In the basement.

Chu Hao and the others took the elevator down.

They heard a woman’s laughter ahead. "Hungry, aren’t you? Give him a bowl of soup."

The captive was incomparably weak. Seeing that there was soup to drink, he naturally couldn’t resist.

With the first sip, he immediately felt that something was wrong.

His voice trembled. "Th-this... what kind of soup is this?"

The woman laughed viciously. "This soup? It’s from the guy who was beside you yesterday. I cut off his calf and cooked it. Tastes pretty good, right?"

"Aaah!!" The captive screamed miserably.

Even Chu Hao, hearing the woman’s words, couldn’t help the hair on his body standing on end.

Chu Hao charged out.

"Who are you people?" Someone in the basement spotted them and cried out in shock.

The group was burning with rage and, without another word, rushed forward, killing anyone they saw.

At last, Chu Hao saw the woman feeding the soup—a very sexy woman. Wasn’t she Shangu Qihua?

Shangu Qihua’s heart jolted. Staring at Chu Hao, she said, "Who are you?"

Chu Hao looked at the captive, his face growing even uglier. The other party was actually an acquaintance.

Wang Qi?

Wang Qi had been captured and brought to the Shangu Clan’s headquarters.

After drinking the soup, Wang Qi was like he had completely lost his consciousness. He stared blankly at the floor, and deep in his eyes one could see boundless despair.

"You... very good."

Shangu Qihua’s heart lurched. Suddenly she felt searing pain in her wrists and ankles. Her four limbs had been pierced by four swords and nailed to the wall.

All the captives on this floor were rescued, altogether one hundred and thirty people.

So many people had been brought here by the Shangu Clan to the Island Country for interrogation by torture. They had suffered miserably.

"Wang Qi." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Chu Hao took down this former high school classmate, a stab of pain in his heart.

Wang Qi lifted his head. The moment he saw Chu Hao, he broke into sobs.

"Uu-uu... Th-they’re not human."

Wang Qi cried bitterly, clutching Chu Hao’s arm in a death grip.

His eyes were filled with fury.

Chu Hao patted his shoulder. "I’ll avenge you."

He turned and walked toward Shangu Qihua.

"Y-you... who the hell are you!" Shangu Qihua said in terror.

Without a word, Chu Hao slapped her hard across the face. Her pretty face instantly swelled up, several of her teeth flew out, and her mouth filled with bloody bubbles.

Instead, Shangu Qihua laughed, her tone sick and twisted. "Haha... What’s the point of catching me? You think your torture is harsher than mine? I’ve seen too many methods of torture. At most it’s skinning, gouging eyes, cutting tongues."

Chu Hao looked at her. "Relax, I won’t let you die that easily."

Chu Hao said, "System, purchase ten sets of Hundred-poison Gu Worms."

"Ding... Host has purchased ten sets of Hundred-poison Gu Worms, consuming 30,000 Pretentiousness Points.

Item: Hundred-poison Gu Worm

Rarity: ★★★

Ability: One hundred types of Gu worms, each in the amount of ten thousand, a mixture of all sorts of strange poisons.

Chu Hao took out a bottle.

In this small bottle were a million Gu worms.

And he had ten sets of such Gu worms in total.

Worms kept crawling out of the bottle, the dense mass making one’s scalp tingle.

These insects came in all shapes and sizes—some flea-sized, some thin and threadlike, and some that could fly.

Shangu Qihua’s eyes widened as she watched these insects crawl onto her body, then burrow into her flesh, into her ears, eyes, and nose.

At once Shangu Qihua let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The scream was downright horrifying.

The old man who had previously tortured people with poisonous insects was utterly dumbfounded at the sight.

"Hundred-poison Gu Worms!"

Someone, confused, asked, "Are these Gu worms that powerful?"

The old man broke out in a cold sweat. "More than powerful! This thing, according to the Gu Poison Canon, is an extremely advanced technique—made by mixing a hundred types of poisonous bugs."

"The key is, after these hundred poisonous insects are mixed, they undergo a strange transformation."

"They won’t kill the enemy instantly. They only torment them, making life worse than death. Your skin will slowly peel off, your teeth will fall out one by one, then your internal organs will rot, down to the marrow of your bones, and your eyes will drop from their sockets."

"You will experience all of this pain slowly, one bit at a time."

"And there is no cure. The bugs will also parasitize your body and lay eggs. If you touch yourself, you can feel the worms wriggling inside."

Everyone was horrified; their faces all changed.

Someone cut the old man off, face ashen. "Stop talking."

The old man was speechless. "He’s the real master of Gu worms here."

"Ding... Host has successfully shocked and pretended, obtaining 9,000 Pretentiousness Points."

They saw Chu Hao take out all the bottles and pour out every last one of the Hundred-poison worms.

The dense mass of bugs nearly carpeted the entire basement.

Everyone jumped in fright.

But they soon noticed the insects avoided them, crawling out through every possible crack.

Their target was the Shangu Clan throughout the entire building.

In just a short while, Shangu Qihua couldn’t bear it anymore. The pain was unbearable, and she couldn’t even kill herself.

Shangu Qihua begged, "I’m begging you, kill me, kill me."

Shangu Qihua was adept at torture, but now, compared to Chu Hao’s methods, hers were utterly insignificant.

Chu Hao said, "Didn’t you really enjoy the process? Take your time and enjoy it."

Shangu Qihua fell into despair.

At that moment, Chu Hao picked up a dagger and chopped off her arm.

Everyone was horrified to see that the wound on her arm didn’t bleed; instead, a huge mass of insects spilled out.

Fuck!

Everyone’s expression changed.

Someone couldn’t hold it in and started vomiting to the side.

Even Chu Hao felt a wave of nausea. He thought to himself that he wasn’t sure if this was torturing her or torturing them.

It hadn’t been long, yet the worms had already bred so many inside her.

Shangu Qihua screamed, especially when she saw that her entire body was filled with insects. She was so frightened she almost passed out.

In her heart, she simply couldn’t bear this kind of torment.

Chu Hao didn’t want to watch any longer. He led everyone out of the basement.

At this moment, throughout the Shangu Clan’s building, similar scenes were happening everywhere, with many people being invaded by the Gu worms.

The people who had been so furious before now didn’t dare approach, because the insects had left a massive shadow in their hearts as well.

In the end, everyone from the Shangu Clan, including their Leader, was hit.

The Hundred-poison Gu Worms were everywhere.

It was hard to imagine that if these insects weren’t kept under control, they could bring an enormous disaster to human society.

The Shangu Clan was completely wiped out.

"Wh-who are you people?"

The Leader of the Shangu Clan was also a Yin Yang Great Master. Right now, worms crawled inside his body, and he was in unbearable agony.

He was terrified beyond words—what on earth were these Gu worms?

Chu Hao stepped forward and looked at everyone on this floor. "Is this all of them?"

"Yeah." Ghost Sword Dust nodded.

Chu Hao waved his hand. "Seal the building and let them live or die on their own."

"No, don’t!"

The Shangu Clan members wailed and begged for mercy, but it was completely useless.

"Next place, the Suzano Clan."

...

The Suzano Clan’s location wasn’t as flamboyant as the Shangu Clan’s. They lived reclusively in the mountains and forests.

A member of the Suzano Clan led them into the mountain range.

After passing through the mountains, they finally saw a village.

This was the Suzano Clan’s hidden settlement.

"There’s no one beneath the village." Ghost Sword Dust said.

"I’ll go take a look."

Chu Hao landed in the village. With one glance, he saw that indeed, the villagers were all gone.

"You finally came."

In the dark, an icy cold voice rang out.