He Sui’an was skeptical when Qi Buyan said he was helping the man remove a Gu poison.
Removing the Gu required taking out all the fingernails and toenails? But soon, she had to believe it. The man, writhing in pain on the ground, had something squirming under the raw, red flesh of his fingers, creeping out from beneath his nails.
The Gu, which resembled maggots, had absorbed enough nutrients to become plump and numerous, swarming out of the man’s finger flesh.
The white Gu died as soon as it was exposed to the moonlight.
The clusters of white worms struggled uselessly for a few moments before falling off.
He Sui’an was stunned, stopping in her tracks. Beside her, the boy’s chest rose and fell slightly with his breathing, emitting a faint, unique fragrance.
He had long limbs, and his slender frame seemed capable of completely enveloping He Sui’an. His loose robe, pushed aside in her panic, revealed a glimpse of his snow-white collarbone.
Once the white Gu were completely out, the man fainted from the pain, lying limp and motionless.
“Sorry, I misunderstood you.”
He Sui’an quickly admitted her mistake.
She hadn’t taken Qi Buyan’s words about wanting to kill her seriously. Suddenly, He Sui’an noticed that his palm was still bleeding, having been deftly cut by a dagger. It was his blood, not the man’s.
About to ask why Qi Buyan was injured, He Sui’an recalled the scene she had just witnessed. The white Gu might have crawled out not just because the man’s nails were removed but also because of the blood acting as a lure.
Before the white Gu died, they were crawling toward where Qi Buyan was standing.
“Come in.”
Qi Buyan seemed to know someone was standing outside the courtyard and turned to call out.
First, a maid entered, followed by several unfamiliar faces whom He Sui’an had never seen before. They were guards from the General’s residence. Two of them lifted the man without asking any questions and silently exited.
He Sui’an wanted Qi Buyan to bandage his wound.
But he asked, “Did you use incense?”
They were so close now that Qi Buyan inadvertently caught a whiff of her scent.
The west wing had incense burning initially, but she didn’t like the smell. Shortly after the servants of the General’s residence left, she poured tea into the incense burner to extinguish it.
When Qi Buyan asked if there was incense, He Sui’an honestly replied, “No, do I have a smell on me?”
He said, “I like this scent.”
“It’s very fragrant.”
He no longer wanted to kill her.
The boy’s gaze was pure, as he simply asked, “Can I smell it again?”
He Sui’an was momentarily slow to react, her dazed expression highlighting the pink and white scabs on her forehead, making one want to pick at them. She incredulously asked, “Smell? How do you want to smell?”
Qi Buyan’s high nose bridged to the side of He Sui’an’s neck as he took a sniff. “Like this.”
Answering her question with his action, he confirmed it was indeed this fragrance.
It would make a lasting scent for Gu incense.
He liked it.
But for He Sui’an to be used to make Gu incense, she had to die. Her bloodied flesh had to be removed, her bones cleaned, ground into powder, and placed into a sachet.
If he wanted his body to permanently possess this fragrance without relying on the sachet, he could swallow the ground powder.
Gu incense was difficult to make.
Qi Buyan had never attempted to make Gu incense.
His breath brushed hotly against He Sui’an’s skin, like fire. “He Sui’an, are you willing to become my Gu incense?”
“Gu incense?”
The boy smiled. “Yes, Gu incense.”
He Sui’an had always feared that one day Qi Buyan would abandon her, considering her useless. If she had value to him, wouldn’t that reduce the chances of being discarded?
At least until she regained her memory and understood the world better, He Sui’an wanted to agree with Qi Buyan.
“I’m willing.”
He Sui’an didn’t understand what Qi Buyan meant by Gu incense. She interpreted it in her own way, thinking it only meant letting him smell her like this. She awkwardly spread her arms and hugged his waist.
She even nudged her head into his chest, like a frightened little animal trying to appease him.
She repeated, “I’m willing.”
Qi Buyan, who had never been this close to anyone, let his hands hang at his sides, the chain of seven small bells on his wrist ringing softly in the wind.
“You can smell,” she whispered.
But Qi Buyan realized He Sui’an had misunderstood him. “What are you doing?”
She was nervous. “Is it wrong?”
The boy blinked and trembled with laughter, his fingers brushing through He Sui’an’s hair hanging over his hand. His laughter subsided, and after a moment, he said softly, “Forget it.”
“It’s not impossible.”
His voice softened.
“Living Gu incense.”
He Sui’an, unaware of her near brush with death, felt an inexplicable fear at his sudden laughter.
She was so close that her eyelashes brushed against his collarbone.
It tickled a bit.
He Sui’an simply closed her eyes.
She missed the fleeting butterfly-wing pattern that appeared on Qi Buyan, not knowing that he had indeed considered killing her just moments ago. His remark about wanting to kill her was not said lightly.
But he had changed his mind, the butterfly form disappearing before it could fully manifest.
*
Qi Buyan returned to his secluded courtyard. As he unfastened his waist belt and changed his clothes, he took out something wrapped in a cloth, which he tossed onto the table. The cloth unraveled, revealing blood-stained fingernails.
A red snake lazily flicked its tail at the bloody nails before disdainfully slithering away.
Qi Buyan opened and closed the bundle again.
When he returned to the table, he had a white porcelain jar in his hand. Inside was the King Gu. Once released, the King Gu darted straight for the bloody nails, opening its tiny mouth and making a grating sound as it devoured them.
