Chapter 1366 Gu within Gu
"Just five days ago, I received a mission. I was supposed to personally lead a team to execute it, but because I was sick that day, I couldn't go. I was forced to stay behind at the department. However, not a single person who went on the mission returned."
"As a result, I was suspected by the Yanhuang Iron Brigade and underwent an investigation. During this time, I was in a terrible state and neglected Linlin's care. It wasn't until Linlin's condition worsened that I learned something had happened to her. Coincidentally, my investigation by the department was also cleared, and my name was vindicated. Only then did I rush back to take care of Linlin."
By the end of his words, Wei Changgeng's eyes had narrowed, and his eye sockets were red.
"Uncle Wei, you're saying this started half a month ago?"
Chen Xuan frowned.
"Yes, why?"
If he remembered correctly, it was around the time Chen Xuan came to the capital.
Could it be related to him?
Chen Xuan felt it was unlikely. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Uncle Wei, let me do a divination for you to see what's really going on?"
"Chen Xuan, you can also divine fortunes? You know, although this is a scientific society, people are incredibly superstitious. Especially the wealthy families in the capital; they believe in it very much."
"I didn't believe it at first, but after witnessing many strange and bizarre things, I realized that the reason for superstition is simply to prevent the world from seeing the whole picture of society."
Wei Changgeng was quite intrigued.
Chen Xuan hadn't brought his tortoise shell or altar cloth, but he had the five-emperor coins. This was just a simple divination, and the five-emperor coins were enough.
He pondered for a moment, clasped his hands together, and held the five-emperor coins between his palms.
Chen Xuan chanted incantations with a solemn voice.
As Chen Xuan's incantations echoed, the atmosphere in the room seemed to become extremely strange.
Wei Changgeng's eyes were filled with even more interest; he didn't even notice when the cigarette butt burned down to his finger.
After a full ten seconds, Wei Changgeng, seeing that Chen Xuan was still not making any movement, couldn't help but ask, "Chen Xuan, what's going on?"
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xuan suddenly threw the five-emperor coins onto the table. Four of the coins landed on the table, but one of them rolled a considerable distance, only stopping when it hit the table leg, landing face up.
"One emperor falls, disaster rises from the east!"
Chen Xuan's pupils contracted.
"Chen Xuan, what do you mean 'one emperor falls, disaster rises from the east'?"
Wei Changgeng sensed that something was not simple and continued to press for an explanation.
Chen Xuan explained, "Simply put, someone wants to harm you. As for who that person is, I need to calculate further, but it might not be accurate."
"Oh..."
Chen Xuan calculated with his fingers. After a moment, he said, "Yanhuang Iron Brigade, the Ten Great Consecrated Masters!"
With his current strength, he could only calculate this far. If he had his tortoise shell and altar cloth, he might be able to calculate more precisely, perhaps even identifying which of the Ten Great Consecrated Masters it was.
However, this was already enough, as he had a general idea of who it was.
"The Ten Great Consecrated Masters? Those are top figures in the Yanhuang Iron Brigade. I don't know any of them."
Wei Changgeng quickly shook his head.
The Ten Great Consecrated Masters were major figures at the pinnacle of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade. He didn't know them, nor would he offend them.
Chen Xuan thought to himself, you do know them, and quite well at that. Aren't they standing right in front of you?
But he knew this was not the time to say such things.
He said, "However, according to the divination, it is one of these individuals causing trouble."
Furthermore, Chen Xuan had another thought he didn't voice: Wei Changgeng was implicated because of him. As for who was behind the scheme, he had a pretty good idea.
It all likely originated from Su Yingxiong of the Su family!
Su Yingxiong of the Su family was a prodigy of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade, a disciple of Consecrated Master Meng, one of the Ten Great Consecrated Masters. Unfortunately, he was crippled by Chen Xuan. His senior brother, who had been tricked by Chen Xuan and poisoned by a silver-ringed snake, was likely a setup orchestrated by Ma Sihai, if Chen Xuan's guess was correct!
Suddenly, Chen Xuan felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He straightened his back and, with a "puff," spat out a mouthful of blood!
"Chen Xuan, what's wrong?"
Wei Changgeng quickly stood up, a significant portion of his drunkenness clearing, and asked with concern.
"I'm fine..."
Chen Xuan looked up, his face incredibly pale.
"Chen Xuan, are you really okay?"
Wei Changgeng was startled and didn't believe Chen Xuan was fine at all.
Chen Xuan ignored Wei Changgeng's question and said coldly, "I didn't expect that guy to be so insidious. He's playing 'gu within gu' on me!"
As he spoke, Chen Xuan took out a jade-like box.
He opened the box. Inside lay a gu worm, but it was already dead. If one looked closely, the inside of this gu worm was hollow, like the shell of a hatched chick.
"What do you mean 'gu within gu'?"
Wei Changgeng frowned, asking in confusion.
He had a general understanding of common gu arts from his intensive study within the Yanhuang Iron Brigade, but anything deeper was beyond his knowledge.
Chen Xuan explained, "The so-called 'gu within gu' is when another gu is placed within a gu worm. It's usually used to harm the person who is trying to remove the original gu's poison."
"Once the gu worm is lured out and killed, the gu within it will rapidly absorb the energy of the original gu worm, causing the 'gu within gu' to grow quickly. Then, through some method, the person who removed the gu is infected by the 'gu within gu'."
"Ah?"
Wei Changgeng didn't understand immediately, but he knew Chen Xuan had been infected with a gu. He hurriedly asked, "Then what should we do?"
"It's nothing!"
Chen Xuan grinned!
He scanned his body and quickly located the gu worm, but the 'gu within gu' could not be killed yet. It could only be temporarily sealed and then lured out of his body before being killed.
He raised his hand and pressed a few points on his chest, sealing the gu worm within a section of his meridians, preventing it from causing any further harm.
"I'm fine now."
"But your complexion..."
"It should be much better tomorrow."
Chen Xuan smiled. Suddenly, his ears twitched, "We have a visitor. Wait a moment, stand behind me, and absolutely do not step forward."
"A visitor? Why wasn't anyone announced?"
Wei Changgeng frowned. Before he could think further, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from outside. He looked up abruptly and saw a figure exuding an eerie aura approaching.
The person was none other than Ma Sihai!
"Vice Minister Wei, I heard your daughter is ill, so I came to visit specifically."
Ma Sihai smiled thinly, his gaze not falling on Wei Changgeng but rather on Chen Xuan.
"Director Ma, what brings you here!"
Wei Changgeng said with a chuckle.
Ma Sihai held a position as a director in a certain department of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade. His position wasn't high, but due to his excellent skills and being a disciple of Consecrated Master Meng, one of the Ten Great Consecrated Masters, even their minister treated Ma Sihai with considerable respect.
It just struck Wei Changgeng as strange. He didn't have much of a relationship with Ma Sihai usually; why was he here now?
However, a guest is a guest, so he didn't think too much of it.
He was about to reach out to take the gift from Ma Sihai's hand but suddenly remembered Chen Xuan's earlier words. He looked around and said,
"Where are the people? Guests have arrived, and no one has seen them? No one informed me when the guests arrived, and now guests are already inside, and there's no welcome?!"
Yet, the servants, who were usually diligent, were nowhere to be seen.
The room was completely empty, as if besides the three of them, there was no one else in the villa, giving off an eerie and uncanny atmosphere!