Chapter 160: A unique father-son duo
The morning sun was completely choked out by the thick, sickly green fog as the Gu Clan’s disciples arrived at the borders of the Miasma Woods.
Gu Fan casually stared at the towering, blackened trees while his memories recalled the lore he had originally written for this specific area.
Miasma Woods was a toxic natural barrier stretching directly across the northern border of the Poison Valley that was completely infested with mutated Demonic beasts and deadly poisonous swamps.
This was also the reason why merchant caravans, travellers and even cultivators would generally avoid stepping foot anywhere near it and go around it taking a longer detour.
Standing right at the edge of the toxic treeline, Gu Chen looked absolutely immaculate in his signature pristine white robes, his silver sword resting casually on his hip while twenty of the Gu Clan’s disciples stood directly behind him, their eyes completely filled with absolute, unwavering worship for the Golden Boy.
"Listen to me, my brave brothers of the Gu Clan!" Gu Chen suddenly called out, turning around to face the disciples as he put on an incredibly righteous, deeply painful expression.
"The Emperor’s tribute was stolen right out of our hands, and this was nothing short of a humiliating slap on the face of our entire Gu Clan!"
"Those cowardly bandits think we are weak and incompetent. That we can’t fight back!"
"Guess what? They are completely wrong!"
"We are no longer the same clan that had fallen from heaven to hell all those decades ago."
"We are no longer the clan those Bai clan bastards could trample upon."
"We are stronger than ever before."
"And we will aggressively strike back, slaughter every single one of those thieving bastards, and reclaim our supreme honour! So that no one dares to bully our Gu Clan ever again."
"If we fail, the Royal Court will slaughter our entire families, so we must march into this deadly forest with unwavering Dao hearts and willingness to sacrifice our own lives for the clan’s future!"
"Are you with me?"
"WE ARE WITH YOU!"
Are you with me?"
"WE ARE WITH YOU!"
"We will follow you to the death, Young Master Chen!" a loud-mouthed, highly devoted lackey named Gu Qiang roared passionately from the front as he slammed his spear against his chest, "With your righteous destiny leading us, those cowardly bandits don’t stand a single chance!"
"Well spoken, Gu Qiang," Gu Chen nodded with a benevolent sigh before he confidently raised his silver sword to point at the Gu Clan younger generation, "Gu Qiang, you will take the left flank with five brothers to actively cover our blind spots."
Gu Ming, you take five brothers and watch our right flank."
The rest of you will tightly form a defensive formation directly around me, watching our rear."
He then turned his attention to look at Gu Fan who was still looking at the Miasma Woods in front of him. He gracefully stepped forward to place his hand firmly onto Gu Fan’s shoulder, actively playing the role of a highly supportive, caring older brother.
"But since our formation needs an absolute, unyielding backbone to survive the deepest parts of this toxic hell," Gu Chen announced loudly, his voice carrying an undeniable, commanding authority that left absolutely no room for argument, "And since Young master Gu Fan, my dear Junior Brother has recently shown such miraculous, heaven-defying progress in his cultivation, I firmly believe that this is the perfect opportunity for him to properly temper his new foundation."
"And what could be better than the most important vanguard position at the absolute front. I trust his strength to easily clear the path and protect our main formation from any sudden ambushes."
"Brother Chen is absolutely right!" a disciple immediately cheered from the middle ranks, pumping his fist into the air, "Let Young Master Fan clear the way for us!"
"Young Master Fan has shown what he is capable of, vanguard is exactly where he belongs!" Gu Qiang laughed loudly, perfectly happy to let the former trash take the position of a shield while they stayed safely behind the Golden Boy’s protective aura, "We will fully support you from the backline, Young Master Fan! Just focus on killing whatever jumps out!"
Gu Fan’s eyes narrowed instantly as he looked at the monkey dancing way too much under the umbrella of his precious brother Gu Chen, ’Bastard! You will be the first I crush the neck of.’
Gu Fan made a mental note of his next targets to screw when suddenly the transparent blue system interface suddenly flickered to life directly in front of his eyes.
