Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don't Call Me a Demon!-Chapter 1527: The First Encounter (Part 2)

"Righteous Sect, haha! It doesn't matter if it's shameful or not, just survive first."

Taoist Qiu's cold gaze swept over Su Jie, revealing a playful smile.

This silly boy, he still doesn't know what he's about to face!

Survive?

Upon hearing this, Su Jie suddenly had a bad premonition, feeling as if he had entered some kind of den of thieves.

Just like that, Su Jie began his demon cultivation journey in Ghost Ridge Palace.

.............

A month later!

Ghost Ridge Palace, Insect Valley!

Under a lush, verdant ancient tree, the roots twisted vigorously, intertwining.

In the area entangled by the roots, there was a hidden burrow covered with fallen leaves, dug by insects.

Inside the burrow at this moment, dozens of egg shells were scattered around. The shells were grayish-brown, and in the suitable temperature and environment, there was now some movement.

Rumble!

That night, a thunderstorm poured down, the rain connecting heaven and earth, like the Heavenly River drenching the mortal realm.

Lightning split the night sky, raindrops pattered down to the ground, water flowed into the burrow, and the moist environment facilitated the eggshells' hatching.

Crack!

The first eggshell cracked open, and a small centipede as thick as a matchstick emerged.

The centipede was entirely pink, its shell still soft, offering no defense; its most distinct feature was the dozens of pale corpse hands growing under its belly, though they were too small to notice without close observation.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In the conducive environment of the rainy night, more and more small centipedes hatched from their eggshells and began to crawl all over the place.

When the rain stopped, the first rays of sunlight fell on the land.

Driven by instinct, the small centipedes inside the burrow started to crawl out, smelling the fragrance of the outside grass and trees, feeling the embrace of the gentle breeze and the fresh warmth of the sunlight.

Experiencing freedom and the vast world for the first time, the little centipedes shook their bodies excitedly, crawling out with determination as if on a pilgrimage to embrace a brand new life.

Only one little centipede moved slowly; because its hatching was delayed, it was a size smaller than its siblings and still somewhat unaccustomed, feeling more fear of the unknown than curiosity about the new world outside.

Each small centipede crawled out of the burrow. Witnessed by the morning sun, they met not just a new world but also a sharp bird's beak.

The early bird gets the worm, and the early worm gets eaten by the bird. This is an eternal truth.

A palm-sized, sharp-feathered bird, with blade-like feathers, chirped with excitement as it descended from the sky, feasting on the small centipedes emerging from the burrow like a buffet, swallowing one bite after another.

Though it was just an inferior poisonous insect, as a mature being, and due to its predator relationship, it devoured quickly the centipedes still in their juvenile stage.

Under the pecking of the sharp-feathered bird, it didn't take long for the small centipedes crawling out of the burrow to be entirely consumed.

These newly born small lives hardly experienced the beauty of the new world before becoming a meal for the bird's appetite, a reflection of nature's cruelty and survival of the fittest.

Flap, flap!

The sharp-feathered bird flapped its wings and flew away, satisfied.

At this moment, only the last small centipede remained in the burrow, trembling and curling up.

Having witnessed its siblings being devoured, it now had no inclination to leave the burrow.

Sizzle... the outside... is terrifying!

The little centipede's antennae twitched, making it the sole lucky survivor as it crawled slowly. Thanks to its cowardice, it hadn't left the burrow in time, allowing it to escape being the sharp-feathered bird's meal.

Already timid and afraid of strangers, the little centipede became deeply terrified of the outside world, refusing to leave this damp, dark burrow.

Driven by hunger in its belly, it cautiously picked up fallen leaves to block the entrance of the burrow.

Then the little centipede crawled over and started gnawing on the remnants of its eggshell after hatching.

After finishing its own, it began eating the eggshells left by its siblings, barely getting by for a few days.

But the meager nutrition was far from sufficient to meet the body's demands. The little centipede chose to use its weak jaws and its many fine, pale corpse hands to scrape at the moist, decaying earth, sending it into its mouth to extract insignificant nutrients.

By relying on the skill of eating dirt, the little centipede survived another week and gradually adapted to this way of life.

Until this day, vibrations were heard from outside the burrow.

When the little centipede cautiously peeked toward the entrance of the burrow, it happened to lock eyes with a human's eye—that of a young man.

The little centipede was so frightened it tried desperately to dig into the soil to bury itself, but by then it was too late.

