Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 87 Wildfire and Spring Breeze

Saiwei and Shengyi surrounded Wuxin, forming a pincer movement. After a cup of hot tea, their bodies warmed and their stomachs soothed. Looking back on the terrifying ordeal, it felt like a nightmare.

Sheng Yi crossed his arms, looked at Saiwei, then at Wuxin, his eyes wide open, a blank and helpless expression on his face. Although he was only a minute younger than Saiwei, he had always been much less assertive than Saiwei since childhood. Whenever he encountered difficulties, he would rely on Saiwei for help. So even though he was now an eighteen-year-old youth, he was still unsteady and needed someone to rely on. Saiwei was a little far away from him, and if he wanted to go to him, he would have to move around on the bed. The large bed had a spring mattress, which was soft and not easy to move around in, so he used the nearest mattress and silently sidled up next to Wuxin.

He didn't move, and neither did Saiwei; he moved, and Saiwei, preoccupied with her own thoughts, subtly brushed against Wuxin. Wuxin knew they were both terrified and wanted to open her arms to embrace them, but hesitated and didn't dare move, because she could hug Shengyi, but not Saiwei. Saiwei was a young woman.

Sheng Yi was completely in awe of Wu Xin and asked in a low voice, "You...killed Eighth Aunt in the river?"

Savi immediately stretched out his arm and slapped him: "Don't talk nonsense, who killed her? Nobody killed her!"

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Sheng Yi immediately raised her hand to cover her mouth. Without thinking, she continued, "To be honest, your Eighth Concubine didn't actually die at someone's hands."

Sheng Yi suddenly realized, slapped Wu Xin's arm, and then looked at Sai Wei chattering, "Ah, I know! Sis, are there some strange bugs in the garden? Do you remember what the encyclopedia said about a bug that can crawl into a person's anus and eat their intestines until they're completely emptied out—"

Savi waved her hand impatiently, her voice rough as she snapped, "Can't you let him finish what he has to say?" Then she turned to Wuxin, adopting a student-like posture, and asked with a mixture of sincerity and naivety, "So, what exactly happened?"

Uninterested and silent, he closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. Only when he was sure that the room and the outside were truly quiet did he whisper, "Have you ever heard of 'Gu' (a type of poison)?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Sheng Yi put her hands into the sleeves of her robe, while Sai Wei's hands were resting on the bed. He then used his fingertips to write the characters for "Gu Technique" on the back of her hand. Sai Wei nodded, too curious to distinguish himself from his student disguise: "I recognize the character 'Gu,' but what exactly is Gu Technique?"

After thinking for a moment, Wu Xin suddenly realized that the cause of Eighth Concubine's death was a complicated matter: "In short, it was a kind of witchcraft. Once someone is afflicted by a curse, whether they live or die depends entirely on the methods of the caster. In my opinion, Eighth Concubine was afflicted by a curse."

Saiwei tentatively asked, "If you're afflicted by a Gu poison... you turn into a giant water snake?"

Wu Xin shook his head: "No, it was a Gu worm that grew inside her and ate her up. The Eighth Concubine we saw was actually just a strange worm wrapped in human skin."

Sheng Yi raised her hand and scratched her short hair: "Eighth concubine... how did you manage to eat such a large worm?"

Wuxin chuckled at his question: "No, no, perhaps the strange insect was just a speck of powder before entering Eighth Concubine's body. Eighth Concubine would have been unaware if she had accidentally inhaled a little powder, right? But powder deforms when it comes into contact with flesh and blood!"

Savi gaped in surprise: "It sounds a bit like poisoning!"

Wu Xin tilted her head slightly, trying to cover the needle mark on her neck with the collar of her nightgown: "You said that Eighth Concubine disappeared two or three days ago, and there were no abnormalities before she disappeared, which shows that she was recently poisoned by the Gu. And the Gu worm has grown to such a large size, so two or three days is considered short. It can be seen that the time of poisoning and disappearance, even if not at the same time, should be close."

Savi wholeheartedly agreed: "But how did she become bewitched?"

