Green Skin, Blue Bumped Gu

Liu Tang sat on one of the cafe's chair, still disoriented. He watched DongFeng serve the women with a smile on his lips, something he has never seen before.

"Please come again," DongFeng winked at the women, making them both swoon as they exit the cafe. Liu Tang watched the women took a sip of their coffee and immediately spit it out. They made out scrunched faces, meaning that they didn't like the taste of it.

"What kind of coffee do you serve that people could make out those kinds of face?" Liu Tang asked.

"You're also an employee of this cafe. You're also a part of this fiasco," DongFeng scoffed and walked in front of him. "And you, what are you still doing? You have to work now or else she will scold us?"

"Scold us?" Liu Tang tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Who would dare scold someone like you?"

"Someone like me?" DongFeng snorted as if he just heard the funniest joke in his life. "You mean a high school dropout who can't even pay his rent?"

"DongFeng–"

"Liu Tang," DongFeng said before Liu Tang could even finish. "It's good that you remember my name, but what is happening to you? You were fine just yesterday."

"Yesterday? We were literally about to kill each other a moment ago. I don't believe this," Liu Tang said before walking out of the cafe.

He ran to the streets, watching everything pass by him. It was already dusk and the lights from the buildings and cars had filled the streets with blinding colors.

"What is happening?" Liu Tang kept on running. "How could this happen?"

The man found himself in front of a temple. Since it was almost nighttime, there were only a few people around the entrance of the temple.

"Oh, young man!" an old man approached Liu Tang. He was carrying a shovel which Liu Tang suspected that had to do something with the dirt on the old man's clothes. "The temple will be closed in a few minutes. Please be guided."

"Who would close a temple?" Liu Tang scoffed. "And–"

"Zhan Pu!" an old lady yelled from afar. "You old fool. I saw you with another woman. I will cut your balls off! Come here!"

Clank!

"Oh, no!" the old man threw the shovel in front of Liu Tang before he ran to the side of the temple. A woman that was calling his name ran after him, yelling cuss words at her husband.

Liu Tang shook his head, finding it the situation funny. He takes a single step forward, but an ominous feeling made Liu Tang pause from his movements. He looked around and saw that the people around him had vanished. There wasn't much of them in the first place, but it became barren all of a sudden.

"Hello?" Liu Tang called out, but his voice only echoed in the silence. Nothing apart from his breathing was heard. If he takes even a single step, his footsteps would echo around the entire area.

Screech!

Liu Tang heard a sound behind him. He spun, only to face a giant worm staring straight into his face. It was as tall as him with dark green skin and small blue bumps all over its body. The man fell down in shock, crawling back in fear as the worm approached him.

"A Gu?!"

A Gu is a creature that creates poison from its body. While not all Gus create the same kind of poison. This type of Gu secretes air that could cause hallucinations and even temporary paralysis. Although their poison does not directly kill their prey, the creature could always slowly eat their way into the unfortunate prey while they trap them in their hallucinations.

"What is a Gu doing here?" Liu Tang asked out loud. It was a good thing that even with their size, Gus move slowly. The only thing left for Liu Tang is find its weak spot to kill it.

"Fire Art: Harbinger of Chaos!"

Liu Tang raised his right hand over his head, waving the other and formed a circle in the air. He slammed both of his hands together, yelling as he thrust his hands forward.

Puff.

"Eh?" A black smoke escaped his closed hands like a fart. Liu Tang froze. He watched his hand, then the Gu who was watching him, seemingly laughing at the scene judging by the constant small croaks it gave off.

Screech!

"No, no, no," Liu Tang ran back. He kept repeating his dance, only for the same sound to come out over and over again. "My technique… what happened?"

When he found the Gu getting even closer to him, Liu Tang had no choice but to run. It wasn't after a couple of seconds more that he realized that he wasn't really moving. No matter how much he would run, his position did not change.

"Argh! I'm trapped in its illusion," Liu Tang thought out loud. He looked around and saw that nothing could help him in his situation. He was trapped in the Gu's hallucinations and now he was lost.

"Green skin, blue bumps," Liu Tang whispered. "Circular marks on the bumps. Ah! This Gu could only control my legs by its temporary paralysis."

He closed his eyes and remembered the scene right where he stood at the front of the temple. He could remember everything around him, every single item that was placed. Even the one the old man threw.

"Green skin, blue bumped Gu," Liu Tang pointed out as he leaned to the side. "You can control your prey's legs so they can't run from you. You're the only Gu that has this property, the others would instantly kill their victims or trap them in hallucinations that could hinder their movements mentally. But you're different. You paralyze your prey's lower body."

"Your secretion glands could only affect the lower body because they are located right by your abdomen." Liu Tang grabbed something off of the ground and swung it forward, hitting the worm right in the face. The creature shrieked, slowly backing away. "Ah ha! I got you now."

Although Liu Tang couldn't move his legs, his arms and his upper body could still move just fine. He remembered the old man drop the shovel right where he stood. He took this and use it as his weapon against the creature.

"I don't know where I am," Liu Tang said in frustration. "I can't use my abilities, I don't know anyone, and you decided to attack me?!"

With one last swing, the creature's face was destroyed. Liu Tang dropped the shovel as he felt his movements were finally free from the restrictions that the Gu put on him. He dropped down to his knees and panted. Next time, you don't attack me.

'Gu killed. 5 Qi is added.'

A voice rang inside Liu Tang's head. He looked around to see that no one was around him. The old man also approached him and told him to go out of the temple because it was going to close.

"That was odd," he thought as he walked back at the cafe. "The voice also mentioned Qi, which meant that it had to do something with his original life. Buy nothing is clear yet. Everything was still a one big blur for Liu Tang.

Liu Tang found his way back to the cafe where he saw DongFeng in front of the establishment, smoking. "Hey, Liu Tang. What happened to you? She's here, and she is going to kick your balls."

Liu Tang narrowed his eyes, "Who?"

"Me!" a high-pitched female voice spoke behind Liu Tang. When he spun, he saw a beautiful young woman with dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes. "I will kill you for abandoning your job, Liu Tang!"