Though the Qu couple had come at an inconvenient time, Qing Xuzi, as the head of the temple, set aside his business for the moment and properly fulfilled his duties as host.
He first had servants bring out two dishes of the temple’s somewhat renowned Daoist confections — “Three-Flavor Fruits.” These sweets were Qing Xuzi’s pride and joy, possessing the properties of calming the heart and clearing the vision, and when consumed around the Dragon Boat Festival, they could also ward off summer heat and snakes.
After the confections were presented, Qing Xuzi then forced himself to overcome the pain of parting with his treasures and retrieved the White Tip Silver Needle tea he had been carefully hoarding for over half a year, instructing his disciples to brew it and offer it to his guests.
The Qu couple, seeing Qing Xuzi making such an elaborate effort, did not wish to impose further. After finishing the tea and exchanging pleasantries, they presented their generous gifts and formally expressed their deep gratitude to Qing Xuzi.
Before leaving, they also instructed Qin Yao to study her skills diligently at the temple and not to make mischief or displease her master.
Once she had finally seen her parents off, Qin Yao latched onto Qing Xuzi like a persistent plaster, begging her master to take her along to Peony Pavilion. A’Han also stood at her side, chiming in with pleas on her behalf.
Unable to shake off the relentless pestering of his two disciples, Qing Xuzi gave his beard a twitch, waved his hand grandly, and declared, “Fine! Let’s go!”
Peony Pavilion was situated on East Fifth Avenue, the most prosperous thoroughfare in Chang’an. It was said that every beautiful woman within the establishment had been personally selected by the proprietress from Jiangnan at great expense, then painstakingly trained over many years until each one was a consummate beauty — accomplished in both looks and arts — drawing the world’s admiration in droves. It was one of Chang’an’s most famously extravagant pleasure dens.
The master and his two disciples arrived at Peony Pavilion. A’Han, in his oblivious way, was about to barge straight through the front entrance when Qing Xuzi yanked him back, gave him a light knock on the head, and said, “You fool! A place like this that thrives on welcoming and entertaining guests — even if it has a ghost problem, the last thing they’d want is word spreading all over the city. You’re a Daoist — if you just swagger in through the front door like that, are you afraid people won’t find out that Peony Pavilion is haunted?” With that, he familiarly led A’Han and Qin Yao around to the narrow alley behind Peony Pavilion and slipped inside through the back entrance.
The proprietress of Peony Pavilion went by the name Madam Jin. In her earlier years she had been a celebrated beauty of Chang’an, and the moment she saw Qing Xuzi arrive with his two disciples, she came forward to greet them. “Reverend, you’ve finally come!” Her eagerness made it clear she had been waiting for quite some time.
It was Qin Yao’s first encounter with a pleasure woman of such charm and poise. At first glance she seemed radiantly, dazzlingly beautiful — but drawing closer, one could see that fine lines had already begun to etch themselves at the corners of her brows and eyes, and the flesh of her face was not as smooth and plump as it appeared from a distance.
Madam Jin’s gaze landed on Qin Yao’s face, and she was also momentarily startled. This young Daoist had skin like snow and a pair of bright, limpid eyes — clearly a girl. She gave Qing Xuzi a strange look. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have had to ask about this at length, but today she had no heart for it.
She signaled to a maidservant to bring tea and seats for the three of them, then said to Qing Xuzi, “I have long heard of the Reverend’s great reputation. The reason I have asked you here today is that the spirit creature has been making such a frightful disturbance — if it continues, I’m afraid there will be more deaths.”
Qing Xuzi paused mid-sip and looked gravely at Madam Jin. “There have already been deaths?”
Madam Jin waved her hand, dismissing the maidservant who had been attending to the tea, then lowered her voice and said to Qing Xuzi, “Some time ago, a serving girl in our establishment by the name of Mei Hong died inexplicably and suddenly. When she was found, every bit of flesh and skin on her body looked as though it had been drained dry — she had become a withered husk, terrifying to behold. During that time the entire establishment was in a state of panic, with everyone saying that an evil entity had come to our house.”
“Oh?” Qing Xuzi’s long brows furrowed. “Where is Mei Hong’s remains now?”
Madam Jin’s expression became fearful. “After we reported it to the authorities, the officials came and took Mei Hong’s body away for examination. They later said there was nothing suspicious about the cause of death and instructed us to come claim the body. Since Mei Hong has no family, the remains are currently stored in the woodshed at the back of the courtyard.”
Nothing suspicious? Qin Yao inwardly seethed. These officials were truly incompetent and muddleheaded — a perfectly healthy person had become a withered husk overnight, and they couldn’t even provide a decent explanation.
