Now that it was close, Xu Qi’an could even see a look of wild delight in the Sevenfold Gu’s beady black eyes.
It feels like a lecherous brat spotting a stunning beauty… Xu Qi’an thought, his expression odd, and then realised the Sevenfold Gu had vanished.
It disappeared abruptly, as if wiped away by an invisible force.
Is this the “hidden from knowledge” trait used by the Heaven Gu Elder’s corpse? No, it’s still there… A moment later, Xu Qi’an dismissed his guess, he could see a faint shadow slip behind him.
Why does it feel like it’s hunting?
Xu Qi’an suddenly felt the urge to protect the back of his neck and dash forward.
The moment that urge arose, a stabbing pain shot through the back of his neck, as if something had ripped his flesh open.
He instantly understood, the urge to protect his neck had been his body’s warning of danger.
At the back of his neck, the crimson Sevenfold Gu used the sharp tip of a leg to easily slice open Xu Qi’an’s flesh, causing bright blood to flow.
It plunged one limb deep into his spine, seemingly connecting itself to his nervous system.
Xu Qi’an’s eyes turned blood red, a low growl escaping his throat, his face twisted in the delirium of unbearable pain.
“The shaman clans of the Southern Marches have seven branches, but no matter which one, every Gu Shaman raises a life Gu.”
The Jianzheng raised his hand and pressed down, an invisible force pinned Xu Qi’an in place, making him endure the inhuman pain.
“Life Gu and their hosts are symbiotic, life and death tied together. Normally, a Gu Shaman is implanted with their life Gu at birth, or by age ten at the latest.
“The Gu, too, is in its infancy, this allows them to grow together, strengthening their bond and lessening the Gu’s backlash.”
Indeed, implanting a life Gu brought backlash, because this technique essentially meant “man and Gu as one”, which went against the natural order.
To improve the success rate, Gu Shamans usually had their path decided as children.
Xu Qi’an, on the other hand, was an adult male, and the Sevenfold Gu was fully matured. Thus, the backlash was immense.
A second limb stabbed into his flesh and nerve. Xu Qi’an shuddered all over, his facial muscles twitching, lips quivering, his whole body wracked with pain.
The third, fourth, fifth limbs… With each one, the Sevenfold Gu paused for just under ten minutes, giving both host and Gu time to adjust.
Xu Qi’an felt pain everywhere, every cell torn apart. The agony was no less than digesting Wei Yuan’s blood pill.
If blood pill forced cell evolution, then taking in the Sevenfold Gu was pure destruction, tearing his DNA apart.
He should have died from genetic collapse during this process, but the body of a third-rank martial artist, already beyond the ordinary, let him endure the backlash.
When the sixth limb pierced his flesh and linked to his nerves, the crimson Sevenfold Gu pulled in its six limbs and slowly burrowed into the flesh, nestling close to his spine, hiding itself away.
The Jianzheng flicked out a fine thread of catgut1, which seemed to come alive, stitching up the wound and tying a neat bow.
“How do you feel?”
The Jianzheng smiled.
Xu Qi’an didn’t reply. He closed his eyes, sensing seven new, instinctual powers imprinted in his very genes.
The first was Heaven Gu, knowing the weather, divining fortune, shifting the stars, peering into fate.
Most Heaven Gu clan members hovered at the “knowing weather and fortune” level, working on calendars and helping with agriculture.
Shifting stars and constellations was the advanced ability of Heaven Gu practitioners.
Xu Qi’an had already seen its manifestation — the “hidden from knowledge” trait.
Back then, the Heaven Gu Elder used star-shifting to hide herself from the Jianzheng’s senses. This was the Heaven Gu clan’s core power.
As for peering into fate, at a certain level, some Heaven Gu clansmen could occasionally glimpse a fragment of the future, a vague, partial vision.
It was this ability that let the clan’s prophets foresee the Gu God’s eventual awakening and the world’s fall to the Gu.
Of course, this was far inferior to a first-rank Master of Heaven’s Mandate.
If the Heaven Gu’s visions were like random photos, a Master of Heaven’s Mandate would see a whole TV series.
There was a fundamental difference.
The side effect: the host’s mood would shift with the environment, gloomy in rainy weather, lively and bright when the sun shone…
…
The second was Strength Gu, making the host’s senses extraordinarily sharp, and boosting luck and self-healing.
The last two were its core.
Strength Gu practitioners possessed overwhelming power, at the same rank, even martial artists focusing on body training would fall behind in brute strength.
They specialised in overwhelming all opponents with raw power, and had terrifying regenerative abilities.
Below third rank, unless killed instantly, any injury could heal.
But the more serious the injury, the longer recovery took.
