Under One Person: Dressed as Lü Liang, with vests all over

Chapter 153 Qinghe Village, Great Gu Master

"Are you really Zhou Quan's great-grandson?"

A quarter of an hour later, the middle-aged woman returned to the village entrance and asked Lu Liang.

"Of course it's true." Lu Liang nodded sincerely. "If I lied to you, I would be unworthy of being a descendant of the Zhou family."

Lu Liang's expression was very sincere, and there was a hint of reminiscence in his eyes at the right moment.

The middle-aged woman thought this was a bit strange, but she couldn't find anything wrong with it.

She finally nodded and said, "The Great Gu Master said that the Zhou family's ancestral tomb is still there. You can go there if you want to pay homage to your ancestors."

"However, Qinghe Village will soon be holding a 'Gu Competition'. Outsiders are not allowed to stay. Please leave as soon as possible after offering sacrifices to the ancestors."

"Thank you."

Lu Liang nodded to the middle-aged woman, and then took Chen Duo into Qinghe Village.

In the village, wooden stilt houses are scattered in an orderly manner.

A clear stream runs through the village, the water flowing gently, which is very different from the gloomy atmosphere shrouded in fog outside the village.

The three of them walked against the direction of the stream towards the top of the village. After about seven or eight minutes, the middle-aged woman stopped.

She pointed to a dilapidated stilt house in front of her and said:
"That's where the Zhou family used to live."

Lu Liang took a few steps forward and looked at the dilapidated house with only a few pillars left. He said with emotion, "So this is the ancestral home of my Zhou family..."

At the same time, he quickly recalled the relevant information in his mind.

The identity he fabricated for himself this time was Zhou Quan's great-grandson.

This thoroughness can be said to be the biggest incentive for Wei Shufen to meet Wu Gensheng and become one of the Thirty-Six Thieves.

To Wei Shufen, Zhou Quan is a heartless man.

The two grew up together in Qinghe Village. Wei Shufen believed from a young age that they would eventually get married and be together forever.

But this is just Wei Shufen's wishful thinking.

When Wei Shufen was 25 years old, Zhou Quan left the village alone.

After Zhou Quan left, Wei Shufen became very depressed. Finally, she decided to leave the village to find Zhou Quan's whereabouts.

This journey lasted for more than half a year.

Soon after Wei Shufen returned to Qinghe Village, she received a secret letter.

The secret letter contained a list of names, a list of people who colluded with the Quan Xing demon, and Wei Shufen's name was on the list.

The great sorcerer at that time was furious. She wanted to deal with Wei Shufen secretly, but she found that Wei Shufen had escaped overnight and took away the most precious sacred object of Qinghe Village - the Qinghe Gu Bowl.

Wei Shufen did this in order to refine a kind of Gu called "Thousand Days Red".

This kind of Gu, after it attacks, will suck out all the host's Yang energy and kill him. It can also use the host to reproduce bloodlines and bring disaster to future generations until the host has no descendants.

The last thing Wei Shufen did before falling off the cliff was to plant amaranth for the son of the "unfaithful man" Zhou Quan, who had already been born at that time.

This time, the opportunity for Lu Liang to achieve his goal may lie in the "Thousand-Day Red" and the "Qinghe Gu Zhong".

……

After seeing the collapsed Zhou family ancestral home, Lu Liang and Chen Duo followed the middle-aged woman to several deserted graves.

Standing in front of the so-called Zhou family's ancestral tomb, Lu Liang was too lazy to kowtow. He just bent down and bowed a few times, mumbling a few words like "Everything is fine outside, don't worry."

When Lu Liang stood up, the middle-aged woman was obviously relieved.

She urged, "We've already visited the ancestral home and the ancestral graves. You can leave now."

Hearing this, Lu Liang showed no intention of leaving. He asked:

"If we also participate in the 'Gu Competition', can we stay a few more days?"

"Only villagers can participate in the Gu Competition."

The middle-aged woman frowned and reminded.

"I am from this village." Lu Liang pointed to the deserted graves nearby, his expression very righteous, "I have only visited the ancestral house and graves before."

