The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 376- 378

Chapter 376: Yuwen Qi’s Abnormal Behavior

“How dare you! The Marquess Huaiwen (AKA the Marquess of Moderation) is His Majesty’s cousin. Concealing any accidents that happen in his family is punishable by death!” bawled the guard.

This guard, in order to curry favor with Ling Zhang, spared no efforts to press the servant into answering the question, which struck Ling Zhang as quite interesting.

Startled, the servant hurriedly replied, “I…I don’t dare. It’s really because… because some people died in the residence…”

“Some people died? What happened?” Ling Zhang knitted his brows, staring at him.

“It wa–was Second Young Master who beat them to death. Old Master is sick abed, and Second Young Master threatened to break his own legs if we didn’t let him. We couldn’t stop them, so I immediately came here to report to His Lordship so that he might return home to restrain Second Young Master,” said the servant.

“Who died?” inquired Ling Zhang.

“Two house guards,” answered the servant.

Ling Zhang looked at him for a few moments and then instructed the guard, “Let him through. Remember, don’t breathe a word of this matter to anybody else.”

“Yes, Childe Ling,” the guard answered and then let the servant to go inside to see Yuwen Feng.

Ling Zhang glanced inside the Ministry of Rites. To his knowledge, Yuwen Qi had been placed under house arrest by Yuwen Feng. How come he had beaten two guards to death? It seemed that there would be yet another stink in Yuwen Zhi’s branch of the Yuwen family. He had to inform Yuwen Tong of it.

Ling Zhang sent someone back to the imperial palace to tell Yuwen Tong about this matter, and then ordered some men to keep close watch on Yuwen Zhi’s branch of the Yuwen family. After doing all this, he went back to the Ling Mansion.

…

No sooner had he walked into the living room than his whole family clustered around him.

“Big Brother! I’m so glad to see you back.”

“Your face is all sweaty. You must be really tired.”

“You’ve got everything done in the Ministry of Rites?”

“This wedding ceremony is so troublesome. There are too many rules.”

“That Yuwen boy had you do it all by yourself once again? You should take a couple of days off and stay at home. Let those officials deal with those matters. Given that even the enthronement ceremony was handled by them, they won’t have any problems taking care of a wedding ceremony, will they?”

Ling Xingzhong’s and Ling Zhaowu’s tones were normal, but the others – Ji Yin, for example – were talking in quite disapproving voices.

“Are you hungry? Your aunt made some ginseng chicken soup. Take a seat. I’ll have someone proffer it to you.” Ling Zhaowen pivoted around and headed for the kitchen so quick that Ling Zhang failed to stop him.

Ji Yanlai was the only one present who remained composed. The Clan Leader was leisurely sitting there, watching Ling Zhang being swamped with greetings and inquiries from his family. He smacked his lips, because he would like some chicken soup as well but was too embarrassed to ask.

Ling Zhang had a job handling his concerned elders. After he sat down, the chicken soup was served. The tantalizing aroma instantly made his mouth water.

“Dig in. It stewed for a very long time. The chicken meat is fully cooked,” said Ling Zhaowen.

A delicious smell was wafting out of the crock placed on the table. Ling Zhang glanced around him and asked his uncle, “Where’s my aunt? How is she?”

“She’s in good health. Her face is slightly plumper than before, so she’s ashamed to come here. The Marquess Fuan’s two daughter-in-laws visited us shortly after noon. Right now your aunt is chatting with them in the Splendor Pavilion,” replied Ling Zhaowen.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “I see. I brought some premium anti-abortifacient drugs from the palace. Later I’ll ask Mr. Mu to help me check them and see if they are suitable for aunt.”

Ling Zhaowen said, “We have plenty of that kind of stuff at home. You shouldn’t take things home from the palace so often. If by any chance people find out and gossip about it, your reputation would be compromised.”

“That won’t happen. Besides, I’m not going to tell everybody about it. Don’t worry.” Ling Zhang took a slurp from his bowl of chicken soup. It tasted so good that his eyes narrowed in spite of himself, happiness written all over his face.

Ling Zhaowen still wanted to say something but Ling Zhaowu chipped in, “It’s indeed nothing serious. If anybody gossips about this and refuses to let it go, it would mean that they have too little to do. In that case, Yuwen Tong would assign them more tasks and I’m sure they wouldn’t dare utter another word after that.”