Side effect: the host’s appetite would soar, the stronger their cultivation, the more they ate.
…
The third was Desire Gu, which released a colourless, odourless gas that aroused all nearby life, human, animal, or plant, nothing could escape.
It could also implant child Gu insects in targets, making them unable to leave the host for life. Desire Gu Shamans often used this to control slaves or even lovers.
Besides that, it made skin smooth, charisma outstanding, and the host irresistibly attractive to the opposite sex.
It could even reshape the body in a targeted manner for a perfect fit, or enhance endurance.
Side effect: the host’s desires grew uncontrollably strong, leaving little in their mind but one thing.
…
The fourth was Poison Gu, letting the host use whatever was at hand to create toxins of all kinds, with endless uses.
Sometimes, certain poisons could even heal, depending on the situation.
Side effect: the host must consume a certain amount of poison daily, whether arsenic, snake venom, and so on.
…
The fifth was Heart Gu, centred on the phrase “heart-to-heart”. Heart Gu Shamans could sense and influence a target’s emotions, then grasp that emotion to affect the other party.
For creatures with high intelligence, it only worked temporarily, but for less intelligent beings, it could exert a lasting, continuous influence.
The former mainly referred to humans, the latter to beasts.
Because of this, the Heart Gu was also known as “Beast Master Gu”, and Heart Gu Shamans were often used to control herds of beasts, swarms of insects, or snakes.
Side effect: the host couldn’t help but want to talk to animals every day, and keep their company. Many Shamans of the Heart Gu Clan, due to this side effect, would develop relationships with beasts that went beyond just friendship.
…
The sixth was Dark Gu, which could conceal aura and body, blending into shadows and moving through them, for instance, using one’s own shadow.
Every Dark Gu Shaman was a terrifying assassin, killing without a trace; you’ll never know when they approach.
It was worth noting that martial artists were the natural counter to Dark Gu Shamans.
Side effect: whenever the host sees a dark or hidden corner, they would instinctively want to crawl inside; every day, the host must hide themselves away for at least four hours, unseen by anyone.
…
The seventh was Corpse Gu. The mother Gu spawns child Gu insects, which inhabit corpses. The host could control the child Gu insects via the mother Gu, thus manipulating corpses.
The biggest difference from the Church of the Warlock God’s corpse-controlling art was that the latter typically only “freeloads” once, discarding the body afterwards.
With Corpse Gu, once a child Gu insects inhabits a corpse, it fuses with it, and as the mother Gu grows stronger, so do the child Gu insects, making the corpses stronger as well.
A third-rank Corpse Gu Shaman could split off at least twenty child Gu insects at fourth rank, scaling with rank.
Additionally, if a child Gu insects inhabited a freshly dead body, it was almost like possession, the corpse retained the abilities and aura it had in life, how much depending on the Gu Shaman’s cultivation.
Side effect: the host develops intense necrophilia; often because of this side effect, Corpse Gu Shamans have unspeakable relationships with corpses.
…
Very powerful, the Sevenfold Gu is truly powerful. The pity is, it’s only just awakening; I can only use some basic abilities for now. The Heaven Gu seems the most developed, I can use the star-shifting technique right away. But as for the side effects…
Xu Qi’an paused, his expression complicated.
The side effects of the others were bearable, but the combined effects of Desire Gu, Heart Gu, and Corpse Gu were perfectly synergised; there was no escape.
Heart Gu and Corpse Gu would make the host crave… overly close relations with beasts and corpses; at this point, Desire Gu’s side effect would kick in…
Xu Qi’an was very concerned for his own future mental health.
The Jianzheng put his hands behind his back and said with a smile,
“In fact, those side effects are nutrients for the Gu’s growth. If you persist day after day, the Sevenfold Gu will slowly grow stronger, and your cultivation will keep improving. Even just newly awakened, below fifth rank, you’ll have few rivals.”
Xu Qi’an sighed, “The world isn’t worth it.”
At that, the Jianzheng’s smile faded. He turned away and sighed too.
After a while, he took a conch engraved with formation patterns from his sleeve and tossed it over,
“If you need help, contact him, my second disciple, Sun Xuanji.”
What kind of weirdo will the Jianzheng’s second disciple be… Xu Qi’an caught the conch, glancing at the Jianzheng.
His gaze seemed to strike a nerve deep inside the Jianzheng; the old man said lightly,
“Get lost!”
…
In the Inner Cabinet, Prime Minister Wang stamped the notice with the official seal, then instructed the clerks to send it to the palace.
With that done, the Prime Minister went to the window, opened it, and let his gaze travel from the courtyard up to the blue sky.
He gazed out silently, thinking today’s sky was especially clear.
A new era had begun!