In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the thumb-sized King Gu had eaten all the bloody nails.
When Qi Buyan completed his next task, the King Gu would be fully grown.
He lazily sprawled on the table.
In the Tianshui Village, those who refined Gu were known for their ruthless methods to achieve their goals, but he was quite fair, only making trades and gaining from them.
Perhaps that person was right; Qi Buyan was a madman. He enjoyed giving people hope and then crushing them at their moment of joy, watching them react with anger and humiliation.
Tomorrow, would General Li let him take his most important possession so easily?
If it were gold and jewels, he would readily agree.
But Qi Buyan never wanted gold and jewels, which complicated matters. He had already told General Li before coming that what he wanted had to be the most important thing. If General Li reneged on his promise…
Then he couldn’t be blamed.
Qi Buyan slowly began to laugh, a manic excitement appearing on his face.
He stroked a few snakes with his fingers.
“Tomorrow, you might have another feast.”
*
Lying curled up on the warm bed in the west wing, He Sui’an tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the bloody scene of the man having his fingernails pulled out.
She stayed awake all night, her eyes open until dawn.
He Sui’an got up with dark circles under her eyes, quickly packing her bundle to leave.
Before they parted last night, Qi Buyan told her that they wouldn’t stay at the General’s residence for long. They would leave early in the morning for Fengling Town within the borders of Great Zhou, where something he wanted awaited him.
Fengling Town—He Sui’an pondered this place. Just then, a maid came to knock on the door, wanting to come in to serve her. She put her bundle aside, opened the door to let the maid in, and casually asked about Fengling Town.
“I haven’t heard of Fengling Town,” the maid said as she handed a wet cloth to He Sui’an to wash her face.
She wiped a few times and handed it back.
“Thank you.”
It was understandable that the maid hadn’t heard of Fengling Town. They were serving their master in Jincheng on the border of Great Zhou and wouldn’t know much about towns within Great Zhou’s territory. He Sui’an didn’t ask further.
After washing up, He Sui’an grabbed her bundle and headed to the main hall. As she approached the door, she heard voices inside. She politely knocked.
“Can I come in?”
Qi Buyan, smiling, said, “Come in.”
He Sui’an walked in to see that General Li’s expression was not good, giving her a bad feeling. She watched as he angrily pushed a teacup off the table. “Young Master Qi, are you playing tricks on this general?”
The soldiers standing guard outside rushed in, their eyes fixed intently on them.
Qi Buyan remained unfazed, calmly peeling a melon seed, and held the seed kernel up to He Sui’an’s mouth, as if feeding a pet Gu: “Try it, it’s fragrant.”
The white melon seed kernel emitted a pleasant aroma.
He Sui’an felt as if she were on pins and needles.
She couldn’t ignore General Li’s murderous gaze. She opened her mouth and bit the melon seed kernel held between Qi Buyan’s fingers, biting too quickly and accidentally biting his fingertips as well.
Realizing her mistake, He Sui’an wanted to spit it out.
However, she was a moment too late.
Qi Buyan pressed his fingertip against He Sui’an’s teeth, and when he withdrew, he brushed her lips, seemingly displeased that she had bitten his finger: “It’s okay to eat slowly, no one will take it from you.”
He Sui’an’s earlobes turned red.
Qi Buyan then bent his finger to touch her earlobe: “So red.”
General Li, the court-appointed frontier general, was accustomed to people nodding, bowing, and fawning over him, always obliging his requests.
But today, he was blatantly ignored by a boy not yet of age, causing him to lose face.
He drew his sword.
“Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit,” General Li said, pointing the sword tip at the tray of gold the maid held. “Take these and leave the General’s residence, or don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Qi Buyan lowered his hand from He Sui’an’s earlobe and glanced at the glittering gold. “Are these the most important things to General Li?”
She followed his gaze.
This must be the reward General Li was offering.
Even though He Sui’an didn’t know what the most important thing to General Li was, she could guess it wasn’t these pieces of gold.
General Li glared angrily. “I invited Young Master Qi to remove the troublesome white Gu from my son, yet you demand my life as payment. How could I agree!”
Qi Buyan chuckled.
He plucked a purple hairpin from He Sui’an’s hair. “But General, you agreed.”
“Breaking a promise means death.”
Thinking of the current situation, Qi Buyan corrected himself, “No, it means a more terrible death.”
He Sui’an, though suffering memory loss from hitting her head, wasn’t foolish. From their brief exchange, she could piece together the situation.
What General Li valued most was his life. Qi Buyan removed the Gu from his son, asking for his life in return, but General Li denied this, trying to pay Qi Buyan off with gold instead.
Could gold really settle things with Qi Buyan?
The answer was obvious.
General Li gripped his sword tightly, seemingly furious. “At the time, I didn’t know you were so insane. If you had asked for anything else, I would have gone to any lengths to get it for you.”
He believed Qi Buyan was unreasonable. “Who knew you were so stubborn!”
He Sui’an’s ears rang from General Li’s yelling.
The boy brushed the broken melon seed shells from his palm, threw his long hair back over his shoulders, and stood up. “There’s nothing more to say, then.”
Qi Buyan turned to her. “He Sui’an.”
He Sui’an, feeling lost, responded, “Ah?”
Then she saw the butterfly pattern spread along Qi Buyan’s fair neck.
