Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 72 - The Ghost Clan Attack

Ye Zhou wondered, “It’s strange; I don’t remember those two characters clearly. If it weren’t for seeing that insect, I might not have recalled it.”

Dugu Zhuo glanced at him and said, “Those characters are likely used by the Gu Clan. I’ve never seen them before. You must have read about them in some book, right?”

“Maybe,” Ye Zhou tapped his head, feeling that his memory was becoming increasingly peculiar.

Dugu Zhuo, having learned to read only later in life, lost interest in books after acquiring some basic knowledge and was quite uneducated. In contrast, Ye Zhou often visited the library to borrow books when he wasn’t training. He sometimes read jade slips or ancient texts, and Dugu Zhuo had even seen Ye Zhou reading inscriptions on stones with ancient characters. Every time he saw such scenes, Dugu Zhuo found them quite pleasing.

Initially, he held animosity towards Ye Zhou, but their relationship improved due to their shared interest in reading.

Dugu Zhuo, unable to read and with no one to teach him, had dozed off while learning the entry-level mental techniques at Yue Feng. He seemed quite unruly. At Xing Chui Peak, Ye Zhou initially thought Dugu Zhuo was unwilling to practice because he bore a grudge, but over time, Ye Zhou realized that Dugu Zhuo was not refusing to learn but simply couldn’t read.

The study room at Xing Chui Peak was divided into an inner and outer room. Ye Zhou was always in the inner room, while Dugu Zhuo was in the outer room.

From then on, Ye Zhou would take books identical to Dugu Zhuo’s and read them softly in the inner room. Dugu Zhuo, initially unaware, thought Ye Zhou was simply accustomed to reading aloud and tried to memorize the text word by word.

Ye Zhou would read a book for three days and on the fourth day, make Dugu Zhuo recite it. If he couldn’t memorize it, he had to copy the parts he forgot several times.

On the fifth day, Ye Zhou would read the incorrect parts aloud again in the inner room.

With Ye Zhou’s intentional help and Dugu Zhuo’s diligent study, Dugu Zhuo finally learned to guide Qi into his body a year later, officially stepping onto the path of cultivation.

At that time, Dugu Zhuo, who had read many books and understood many principles, gradually realized that Ye Zhou had been helping him in his own way—a method that made the stubborn Dugu Zhuo accept and strive to improve.

Ye Zhou had read for three years. Except for the days troubled by malevolent energy, he would read aloud in the inner room. After three years, well-fed and properly clothed, Dugu Zhuo began to grow, reaching Ye Zhou’s height by the age of fifteen.

Dugu Zhuo began to deliberately forget the characters on the jade slips, purposely asking questions while studying aloud in the outer room to make Ye Zhou read more.

He probably just wanted to hear Ye Zhou speak more, as during those three years, besides reading and the occasional nonsense from Dugu Zhuo, Ye Zhou hadn’t spoken much to him.

Unfortunately, Ye Zhou was very perceptive and quickly noticed the pretense.

He rolled up the scroll and lightly tapped Dugu Zhuo on the head, saying, “Nonsense.”

The unique smell of paper and ink from the scroll reached Dugu Zhuo, who stared blankly at Ye Zhou.

Ye Zhou glanced at Dugu Zhuo’s expression and, from then on, stopped reading aloud. Their communication became increasingly sparse, and Dugu Zhuo’s gaze towards Ye Zhou changed from hostility to an inexplicable feeling.

It wasn’t hatred but rather a desire to look at him more, even if it meant extending his hand to reach Ye Zhou’s shadow cast in the study room—this made him happy.

Perhaps, that’s when feelings began to arise.

“Ah! What’s going on! These small monsters are so annoying; I can’t handle them all!” Yi Meng Xiao Yao’s shouting brought Dugu Zhuo back from his thoughts.

Dugu Zhuo had to set aside his reflections and looked towards Yi Meng Xiao Yao. He saw that a crowd of villagers had emerged from the village houses, all with expressions as stiff as the child’s, moving in a strange manner. They were also corpses controlled by Gu worms.

