CH 46

After getting off the van, I left all the money I had taken from Shi Youfu with Er Gouzi. I then picked up all the bottles and jars that belonged to the Gu Master and carried them back to the store, along with the Gu Master himself.

“Xiao Feng, lend a hand,” I said.

Although Xiao Feng was surprised that I had somehow managed to bring back a whole person, she trusted me completely and didn’t ask any unnecessary questions.

Once we helped the Gu Master into the store, I wrapped him in a bed sheet and closed the store doorway. Then I brought him up to the second floor.

“Xiao Feng, don’t touch the pottery jar inside the black robe!” After reminding her, I locked the door, leaving only me and the Gu Master in the room, with him wrapped in the bed sheet.

“Who are you, and why did you capture me?” the Gu Master clutched the bed sheet tightly, looking nervous without his usual Gu worms by his side.

Xiao Feng had been in a similar position at the Peace of Mind Inn, but her demeanor was charming, while the Gu Master just looked creepy and out of place.

“I’m sure you’re curious why the Gu worms don’t affect me,” I said, pulling the curtains closed. The topic that followed might delve into some darker territory, so I didn’t want anyone else to hear it.

“Hmph, I lost to you today because I’m not skilled enough. Do what you want with me. Those who practice Gu refinement have tasted all the pain in the world. No matter how you torture me, I won’t even frown,” the Gu Master said dramatically. However, his bed sheet outfit ruined his demeanor, making him look comical.

“Are all of you Gu practitioners this difficult?” I sighed and grabbed a pen and paper, writing down the words “Plum Blossom Gu.”

“I brought you here today to ask you a question. If you answer truthfully, I’ll release you,” I said.

“Is that a promise?” the Gu Master asked.

“A gentleman’s word weights as much as a thousand pieces of gold, but you must answer truthfully with no schemes,” I wanted to ask him about the Plum Blossom Gu, the only clue left by Xia Chi after his disappearance. It was too important for me to ignore.

The Gu Master furrowed his brow, bit his finger, and smeared a drop of blood on his forehead. “I swear on my life Gu, if I tell a lie, the Yin Worm will devour my body. You may ask your questions now.”

Gu practitioners respected their Gu worms, and their life Gu was their most important one. Swearing on it held a lot of weight.

“Your poisonous insects have no effect on me, not because I have practiced Gu techniques, but possibly because of a previous infection I had with a certain type of Gu.” 

“That’s impossible. If you had been infected before, multiple toxins would only accelerate the hatching of the larvae in your body, turning you into a vessel for the life Gu.” The Gu Master meant that the interaction between different types of Gu worms can stimulate each other, triggering ferocity and giving birth to even more powerful Gu worms. 

“Are you sure? Is it possible that one type of Gu poison is too dominant, and once it enters the body, it can no longer tolerate other Gu poisons?” 

Following my words, the Gu Master seemed to have thought of something, but then shook his head, “Well, there were such kinds of poisonous insects, but they have long been extinct.” 

As soon as I heard this, I felt like there might be something to it, so I immediately followed up, “I wonder about that, Gu Master, have you ever heard of the three words ‘plum blossom Gu’?” 

“plum blossom Gu!” The Gu Master’s eyes widened, looking at me incredulously. “The plum blossom Gu is a taboo among the Gu clans. How could an outsider like you know about it?”

“So there really is such a thing. If it can break free of the plum blossom Gu, then I can break free from the control of the underworld show, right?” Holding back my excitement, I lowered my voice and said, “To be honest, the poison I’m inflicted with is exactly the plum blossom Gu’s.” 

Seeing my wrist, the bedsheet-wrapped Gu Master suddenly stood up with a start, “plum blossom Branding? That innate Gu insects still exist in the world!” 

He stared blankly for a long time before sitting down, his expression changing constantly, “Boy, to tell you the truth, I don’t know much about the plum blossom Gu. I only came across it in ancient books. Although it’s called the plum blossom Gu, it has nothing to do with plum blossoms in appearance. It’s only called that because the person who’s infected with the Gu will carry a plum blossom-shaped wound for the rest of their life, hence the name plum blossom Gu.” 

“The wound will never heal?” 

“Yes, not until death.” 

“What a domineering Gu worm.”

“It’s not just domineering, it’s downright against the natural order.” The Gu Master seemed like he was recalling the records in those ancient books, “Before the blooming of a hundred flowers, the plum blossoms alone herald the coming of spring. The Plum Blossom Gu is the top of the hundred Gu and is completely incomparable to the Three Yin and Five Evils, and its method of refinement has long been lost.”

He glanced at my wrist again and said, “Curing Gu requires targeting the right symptoms and using poison to fight poison. I know what you want to ask, I’m sorry, there is no cure for this poison.”