After pondering for a moment, Wu Xin finally said in a low voice, "I guess that Eighth Concubine and your mother died at the hands of the same person."

Saiwei and Shengyi's expressions immediately changed: "My mother was also poisoned?"

Wu Xin shook his head: "No, your mother's death might not be related to the Gu poison. However, the iron needle in your mother's head has a similar aura to the strange insects in the water. It's likely that the person who cast the spell mixed two different types of witchcraft together. Now I only have one question—where did Eighth Concubine get the Gu poison?"

Saivi replied, "It shouldn't be at home. If she were poisoned at home, wouldn't she have to go to the hospital?"

Shengyi immediately replied, "I think it's in the garden."

Savi immediately objected: "During the day, the garden is full of gardeners, and I haven't seen any of them give birth to giant water snakes!"

Sheng Yi perked up and began to argue: "Oh, Eighth Aunt was bewitched outside, yet she insisted on going to the garden to wait for death. Is she crazy? Or did the giant water snake inside her want to see the scenery, so it wrapped itself in her skin and went to the garden?"

Wu Xin concluded by saying, "There is a type of Gu that uses the evil energy of Yin spirits to activate Gu worms. The nature of these Gu worms is similar to that of ghosts. River water is Yin, which is conducive to the hiding of Gu worms; during the day, they lie dormant; at night, when the Yang energy dissipates, they come alive. The person who casts the Gu will set it up carefully, and once someone breaks through its formation, they will definitely be poisoned."

Saiwei and Shengyi exchanged a glance, their faces instantly drained of color, and they murmured in unison, "Eighth Aunt... went to the garden last night?"

Then they immediately thought of themselves—hadn't they also gone to the garden at night?

Wu Xin patted their knees: "It's alright. If you were also infected by the Gu, and disappeared like the Eighth Concubine, the Gu poison is extremely potent. Do you think you could have come back alive?"

Saiwei stammered, "Who used witchcraft to poison people? What exactly is in the garden?"

Wu Xin lowered his voice and said, "Your mother knows the secret of the garden, and the Eighth Concubine may also know it. Whether there is a third person, we cannot guess for the time being, so let's wait and see! The fact that the other party wants to use evil magic against your whole family shows that the secret in the garden is extraordinary, and that his hatred is also very deep."

Saiwei and Shengyi racked their brains to think of enemies. After a while, they suddenly realized that they had many enemies, and their father's reputation had always been bad. He had done many immoral things and had even been assassinated a few years ago.

Without another word, he got out of bed and went to the outer room. A moment later, he returned with a glass of water. Kneeling on one knee on the bed, he said to the two people in front of him, "Although you certainly won't have worms or snakes growing in your stomachs, I'm still a little worried. Drink this, and you'll be absolutely safe."

Sheng Yi crawled to the bedside, knelt down, and peeked inside. She saw that the cup was more than half full of red water, and because it was hot, it was emitting a sweet and fishy steam. Sweet and fishy together, while not a pleasant taste, shouldn't be unbearable; but the drink in Wu Xin's cup was so sweet and fishy that it made her feel nauseous. The sweetness was not pleasant, and the fishiness was not pleasant.

Sheng Yi immediately grinned, pinched her nose, and asked, "What is it?"

Wu Xin calmly replied, "My blood is mixed in with the water. My blood... is very good. Even if you are truly poisoned, drinking a sip will cure you."

Sheng Yi backed away repeatedly, saying, "I...I don't want to drink."

Savi crawled on all fours to Wuxin's side, knelt down to take the teacup, and tilted his head back to drink a large gulp, almost scalding his eyes. Holding his breath, he turned to Shengyi, who slowly exhaled, the sweet, metallic taste in her mouth and nose nearly making her vomit on the spot. Barely regaining her composure, she snapped fiercely, "Drink it now!"

Sheng Yi resisted, but Wu Xin pulled him close from behind and forcibly pried open his mouth. Sai Wei swiftly poured the remaining half-cup of bloody liquid into Sheng Yi's mouth. Sheng Yi gulped it down, wanting to vomit, but Sai Wei put down the teacup and covered his mouth, while Wu Xin held him tightly. The two of them worked together to control him for ten minutes before finally releasing him. He gagged a few times, but the nausea subsided, and he stopped vomiting.