When fighting minor monsters, Yi Meng Xiao Yao, as a super tank with thick health and willow branches as tendrils, should have led the charge. Relying on his nearly indestructible tree roots, he would use countless branches to bind the small monsters, making it easier for his teammates to attack.

However, these Gu worms seemed to inflict significant damage on Yi Meng Xiao Yao. With dozens of such corpse Gu appearing at once, Yi Meng Xiao Yao had no combat power against them.

“Doesn’t the plant life fear pests? This dungeon is my natural enemy!” Yi Meng Xiao Yao complained. “Zhuo Shen, do you know what these Gu worms do?”

Dugu Zhuo explained, “The rapid withering of your branches symbolizes death. The Gu worms quickly returned to the child’s body after falling. They must not be able to stay away from their host for too long. These worms can parasitize other beings, rapidly turning them into corpses and controlling them. With so many of them, they’re quite difficult to handle.”

“So what should I do?” Yi Meng Xiao Yao retracted all his branches, fearfully hugging himself and crossing his hands behind his back.

Dugu Zhuo glanced at Bai Yi Piao Piao and Ti Tou Lai Jian.

Bai Yi Piao Piao pointed to himself, “Us?”

Dugu Zhuo asked, “Do you have bodies?”

Bai Yi Piao Piao replied, “The Ghost Clan has no bodies except for zombies. Ti Tou is not a zombie, and neither am I.”

Yi Meng Xiao Yao, Dugu Zhuo, Ye Zhou, and Ye Jian stepped back, leaving the battlefield to the two who were not afraid of being possessed by insects.

Ti Tou Lai Jian said, “Seriously? Ever since I took the healing skill at North Mang Mountain, I haven’t fought. You want me to heal and fight? Isn’t that asking too much?”

“Stop talking nonsense. Fight!” Yi Meng Xiao Yao shrank behind Ye Jian, no longer resembling a tank.

Dugu Zhuo said, “I think if the worms stay away from their host for more than 5-10 seconds, they’ll die. We can use this method to eliminate them.”

“Really? Then I’ll try my usual approach.” Bai Yi Piao Piao flew forward and directly entered an old woman’s body.

As soon as she entered, a small worm crawled out. Unable to return to the old woman or occupy another corpse Gu’s body, the worm quickly moved towards Dugu Zhuo and the others.

Dugu Zhuo casually tossed a few stones he picked up by the roadside and set up a simple Illusion Formation. The worm circled within the formation, unable to reach Dugu Zhuo and the others, and died after about 5 seconds.

“Effective,” Dugu Zhuo confirmed.

He was different from when they fought against the face-blocking team initially, where they had to carefully use their limited low-grade spirit stones to set up the formation, making the battle very challenging.

Now, Dugu Zhuo had plenty of spirit stones. He casually threw out 99 low-grade spirit stones to set up the Illusion Formation, trapping all the corpse Gu within it.

“What is this?” Bai Yi Piao Piao and Ti Tou Lai Jian, who hadn’t learned the Illusion Formation, couldn’t move freely within it and saw only a maze.

Dugu Zhuo said, “I’ve used the Illusion Formation to contain the corpse Gu. We’ll deal with them one by one. I’ll guide you two, and you don’t need to worry about what you see. Just follow our instructions.”

Dugu Zhuo assigned tasks, directing the slower and weaker Ti Tou Lai Jian, while Ye Zhou guided the more powerful Bai Yi Piao Piao.

“Ten o’clock direction, charge directly. There’s a worm,” said Ye Zhou.

“Move away, bypass that wall. There’s a corpse Gu in front of you,” said Dugu Zhuo.

Ti Tou Lai Jian replied, “Zhuo Shen, I know you’re good with the Five Elements and Bagua, but can we use directions normal people can understand?”