Ling Zhang gave his father a thumbs-up sign and smiled, “That’s a good one, Father.”

Ling Zhaowen snorted, “I’m saying this only because I care about you.”

Ling Zhang hastened to placate him.

Holding Ji Xiaocong’s hand, with Whitie the fox crouching on top of his head, Ling Maomao asked Ling Zhang, “Big Brother, when could you get us into the palace to play? Cong wants to go there.”

Ji Xiaocong on the side bobbed his head, looking at Ling Zhang, blinking his sparkling eyes.

Ling Zhang reached out a hand to give Whitie a stroke and then his butt a push. Whitie moved slightly and then instantaneously leaped from the top of Ling Maomao’s head to Ling Zhang’s shoulder. After giving a soft cry, he squatted down. Feeling Whitie’s body weight, Ling Zhang said, “You’ve grown bigger and are a little heavy now. Do not jump onto Maomao’s head again. Understand?”

Whitie let out a cry, as though promising he wouldn’t do that again.

Ling Maomao gave a little gasp of relief and then looked at Ling Zhang, waiting for him to answer the question.

Ling Zhang stretched out his hands to adjust Maomao’s bun and then replied, “Maybe in a couple of days. There will be a banquet in the palace in a couple of days. You may go in there and stay with me for a day or two.”

Ling Zhaowen said, “No. You’re too busy. If the two boys go there, you’ll have to keep an eye on them and thus be distracted.”

“It’s okay. I’ll have Wang Dashan and some others take care of them when I’m busy,” said Ling Zhang.

Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong were both very happy to hear that. “Big Brother, I promise I’ll watch over Cong and make sure he behaves himself.”

Ling Zhang lifted his eyebrows. ‘Oh, this little guy knows how to keep his little buddy in line now.’

Ling Zhang shifted his gaze to Ji Yanlai and asked, “What do you think, Clan Leader?”

Ji Yanlai looked at Ji Xiaocong who was gazing at him with an expectant look on his face, somewhat baffled as to why his nephew was not shy with strangers at all and seemed to be quite comfortable with accepting other people’s kind offers. He answered, “I’m okay with it. If this little guy refuses to behave, just have someone bring him back to me.”

It was just an imperial palace, not somewhere dangerous. Ji Yanlai didn’t think it was a big deal, feeling that a trip to the palace might help broaden his nephew’s horizons.

…

Bearing in mind the situation in Yuwen Zhi’s branch of the Yuwen family, Ling Zhang didn’t stay at home for long. He had come out mainly to inform his family members that he would move back home in a few days and stay here until the wedding ceremony.

“Maybe you should move back here right now,” suggested Ji Yin.

Ling Zhang knew that Ji Yin suggested this out of his concern for him, so he explained to Ji Yin for a while and then added, “Yuwen Tong is too busy, so I must keep watch on the preparatory work for the wedding ceremony. Like you said, this concerns our face, and we can’t take it lightly.”

Ji Yin thought better of it. “But you have to get some rest when you need it. Look at you. Your face is noticeably thinner.”

Ling Zhang stroked his own face. He was thinner? Why was he not feeling it?

After taking leave of his family, Ling Zhang returned to the imperial palace. When Yuwen Tong finally got everything done and came back from the consultation hall at night, Ling Zhang told him what had happened at the front gates of the Ministry of Rites.

“I sent some men to keep watch on the residence. I wonder what happened in there exactly,” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong sat down with him. “Yuwen Qi is going more insane by the day. There’s madness in his bones.”

Later that night, Miao Shiba returned and reported, “Sire, Childe Ling, it was two guards that Yuwen Qi killed earlier this day. He wanted to get out, but the guards refused to let him. Then he threatened to break his own legs again if they didn’t let him go outside to see Yuwen Zhi. The guards on duty still wouldn’t let him out, so he stabbed them.”

“He stabbed them? Didn’t he have them beaten to death?” Ling Zhang was astonished.

“That’s just a story they’re telling outsiders. Yuwen Qi carried a dagger with him. He stabbed the guards to death with it,” replied Miao Shiba.

Furrowing his brows, Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong and said, “Yuwen Qi’s crippled and confined to a wheelchair. The guards were able-bodied and stronger than him. Even if one of them was caught flat-footed and received a stab, theoretically the other one should have been able to dodge the blow. How did he come to stab two guards in succession?”