Saiwei wanted to see the wound from Wuxin's bleeding, but Wuxin was secretive and wouldn't let him see. The lights were turned off, plunging the bedroom into darkness. The three huddled together on the large bed, too afraid to separate. They spread out both blankets, but no one properly covered themselves; the three of them snuggled together, and before they knew it, they had closed their eyes.

Savi was exhausted and didn't even have a nightmare. When she opened her eyes again, it was already dawn. After waking up, she didn't move. Her slender arms and legs were curled up in the soft quilt, feeling very warm and comfortable. It wasn't until she yawned that she realized she was in a half-lying, half-sitting position, leaning firmly against Wuxin's chest.

Looking up, she saw that Wuxin was still fast asleep. She had turned to the side and pressed down on Shengyi, who was curled up in a ball, burying her head in the corner of the bed. Shengyi's posture was awkward, and she was breathing heavily. Wuxin, on the other hand, was panting intermittently, her chest rising and falling only occasionally, as if she were about to stop breathing at any moment.

Without thinking much, Saiwei remained still, gazing out the window with wide, contented eyes. After a few minutes, she suddenly raised an eyebrow and focused all her attention on her left hand.

Something soft yet firm, warm and smooth, pressed against her left palm through a thin layer of silk. She slowly lowered her eyes, peering through the blanket at her left hand. A sudden explosion of realization struck her – she discovered she had placed her left hand on Wuxin's crotch!

Her left hand, along with her left arm, instantly stiffened. Panicked, she closed her eyes, trying to pretend to be asleep, while inwardly exclaiming, "My God, it's so big!"

Before she could finish her exclamation, the thing in her hand suddenly jumped; Wuxin followed suit and even snorted.

Saiwei immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be fast asleep.

She was asleep, but Wuxin was awake, though still half-asleep. He first pulled back the quilt, then stared at the view inside for a moment before gently taking Saiwei's wrist and lifting her left hand to the side.

He tiptoed off the bed and staggered out to urinate. Meanwhile, Saiwei secretly touched his left hand with his right under the covers. His left palm felt like it had been branded with a hot iron; a burning line stretched from his wrist down past his middle finger, a considerable length. Saiwei had always only known about matters of the heart through romance novels, but now, finally experiencing it firsthand, his heart pounded and his face flushed. He heard the clattering of footsteps; it was Wuxin returning in her slippers.

Savi huddled under the covers, too afraid to move. Wuxin stretched out on the edge of the bed, yawning comfortably, but his legs inadvertently crossed the line, kicking Savi's calves through the covers. He immediately moved his feet away; Savi waited for him to kick again, but to no avail. He sighed inwardly under the covers, "Men should marry when they're old enough, and women should marry when they're old enough. Looks like I've really grown up."

The next second, her sigh changed its subject: "That's terrifying, it's so long!"

Before the maids and servants entered the room to attend to them, all three of them got up. Remembering her strategy of remaining still, Saiwei casually instructed a servant to go to the clothing store. Three days ago, she had sent Wuxin's measurements there; it was just a few ordinary outfits to be made, and given it was a business deal for the Ma family, they should be finished by now.

Saiwei and Shengyi both stayed inside and didn't go out. An hour later, the servant returned with the new clothes and also reported some new information: "Our gardener found half of a cheongsam's back hem by the river. Everyone says it looks like Eighth Concubine's clothes. Fifth Young Master is strange; he didn't cry or make a fuss, and seemed not to hear anything. We asked him to take a look, but he didn't say anything after looking at it."

Sheng Yi went over to receive the new clothes, and to hide her expression, she deliberately busied herself examining the fabric; Sai Wei, who had been thoughtfully fiddling with a ruler all morning, stopped now, frowned, shook his head, and sighed: "These past few days have been indescribable for our family, all sorts of terrible things have come at once!"

Then she took out a few banknotes and threw them to the servant, who happily sent him away.

(End of this chapter)