Chapter 1 A Bizarre Event

Wu Xiong didn't know when he started feeling unwell today. Maybe it was after breakfast, or maybe it was when he was trading insults with someone, but his body had felt off all day.

This discomfort manifested as waves of nausea and the urge to vomit.

"Are you alright?"

Dayang Manor wasn't large, so even though Wu Xiong was from a different race, he had been assigned five teammates for patrol duty.

His teammate noticed him stopping every few steps and asked with concern.

Wu Xiong had seen this look many times before, and even given it to others.

It was a look of suspicion mixed with wariness.

"I, I'm fine… Ugh! Ugh, ugh, ugh!"

As soon as Wu Xiong opened his mouth, he began to vomit uncontrollably.

As if trying to empty his stomach, he couldn't stop once he started.

First vomit, then stomach acid, and finally, blood!

As his teammates retreated in horror, Wu Xiong collapsed to the ground, arching his back, tail high in the air, and dry heaving with a grimace.

When other guards rushed over, they saw that Wu Xiong was vomiting blood clots and… fragments of organs.

It was as if the organs in his abdomen had rotted and were now being regurgitated.

The sight of Wu Xiong, a Xiantian realm cultivator, in this state terrified everyone. They rushed towards the depths of the manor.

"M-Miss! Miss, something's wrong!"

They shouted as they ran.

Wu Xiong subconsciously raised his hand and said weakly, "D-Don't… I can still hold on, I'm fine, I…"

Bang!!

Wu Xiong's stomach suddenly exploded, leaving a gaping bloody hole.

Several white maggots, as thick as arms, writhed on the ground, burrowing into the soil of the courtyard.

Wu Xiong stared blankly at the bloody hole in his stomach, the pain and helplessness overwhelming him as he lost consciousness.

Wu Xiong didn't understand until his death when he had been infected by this bizarre creature.

"G-Ghoul!"

"A ghoul killed him!"

The crowd cried out in alarm.

"Quick, go get Lord Ye!"

Amidst the chaos, Fang Yue and Yang Hongxia arrived to find only a corpse on the ground and several deep holes in the soil.

Looking down into the holes, they seemed to crisscross below, and the large, fat ghoul maggots were probably long gone.

"Lord Ye, is there any way to deal with these ghouls?"

Fang Yue shook his head slightly.

To deal with ghouls that burrow underground, you either had to dig three feet deep or find a way to flood the tunnels and force them out.

"Let's try flooding it first. If that doesn't work, we'll dig. I can't cultivate in peace knowing there are ghouls that can kill Xiantian realm martial artists lurking beneath."

Oil, vinegar, water…

After pouring in various liquids without any effect, Fang Yue said with a grim expression, "I'll keep watch here. Everyone else, start digging. If you find a ghoul, shout immediately."

"Yes!"

Yang Hongxia hesitated, but finally said, "Lord Ye, shouldn't we report this to the Qing Si?"

"It's night now. The Qing Si is busy dealing with… that ghoul. They don't have time for us. Besides, before the Martial Arts Tournament, I want to avoid the government as much as possible. Otherwise, if my secret is exposed, it'll be troublesome."

Fang Yue was still known as a Yu-level expert in Dou Hongyi's Qing Si. If he couldn't handle even this minor problem, he would be exposed.

The manor's guards were all martial artists, so digging wasn't difficult for them.

While Fang Yue took out the *Ning Bing Xinfa* from his [Water Drop Crystal Ring] to continue studying, the guards had already dug more than a meter deep into the courtyard's ground.

After studying for a while, Yang Hongxia suddenly gripped his hand, drawing Fang Yue's attention away from the book.

"Wh…"

Fang Yue was about to speak when he noticed Yang Hongxia's terrified expression. Her pupils were trembling, and she was clinging to him as if she had seen something terrifying.

Fang Yue was about to follow her gaze when the head guard said, "Lord Ye, we've dug to the bottom. There's no sign of the ghouls."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yang Hongxia's eyes widened as if she had been pushed to her limit, and she shrank back into Fang Yue's arms.

The direction she was looking in was none other than the head guard, who was bowing his head to report.

Fang Yue looked at the head guard and his expression changed slightly.

Because he saw that the back of the head guard's head was completely empty, as if it had been eaten clean by insects. A large, white, fat maggot was wriggling inside!

A g-ghoul?!

But the ghoul maggot that had burrowed underground was said to be as thick as an arm. This one was clearly much smaller… like a newly born ghoul maggot!

"H-Head Guard?"

Fang Yue tried to keep his voice steady. The head guard actually raised his head as if he still had his own consciousness.

It would have been fine if he hadn't raised his head, but when he did, it was terrifying. A large, white, fat maggot was crawling out of the head guard's left eye socket!

And half of his face had a tunnel-like trail where the insect had crawled, forming a hollow of white bone.

The large, white, fat maggot emerging from the eye socket was wriggling on his face.

As his expression changed, Fang Yue suddenly felt… his face itching.

N-No way?

Abruptly touching his face, Fang Yue's pupils contracted and his expression changed drastically.

Because… he felt a moist, soft, almost animal-like sensation, and around that sensation, there were traces of tunnel-like grooves.

If there was a mirror at that moment, one would have seen a large white maggot crawling out of his left cheek, its small head swaying left and right like a curious baby.

When Fang Yue grabbed his cheek, pulling the white maggot off along with flesh and blood.

As blood gushed down, half of Fang Yue's face was disfigured, revealing parts of his white bone and teeth, making him look terrifying.

"What… the hell is this?!"

Fang Yue crushed the large, white maggot, and the hole in his face quickly healed with the help of [Night's Breath].

However, as his injuries healed, two more large, white maggots emerged from inside his healing cheek, only to quickly retreat.

A ghoul… a symbiotic ghoul!

There were many types of ghouls.

Symbiotic ghouls were a very special type, similar to parasitic ghouls, but different.

Parasitic ghouls would parasitize a host.

Symbiotic ghouls, on the other hand, coexisted with their host.

They were more stealthy and extremely difficult to deal with, imperceptibly transforming the host and making them a suitable vessel.

They were so difficult to deal with that even martial artists one or two realms higher would be infected if they weren't fully prepared.