“I was a little confused as well, so I specially slipped in there and made some inquiries. It was said that the wound caused by Yuwen Qi’s dagger was not deep and not fatal, but for some unknown reason, the guard breathed his last very soon. When the other guard walked up to check on him, Yuwen Qi caught him unawares and slit his waist, and the other guard also died in a very short time. I suspected Yuwen Qi’s dagger was poisoned, but then I heard some servants who had witnessed the whole thing discuss it in private. They said that neither of the two guards’ wounds bore any signs of poisoning, which was very strange. Afterward, the Marquess returned to the residence and also found that the two guards had died in very suspicious circumstances. He tried to press Yuwen Qi into telling the truth, but Yuwen Qi refused. He held his dagger to his own throat, saying that he would kill himself if the Marquess didn’t let him go and see Yuwen Zhi. Then the situation went chaotic. During the confusion, Yuwen Qi’s dagger was taken away from him and he was bound and brought back to his chambers. I secretly checked the dagger but there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. I felt that this matter was not what it seemed, so I had some men stay there to stake out the residence and then came back here to report to you,” said Miao Shiba.

“Yuwen Feng didn’t question Yuwen Qi again after that?” inquired Ling Zhang.

Miao Shiba answered, “He did, but Yuwen Qi refused to say anything. The Marquess almost gave him the third degree.”

“What happened exactly? There’s definitely something wrong with that dagger. Or maybe Yuwen Qi is concealing something. We need to get to the bottom of it,” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and then observed, “First we need to ascertain whom Yuwen Qi has made contact with since he was locked up.”

After Miao Shiba took the order and left, Ling Zhang asked Yuwen Tong, “Didn’t you say that you let Yuwen Zhi go back because you had a plan or something? Now Yuwen Zhi is still in his sickbed. What are you going to do about it? We’ve never seen him with our own eyes and we don’t even know whether or not his illness is really that severe.”

Yuwen Tong said, “Show some patience. It has begun already, hasn’t it?”

Ling Zhang’s eyes dilated. “The matter of Yuwen Qi was your–”

Yuwen Tong replied, “No. I haven’t interfered much in it from start to finish. What I’ve been doing is just wait for them to walk to their own doom.”

Ling Zhang looked at him in bemusement.

“If Yuwen Zhi had obediently stayed in the Court Prison and accepted his sentence of exile, he might get to survive. When he stubbornly tried to go back home, I came to know that he would make trouble again. Since he has a death wish, how could I not grant it? He wouldn’t lie in bed for long. What Yuwen Qi did today was the beginning of his plan,” said Yuwen Tong.

“What about Yuwen Feng?” inquired Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong said, “You’ve seen what he did to himself. He reduced himself to a total mess. I’ve given him plenty of time to deal with it, but things still came to this. If this time around he still couldn’t bring himself to take decisive action, I wouldn’t bother with him again.”

Ling Zhang heaved a sigh. He had really been taken aback when he’d met Yuwen Feng in the Ministry of Rites earlier this day. Every time he saw Yuwen Feng, the latter struck him as thinner than the last time they’d met, as though something had been sucking his life out of his body constantly. It was really horrifying.

Chapter 377: A Peculiar Round Perfume Container

“Are you sure you still don’t want to tell me?” Yuwen Feng looked flintily at Yuwen Qi, the expression in his eyes heavy with apathy.

Yuwen Qi let out two guffaws of unbridled arrogance. “I am. What are you going to do about it, my loving big brother? Kill me? Then do it!”

“Yuwen Qi, you’re literally incorrigible,” observed Yuwen Feng.

“I’m incorrigible? How noble do you think you are, Marquess? Yeah, you’re Yuwen Tong’s bitch now, and he’d made you a marquess. With this fancy, awe-inspiring title, you think you’re better than me now, don’t you? You’ve been like this since childhood. Whenever you look at me, your eyes seem to be saying I’m something filthy and repulsive! You didn’t do anything when Yuwen Tong forced our mother to take her own life, and neither did you do anything when he forced our father to break my legs. You’re no brother to me. The way I see it, it’s Yuwen Tong who’s your blood brother!” reprimanded Yuwen Qi.

Yuwen Feng was consumed with fury, veins throbbing horribly on his forehead, his eyebrows flickering uncontrollably. It was true that he had been disgruntled at Yuwen Qi all along, but that was merely because he felt that his little brother had become arrogant, willful and domineering owing to the indulgence his mother had shown to him, and he had been stern to his little brother only because he wanted him to be a better person.

