Capítulo 40: Chapter 40: Master Gu
The young men coming out of the private room were all part of the security team from Century New Garden. These guys were good for nothing, spending their days swaggering around behind Shi Youfu, relying on the Jiang family's reputation to throw their weight around. Now that they saw their boss get hit, they charged at me, shouting and throwing punches, no different from street thugs.
"Get him! Beat him to death!" Shi Youfu, who I had knocked down with a bottle, groaned on the ground, clutching the back of his bleeding head. He was now completely sober, his face twisted in rage.
"So you're trying to gang up on me, huh? Bai Qi!" I shouted fearlessly, but the valiant yellow figure didn't appear before my eyes.
As the group surrounded me, I turned to look—only to see that the mutt had polished off the spilled half-bottle of Royal Salute and was now wobbling drunkenly, hugging the broken bottle while lying behind a potted plant.
"What the hell? Seriously?"
Its antics almost got me killed. Seven or eight strong young men armed with random objects approached menacingly. "You dared to hit our boss? You walked in here, but you'll be leaving on a stretcher!"
With the group closing in, I grabbed the drunken mutt and bolted.
"Is there a back door?" I asked, not forgetting to stomp on Shi Youfu's stomach as I left. He spat out a mouthful of blood, which did wonders to ease my anger about the shop being smashed.
"There's a small door in the back kitchen that leads outside."
"The mountains won't move, and rivers will keep flowing—see you next time!" I shouted, sprinting toward the back kitchen. A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him; once Er Gou comes, we'll settle this properly.
Being chased by several men, I fled blindly out of the back of the Blue Tune Bar, sprinting through the dark alleyways.
"Stop!"
"Listen up! Whoever catches him first, I'll give a 1,000-yuan bonus!" Shi Youfu shouted from behind, still angry and clutching his head.
Motivated by money, the group went after me like rabid dogs.
Unfamiliar with the area and weighed down by Bai Qi, I was already out of breath. That dog looked only slightly bigger than a normal mutt, but its actual weight was several times heavier. My shoulders were screaming in pain.
"You can't hold your liquor, but you still had to drink. Aren't you just screwing your teammate over here?" After running for a hundred meters, I was gasping for air. I dropped the drunken dog, who still clung stubbornly to the broken bottle, and grabbed a brick, turning to stand in the middle of the alley.
"Why aren't you running anymore? Kid, if we don't send you to the hospital today, I'll never show my face in Jiangcheng again! Get him!"
Just as I was about to be surrounded, two second-hand Wuling vans screeched to a halt at the entrance of the alley, like divine reinforcements.
"Jian-ge, are you alright? Sorry I'm late!" A dozen men jumped out of the two vans, all holding sticks, wearing masks and baseball caps.
The leader, with his right hand in a cast and bright yellow hair standing out in the night, yelled, "How dare you touch Chen Er Gou's brother! Beat them!"
The tables turned instantly. Laughing, I tossed the brick from hand to hand. "Er Gou, you're just in time—neither early nor late!"
The security team was now stuck in the middle of the alley. The chubby Shi Youfu, however, remained surprisingly calm. Pressing a towel to his bleeding head, he sneered, "You'd better think this through. We're Jiang family security. If you guys want to keep mixing in Jiangcheng, you'd better stop now."
"Jiang family? Pfft! I don't care if it's the Emperor himself, it won't help you today!" Er Gou's crew was made up of his own guys—not too old, but every one of them ruthless with their fists.
"You think you can scare me? Just wait until my reinforcements arrive!" Shi Youfu barked into his phone. "Master Gu! We're in the alley behind the Blue Tune Bar. Please hurry! There's too many of them; we're not their match."
Hanging up the call, Shi Youfu grinned viciously, looking emboldened. "It's a good thing I invited Master Gu to my birthday party tonight. Soon you'll know what it feels like to wish for death but not find it!"
"There's twice as many of us as you! What are you so smug about? Should I start cutting you guys one by one?" Er Gou's eyes flashed dangerously.
I grabbed Er Gou's arm to hold him back. "Don't act rashly. This Master Gu might not be simple."
"Now you're scared? It's too late! Master Gu is a distinguished guest invited all the way from Miaojiang by Young Master Jiang himself to deal with Gao Jian. Today, your bad luck is all your own doing. Next time, check the almanac before stepping outside!" Shi Youfu jeered, his face a mix of blood and wine, grinning menacingly.