[Ding!]
[Quest Issued: Survive the Vanguard.]
[Objective: Successfully navigate the treacherous Miasma Woods vanguard position without sustaining critical injuries from the Target’s orchestrated sabotage.]
[Reward: Oh! You will love it!]
’I will love it?’ Gu Fan almost tripped to fall face flat on the ground, ’What do you mean I will love it?’
[Have some patience, master! It’s a surprise! You don’t want me to spoil it for you.]
’Surprise?!’ Gu Fan narrowed his eyes as he frowned, ’Are you teling the truth? Or you have not just decided upon the reward just yet?’
[...]
’I am right! Surprise my ass. You just don’t know what to give me.’
[No comments. Master can draw any conclusions he wants.]
’Heh!’ A mischievous grin spread across his face as he looked at the transparent blue screen vanish from his sight and he turned to look at Gu Chen.
"I am deeply honoured by your immense trust, Brother Chen," Gu Fan replied with a perfectly subservient, fawning smile that completely hid his murderous intent, "I will gladly take the vanguard and bravely shield our brothers from any danger, so please, just focus on guiding us in the right path."
"Brother Gu Fan is truly a good brother. He knows his proper place within the clan," Gu Chen chuckled condescendingly as he smugly reached down to his heavy leather belt and pulled out an ornate, dark metal compass.
"What is that strange artifact, Young Master Chen?" a curious disciple immediately asked, leaning over the compass wanting to take a closer look.
"It is simply a basic navigational tool that I borrowed from the patriarch. This will come in useful when we need to find our way through this sinister Miasma Woods," Gu Chen lied effortlessly with a deeply benevolent smile, completely refusing to tell his loyal subordinates exactly what kind of item he was holding.
But exactly as Gu Chen held the device up, the sinister crimson glint reflecting off the glass needle instantly triggered a dark, highly vivid flashback in Gu Fan’s mind, taking his memories right back to the late hours of the previous night.
Bai Bing was lying completely naked in his strong arms, her sweaty head resting gently on his chest while the heavy scent of their intense "Yin-Yang exchange" was floating in the master chamber, but her icy blue eyes were dead serious as she explicitly warned him about this exact device.
"Gu Chen bought The ’Blood-Tracking Compass’ from the Blood Iron Mercenary Guild today" Bai Bing sneered as her soft fingers traced his chest, "My father was the one who secretly sold it to him through Hu Ba, and the tracking needle isn’t completely locked onto what it should be."
Gu Fan frowned as he began to remember. He wrote something in the story with the same name.
It did not take him much effort to recall exactly how he had originally designed that specific demonic artifact in his lore.
’Blood-Tracking Compass’ was a very useful tool that required the user to directly feed its core a physical piece of whatever they desperately wanted to track. If it was a person, they needed to feed it a drop of blood, a piece of torn skin, a chunk of raw flesh, a strand of hair, or even a simple bead of sweat so that it could track the person they were looking for.
"Let me guess," Gu Fan whispered coldly, his primal bloodlust actively flaring up in the dark room, "The compass is rigged?"
"You are right!, "Bai Bing nodded.
"It is linked to the Earth-Grade Slaughter Array controlled by the Blood Fiend Demonic Sect," Bai Bing revealed with absolute, chilling certainty, proving exactly how deep the Bai Clan’s treachery truly went, "The moment Gu Chen leads you into that canyon, the array will activate, and every single cultivator inside it will be refined into a pool of blood within seconds."
"You have to be careful."
"You have to return no matter what."
Soon the flashback seamlessly faded away as Gu Fan suppressed the urge to laugh out loud, looking at Gu Chen, holding his own death warrant.
’Dear son! Oh! Dear son!’ Gu Fan sighed as he looked at Gu Chen with pitiful eyes.
’I am sorry your father made a little too many enemies!’
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[A/N: Don’t you think you need to vote with power Stones and Golden Tickets in support of this loving Father-Son duo?]