“Fine. Fine,” muttered Yuwen Feng, his vision going dark intermittently. A skinny pallid-faced man, he was on the verge of passing out from rage. “Since you no longer see me as your big brother, I have no intention to prolong this conversation. If you want to live to see another day, tell me the cause of the two guards’ deaths!”

“Faugh!” Yuwen Qi spat at Yuwen Feng, his saliva staining Yuwen Feng’s robe. “Why should I tell you that? So that you could tattle on me to Yuwen Tong, huh? Let me tell you something, Yuwen Feng. You’d better release me as soon as possible and let me see our old man. Otherwise there will be consequences!”

“You’re really not going to tell me?” persisted Yuwen Feng through gritted teeth, eyeing Yuwen Qi coldly, a mixture of extreme anger and disappointment on his face.

“I’m not! Let me go!” snarled Yuwen Qi.

A dark look in his eyes, Yuwen Feng stared at him for quite a while before he instructed aloud, “Guards! Take Second Young Master away and interrogate him. Do not let him out until he makes a confession!”

“Yes!” Two guards wearing armor immediately walked inside, making towards Yuwen Qi with wary eyes, their faces sepulchral.

Two guards had died earlier this day because of Yuwen Qi, and so far nobody had been able to identify the cause of their deaths, so these two guards naturally harbored grudges against Yuwen Qi and wouldn’t be nice to him.

“Don’t you dare, you flunkeys! I’ll kill you where you stand if you dare lay a finger on me!” spat Yuwen Qi.

The two guards paused and looked over their shoulders at Yuwen Feng.

With a cold, sulky face, Yuwen Feng said, “Take him. Be careful not to get hurt by him.”

The two deceased guards had been either stabbed or slit by Yuwen Qi before they died. Both of them had wounds on their bodies. Although the wounds bore no signs of poisoning, there was no doubt that the cause of their deaths had something to do with their injuries. Otherwise Yuwen Qi wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of wounding the two guards.

Both these two guards were among those who’d examined their companions’ bodies. After hearing Yuwen Feng’s words, they resumed closing in on Yuwen Qi.

Yuwen Qi’s face slightly changed. “Stop, both of you! Are you really so anxious to die?!”

The two guards disregarded Yuwen Qi’s yells. They just kept a weather eye on Yuwen Qi in case he suddenly drew a knife or something pointy on them. Each of them was holding a club.

Angry as Yuwen Qi was, he was a cripple and there was not much he could do to resist. Soon the two guards overpowered him.

“Take him away. Make sure he’s securely bound,” ordered Yuwen Feng.

“Yes!” chorused the guards. Nothing had happened to them after they restrained Yuwen Qi, which showed that Yuwen Qi did have to wound people first before he could kill them. The two guards both felt relieved, gagged Yuwen Qi who was bellowing furiously and escorted him out of the house, bringing him elsewhere to be interrogated.

After Yuwen Qi was taken away, Yuwen Feng glanced around Yuwen Qi’s chambers and then summoned some servants to conduct a search. The servants combed the chambers but didn’t find anything suspicious. Yuwen Feng knitted his eyebrows and personally scoured the chambers but still couldn’t find anything. His face darkened further.

This meant that Yuwen Qi was still carrying with him whatever it was that had caused the deaths of the guards.

“Tell them to search Yuwen Qi and see if he’s carrying anything with him. Remind them to be careful,” instructed Yuwen Feng after leaving Yuwen Qi’s courtyard house. “And there’s another thing. I want all those who’s contacted Yuwen Qi recently found and interrogated one by one.”

“Yes, Your Lordship!”

…

Intelligence about the events in Yuwen Feng’s residence was immediately delivered back to the imperial palace.

Both Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were kept posted about what had happened in Yuwen Feng’s abode.

“The truth should be revealed soon. Tell them to keep closer watch over that house lest they overlook anything,” said Yuwen Tong.

“Yes, Sire,” answered Miao Shiba.

After Miao Shiba took his leave, Ling Zhang said, “Yuwen Qi had been under house arrest for so long before he suddenly took action. Do you think it’s possible that he got that weird deadly thing only recently?”

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “Probably. On top of that, the one who provided him with that thing should be still in their residence.”

