Chapter 214
Chapter 214
Jiang Yunsui bickered with Song Jin all the way back.
The instant she saw the meal laid out, Little Mushroom scampered toward Ji Yan’an.
“Ji Yan’an~”
He had Nanmo stop her and looked her up and down.
“Have you been digging tunnels?”
He could not otherwise imagine how she had become so filthy again.
Jiang Yunsui did not know her face was smeared with mud.
“We were digging mud. We found a baby elephant trapped in a pit. It couldn’t get out, so we wanted to dig a slope.”
As she spoke, her eyes repeatedly drifted toward the table. Her expression clearly asked, When are we eating?
“Wash your face and change your clothes first. Look at you. You’re filthy.”
Jiang Yunsui could not see her face, but she could see her grimy hands.
She hurried away to wash her face and hands, wipe herself and her hair clean, and put on fresh clothes. Then she rushed back.
Rubbing her stomach, she announced that she was starving.
“Eat,” Ji Yan’an said.
She immediately hugged her bowl and attacked the food.
“Ji Yan’an, this meat is delicious. Eat more.”
“This mushroom is good.”
“And this fish ball, and the chicken…”
“Don’t talk while eating,” Ji Yan’an said. “Is there anything you don’t find delicious?”
Jiang Yunsui pouted. She only recommended everything because she wanted Ji Yan’an to eat more and grow sturdy and plump.
She remained quiet for only a moment before becoming noisy again.
Ji Yan’an said nothing further and ate unhurriedly.
Nanshu kept placing food in his bowl.
“Young Master, eat this. Little Yunsui has already had several bites.”
“And this. This too…”
Ji Yan’an ate slowly while Nanshu moved quickly. Food soon piled up in his bowl.
He closed his eyes. “Nanshu!”
Still holding the serving chopsticks, Nanshu smiled sheepishly and finally stopped.
Jiang Yunsui ate her fill. Ji Yan’an ate until he was stuffed.
Suppressing the urge to burp, he rose and walked outside.
“I’m going to examine the situation in the stockade.”
“Me too! Me too!”
Jiang Yunsui slid off her stool and followed like a little tail.
More people had gathered in the stockade. After the meal, the chief arranged a meeting.
A gong sounded, and almost every resident assembled. Several elderly men stood beside the chief with grave expressions.
“I must tell everyone something painful. We found those who disappeared from our stockade.”
Some listeners immediately rejoiced, for the missing were their relatives.
“Chief, where is my younger brother?”
“Yes, Chief! My son disappeared too. Have you really found them? Where are they?”
The chief pressed down with one hand.
“Everyone, be quiet. We found them, but the situation is dire.”
“They were captured and refined into Human Gu.”
“What?!”
Those who knew what Human Gu were turned deathly pale. The rest remained confused.
“How could this happen? Who would refine Human Gu? That… that kills people. The poison spreads!”
“Wasn’t Human Gu poison eradicated? Why has it returned?”
“What are Human Gu?”
The chief’s expression was pained and furious. “My son Lin Mu was poisoned too. He took men out to find trade routes for our stockade. Some died. Others were captured and infected like him.”
“Heavens curse them! My son was among them! What can we do? What are we supposed to do?”
Some people wailed. Others fainted.
The chief sighed.
“I will gather compensation for the families of those who died. Those with mild poisoning may still be saved. This is Young Master Ji. A gu physician under him has developed a method to suppress Human Gu poison. Someday, he will surely solve this problem. But those deeply poisoned…”
“Some may not understand Human Gu poison. The story begins with the Kingdom of Nanzhao three hundred years ago. Nanzhao possessed a special class of people called shamans.”
“They refined humans into Human Gu. Those deeply poisoned looked human but were walking corpses. They obeyed the shamans, and anyone scratched or bitten became infected and gradually transformed as well.”
“Therefore, beginning today, the stockade’s able-bodied men and women must train in martial arts. We will establish patrols. If Human Gu approach, strike the gong and sound the alarm immediately…”
Jiang Yunsui, Lin Shitou, and the others sat beneath a tree on little stools, eating grilled glutinous-rice cakes while listening.
They were rather far away. Lin Shitou and his friends could not hear clearly, so Jiang Yunsui relayed the speech.
“Little Yunsui, you’re amazing. You can see and hear from so far away.”
Jiang Yunsui became a little proud.
Lin Ran ate slowly, then lost her appetite altogether.
“Are Human Gu really that frightening?”
“My youngest uncle was one of the missing people.”
He had always treated her well.
Jiang Yunsui pressed her lips together, then told the truth.
“I’ve seen Human Gu. They’re terrifying. Shen Qingzhu says little rashes appear first. Later they become awful sores, and the whole body itches.”
“People can’t stop scratching, even after they tear through their skin. When the poisoning worsens, their skin falls off and they bleed everywhere. Finally, they go mad, bite people, and eat human flesh.”
Lin Ran’s face turned pale.
“Then my uncle…”
She did not even know where he was.
Lin Shitou hugged himself, his face white too. “Th-that sounds horrible.”
Jiang Yunsui clenched her little fists. “It’s those villains’ fault. They capture people everywhere to refine gu. They almost forced medicine into me too.”
“Damn them!” Lin Lang cried.
“If we ever find them, we’ll teach them a lesson!”
“You can’t. All of us together couldn’t defeat even one adult.”
“How is that possible? There are so many of us.”
“But they know martial arts and carry weapons.”
Children were always innocent and confident.
So Jiang Yunsui merely called Ji Si out and asked him to demonstrate.
Every child attacked him together, yet not one touched the hem of his clothes.
Ji Si even tapped each of them in turn.
Had those been heavy blows, they would all have fallen.
Instead of becoming discouraged, Lin Lang and the others stared at him with shining eyes.
“Master! Master, please accept your disciple’s bow!”
Lin Lang slid directly to his knees before Ji Si and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Lin Ran knelt too. “Master, teach me! I want to find my uncle!”
Every other child dropped to their knees and shouted in unison, “Master!”
Ji Si went completely still.
Jiang Yunsui: Should I kneel too?