Chapter 184 The Tracker Worm
Lian held his fingertips slightly apart, indicating something tiny.
“The Tracker Worm is a kind of gu used by the Blood Lotus Cult specifically for tracking.”
“It is extremely small, no bigger than a speck of dust. Once it lands on a person, there is no trace and no sensation. It clings to them through their scent, footsteps, and body heat.”
“All I have to do is release the offspring worm, and the mother worm can follow its scent to track the host.”
Hua Xiang’s eyes lit up.
“So you finally got your hands on the ones from the snowy mountains of the Western Regions. I thought they were just a legend.”
Mu Cangli sucked in a breath.
“Then… once you've got your eye on someone, they can't shake you off?”
Lian answered with complete honesty:
“They can't.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
I instinctively backed away.
“Why are you all looking at me? I haven't been infested with a gu!”
Lian gave me a meaningful look.
“Are you sure?”
I froze.
“…Lian, don't joke around like that. I'm easily frightened.”
Lian gave two cold little laughs.
My legs nearly gave out.
Nanguan Bo patted me on the shoulder, wearing an expression that seemed to say, Don't worry. If you ever fall into my hands, things might actually be worse.
Hua flexed his wrists and sighed.
“Who exactly is that lanky man? He can get his hands on the keys, come and go as he pleases, and even dare to set fire to us?!”
Hua Xiang fell into thought.
“What is even stranger is that those slaps he gave the Golden Armored Guards looked almost as though he was checking something.”
Mu Cangli frowned.
“Checking whether they were alive or dead?”
I shook my head.
“Doesn't look like it. He hit them so hard. If he wanted to check whether they were alive, all he needed to do was feel their pulses. Why go to the trouble of hitting them with strikes that sounded like thunder?”
Hua suddenly slapped his thigh.
“Wait! I remember that guy… wasn't he one of the Eighth Prince's men?”
I raised a hand.
“Don't start claiming random relatives. The Eighth Prince's men wouldn't be that completely unhinged.”
But Nanguan Bo spoke in a low voice.
“I've never seen him either. But many of his actions were indeed strange.”
Hua Xiang added:
“And think about it—we were all put through that ordeal, just like the Golden Armored Guards, yet none of us woke up. We were probably drugged.”
Mu Cangli added:
“And the Golden Armored Guards should have been stationed beside the Eighth Prince… yet the Eighth Prince is nowhere to be found.”
The cave instantly fell silent.
I swallowed.
“So… what happened to you guys?”
Hua was the first to speak, rubbing his temples.
“…Before we were knocked unconscious, we had actually split up in the courtyard to look for clues.”
Hua Xiang continued:
“Mu Cangli and I went to investigate those strange carved pieces of furniture. There was some kind of incense inside the wooden cabinet… The moment we got close, we felt dizzy and saw everything spinning. Then we collapsed.”
Mu Cangli nodded.
“What I smelled didn't seem like incense. It was more like… some strange sweetness, like flower nectar that had been boiled too long.”
Hua pointed at himself.
“I went to look at those lamps under the covered walkway outside the kitchen. As soon as I got close, I smelled something strange too. I thought it was some kind of herbal smoke for driving away insects. Then I collapsed the very next moment.”
Just as I thought.
The entire courtyard was a trap.
I gritted my teeth.
“So Lian and I were knocked out by the tea that woman in white gave us… And as if that weren't enough, I'd already drunk Sister Pink-Lotus's tea before and gotten hit with the Eighth Prince's Monthly Crimson. We still haven't found the antidote, Daily Evergreen, and then another cup of tea knocks me out again!”
The more I spoke, the angrier I became.
“I may never drink tea again for the rest of my life!”
The four of them fell silent for two seconds.
They seemed to want to comfort me, but apparently had no idea what to say.
Just then, Lian spoke calmly.
“…I didn't drink it.”
I stared at him.
“What did you say?!”
Lian explained as casually as if he were discussing the weather.
“I thought the woman's behavior was strange, so I kept my guard up. I merely held the cup and pretended to drink.”
My eyes widened.
“Then how come, when I passed out, I vaguely saw you collapse too?!”
Lian looked at me, his expression somewhere between reproach and a simple statement of fact.
“You fell too quickly. If I hadn't collapsed with you, I would have given myself away.”
Hua:
“…Oh.”
Hua Xiang:
“…That makes sense.”
Mu Cangli nodded seriously.
“Indeed.”
Me:
“…???"
Lian continued calmly reconstructing what had happened.
“Not long after I pretended to pass out, I heard eight people approaching outside. Their footsteps were even and measured, as if they had been trained. They split into two groups, each carrying a wooden coffin. They put you and me inside and began carrying us away.”
“Wooden coffins?!”