Qing Xuzi also showed displeasure on his face. After a moment’s silence, he said to Madam Jin, “Very well. Then please, Madam Jin, lead the way — let me examine Mei Hong’s remains before we discuss further.”
Though she had mentally prepared herself, when Qin Yao suddenly came face to face with the dried corpse that was Mei Hong, she still broke out in goosebumps all over her body. What had once been a living, flesh-and-blood person with full and healthy form was now darkened to a withered black, the skin and flesh sunken and shrunken, the eye sockets deeply hollowed. Most terrifying of all, though the eyes had gone cloudy and dim, they still stared with unyielding fixity at the empty air above, as if refusing to submit even in death.
Qing Xuzi made a sound of surprise, swept his horsetail whisk, and stepped forward to examine Mei Hong’s face. After a brief moment, he instructed A’Han, “Lift her right arm so I can see it.”
A’Han acknowledged the instruction and carefully raised the arm of the corpse, which had gone rigid as a wooden post. The smell of decomposition instantly spread through the air.
The manservant who had led the three of them there immediately choked and gagged, covered his nose with his sleeve, and bolted from the room.
Qing Xuzi paid this no mind. He simply bent down and peered inch by inch at the corpse’s blackened right arm. When his gaze reached the palm of the hand, he called softly, “A’Yao, come take a look.”
Qin Yao stepped forward and saw a faint golden line on the palm, meandering from the center of the hand all the way to the tip of the little finger. Puzzled, she asked, “Master, what is this?”
Qing Xuzi’s eyes rolled with exasperation. “I only just went through both volumes of the Compendium of Demons with you last year — have you already forgotten all of it? A’Han — you’re the senior disciple, you tell me. What is this?”
A’Han had always known that Qin Yao was the one who answered every question, and was completely unprepared for the master to turn the question on him. He was so startled that his tongue began to stammer. “It’s, it’s, it’s—” He racked his brains desperately for an answer. “It’s — it’s a Gu!” he blurted out at random, then braced himself for a knock on the head.
To his surprise, when Qing Xuzi heard the answer, his expression eased, and he gave a nod. “Hm, some improvement at least. Unless your master is mistaken, this woman has indeed been afflicted with a Gu — however, she is not the host. The host is someone else.”
Qin Yao’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “A Gu? Master, didn’t you say that the art of Gu Poison had long since vanished from this dynasty?”
“When did your master ever say that? It is simply that it has been a very long time since I have seen a Gu technique this vicious.” Qing Xuzi turned the corpse’s right palm over and examined it, then after a moment’s thought, instructed Qin Yao, “Fetch a bowl of well water.”
Once Qin Yao returned with the well water, he told A’Han to stand guard at the woodshed door and permit no one to enter casually. This instruction was, frankly, superfluous — by now, everyone in Peony Pavilion was living in fear, avoiding the back courtyard as if it were haunted, and no one would have come to the woodshed without cause.
With everything in order, Qing Xuzi placed the bowl of well water beside the corpse, then bit his finger and let several drops of fresh blood fall into the bowl. Qin Yao understood — her master was drawing the Gu out of hiding.
Sure enough, she watched as her master pressed a talisman paper to the corpse’s forehead, closed his eyes, and chanted silently. Then he swept his horsetail whisk and cried out sharply, “Break—!”
The moment the word fell, the corpse began to convulse and writhe. Its hands curled into claws, and from its throat came a low, whimpering moan — deeply unsettling.
The talisman paper on the corpse’s forehead flickered on and off, as though a pair of invisible hands were wrestling with the force within the body. For a time neither side gained the advantage, and the stalemate held for a long while before the corpse finally fell still.
Qin Yao quickly looked down at the corpse’s right hand. At first there was nothing unusual. Gradually, the golden line in the palm began to shrink and contract, forming into a short, thick worm-like shape. Then in the blink of an eye, that golden worm-like creature began to slowly squirm beneath the skin.
From palm to fingertip — a space no greater than a few inches — and yet that golden worm took half an incense stick’s worth of time to traverse it. Only when it reached the very tip of the finger did it unhurriedly break through the skin and drop into the bowl of well water.
The moment it tasted the well water mixed with Qing Xuzi’s blood, the golden worm instantly doubled in size. Qin Yao watched with hidden alarm, then raised her head and said to Qing Xuzi, “What a malevolent Gu creature! Master, what kind of Gu is this? How can it be so formidable?”
Qing Xuzi stared at the Gu worm in the bowl with a furrowed brow and a troubled expression. “This Gu has a rather elegant name — it is called the Eternal Bond. One Gu, three bodies — it never appears as a single worm. Your master is somewhat worried. I’m afraid what we are seeing today may be only one of the three.”