Dugu Zhuo, able to convert the twelve hours into the modern 24-hour system, had never seen a real clock and struggled with conversion. He adjusted by using cardinal and intercardinal directions, finally managing to guide successfully.

There were a total of thirty corpse Gu. Dugu Zhuo used the formation to isolate them, releasing two at a time. Bai Yi Piao Piao and Ti Tou Lai Jian mechanically possessed and expelled the worms. After about 5 seconds, the worms in the formation would die, and then they released another pair.

After eliminating about three worms, Bai Yi Piao Piao and Ti Tou Lai Jian became adept at the process, working like a well-oiled machine. In less than five minutes, all thirty corpse Gu were defeated.

Dugu Zhuo withdrew the Illusion Formation, and the corpses on the ground turned to ashes like Yi Meng Xiao Yao’s branches, leaving the corpse Gu village quiet once more.

“That’s it? That was so easy?” Yi Meng Xiao Yao said incredulously.

Dugu Zhuo replied, “The Illusion Formation can be copied, with a limit of 99 times.”

While speaking, Dugu Zhuo glanced at Ye Jian, indicating that he should come up with a reasonable price.

“If there are only 99 copies, I wouldn’t recommend selling it,” Ye Jian decisively said. “This formation would be very effective in PK battles. PK enthusiasts in the fighting arena would definitely be willing to buy it. Yi Meng Xiao Yao looks poor; I don’t want to sell it to him.”

Yi Meng Xiao Yao: “…”

Bai Yi Piao Piao noticed Ye Jian’s intention to sell at a high price and stepped forward, “Let’s discuss the formation trade after the dungeon. I suspect these insects might lead to the first dungeon boss. Let’s finish the dungeon first. Xiao Yao, aren’t you going to take the lead?”

Yi Meng Xiao Yao: “…I’m afraid.”

“This dungeon is really impressive, taking down the strongest defense directly,” Ti Tou Lai Jian said helplessly.

So, the team’s formation changed again. Bai Yi Piao Piao took the lead, Dugu Zhuo stayed at the rear, the rest positioned in the middle. You Lang was transferred from Ye Jian’s control to Yi Meng Xiao Yao’s branches, as Yi Meng Xiao Yao’s binding skills were far superior to Ye Jian’s.

You Lang continued to shout, “Let me down! These worm breeders have harmed so many innocent people. I need to slay demons and eliminate evil!”

No one paid him any attention. From You Lang’s behavior when he saw the child, it was clear he was just causing trouble for the players. He needed to be bound tightly and should not be set free.

Ye Zhou kept his eyes on You Lang, and Dugu Zhuo asked, “Why are you watching him?”

Ye Zhou replied, “What if he’s possessed by the Gu worms?”

Ye Jian slapped him on the head, “Without the Illusion Formation, even if Piao Piao and Ti Tou could possess, it would be tough to fight them.”

The corpse Gu would attack them, and after the insects left their hosts, they crawled very quickly. A moment’s carelessness could result in being parasitized, and once parasitized, they were hard to deal with. Each of them had strong skills (except Ye Jian), and fighting them was a hassle (except Ye Jian).

“I remember that the Illusion Formation was a skill you created when you first received the system announcement. I heard Ao Tian say that this formation is particularly useful, but I thought he was just boasting. Now it seems… Zhuo Shen, I remember this formation can be taught through trading, right?” Yi Meng Xiao Yao’s eyes showed expectation.

Seeing You Lang reminded Ye Zhou of the boy who, during the final phase of the Sun Worshipping Sect quest, experienced a sudden power boost and was then controlled.

Dugu Zhuo said, “During the recent battle, I paid close attention to him. He was definitely not parasitized by the Gu worms.”

Ye Zhou replied, “But he’s the only one who had contact with the village chief of the corpse Gu village, right? What if he was already infected with Gu worms when he accepted the quest?”

Everyone: “…”

Given the unconventional nature of this game, it’s entirely possible!

Author’s note: Everyone: Let’s smash the game developer’s head!

Dugu Zhuo: Dare you try?