Ling Zhang was startled. “Who do you think it is? Is it Yuwen Zhi’s subordinate? But your men have been staking out that place ever since Yuwen Zhi was brought back. If anybody suspicious moved into their abode, you should’ve been informed of it.”

Yuwen Tong replied, “The one hidden in the dark definitely has some underhand methods of covering his tracks. Otherwise Yuwen Qi wouldn’t have got something that peculiar from that person. Still, given what Yuwen Feng has just done, that person would probably do something, and when he does, he might accidentally leave some tracks behind. I told Miao Shiba and the others to keep close watch on that place because I wanted them to find out who’s been hiding there.”

Ling Zhang remarked, “What a nuisance.”

Yuwen Tong raised his hand to knead Ling Zhang’s neck. “I’ll handle it. You may go and do what you need to do.”

Ling Zhang shook his head. “I’m going to face this with you, no matter how troublesome it is. I want this to be over as soon as possible. Right now it’s Yuwen Feng that I’m worried about. After all, Yuwen Zhi is his father, and Yuwen Qi his brother. Things between you two will never be the same after the deaths of the two of them. He’s the only one you’re close to in your family.”

Yuwen Tong smiled, “I’ve got over this some time ago. There are indeed circumstances in which kinship doesn’t mean anything.”

Although Ling Zhang had been through a lot of hardships and misfortunes, familial love was never absent from his life. After his father had left home, his grandfather and his uncle had both been very loving and protective to him, and the bonding between his family members had perfectly exemplified the saying, ‘Blood is thicker than water.’ His grandfather, Ji Yin, whom he had found afterwards, had also been treating him as though they’d never been separated. As a result, Ling Zhang had a very firm belief in familial bonding that not all outsiders could understand. The very reason why he had forgiven Yuwen Zhi and Yuwen Qi again and again had been because he didn’t want Yuwen Tong to lose the last few family members he had left. Yuwen Tong’s grandfather had died on the battlefield, and his parents had died in succession as well. Also, he had no siblings. Every time Ling Zhang compared himself with Yuwen Tong, he couldn’t help but feel that fate was being too cruel to Yuwen Tong. Therefore, he had once considered letting go of his resentment towards the Yuwen family, thinking that as long as Yuwen Zhi, Zheng shi and Yuwen Qi were willing to turn over a new leaf, he would be more forgiving of their deeds. However, now things had still come to this, which made Ling Zhang feel rather upset.

Yuwen Tong, who knew him well, naturally was fully aware of what he was thinking about. He gave it some thought and then said, “Yuwen Zhi and I were never really close. He had a grudge against my grandfather and was disgruntled at my father, too. They always seemed very distant in their dealings with each other. In fact, though they were living in the same residence and bore the same surname, most of the time they were like strangers to each other. In addition, it was mostly my grandfather who brought me up, and I used to live in the borderland all the year around. Afterward, my grandfather and my parents passed away one after another, and I was in the borderland alone, but my uncle barely showed me any affection. It was not until I got promoted for my wartime exploits and wielded great power in the military that the two of us were sort of back on speaking terms, but even so, we were constantly at odds with each other. At first I tried to reason with him, but afterward I found that he was very opinionated and didn’t care what other people thought at all. Every time I returned to this city, we had parted in discord. We’ve long since stopped seeing each other as family. If it weren’t for the fact that my father had told me to take good care of them on his deathbed, and some members of the Yuwen family had to stay in the capital city, I would have disowned them some time ago. Before things came to be the way they are today, I gave them several chances, but they disappointed me again and again. Now I’m done with giving second chances.

As regards Yuwen Feng, it all depends on what attitude he’ll take. If he really couldn’t come around, we’ll have no choice but to let him be.”

Ling Zhang exhaled deeply and replied, “You have a point. Nothing forcibly done is going to be agreeable.”

What was the point of begging familial affection from kinsmen like them? If Yuwen Tong had no family members left, he would be Yuwen Tong’s family, and he would be by Yuwen Tong’s side for the rest of his life. Besides, Yuwen Tong still had his granduncle’s branch of the family. It was not like the Yuwen family really had nobody else left. In fact, Yuwen You was a close relative of Yuwen Tong’s. Come to think of it, the Yuwen family was still a large family. Yuwen Chi’s two sons were both married and had children. Currently, there were quite some young kids in the Abode of the Marquess Fuan (AKA the Marquess of Fortune and Peace). Yuwen Si’s eldest son had also got married, and his wife was pregnant as well, and the expected date of confinement was drawing near. Apart from them, there was also Yuwen Jin… There was no telling how much larger the Yuwen family would be in a couple of decades.

