The lake water was still, reflecting the clear blue sky and white clouds.
Even after losing the frenzy needle bee's chase, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing's mood were solemn.
Because in front of them, there was traces left behind that signified this area was once used by people to start a fire and cook meat.
Earth Communication Ear grass!
Fang Yuan willed and roots grew out of his ear, as they extended into the ground and dug their way in, Fang Yuan's hearing became many times stronger.
After listening for a while, his expression loosened up, as there was no one ambushing in the vicinity.
Soon after, he went to the remains of the fire and touched the ashes, not letting go of any evidence that he could find.
"The fire was started half a month ago, the other party is alone and should not be nearby." After a while, Fang Yuan concluded from his findings.
"Alone? Gu Masters from a clan have to travel in fives. It seems this person is a demonic Gu Master." Bai Ning Bing frowned as she sighed.
If it was a Gu Master from a clan, they would be righteous Gu Masters, and there is hope of interaction. If it was a demonic Gu Master, once they meet a battle is assured.
This situation, is not because "righteous people are kind, while demonic people are evil".
But because when one is alone, they would display their true nature, there are no restraints in the wild, thus they act without reservation.
Righteous Gu Masters, move in groups. When they handle matters, they will think about the opinions of the people with them, thus they would act more closely to society's norm.
Demonic Gu Masters often moved alone, and were very vigilant, having a strong instinct towards danger. Without anyone to rely on, they would always act to determine and ensure their own safety.
This was not good news to Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.
When meeting righteous clan-based Gu Masters, they could avoid battle. But if they met a demonic Gu Master, there would definitely fight, unless they displayed sufficient strength that would cause the demonic Gu Master to shrink in fear and suspicion.
Unfortunately, Gu Masters that could roam around these wilderness alone have around Rank four cultivation, and special methods of their own. How many weaklings would there be?
For Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing, one was a new Rank three while the other was Rank one initial stage. Without sufficient Gu worms to cover all grounds, even when they travelled in the woods, it was full of danger and every step was a difficult gamble.
If they encountered a demonic Gu Master, they will most likely be done for.
"Thankfully we discovered the traces of this campfire, so from now on we should not blinding rush our journey, but recuperate and at least mend our current wounds back to full health," Fang Yuan said.
Bai Ning Bing nodded. After being reminded, she also felt her back hurting.
Fang Yuan summoned the tusita flower, taking out bandages and medicine, giving a large portion to Bai Ning Bing.
Although the Carapace Gu's defensive area was small, usually being useless, this time it helped Fang Yuan by a lot.
And because Bai Ning Bing attracted most of the firepower, Fang Yuan barely had any injuries.
He quickly handled his wounds, and rushed over to help Bai Ning Bing.
Bai Ning Bing took off her upper shirt. Numerous fingertip-sized holes filled her back, causing fear to whoever who saw it.
Frenzy needle bee is Rank three, large in numbers and also having penetrating abilities; it countered the Sky Canopy Gu. But Bai Ning Bing also used the Ice Muscles Gu before, so with two layers of defense, her life was saved.
Tsk tsk...
Bai Ning Bing gritted her teeth, breathing in deeply as she endured the pain of cleaning the wound.Soon after, the injury was bandaged.
Fang Yuan placed the empty medicine cans and the last remaining bandage into the tusita flower.
"We have little medication items left, the same with bandages. Even though we have been thrifty and even reused the bandages when we could, it seems we really need to find a healing Gu as soon as possible." Fang Yuan stood up with a solemn expression.
Medication is an expendable item, and was difficult to make, and takes time to collect. If they had a healing Gu, not only would the effect be better, it also used primeval essence that can be naturally recovered.
With this comparison, the superior one stood out easily.
But an ideal Gu worm is too hard to find.
The truth is, within this half a month, they encountered many chances, but they either had insufficient strength, or it was an inappropriate environment, lacking proper preparations to capture the Gu.
"We have to get a healing Gu! But before that, I have a problem here," Bai Ning Bing suddenly said.
"What problem?" Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows.
Bai Ning Bing was naked above and she turned over and pointed to her chest, "Eh, these two lumps of meat, they are in the way. When I run they will jump all over the place, and even in battle they are a burden. I want to slice them off, but I'm worried the injury would be too severe. Without a healing Gu worm, I might get into even more trouble."
She was the Bai clan genius, focused on cultivation. She barely knew anything outside of it, thus having even less concern towards females.
Even though Bai Ning Bing had turned into a girl, she had lived as a guy for her entire life, thus she didn't care in her mind and did not treat this body as anything sacred.
After all, she knew that the Yang Gu in Fang Yuan's possession could give her back the body of a male anyway.
Thus, Bai Ning Bing had never thought of herself as a girl.
Fang Yuan stared at her emotionlessly. "There will be too many problems with slicing them off, you can wrap them up."
