What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

"I don't understand Gu."

I'm telling the truth.

"But judging from the state of the body, the hole in his chest was blown open from the inside, not caused by external force."

Moreover, there were numerous cavities in his subcutaneous tissue, as if it had been gnawed by something.

As for those people downstairs, I checked a few of them, and there were tiny black larvae swimming in their pupils, confirming that they had been poisoned by a Gu.

After listening, Lu Yan pondered for a moment: "I will send Master Lan's body back to the bureau so that the forensic department and the folklore research office can conduct a joint examination."

Those downstairs who are under the influence of the curse should be stabilized with soul-suppressing talismans and kept under close watch.

She paused, then added, "But to be honest, we don't have anyone in our department who is proficient in Gu magic."

The talismans of the Zhengyi sect are excellent at dealing with ghosts and evil spirits, but Gu magic... is a completely different approach.

To completely resolve this, we probably need to find a solution from the Miao region.

"Master Lan was invited from Miao territory, but he's gone now."

Jin Wanliang, standing to the side with a bitter expression, interjected, "Who would dare to come now?"

Lu Yan glanced at him but didn't reply.

She walked to the window, looked at the torn security bars, and gazed into the darkness outside.

"Zhou Yuanshan's matter is even more troublesome."

Her voice was very low.

"A person who has been corrupted by Gu poison for so long suddenly has the power to tear apart security bars. His current state is completely unpredictable."

I will have the action team set up a cordon within a three-kilometer radius of the villa, and at the same time retrieve all the surveillance footage from the surrounding area.

She turned to me and asked, "Chen Yang, do you think there's any connection between Jiang Ling's matter and the Zhou family's matter?"

I thought for a moment, then took out the silver butterfly hair ornament from my pocket and showed it to her in my palm.

"I found this last night next to the altar in the cave. It belongs to Jiang Ling."

I paused for a moment before continuing, "Whether there's a connection or not, I can't say for sure right now."

But the timeline does match up—Jiang Ling went missing last night, and Master Lan got into trouble today.

Whether this is a coincidence or someone orchestrating it, we need to continue investigating.

Lu Yan took the hair accessory, examined it from all angles, and then sniffed it.

"Ordinary silver jewelry, with no residual spiritual energy fluctuations."

She returned the hair accessory to me.

"If Jiang Ling is really involved in this matter, then she is either an extremely skilled imposter, or... she herself is a pawn."

I put the hair accessory back in my pocket without saying anything more, because Lu Yan thought the same thing as me.

At this point, the action team had already begun to handle the scene in an orderly manner.

Two members set up a cordon around Master Lan's body, while the others went to control the people I had knocked down downstairs who were under the influence of the Gu poison.

Lu Yan took out a stack of Soul-Suppressing Talismans from the equipment box she had brought, and personally went downstairs to stick them on the foreheads of those people one by one.

"It can only last for forty-eight hours."

After Lu Yan finished applying the last talisman, she said to me, "If we can't find a way to remove the curse within forty-eight hours, the talisman's power will be exhausted, and they will relapse."

I stood on the second-floor corridor, looking down at the bustling scene below, and mentally reviewed all the clues I had so far.

Zhou Yuanshan was infected with Gu poison, and Gu worms parasitized his heart.

Master Lan came to remove the Gu poison, but after successfully drawing out the Gu worm, he died mysteriously with a large hole exploding in his chest.

After Master Lan's death, the entire Zhou family was poisoned by Gu, and Zhou Yuanshan escaped in the chaos.

The night before all of this happened, Jiang Ling went to the mountain behind the Zhou family villa and then disappeared.

There must be some connection between these things, but we don't have enough clues to piece together the whole picture.

I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and let my thoughts slowly settle down.

If we remove Jiang Ling as a variable, the whole matter is actually quite simple.

Zhou Yuanshan's possession of the Gu poison was the starting point of the entire incident.

Master Lan came to remove the Gu poison, but died the moment he lured out the Gu worms. This was the first turning point.

After Master Lan's death, the entire Zhou family was affected, marking the second turning point.

Zhou Yuanshan's escape amidst the chaos marks the third turning point.

Three turning points, each linked to the next.

If we connect these three turning points together, we will find a very obvious pattern—all the changes revolve around Zhou Yuanshan as the core.

He was the initial host, and also the final variable.

I suddenly opened my eyes.

"Zhou Yuanshan," I murmured the name.

The mastermind behind the poison initially placed the poison on Zhou Yuanshan in order to absorb his luck.

Even though Master Lan had already drawn out the Gu from Zhou Yuanshan's body, at this moment when it was obvious that the person who cast the Gu still wanted to make Zhou Yuanshan leave.

Does that mean Zhou Yuanshan is still useful to those who use Gu poison?

In fact, this is a ritual that cannot be interrupted; in other words, the cost of interrupting it is unacceptable to the one who cast the spell.

If that's the case, then the person behind it must still be in Jiangcheng, and probably near Zhou Yuanshan.

"Lu Yan." I walked down the stairs and quickly approached Lu Yan.

Lu Yan was giving instructions to the team leader when she saw me approaching. She looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Follow Zhou Yuanshan." I got straight to the point.

Lu Yan frowned slightly: "I just tested the tracking device in the car. Zhou Yuanshan has some kind of shielding mechanism, and the sensing was completely cut off."

It will take some time to retrieve the surveillance footage, but I don't think we'll find anything.

"The tracking device won't work, but we can try bloodline tracking."

I pointed inside the villa.

"Are there any direct relatives of Zhou Yuanshan in the Zhou family?"

The connection between bloodlines is the hardest to sever; even with shielding methods, it is impossible to completely isolate it.

And how long has it been? Even if Zhou Yuanshan runs as fast as he can, he can't possibly leave Jiangcheng.

The bloodline tracking range is sufficient to cover the entire city.

Lu Yan's eyes lit up slightly after hearing this.

"you're right."

She immediately pulled out her walkie-talkie: "01 Calling command. I need a special operations team member who is proficient in bloodline tracking to proceed to the Zhou family villa immediately."

A static crackled through the walkie-talkie, followed by a steady male voice: "Received."

Fang He is currently on a mission in the north of the city, a fifteen-minute drive from the Zhou family villa. He's being transferred there now.

"Make sure he takes his full set of equipment; the target this time might have counter-tracking capabilities," Lu Yan added.

"clear."

After hanging up the walkie-talkie, Lu Yan turned to look at me: "Fang He is the best person in our bureau at tracing bloodlines. He is a disciple of the Maoshan lineage and specializes in the art of tracing one's roots and ancestors."

As long as a direct blood relative is present, he can find his target by following the bloodline.

"Does the Zhou family have a suitable candidate?"

"have."

Lu Yan nodded.

"Zhou Yuanshan has a son who is twenty-five years old this year and his name is Zhou Mingxuan."

I just had someone check him out, and he was also under the influence of the curse, but his symptoms were much milder than others, probably because he wasn't in the villa and had to rush back later.

He's been stabilized by the Soul-Suppressing Talisman and is still relatively conscious.