Unlimited employment

Chapter 210 Chapter 209 [Blood Skull Gu]

[Rebirth Gu]: A celestial-grade Gu worm, extremely rare.

Its innate ability is to slowly modify the constitution of the host, and can give the host a special body that is most compatible with it. After successfully transforming into the corresponding constitution, the name and appearance of the Gu worm will also change.

Chen Sheng looked at the grape-sized, yet-to-hatch insect eggs in his abdomen and felt a surge of joy.

Over the past few years, through various channels controlled by the Canal Gang, he has gained a comprehensive understanding of Gu insects, whether by consulting with professional Gu-breeding masters within the gang, reading various ancient books and secret manuals, or exchanging ideas with cultivators traveling north and south along the canal.

The Gu and humans in this world are like two races deliberately separated by the Creator, each possessing characteristics that the other lacks.

Humans possess the precious subjective initiative of intelligence, while the body of a Gu naturally contains fragments of the essence of heaven and earth.

The Gu worms parasitize the human body, surviving by relying on the human's intelligence and combat power. When a human obtains a Gu worm, they can also share the Gu worm's spiritual affinity and innate abilities. The two combine and depend on each other, jointly building the prosperous cultivation world we live in today.

As a symbiotic organism, the Gu worm parasitizes the cultivator's body and has the same rank as the host.

In the first to third stages, although the fragments of the essence of heaven and earth within the Gu worm's body will continue to grow, it remains mindless and ferocious.

However, starting from the fourth rank, they can learn from humans, gradually develop a not very high level of intelligence, and become loyal companions of cultivators.

These Gu worms, which share a common destiny with cultivators, are called Immortal Gu.

The number of surviving Immortal Gu is extremely small. In the entire Linqing branch, there is only one Immortal Gu left over from the split of the Canal Gang.

That immortal Gu has the ability to randomly reproduce various insect eggs, with an extremely large output. In addition to supplying the members of the Linqing branch with parasitic organisms, it can even be sold to outsiders.

Now, Chen Sheng has actually used more than twenty second-tier Gu worms as materials to directly cultivate a rare fourth-tier Gu worm, which shows the power of his professional talent.

"It's almost here, almost here. Everything is going smoothly, and I'm on the right track."

Feeling the worm eggs in his abdomen move like fetal movements, Chen Sheng suddenly had a premonition: as long as they were nurtured for half a month, the worm eggs of the Rebirth Gu would hatch successfully.

Just then, the sedan chair stopped, and the voices of the sedan chair bearers could be heard from outside.

"Boss Fang, we've arrived."

In the canal gang, "boss" is just a respectful title for the higher-ups. The so-called bosses are not the real, undisputed leaders of the canal gang.

Chen Sheng pushed open the steel door in front of him, stepped down from the sedan chair, and saw a lean man standing respectfully to him.

"Boss Fang, as the great hero who exposed Elder Li's disloyal intentions, the gang leader originally intended to personally host a banquet for you at Yaochi."

Just now, several extremely important guests suddenly arrived at the gang, and the gang leader is currently entertaining them at Yaochi.

Regarding this missed appointment, the leader specifically instructed me to personally inform you that the reward for your contributions will be postponed until tomorrow.

The so-called Yaochi of the Linqing Canal Gang was actually the gang leader's private clubhouse.

It is said that the interior is decorated like a sacred Western Paradise, and the dancers there are all real witches who were once chosen as vessels for gods and whose bodies were briefly possessed by the will of the gods.

The leader of the Linqing Canal Gang was a lecherous man who had been using various means to plunder these witches for many years. He would then dress them up as goddesses and immortals and parasitize them with various Gu worms that were good at dual cultivation, keeping them by his side to enjoy.

The gang leader spends his days in the Jade Pool, playing the role of a god-king or immortal emperor, receiving the service of false gods, and often praising the pleasures of this place as the most luxurious in the world.

In Linqing, whenever someone made a great contribution, the gang leader would reward them with a night of pleasure at Yaochi as a way to win over the people.

However, Chen Sheng didn't even like making friends with proper fifth-tier fairies in the Bei Ke world, so naturally he wasn't interested in those fakes.

Upon hearing this news, he was merely curious about the identity of the leader's guest, who was actually qualified to be directly invited into Yaochi.

At that moment, feigning disappointment, he said as if quite regretful.

"It's such a shame that we have to wait another day."

Good things come to those who wait.

The man waiting at the door to give the message was a trusted confidant of the gang leader. After exchanging a few more polite words with Chen Sheng, he bowed and left.

