"I demand an explanation from the Meng family! Otherwise, even though I, Shui Gu, am merely a lone rogue immortal, I will not let this go!" Shui Gu whipped her head around, eyes bulging as she glared at the two Meng family immortals.
Her losses this time were truly catastrophic. Fueled by rage and heart-wrenching fury, she was ready to clash head-on with the Meng family — even though they were a superpower.
Unlike Fang Yuan, who lost his Courage Gu trade but still had the dragon fish business, the spirit snake trade, the Long-Hate Spider trade, the Dark Fire Dragon Serpent, and more—
Once Shui Gu lost her Forward-Reverse Divine Needle Gu, she lost her entire economic pillar. Although the Divine Stinger Hedgehog was still there, cultivating new Forward-Reverse Divine Needles would require not only time but enormous financial investment!
Shui Gu was never shortsighted. Every harvest of the Forward-Reverse Divine Needles, she had never depleted the source — always leaving the majority to continue growing.
But the person who stole the Forward-Reverse Divine Needles was truly despicable — they hadn't left Shui Gu a single barb.
This time, her losses went far beyond the barbs that were about to be harvested, having grown to their limit. It also destroyed her future development prospects.
"If only I had the means to move this Primordial Beast, the Divine Stinger Hedgehog, into my own Immortal Orifice! Keeping it outside is far too dangerous!" Shui Gu's hands trembled, and she felt like dying.
But in truth, even if she could move it inside, it would be troublesome.
First, she could not fully control the Divine Stinger Hedgehog. If this Primordial Beast rampaged within her Immortal Orifice, the losses would be devastating.
Second, if Shui Gu were to undergo tribulation, the Heavenly Will would likely intensify the calamity and specifically target the Divine Stinger Hedgehog.
Finally, the Divine Stinger Hedgehog was Shui Gu's trump card for navigating between two great superpowers — the Meng and Murong families. If she kept it inside her Immortal Orifice, she might not be able to release it in time during future battles.
"Shui Gu, please calm down. I beg you, calm yourself," the Meng Family's Second Supreme Elder hastily urged.
"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down? You said there was a murder — that Meng Tu was dead. Fine. I, Shui Gu, trusted your Meng family. Without verifying anything, I let you in and treated you with full hospitality. Then you said there were traces I couldn't detect, and I had to rely entirely on your Cauldron Inquiry Hall. And sure enough, traces did appear — but were they truly left by the killer? Doesn't your Cauldron Inquiry Hall have the ability to fabricate evidence?"
As she spoke, cold sweat beaded on Shui Gu's forehead.
She calmed down, her face full of wariness as she stared at the two Meng immortals. Countless Gu insect auras radiated outward from her entire body.
Shui Gu fixed her gaze on the two Meng immortals, slowly backing away.
The two Meng immortals could only smile bitterly, though they fully understood Shui Gu's state of mind.
Now that the Divine Stinger Hedgehog had lost all its barbs, its combat power had plummeted to rock bottom — which meant Shui Gu's own combat strength had been slashed to the minimum. Her trump card for dealing with superpowers had been more than half destroyed. How could she not be on guard?
The Second Supreme Elder sighed bitterly: "Shui Gu, if this truly was our clan scheming against you — secretly stripping the Divine Stinger Hedgehog of every last barb — why would we have come back here with you? We should have long since used the excuse of tracking the killer's trail to lure you into a trap, such as an Immortal Battlefield. Don't you think?"
Shui Gu fell silent. Then she raised her eyes and said: "That's probably because your Meng family is on the Righteous Path and must follow the rules — you couldn't attack me head-on. Besides, I already had an alliance with your Meng family. That's precisely why you orchestrated this: first weaken my combat power, then sweet-talk me into a trap!"
The two Meng immortals looked at each other speechlessly.
Shui Gu's reasoning was not without merit, and even the quick-witted Meng immortals were at a complete loss for words.
"Hmph!" Shui Gu continued. "You think I don't know how you Righteous Path types play your games? This matter started because of you. If your Meng family won't give me an explanation... Fine! I'll make this public and let the world judge!"
"Wait!" The two Meng immortals' faces changed drastically. The Second Supreme Elder hastily shouted.
But it was already too late!
Shui Gu directly leaked the matter through the Treasure Yellow Heaven, then quickly used her own connections to inform the Murong family.
In an instant, what the Meng family had painstakingly concealed — Meng Tu's murder, the failed pursuit of the killer, and the collateral loss of Shui Gu's Forward-Reverse Divine Needle Gu — was completely exposed.
"You — you — you!" Meng Zizai pointed a trembling finger at Shui Gu, his eyes practically spewing fire, consumed with fury.
The Second Supreme Elder's face had turned iron-gray. He narrowed his eyes and fixed them on Shui Gu, murderous intent stirring within.
Shui Gu's expression remained cold and hard, but inwardly she was smiling bitterly.
She knew full well that this move would severely damage her relationship with the Meng family. But she had no choice!
She had to do it.
Any alliance could be unilaterally broken. What had happened today was too grave — Shui Gu had to protect herself.
With her combat power at rock bottom, how could she protect herself?
Even though Meng Tu was dead, the Meng family, as a superpower, was still not something a lone Seventh Transformation rogue immortal could hope to oppose.
In Shui Gu's view, the best approach was undoubtedly to borrow strength — to let other Gu Immortals, to let the Meng family's rival the Murong clan, turn their attention here and, to some extent, back her up. Even if the Meng family harbored treacherous intentions, they would have to restrain themselves — after all, they were a righteous-path faction!
"Shui Gu, things have reached this point — further words are meaningless. But I can tell you clearly: do not overthink this. We have most likely been used by that person!" The Second Supreme Elder's voice was low and grave.