Chapter 254: The Gu Breeder [Part 2]
Gu Ren managed to compose himself.
He said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Mr. Shen."
Shen Tang shook his head to indicate that it was alright, and comforted him, "This matter involves brothers. If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't be as rational as Master Gu. How does Master Gu intend to handle this matter?"
"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Lord Shen, but I'm completely lost and have no idea what to do..." Gu Ren admitted his "incompetence" without any hesitation. He looked at Qi Shan with hopeful eyes and said, "Since you know about this, do you have a good way to cure Thirteen? As long as Thirteen can get better, I will do my best to help you."
Gu Ren's promise is quite significant.
As long as he cares about his reputation, he won't ruin his own brand.
only--
Is there any way to pray for good fortune?
The so-called solution was actually conveyed by Gongxi Chourang.
He said, "Killing is prohibited."
Upon hearing this, Gu Ren smiled bitterly: "A ban on killing? Mr. Qi, you are unaware that Thirteen had his own compelling reasons for killing..."
This matter has fallen into a vicious cycle.
If he doesn't kill anyone and draw blood, Shao Chong's madness will recur every now and then. Even if he is locked up and forced to endure it, the interval between the next madness recurrence will be shorter, more painful, and the degree of self-harm will be even higher. Can Gu Ren watch?
If he kills someone and draws blood, the craving for blood during a mad attack will be greatly reduced. Although the attack is painful, it is still better than being gnawed by ants. Moreover, after the madness ends, he can be lucid for a while. Gu Ren has adopted Shao Chong for so many years. Whenever Shao Chong is about to have a mad attack, he either lets him go out to kill a few bandits or death row inmates or catches some jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards for him to tear apart for fun...
But the news brought by Chen Tang blocked that path as well.
Shao Chong's madness was not a strange disease, but rather caused by Gu worms.
To kill is death, to not kill is also death.
Gu Ren was at his wit's end, but he still felt a bit of relief: "Mr. Qi, is there any way to lure out the Gu worm? If we can remove it, wouldn't Thirteen be free? No matter the cost, as long as he can live!"
Shen Tang asked, "What's the price?"
Gu Ren said firmly, "Yes, no matter the cost! Whether it's wealth, power, fame, or rare treasures, as long as I can afford it, I'll do it! I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Mr. Shen, but Thirteen is not only my sworn brother, but also my son-in-law, which is a different story."
Shen Tang: "What if Young General Shao Chong becomes a cripple?"
This question caught Gu Ren off guard.
He was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Gu Ren, who was usually all smiles and had no airs of authority, was unusually angry, but he still knew how to control himself with reason. His face flushed red, and he was both ashamed and angry, suppressing his intense embarrassment.
His expression was displeased: "What are you saying, Lord Shen? My reputation outside is not very good. People often gossip behind my back, criticizing me for being a 'wife-killer' and a 'hypocrite.' Honestly, I am not a good person, nor would I ever dare to call myself a good person, but I am by no means a heinous criminal, and I would never sell my brothers for wealth, fame, or fortune!"
She still seemed to feel somewhat wronged.
"If crippling Thirteen's strength can ensure his peaceful life and free him from the torment of Gu worm madness, then as long as I live, I will never let him suffer a single day of injustice!"
After Gu Ren had vented his emotions, Shen Tang smiled and said, "Don't be angry, Mr. Gu. That's not what I meant..."
Seeing that Gu Ren's expression had not improved, she changed the subject: "The reason I asked that earlier was because, besides the 'forbidden killing' path, there is another path that is even more dangerous and difficult, with the possibility of failure and becoming a cripple at any moment. I had to find out the details first..."
Gu Ren's eyes lit up.
He hurriedly pressed, "What method?"
Shen Tang slowly explained, "Once this kind of Gu worm is implanted, there is no other way to remove it unless it bursts out of its abdomen on its own. However, it's not without a solution. Master Gu could find a powerful martial artist or a scholar, or gather the strength of several people to help General Shao Chong suppress and control the Gu worm, but..."
Gu Ren was extremely anxious.
"Just what?"
Shen Tang: "It's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
Gu Ren, who had so much to say, was speechless.
After all that talk, what was the point?
Gu Ren knew he was being kept in suspense, but he had no choice but to cooperate with Shen Tang. He bowed and patiently asked, "How can we cure the root cause?"
Shen Tang had also asked Gong Xi Chou this question.
Gong Xichou's answer was very simple and blunt.
[It's not difficult, Mama. Think about it. How do you raise Gu? You lock a bunch of Gu together and let them fight each other until only one remains! It's the same with humans; whoever is strongest survives. The host is both the host being parasitized by the Gu worm and a humanoid 'Gu worm' competing with it. Kill! Be strong enough to neutralize that Gu, devour it, and the host becomes the new 'Gu Mother'!]
Shen Tang thought it was unreliable: [Is this method even feasible?]
She felt something was off.
Gong Xichou laughed and said, "Someone has succeeded with this method, but it also has drawbacks. Mama should consider it carefully before telling Gu Ren."