…
A country could not go a day without a sovereign, but even more urgent was to clarify the truth, send palace reports to the regional governments, and post notices in the capital explaining the source of the recent chaos; inform the people of what had happened.
The longer things dragged out, the more trouble could arise.
To show how different he was from his father, the Crown Prince had the Hanlin Academy draft the notice immediately after last night’s council; after the Inner Cabinet’s approval, it was posted at every city gate at dawn.
After sunrise, the people flocked to read the government’s final word.
“What does the notice say? Can someone who can read look?”
“Don’t ask me. I know a few characters, but together they don’t make any sense.”
Just being literate wasn’t enough, you needed real education to understand such documents.
The clerk by the wall barked, “Silence!”
In these days, most commoners were illiterate, so the authorities would post a clerk to read the notice aloud every hour on the day it was posted.
By the next day, news would have spread everywhere, and there was no further need for readings.
The crowd was familiar with this and quickly fell silent, waiting for the clerk to recite the notice.
Afterwards, most people understood, and the scene erupted into noisy discussion.
“Tyrant!”
“Twenty years spent practising Daoism, then beguiled by the Church of the Warlock God, ruining the Great Feng’s soldiers, such a tyrant is rare in our history.”
“Pity those eighty thousand soldiers, all killed by a tyrant. And a greater pity for Duke Wei, such a pillar of the state lost for nothing…”
“I’m ashamed, I used to curse Duke Wei, but he was a true loyalist, a real pillar of the realm.”
Some sighed with regret, some pounded their chests in anger.
An old man, tears streaming down his face, beat his chest and wailed,
“Duke Wei died unjustly! He was a man who won at Shanhai Pass, who would have thought he’d die at a tyrant’s hands…”
“Thank goodness for Silver Gong Xu!”
A man, eyes red, clenched his fists and said with gritted teeth,
“If it weren’t for Silver Gong Xu, not only would eighty thousand soldiers and Duke Wei have died in vain, but we’d all be doomed. The Church of the Warlock God would have crushed the capital sooner or later.”
“That’s right, thank goodness for Silver Gong Xu. As long as he’s here, our Great Feng still has hope.”
“If Silver Gong Xu can slay a corrupt official, he can slay a tyrant too.”
“I always believed in Silver Gong Xu, he wouldn’t have killed the Emperor without reason. When he stormed the palace, he said the tyrant emperor has lost his way and Xu Qi’an was there to kill him, and you lot didn’t believe him.”
“I always believed in him.”
The people hated the tyrant, mourned the soldiers and Wei Yuan, and were genuinely glad that Silver Gong Xu was still around, as if he was now the very embodiment of justice in their eyes.
And those more conservative citizens, who’d doubted the justification for regicide, also breathed a sigh of relief.
Silver Gong Xu was still Silver Gong Xu, he’d never changed.
“If you ask me, they should just let Silver Gong Xu be emperor.”
A young man blurted out what was on everyone’s mind.
The noisy crowd instantly fell silent. The city folk looked at each other, but no one refuted or scolded him, only a strange silence followed.
The notice’s content spread rapidly throughout the capital, the news spreading like wildfire. People reacted intensely, at the mention of the tyrant emperor, they gnashed their teeth; at the mention of Xu Qi’an, they sang his praises.
Some even wept openly, saying Silver Gong Xu was heaven-sent to save the Great Feng, that he was not only the conscience of the dynasty, but its saviour.
He’d single-handedly slain three hundred thousand enemies at Yuyang Pass, then killed the tyrant emperor and thwarted the Church of the Warlock God’s plot to overthrow the Great Feng, wasn’t that the very definition of a saviour?
Of course, many still mourned Wei Yuan, but with Xu Qi’an rising in his place, the people found new hope and a spiritual anchor.
After Wei Yuan, may the Great Feng have Xu Qi’an… the great Azure Cloak died with no regrets.
…
Inner City, a small courtyard.
Mu Nanzhi sat on a little stool, listening to Aunt Zhang chattering away about the government notice. Whenever the tyrant emperor was mentioned, both she and Aunt Zhang wore furious expressions and spoke out angrily.
When Wei Yuan came up, they both grieved for the fallen pillar of the realm, and for the eighty thousand soldiers lost to the Church of the Warlock God.
She looked for all the world like an ordinary housewife gossiping in a back alley.
When Xu Qi’an was mentioned, Aunt Zhang could not praise him enough, saying, “If I were twenty years younger, I’d be just like the other girls, only Silver Gong Xu would do for me.”
Mu Nanzhi looked thoroughly on guard.
“By the way, Madam Mu, hasn’t your husband been away for a long time?” Aunt Zhang asked.
