My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

The sound of string music rang out incongruously: "[Now, the eighth stage of the main quest is being assigned: Clear the Gu worms from Wenren Ya's body.]"

Task deadline: 10 days.

Task Reward: 1000 points.

Penalty for mission failure: 10% deduction from main quest progress.

Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying looked at each other in bewilderment.

Luo Hanying wondered if she had misheard. She felt the system's tasks were becoming increasingly absurd: ["Xiange, are you kidding me? Chacha and I know absolutely nothing about Gu worms!"]

Xian Ge innocently said, "You don't understand Yan Yuan, the Evil Lord Cang Ya Zi, do you?"

Ruan Chayan resisted the urge to pick her ears: [“Are you suggesting that Xiaoxue and I go and beg the Evil Lord to remove the Gu worms from Wenren Ya? Do you think we have too many lives?”]

She really wanted to dig out Xian Ge's brain to see what it was like!

Yan Yuan, the Evil Lord Cangya Zi, has a great love for all kinds of poisons. He likes to use his knee-length hair as a living space for poisons, and he also uses poisons to nourish his hair.

He was originally a prince of the Fahua Kingdom, one of the twenty-six Buddhist kingdoms that blocked the Demon Realm from the Western Barbarian Divine Continent. No one knows his original name. At that time, the Buddhist and Taoist artifact, the Cigu Prayer Beads, was the national treasure of the Fahua Kingdom and was at Cangya Zi's disposal.

Cangya Zi was renowned for his profound understanding of Buddhism, but later, for reasons unknown, he fell into evil ways. He became capricious and always carried his rosary beads with him.

The man's prayer beads were as red as cinnabar, carved with eight auspicious lotus flowers and excerpts from the Surangama Sutra, just like the legendary prayer beads. Ji Daoyun could hardly fail to recognize his identity.

The monks of Beiwen Temple initially wanted to attack Cangya Zi to avenge Master Wuyan, but upon hearing Cangya Zi admit his identity, they dared not step forward.

Their meager cultivation levels couldn't even scratch Cangya Zi's skin. Cangya Zi had always been fond of poisons and Gu worms, and could kill them invisibly. They might as well prolong their lives and perhaps have a chance to take revenge in a thousand years.

Ji Daoyun didn't dare to act arrogantly in front of Cangya Zi. Even though he also had a divine artifact, his cultivation level was genuinely lower than Cangya Zi's.

So he asked in a humble yet assertive manner, "Why did you continue to conceal your identity, senior?"

"This play has been going on for so long, it's really incredibly boring."

Cangya Zi continued, following Ji Daoyun's words, "This old monk has finally managed to enter the mortal world, so of course I want you juniors to remember my character."

He toyed with a purplish-black spider that had crawled out of his hair, his voice rising and falling in a rhythmic tone: "This old monk has been out of the world for too long, and in recent years, there have been too many ignorant young people jumping around in front of me. This old monk had no choice but to resort to this tactic—"

Ji Daoyun smiled and said, "Senior, you really did it. We juniors are very impressed."

When Cangya Zi mentioned that someone had provoked him, Ji Daoyun, Ruan Chayan, and the others couldn't help but wonder if it was the work of Canghai Realm and Taibai Pavilion.

Among everyone present, the most senior was Ji Daoyun, the disciple of Daoist Yu Chen, and he was the only one who dared to speak with Cangya Zi.

While the two were talking, the cultivators from the Carving Bone Sect, the Sword Inquiry Sect, and the Golden Cauldron Sect tried to minimize their presence and leave without Cangya Zi's notice.

Cangya Zi's divine sense swept over the group of people, and countless poisonous creatures crawled out from his loose hair, surrounding them. The cultivators were terrified and summoned their magical artifacts to protect themselves, daring not to move. Whispers rippled through the crowd.

Cangya Zi chuckled: "How did your elders teach you kids?"

Are you going to sneak away without saying goodbye to your elders?

