As it turned out, Daoist Kongmiao made quite a profit from this markup—four of the five tables went into Ying Bujie’s stomach, while Kongmiao finished the remaining table.
The head chef in the kitchen asked the front desk several times which company was so extravagant as to hold a team-building event at Flowing Water Pavilion.
Gao Gusheng hugged his two ordered dishes, trembling as he watched plate after plate disappear before the two men, with only one phrase left in his mind: “Devouring thousands of miles like a tiger.”
Leaving Gao Gusheng with this master-disciple pair, Gao Shi felt very reassured. After giving Gao Gusheng the Flowing Water Pavilion card, he hurried non-stop toward the Wu family.
Xuanyu said Huang Shan’s condition was very bad.
…
“Brother Huang! Brother Huang!”
Chang Yang carried Huang Shan, using the talisman Xuanyu gave him to maintain a safe space. Though the battle outside had calmed, Huang Shan’s condition continued to worsen.
Earlier, the three had pretended to be caught to trick Old Wu into lowering his guard, but Old Wu was extremely cautious and sent child spirits to scout.
The three had no choice but to fight back.
Countless child spirits emerged from the ancient mansion. The children’s cries and laughter sounded particularly horrifying at this moment. Some of these child spirits appeared to be four or five years old, while others were just barely recognizable embryonic forms. Dense swarms of them—roughly counting, there were more than ten.
This was Feiyu’s first time seeing these child spirits. The moment he saw them, he understood why he hadn’t detected them before.
Because the refinement method for these child spirits had been modified, they were co-refined with gu insects. Child spirits refined this way were more obedient—even people with no previous experience raising ghosts could handle them. But correspondingly, when backlash occurred, it was even more severe.
Kunpeng bloodline naturally suppressed gu, so these child spirits instinctively avoided him, using every means to disguise themselves.
In nature, prey evolves various ways to protect themselves to escape predators. The same principle applied to gu.
Now, driven by Old Wu, even though they feared the bloodline suppression, they had no choice but to fight.
This was the downside of amateurs operating such things. If Liao Zitu were here, she would turn and run rather than try to battle. But here was the half-baked Old Wu, who forcibly drove the child spirits to attack—no different from sheep entering a tiger’s den.
Watching Feiyu slaughter them wholesale, Chang Yang remembered a silly question from netizens online.
One hundred thousand ducks versus one hundred lions—who would win?
The highest liked answer was:
If time-limited, the ducks would win. After all, no matter how big a lion’s appetite, it couldn’t eat that many in a short time.
Now, these child spirit gu were just ducks to Feiyu.
However, just as Chang Yang was breathing a sigh of relief, he heard Huang Shan roar in a low voice: “Get away!”
After Huang Shan was infected with gu, as a precaution, Feiyu had bound his hands and feet, and he had voluntarily asked to be knocked unconscious.
But even so, he couldn’t resist the gu insect’s power. This gu insect burrowed into his dantian, bit through the ropes, and controlled his body to stab at Chang Yang.
Huang Shan could only control his head now. He shouted a warning loudly, but Chang Yang had nowhere to dodge.
In desperation, he bit down hard on his tongue.
Blood splattered. Whether from pain or something else, in that instant he could actually control his own body. Though only for a brief moment, Huang Shan suddenly threw his body to the side, crashing toward the wall!
Even if it meant serious injury, he couldn’t be controlled to cause trouble for his teammates!
Huang Shan collided with the wall with a dull thud. His hand holding the dagger went limp and dropped—clearly completely broken. Even gu insects couldn’t regenerate severed limbs.
This collision used all his strength. Huang Shan immediately collapsed. Chang Yang quickly rushed up wanting to feed him medicine, but Huang Shan firmly shook his head, “No… can’t…”
He was afraid that if he took medicine and recovered his healthy body, the gu insect would control him to harm his teammates again.
After saying this, he passed out.
Even unconscious, his jaw remained tightly clenched—Chang Yang couldn’t pry it open no matter how hard he tried.
Unknown to anyone, where clothing concealed Huang Shan’s shoulder, a faint silver-white glow emanated.
Feiyu didn’t expend much effort dealing with the Wu family. If they were real ghosts, it might have been troublesome, but mere gu ghosts were easy for him to handle.
But when he saw the unconscious Huang Shan, an emotion more agitating and angry than defeat surged up, “Idiot! Why won’t you take medicine!”
Chang Yang said anxiously, “Brother Huang is afraid the gu insect in his body will continue controlling him. Feiyu, I’ll handle the Wu family matters—you quickly take Brother Huang to find the captain! The captain must have a solution!”
Feiyu forcefully pried at Huang Shan’s tightly clenched mouth. He didn’t dare use more force—more would make his injuries worse.
“Idiot! Stubborn mule!”