Shen Tang asked, "What are the drawbacks?"
We should still ask and clarify.
Otherwise, if something goes wrong later, won't she be blamed?
Gong Xichou suddenly became serious, looking at Shen Tang with a grave expression, and said: "[Once you succeed, this Shao Chong will become a formidable enemy that even I fear and be wary of. You're raising a major threat for yourself! In that case, does Mama still want him to live? She might as well watch him die.]"
Shen Tang: [A major hidden danger?]
Gong Xichou sighed, then smiled and asked in return: "Once he truly becomes the 'Gu King,' his starting point will be the fourteenth-rank Right Gentleman. Within a few years, he could very well break through to the sixteenth-rank Grand Master, or even the seventeenth-rank Chief of the Four-Chariots... How could he not be a major threat?"
In the northwest of the continent, where small countries abound, a martial artist with such formidable strength might even be able to single-handedly decide the fate of the world.
Shen Tang: [...]
She looked at Gong Xichou with a complicated expression.
Gong Xichou looked at himself calmly.
At first, I thought you were an honest and straightforward person, but I never expected you to be so cunning and treacherous, betraying my trust.
I thought martial arts masters would be simpler.
Is Gong Xi Chou testing me?
He replied, "Why am I not reminding you?"
Shen Tang frowned, suspecting that Gong Xi Chou was insulting her intelligence: "...You almost killed me during the day, and my body is still aching. And then you come to remind me in the middle of the night?"
Even if you told that to a ghost, it wouldn't believe you.
However, since it was Gong Xichou who said it—and considering that her friend was a soulmate in the realm of music—she decided to believe him for the time being.
Can--
"You told me so casually, which shows you don't really want General Shao Chong's life... I'm penniless right now, barely scraping by, my pockets are emptier than my face. Rather than saying I'm raising a tiger to my own detriment, Shao Chong poses a greater threat to you, doesn't he?"
Gong Xichou is creating a formidable rival for himself.
Shen Tang didn't care at all.
If you don't mind, why should I?
So what if I said it?
Therefore, Shen Tang truthfully told Gu Ren how to "raise Gu".
Qi Shan did not speak until they left the tent.
"My lord, this matter is extremely inappropriate."
He will not stop Shen Tang from making a decision.
But that doesn't mean they'll agree with Shen Tang's decision.
Gu Ren has an excellent reputation. His sworn brothers are all capable, and he has countless disciples and retainers who serve him without expecting anything in return. Once Shao Chong's strength improves and he has no worries about dying suddenly from madness, countless people will come to join him after the Battle of Xiaocheng ends.
In contrast, their own lord was born with developmental deficiencies.
The problem is that they are young and inexperienced.
Shen Tang's voice, unlike her usual cheerful and relaxed tone, carried an indescribable seriousness. She countered Qi Shan's question: "Yuan Liang, who do you think is raising Gu? Is it General Shao Chong? Is it Gu Ren? Or is it someone whose identity is unknown who planted Gu worms in young Shao Chong?"
Qi Shan did not answer, but Shen Tang revealed the answer.
She said, "None of them!"
He then added, "It's Gongxi Chou!"
As Shen Tang had said before, with Shao Chong's growth, Gu Ren would receive the greatest support. The first to be threatened would not be Shen Tang, nor the Alliance Leader Wu Xian, nor even the King Zheng Qiao, but Gong Xi Chou, who was working under the rebel army of the Pig King.
Most martial arts practitioners are absorbed by forces of all sizes.
This group is a standard pyramid.
The higher you go, the less there is.
As long as Gu Ren doesn't completely betray Zheng Qiao, Gu Ren will still be needed whenever Zheng Qiao needs to mobilize troops to suppress the rebels. With such a trump card in his hand, would Gu Ren dare to hide it?
Once the card is played, who will it hit in the end?
Anyway, it won't happen to Shen Tang anytime soon.
She's only twelve.
Northwest China is in even more chaos than a pot of porridge.
It's hard to say whether a "chosen one" who can unify the Northwest will emerge before she comes of age—what does Shen Tang have to worry about?
Shen Tang said, "Gong Xichou couldn't have made this special trip just because he was bored. Whether his encounter with us was a coincidence or intentional is hard to say. The strong are often lonely, and they always possess an arrogance that ordinary people can't understand..."
Qi Shan: "Cultivating an opponent for yourself and then eliminating him personally? That's quite arrogant, showing absolutely no fear of death..."
Shen Tang laughed and said, "Do any martial artist with a strong will fear death?"
Qi Shan: "..."
As far as he knew, there weren't many. In this era where the average age is around thirty, time flies and life is short; compared to certain pursuits, life is indeed cheap and insignificant.
Singing freely and walking along the way is the most common thing nowadays.
“And—” Shen Tang paused, then turned to ask Qi Shan, “Does Yuan Liang know the true meaning of ‘I have a friend’?”
"I have a friend?"
Qi Shan had no idea about this joke.