After saying that, he reached out and pulled Chen Duo into his arms, "Xiao Duo is my girlfriend, which means she's the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, so naturally she's also a person from Qinghe Village."

"I signed her up, that should be in accordance with the rules."

After Lu Liang said this, the middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment. She moved her lips, but couldn't find the words to refute for a long time.

Seeing the stunned expression on the middle-aged woman's face, Lu Liang did not forget to add insult to injury:
"I'm following your rules."

"You can't say that your rules are just bullshit and don't count if you say it casually, right?"

"This..." The middle-aged woman showed a conflicted expression on her face.

She glanced at the intertwined hands of Chen Duo and Lu Liang, and then at the Zhou family's ancestral tombs.

"Those who participate in the 'Gu Contest' must have a—"

She wanted to say that those who participated in the 'Gu Contest' must already have their own natal Gu, but she swallowed the rest of the words halfway through.

Anyone who can easily break the miasma poison must have his own natal poison.

The middle-aged woman's expression became more and more conflicted. On one side were the rules of Qinghe Village, and on the other side were some strange people... It was really difficult to deal with.

Finally, she used the universal sentence - "I need to ask the Great Gu Master about this matter first."

"Okay, I'll go with you." Lu Liang said very naturally.

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman's expression immediately became serious.

"The Great Gu Master doesn't meet with anyone casually!"

"I'm different." Lu Liang responded calmly.

He continued slowly, "I've been poisoned by a type of Gu that a great Gu Master would definitely be interested in."

"Poison? What kind of poison?"

"Thousand Sunshine Crimson."

"How is that possible? Thousand-day amaranth has been lost long ago!" The middle-aged woman couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Yes, that's why I need help from the great sorcerer." Lu Liang replied naturally.

"This matter must be reported to the Grand Gu Master immediately."

The middle-aged woman muttered something, stopped talking, and walked quickly towards the back of the village.

Her pace was obviously much faster than before, and she did not say anything to drive away Lu Liang and Chen Duo who were following behind her.

……

Behind the village, deep in the dense forest, a stilt house stands alone.

On the first floor of the stilt house, there are clay pots everywhere.

Before he even got close to the stilt house, Lu Liang felt like he was being watched.

He looked up and around, but didn't see anyone.

"It's a Gu." Chen Duo whispered beside him.

She pointed to the shadows of the trees on both sides and said, "There, the Yin Snake Gu is hidden."

"Everything that happens here can be seen by the person who controls the Gu."

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman who was running in front turned around and looked at Chen Duo, her eyes filled with unconcealable surprise and admiration.

Those "Yin Snake Gu" were hidden in the shadows and were very difficult to detect, but they were unexpectedly exposed by this young woman.

At this time, Lu Liang was also a little surprised.

After only half a day in the Qinghe Miao tribe, he saw several kinds of Gu that he had never heard of before.

Moreover, the effects of these poisons are very powerful.

This sect is not simple.

When they reached the stilt house, the middle-aged woman hadn't spoken yet.

Inside, an old voice came out.

"Ayun, let them in."

The middle-aged woman looked at Lu Liang and the other man in surprise, and then replied in a low voice: "Yes, grandma."

Lu Liang walked to the door, turned around and waved to the middle-aged woman, and reminded her loudly:

"Aunt Ayun, don't forget about our registration!"

The middle-aged woman called Ayun nodded speechlessly.

……

As Lu Liang stepped into the building, a damp smell with a faint medicinal fragrance hit him in the face.

The room was dimly lit, and the most eye-catching thing was the clay pots used to raise insects stacked up along the wall.

These clay pots are of different sizes, with rough surfaces and covered with traces of time. Some of them are even painted with symbols that Lu Liang cannot understand.

At this time, an elderly woman dressed in traditional Miao costume was standing quietly in front of one of the clay jars.

Her eyes were focused and deep. She held a thin bamboo stick in her hand and gently tapped one of the earthen jars.

As the bamboo sticks struck, a slight rustling sound emanated from the jar, as if something was slowly moving inside. "Great Gu Master."

Lu Liang shouted.

The great sorcerer finally turned around, and she was seen wearing a uniquely shaped silver crown with layers of silver ornaments, vaguely recognizable as the shapes of centipedes, snakes, and toads.