"Jiang Chen sent someone after me?" I thought back to the wedding where I had injured Jiang Chen's pet spirit. He probably assumed I was a Taoist practitioner, so he brought in a Miaojiang Gu master to curse me.
Jiang Chen must be holding a grudge for the humiliation I caused him at the wedding. Knowing him, it's no surprise he would resort to such vicious tactics. Based on what I knew about Miaojiang Gu poisons, once the worms entered the body, the lightest consequence would be serious illness and confusion; the worst could mean being tortured to death.
"On the surface, he looks refined, but in reality, Jiang Chen is ruthless," I muttered.
The back door of the Blue Tune Bar creaked open, and a figure in a black robe entered the alley.
"Master Gu! Over here!" Shi Youfu shouted like he'd seen his savior.
The black-robed figure paid no attention, strolling leisurely into the alley, his face hidden under his hood, giving him an air of unfathomable mystery.
"Stop right there! This area is sealed off!" Two of Er Gou's guys stepped up to block him. Master Gu stopped in his tracks for five or six seconds. Without any visible movement, the two men's faces suddenly turned black, and they collapsed, clutching their wrists in agony.
Their bodies convulsed, writhing in pain.
"Haha! Master Gu is incredible! What now? Scared yet?" Shi Youfu laughed triumphantly.
"Zhongsheng, Liu-ge!" Er Gou rushed to check on them, but I held him back. "Don't go. Let me handle this."
"Be careful, Jian-ge. This guy's got some real creepy vibes."
I gestured for him to stay calm. In truth, I wasn't very confident either, but I had caused this mess, so I had to face it.
The dilapidated alley fell into silence as Master Gu walked forward at a deliberate pace, as if he never considered us a threat. He didn't even bother to speak.
Gripping the brick tightly, I figured out why Er Gou's men collapsed—they must have been bitten by poisonous insects.
"Be careful—one bite and it's game over," I thought to myself. But defending against venomous insects in the dark alley was no easy task.
As I pondered my next move, I suddenly felt a sting on my leg.
Looking down, I saw a palm-sized snake biting into my calf.
Pulling it off, the snake struggled for a moment before going still, its body rigid. It was dead.
I touched my leg. Apart from two pin-sized bite marks, I felt no other symptoms—only a slight tingling sensation, as if my blood circulation had improved.
"You're a tough one. You're the first person I've seen who could stay unfazed after being bitten by a Seven-Step Snake," Master Gu said, his voice carrying a hint of surprise.
"So you can talk?" I replied. I wasn't fearless; it's just that my leg felt fine—more numb than painful.
"Still have the strength to speak? Let's see how long you last," Master Gu sneered, opening his palm. Tiny, bug-like creatures leapt from his hand.
"These are San Tu Worms. Using proper Gu poison on you would be a waste," he said smugly, shaking his head in self-satisfaction.
I froze in place, too afraid to move, but after a few minutes, nothing happened. Looking down, I saw a few bugs barely alive, twitching weakly on my shoe.
"Is this some kind of trick? Are they supposed to explode after death?" I muttered, still wary. Master Gu's earlier display had left me with the impression that he was incredibly powerful, but so far, aside from the theatrics, nothing had actually harmed me.
"Could it be a slow-acting poison? Like something that will make me drop dead at midnight?"
"Oh? San Tu Worms can't even get close to you? Looks like I'll have to use real Gu magic. I wanted to give you an easy death, but you refuse to appreciate it," Master Gu said coldly, his tone full of disdain.
He pulled out a sealed clay jar, swiping his finger across it to let a drop of blood fall inside.
Smelling the blood, a monstrous insect crawled out of the jar. It resembled a centipede but had thirty-three pairs of legs.
"This is the secret art of Miaojiang—The Thousand-Legged Gu!"
With a flick of his finger, the centipede-like Gu crawled swiftly along his arm and hit the ground, its movements growing so fast that it became impossible to follow with the naked eye.
I gripped the brick nervously, scanning my surroundings.
"You think you can resist Gu magic with mortal eyes alone? You're no more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot!" As soon as he finished speaking, I felt a cold sting on my arm.
"Not good!"
I tried to shake it off, but it was too late—the Gu insect had already bitten into my arm.
Toxic venom seeped in, and the skin on my forearm turned a sickly blue-black.
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