He used to come back every few days to be with his wife, but recently he’d vanished, Aunt Zhang hadn’t seen Mu Nanzhi’s husband in ages.
“Oh, he’s just been busy.”
Mu Nanzhi replied softly.
Her mood suddenly dropped. She felt unhappy, propping her chin on her hand as she gazed at the flowers in the courtyard and sighed.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
There was a knock at the courtyard gate. Mu Nanzhi’s gloomy face lit up instantly, but then fell again. She turned away, refusing to answer the door.
Aunt Zhang chuckled quietly, thinking her husband must be back, and that the little wife was sulking.
She went to open the gate.
At the door stood an ordinary-looking man with a gentle air, leading a horse.
It was indeed Madam Mu’s husband.
“I’m leaving the capital. Will you come with me?”
Mu Nanzhi ignored him.
“Then, I’ll go?”
He led the horse and turned as if to leave.
“Hey!” she called after him.
“Hmm?”
“I want to stay at the best inns.”
“Alright.”
“Meat at every meal.”
“Alright.”
“And cosmetics and perfume.”
“Alright.”
“And you’re not allowed to bully me.”
“Alright.”
“Then, I’ll go…”
…
Dexin Courtyard.
Huaiqing spread out a sheet of paper, picked up her brush, and wrote: “On the road ahead, surely will be friends dear and true; Throughout the land is there anyone who knows not you?”
Then she wrote: “Take care!”
When she finished, she climbed the pavilion, gazing off into the distance, lost in thought.
…
Shaoyin Palace.
Lin’an, wrapped in a fox-fur cloak, came to the tower terrace, not speaking, not sitting, just silently watching the distance.
After a long while, she murmured, “I hope you’ll come home safely.”
…
Stargazing Tower.
Li Miaozhen sat at her desk in a huff, cheeks puffed out in anger.
Xu Qi’an had refused to travel with her, saying that the Heaven Sect Holy Maiden was too conspicuous, like a torch in the dark, and would attract enemies, especially Xu Pingfeng.
She had no response to that.
“What can a cripple with a bit of Shaman cultivation even do, running about the jianghu on his own?” Li Miaozhen grumbled.
“That nasty man, maybe he’s sneaking off with some other woman,” Susu muttered.
“What other woman? They’re all still in the capital.” Li Miaozhen scoffed.
“What about the most beautiful woman in the realm?” Susu said jealously.
Li Miaozhen’s face instantly froze, her pupils dilating!
The Seventh floor.
Outside a certain secret room, Master Hengyuan stood in the hallway, his expression both tense and hopeful.
Chu Yuanzhen stood beside him, gravely asking,
“Will Song Qing’s method work?”
Hengyuan shook his head. “I don’t know. But it’s worth a try, thankfully Daoist Li helped extract his soul.”
He added in a low voice, “My only attachment in the capital is him. If he can have a new life, I can leave and wander the jianghu, to follow in Sir Xu’s footsteps.”
…
Inside the secret room, a child opened his eyes.
He stared blankly at the ceiling, not knowing why he was here in this strange room.
The child sat up, and, out of instinct, uttered: “Good… luck… great… fortune…”
He stared in shock, this wasn’t his voice.
Looking around, he saw a black dog’s corpse lying by the narrow bed.
He gazed blankly at it, and after a while, tears ran down his cheeks, whether from sorrow or joy, he couldn’t tell.
The child wobbled to his feet, staggering like a baby learning to walk.
He felt the joy of new life, grew bolder, and looked at the other body in the secret room, lying on a flat bed, covered with a white cloth.
He shuffled over curiously and lifted the cloth.
Beneath it lay a man in azure, his temples grey, his face handsome.
He still breathed faintly, but would never wake again.
…
Outside the city, a plain-looking man led a sturdy young mare. On the horse’s back sat a plain-looking woman.
A perfect match, made for each other.
“Come, let’s travel the jianghu together.” He smiled.
The plain woman replied with a prim “Mm”.
The man laughed, “Jianghu, here I come!”
The plain-looking woman rolled her eyes.
…
Once dreamed of wandering the world with a sword,
To see all the world’s splendour,
The heart of youth was always a bit wild,
Now the world itself is my home…
…
End of Volume!
Thread usually made from the fibres of a sheep intestine ↩
Comments for this chapter. You will need a GitHub account. Please follow all terms and conditions of GitHub issues and maintain etiquette in the comments. Cookies are required for this functionality.
If you want to talk with other readers about Nightwatchers (or other cultivation type books) you can join our cultivation groupreading discord server!
I also have a Kofi, which for legal reasons is definitely for supporting my digital art only (promise!): ko-fi.com/yanxin ... plus I guess server space isn't free, and I don't want to put ads/trackers... ever, so thank you if you do!