Chapter 1086: Bright Pattern Black-eyed Bee

Jian Yanyou stood up from Jian Taiding’s headless corpse, licking the blood from his lips. “Who am I? Of course, I am Jian Yanyou, your husband.”

His eyes were already as black as ink, and his face was densely covered with black patterns. Splashed with blood from having just been close to Jian Taiding’s severed neck, he appeared both eerie and dangerous.

Yu Yanluo shook her head. “No, you are definitely not him. Yanyou is kind-hearted and would never randomly kill innocent people.”

“Innocent? He killed me, and he coveted you, his own sister-in-law. How is that innocent?” Jian Yanyou sneered.

Yu Yanluo said coldly, “So you are not the real Jian Yanyou. You don’t know how much he doted on this younger brother. Normally, he’d give him whatever he wanted, basically everything he could, except for me, his wife. And no matter what mistakes his brother made, although he would reprimand him, he would always forgive him in the end.”

“What’s more, you are alive again this time. His scheme to harm you didn’t cause any serious consequences. Given your usual temperament, you would most likely have punished him lightly, but certainly not taken his life.”

Jian Yanyou glanced at Jian Taiding, whose head was separated from his body. He grinned. “People always change, especially after going through life and death as I have.”

Yu Yanluo immediately interrupted him. “No matter how much you change, you wouldn’t become a bloodthirsty fiend. You not only cruelly tortured and killed your own brother, but you also drank his blood. The look of enjoyment on your face just now couldn’t be faked. Tell me, what kind of monster are you?”

At this moment, Jian Yanyou let out a cackling laugh, a chilling sound that no human could possibly make. “Madam, should I praise your intelligence or your foolishness?”

Hearing his strange voice, realizing it was clearly not the real Jian Yanyou, Zu An quickly shielded Yu Yanluo behind him. The oppressive feeling emanating from the other party was too strong, almost comparable to what Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen had given him earlier.

He worried the other party might suddenly attack and harm Yu Yanluo.

Fortunately, Jian Yanyou didn’t seem to intend to strike immediately. Instead, he sighed. “Madam, wasn’t it good for you to play dumb? Why did you insist on breaking everything open? You could have continued to be the Duchess peacefully, but now things will be difficult, won’t they?”

“That tone, that voice…” Yu Yanluo’s heart suddenly stirred. “Are you Uncle Ming?”

“The Madam has keen insight to discern even that?” The ‘Jian Yanyou’ was slightly surprised, making no attempt to hide it.

“How is that possible?” Yu Yanluo and Zu An were both astonished. Hadn’t he been captured by Yu Yanluo into her painting world with just one move before?

A series of events followed, making them almost forget his existence.

So he was the ultimate mastermind all along?

Yu Yanluo even specifically took out the “Thousand Li Mountains and Seas Painting” to check, and found that Uncle Ming was indeed still inside, but he had already become a corpse.

“Huh?” Only then did Yu Yanluo realize something was wrong. Her painting world merely contained people; it didn’t activate any killing intent. By all accounts, Uncle Ming, with his cultivation level, shouldn’t have died inside.

She suddenly looked up at the other party. “How did you get out?”

Jian Yanyou—no, it should be Uncle Ming—smiled triumphantly. “I didn’t enter at all. What your painting absorbed was merely a shell.”

“A shell?” Yu Yanluo recalled the recent encounter; capturing him had indeed been too easy.

Zu An’s heart stirred. “Could it be that you infiltrated Jian Yanyou’s body just as we retrieved his remains from the pool?”

Uncle Ming looked at him in surprise. “Master Zu is indeed remarkably observant and quick-witted. No wonder you were able to uncover the truth behind Jian Yanyou’s murder earlier.”

Zu An murmured to himself, “To easily seize another’s body, and discard physical forms at will… Is there really such a heaven-defying cultivation method in this world? Wouldn’t that grant immortality?”

He had also experienced the danger of having his body seized before; Old Man Mi had always coveted his body, but even he wasn’t this outrageous. To switch bodies at will, transfer freely?

Yu Yanluo parted her red lips. “I recall an obscure branch within the demon race, the Parasitic Bee Clan. Members of this clan can parasitize their offspring within a host’s body, feeding on the host’s internal tissues and organs during their growth, and then bursting out once fully mature. It’s said that the top masters of the Parasitic Bee Clan can even seize a target’s physical body and replace them. Could it be that you are from the Parasitic Bee Clan?”

