Faced with Lin Wuxie's hoarse question laden with deep wariness—"Who are you?"—the black-robed figure standing in the doorway's shadow did not answer directly.
"Heh..."
An extremely contemptuous cold laugh emerged from behind that plain wooden mask without any patterns, echoing through the deathly silent Rotten Shed District.
The laugh wasn't loud, yet it carried the arrogance of a superior looking down upon ants, instantly shattering Lin Wuxie's already fragile psychological defenses.
"You think picking up a few scraps and leftovers from the sect entitles you to bark before me?"
Lin Mu stood with hands clasped behind his back, his deliberately lowered voice carrying a weathered chill:
"If not for Master's orders to come inspect you, this worthless thing—a piece of trash who can't even control his own appetite—do you think you're worthy of asking my name?"
These words struck like a slap across Lin Wuxie's face.
His entire body stiffened. The muscles that had tensed with vigilance instantly went slack, replaced by a shame that seeped into his very bones.
The other's tone was too certain, that contempt from the heart instantly crushing what little self-respect he had.
He lowered his head in shame, not daring to meet that cold mask's gaze.
Seeing the timing was right, Lin Mu slowly walked inside. He didn't look at Lin Wuxie cowering on the ground, but instead raised his head to gaze at the drafty roof, as if lamenting something.
"The essence of Food Path lies in 'assimilation,' not 'devouring.'"
He spoke slowly, throwing out high-level theory about the Food Path school from the original work—though his current cultivation couldn't put it into practice, this didn't stop him from using it to deceive an ignorant native.
"You only know how to tear and bite like a beast, devouring flesh and blood, yet you don't understand using your own Dao marks to grind down, to assimilate those foreign powers."
"Therefore, what you've cultivated isn't strength—it's an indelible stench of corpses, uncivilized savagery!"
"No matter how much you eat, if you can't digest it, it becomes poison."
Lin Wuxie suddenly raised his head, eyes filled with shock and confusion.
"Dao marks"? "Assimilate"?
These terms were like scripture from heaven to someone who hadn't even perfected Rank 1, who had never received orthodox Gu Master education.
These were realms that only legendary high-rank Gu Masters, or even Gu Immortals, could touch.
Though he couldn't understand, he was deeply shaken.
He felt the black-robed figure before him was unfathomably deep, every sentence pointing directly at the truth of the Great Dao, as if tearing open a gap in the darkness, letting him see scenery he had never witnessed before.
"Only someone from the same sect could criticize my problems so thoroughly..."
Lin Wuxie's doubts completely dissolved, replaced by the wild joy and reverence of finding his organization.
Lin Mu glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Seeing the other had completely taken the bait, his tone softened slightly but remained aloof:
"Some days ago, Master sensed that someone here had triggered the inheritance mark he left behind when traveling through Southern Border years ago."
"He specially sent me to investigate. I thought I might find promising talent to bring back to the sect for proper cultivation, but instead..."
He gave a cold snort. "I only found a fool who learned a bit of superficial knowledge and nearly practiced himself to death."
"Senior Brother! I... I didn't know!"
Lin Wuxie, heedless of his body's intense pain, crawled forward two steps on his knees, urgently explaining, "I really only discovered it by accident... I beg Senior Brother to see clearly!"
"Speak then."
Lin Mu looked down at him from above. "How exactly did you obtain your inheritance? Though Master's arrangement back then was casually made, it absolutely shouldn't have let you cultivate into this neither-human-nor-ghost state."
Faced with his "Senior Brother's" questioning, how would Lin Wuxie dare conceal anything? He poured everything out like spilling beans, revealing all his experiences.
As it turned out, he truly was an orphan of Black Blood Stockade, bullied constantly.
Half a year ago, while gathering herbs at a desolate mountain called "Heartbreak Cliff" a hundred li from the stockade, he had stumbled into a hidden cave while fleeing from wild beasts.
Inside the cave were only the long-weathered remains of a skeleton, several starved Gu worm corpses, and an incomplete beast-skin scroll.
And in the skeleton's abdomen, a Gu worm that hadn't completely died still lay dormant.
"It's this one..."
Lin Wuxie tremblingly summoned a Gu worm from his aperture—shaped like a toad, but with a massive sucker-like mouth.
Rank 1 Small Swallow Gu.
Lin Mu's gaze sharpened.
This Gu worm's function was simple: it assisted the host in swallowing objects far exceeding their throat's diameter and performed initial physical grinding.
