Chapter 33: The Millipede Gu

“What nonsense are you saying?”
Yangmei’s cheeks flushed as she reached out to pat Heshen’s chest.
Yet her delicate hand, raised high and then falling softly, did not feel like a blow, but more like a gentle caress between lovers.
That single touch instantly ignited the fire within the man before her.
He paid the food on the table no mind, stood up, and swept Yangmei into his arms, carrying her straight into the inner room.
He laid her down on the bed.
“Sister Mei, may I kiss you?”
A soft nasal sound rose from beneath him.
“Mm.”
The melodious, lingering response was one that could haunt a man’s dreams.
Heshen, breathing heavily through his nose, trailed kisses from her neck up to her ear.
The flush on Sister Mei’s earlobe was tinged with pink, so endearing—it reminded him, oddly, of the pig’s ears in the braised meat shop… Surely, the taste would be just as delightful.
The thought gave rise to an inexplicable urge in Heshen’s heart: to take a bite and sample the flavor.
As soon as this strange impulse was born, it echoed in his mind like a nightmare.
Just one bite, just to taste—only one.
Even if she lost an ear, Sister Mei would be fine.
She’d forgive me…
He slowly opened his mouth and leaned in.
“By the way, three people came to the Spring Breeze Pavilion today, asking about you.”
Yangmei’s words snapped Heshen out of his dreadful reverie.
A chill of cold sweat broke out on his back in an instant.
He didn’t know if it was Yangmei’s words or that unfamiliar version of himself that scared him more.
What had he just done?
He’d actually wanted to bite off Sister Mei’s ear!
Gurgle~
His stomach suddenly growled, as if protesting his abandonment of such a delicacy.
Scrambling off Yangmei, Heshen was filled with regret and fear.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Yangmei looked at him, puzzled.
“N-nothing… Who did you say was looking for me?”
“Three people. One had a gun, one was a Taoist, and the other was a beautiful young woman,” Yangmei said. “Oh, and the money for the meat I bought you came from that young lady’s reward.”
That single sentence made Heshen’s heart leap in alarm.
A gunman and a beautiful woman.
Wasn’t that Yang Xian and Bai Xian?
If they could find Sister Mei, they surely knew about his relationship with Yangmei.
If Yangmei had come home early and he’d rushed over, wasn’t he walking right into their trap?
Thinking this, Heshen leapt from the bed at once.

He threw on his trousers and dashed outside.
“They’re here for me… No, I have to leave right now!”
But just as he reached the courtyard, he caught sight of a shadow through the crack beneath the gate.
A glint of gunmetal slid silently through the opening, deftly lifting the latch from inside.
He recognized that weapon—it was the very spear wielded by Captain Yang.
They’d found him!
Without a second thought, Heshen dove headfirst into the dog hole by the wall, scrambling with hands and feet to escape.
But halfway through, he sensed something amiss.
Looking up, he found himself face-to-face with a pair of bright, limpid eyes.
Bai Xian regarded him with an amused smile.
“Well, who would have thought you’d have such charm—enough to make a woman of the night utterly devoted to you.”
Heshen knew all too well how formidable Bai Xian was.
Seeing her, any thought of resistance vanished as he tried desperately to back out of the hole.
But at that moment, Yang Xian had already opened the gate and, together with the stout Taoist, arrived at the dog hole.
Yang Xian gave a firm kick to the part of Heshen still protruding.
With a grunt, Heshen tumbled out the other side, only to be grabbed by the scruff by Bai Xian.
“H-He… Heshen…”
Yangmei rushed out after him, biting her handkerchief, her face full of worry.
Bai Xian said, “We just need him for a bit. Cooperate, and we’ll send him back to you soon.”
Dangling in Bai Xian’s grasp, Heshen knew escape was impossible.
He forced a smile, one scarcely better than a grimace.
“Don’t worry, Sister Mei—give me a couple of days, and I’ll be back.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
…
In the constable’s office,
Heshen crouched in a corner like a quail.
Bai Xian, Yang Xian, the stout Taoist, and the two who had searched fruitlessly all day—Yue Wenying and Cai Wei—sat or stood around the room.
“Speak. What’s really going on?”
Yue Wenying’s teeth were clenched, eyes sharp as torches, making Heshen’s hair stand on end.
“I-I really don’t know anything. I have no idea why that man in black robes came looking for me…”
Cai Wei, the scar-faced man, snorted coldly at this.
He took a set of thumb screws from a nearby rack.
“I’ve seen plenty like you. They all claim ignorance at first, but once these are on, they spill everything.”
Though Cai Wei acted amiably enough with the group, in Jinjiang County, he was known as a true ruffian.
With martial skill and a magistrate for an uncle, he was equally at home on both sides of the law.
People like Heshen, from the very bottom of society, would usually steer well clear of him.
Now, seeing Cai Wei approaching with the torture device, Heshen was nearly frightened out of his wits.

“Master Cai, I really don’t know… truly!”
“Hmph. If you won’t drink the wine offered, you’ll have to swallow the penalty cup.”
“Help! Help! Captain Yang, save me!”
Yang Xian opened his mouth, but words failed him.
At last, Bai Xian sighed and reached out to stop Cai Wei.
It wasn’t out of kindness.
Had torture been useful, Bai Xian would have been the first to approve.
But looking at this man…
“Enough. I think he really doesn’t know.”
Since it was Bai Xian who intervened, Cai Wei, though somewhat discontent, put the device back and plopped down beside the stout Taoist to gulp his tea.
“I’ll ask, you answer—otherwise I’ll let Captain Cai use his tools. Understand?”
Heshen nodded furiously.
Compared to the scar-faced man, Bai Xian was clearly the better choice in every way.
“What happened to you that night in the ruined temple? Why were you dazed for two days afterward? And why did you say ‘don’t eat me’ after entering the county?”
Heshen thought back for a moment.
“That night, I got up for the second half of the night to keep watch. When I stepped outside to relieve myself, I saw a packhorse collapsed and vomiting blood. I went over to check, and suddenly everything spun—something forced its way up my nose. I tried to pull it out, but only managed to remove half. After that, I remember nothing.”
Bai Xian: “So, you weren’t even aware of the attack that night?”
“Attack?” Heshen was stunned, then horrified. “No, I didn’t! I wouldn’t dare! I’ve never even teased a young girl, Captain Yang can vouch for me.”
Bai Xian glanced at Yang Xian, who gave a small nod.
Heshen might gamble or visit a brothel, but he’d never truly crossed the line—he was an honest man through and through.
That was why Yang Xian had tried so hard to defend him that day.
Bai Xian reached to her waist and drew out a small box from her ‘private stash.’
It had once held compressed biscuits, though the biscuits were long gone.
“Take a look—was this what crawled up your nose that night?”
Heshen peered into the box. Inside was half of a centipede-like creature. At once, he shouted.
“Yes! That’s it! The front half had already burrowed into my nose!”
The others crowded around.
“This is… a Thousand-Legged Gu!”
All eyes turned to the stout Taoist, Zhang Xuan.
This man, who had suddenly appeared claiming to be from Mao Mountain, apparently knew quite a lot.
“The General Annals record that raising Gu is a trick of the Grass Ghost Witches—they put hundreds of venomous insects in a small room, letting them kill and devour each other out of hunger. The most poisonous eat the less poisonous, the strong eat the weak, and the last survivor becomes the Gu King—a truly fearsome black art.”
“And the Thousand-Legged Gu is among the most vicious of all Gu insects. It devours its own kind, and before it matures, it even feeds on humans.”
“But this creature is found only in the jungles of the far south—how did it end up in the heartland?”