Uncle Ming was truly surprised this time. “The Madam actually knows about such an obscure race within the demon clan? Even demons themselves might not know of this race, surely?”

“So you admit it?” Hearing his tone, Yu Yanluo’s expression grew serious.

“Indeed, I am from the Parasitic Bee Clan, and specifically, I am a noble Black-Eyed Bright-Striped Bee, the most distinguished of our kind,” Uncle Ming declared proudly. He made no attempt to conceal it, clearly believing he had complete control of the situation.

“No wonder you’re called Uncle Ming,” Zu An mused. This world was truly wondrous. First, he encountered the Mosquito Daoist who absorbed human essence and blood, and now a parasitic bee that infested human bodies, both having cultivated into spirits.

“Did you pledge allegiance to the Duke many years ago, then gain his trust?” Yu Yanluo frowned. “You’ve been so diligent all these years, truly a convincing act.”

“How could I be so foolish as to work tirelessly for him for decades?” Uncle Ming sneered. “Of course, I found an opportunity to ambush Uncle Ming, parasitized his body, and used his body to return to the Duke’s mansion.”

Yu Yanluo nodded discreetly. She had found it strange when she saw Uncle Ming betray Jian Yanyou earlier.

After all, a person’s character couldn’t be faked after years of interaction.

Jian Yanyou, with his level of cultivation and high position, couldn’t possibly lack such judgment of character.

Now, everything finally made sense.

Zu An, meanwhile, thought that the real Uncle Ming had a truly tragic fate, working hard his whole life only to be parasitized by a demonic bee.

For a human, death was sometimes not so terrifying; the most terrifying thing was to be treated as food by other creatures, or even worse, to become a parasitic host, leading to a fate worse than death.

At this point, Uncle Ming couldn’t help but look at Zu An with a sigh of complex emotions. “When I saw you appear in the Duke’s mansion in Jian Yanyou’s guise, with no flaws to be found, I thought one of my kind had gotten there first. Fortunately, I later didn’t sense any familiar aura from you, otherwise, my years of planning would have all been for naught, benefiting someone else.”

“Since you knew I wasn’t one of your kind, why did you still come here with Jian Taiding to investigate?” Zu An asked in a deep voice.

“Because you imitated him too perfectly,” Uncle Ming gazed deeply at him. “It made me suspect if Jian Yanyou had woken up early, causing a glitch in my plan.”

Hearing his words, Yu Yanluo was startled and quickly pressed, “Is Yanyou really still alive?”

“Indeed. In fact, I’ve long known he practiced the Golden Silkworm Divine Art. If he hadn’t entered life-and-death seclusion, with his cultivation, I truly couldn’t have done anything to him,” Uncle Ming replied.

Yu Yanluo quickly explained to Zu An, “Although the Parasitic Bee Clan is extremely bizarre, their frontal combat ability is actually very weak. They can only resort to schemes and ambushes from behind.”

“Strategy and cunning are also forms of strength,” Uncle Ming clearly wasn’t pleased with her assessment, letting out a snort. “I was waiting for Jian Yanyou to enter life-and-death seclusion to make my move. However, that fellow was too preoccupied with worldly affections and enjoyed wealth and luxury too much, actually giving up his chance to improve himself.”

“With no other choice, I had to collaborate with Jian Taiding. That fellow happened to covet you, his beautiful sister-in-law, so we instantly clicked. You already know what happened next: Jian Yanyou was cornered, and I deliberately allowed him a chance to escape here. He had no other option but to activate his life-and-death seclusion, and then everything was at my mercy.”

Yu Yanluo sighed. “The lowest, non-sentient parasitic bees most love to parasitize things like silkworm cocoons. Yanyou happened to cultivate the Golden Silkworm Divine Art. You truly are his natural nemesis.”

“Exactly. When he went into cocooned hibernation, I injected a soul seed into the cocoon. I waited for him to break through his life-and-death seclusion and significantly increase his power, so I could smoothly take over everything: his body, his cultivation, his identity, and even his woman.” Uncle Ming spoke volubly, feeling restless at the thought of not revealing his audacious scheme that would undoubtedly astonish others; it was like wearing splendid garments in the dark.

However, his expression quickly darkened, and he stared at Zu An. “But I never imagined that you would enjoy everything that should have been mine in advance.”