Chapter 19: Caught

When I mentioned this, Su Rou said to me in a strange voice, “Where do you think mosquitoes come from in winter? I get bitten on my butt in the summer, but I never thought that mosquitoes would bite me on my butt in winter.”

For a moment, I suspected that Su Rou had been bewitched, but based on my knowledge of the art of bewitching at the time, I stubbornly and deliberately thought that bewitching should be something like worm eggs or being smeared with something, and there was no way that it could be an itchy ass.

But I still asked subconsciously, “Do you have a feeling of being bitten?”

“I don’t feel anything, but I just feel like my butt has been itchy for a while, and it’s still itchy now.” Su Rou said, while scratching his butt.

I was too lazy to care about him, so I deliberately distanced myself from him. What’s the point of walking with someone who keeps scratching his butt?

Su Rou was not happy and shouted in a very aggrieved manner, “Sanwa, how can you abandon me?”

I was so angry that I raised my foot and yelled, “Stay away from me! If you come within 5 meters of me, I’ll kick you!”

“You heartless man!” Su Rou suddenly shouted, then looked at me with a look of resentment.

As a result, several people looked at us. I had goosebumps all over my body, and Su Rou couldn’t hold back any longer. The two of us laughed hysterically and went home in a flurry of laughter.

Since we were planning to attend Yun Xiaobao’s dinner party, we decided to stay in Chengdu for two more days. After we had finished discussing the matter, Su Rou hurriedly wanted to take a bath, saying that it was itchy and had now spread to his back, so he needed to wash it off.

I asked casually, “How long ago was the last time your child took a bath?”

Su Rou rushed into the bathroom, turned on the water, and answered me, “Oh, let me think. It’s been how many days? Oh, it’s been six or seven days.”

I lay down on the sofa, speechless for a while, and scolded, “You might as well learn from the indigenous people of Africa. Wash yourself once every few years, and when you wash, find a tile and use it to scrape the mud off your body.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s so economical with water. I don’t know what’s wrong with your child, but he has to take a bath every day. I don’t care about the water bill anymore, you pay it.” Su Rou shouted in the bathroom.

I didn’t say anything, but I think this habit of taking a bath every day must have been formed when I was with my master, because at that time, I took a bath almost every day, rain or shine.

But in the past year, the frequency has decreased a lot. Neither my master nor I have said why. In fact, it is very simple. My master has used up most of the materials he had saved up, and we don’t have much money.

According to the price in 1990, the cost of a bucket of fragrant bath water, not including labor costs, should be more than 100. How many “masters” can afford it? This cultivation is indeed “money, companions, and the right place,” with money being the most important.

No wonder the people from the Shan family are all so poor and miserable. I thought of the old man I met selling talismans, who was as thin as a skeleton, and Yuan Yi…

I don’t know what happened to Yuan Yi. I was in a coma in Chengdu for so long. Qin Huai said that the master had arranged for someone to send him home, and that there was a specific person taking care of him. But I never went to see him because of money…

Just as I was thinking about this and that, I suddenly heard Su Rou shout in the bathroom. Then the kid yelled in a high-pitched voice, “Sanwa, come and help me look.”

I jumped up from the sofa. What was going on? Even Su Rou, who was so easy-going, reacted like that. I rushed into the bathroom and saw Su Rou pointing at his belly and saying, “Sanwa, who the hell dyed me?”

I looked, and sure enough, it was the dyeing that Su Rou had mentioned. There was a small patch on his stomach, a small patch of purple, as if someone had splashed watercolor on him.

I remembered what Yun Xiaobao had told me about his father’s symptoms, and my heart tightened. I said to Su Rou, “Turn around and show me your butt.”

Su Rou looked at me and said innocently, “Sanwa, what are you doing? I like women.”

“Fuck you!” I was speechless and extremely irritated. At this point, this kid could still bullshit. I took a deep breath and said, “Turn around first, let me take a look. I think something’s wrong.”

Su Rou was originally joking with me, but seeing my serious expression, he knew that something was wrong and quickly turned around. I saw a purple-colored lump on his right buttock, about the size of a hand, with a black center.