Feiyu was both angry and anxious. Even he didn’t know where this emotion came from. This was clearly just a middle-aged man with clumsy pickup lines and only passable looks—they’d only met twice.
Turbulent emotions crashed within his body, from heart to brain. His head felt like splitting, and vague information appeared before his eyes, on the verge of emerging—
[My clan’s descendants can suppress gu insects in those afflicted with bloodline pressure, driving them out and destroying them.]
[…If awakening is incomplete, can also… lips and teeth touching… saliva exchange to break gu arts.]
There were more words after, but he couldn’t hear them clearly.
Feiyu suddenly awakened from that mysterious state.
He knew he was different from ordinary people. Other spirit police needed to find ways to control their power, but his method of controlling power seemed innately known. Initially it was ten years per dream, one dream per ten years. Later, as time passed, his dream intervals gradually shortened. In dreams, he would learn much information from ancient times and gradually master his powers.
He had tried obtaining information while awake but never succeeded.
Only this time…
Chang Yang looked at him worriedly, “Feiyu, what’s wrong?”
Just now, Feiyu had fallen into that mysterious state, like when he was in seclusion before.
Feiyu struggled violently inside, and when his gaze fell on Huang Shan’s pale face, he gritted his teeth and said, “I just learned a method to drive out gu.”
Chang Yang’s eyes lit up, “What?! Quick! Quick, save Brother Huang!”
Perhaps the gu insect also sensed this body’s extremely poor condition. Plus, Old Wu who had been controlling it was already dead from backlash, so the gu began burrowing in Huang Shan’s body, trying to find a suitable place to lay eggs, using him as a breeding ground for its offspring.
Once the gu laid eggs, it would absorb Huang Shan’s life essence and blood—he would die quickly.
Feiyu clenched his fists tightly, “You go arrange things outside first. Leave him… to me.”
Time was critical. Even though Chang Yang looked back worriedly as he ran, there was no better option.
The door closed—complete silence.
Amid the devastation everywhere, Feiyu lowered his head and kissed down.
In that instant, as if his soul was drawn away, the silver-white patterns on Huang Shan’s shoulder lit up. Like finding their master, the silver light tried to touch Feiyu joyfully, but was blocked by an invisible force.
Feiyu had originally only wanted to save someone and was very resistant to overly intimate actions. But when their lips and teeth met, the first to lose control was himself.
Something extremely familiar was on the verge of emerging. He sought almost greedily, like a beast that knew no satiation.
…
Gao Shi and the others hurried over, “Where’s Brother Huang?”
Due to unsealing, Yin Ling’s face was somewhat pale, but his spirits were good. He was carrying a researcher under his arm, “I can control ghosts to drive out the gu, but he might feel cold all over and have heavy yin qi for several days.”
“This is a passing researcher. The research institute was very interested in hearing gu insects had appeared in the world and provided us with ‘gu-dissolving water’ for free.”
“But I think Boss Gao’s gu-driving method is most reliable. You don’t know how cool Boss Gao was just now—he chopped the gu in half with one blow!”
The researcher coughed lightly, adjusted his glasses, and politely said, “That’s right, so can we change to a different talking position, Captain Yin?”
“…So many?”
“So many what?”
At this moment, Feiyu pushed the door open. Behind him followed Huang Shan, who had taken medicine and recovered from his serious injuries quite well.
Feiyu looked at the person before him, remembering the life-or-death decision he had just made, his face alternating between red and white, feeling like he was an idiot.
“…Nothing.”
Chang Yang rushed over joyfully, “Brother Huang, you’re okay?!”
“Feiyu’s gu-expelling method really worked!”
“Let me tell you, just now Feiyu he… Hey Brother Huang, why are your lips so red and swollen? And why is there a torn spot?! Could it be gu backlash??”
Chang Yang instinctively turned to ask Feiyu for confirmation, “Fei… wait, Feiyu, why are your lips also so… mmph mmph, what’s wrong captain?”
Gao Shi silently pulled Chang Yang to his side.
Shut up, Yang.
***
This pursuit finally came to an end, but there were still many follow-up issues to handle.
Wen Yan had been directly struck by Gao Shi’s axe, which scattered the gu half of his heart, making him extremely weak now—originally, if Liao Zitu hadn’t refined him into twin gu, he would have died shortly after birth.
Interestingly, Wen Liang noticed something wrong with Wen Yan and hurriedly tried to transfer his consciousness into Wen Yan’s body. As soon as he went over, he took a solid axe blow. Gao Shi had effectively achieved “one axe, two Wens,” nearly sending both brothers away directly.
They were loaded into police cars, and soon the dirty deeds Wen Liang had done as student council president by quietly abusing his private power were exposed.
For example, the student who had splashed a bucket of water on Gao Gusheng was expelled on charges of stealing exam papers—Wen Liang had interfered.
For instance, he had used his private power to secretly sabotage certain students, who were still grateful to him.