Chen Sheng watched his retreating figure thoughtfully, then slowly strolled down the stone steps towards the gang's headquarters.
Inside the door, there was a trusted confidant who had been bound by a tight headband and cursed with a spell.

Upon seeing Chen Sheng, the man scurried up behind him, observing his expression.

"Master, it's alright if we can't go to Yaochi today."

Just now, the Qingci Tower sent over a beautiful young woman of seventeen, saying she's been carefully raised for ten years, a "skinny horse" (a term for a young woman of refined beauty), proficient in all the arts—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—with a youthful and captivating beauty, and yet she hasn't had a customer. Would you like to see some blood tonight?

Upon seeing Chen Sheng shake his head, the confidant immediately switched to transmitting his voice through his blood and qi.

"Also, the Third Young Master's widow has been sending her maidservants past your courtyard gate lately. Would you like to go and see her?"

Seeing that Chen Sheng remained unmoved, his confidant assumed that he was not in high spirits and did not want to practice spear techniques today, so he changed the subject.

"Zhang Renshou from the Ministry of Rites has sent five hundred taels of silver as a gift, hoping you will show leniency to his nephew who has broken the gang rules. Will you accept it?"

……

Yaochi is an extremely elegantly decorated building complex.

Bright sunlight streams down from the skylights in the rooftops, allowing indoor plants to thrive just like outdoors.

The clear water reveals pale green aquatic plants under the sunlight, with colorful carp swimming quietly nearby.

This is actually a waterside pavilion connected to an underground river.

At this very moment, in the tall and spacious hall, a dozen or so exceptionally beautiful women, dressed in elaborate, solemn, and gorgeous attire, are kneeling and feasting behind tables on both sides of the hall.

At the entrance, two men dressed in coarse linen clothes, looking like laborers, their attire completely out of place, walked side by side into the main hall.

They looked at the surrounding buildings and beautiful women, their eyes revealing an undisguised greed beneath their wary exterior.

One of the tall men pulled open the cloth belt around his waist and chuckled strangely.

"Takeda, is this how the Ming Dynasty treats its guests? These elaborately dressed shrine maidens remind me of the goddesses of Takamagahara."

I especially recognized the two shrine maidens dressed as gods from the Land of the Rising Sun; they were Hanako from the Ashikaga family and Minako from the Konoe family.

More than a decade ago, they disappeared as shrine maidens serving the Inari deity. Unexpectedly, they were raised as playthings in a foreign land thousands of miles away.

"I couldn't resist the opportunity to play games with such a once-noble priestess."

In contrast, the shorter man was more cautious and pulled his friend aside.

"Kujou, we're here to do serious business. Don't let beauty distract you from our work."

“Takeda, you are too rigid in your approach. That’s why our lord wants to send the two of us together.”

Think about our lobbying mission: accepting gifts from others is the first step in gaining their trust.

As he spoke, Kujo rushed forward impatiently toward Ashikaga Hanako, who was closest to him.

Upon seeing this, the shrine maiden disguised as a deity frowned, and anger immediately appeared on her delicate face. She spoke in Japanese, "Insolence! Where did this filthy, foolish creature come from, daring to approach the altar?"

Amidst the shouts, she pointed forward with her slender finger, only to find that she couldn't use any magic, and her face paled instantly.

"Oh no! You've poisoned the wine! My divine power is gone!"

After finishing her lines, she was easily subdued by the rushing Kujo, tears of humiliation streaming from the corners of her eyes, as she said resentfully.

“You filthy mortal, if you dare to blaspheme Izanami, you will surely be punished by my husband, Izanachi.”

This skit made Kujo even more excited.

"If I could have the pleasure of being intimate with the Mother Goddess, I would be willing to be forever condemned to the underworld."

The two people on this side are putting on a wonderful performance.

On the other side, Minako Konoe took the initiative to get up from behind the desk, and with light steps, stood in front of Takeda, who had a serious expression.

Looking at the witch before him, whose entire body was filled with divine radiance, Takeda swallowed hard and said solemnly.

"You must be Miss Minako. Please don't worry, I will definitely rescue you, even at the cost of my samurai honor."

Minako stared intently into his eyes, then slowly raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face, yelling at him.

“I am Amaterasu Omikami. You lowly mortal, how dare you not kneel before a deity? This is utterly disrespectful.”

In the blink of an eye, a red handprint appeared on Takeda's face.

He first touched his face in disbelief, stared blankly at Minako for a long time, then his expression changed several times before he suddenly bent his knees and knelt down in front of the shrine maiden.

