Miaojiang.
He Sui’an listened, feeling an inexplicable familiarity, and then pondered the last sentence the young man said. She was stunned: “Then why is it appearing now?”
The inn’s door was not closed, and the north wind seeped into He Sui’an’s collar, making her shiver with cold.
At the same time, a chill rose from the soles of her feet.
Qi Buyan could not miss the implication in He Sui’an’s words. She was afraid that he had murderous intentions towards her, and because of the emotional fluctuation caused by the impending murder, lifelike butterfly patterns appeared on his skin.
This was common among the people of the Tianshui Village in Miaojiang, but the reasons for their emotional fluctuations varied.
For instance, Qi Buyan once saw a groom covered in butterflies on his wedding day. Even his face had a beautiful butterfly pattern that lingered. After holding his bride’s hand, the colors became even more vibrant.
On the same day, Qi Buyan saw that groom’s butterfly pattern turn from brilliant colors to a dull gray. The groom was killed by the bride.
It was said that the woman did not love the groom.
She acted on their wedding night.
The woman stabbed the groom dozens of times with a dagger. Blood splattered, and in a moment, dyed the butterfly pattern red. The butterflies seemed to come alive for a moment before losing their color.
The people of Tianshui Village would see brilliant butterfly patterns appear when experiencing strong emotions, both in life and on their corpses after death. However, the post-mortem patterns were no longer vivid, turning dull and gray.
Like a faded painting.
Those butterfly patterns would remain on the corpse until it decayed into soil.
The people of Tianshui Village believed that after death, they would turn into butterflies.
This was the reason.
Qi Buyan had only ever seen small parts of his body show butterfly patterns, usually after he killed someone. Seeing the groom’s face covered in butterfly patterns at that time seemed very strange to him.
Other than that, he had no significant feelings.
On the contrary, he found the dull butterfly patterns on the dead of Tianshui Village quite beautiful.
Thus, when the groom’s family and friends wept over his death and wanted to kill the outsider woman, Qi Buyan, standing aside, merely appreciated the butterfly patterns on the groom after his death.
He paid no heed to their tales of love and hatred, nor could he empathize.
“Then why is it appearing now?”
Seeing Qi Buyan not answering, He Sui’an asked again softly.
Qi Buyan’s memories of the dull butterfly pattern dissipated, and he stepped outside, indifferently saying, “It probably appeared yesterday and only disappeared today.”
Yesterday, he killed a bandit in the inn.
So that’s it, He Sui’an thought to herself, finding the slow fading of the butterfly pattern intriguing. It took an entire night to disappear gradually. If more butterflies appeared or if the patterns were deeper, would it take a full day and night to vanish?
She picked up her light bundle and walked out of the inn. “Wait for me.”
Qi Buyan’s pace remained unchanged.
It was unclear if he had heard her.
With no one around, the wind howled like ghosts wailing. In her anxiety, He Sui’an grabbed the hem of his robe. “Don’t leave me behind.”
Qi Buyan slowed his pace, allowing He Sui’an to hold onto his robe loosely, just as he allowed his Gu insects to crawl on him.
“I would never leave you behind,” he said.
The young man’s voice carried on the wind to her ears.
“The Gu I raise, even in death, can only belong to me and cannot acknowledge another Gu cultivator as their master. You are the first person I’ve raised, and it is the same with you. There is no difference between you and my Gu.”
“And also—”
Qi Buyan smiled at her. “Our people do not tolerate betrayal.”
He Sui’an looked up, stammering, “I-I won’t.”
*
As they walked along the long street of Weicheng, He Sui’an saw several citizens. These people were peeling dry bark or digging through the snow to eat. A child, unable to eat, was crying loudly, scolded by his father.
A woman holding the crying child gnawed on tree bark with a blank expression, muttering to herself, “Has the court abandoned us in Weicheng?”
It had been some time since the Hu people had broken through Weicheng, yet the court had not sent anyone.
The emperor’s city was out of reach for Weicheng, but Jincheng should have received some news by now.
In front of the dilapidated houses, everyone remained silent.
They looked up at the sky.
In their extreme hunger, they had even considered eating the corpses of the soldiers who had defended the city. Strangely, these soldiers’ bodies rotted beyond recognition within half a month in the cold.
A young man, who had probably read a few books and knew a bit about court affairs, suddenly spoke.
“Don’t you find it suspicious that General Jiang was defeated? That day, General Jiang clearly repelled the Hu people, but then…”
“Enough, what’s the use of talking about this now?” Someone interrupted him.
The child’s father looked at his tear-streaked face, seeming to make up his mind. “If we don’t find something to eat soon, we’ll all starve to death.”
The woman’s hands holding the child stiffened.
The child, feeling the painful grip, cried out, “Mother, you’re hurting me.”
In an instant, the woman’s indifferent facade crumbled, and she began to cry painfully. The child’s own crying ceased in confusion, and he started comforting his mother, telling her not to cry.
He Sui’an tightened her grip on Qi Buyan’s robe. As they passed by, she noticed a sudden brightness in the people’s eyes.
That was the look of seeing food.
It was unsettling to see such a look directed at another person.