The Great Gu Master put down the bamboo stick in his hand, sat down on the chair in the middle, stared at Lü Liang standing in the middle of the room, and asked:

"You were struck by the Thousand Suns Crimson?"

"Yes."

Lu Liang rolled up his sleeves, revealing his left arm.

The entire arm was red, and the surface of the skin was covered with dense blood vessels, like a red spider web tightly wrapped around the arm, which looked shocking.

This is the appearance of the poison "kneaded" under the guidance of Chen Duo.

Unexpectedly, after the Great Gu Master took a look, there was a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.

She said, "You don't look like you've been poisoned. You look more like a Gu master being poisoned."

Upon hearing this, Lu Liang subconsciously looked at Chen Duo, and Chen Duo looked back at him with an innocent look on her face.

Her clear eyes clearly said: "My arms were like this before..."

"Okay..." Lu Liang silently suppressed the complaints in his heart and quickly made up a new excuse in his mind.

Soon, he looked at the Great Gu Master and said, "To be honest, Great Gu Master, I am actually using poison to fight poison."

"When I was young, I learned some medical skills from a traveling doctor. He couldn't cure this globe amaranth, so he had to suppress it with poisonous herbs, which is why it's backlashing like this."

"It was then that I learned that this poison was called 'Thousand Days Red'."

"In fact, starting from my grandfather, everyone in the Zhou family would age rapidly after turning thirty. Within three years, they would die of organ failure."

After hearing Lu Liang's description, the Great Gu Master's expression became solemn, and the wrinkles on his face became more obvious.

She slowly said, "The symptoms you described are indeed similar to those of 'Thousand Days Red'."

"But as far as I know, this kind of Gu is extremely difficult to refine. It requires the person who casts it to collect ninety-nine kinds of poisons, feed it with living blood for a thousand days, and then use three drops of heart blood as a guide."

"Furthermore, the process of refining a Gu is extremely harmful to the person who casts it. I've never heard of anyone being successful."

Hearing this, Lü Liang looked directly at the Great Gu Master and said:
"If we use the Qinghe Gu Zhong, it won't take that long."

"You also know about the Qinghe Gu Zhong?" The great Gu Master showed a look of surprise and vigilance.

Lu Liang shrugged. "I'm already 24 years old, and it's only been six years since the poison struck. Since it involves life, I'll naturally find ways to investigate."

"Master Gu Master, I suspect that the Zhou family's Gu poison was administered by Wei Shufen back then."

"Great Gu Master, I wonder if you have any impression of Langmuxi Village. Back then, my great-grandfather lived there with my grandfather."

Upon hearing this location, the Great Gu Master's expression changed.

Langmuxi Village, she remembered that she, her second senior sister, and her grandmother followed the trail of her senior sister Wei Shufen.

They never knew why the eldest sister escaped and where she went.

So it was to find Zhou Quan?
She remembered that there were indeed signs of backlash from the poison on her senior sister's arm. Could it be that the backlash was caused by refining the "Thousand Days Red"?

Senior Sister left the village because of Zhou Quan, and later she met the monster Quan Xing and got involved in those things.

It is indeed possible for my senior sister to poison a "heartless man" to make him infertile.

At this point, the Great Gu Master already believed it to some extent.

There was a hint of sadness in her eyes when she looked at Lu Liang.

"I do know the solution to the Thousand Days Red poison, but to refine the Gu that can cure the Thousand Days Red poison, I must use the Qinghe Gu Zhong."

"Unfortunately, the Qinghe Gu Zhong has been missing for many years. I can't help you."

After saying this, the Great Gu Master thought that Lu Liang would show a lost expression.

Unexpectedly, Lu Liang raised his head and said, "Perhaps, I can help you find the Qinghe Gu Zhong."

"We have been searching for so many years but have no clue. Do you have any ideas?" the Great Gu Master asked with a scrutinizing look.

"From what I understand, the Qinghe Gu Zhong has a special feature. If someone with exceptional talent emerges among those who inherit the Qinghe Village Gu technique, they can resonate with it and cause it to emerge."

As Lu Liang spoke, he pointed at Chen Duo and said, "My girlfriend can do it."

