Chapter 34 Gu Poison

In the dish she held with gloves lay a small worm with the appearance of a caterpillar but with large mandibles and pointy legs. The sight caught the boy's attention to which he frowned, "This looks weird and it smells like that of the brain."

Hearing him say that, Willow still feels that the description of dog would fit Akira well, yet the words that came out of his mouth confirmed her suspicions. With many thoughts, Willow nodded, "So, I was right. This came from the brain. Thanks to this, the brain is in tatters and has reduced to the size of a fist."

"Could it be poison?" Akira hummed curiously.

"Poison?" Willow raised a brow before a thought came to her, "Speaking of which, there are many tales of poison being that of insects and worms. If we're in China, the culprit would require a vast amount of poison to affect any amount of the people in Beijing..."

It was then that the train of thought brought her to another idea which Willow quickly put aside the worm and hurried back to the body of the surface-incinerated man. She called out to Akira, "Keep an eye on that bug and think if you can recognize it. Just don't touch it."

She didn't wait or his response as she got to work immediately. This time, she used her scalpel and began her search. Half an hour later, she finally succeeded in her goal and dumped out the contents of the flesh. It was then that she saw it. The condition of the body was as if the body was still in function till just a few hours ago which meant this man was still alive till then.

In the stomach she found small white and partially clear round objects around the size of sand followed by bits of white and brown mush with bits of silver skin. From the mouth, she found a piece of flesh torn off, which she concluded was one of his victims. Willow grumbled, "What a vicious poison... Just what did those children got themselves into this time?"

"Poisonous hybrid worms, that's what." Akira responded in his boyish voice.

Willow nodded with a sigh and turned to Akira as she finally came upon a conclusion.

"Akira. How long have you been on this continent?"

"Hm?" The boy raised a brow before answering, "Less than a hundred years. Why?"

"Have you heard of any poison regarding bugs in legends?"

Aki thought for a bit before responding, "You mean centipede spirits and all that?"

Willow nodded and placed her equipments away after covering the body with one of the blanket covers as she proceeded to take off her gloves and mask, "Boil some water from the sink, would you?"

Though reluctant on his face, he did as she asked while she proceeded to speak with her eyes on the dish, "Have you ever heard of any tales of poison and bugs together?"

"There are many." Akira responded, "We have the centipede monsters. Scorpion monsters. Female spiders."

"What of the Gu?" Willow spoke up.

"Gu?" Akira raised a brow, "I feel like I heard that term somewhere before. Is there really something I didn't know about here?"

Though sounding like a jest, Willow could feel the weight of his words in her chest. Probably through their contract? Willow frowned, "It was a tale my mother once spoke of when I was younger. In the past, there were a couple where couples are often forced into marriages and men often can have more than one wife if they could afford it. This type of life style greatly harmed the hearts and emotions of the wives that they started creating a long-lasting poison."

"Haha..." Akira nearly dropped the heating pitcher of boiling water with a shudder as he continued, "What a terrifying act."

"This is reality." Willow shook her head in dismay, "Cheating differs between men and women occurs more often than being equal, especially in the past when one can just take in another woman as the men's concubine. Situations are always complicated in different cases. However, one of the most terrifying tales about these situations is the birth of the Gu poison."

"Gu poison?" Akira raised a brow.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of it yet." Willow spoke up quietly, "People often use it in Chinese dramas and shows."

"I haven't heard of it before, though." Akira spoke up curiously, "Strange. Don't they always put insects into large round bowls, though?"

"Looks like you've got a vague idea of it." Willow responded with a smile as she took off her gloves and proceeded to wash her arms and face with the warm water, "There was a tale that to prevent cheating and control the actions of their husbands, the wives sought out Gu sorcerers to create a poison that was called Gu poison. According to records in one of Ancient China's bureaus, Gu poison is concocted by tossing five poisonous creatures into one sealed container and let them fight and eat each other till the last one remains alive."

She took a deep breath and continued, "The last one that remains alive would have consumed the poison of the others' bodies and cultivate their poison to become more concentrated and lethal. It was a poison used many years ago. In many cases, the poisonous centipede would be the victor and the Gu Sorcerors would use that the make a hyrid of their own choosing. The wives use the poison to keep their husbands from staying away from home for too long while the wives held the antidote in her hands."

