Gu is a thing of yin malevolence. To create a gu, one must refine countless venomous insects steeped in yin poison, feeding them all manner of yin and cold substances, allowing them to slaughter one another ceaselessly, and then have a gu master forge them — only then can a single gu be produced.

So that was why the omen-reading wind chime at Wanshi Shop had rung: it was because Ou Sixing carried a yin gu within his body. When he passed beneath the signboard she herself had carved with rune markings, the gu had stirred with agitation, and that agitation had driven the chime to sound.

What had truly roused it into violent unrest, however, was the thread of righteous energy Lang Jiuchuan had sent into Ou Sixing’s body. That was the pure, upright energy that all yin entities feared — encountering it, they would naturally thrash in distress, and the host who had been gu-cursed would naturally suffer from the gu insect’s unrest.

Ou Sixing had been gu-cursed. As for what kind of gu insect it was, she had no way to know — yet it had made him so deeply revolted by her touch.

As Lang Jiuchuan fixed her gaze on the faintly bulging protrusion over Ou Sixing’s exposed chest, and thought of the faint karmic thread that connected the two of them, a flash of insight lit up in her mind.

Gu-cursed. Revulsion toward women. His fate cursed by the Red Blossom Calamity, implicating his entire clan. His love for a certain person — unrequited. Could that mean the person was not only someone of extraordinary standing, but not an ordinary noblewoman either? The women he came into most contact with through his position at the Imperial Medical Bureau were those from inner courts and the imperial harem. If she was not a regular inner-court noble lady, then — a palace consort?

If a palace consort, then it was very possible he had done something on her behalf, been found out, and the resulting exposure had brought disaster down upon his family.

And the gu-cursing…

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes brightened. How coincidental — the Marquis of Zhenbei had obtained a love gu from the Spirit Witch. Where that gu had been used was still unknown. And the Xie family had produced a palace consort.

Was this how the threads of cause and effect connected?

Lang Jiuchuan looked at the accumulated karmic debt on Ou Sixing’s person. Just what had he done for that person?

After she spoke the words gu-cursed, Director Ou was stunned speechless. What — gu-cursed?

And Ou Sixing too went rigid, looking at Lang Jiuchuan with a mixture of shock and dread.

Lang Jiuchuan watched him — startled and afraid, but not quite as much as he should be if this were entirely new to him — and understanding dawned on her. “You already knew you had been gu-cursed, didn’t you. What kind of gu?” she asked, with an air of idle, offhanded observation. “Looking at the revulsion on your face just now toward me — it didn’t look feigned, it was real. You truly found me repulsive. Does every woman affect you that way, so that you won’t approach any of them? Because the moment you do, an instinctive resistance wells up from the depths of your heart, leaving you deeply uncomfortable. Let me guess — this is probably a love gu, isn’t it. The moment you harbor the slightest thought of betrayal, you cannot find a moment of ease.”

She had kept her attention fixed on every shift of Ou Sixing’s expression the entire time. When she saw his pupils contract sharply, a cold laugh rose within her.

So she had been right.

Was this not what people meant when they said heaven has its own intent? Some of the passing figures in her life were destined by cause and effect to find their way to her side — for she would ultimately have to deal with the Marquis of Zhenbei, and heaven had sent precisely such a person before her.

The way Ou Sixing looked at Lang Jiuchuan was no longer the revulsion and pity he had directed at a weak young woman before. Now it was wariness and vigilance.

This woman’s mind borders on the supernatural. She is frightening.

Ou Sixing hurriedly pulled his garments back around himself. He did not answer Lang Jiuchuan’s words. Instead, he turned to Director Ou and said, “Grandfather, let us return home. Once we are back, your grandson will tell you everything in detail.”

But Director Ou looked as though he had been struck senseless, and asked, “Is what this little Daoist friend says true — you already knew yourself that you had been gu-cursed?”

Seeing the way Ou Sixing’s expression shifted, Director Ou felt as though the crown of his skull was about to explode. He desperately wanted to lift this grandson up, turn him upside down, and shake him, to see whether what was stuffed in his head was water — knowing full well he had been gu-cursed, and yet concealing it all this time.

Had the boy gone mad?

