Companion Beasts, nor could they be considered dimensional creatures. They were likely mutated wasps from Earth.
Driven by Gu Lou and Gu He, the wasps flew out of the hive and into the sky above the Flower River. However, not long after they flew, they fell from the sky as though they were drunk and fell into the flowers.
None of the wasps survived; all of them fell into the flower field.
Everyone’s hearts were covered in a shadow. The Companion Beasts were fine, but the wasps died. It was likely that people would end up like the wasps if they entered.
Gu Shanshui did some more experiments. He had many strange things on him that dazzled the eyes.
After Gu Shanshui stopped, Li Mobai asked, “Master Gu, is there a way to cross the Flower River?”
“There’s a way, but we can only prevent our spiritual consciousness from being sucked away. We don’t know if there are other dangers inside,” Gu Shanshui said after some thought.
“We’ve already come this far. There’s no reason to return,” Li Mobai said.
Gu Shanshui nodded and took out a few Buddha plaques from his pocket and handed them to Zhou Wen. “Hang these Buddha plaques around your necks. They will naturally protect you from having your spiritual consciousness sucked away. However, there are a few taboos that you need to abide by. Firstly, don’t take them off casually after wearing them. I’ll help you take them off when we are in the clear. Secondly, you need to drip a drop of blood on the Buddha plaque every day. Thirdly, you can’t eat meat. You have to abide by these three rules or you will be in trouble.”
After Li Mobai received the Buddha plaque, he put it around his neck. Then, he pricked his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto it.
Strangely enough, the drop of blood instantly seeped into the Buddha plaque.
“What Companion Beast is sealed in this Buddha plaque?” Zhou Wen held the Buddha plaque and asked curiously.
This Buddha plaque was very similar to the one used by Gu Shanshui. It was split into three levels. One layer was transparent crystal, while the second layer was yellow liquid. Right in the middle was a black baby figurine.
“The Buddha plaques that seals Companion Beasts are now called Orthodox Buddha Plaques. I made this myself. What’s sealed inside isn’t a Companion Beast, but a Gu. Although it’s a little odd, as long as you abide by the rules, there won’t be any problems. Remember, you have to abide by the rules. Otherwise, you will be in big trouble,” Gu Shanshui warned them repeatedly.
Li Mobai said, “Master Gu’s family used to rear Gu. Later, the Gu family moved to the vicinity of Chiang Rai and learned the local techniques. They have a deep understanding of Buddha plaques and Kuman Thong. Now that they have formed their own style, there aren’t many people in Chiang Rai who can compare to Master Gu.”
Zhou Wen followed Gu Shanshui’s instructions and fed a drop of blood to the Buddha plaque before hanging it around his neck.
Everyone hung the Buddha plaques around their necks and entered the Flower River under the guidance of Gu Shanshui.
As Gu Shanshui had said, with the Buddha plaques, they didn’t suffer the problem of having their spiritual consciousness absorbed. The group traversed the Flower River and saw nothing but a sea of flowers. Although they looked beautiful, they also exuded a sense of loneliness.
Zhou Wen originally wanted to get Gu Shanshui to help him see what use the Buddha plaques he had obtained from Xiao Si were, but after some thought, he decided against it. This place wasn’t far from Chiang Rai. If the Xiao family knew that Xiao Si’s Buddha plaques had landed in his hands, it would inevitably cause trouble.
The sky gradually darkened as the moon rose into the sky.
Under the moonlight, the Flower River seemed to be covered in a mysterious veil. It looked beautiful and terrifying.
“Ah!” Gu Lou suddenly let out a tragic cry as he fell into the bushes. His eyes turned white as his body convulsed violently. White foam seeped out of his mouth as though he had epilepsy.
Everyone was alarmed. Gu Shanshui reacted the fastest. He grabbed Gu Lou’s mouth and forced it open. Then, he took out a small bottle and poured its contents into Gu Lou’s mouth.
Zhou Wen originally imagined that there was medicine in the bottle, but to his surprise, he saw a centipede-like bug crawl out of the bottle and into Gu Lou’s mouth.