"Huh, this kind of poisonous insect seems to be the thousand-hand centipede mentioned in the books. Finally, I found a good-looking poisonous insect."

Su Jie looked pleasantly surprised and carefully put on his specialized insect-catching gloves, extracting this thousand-hand centipede from the burrow.

"The thousand-hand centipede often inhabits humid, dark environments, is active at night, and its limbs can secrete potent toxins."

Su Jie murmured to himself, recalling the knowledge from the Encyclopedia of Poisonous Insects, and couldn't help displaying a happy smile.

In this one month of joining Ghost Ridge Palace, Su Jie already understood that he hadn't joined a reputable sect, but a bloodthirsty and cruel Demon Sect where each day was uncertain.

As an Outer Disciple, Su Jie's poor qualifications left him no choice but to serve as a low-cost insect catcher to earn survival resources. After tirelessly searching around the outskirts of Insect Valley these days, he finally found a suitable poisonous insect to contract with.

Held in Su Jie's palm, the little centipede made threatening hissing sounds, trying to scare off this giant.

But this was not enough to scare Su Jie, who instead used his finger to poke it, flipping it over.

"Speaking of which, judging by the color of this thousand-hand centipede's carapace, it should be about ten days old. Why is it still so small and malnourished? It seems a bit different from what's described in the books."

Su Jie gazed intently at the flipping thousand-hand centipede, finally biting his fingertip: "Never mind, having a contract is already nice enough. Right now, I don't have the luxury of being picky."

A drop of blood dripped from his fingertip, and as Su Jie operated the "Hundred Poison Refining Gu Scripture," the blood began to eerily permeate into the body of this thousand-hand centipede. Su Jie intended to contract it as his lifebound poisonous insect.

The little centipede became restless and resisted Su Jie's contract. It was timid and wary, and now only wanted to escape this peculiar human.

"Quite stubborn, let's try this."

Seeing this, Su Jie reached into his basket at his waist and retrieved a human-faced moth, a delicacy that most poisonous insects adored, and a hard currency for transactions among Ghost Ridge Palace Disciples.

Gazing at the human-faced moth in front of it and smelling the moth's enticing fragrance, tears of reluctance fell down the little centipede's cheeks as the hunger in its stomach felt like a wild fire burning inside.

In the end, it couldn't resist the temptation and bit into the human-faced moth, savoring the delicious taste.

Just the first bite of flesh made the little centipede's antennae on its head twitch with excitement. It was the first time since its birth that it had tasted flesh, surpassing the eggshells and dirt it had consumed by a hundredfold.

Su Jie too displayed a smile, seeing the little centipede eat the human-faced moth, he followed up by squeezing a few drops of blood from his finger.

The thousand-hand centipede was too weak—at least his blood contained a bit of spiritual power that could nourish it.

The little centipede ate and drank, its tiny eyes squinting happily, experiencing the world's goodness for the first time.

It no longer resisted Su Jie's contract and chose to accept it.

After all, in the little centipede's eyes at that moment, this strange human was a beneficial creature.

He fed it insects and gave it blood to drink—what else could he be but beneficial?

"Phew, the contract is complete. From now on, you are my lifebound poisonous insect."

Running his finger across the young carapace of the thousand-hand centipede, Su Jie's face was alight with a radiant smile: "I need to give you a name. Got it, from now on you'll be called Xiao Qian. As long as I'm around, you'll be well-fed and well-watered.

Let me tell you this! I, Su Jie, will become immortal one day; Xiao Qian, if you hang with me, I'll also train you to become the world's number one Gu insect, even more powerful than top-grade Nine Refinement Gu Insects."

Su Jie patted his chest, making a bold declaration. Anyway, in this desolate mountain and forest, no one else could hear him.

Buzz—buzz—buzz!

Xiao Qian wagged its antennae and affectionately snuggled up to Su Jie, its tiny insect eyes full of adoration, as if to say: I, Xiao Qian, have sworn to follow you for life.

The youth's bold aspirations echoed with vigor, and in the eyes of outsiders, it might seem like he didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. But only Xiao Qian, ever pure, unshakeably believed in Su Jie's words, convinced that he could achieve it all.

The gentle breeze blew as the sun set. In Su Jie's chatter and Xiao Qian's buzzing, the silhouette of one human and one insect walked further and further into the forest, gradually disappearing into the glow of the setting sun.