Bizarre Blood Vomiting

Bizarre Blood Vomiting

The skinny boy glared at me, his eyes full of hostility.

I silently thought that Uncle Ma and the skinny boy were the only ones in this household. The memorial tablet in the living room must belong to the skinny boy's mother. He was a child without a mother too.

His temper now was exactly like mine before I had met Master.

Uncle Ma roared, "I'm still the head of this family. What I say goes."

The skinny boy's eyes reddened, and two streams of tears rolled down his face. He shouted, "You're yelling at me for an outsider!"

Then he turned and ran away.

I was puzzled. He was such a grown young man—how could he burst into tears just like that?

I stood in the room, looking at Uncle Ma lying on the sickbed, caught in a dilemma. "Uncle Ma, don't argue because of me. The cave where you keep the Walking Corpses seems fine. I'll stay there for now."

Uncle Ma's words made sense. I decided to stay in Camellia Village for a while and wait for Master to come meet me.

Uncle Ma sighed. "Fine. Come stay here once the weather cools down. Xiaodao is stubborn, but he isn't heartless. Kunlun, I've wronged you."

I smiled and spoke with Uncle Ma for a little longer. Seeing the weariness on his face, I said, "Uncle Ma, get some proper rest."

When I stepped outside, the skinny boy was crying in a corner of the yard.

I walked over and said, "Xiaodao, don't worry. I won't stay in your house. Just lend me a pot and some rice. You don't have to worry about anything else."

Tear tracks still lingered at the corners of Xiaodao's eyes. He turned and went into the kitchen. Before long, he came out with a bag of rice and an iron pot.

"Our family isn't well-off either, so eat sparingly," Xiaodao said, much calmer now. "You should leave quickly. Offending the Golden Silkworm Deity will have serious consequences!"

Seeing that he had softened his tone, I spoke sincerely as well. "Xiaodao, my master is one of the Dong People, while I am Han. The Dong person who killed your mother was a bad man. But there are good people among the Dong People too. My master is one of them. You're much luckier than I am. Your father loves you very much. He was the one who told me to choose that stuffed toy yesterday. I'm an orphan, with neither father nor mother."

I slung the iron pot and rice over my back and left the yard.

Not long after, Xiaodao chased after me. He carried a piece of cured meat in his hand, his dark eyes fixed on me as though he wanted to say something. In the end, he tossed the meat into my hands without a word, then turned and ran away.

I carried my things out of Camellia Village. Just as I stepped beyond the village, my chest jolted, and a salty taste rose at the corner of my mouth. When I touched it, there was a streak of blood.

I wiped away the blood and looked back at Camellia Village, feeling puzzled. Could it really be the Golden Silkworm Gu guarding the village, giving me a warning?

I clasped my hands and called out, "Golden Silkworm Deity, Xiao Kunlun has disturbed you. I'm leaving now."

After wading across Clearwater Creek, I felt much more comfortable, yet I was deeply confused. I had never even seen the Golden Silkworm Gu, so how had it affected me? The mysteries of gu arts truly were impossible to fathom.

After returning to the cave, I gathered some stones and built a simple stove. I placed the iron pot on it, washed the rice, and cooked it. Then I cut off two pieces of cured meat and laid them over the rice.

After making do with a simple meal, I considered how I should get through the coming days.

I had already borrowed a pot and a bag of rice. Before Master returned, I had to rely on myself and find a way to earn money for food. It was too late to raise centipedes and scorpions in the short term.

However, I was familiar with the medicinal herbs in the mountains and understood the properties of all kinds of venomous insects and snakes. I could find a way through that.

Having made up my mind, I wrapped a rice ball in leaves to stave off hunger on the road, then wandered through the forests near Camellia Village.

When I returned to the cave that evening and had just sat down, a violent coughing fit seized me. I touched my mouth and found my hand covered in blood again. The blood was even darker than it had been during the day.

I frowned and thought, Strange. Xiao Tianxing has already suppressed the Innate Insect, so it shouldn't flare up again anytime soon. Why have I coughed up blood twice for no reason? Could I really have offended the Golden Silkworm Deity?

That damned Golden Silkworm had quite the temper. I couldn't help cursing. I had gone in and out of Camellia Village without doing anything bad, and I had even said plenty of nice things, yet it had made me cough up blood twice.

The image of the Blood Mantis flashed through my mind. I knew gu insects came and went without a trace. If the Golden Silkworm truly had come after me, I had to make thorough preparations.

I broke off some branches and built a large fire at the cave entrance. Then I placed the Three-Corpse Snake Gu beside me. After eating the rice ball, I leaned against the cave wall to rest.

Second by second, time passed, and I gradually grew sleepy.

In the middle of the night, everything before my eyes turned crimson. I jolted awake. Red light was spilling from the black jar—perhaps it was a warning from the Grudge Spirit.

My breathing quickened. I picked up two stones and stared toward the cave entrance.

Knock, knock, knock!

Something was knocking against the rocks at the cave entrance, as if someone had come calling.

I hesitated for a moment, then the sound of stones being knocked came again.

To hell with it. There was nothing to fear. Gritting my teeth, I walked outside.

Outside the cave, the moonlight shone brightly, bathing the entire forest in clarity. The mountain breeze was especially cool and refreshing.

I looked around and saw a man in golden clothes standing more than ten meters away. A camellia flower was embroidered on his clothes, and he held a large black umbrella. He was not tall, but he looked chubby.

The nighttime light was poor, and I could not make out his features.

I called, "Were you the one knocking on the rocks? What do you want with me?"

The man in golden clothes let out a strange, clucking sound, and eerie cries continued to come from him.

Completely bewildered, I shook my head. "What are you saying?"

The man in golden clothes jumped down from the rock. Before he even came close, a deadly baleful aura radiated from him, while strange cries came from his mouth.

I still could not understand a single word.

His movements suddenly quickened. He strode toward me, thrusting the black umbrella directly at me.

I had no time to dodge. The black umbrella struck me, and I was sent crashing to the ground, a dull pain spreading through my spine.

"Damn your mother, what kind of ghost are you?" I cursed through gritted teeth.

The man in golden clothes charged at me again, astonishingly agile. He jabbed the black umbrella against my chest and bared his teeth as he made that clucking sound.

A layer of black mist shrouded his face, making his expression impossible to see.

Through the mist, I could see that his teeth were sharp, completely unlike those of a normal person. The hand gripping the black umbrella had bumpy skin covered in all sorts of strange spots.

I sucked in a cold breath. How could there be such a freak in this world?

The black umbrella pinned me down, leaving me unable to move. I could only grab it with both hands and shout, "What kind of evil spirit are you? Why are you trying to kill me?"

The man in golden clothes continued making those strange clucking cries. He bent down and grabbed my throat. Through the black mist, I saw a pair of eyes like Death's own.

My heart instantly turned to ashes. I knew that this time, there was no way I would survive.

A burst of furious barking erupted. A large black dog sprang forward and slammed into the man in golden clothes. The man staggered back several steps, steadied himself, and bared his teeth with another strange cry.

"Xiao Kunlun, are you all right?" Xiaodao appeared behind the black dog and ran over to help me up. He stared at the man in golden clothes in terror, a long woodcutting knife in his hand and three black jars hanging from his waist.

It seemed that he had brought out the gu insects raised in his home as well.