Chapter 530: Let me try

The next day, Jingcheng.

A big hand had just opened a black wooden box when it suddenly paused slightly.

The blood-red gu worm crawled back and forth anxiously inside the box, moving at great speed.

That big hand reached into the box and stroked the worm's back a few times, but obviously could not calm it.

The gu worm continued to dart around the box like a headless fly.

"Cheng Lang, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"

A woman's voice sounded from the doorway.

Cheng Jing raised his head: "Someone moved the child gu, and it's an expert; the child gu was pulled out by him, yet it didn't die."

Liu Guiyan walked in holding a bowl of medicine: "Take the medicine first."

She looked at the gu worm in the box: "I don't understand these worms of yours; once pulled out, aren't they useless?"

Cheng Jing lifted the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

Liu Guiyan took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his mouth: "Today's medicine is a bit sour and astringent, but it's extremely good for your body; I'm sorry it's bitter for you."

Cheng Jing shook his head and pulled her into his embrace: "With you here, it's not bitter."

He stared at the gu worm, pondered for a moment, then smiled: "As long as the child gu doesn't die, it remains a pawn in my hand."

"Since he can pull out the child gu, he must be in the Xibei Main Camp; let him replace Princess Consort Ning."

He reached out his hand and gently touched the gu worm; his fingertips began to tap rhythmically.

He murmured softly: "Let your child find a new host, or else it won't live much longer."

Feeling the tapping on its body, the gu worm became even more agitated and started crawling up inside the box.

At the same moment, Xibei Main Camp.

Xue Tong was explaining to Tuan Tuan the silver-needle acupuncture chart he had given her: "Stab here; the needle must be heavy, which can make a person's legs sore and numb, unable to move, and only recover half an hour after the needle is withdrawn."

"Wow!" Tuan Tuan exclaimed, "That's powerful?"

"Of course! This is the culmination of my life's work; study it well, my disciple."

"Mm-hmm!" Tuan Tuan nodded seriously; as long as she didn't have to read and memorize texts, learning these was quite fun.

"Master, is this needle useful wherever you stab?"

Xue Tong rolled his eyes: "Impossible! If you just stab a fleshy spot, like your little butt, it'll at most hurt a little."

"Oh!" Tuan Tuan's face turned red as she touched her own little butt.

Xue Tong laughed; this little disciple was really interesting.

"Master, how much longer does my mother need to take the medicine to get better?"

"Just a few more days; she still needs to take several more doses to completely clear away what the gu worm left behind."

"Once she's recovered, I'll go treat your grandfather's leg."

Tuan Tuan smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Master!"

She raised her head and saw the small jar holding the gu worm: "Master, is that bad worm still inside?"

"Yes, unless it finds another host, it can at most live a few more days before it dies."

"Why? Isn't there something it likes to eat in here?"

Xue Tong patiently explained: "Gu worms are like that; if they have never parasitized a person, they can live a long time."

"But if they are removed from a host and find no new host, they will die quickly."

Tuan Tuan recalled what he had said yesterday: "Master, does this bad worm also listen to its mother's words?"

Xue Tong chuckled: "Really, you're such a child; it's not a person, so what mother does it have?"

"However, because it was born of a mother gu and raised by her feeding, there is an innate bond between them."

Tuan Tuan asked: "But Master, didn't you say it listens not only to its mother but also to the gu‑feeder's words?"

Xue Tong raised his head with a proud, smug look: "That also depends on whether the gu‑feeder has the ability to raise the gu worm to maturity—not just anyone can do that."

"What about Cheng Jing? Can he do it?"

Xue Tong furrowed his brows: "Cheng Jing? He indeed has that ability, but he would never personally feed the gu worm."

Tuan Tuan looked puzzled: "Why?"

Xue Tong replied: "Because feeding a gu worm is extremely complicated and arduous, requiring continuous feeding for at least several months; Cheng Jing's constitution couldn't handle it."

"His gu worm is probably being tended to by Liu Guiyan."

He picked up the small jar: "Come, let me show you how to raise a gu worm, and you'll understand."

"All right!" Tuan Tuan scooted her little head over.

Xue Tong placed the jar in front of them.

Since it wasn't sealed with wax anymore, a strange odor faintly seeped out through the lid.

Tuan Tuan pinched her own little nose with one hand and, with the other, lifted and pinched Xue Tong's big nose.

Xue Tong stared, his heart softened and he laughed helplessly; an old man like him was used to the smell, but this little Tuan Tuan was really something!

Xue Tong opened the lid, and the two of them—one big, one small—put their heads together and reached over the jar.

Tuan Tuan looked at the worm curled up in a corner: "Master, is it still alive?"

Xue Tong reached forward: "Let me see; there's enough food, it won't die."

The next moment, the gu worm that had been lying quietly in the corner suddenly burst upward and shot out.

"Oh no!" Xue Tong grabbed Tuan Tuan and jerked backward.

But Tuan Tuan beat him to it, releasing the hand pinching her nose and slapping the gu worm back.

The gu worm fell into the jar, belly up, twisting wildly.

Xue Tong picked up the lid, snapped the jar shut with a pop, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He scooped Tuan Tuan into his arms, looking up and down at her: "Good disciple, are you alright?"

Tuan Tuan shook her head: "I'm fine, it wanted to escape, Master, I slapped it back!"

Xue Tong shook his head: "It wasn't trying to escape at all!"

He tightened his hold on Tuan Tuan, raging: "Scoundrel! You actually wanted me to be its host; just now it tried to leap onto my face, entering through the seven orifices!"

"Cheng Jing! I think you've gone mad."

Tuan Tuan understood: "Master, it's still listening to its mother, right?"

Xue Tong nodded: "Yes, it must be Cheng Jing activating the mother gu, which in turn triggered the offspring gu, causing this."

Tuan Tuan thought: "Then, Master, if I feed it, will it also obey me?"

Xue Tong was startled: "You feed it?"

He shook his head: "It feeds on human essence and blood; what would you use to feed it?"

"If you want it to obey you, that's impossible; it would have to grow larger than the mother gu."

"But the mother gu is usually several times the size of the offspring gu; however you feed it, it cannot outgrow the mother gu."

Tuan Tuan smiled: "Master, my blood is very potent!"

Xue Tong's head shook like a rattle: "Nonsense!"

Tuan Tuan puckered her little mouth, lifted a finger into her mouth, and bit hard to break it.

She reached out and opened the jar's lid: "Let me try!"

Xue Tong was pale with shock; just as he tried to seize her, Tuan Tuan had already placed her hand over the jar and let a drop of fresh red blood drip into it.