"Extremely talented? That's not something you can just boast about."

The Great Gu Master's gaze fell on Chen Duo, with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

"You'll know your talent after giving it a try. Isn't the 'Gu Competition' about to begin?" Lu Liang said.

"Okay, I'll let her compete," said the Great Gu Master. "If she can really beat the others, I can also teach her the Qinghe Gu technique."

"If she really wins the championship in the Gu competition, I have two more conditions." Lu Liang continued.

"Humph! We haven't even competed yet, but there are quite a few conditions."

The Great Gu Master snorted coldly, but did not stop Lu Liang from continuing.

"My first condition is that after she becomes the leader, she can join your Qinghe Village. During the next census of extraordinary people, you just need to report her name."

Lu Liang spread his hands and said, "You got a genius for free, it's not a loss at all."

"Okay." The Great Gu Master thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"The second condition is that I want to see Wei Shufen's belongings and ask her about her past."

Upon hearing this condition, the Great Gu Master stared at Lu Liang, as if trying to see through Lu Liang's true intentions.

But in the end, she just said, "If you can find the Qinghe Gu Zhong, you can."

Lu Liang nodded slightly and asked, "What does that Qinghe Gu Zhong look like?"

The Great Gu Master showed a look of reminiscence:

"It's made of bronze. The lid is engraved with a picture of twelve witches trampling the Gu, and the belly of the Gu is engraved with eighty-one blood grooves."

"It's divided into three levels: the Gu refining level, the Gu breeding level, and the Gu suppression level. You must be extremely careful when interacting with it."

……

into the night.

Because they claimed to be in a relationship, the middle-aged woman naturally arranged Lu Liang and Chen Duo in the same room.

On the only bed in the room, Lu Liang slept on the outside, his arms behind his head, his eyes looking at the ceiling.

Next to him, Chen Duo's head nestled in his arm, sleeping soundly and breathing evenly.

In Lu Liang's mind, he was still recalling the mysterious man's words: "Each of the thirty-six people is crucial."

"The key is, is it their birth date? Or is it the martial arts of their sect?" Lu Liang pondered.

His thoughts continued to wander:

Why did the Gu cup disappear?
Wei Shufen didn't return the poison bowl because she didn't want the discovery of her making the amaranth to happen, so as to prevent Zhou Quan's son's poison from being cured, or was there another reason?
……

The next day.

The game is about to begin.

Among a group of people waiting to participate in the competition, Lu Liang saw a girl with black hair and bangs at a glance.

If for no other reason, almost everyone else present was wearing Miao costumes, except her, who wore a white short-sleeved shirt with a pleated skirt and a neat high ponytail, looking like a female college student.

The only thing that makes her blend in with her surroundings is the hair accessory she uses to tie her ponytail. The hair accessory looks fluffy, like a spider, and is very unique.

The girl also saw Lu Liang and the other man, and she walked over with some curiosity.

"Hey, what you're wearing...are you guys also coming back from outside?"

"My name is Luo Tiantian, what about you?" the girl took the initiative to speak.

Lu Liang spoke his lines very skillfully, "My name is Zhou Liang, and some of my elders are from Qinghe Village. The person next to me is my girlfriend, Xiaoduo."

"Huh?" The girl showed a surprised look, "Our situations are very similar."

"My mother also came from Qinghe Village, but this is the first time I've been to Qinghe Village since I was a child."

She stuck out her tongue and said, "Actually, I only found out I was a Gu Master not long ago."

As Luo Tiantian spoke, she raised her hand and touched the "spider" hair accessory on her head.

The next moment, the spider crawled directly onto her hand and rubbed it affectionately.

Only then did Lu Liang realize that the "spider" was not a headdress, but his natal Gu.

"Where are you coming from?" Luo Tiantian asked again.

"Tianjin." Lu Liang replied.

"Wow, what a coincidence, I'm in Tsu City too."

"I'm studying clinical medicine at Nankai University," Luo Tiantian said with a smile. "Well, when I have free time, I also work part-time at a courier company."

When Lu Liang heard about the courier company, he couldn't help but have an idea in his mind -

Express delivery companies, they can’t be everywhere, right?

(End of this chapter)