I didn't know how long it had been, but my consciousness slowly returned from the endless darkness. The pain in my body had disappeared. I still felt a burning sensation, but it wasn't painful at all. Quite the contrary, it made me feel warm.
After opening my eyes, I looked around. I wasn't in Vice President Xu's office anymore. I was in a lush forest. From the man-made benches and stone benches around, it seemed to be a remote park.
Why am I here?
It should be the old Gu woman or Chairman Xu who threw me here, right?
I struggled to move, but I didn't have any energy left in my body. I didn't even have the strength to lift my head.
I decided to lie down and move the Dao energy in my body. While recovering my strength, I checked my body's condition.
After a long time, my strength slowly recovered, but I still couldn't find anything wrong with my body. I could only give up on checking and slowly tried to sit up.
At this moment, I was still wearing the old insect woman's dark blue robe. However, the dark red color was gone, and the feeling of being wrapped around my body was also gone.
After I sat up, I pulled on the robe and tried to pull it up. However, the dark blue robe was torn like a piece of paper. As soon as I pulled, I tore the robe apart and pulled it off my body.
After taking off the robe, my clothes were also ragged. It looked like they had been worn for dozens of years. A pungent smell wafted into my nostrils and made me choke.
How did it turn out like this?
I felt strange. Before I fainted, although I was in pain, I heard the old insect woman say that she would plant a real Kirin insect on me. I also saw the disgusting flesh and blood she had vomited. However, I didn't feel anything strange on my body. Quite the contrary, my clothes were rotten.
It can't be that the old Gu woman planted a Gu worm on my clothes, right?
I thought it was strange. Then, I decided to take off my clothes.
As soon as I took off my clothes, I felt that something was wrong. There was a tattoo on my chest!
On the left side of my chest, there was a strange beast head pattern that looked like a deer but wasn't a deer. It looked like a lion but wasn't a lion. A beautiful horn extended from my heart all the way to my collarbone. The beast head was slightly lowered and the pattern was extremely clear. I could even see the fine spiral patterns on the horn.
The beast's head was covered with silver brown fur from head to neck, making it look exceptionally handsome.
However, from my neck down, there was only a faint trace. It looked as though it was about to emerge from my body, but it hadn't yet.
What is this?
I lowered my head to look at it for a long time. Then, I remembered the Kirin Gu that the old witch had mentioned. Isn't this a picture of a Kirin's head?
A lion's head, deer's antlers, tiger's eyes, an elk's body, dragon scales, an ox's tail, and a horn with meat. This was what the Kirin looked like in the records. Although I didn't have a body underneath, I could tell that it was a Kirin from the one-horned beast head that looked like a deer and a lion!
Last time, I had seen Zhao Ying's Kirin Gu, which had been eaten by the spirit snake. However, it was just a meaty worm. The old witch had given me a Kirin Gu. Was it a Kirin?
But even if it was true, I had never heard of a gu that could make a tattoo on a person's body.
It was unbelievable. I sat there and pondered for a while. Then, I lowered my head to look at it. The more I looked at it, the more I felt that it didn't look like a tattoo.
This design was simply too perfect. It looked as if a living Qilin was imprinted on my chest. In fact, the only eye that could be seen was filled with disdain for the world. It gave off an indescribable aura.
I couldn't understand it no matter how I looked at it. I put this matter aside and wrapped my tattered clothes around my body. Then, I stood up and left the place.
After looking for a long time, I found out that this was a park in the downtown area of Shenzhen. It wasn't too far from the hotel I was staying at.
I searched my body for a long time. Fortunately, although my clothes were tattered, my wallet, jade bracelet, and other things were still there. The only thing missing was the magical compass the old witch had taken.
I took out all the money in my wallet and stood at the entrance of the park to call for a taxi. Probably because I looked like a homeless person, all the taxi drivers chose to ignore me. In the end, I had no choice but to wave a handful of money at them. Finally, one of them stopped.
When I returned to the hotel, the staff didn't stop me. I had been staying here for a long time, and I went in and out every day. The security guards at the entrance knew me.
However, there were other guests in the lobby. They gawked and dropped their jaws in shock. They watched me get into the elevator.
