Gu Zhen Ren, Reverend Insanity, Arc 2-29

**Section Twenty-Nine: The Leopard's Lament (First Update)**

The setting sun was like blood, and the western sky was painted with a continuous stretch of fiery clouds.

Under the twilight, the Footless Bird, which had been flying for most of the day, began to descend slowly.

After a series of extreme climbs and dives, and withstanding the fire man's explosion, its entire body was now covered in cracks—it could no longer fly.

*Boom.*

With a loud crash, despite Fang Yuan's best efforts to control it, the Footless Bird eventually plummeted into a forest.

Dust and smoke rose as beasts scattered in all directions.

"Where is this?" Bai Ningbing jumped off the bird's back and looked around.

The trees around them were short and thick, but their branches and leaves were exceptionally lush—unlike the sparse bone trees on White Bone Mountain. The forest here was filled with trees like canopies, their leaves all purple.

Pale purple, dark purple, purple-red, amethyst...

A breeze blew in the evening, and looking into the distance, they saw a surging tide of purple.

"A purple forest... we've been flying north. Judging by the distance, this should be near Purple Secluded Mountain." Fang Yuan estimated.

A hint of worry crossed his brow: "Purple Secluded Mountain is safe during the day, but extremely dangerous at night. It's getting dark—we need to leave this area quickly and find a safe place to stay."

"Agreed." Bai Ningbing nodded.

Over an hour later, they were fortunate enough to find a cave.

The cave's original occupant had been a Pouch Bear—a bear with a natural育儿袋 on its belly, similar to a kangaroo.

Dry firewood crackled in the fire, burning quietly. The iron pot set over the flames had soup boiling, releasing a rich aroma.

The plump bear paws were already roasted to perfection. Apart from these, the Doushuai Flower still contained delicacies taken from the Hundred Family camp.

The two ate heartily, their tense nerves gradually relaxing.

Bai Ningbing suddenly chuckled, her deep blue eyes fixed on Fang Yuan: "Look at you—this is karma. You burned that pair of siblings to death, and not long after, you got burned just as badly yourself."

The firelight illuminated Fang Yuan's face, where the horrific burns made him look terrifying and grotesque. Any timid girl who saw his appearance would probably scream in fright on the spot.

But Fang Yuan just smiled, unbothered—and even secretly pleased about it.

"Luckily, we have the Flesh and Bone Gu. It wouldn't be hard for you to restore your original appearance—just slice off all the burned flesh and use the Flesh and Bone Gu to grow new skin. But with your Rank One cultivation, you can't use it yourself. You could beg me—maybe I'll take pity on you and heal you." Bai Ningbing never missed an opportunity to mock Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow—though his eyebrows had long since been burned off.

"Why should I heal it? Isn't this situation perfect?" He laughed. "We killed both of the Hundred Family's only young masters, and humiliated their clan leader and elders. Do you think they'll let us go? With these injuries, I've saved myself the trouble of changing my appearance."

The Earth-Hearing Flesh-Ear Grass had been destroyed, leaving Fang Yuan with a missing right ear. The cartilage in his ear meant that even the Flesh and Bone Gu couldn't heal it—but even if he had a treatment, he would willingly keep the missing ear to alter his appearance.

In the past, there was a demonic master named Bai Shanzi who was captured and thrown into prison. He feigned madness, smearing himself with his own feces, even cutting off his own fifth limb to become a eunuch. His enemies finally believed he was completely insane, let their guard down, and allowed him to escape. Later, he returned for revenge, slaughtering every last member of his enemy's household.

There was also the righteous giant, Empress Wu Ji. When she was young and newly in power, her older sister usurped her authority, forcing her to endure in silence. But her sister, jealous of her beauty, constantly made things difficult for her. So Wu Ji cut off her own nose, disfiguring herself to buy time and space to grow. Over a decade later, she overthrew her sister's rule and reclaimed power, then cut off all her sister's facial features, leaving her in a state worse than death.

Throughout history, those who achieved great things were masters of forbearance, never indulging in physical beauty.

This held true for both the righteous and demonic paths, for both men and women alike.

After Empress Wu Ji took power, though she had the means to restore her nose, she never did—using it as a constant reminder to herself. That was why the Wu Family became the number one family in the Southern Border, overshadowing the Iron, Shang, and Fei families—an unshakable overlord!

Those who indulged in flesh and beauty were shallow and rarely accomplished anything significant.

Both the history of this world and that of Earth fully demonstrated this point.

King Zhou of Xia, to amuse his concubine Bao Si, lit beacon fires to fool the feudal lords—and what was his end? Betrayed by all, slain by barbarians.

Lü Bu for Diaochan, King Wu for Xi Shi, Xiang Yu bringing his concubine Yu Ji to war—and what were their fates?

In contrast, Cao Cao was short, Sun Bin was crippled, Sima Qian was castrated...

The love of beauty is universal. But achievement has nothing to do with physical appearance. The ability to resolutely let go of such attachments was the cornerstone of great success.

"In fact, you're the one who stands out too much—blue eyes, silver hair—far too conspicuous. You need to change." Fang Yuan looked Bai Ningbing over and said.

Bai Ningbing snorted coldly but said nothing.

Fang Yuan continued: "The Footless Bird is damaged. We've only flown a few thousand li. Though we're far from the Hundred Family stronghold, we've committed a major crime—they will definitely come after us. If they put out a bounty, our lives will become even harder."