As these ideas crossed Ling Zhang’s mind, the look in his eyes became somewhat contemplative.

He thought of himself and Yuwen Tong. It was true that the Marquess Fuan had a growing family, but what about him and Yuwen Tong?

Their wedding was very close. The reason why neither he himself nor anybody else had brought up that issue was because they didn’t have the time, and the others also didn’t have the guts to mention it. But after some time, things might change. It was time to start considering how to tackle this problem.

…

In Yuwen Feng’s residence.

Yuwen Qi had been taken to an interrogation room to be interrogated. The guards had searched Yuwen Qi on Yuwen Feng’s orders and eventually found a bizarre round silver perfume container. This kind of things were typically carried by women. Why was Yuwen Qi carrying something like this with him?

On top of that, the moment Yuwen Qi saw the guard take that perfume container away from him, he went berserk and railed, “Give it back to me! You cheap flunkeys!”

It struck the guard that the container was suspicious, so he immediately went to report it to Yuwen Feng.

Chapter 378: Gu Worms, Blood-Heart Gu

Looking at the round perfume container the guard was holding, Yuwen Feng instructed with a cold face, “Open it. Nice and slow.”

The guard inclined his head, carefully put the container down onto the table and opened it.

Inside the container was a wax ball. The guard gingerly leaned over to scrutinize it and found that it bristled with very small apertures which were alive with some kind of black creatures that looked like tiny worms.

Taken aback, the guard hurriedly backed away several paces and said to Yuwen Feng, “Your Lordship, there are black worms hidden in this wax ball – living ones.”

With a glum face, Yuwen Feng gazed at the wax ball and ordered, “Go and get a living thing here. A chicken or something.”

“Yes, Your Lordship.” The guard left and soon brought back a living thing. He placed the wax ball and the living thing on the ground, carefully made a small cut in the skin of the living thing and with that the worms in the wax ball were immediately stimulated by the smell of blood, as though it was some kind of delicious food for them. In the blink of an eye, several long black worms wriggled out of the wax ball and instantaneously wormed their way through the wound into the body of the living thing. Before long, the living thing died.

The guard and the others present were horrified, not daring approach the wax ball again.

Yuwen Feng’s face hardened. “Get a brazier here and burn the wax ball and that thing. Make sure they’re burnt to ashes!”

The guards quickly brought a brazier to the room, used their clubs to put the wax ball and the body of the creature into it, poured some oil over them and set them afire. Fierce flames instantly rose, the two things in the brazier sizzling.

Yuwen Feng stood on the side, staring at the brazier. After the two things in the brazier were burnt to ashes, he instructed a servant to dispose of the ashes.

“Your Lordship, what were those worms? They were so scary,” said a guard, experiencing a carry-over of fear.

With a sulky look on his face, Yuwen Feng replied, “I don’t know what poisonous creatures they were. Interrogate Yuwen Qi. Do whatever necessary to find out where he got this thing!”

“Yes, Your Lordship!”

…

Hiding in the shadows, Miao Shiba watched Yuwen Feng instruct a servant to dispose of the ashes. Having memorized what he had seen, he planned to go back to report. He had just pivoted around when he suddenly noticed that someone else was hiding diagonally across the courtyard from his position around a corner, stealthily keeping watch on Yuwen Feng and the others who had just burnt the wax ball and the living thing, revealing a small part of the hem of a gray coat typically worn by a servant. After seeing Yuwen Feng instruct the guards to put Yuwen Qi under intensive interrogation, that person quietly backed into the corner and disappeared from view.

Miao Shiba quickly detoured to that corner with the intention to tail that person and find out who it was, but it was too late. That person had already left.

Just now he had only seen the profile of that person shadowed by a tree, and he hadn’t distinguished that person’s features, but there was no doubt that that servant was suspicious.

“That person was either a snooper or someone having something to do with that wax ball. You’re right, Sire. Yuwen Qi is indeed hiding someone in the residence, whose identity is unknown to us.”

After returning to the imperial palace, Miao Shiba reported to Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang all what he had seen.