Led by Bai Yan of the Wenjian Sect, disciples from the three sects bowed and apologized one after another.

Ruan Chayan glanced at the sky, then pulled Luo Hanying's hand and hid behind the crowd, summoning the Golden Flower Cat in preparation to feed it its elixir.

Sichuan pepper chirped and complained that Jinhua cat had been chasing it in the spirit beast pouch ever since it woke up, trying to eat it. If it weren't for its higher cultivation level than Jinhua cat, Ruan Chayan would have collected its corpse.

Ruan Chayan grabbed Jinhua Cat by the scruff of its neck and threatened in a low voice, "Is what Huajiao said true?"

Jinhua Cat struggled in Ruan Chayan's hands, whimpering pitifully, which melted Luo Hanying's heart.

Luo Hanying pleaded for the "little leopard": "Sichuan peppercorns are fine, aren't they? Don't carry it like that, it looks so pitiful."

Ruan Chayan turned her head and said with a look of disappointment, "You're still defending it? The peppercorn is fine now, but if something happens, I'll regret it!"

She pointed her index finger firmly at Luo Hanying's forehead, then tapped the Jinhua cat's head, warning it to behave: "If you keep acting up like this, I'm not going to take care of you anymore!"

Knowing she was in the wrong, Luo Hanying put on a fawning expression just like Jinhua Cat: "Oh, Chacha, don't be angry, I just misunderstood~"

Ruan Chayan glanced at Luo Hanying and Jinhua Cat, then picked up Jinhua Cat and fed it medicine.

The farce not far away was not over yet. Cangya Zi's "little darlings" gave the Wenjian Sect, Kegu Sect, and Jinding Sect a lesson, neither too big nor too small.

The cultivators from the three sects now had faces that were red, green, blue, and purple—literally a kaleidoscope of colors, quite a sight to behold.

Ji Daoyun felt both troubled and pleased by Cangya Zi's appearance. He withdrew Tian Jiangyu and bowed, saying, "This junior is being presumptuous. May I ask if Your Excellency has any other arrangements in the secret realm?"

The Radiant Ruins Secret Realm is a place where one can only enter but not leave. Does Your Excellency possess any clues that you would be so kind as to share?

As he spoke, he flipped his wrist, held a jade box in both hands, approached Cangyazi, and respectfully presented it.

Cangya Zi scrutinized the unassuming jade box in Ji Daoyun's hand with a critical eye. After opening it and seeing the spiritual herbs inside, he finally smiled genuinely: "For the sake of the Dao Venerable, this old monk will point out a clear path for these juniors."

He accepted the jade box offered by Ji Daoyun and beckoned to the Wenjian Sect: "Come here, let this old monk take a look at the Gu worms in your bodies."

"Wenren Ya, who was hiding behind Shiren Sect, you've come too."

When Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying heard that Wenren Ya had been called out, they seemed even more nervous than Wenren Ya herself. The two of them followed Wenren Ya like her protectors.

Ruan Luo and her companion's behavior drew attention. Ju Yi whispered, "Those two are really strange. Don't they really have any past feelings for Wenren Ya?"

Chu Jun shook his head: "Since Ji Daoyun trusts them, we shouldn't be too suspicious."

However, I don't believe their excuse about feeling they're living by fate, and I don't know why they do it.

Ji Daoyun didn't say much about Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying's actions of protecting Wenren Ya, but Wenren Ya was very touched.

Apart from Wenren Ya, the disciples of the Wenjian Sect all showed some guilt and fear. However, due to Cangya Zi's cultivation and strength, they dared not disobey him and obediently lined up to let Cangya Zi inspect them.

Bai Yan and Su Daiyu were worried that Cangya Zi might actually be able to break the Gu worms in everyone's bodies. Seeing that the situation was not good, and that Cangya Zi's Gu worms had already crawled into the cultivators' ancestral apertures through their nostrils, the two of them simultaneously summoned golden silk scrolls and held them high: "The immortal decree commands you to rest and return to heaven!"