After returning to my room, I took off all my clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I felt much better after that.
There was a big mirror in the bathroom. From the mirror, I could see the tattoo on my chest clearly.
It was a tattoo of a Qilin's head. Moreover, it was terrifyingly exquisite. Every hair and every inch of the skin was perfect. It was as if someone had sprayed paint on my skin. It didn't look like a tattoo.
I tried to gather the energy in my body into the area of the tattoo. In just a blink of an eye, the tattoo had absorbed half of my energy. I was startled. Then, I took a closer look. The Qilin's neck, which used to be illusory, seemed to have become more solid. Moreover, some illusory dark blue skin had appeared underneath.
I closed my eyes and carefully sensed it. Even if I didn't gather my energy there, the energy in my body would slowly gather there. Then, it would gradually disperse.
In just a blink of an eye, my heart became gloomy.
I wasn't upset because my hard-earned energy was disappearing. It was because the Qilin tattoo was growing while my energy was disappearing!
It meant that the energy in my body was constantly nourishing this Qilin tattoo!
Was this the Qilin Gu?
It was constantly absorbing the energy in my body to strengthen itself. What would happen when the Qilin's body grew at night?
I didn't dare to imagine, but I knew that nothing good would happen.
What scared me even more was that my body and the energy in my body didn't reject the Qilin tattoo at all. It was as if this tattoo was a part of my body.
I took out the jade bracelet. There was still thick dragon energy for me to absorb. Soon, I could replenish the energy in my body that had been absorbed by the Qilin tattoo. However, I hesitated whether I should replenish it or not. I even hesitated whether I should continue my cultivation path.
As long as I continued to cultivate, the energy in my body would increase and I would reach a higher realm in the future, and the Qilin tattoo would become stronger.
The bigger it was, the more danger I would be in.
Perhaps if I stopped cultivating, the tattoo wouldn't become stronger. Would I be safe?
As soon as this thought popped up, I rejected it. Even if this method could suppress the Qilin tattoo, what if the old witch came looking for me again?
No, passively running away wasn't a solution. I had to continue cultivating. The Qilin tattoo was getting stronger, and I was getting stronger as well. I had to find a way to deal with the Qilin tattoo before it was completely formed. Only then could I get rid of this problem.
With that thought in mind, I took the jade bracelet and absorbed all the dragon energy in it into my body. Then, I slowly replenished the energy that I had lost.
Once the energy was replenished, my body would completely recover.
Then, I looked at the time. I should have only been unconscious for one night.
I calculated the time. The team from the Metaphysics Society to observe the true dragon vein would be departing in the afternoon.
I was now faced with a choice. Should I return to the Metaphysics Society?
I don't know why President Xu betrayed me, but since he betrayed me, there's no other possibility for the relationship between us. We can only be mortal enemies who can't live under the same sky.
If I had the ability now, I would definitely make Chairman Xu pay for his actions.
However, I didn't have that ability. I could only consider whether he would harm me or not.
After careful consideration, I decided to go to the Metaphysics Society. First, I had to go to the true dragon vein. Secondly, I still had the Chief's seal. I didn't have the chance to use it against the old witch, but I felt that I had a chance against Chairman Xu.
After making up my mind, I got up and rushed to the Metaphysics Society.
When I reached the top floor of the Metaphysics Society, the other nine qualified people were already there. They were waiting for me.
Chairman Xu was the leader of the group. He was standing in front of the other nine people.
After seeing me, Chairman Xu frowned. He seemed a little surprised, but he didn't say anything. When we went downstairs, he purposely stopped me and walked at the back. Then, he explained to me what had happened yesterday.
Just as I thought, the old witch was much stronger than him. After we found him, if he didn't bring me there, he would die. That's why he felt guilty and told me that he didn't have a choice.
I smiled and shook my head. I didn't say anything, but I caught up with the others and went downstairs.
I wasn't naïve enough to think that he would feel guilty and do something to compensate me.
On the contrary, if a guilty person didn't want to be tormented by guilt, the only way was to kill the person that made him feel guilty. Once he apologized, it meant that he was prepared to continue hurting you.