The early morning mist and the dawn breeze brushed against her face.
Inside the room, the window slightly moved with the wind. On the bed, He Sui’an felt herself surrounded by an unknown warm fragrance. After her fever subsided, she felt comfortable in both body and mind and slept deeply, rubbing against the bedding with her eyes closed.
He Sui’an felt something slipping into her collar, making her skin itch.
Apart from the itchiness, there was also a bit of coolness.
She wanted to push it away and continue sleeping but felt something was wrong. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a beautiful sight.
Qi Buyan’s slightly curly long hair hung over the quilt, his long eyelashes casting shadows on his eyelids. His indigo-colored clothes were slightly loose, exposing his well-defined collarbones and dazzlingly white skin.
A blue butterfly spread across his collarbone, its color faint and barely visible.
The distance between them was unprecedentedly close.
He Sui’an could almost lift her head and see the blue butterfly on Qi Buyan’s collarbone, its pattern lifelike and vivid, as if a butterfly had grown on his skin and was deeply embedded within.
Oh yes.
Last night, Qi Buyan had also killed someone.
The color had become very light, indicating that Qi Buyan’s emotional fluctuations were gradually returning to normal, until the color of the butterfly completely disappeared this time. It was amazing, she marveled again.
The sudden coolness on He Sui’an’s neck was a lock of Qi Buyan’s hair that had fallen, with a small silver bead at the end.
The silver bead rolled across her skin.
Alternating between hot and cold.
Her small frame was curled up, lying in a position that seemed like she was naturally hanging on to him.
And the blue butterfly on Qi Buyan’s collarbone seemed to tempt people to touch it, like a silent charm. He Sui’an couldn’t help but look away. In the next moment, she didn’t know whether to move or stay still.
Someone please tell her.
Why were her hands reaching past Qi Buyan’s clothes and touching his waist?
He Sui’an’s palms were tightly pressed against the slight inward curve of Qi Buyan’s waist, holding onto a part of his waist on both sides. It was warm, but how could she do this?
She must be delirious from her illness.
No matter how embarrassed she was at the moment, He Sui’an knew she couldn’t play dumb. Slowly, very slowly, she withdrew her hands.
As she pulled away, He Sui’an felt a gaze from above. Awkwardly, she looked up and met Qi Buyan’s eyes.
He had just woken up, and his eyes, rare for him, carried a hint of childlike clarity.
This very facade gave Qi Buyan an advantage, making people instinctively want to believe every word he said, approach him, and then meet a tragic end at his hands, skinned, dismembered, and fed to his venomous creatures.
He Sui’an said, “I…”
Qi Buyan half sat up and looked at her.
His long hair slid over his shoulders with his movement, the silver beads at the ends colliding with a melodious, irregular rhythm.
He Sui’an glanced at her hand, feeling the lingering warmth and texture from Qi Buyan’s body—scalding hot, vividly textured, full of youthful vigor and resilience.
“Last night I…”
Her mind in disarray, she stammered, “Did I cause you trouble?”
He laughed.
“Not really trouble. After all, you promised to be my Gu fragrance, lying beside me is no problem. It helps me sleep. But… you were hugging too tightly.”
He Sui’an glanced at his waist. Though covered by clothes, she couldn’t see underneath, but she had touched it and now felt speechless.
Qi Buyan got out of bed and untied the silk ribbon wrapped around his wrist, handing it back to He Sui’an.
She slowly took it.
Last night, He Sui’an had been so restless in her sleep that not only did she disarray Qi Buyan’s clothes, but she also tangled the ribbon from her hair, which had fallen onto the bed and floor.
The long, thin ribbon easily wrapped around their bodies, with one around Qi Buyan’s wrist and two around He Sui’an’s waist and ankle.
He Sui’an also removed the ribbons.
Just as they left the bed, someone knocked on the door, saying they were from the government.
She went to open the door. The innkeeper stood respectfully in front of the room, leading several government officials. The innkeeper first greeted He Sui’an as a guest, then explained their purpose.
The officials were there for a search, ensuring there were no escaped lunatics in Fengling Town.
They needed to check each household.
Suspicious individuals would be taken away and dealt with by Su Ruilin.
Although they hadn’t yet found a way to completely stop the spread of madness, Su Yang’s investigation over the past few days hadn’t been in vain. They discovered that people who had insects enter their bodies would change within three days.
For example, their eyes would turn red, and as the three-day deadline approached, the eyes of those with insects inside would become crimson, eventually driving them mad.
As for those who went mad from being bitten, they were easier to identify.
They were already in a frenzied state.
The officials had orders: for the former, detain them first; for the latter, don’t hesitate—kill them on the spot.
They were going to search the homes of common people, and they wouldn’t spare inns, brothels, and the like.
From the innkeeper, He Sui’an learned the purpose of the officials’ visit and expressed understanding, stepping aside to let them in.
The innkeeper sighed in relief.
Last night had scared him badly.
It was a close call. The innkeeper had been working in the inn’s main hall when he saw a guest collapse in discomfort. He went to help the guest, only to almost get bitten and barely managed to escape.
Today, the innkeeper was as skittish as a startled bird, unwilling to approach guests or strangers. Seeing the officials coming to inspect was a relief for him.
The officials searched the room thoroughly.
Finding no one else inside, they turned to Qi Buyan standing by the window.
They asked to see his eyes. Qi Buyan turned around, his gaze calm and usual. His collarbone had a faint blue mark that had not completely faded, the half-hidden butterfly appearing both eerie and enchanting.