“Long thin black worms?” Ling Zhang knitted his eyebrows. The mere description of those things made him feel sick. “Last time it was a venomous snake, and now poisonous worms – why does Yuwen Qi always have to carry this kind of disgusting things with him?”

Yuwen Tong looked at him, and so did Miao Shiba.

Ling Zhang was puzzled. “Why are you both looking at me like that?”

He didn’t say anything wrong, did he?

Yuwen Tong instructed Miao Shiba, “Go get Xie Shi.”

Xie Shi was soon summoned to the hall. After Miao Shiba described those long thin black worms to him, Xie Shi said, “I think they were some kind of poisonous Gu worms.”

Poisonous Gu worms? The three words gave Ling Zhang goosebumps.

“Only Gu masters in South Xinjiang excel at raising Gu worms. Where Yuwen Qi got that venomous snake is still a mystery, because the provider of the snake had long since returned to South Xinjiang, and we have no intelligence about their appearance whatsoever, so there’s no way to find them. This time around, in all likelihood, the provider of those worms is the same person who gave him the snake,” added Xie Shi.

On hearing that those worms had actually been raised by the same person who’d raised that venomous snake, Ling Zhang furrowed his brows. “Does that mean a Gu master from South Xinjiang slipped into the residence to offer Yuwen Qi help?”

“Probably,” replied Xie Shi.

Yuwen Tong asked, “Is there anything those Gu worms are afraid of? Something that could help people defend against the worms?”

Xie Shi pondered for a while before he answered, “Common alexipharmic pills are definitely no use against them. Gu worms are living creatures. In order to keep them away, people will have to carry with them either a drug with a strong scent that the worms are scared of, or a Gu insect that is stronger than those worms and could deter them.”

“Do you have anything like that?” asked Yuwen Tong.

Though astonished, Xie Shi still quickly replied, “I can prepare a kind of medicinal powder, which could be contained in a sachet, and anybody carrying it wouldn’t be attacked by Gu worms, but it’s only effective against common Gu worms. It cannot deter any strong poisonous creatures. In addition, once someone carries it with them, a Gu master would be able to detect it very easily.”

As regards strong Gu creatures, Xie Shi didn’t have any for the moment. Firstly, strong Gu creatures with deterrent effects were hard to come by; secondly, people who were not experienced Gu masters didn’t have the required skills to tame that kind of creatures and the process could easily backfire on them.

After a few moments’ consideration, Yuwen Tong commanded, “Go and prepare some first.”

“Yes, Sire,” answered Xie Shi.

Ling Zhang inquired of Yuwen Tong, “You want to give a sachet to Yuwen Feng?”

Yuwen Tong responded, “Shiba and the others need the powder, too. Pity it has such an obvious drawback – it’s too easy to detect it.”

Ling Zhang thought about it for a moment and then suggested, “How about we invite Mr. Mu here and ask him his opinion?”

Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and replied, “All right.”

Soon Mr. Mu was escorted to the palace. Ling Zhang had Miao Shiba give Mr. Mu a detailed description of those Gu worms, and then asked him whether or not he knew what those Gu worms were, and whether there was a way to defend against them.

Looking quite relaxed, Mr. Mu said, “Although I haven’t seen any of them with my own eyes, I have an educated guess that they’re a kind of Blood Gu.”

“Blood Gu?” Ling Zhang and the others were perplexed, wondering what kind of Gu worm a Blood Gu was.

“Blood Gu, as the name implies, are a kind of Gu worms that feed on blood and are virulent. They run wild at the smell of blood, burrow their way into living things’ bodies through wounds, suck their blood and eat their flesh. As a result, anybody who falls victim to Blood Gu would be subjected to unbearable pain. Without timely medical treatment, the agony would go beyond the victim’s endurance and kill them. The Blood Gu might even reduce the victim to a skeleton. But according to your description, after those Gu worms entered the guards’ bodies, the guards were in pain but didn’t show any other particular symptoms and died very soon. Given these facts, I think those worms were a fairly special species of Blood Gu. They’re called Blood-heart Gu. After entering a person’s body, they will rapidly burrow into the victim’s cardiac meridian and release a highly noxious substance which will kill the victim very soon. Then the worms will quickly metamorphose and then go into hibernation in the corpse,” explained Mr. Mu.

“That sounds so vicious,” observed Ling Zhang in a disgusted tone.