I touched it with my hand, and Su Rou immediately screamed.

I asked in surprise, “Does it hurt a lot?”

Su Rou looked at me and said, “No, I just want to tell you that I am an innocent person, and only my wife can touch this place!”

I suppressed the urge to beat him up and yelled at him, “First of all, I like women, and second, if I ever get a crush on a man, it won’t be on a fat guy like you. You’re done for, you’ve been infected.”

The last sentence I said was quite helpless. Judging from the symptoms, Su Rou was indeed infected.

“But I don’t feel any pain. What’s going on? Does this mean that I’ve been infected and will turn from an innocent man into a bruised man?” Su Rou looked terrified, and finally added, “Sanwa, I haven’t married a wife yet. You have to find a way to turn me into a bruised man, but then no woman will want me.”

I was particularly irritated and lit a cigarette. I am a Taoist priest, not a gong miao, so how can I think of a solution? I could only say to Su Rou, “Hurry up and wash up. We’ll talk when you’re done.”

It was so strange that we could talk nonsense about being bitten by a parasite, something that most people would be terrified of.

Su Rou thought I was very capable, and this was no big deal.

I was numb. After what happened to the old village chief, what else could be considered a big deal in my eyes?

After Su Rou came out of the shower, we both smoked cigarettes. I told him that I had no idea what to do because I didn’t know anything about the art of the gu. But I told him about the symptoms of the late Master Yun! And I made it clear that I didn’t know anything about the art of the gu, so I had no idea what to do.

When he heard this, Su Rou became anxious and said, “Damn it, Sanwa, what would it be like if I became delirious?”

I shook my head and said I didn’t know what delirium was like. I said, “Don’t worry, there’s a way.”

“What’s the solution? You said the person who cast the spell has run away.” Su Rou was a bit depressed.

“Don’t forget about Ru Yue and Ling Qing’s grandma. Their voodoo skills are really something. And Master Chen was arrested, right? We can get some clues from there. Anyway, I don’t think we can go to Guangzhou. It looks like we have to go to Miao Village. I don’t know if we’re going to Yunnan or Xiangxi.” I tried to sound calm when I said this to Su Rou.

Su Rou nodded, and with some trepidation, he lifted up his shirt and looked at his belly. He noticed that the strange greenish-purple color had faded a little, and he looked at me and said, “Sanwa, am I better now?”

I knew that the Miaojiang’s gusu was very strange. Unlike a normal poison, if the poison spread, it would be bad. If the poison faded, it would be better. The Miaojiang’s gusu had a repeated process.

I said, “This is not necessarily good. Anyway, don’t move around. We’re going to Yun Xiaobao’s place tomorrow, we’ll ask him in detail, and then let him find a connection and we’ll go see that Chen master.”

This is the only thing to do now. Before the crispy meat fell asleep, he said to me with a lot of unease, “Sanwa, when I’m delirious, you have to take care of me a little.”

I nodded to show that I understood.Taoist priest

Late at night, everything was so quiet. I was tired after a long day, and Su Rou was sleeping soundly on the bed and sofa, while the room was filled with Su Rou’s snoring.

Since I was young, I have had a strong sense of intuition, so my sleep is not particularly stable. The slightest noise outside sounds like a big noise to me, so I easily wake up at night.

Just when I was sleeping soundly, I had a fleeting feeling that Su Rou wasn’t snoring anymore. But I didn’t think much of it. Not snoring is a good thing. I turned over to continue sleeping, but I didn’t want to hear a rustling sound.

It seemed like Su Rou had gotten up. I thought to myself, “Is he going to take a leak?

Although I knew that Su Rou had been poisoned, I subconsciously thought that it wouldn’t happen so quickly, and that the poison wasn’t too serious. Even Master Yun had only had large areas of bruising and was delirious, and I hadn’t heard that it had much of an effect on the body.

This is also the reason why I can remain calm and not panic.

But the sound of Su Rou’s footsteps came from the living room, where I was sleeping.

I was very surprised by what he was doing, but the boy just stood in the living room for a short while, then opened the door and went to the balcony.