"Wrap what?" Bai Ning Bing asked.
"Use the bandage to wrap around your bosom and treat them like an injury. Then they will be fixed in place," Fang Yuan said.
Bai Ning Bing's expression was helpless and anguished, sighing, "Sigh, that's the best I can do now."
The sun gradually sank as the night sky descended.
There were streams of wild beasts coming to the lake to drink water, and the two did not dare to stay there for long.
Fang Yuan found a naturally formed cave at a nearby steep cliff. Although it was slightly cramped, it was safe. After clearing the birds living within it, the place became their temporary residence.
Few days later, Bai Ning Bing's injuries recovered mostly.
The two continued on their journey, towards Bai Gu mountain.
But considering that mysterious demonic Gu Master, on this trip Fang Yuan was extra cautious, constantly stopping and using the Earth Communication Ear grass to check the surroundings.
On the second day of their journey, their cautiousness reaped them good rewards.
He found burnt wood under a tree, evidently caused by the demonic Gu Master.
On the third day, they examined traces of an intense battle near a stream.
The corpse of a large green python lay there, the meat fully eaten by wild beasts, leaving behind only a skeleton.
The ground was full of its scales, and the stream even moved in a new path, after many trees were broken and chopped down.
Fang Yuan observed for a while, his tone relaxing, "That demonic Gu Master once fought an intense battle here with the green python. This is a hundred beast king green python. To undergo such a fight, it seems that this demonic Gu Master also has Rank three cultivation."
But even so, Fang Yuan did not want to meet with this demonic Gu Master. He would rather deal with unintelligent wild beasts or Gu Masters.
Gu Masters have intelligence, and would use every bit of strength wisely. A Rank three demonic Gu Master has much greater threat to Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing compared to the Frenzy needle bee.
But things do not go according to wishes, and on the afternoon of that day, the two found traces of the demonic Gu Master once again.
"This demonic Gu Master is injured. There is some flesh that was cut away, on the ground here, so it seems the Gu Master got poisoned," Fang Yuan said.
On Earth, there are no poisonous pythons. But in here, they were extremely common.
Upon hearing so, Bai Ning Bing's eyes shone brightly.
Undeniably this was good news. The weaker the demonic Gu Master, the more advantageous it is for them.
For the next few days, the trace left behind by the demonic Gu Master increased.
With his 500 years of experience, Fang Yuan deduced that they were getting closer towards the injured demonic Gu Master.
"Be extra careful, I can deduce that this Gu Master's injury is getting more severe, and the green python's poison has severely infected his/her body. But because of this, a demonic Gu Master's attitude would easily become more extreme," Fang Yuan reminded Bai Ning Bing.
Battle would definitely be handled by Bai Ning Bing. Fang Yuan's Rank one initial stage cultivation is useless.
The greatest advantage now was that the enemy was out in the open, while Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were hidden.
The two moved with even more vigilance than before.
They moved even more slowly, and moved with less distance than before.
Eventually, on one afternoon, Fang Yuan opened his eyes, keeping the roots coming out of his ears, "I found that demonic Gu Master! That person is in that cave, at their last breath!"
Just earlier, he heard the sound of human breathing in that cave.
"Strike while the enemy is weak!" Bai Ning Bing aspired to battle, revealing ruthlessness in her eyes.
But she was stopped by Fang Yuan.
"Be patient. We do not need to strike. With this situation, in just a few days she will die of poison."
"I see." Bai Ning Bing's killing intent reduced.
But at this time.
"The two outside, why bother hiding. I've already found you." A weak voice came from the cave.
Hearing this, it was clear that the demonic Gu Master was female.
Fang Yuan's expression changed, immediately retreating.
"Don't you want my primeval stones, my Gu worms?" The voice came from the cave again.
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing moved even more quickly.
Although the other party was weak, her tone was firm. There was definitely some traps put in place that allowed her to be fearless.
Moreover, no one is foolish enough to risk it out with a dying person.
"Leaving after coming here? Hehe, there's no such easy way out, you shall all stay!" Suddenly, a body came out of the cave.
"All up to you." Fang Yuan's body flickered, hiding his presence.
Bai Ning Bing clicked her tongue, activating the Sky Canopy Gu and summoning the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, engaging the enemy.
The two fought for three rounds, and the demonic Gu Master was suppressed.
She was a middle-aged woman without shoes, having large feet and thick black fur growing on her soles. Her face and limbs had a peculiar green color; it was caused by the green python's poison.
After a moment, the demonic female Gu Master gradually could not contest. Suddenly, she stepped the ground firmly and jumped back into the cave.
Bai Ning Bing chased after relentlessly.
"Don't chase her!" Fang Yuan suddenly reminded, but did not make it in time.
Bam!
A loud explosion occurred right under Bai Ning Bing's feet as her entire body was blown away.