Bai Ningbing frowned, thought for a moment, then clicked her tongue: "Fine. I'm tired of this look anyway. Changing it up should be an interesting experience."

Next, the two took stock of their losses and gains.

There were losses.

The Earth-Hearing Flesh-Ear Grass, Serrated Golden Centipede, Back Armor Gu, Iron Thorn Briar Gu, Scale-Hiding Gu, and the Footless Bird had all been destroyed in the pursuit.

But for Fang Yuan, escaping alive was what mattered most.

Alive, there was possibility. Alive, there was hope.

That was the foundation of everything.

To survive, even if it meant abandoning the Spring Autumn Cicada—so be it.

In short, only one who could let go was a true man!

And what of the gains?

In Fang Yuan's aperture: a large number of Bone Spear Gu and Spiral Bone Spear Gu.

Rank Three Flying Bone Shield, Jade Bone Gu, Iron Bone Gu, the healing Flesh and Bone Gu, and several bone books containing various joint refinement recipes.

In addition, the Heat-Clearing Gu gained from the Hundred Family camp.

And most importantly, the Flesh and Bone Reunion Gu—forged at the last moment through a risky co-refinement.

Compared to the gains, the losses were insignificant!

After all, this was a complete inheritance. Though the Flower Wine Walker was a Rank Five expert—one rank higher than Grey Bone Scholar—Fang Yuan's haul from the Flower Wine inheritance paled in comparison to this White Bone inheritance.

The reason was simple: the White Bone inheritance had been carefully designed by Grey Bone Scholar over a long period, while the Flower Wine inheritance was a hasty, spur-of-the-moment creation.

In truth, Fang Yuan had only followed one main line of the White Bone inheritance. There were many side branches left untouched, and most of the dental locks in the Flesh Sack Secret Pavilion remained unopened. All of that had been left to the Hundred Family stronghold.

Since they had control of the site, given time and effort, they would eventually absorb the entire inheritance.

"Doesn't matter. The Gu I planned for have all been taken. As long as the Flesh and Bone Reunion Gu works as intended, it far outweighs everything else. Though losing the Earth-Hearing Flesh-Ear Grass is a bit troublesome."

In Fang Yuan's philosophy, only usefulness held value.

The loss of the Serrated Golden Centipede could be compensated with Spiral Bone Spear Gu. Without the Iron Thorn Briar and Back Armor Gu, he still had the Heavenly Canopy Gu and Flying Bone Shield. Only the loss of the Earth-Hearing Flesh-Ear Grass created a gap in reconnaissance.

Before, he lacked healing and mobility. Now those areas were mostly covered—but reconnaissance had become a shortcoming.

Such is life—nine out of ten things go awry.

The nights on Purple Secluded Mountain were far livelier than the days. That night, Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing took turns standing guard, neither sleeping well.

From outside the cave came occasional roars and sounds of beasts fighting.

Especially around dawn, a fierce battle erupted near the cave entrance, waking Fang Yuan from his slumber.

It was a battle between two Beast Kings!

A black-feathered, double-winged python actively challenged a secluded leopard.

The two exchanged blows in a fierce struggle, causing quite a commotion.

The secluded leopard was a unique beast of Purple Secluded Mountain—lithe and graceful, with a spotted purple coat, incredibly fast, often moving through the forest like a ghostly shadow. When hunting, they were completely silent, and their prey often became a meal before they even realized it.

Fang and Bai watched with bated breath—they were essentially trapped in the cave, unable to escape.

As time passed, the leopard began to lose, falling into a disadvantage.

This was a pregnant female.

Secluded leopards usually paired male and female. With the female pregnant, the male would naturally be out hunting, leaving the python to seize the opportunity.

In the end, the female died under the python's coils.

But the python didn't get away either—the returning male caught it. After another life-and-death struggle, the male killed the python, but all he got was the female's cold corpse.

Dawn arrived.

The morning light shone upon the leopard's elegant, magnificent coat.

But the female was already dead.

The male paced around the female, letting out mournful cries. They were so close, yet so far apart—separated by life and death.

"Why won't he leave?" Bai Ningbing groaned inwardly.

"Don't worry—secluded leopards are deeply devoted. When one dies, the other never survives alone." Fang Yuan sighed. "I'm going back to catch some more sleep."

He returned to the cave's depths to sleep, leaving Bai Ningbing at the entrance.

The male paced for a while, then crouched down, extending its tongue to lick the female's wounds.

The female's wounds were pitch-black—due to the python's venom.

The male, living here, could easily identify the poison by smell. But now, he ignored it entirely.

Eventually, his bright eyes grew dimmer, and his eyelids grew heavier.

By midday, he too was dead—lying quietly beside the female. Their beautiful pelts made them look like exquisite works of art.

Having witnessed the entire scene, Bai Ningbing couldn't help but sigh.

Not long after, Fang Yuan woke, refreshed, and walked out of the cave to find Bai Ningbing leaning against the cave wall, staring blankly at the two leopard corpses.

"Any gains?" Fang Yuan asked.

Bai Ningbing shrugged, somewhat listlessly: "All the Gu that could fly away already have. I don't have any Gu-capturing methods. Besides, you saw last night's battle too—the Gu are either dead or wounded, and what's left isn't what we need. Heh, if it were otherwise, someone like you wouldn't have voluntarily gone to sleep."

Fang Yuan smiled: "They were two Beast Kings, but the Gu on them are indeed unremarkable. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to gain—heh."

With that, Fang Yuan walked toward the leopard corpses.