Mr. Mu said, “All those who know how to raise Blood-heart Gu are no common Gu masters. They’re at least beyond average and shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“Do you know how to defend against those worms, Mr. Mu?” asked Ling Zhang.

Mr. Mu answered, “The medicinal powder Guard Xie is preparing could deter Blood-heart Gu from approaching. If the goal is merely to defend against the worms, the powder will be more than enough for you to achieve it.”

“For the moment we don’t want to alarm that Gu master. That person still hasn’t shown his face yet. I think he’s in disguise. It’s best if we could capture him,” said Ling Zhang.

Mr. Mu came to understand. “If that’s the case, the medicinal powder will be too easy to detect. That Gu master would probably sense it immediately. I have an idea – I’ll give you something. No Gu creatures will dare approach the one carrying it.”

“Is it some kind of badass Gu creature?” Ling Zhang asked him.

Mr. Mu chuckled, “I’m not a Gu master. Although I have some acquaintance with Gu-craft, I’m not very interested in raising Gu worms, so it’s not a Gu creature, just an insect called White Cicada. A White Cicada gives a whistle inaudible to the human ear, which scares all kinds of Gu worms. Whenever a White Cicada approaches, Gu worms will play dead, not daring move an inch. Also, the skin sloughed by White Cicadas is a top-notch medicine. This kind of insect is very rare. People may come by it with luck, but not by searching for it. On top of that, its cries are inaudible to the human ear, so even if it shows up right beside a Gu master, the latter wouldn’t be able to detect it.”

Delighted, Ling Zhang exchanged glances with Yuwen Tong and then said, “Thank you so much, Mr. Mu.”

Mr. Mu replied, “I didn’t bring it with me, so I’ll have to go back to the Ling Mansion first. You may have someone go there with me to get it for you.”

“Of course, of course,” Ling Zhang agreed and then asked, “By the way, how should we feed it?”

Mr. Mu answered, “You won’t have to do that anytime soon. I’ll put something that it likes to suck in the box, which will be enough to last it half a month or so. All you have to do is return it to me before the time is up.”

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “We’ll only be needing it for a couple of days, and we’ll return it to you immediately after it serves its purpose.”

Mr. Mu soon went back to the Ling Mansion, accompanied by Miao Shisan, who then brought the White Cicada back to the palace.

Yuwen Tong gave the White Cicada to Miao Shiba and told him to play it by ear.

…

At this moment. In Yuwen Feng’s residence.

Yuwen Feng had been interrogating Yuwen Qi non-stop for over two hours, trying to press Yuwen Qi into telling him where he’d got that wax ball, but Yuwen Qi refused to confess no matter how hard Yuwen Feng pressured him. Eventually, Yuwen Feng angrily stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he left.

Yuwen Feng went to see Yuwen Zhi who was still in bed, looking so sickly as though he could kick the bucket at any moment.

Having mixed feelings, Yuwen Feng looked at him for quite a while before he asked the physician he’d hired previously, “The symptoms of my father’s cold have abated some time ago. Why is he still confined to bed? And he doesn’t look well too.”

Face crumpling up, the physician said, “Please forgive me, Your Lordship. I’ve done everything within my power. It’s just that Lord Yuwen’s constitution is weak, and the cold took a heavy toll on him. In addition, he stayed in the dark dank Court Prison for a very long time and the coldness invaded all parts of his body. I’m afraid it’ll take some more time to eliminate the root of the illness.”

Yuwen Feng looked at Yuwen Zhi who had his eyes closed and seemed to be asleep. After quite a while, he said, “You must cure my father of his disease, no matter what drug it’ll take. Soon the time will come when he will be sent into exile. If he still doesn’t recover by then, I won’t be able to have him stay here. I’ll have no choice but to have some men carry him to the south-west.”

His eyes closed, Yuwen Zhi’s eyelids flickered, but he still didn’t open them.

Yuwen Feng, who saw that flicker distinctly, pivoted around and made towards the door.

Halfway to the door, he accidentally bumped into the physician, who was startled and hurriedly supported Yuwen Feng. “Are you okay, Your Lordship? Please pardon me. My eyesight is poor and I wasn’t paying attention.”

Yuwen Feng didn’t mind, waved his hand and left. While walking through the door, he moved his arm, as though feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but soon he was far away from the doorway.

The physician wiped the apologetic expression off his face and made towards Yuwen Zhi’s bed. “Lord Yuwen,” he called.