"Takeda-kun, what happened?"

In the distance, nine indistinct voices could be heard.

"Kujo-kun, it's alright. This is exactly the scene I've been longing for."

As he spoke, he raised his head with a joyful expression, looking up at Minako, whose whole body was radiant, as if he were looking directly at the real Amaterasu, and shouted excitedly.

"Kujo-kun, do you know how blissful it would be to be punished by a goddess?"

A look of ecstasy appeared on Takeda's face as he smiled happily.

"When the goddess slaps my face, the first thing that wafts over is the fragrance, and then the warm, soft hand."

The moment the aroma filled my nostrils, the burning pain on my face became insignificant, and the pain transformed into a strange sense of pleasure.

Amaterasu, please continue to punish this lowly mortal.

This left the nine people in the distance speechless.

He thought he was already quite strange, but he never expected that the serious Takeda was even stranger than him.

"Since you know how to beg for punishment, you are not beyond redemption. Let the gods purify your defiled soul."

Looking at the man prostrate at her feet, Minako took out an exquisite riding whip from her sleeve and lashed it directly at him.

As a specially trained shrine maiden who has entertained countless distinguished guests, Minako has seen far too many men.

The moment I saw Takeda, I could tell he was a naive man who craved to be whipped by the strong; his usual uprightness was just a facade.

As the two guests selected their targets, the remaining priestesses keenly sensed their peculiar tendency towards female supremacy in their own country and, having no intention of sharing the same bed, all withdrew.

Time passes slowly.

The commotion in the Jade Pool lasted for two hours before it stopped.

After everything was over, Kujo helped Hanako wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes and enjoyed the wine and food at the banquet with a refreshed expression.

Takeda, with several indelible shoe prints on his face and whip marks on his body, lay there panting for a long time, still somewhat dazed.

"Haha, it seems that you two distinguished guests really enjoyed my banquet."

Before I saw the person, I heard his voice first.

Kujo and Takeda looked in the direction of the sound and saw an exceptionally burly middle-aged man walking in from outside the main hall.

The man was about nine feet tall, with bulging muscles that made his clothes look bulky. He had a long face, a wide mouth, tiger-like eyes, and a head of fluffy gray hair like a lion's mane. He exuded an astonishing aura.

Upon seeing him, Kujo, who was drinking, immediately stood up and said...

"Greetings, Chief Xiong. I wonder if you would be willing to agree to our lord's proposal?"

The gang leader swept his tiger-like eyes over him and then burst into laughter.

"You said that during the war between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, the Ming fleet sailed through the Bohai Sea to supply troops and provisions to Korea, and the court realized that sea transport caused very little loss of grain."

Therefore, some of the cabinet ministers brought up the issue of abolishing the grain transport system and converting it to coastal transport again.

I, the leader of this gang, am also aware of this matter.

However, you foreigners do not understand the national conditions of my Great Ming. The Grand Canal is the lifeline for the livelihood of millions of canal workers, and it is the ancestral method established after the capital was moved to the north by the Jin dynasty.

Over the course of more than two hundred years, our dynasty has proposed abolishing the Grand Canal and the sea several times, but the situation has never truly changed, and it will be the same this time.

Moreover, our Canal Gang has received imperial favor for generations. It's laughable that you think your leader would betray the country based on just a few alarmist words from you."

Neither Takeda nor Kujo paid any attention to Xiong's impassioned speech.

To know a person's true thoughts, you shouldn't look at what they say, but rather at what they do.

Since Chief Xiong had so warmly entertained the two of them with beautiful women, he must be worried about the abolition of the canal system and the conversion of the sea.

As a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, he must have a clearer understanding of the situation concerning his own interests.

After a brief silence, Takeda took out a brocade box from his pocket and respectfully presented it to the leader of the Xiong gang.

"Does the gang leader still not trust us?"
To show our sincerity, we brought a special gift this time, hoping it will help our leader's cultivation reach an even higher level.

The leader of the Xiong gang casually took the box, opened it, and found a fist-sized, blood-red, skull-shaped Gu worm inside.

"Chief Xiong, this Gu is called Blood Skull Gu. It is a celestial Gu with unique effects. As long as you use it to refine your blood relatives, you can improve your cultivation aptitude."

We heard that you have six sons and daughters, eleven grandchildren, and a large group of distant relatives living in Linqing City.

With so many relatives helping you, you should be able to take the next step towards the fourth tier.

　Thank you for the simple and kind donation of 100 Qidian coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)