“Grandfather, your grandson begs you!” Ou Sixing’s face bore the look of pleading and anguish.

Director Ou’s throat clenched. After all, this was the grandson he loved most dearly. His heart ached with both sourness and softness, and he could only look at Lang Jiuchuan with a face full of apologetic guilt.

Lang Jiuchuan gave a small nod and stepped aside.

Ou Sixing hurriedly had the old manservant support Director Ou, and the two of them made a hasty escape. As he stepped out of Wanshi Shop, he instinctively looked back once.

That slight, delicate young woman was leaning lazily against the counter — yet her eyes never left him. Those eyes were too dark and bright, bright as though they could see through to the deepest shadows of a person’s heart, filling one with both dread and shame.

Ou Sixing turned away in disheveled retreat.

Fuqi looked at Lang Jiuchuan. “Is the gu in his body truly a love gu?”

“Nine times out of ten, yes. His expression gave him away!” Lang Jiuchuan said with a cold laugh. “He already knew there was a gu within him, and yet made no effort to remove it — instead obeying that person’s every word without question, willing to accumulate karmic debt on her behalf. He truly has fallen deeply.”

What a shame. These deep roots of devotion were a poisoned root as lethal as the aconite plant. Not content with killing only himself, he would drag the entire clan to die alongside him.

Fuqi thought of the Spirit Witch. “This love gu — it only came up recently from that old witch’s mouth, given to the Marquis of Zhenbei. Could these really be the same pair?”

“I believe they are. The person Ou Sixing loves and cannot attain must be Xie Qinghua, Qing Pin of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s household.” Lang Jiuchuan played idly with the flowing beads at her wrist, turning them one by one, thinking of the clever use of this love gu, and let out a soft, contemptuous laugh.

“A palace consort gets hold of a love gu, and uses it on a physician?” Fuqi was a straightforward man of the sword, and could not quite follow the palace consort’s reasoning. Wouldn’t it be better to make the Emperor fall so deeply in love with her he could not extricate himself?

Lang Jiuchuan glanced at him. “In your living days, General, you did nothing but fight battles and train in martial arts, with no thought for anything else — and yet I can tell you’re not purely a simple-minded man who knew only how to charge headlong into the fray.”

It was a tactful way of calling him dim.

“I loathed all that scheming and calculation of the court. Passion belongs on the battlefield.” Fuqi, rarely, showed a disgruntled expression.

“A love gu, once planted, can make the target fall deeply in love with the one who planted it, such that no thought of defiance can arise — but it also amounts to control, because the moment a rebellious thought stirs, the gu insect will gnaw at the heart. If Xie Qinghua dared plant a love gu in the Emperor, it might seem fine for a day or two. But over time, it would inevitably be noticed. The Emperor has countless consorts in his harem — if he suddenly found himself in a desperate, life-or-death devotion to a single woman, how could he possibly think that was normal?” Lang Jiuchuan smiled lightly. “And do not forget — the current imperial clan also traces its roots to the Xuan lineage. It would not be difficult for them to detect the presence of a love gu.”

An Emperor is considered the supreme ruler of all — the Son of Heaven, who regards himself as Heaven itself. Being Heaven, how could he ever allow himself to be controlled by another? Favor and affection are one thing — but once his life and every thought and action were in the grip of a woman, could he possibly go on feeling love?

“Xie Zhenming dared to use gu to poison my father with intent to kill, and did it without anyone knowing or seeing. He is no fool — someone who dares to do what the world condemns. But using it on a physician of promising prospects is an entirely different matter. Within the treacherous, ever-shifting tides of the imperial palace, a consort with the devoted assistance of a physician can preserve her own life, can eliminate rivals, and can consolidate her position.” Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes shone brilliantly as she spoke. “And if that physician were to ascend to the highest position — becoming the Emperor’s dedicated personal physician — then one can imagine just how vast the space for maneuvering would become.”

Such as knowing the state of the Emperor’s health at any given moment. Or, at a critical juncture — a lethal, decisive strike.

Fuqi fell silent. After a long moment, he finally forced out: “Extreme brilliance brings only harm upon itself. That’s enough out of you!”

Lang Jiuchuan: “…”