One cautious official frowned and asked, “What’s under your neck?”
He Sui’an stepped in front of Qi Buyan.
She rarely lied and felt awkward doing so, “It’s just a tattoo.”
She thought saying it was a unique butterfly pattern from the Miaojiang Tianshui tribe would be unbelievable. She wouldn’t have believed it herself if she hadn’t known Qi Buyan, so she made up another excuse.
The bearded official’s frown deepened, and he stepped forward, gripping the sword at his waist, speaking harshly, “A tattoo? Tattoos change color? I saw its color change!”
The innkeeper timidly hid behind the door.
The other officials exchanged glances.
An older official tried to mediate, “The princess only ordered us to capture those with unusual eye color. He doesn’t have it, so let’s forget it.”
A younger official agreed, “Uncle Song is right. The princess ordered us to capture those with abnormal eye color. His eyes are normal; we should move on and search elsewhere.”
The bearded official turned to He Sui’an, suddenly drawing his sword and pointing it at her eye.
“Her eyes are red.”
His words were like a thunderclap on a clear day. They surrounded He Sui’an, and the bearded official seemed ready to strike, but the old official stopped him just in time.
The old official said, “Wait, we haven’t confirmed if she has an insect inside her. The princess only ordered us to take away those with insects inside but not yet mad. What are you doing?”
The bearded official’s face was grim.
Even so, he didn’t lower his sword.
He Sui’an looked at the sword, now just an inch away from her eye, reflecting the cold blade in her innocent gaze.
She had indeed been infected by a Yin Corpse Gu before, but that was in the past. Qi Buyan had extracted it from her abdomen yesterday, so how could it still be…
A hand reached over from behind He Sui’an, two slender fingers pinching the tip of the sword.
The bearded official was furious. “You!”
Qi Buyan smiled at him.
“She was ill last night,” Qi Buyan said softly. “Her eyes are red because she just recovered from her illness. It’s not due to having an insect inside her. If you’re not blind, you can tell the difference.”
The old official, gathering his courage, took a closer look at He Sui’an and saw that there indeed was a difference.
The redness in her eyes was due to lingering bloodshot veins, while the redness in the eyes of those with insects inside was like a dye, gradually taking over the entire eye over time.
The bearded official wanted to press the issue further.
But with the old official’s seniority and his assertion that He Sui’an was fine, the bearded official couldn’t go against him, so he reluctantly let it go.
The young official clenched his fists in silence, disgusted by the bearded official’s behavior. The night before, he had accompanied the bearded official to search houses, and the bearded official had mistakenly killed at least two people.
One of them was completely innocent, but the bearded official killed him anyway.
It turned out the person was the bearded official’s old enemy.
Wasn’t this a personal vendetta disguised as official duty?
The young official had only been on the job a few days and was too insignificant to be heard. When he tried to reason with the bearded official, he was beaten and didn’t dare speak of it afterward, fearing no one would believe him.
The bearded official, after being reprimanded by the old official, couldn’t save face. He sheathed his sword but deliberately tilted it, cutting Qi Buyan’s fingertip.
Blood welled up from the cut.
Qi Buyan seemed unfazed by the pain and ignored it.
Although He Sui’an was honest, she wouldn’t let others bully her. Seeing the bearded official’s deliberate actions toward Qi Buyan, she wanted to argue.
He pulled her back with his other hand. “Your face is red too. Are you angry?”
He Sui’an turned to look at him.
Qi Buyan’s attention was always peculiar. He Sui’an looked at his cut finger and nodded sullenly. “Yes.”
He laughed. “What’s there to be angry about?”
She glanced at him again.
The old official sincerely apologized to He Sui’an and Qi Buyan before leading his men out of the room. The bearded official, feeling no remorse, swaggered out of the inn.
Qi Buyan liked to lean by the window and watch the street, as he did now. He Sui’an, not understanding what was so interesting, followed his gaze.
On the street below, the officials who had finished searching the inn were gathered.
The bearded official was among them.
Suddenly, someone pointed at the bearded official and screamed. His eyes turned crimson at an alarming speed.
The bearded official shook his head in panic, “No, no, it can’t be.”
The old official, shocked for a moment, immediately ordered the nearby officials to tie him up and take him back. But before they could act, he went berserk, and the young official quickly killed him.
Once someone went mad, they were to be killed on the spot.
The young official had done the right thing. The old official, after calming himself, ordered the body to be taken away.
Upstairs, He Sui’an was stunned.
“He had a Yin Corpse Gu inside him too? But when infected with a Yin Corpse Gu, the eyes are supposed to slowly turn red, and madness only sets in on the third day. How did his eyes suddenly turn red, and he went mad immediately?”
She couldn’t understand when or where the bearded official had been infected by the Yin Corpse Gu and found it puzzling.
Qi Buyan’s lips curved slightly.
He didn’t speak. His finger, cut by the bearded official, brushed lightly across the windowsill, leaving a faint blood trail.
Earlier, when the bearded official sheathed his sword, he hadn’t noticed a tiny insect crawling along the blade.
It was a Gu.
The Yin Corpse Gu extracted from He Sui’an.
Still coated with medicinal powder.
Qi Buyan had told He Sui’an, “What’s there to be angry about?” because there really wasn’t anything to be angry about. Killing him was necessary.
His long eyelashes fluttered as he lowered his gaze, looking at the large pool of blood that had belonged to the bearded official.