I didn’t expect him to be so straightforward and resolute, “Is there really no way at all?”

“To put it this way, the most domineering Gu in existence currently should be the Blood Gu of Miao Qingpo. It is selected from a thousand blood leeches; the strongest ninety-nine are fed with fresh fish blood for nine days and then allowed to kill each other until only nine remain. These nine are then fed with the blood of five different domesticated animals for another nine days, until only one remains. Finally, it is fed with human blood and various poisons for 49 days to unleash the bloodthirst of this Gu. But in the past, this Blood Gu was just food for another Gu called the Golden Silkworm Gu. What I want to say is, according to ancient records, the Plum Blossom Gu’s favorite food is the Golden Silkworm.”

After going around in circles, he finally came back to the matter at hand. But through the Gu Master’s explanation, I finally realized how vicious the Plum Blossom Gu truly is. 

“Is there no other way?” I asked. 

“If I conceal any truth, may heaven strike me with five thunder strikes,” he replied. 

If he had indeed made such a vow, then I had no other option but to fulfill our agreement. With a heavy heart, I opened the door and firmly stated, “It’s time for you to go. And please, be cautious not to associate yourself with anyone from Jiang Jin Real Estate in the future. They will betray you and still take advantage of your abilities.”

Despite being a skilled Gu Master, he was lacking in common sense and appeared to be quite naive. As soon as the door creaked open, a sweet aroma filled the air, and Xiao Feng’s voice echoed from downstairs, “I’ve prepared some noodles for you both. You’ve just finished drinking, so please, have your fill before you go.”

Fate was a strange thing. Just moments ago, the two of us were enemies, but now we were sitting at the same table eating noodles, and when our eyes met, the awkwardness was palpable.

“I never thought you’d have the nerve to stick around and eat noodles,” I said.

“Hmph!” the Gu Master’s tone was cold, but he ate voraciously without any regard for manners.

After he had eaten his fill, it was already past one or two in the morning, and there were no taxis in sight. As I glanced over at the Gu Master, who was wrapped up in a bedsheet, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh and facepalm in frustration. “We can’t just let him wander outside like this. It could cause a disturbance, and someone might even call the police. Let’s just let him stay here for the night.”

He slept on the floor and all the bottles and jars were thrown outside. I locked the store door before finally feeling at ease. “Don’t even think about doing anything funny, or you’ll regret it,” I warned.

the Gu Master snorted and fell asleep with his head turned away. Seeing that he didn’t move, I too drifted off to sleep.

The room was quiet; it was around three o’clock in the morning. Suddenly, the Gu Master, who was locked in a thin blanket, opened his eyes and said, “You’re too naive to compete with me!” With a smirk on his face, he recited an incantation, and the pottery jar outside the door began to tremble. Soon, the Facehugger Moth flew out of it and into the room through the ventilation duct.

“I’ll spare your life because of that bowl of noodles, but anyone who humiliates a Gu Master must pay the price.” He commanded the moth to scatter phosphorous powder into the room. “The Facehugger Moth is the Lord of Yin, and your business will become even more desolate from now on. I will cut off your source of income!”

The Gu Master smiled inwardly, but his joy from achieving revenge didn’t last long. Bai Qi, who had drunk half a bottle of Royal Salute, got up at this moment.

“This dog is quite sharp, but how could I not deal with a mere untrained animal? ” He was imagining the scene of the mutt inhaling the poison and dying in agony, but in reality, Bai Qi just shook his head and showed no signs of being affected.

“What’s going on? Is this dog also affected by the Plum Blossom Gu?”

As he pondered, Bai Qi spotted a single Facehugger Moth fluttering around the room. The fellow had just woken up from a drunken stupor, and in his excitement, he slapped the moth to the ground.

“Splosh!” The Gu Master spat out a mouthful of blood. It wasn’t an exaggeration—his cherished Gu had been injured, and he was bleeding inside.

When the Facehugger Moth finally managed to escape, its wings had been torn off by Bai Qi, and several of its legs were broken.

“I’ve been roaming the Miaojiang for over a decade, and I’ve never suffered such humiliation.This isn’t over!” Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, the Gu Master silently recited another incantation. This time, he summoned a centipede Gu, and ordered it to crawl along the roof and into the room to avoid Bai Qi.

But an unexpected incident occurred once again. The centipede Gu stopped motionless in front of Xiao Feng’s sleeping room and seemed to have lost control.

“What does this mean?” The Gu Master’s face turned pale. “Centipede Gu loves extremely yin and cold things and will only stop when it encounters a woman born under a yin sign and who is heavily influenced by yin energy. Could it be that the person living in that room is the Tianxi Holy Maiden I’ve been searching for these past few years?”