Also, in his room’s secret chamber, many photos and miscellaneous items of Gao Gusheng were found.
In the center of the room was a small cat preserved in formalin—the lame kitten Gao Gusheng had once fed. Later it disappeared, and Gao Gusheng had anxiously searched for it for a long time.
Ying Bujie brought the kitten’s soul back to the Gao family. When the kitten saw Gao Gusheng, it joyfully nuzzled his cheek, then turned into points of light.
It had finally done what it had always wanted to do in life but didn’t dare—kiss its little caretaker.
It was reborn.
For some reason, Gao Gusheng’s tears suddenly fell.
“Huh? Why did my cheek feel itchy just now?”
…
The controlled Old Zheng was also rescued. Old Zheng thought he had just had a dream. After waking up, he held his thermos and muttered, “Where did this get dented so badly? And my printed registration forms—why are they all covered in shoe prints?”
About this, the guilty Gao Gusheng didn’t dare speak and quietly sent Old Zheng a case of goji tea.
The Wu family was completely wiped out. On the day of arrest, facing iron evidence, some still stubbornly retorted, “I’m their father! I gave them their lives! What’s wrong with taking them back!”
Some parents always saw children as their property rather than independent people.
When sorting out Wu family relationships, everyone’s jaws dropped. Among these Wu family descendants, some were Old Wu’s illegitimate children, some were the old lady’s illegitimate children. That Old Wu had been so dissolute, putting countless green hats on his wife, but never expected he was also raising another man’s children.
Old Wu, who was about to die from backlash, was unexpectedly saved by researchers who arrived in time. The researcher looked at him with glowing eyes, repeatedly requesting that this person must serve as a new research subject for their institute.
Old Wu, laden with sins, was directly sentenced to serve his term at the research institute, saved in this half-dead, neither human nor ghost state.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing that the wife he thought he had controlled for life had given him green hats, he couldn’t catch his breath and died of anger directly.
This nearly made the research institute, which had been preparing to set off firecrackers, cry down their front gate.
In all this chaos, the Wu family’s young master—the one who had twice tried to save the victim girls—was uncharacteristically silent.
He finally looked north, toward where the first girl he had saved was, the only one.
He wasn’t good, yet wasn’t thoroughly bad either. He had silently watched his family trade lives for wealth, reluctant to give up riches yet unable to bear watching lives perish.
Or perhaps there were other reasons that gently urged in his ear during midnight dreams—
Quick, save her.
He closed his eyes and seemed to still see the timid, shy girl bringing him hot porridge, the white steam floating and dispersing in the air.
[Are you… having stomach troubles?]
…
The third girl brought into the Wu family was different from the first two—one for money, one for a person. This girl was controlled by gu and brought into the Wu family.
Old Wu fancied himself irresistibly charming and took a liking to her. He hadn’t expected such a fierce personality from the seemingly gentle girl. Stumbling here, in his rage he used love gu to control her.
This girl came from an orphanage—diligent, studious, and hardworking. At only nineteen, she shouldn’t have suffered such setbacks.
The girl’s face was photographed, and almost everyone online knew this girl had become a fifth mistress, serving as a mistress to a seventy-year-old man, forced to spend nights with someone old enough to be her grandfather, even bearing his child.
They had originally wanted to erase her memory, letting her completely forget this painful experience, but she was still pregnant.
Helplessly, they had to wake her up.
Unexpectedly, the girl’s resilience was amazing. After learning all this, she thought it over and aborted the child, but chose not to erase her memory.
That day, she cried heavily, then dried her tears and walked into a new life.
Coincidentally, this girl was from the Gao family orphanage. This was also why Mo Hua had paid attention to the Wu family incident—he didn’t believe such a girl would choose to be an old man’s mistress.
Gao Shi arranged for someone to speak with her as a sponsor of the orphanage, indicating they could provide substantial funds for full facial reconstruction surgery, giving her a completely new face.
But the girl, who looked so timid like a flower swaying in the wind, said she didn’t need to change her appearance—she wasn’t the one who was wrong in this matter.
According to her wishes, this money was invested in the orphanage.
She said she would also devote herself to welfare work in the future.
The liaison found it strange—why was this girl willing to help children but unwilling to keep the child in her womb?
She saw the liaison’s confusion, smiled, and said she knew the child was innocent, but she couldn’t bring herself to love it, and couldn’t leave a child at the orphanage while she was still alive.
Children who grow up without love, or even in their birth mother’s hatred, are too tragic.
Regarding her decision, the liaison remained neutral. Everyone had their own views, and outsiders had no right to judge right or wrong.
After all, the girl should have the right to decide about her own body.
…
Finally, there was the matter of dealing with Liao Zitu.
Gao Shi still had some questions for her.
For instance, was the love gu that Kongmiao encountered that day controlled by her, or was there someone else?
***
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