Generally speaking, Gu arts are taught to women rather than men—not because men can't learn them, but because Gu is an extremely yin-cold and evil craft. Men who practice it often suffer shortened lifespans. That's why the Miao clans strictly forbid teaching Gu to males.
Mr. Gu's Gu skills are self-taught and stolen knowledge. He is highly gifted, but unfortunately born a man. As his Gu power grew, his lifespan kept shrinking. To survive, he must constantly seek out the most yin objects to nourish his body.
When Jiang Chen asked him to come and assassinate Gao Jian with Gu, Mr. Gu had no choice. Buying the most yin-aligned ghost items on the market costs a fortune—money almost impossible to raise in the remote Miao regions.
Everything he did was to stay alive. But today, the Thousand-Legged Gu he was raising sensed something unusual—a girl born in the yin hour and yin quarter.
Such a girl is naturally suited to cultivate Gu. If she were in the Miao clan, she would surely be chosen as a Heaven's Joy Saintess.
"Born at the yin hour and yin quarter is one thing, but to have such dense yin energy on her body... Is she a living ghost or a living person who's been to the Netherworld? If I could stay long around her, maybe the yin-evil energy of the Gu could be neutralized or transferred."
After great effort, he forced the Thousand-Legged Gu back into its clay jar. That night, Mr. Gu slept more soundly than he had in years.
Early next morning, while I was still asleep, Xiaofeng shook me awake.
"Fire?!" I threw off the covers and jumped up, only to see Xiaofeng kneeling beside the floor mat with a strange expression.
How to describe it? Like seeing a cockroach but unable to crush it with a stomp.
I followed her gaze. On the other side of the mat, wrapped in a sheet, Mr. Gu was already awake. His face wore a stiff grin, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Xiaofeng, looking like he wanted to swallow her whole.
Damn it. That old bastard actually has a thing for Xiaofeng? The age gap's huge—disgusting!
I got dressed and walked over. "It's daylight. Why are you still here?"
"No rush. I feel a spiritual bond with the girl in your shop and want to give her a great opportunity," Mr. Gu said calmly and steadily.
"What kind of opportunity?"
"I want to take her as my disciple and teach her Miao Gu arts." He had a plan: to use the master-disciple excuse to stay close to Xiaofeng and transfer the yin-evil energy from the Gu onto her.
"Are you crazy?" I blinked. Mr. Gu's logic made no sense after waking up. I asked Xiaofeng. She shook her head decisively.
"You saw for yourself. Xiaofeng doesn't want to learn Gu. It's late—better you leave. This isn't a shelter for delusional creeps. Go back where you came from."
Mr. Gu's face turned pale and red repeatedly. "Girl, think carefully. My Gu arts are famous throughout the Miao region. With just a little instruction, I can teach you enough to poison four or five strong men easily."
"I'm not interested. I don't like fighting."
"Then you don't understand. Miao Gu is vast and profound. It can preserve youth and resist aging."
"Still not interested."
"Some divine Gu can even control a person's mind and soul—make your loved one love you to death."
"No thanks. I believe in Gao Jian."
Mr. Gu was speechless. After thinking for a long time, his lips turned purple.
I folded the bedding and gave him a kick. "Bro, enough. I'm opening the shop soon. Stop lying here like a dead weight."
"How about this—I swear on my life and my native Gu. If the girl lends me one thing, I'll never harm you again, and I'll unconditionally do one favor for you. No—two favors! No—three!"
I was curious. "What do you want to borrow from Xiaofeng?"
After hesitating, Mr. Gu embarrassedly said, "The girl's Heaven's Crimson."
I froze for a second.
"Heaven's Crimson has been used as a medicine since ancient times. It's the ultimate yin item for women, and the Heaven's Joy Saintess's Heaven's Crimson is priceless."
Xiaofeng looked confused and tugged my arm. "What's Heaven's Crimson?"
"You can look it up online later. I'm going to the kitchen."
"I'm sincere. If you lend it, I'll do two—no, three things for you."
Without a word, I grabbed a kitchen knife and stepped out. "You pervert! If you don't leave now, I'll carve you up!"
"Don't get mad! Five things—okay? We can negotiate!"
I kicked him out, and he kept knocking on the roll-up door outside. "Think it over?"
At noon, Xiaofeng went out to buy groceries and ran into Mr. Gu squatting nearby.
He wore a tattered black robe and held a breakfast pancake—looking nothing like a master.
"Girl, it's fate that we met in this vast crowd. Master and disciple by destiny," he nagged, following Xiaofeng to the market. Even patient Xiaofeng was starting to lose it.
"Stop following me!"
"I can't bear to see you miss this rare chance."
"Keep following me and I'll call the cops!"
Dodging left and right, Xiaofeng took every side alley she could find to shake him off. The alleys were empty and eerie—every bottle crash made her jump.
Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder.
"What now? I told you—I don't want to learn your bug stuff!"
"Bug stuff? Bro doesn't teach drums. I've got better things to show you!"
The voice was wrong. Xiaofeng turned to see a scorpion tattoo.
"It's you! The perverts from the night market!"
"Who's the pervert? We didn't do anything to you!" The tattooed man sneered and tried to grab her.
At the alley entrance, Mr. Gu appeared in his black robe.
"Dare touch my chosen one? You're courting death."
"My chosen one? What can you do besides leer?"
Mr. Gu smiled coldly. "You said twenty-one words. I'll torment you twenty-one days before death. Thousand-Legged Gu!"
He tossed down his clay jar, about to chant, when a heavy blow hit the back of his head.
He tried to turn, but the world blurred and he collapsed.
"Take the girl and get out now," ordered the man behind him.
He wore a duckbill cap, one half of his face handsome and pale, the other half scarred by fire.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Xiaofeng struggled.
The man smiled as he approached. "Sister, long time no see. Heard you're living well now."
"Sister?" Xiaofeng's face changed—horror dawning. She looked up at the twisted face.
"Luxing!" she screamed.
"Shut her up. Take her away."
Outskirts of Jiangcheng, an abandoned warehouse.
Bound tight, Xiaofeng was thrown on a filthy old couch. Luxing sat nearby, playing with a short knife.
"The bodies at Anxin Motel have been found. Mom and dad are taken by cops. I'm now a fugitive," he said, tracing the knife along her face. "But you're living the good life with your boyfriend. Forgotten your cursed fate?"
He yanked her hair despite her screams and pressed the blade to her neck.
"You can't escape. Not one of the Eight Fated Spirits can. But don't worry—I won't kill you yet. You're the seventh. There's one more before you."
He picked up a newspaper. The headline screamed: "Anxin Motel Body Discovery—Police Crack Grisly Case" with pictures of Anxin Motel and Captain Tie Ningxiang of the Jiangcheng Police Criminal Division.
"General Star. I've searched ten years. Turns out she's been in Jiangcheng all along!"
Luxing laughed madly. His henchmen all bowed their heads—more like puppets controlled by a spell.
"Red Luan, Yuanchen, Calamity Star, Death God, Heaven Physician, Nobleman, General Star, Ten Evils—all gathered. Now just wait for Mourning Linen, Hanging Guest, Funeral Gate. Then I'll steal heaven's fate and remake destiny!"