I got goosebumps all over.
Lian remained perfectly composed.
“Yes. And they even put the lids on. It was meant to conceal our movements.”
I stared at him.
“You just let them put you inside?!”
His response was perfectly matter-of-fact.
“I couldn't fight them at the time. The only option was to wait and see what happened.”
Then he added something even more horrifying:
“You, on the other hand, slept more peacefully than a corpse.”
I:
“…”
Hua and the others struggled to suppress their laughter, their shoulders trembling.
Lian continued:
“They carried us for some distance. I soon noticed that their footsteps were getting quieter, as though we'd entered some underground passage or hidden chamber. Later, I heard more and more voices. I realized that if I didn't act soon, I really would be carried away. So I waited for an opportunity and jumped out of the coffin.”
I exclaimed:
“You took on that many people by yourself?!”
Lian answered calmly:
“They were carrying coffins, so they were scrambling and unable to pursue me properly. I realized we'd already entered the entrance to an underground passage, and I could hear someone inside apparently waiting to receive them. I decided it was better to leave first.”
I listened in stunned silence.
Thankfully, Lian had escaped first. Otherwise, we might all have been captured.
I then told them the whole story of how I'd escaped from the dungeon after it began filling with water, how I'd stumbled down the slope while half-conscious, how I'd eventually been swept out into the river and nearly drowned, and how I'd first encountered that freakishly strong, lanky man dragging away a bunch of drunken thugs.
Naturally, I added a little extra drama here and there.
Everyone stared at me, completely dumbfounded.
Hua was the first to whistle.
“You really are hard to kill.”
Mu Cangli nodded.
“If it were me, I'd probably be a cold corpse by now.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Say something nicer.”
Hua Xiang, however, quietly lowered his head, looking deep in thought.
Mu Cangli immediately seized the opportunity.
“Oh? Hua Xiang, are you scared?”
Hua Xiang shot him a look.
“Scared of my—? No. I just remembered a legend.”
Hua raised an eyebrow.
“Here we go again with one of your ridiculous stories about insects, fish, birds, and beasts?”
Hua Xiang looked up solemnly and cleared his throat.
“Don't dismiss it. There really is an old legend about this mountain.”
We all fell silent.
Hua Xiang continued:
“According to the story, a strange beast called the Xingxing lives in these mountains.”
I blinked.
“Xingxing? Isn't that a monkey?”
Hua Xiang shook his head.
“No. The Xingxing described in the ancient texts isn't the kind of monkey you're thinking of. It is a cunning creature capable of imitating human speech, with a beautiful, seductive voice like that of a young woman.”
A chill ran down my back.
Mu Cangli muttered:
“You're making it sound even scarier.”
Hua Xiang continued:
“The local people have a way of dealing with them. They place several jars of fine liquor along the mountain paths, together with several pairs of straw sandals, all tied together with hemp rope.”
I exclaimed:
“That's exactly what I saw!”
Hua couldn't help asking:
“You give it alcohol?”
Hua Xiang nodded.
“When a Xingxing comes along and sees the wine, it cries out, ‘You tempt me!’ while trying to stay away. But before long, it can't resist and comes back. It drinks until it is completely drunk. Once drunk, it even puts on the straw sandals.”
I frowned.
“And then it can't run because the sandals are tied together?”
Hua Xiang nodded calmly.
“Exactly. Once it can't run, the locals can capture it alive. According to the legend, that is how the local people hunt Xingxing.”
I remembered the sight of that lanky man dragging away the group of men wearing dozens of pairs of interconnected straw sandals, and goosebumps rose all over my body.
Lian, however, simply asked:
“And then?”
Hua Xiang paused before continuing.
“Later generations say that the most spiritually gifted among the Xingxing can live for an extraordinarily long time. A Xingxing that lives for eight hundred years transforms into a yuan. After another five hundred years, the yuan becomes a jue. And if a jue manages to live for a thousand years… it becomes a spirit creature. Once it does, it looks exactly like a human being, and there is no way to tell the difference when it moves among people.”
I:
“…”
Mu Cangli:
“…”
Hua gave an awkward laugh.
“So… are you implying that lanky guy is one of those Xingxing hunters?”
Hua Xiang spread his hands.
“I'm only saying… anything is possible in the mountains.”
I couldn't help muttering:
“Then why does he keep grinning like an idiot? Did hunting make him stupid?”
Hua Xiang answered with complete seriousness:
“Perhaps… after living in the mountains for too long, he's gone mad.”
I:
“…”
The three of them all shuddered.
Lian, however, spoke calmly.
“Whatever he is, we'll know soon enough.”
I looked at him and was about to ask what he meant.
But Lian had already added quietly:
“Because the Tracker Worm has already nailed him.”