It could let someone swallow enormous prey like a snake, but couldn't solve the subsequent "Dao mark conflict" problem.
"Only this one?" Lin Mu asked.
"Only this one alive... the others all crumbled," Lin Wuxie answered honestly. "I couldn't read all the characters on the beast-skin scroll either. I could only copy clumsily, relying on the Small Swallow Gu to force things down..."
Lin Mu was wild with joy inside.
Intelligence acquired!
Lin Wuxie only had one auxiliary "Small Swallow Gu," and his cultivation had gone wrong—he was only staying alive thanks to this Gu.
If he killed him now and the Gu worm dissipated with its host's death, then the clues about the Food Path inheritance would truly be severed.
Moreover, that cave at "Heartbreak Cliff" might still contain things Lin Wuxie hadn't discovered or couldn't take—like the skeleton itself, or hidden text carved into the stone walls.
"Now isn't the time to kill him."
Lin Mu suppressed the greed in his heart and let out a long sigh, his acting skills exploding.
"Ah... it shouldn't have been like this."
His voice carried a hint of regret. "The inheritance Master established was meant for those with fate to obtain. It seems the erosion of time caused the core 'Digest Gu' and 'Dao Assimilation Gu' to scatter, leading you astray and making you suffer so."
Hearing this, Lin Wuxie's eyes blazed brighter. Indeed! It was the incomplete inheritance—not his lack of talent!
"However..."
Lin Mu changed his tone, offering a thread of hope. "Since you've encountered me, consider it fate that you shouldn't die. This bottle of medicine only temporarily suppresses your condition. If you want complete recovery, that depends on your future fortune."
Lin Wuxie's eyes lit up—the gaze of a drowning man spotting driftwood. He kowtowed heavily, his forehead striking the muddy ground with audible thuds:
"I beg Senior Brother to show me the way! This disciple is willing to work like an ox or horse to repay Senior Brother's life-saving grace!"
"Working like an ox or horse won't be necessary."
Lin Mu gave a cold laugh. "Looking at you, you're planning to participate in tomorrow's Grand Competition? You want to gamble on that slim chance, asking the clan for pills?"
"Yes... this disciple's body can barely hold on..."
"Ridiculous! This mere Black Blood Stockade—a bunch of frogs at the bottom of a well—what would they know of Food Path's mysteries? If you go to them, not only won't they cure your illness, they'll treat you as a demonic heretic and skin you alive!"
Lin Mu's voice suddenly turned severe, carrying an inviolable authority:
"Listen well. This is the sect's rule, and it's to protect your life."
"In tomorrow's Grand Competition, and all future examinations, you must never use the Small Swallow Gu again, nor reveal your appetite before others!"
"You've devoured so many fierce beasts—your physical foundation is already established. With strength alone, you have the might of a peak Rank 1 fierce beast. Against those Rank 1 apprentices who only know how to use Primeval Essence, fists alone will be enough."
"Remember: do not expose your Food Path identity. Otherwise, if you ruin the sect's grand plans, outsiders won't need to act—I'll personally clean house and expel you from the sect!"
"This disciple... this disciple understands!" Lin Wuxie trembled all over, hurriedly agreeing.
He had been struggling in despair; now with "Senior Brother's" guidance and backing, how would he dare show the slightest defiance?
Seeing his goal achieved, Lin Mu said no more.
He turned around, his black robes rustling in the night wind, and made to leave.
"Senior Brother!"
Lin Wuxie behind him suddenly mustered all his courage, asking in a trembling voice, "May I ask Senior Brother... who are the sect and Master exactly?"
"If this disciple... is fortunate enough to achieve success in cultivation someday, where should I seek my roots?"
Lin Mu's footsteps paused slightly.
He didn't turn back, only turned his face to the side, leaving behind words that seemed light as air—yet to Lin Wuxie, weighed heavy as mountains:
"No matter. Just remember well."
"Our sect's name—Shadow Sect."
"Master's honorific—Purple Mountain True Monarch."
Before his words faded, Lin Mu willed it, and the Dust Escape Gu instantly activated.
"Poof!"
A cloud of dust exploded, and the black-robed figure vanished instantly into the night, as if he had never existed.
Only Lin Wuxie remained, kneeling alone in the Rotten Shed District's muddy ground, gazing at that dispersing cloud of dust, repeatedly chewing on these words he had never heard before—yet which felt infinitely prestigious:
"Shadow Sect... Purple Mountain True Monarch..."