"This would ensure that the husband would always come back and not abandon the wife who usually can only rely on the husband to live." Lotus recounted, "This guy went ahead and made a version that would chew through the stomach and along the nerves until it reached the brain. Then, it-"

Before Willow could finish, she noticed a bundle of black fur rush past her and into the bathroom she had just came out of. Retching sound could be heard as Willow sighed. She guessed it couldn't be helped, after all. Who told him to actually go ahead and visualize everything she had just witnessed. When he returned, she briefly stated, "In simpler terms, the worms are a hybrid breed to deteriorate and poison the mind making them senselessly bite on any living thing that moves. I was lucky that this guy didn't actually got a hold of me earlier."

Akira glared at her but forced a grumble, "How did he got poisoned, then? Did his wife poison him?"

"Nope." Willow responded, "I saw what he ate. Bits of fish and water. My best bet is that this was all he had for a while before the worm finally got a hold of his sanity and tossed it."

"From the way you say it, it seems someone poisoned the waters." Akira said with a frown.

Willow nodded, "Polluting the waters is a dangerous move since all parts of China has always been depending on the water source for prosperity and all that since Ancient times. Even now that has not changed."

"Talk about a mess." Aki scowled which seemed rather cute on his child-like face.

"Forget it." Willow grumbled, "Tomorrow, we'll have to find another body and make an antidote from that live worm."

"You can make an antidote?" Aki raised a brow in bewilderment.

"If I can't my teacher would beat me to death." Willow grumbled knowing how angry the old man can be when she was still learning herbology from him.

"Why not make an antidote from this one right now?" Aki questioned her.

Willow shrugged, "It's easier to make an antidote from one that still lives to reduce complications. I'd get a volunteer to let us operate on his brain if we could, but what human would be sane enough to do that? Also, I'll need Anesthesia. We don't have that on us and the process to making one from herbs is crazy difficult in my opinion."

"Do you know where to get one, then?" Akira glanced at her with a smirk on his face.

"Does it look like I have a clue?" Willow responded and flicked his forehead, "Tomorrow, we'll head west from here to obtain some. Oh, I'll need your help to cremate the body and hide the evidence."

This time, Akira stared at her in bewilderment as she returned to her room.

This woman actually knew where to find it?! Wait a minute! She just treated this fox as a slave! For once, Akira wasn't certain rather she should laugh or cry when the thought sunk into his mind.

The air here was surprisingly fresh despite the eruption that occurred a few months ago and the city not being too far.

As she laid on her bed with her newly bandaged arm, Willow recalled the dark smoky sky back in Guiyang when she was younger. Though it had gotten better now, the sky would be clouded by smoke from industries and factories everyday and, rarely, would she get to see the blue sky through the white and gray smoke in the past.

Recalling this, she wondered how her family from her previous life is doing right now. She hoped that the so-called "disease" isn't affecting their lives too harshly. No doubt her aunt would have to use online videos to tutor her students now, but it would be better for her to be healthy at home than catching whatever illness or poison was going around.

Her paternal grandmother should be getting on with age, but, with her paternal uncle and cousin around, she should be well cared for. However, to ensure their safety, Willow would need to start working on the antidote as fast as she can.

Those words that spewed from the soldiers' mouth was also something of great interest and fear to her too. She should probably gather some information about that place too and some herbs and chemicals from the hospitals. She'll also have to sneak past securities one way or another.

After all, it's not like she can leave a place that has been quarantined off so easily without a hassle and Willow hates hassles. Suddenly, Willow could feel the anxiety and horror tinge her chest as fear crept just around the corner.

It was around eight when her phone alarm went off. Groggily after a night's work, Willow had to push herself to get up and had to use the kettle's hot water and a towel to wipe herself down. After learning about the water situation, she became rather skeptical about the water within these areas. The hotel was no different.

Who knows where their water source came from?

With everything done, she woke up Akira and threw his sleepy cat form into her bag before leaving the room. Having been thrown into a bag, Akira was in a grumpy mood after staying up all night. He growled, "So early in the morning, what do you plan to do?"

"Look for anesthesia and some medicine." Willow responded.

"Didn't you say you knew where it was?" Akira yawned, "Why do you have to drag me along with you too?"

"Do you want to be here if something goes wrong?"

Akira sighed, "Whatever. Then, what do we do?"