They surrounded them, and He Sui’an shrank behind Qi Buyan, wrinkling his fine wrist guard.
A scorpion, hidden in Qi Buyan’s wrist guard, poked its head out from the pressure of He Sui’an’s grip. She was startled by the yellow-brown scorpion and grew fearful.
Seeing that it seemed ready to sting her, He Sui’an hesitated between letting go of Qi Buyan’s wrist guard and holding onto something else. In the end, she decided not to hold his wrist guard but couldn’t find another place to grab.
After much internal struggle, He Sui’an settled on grabbing the tassels on Qi Buyan’s waist sash.
Feeling the tightening at his waist, he glanced at her.
“Scared again?”
Others might think Qi Buyan was asking if she was afraid of the Weicheng citizens, but He Sui’an knew he was asking if she was afraid of the Gu on his body again.
He Sui’an, against her conscience, denied it.
Qi Buyan bent down to face He Sui’an, who was a head shorter than him, and the silver ornaments seemed to tinkle by her ear. He straightened the silk ribbons of her hairpiece blown loose by the wind and said, “Don’t lie to me.”
He wore a half-smile.
Only then did she admit it, whispering, “A little, but I will get used to it.”
“Exactly.”
Qi Buyan agreed.
“You need to get used to the Gu on my body.”
The several Weicheng citizens who had been ignored looked at each other, not understanding what game these two were playing. They didn’t seem foolish; could they not sense their intentions?
Unexpectedly, Qi Buyan was blunt: “You want to eat us?”
The faces of the Weicheng citizens turned ugly.
Though they had such thoughts, being directly confronted with them was too harsh, even if they were about to become executioners.
Many people often do contradictory things. They want to hold onto the little morality left in their hearts, but when faced with death, they can’t help but betray that so-called morality for their desires.
Yet they don’t want to be exposed.
Like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell.
Qi Buyan didn’t look at them and asked He Sui’an, “Do you want to be eaten by them?”
How could she possibly want that? She wanted to live. She buried her head against his arm, not wanting to face the cannibalistic looks from the Weicheng citizens. His question seemed rhetorical. He Sui’an replied sullenly, “No.”
“She says she doesn’t want to.” Qi Buyan responded to the Weicheng citizens with a smile.
They remained silent, taking up iron picks.
The iron picks left long scratches in the snow.
Qi Buyan squinted his eyes and asked, “You want to live, so why should we die?”
A small silver snake wrapped around his boot silently began to move.
He Sui’an, leaning against Qi Buyan, noticed the purple spider that once ate the dead flesh from her forehead climbing onto her shoulder. It seemed to sense its master’s change in mood and stayed away from danger.
Her natural fear of insects and snakes wasn’t easily overcome, and she barely tolerated the purple spider.
“Brother, let them go.”
Just as the Weicheng citizens were about to act, the young man who had mentioned the suspicious nature of General Jiang’s defeat couldn’t bring himself to harm the living. He tried to persuade them, “Let them go.”
“How can we sacrifice innocent lives for our own selfish desires? Let’s wait a little longer. I believe the court won’t abandon us.”
They clenched their fists for a moment, then turned their faces away, reluctantly dropping the iron picks.
Qi Buyan nonchalantly led He Sui’an out of the city.
*
They were heading to Jincheng.
He Sui’an only learned this when they arrived at the tightly closed gates of Jincheng.
The borders of the Zhou Dynasty often faced disturbances from the Hu people, so cities on the border rarely opened their gates, fearing Hu sneak attacks. Soldiers took turns guarding the walls.
As the sun set, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind blew sand and rocks, making it hard for He Sui’an to keep her eyes open. The city walls were built high, with the Zhou army flags prominently displayed. She looked up for just a moment, and her neck became sore.
The city gates couldn’t be opened casually; it required permission from the commanding officer.
He Sui’an doubted they could get in.
The gatekeepers feared the Hu people might disguise themselves as ordinary citizens to infiltrate Jincheng and gather intelligence. To prevent this, they wouldn’t easily let people in. It was better to let a few citizens die than risk the entire city’s safety.
But the gates opened.
Several soldiers dressed in red military uniforms, with curved swords at their waists, walked out.
He Sui’an, in disbelief, asked curiously, “Why are they willing to let us in?”
Qi Buyan replied, “Because I am a Gu cultivator, and I was invited by General Li. In short, they are offering me the reward I desire. In exchange, I will fulfill a wish for them.”
Despite being only in his teens and seemingly having nothing in common with a mysterious Gu cultivator, Qi Buyan was, in fact, the youngest Gu cultivator from Tianshui Village.
“Well… you could also say I’m helping them resolve some issues related to Gu.”
A Gu cultivator.
Understanding Gu cultivation is the foundation. Next, one must master controlling, planting, removing, and killing Gu. Only then can one be called a Gu cultivator.
He Sui’an understood.
General Li of Jincheng had a request for a Gu cultivator. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to enter the city.
“Reward? What kind of reward?”
He Sui’an realized she had asked many questions and looked embarrassed after asking this one.
Qi Buyan, however, didn’t mind. He played with the silk ribbon hanging from her hair and said, “The reward I ask for varies from person to person, but without exception, it is always the most important thing to them.”