"Suppose that one day a friend suddenly tells you, 'One day a friend of mine suddenly turned into a woman,' and asks you what you think. When your friend says this, there is no doubt that the 'friend' your friend is referring to is most likely your friend herself."
The same principle applies to Gong Xichou's case.
It took Qi Shan a while to figure out Shen Tang's tongue-twisting words, and her expression became strange: "Is this friend the lord?"
Shen Tang: "..."
She looked at Qi Shan in surprise—good heavens, when did Qi Yuanliang get vision correction surgery? He's not blind anymore!
Qi Shan: "My lord was injured during the day."
He added, "Lin Feng replaced it."
Shen Tang: "...Does anyone know?"
Not many people actually know about it.
Currently, there are only Qi Shan, Chu Yao, and Lin Feng.
Even Kang Shi wasn't told.
Firstly, Kang Shi is not yet deeply involved, and Qi Shan feels that they should observe him for a while longer. Secondly, this matter really challenges conventional wisdom, so not too many people should know about it for the time being, to avoid any accidents.
Qi Shan and Chu Yao's plan was to wait until Lin Feng's literary skills were fully developed, or to cultivate several more female scholars and martial artists, so that Shen Tang wouldn't be "isolated and helpless," or perhaps—
Shen Tang personally killed Gong Xi Chou and rose to power by stepping over his corpse.
In this world, strength always trumps gender.
Shen Tang: "Where is Gu Chi?"
Qi Shan smiled without any politeness and said, "Given his scholarly ways, coupled with the fact that our lord is unusually outspoken, I don't think he will be the last person to know."
Perhaps Gu Chi was the first person everyone knew about.
Shen Tang: "..."
Qi Shan steered the conversation back on track, and the slightly lively atmosphere became heavy again: "Does the lord believe that Gongxi Chou is also a victim of the Gu calamity?"
“He said someone had succeeded. I’m more inclined to believe that this ‘someone’ is himself. He also admitted before that the extermination of his clan was related to the Gu curse. Even if the entire clan of a small, reclusive clan were killed by the curse, would no one seek justice?”
Qi Shan's expression suddenly became subtle.
"Has my lord misunderstood something?"
Shen Tang asked in surprise, "What did I misunderstand?"
Qi Shan smiled and shook his head: "Does my lord think that's a small, powerless clan? It's true they're reclusive, but they're not weak. How could a small clan that can live in seclusion peacefully for over two hundred years without being disturbed by the outside world not have some ability? However, it's not impossible that Gongxi Chou was also infected with the Gu..."
The possibility is still very high.
But these are all just their guesses, and there is no evidence.
After Shen Tang and his companion returned, Gu Ren pondered for a long time until his sixth brother, who hadn't seen him for a while, came looking for him.
"Big brother?"
Gu Ren woke up with a start: "Sixth brother, you've come."
The sixth brother looked around and saw that the tea at the guest's seat on the table was already cold, indicating that Shen Tang had been gone for a long time.
He asked, "What are you thinking about so intently, brother?"
Gu Ren said, "Just now, Lord Shen came over and brought some news. I'm not sure about it, so please give me your opinion."
The sixth brother listened attentively, saying, "Brother, please speak freely."
Gu Ren asked, "Have you heard of the Gu calamity of the Wu Kingdom?"
"Why would you bring up such an unlucky thing, elder brother?" The sixth brother's reaction surprised Gu Ren. Seeing Gu Ren's surprised expression, the sixth brother asked, "Did that Lord Shen say something when he came over?"
Gu Ren murmured, "Master Shen said that Thirteen's madness is not a strange disease, but the work of a Gu worm. Thirteen has been poisoned by a villain... Sixth Brother, do you think this statement is credible?"
The sixth brother frowned and thought carefully: "It's not impossible."
"Huh?"
The sixth brother confessed: "As you know, eldest brother, I was once a royal physician in the Xin family, and I was most skilled at treating women and children. Later, I was convicted of a crime related to a concubine's miscarriage, but I was lucky enough to escape with my life. I resigned from my post and went into seclusion..."
Gu Ren nodded repeatedly.
Of course he knew about it.
He met his sixth brother while seeking medical treatment for his thirteenth brother. At that time, he heard that there was a pediatric master living in seclusion nearby, so he took Shaochong to visit him. During the process of seeking medical treatment, he got along very well with his sixth brother and had the idea of making friends. Later, by chance, they became sworn brothers.
The sixth brother said, "Before I entered the Medical Bureau, the previous Imperial Physician was ordered to secretly study the Gu affliction of the Wu Kingdom. It is said that he obtained something from the Geng Kingdom... I don't know what he finally discovered, but I know that one day, the Imperial Physician suddenly disappeared... Outsiders say that he was secretly executed, but I am sure he is still alive. You have even seen him, elder brother..."
Gu Ren asked in confusion, "When did I see this before?"
Sixth brother: "Zhang He from Lingzhou Yiru."
(σ)σ:*☆
Happy New Year!
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(End of this chapter)
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