Chapter 18: Fallen God Fragrance

Under the flowing water, Gu Xianwang opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of A Yan’s expression through the gaps amid the layered corpses of Fly Ghosts.

It was a look of sheer terror laced with profound disgust, as if he had laid eyes on something utterly repulsive and horrifying.

He lurched to his feet from the dark river, heedless of the gashes on his hands and feet, stumbling back two full steps as urgent whistles escaped his lips.

Yet the surrounding Fly Ghosts and the Golden Silkworm Gu that had emerged from his mouth acted as though possessed, hurling themselves one after another at the river’s surface where her blood-tainted water drifted—like a horde of moths flinging themselves into the flame.

This stretch of the underground river was far too shallow. Wave after wave of assaults had propelled several Fly Gu Worms clean through the current, their jaws clamping onto Gu Xianwang’s wounds with vicious intensity. The fiery agony made it impossible for her to hold her breath any longer.

With a splash, she shot upright from the water, her combat knife slashing wildly through the air as she tore into the black swarm overhead.

A Yan’s narrow mountain-folk eyes were stretched wide, brimming with the raw urge to flee. He muttered under his breath, “No… no way…”

Gu Xianwang had no spare attention to ponder what exactly he meant by Fallen God Fragrance. A maelstrom of Fly Gu Worms buzzed around her like a nest of enraged hornets, harrying her without respite. The Golden Silkworm Gu was the slyest of all, perpetually orbiting her injuries as if biding its time for a killing blow.

She rolled with the water’s flow, timing her move perfectly before slamming bodily into A Yan. The moment they tumbled down together, her legs clamped around his waist, pinning him before her as a shield while the knife’s edge kissed his throat. “Call them off now, or I’ll slit your throat this instant!”

The river surface bobbed with the corpses of countless Fly Gu Worms, staining the once-clear underground stream an inky black. A Yan’s lips twitched, his wits seemingly addled by the alien fragrance mere inches away. “No… you—you… ill-omened wretch, how could you possibly be—”

Clang—

A thunderous grind of stone against stone erupted behind her. Gu Xianwang flinched in alarm, only for a figure to duck low and slip through the now-yawning Stone Door.

The instant the newcomer entered the Water Dungeon, a windproof lighter flicked to life. Flames traced figure-eights around Gu Xianwang, repelling the swarm just enough for her to make out the face in the firelight.

Amid her shock, Gu Xianwang compressed her lips into a thin line, a tangle of emotions churning in her chest.

If you’re coming, come already. If not, stay away. But to take a special detour and arrive so late—was it just to see if she was dead or alive?

“Miss Gu, over here!”

Long Li seized Gu Xianwang’s hand with one of hers while unleashing a burst of insecticide from the other. She had packed only emergency supplies this time around, and repeated use had drained the can near empty. The feeble mist sputtered out with scant effect; the Fly Ghosts merely recoiled a fraction before surging forward again.

Long Li planted herself in front of Gu Xianwang, discarding the canister and yanking A Yan up by the collar to wield him as a human shield. Beneath the dual cover of flame and flesh, she spotted the irregularity at once.

Something was wrong. The Fly Gu Worms and that Golden Silkworm were homing in solely on Gu Xianwang.

Wherever Gu Xianwang fell back, the swarm pursued.

Long Li’s gaze, hard as forged iron, pinned to A Yan’s face. “You’re the one directing the bugs?”

A Yan, drained pale from blood loss and chilled to the bone, stared blankly with a shuddering frame. Abruptly, he clutched the pendant at his chest and bellowed, “Run! Get out of here, now!”

The outburst left even Long Li nonplussed.

Gu Xianwang teetered on the brink of madness from the bites. Searing pain radiated through her body, her mind exploding in a blaze of white-hot sparks. For a fleeting instant, she wished for death over this torment.

Escape routes be damned—she yearned only to drag these Fly Gu Worms down with her. Her vision cut through the endless black tide, zeroing in on the Golden Silkworm Gu. Its gleaming shell shone like an overbright searchlight, searing her eyes.

Fine then. Let’s see who drops first.

Gu Xianwang hardened her resolve, flinging the combat knife aside. She wrenched free of Long Li’s grasp and lunged ahead, her right foot rebounding off the rock wall for extra lift. Her hand speared forward like a gunshot through the void, clamping down amid the swarm to seize the hurtling Golden Silkworm Gu. Before her feet even touched ground, her fingers crushed inward, pulping it to mush.

It felt like popping a sack of sulfuric acid. Her palm erupted in a white-hot melt of agony, so fierce it overwhelmed her. Eyes bloodshot, pain now a distant echo, she splashed down into the black water and doubled over, gasping.

Her wrist quivered faintly as blood seeped from her vise-like fist, dripping steadily into the current.

That peculiar cold fragrance bloomed even richer.

“Ga—”

A Yan’s eyes flew wide open, his snakelike pupils spinning wildly in the whites. His hands clamped around his own throat, a strangled croak bubbling from his constricted windpipe. Black veins spiderwebbed rapidly across the skin around his eyes. In a mere two or three seconds, his lips turned purple, and all breath fled his body.

With a wet thud, he collapsed into the water like a sack of mud.

Gu Xianwang stared in stunned silence at the scene unfolding before her. One moment, a cunning hunter; the next, a lifeless corpse.

Why?

Her vacant gaze dropped to her own hands.

Because of her? Because she had killed the Golden Silkworm Gu?

Had she just killed a man with her own hands?

No, no—she had only done it to protect herself. She had only wanted the pain to stop. But now… was she a murderer? What was she supposed to do? Once she got out, what would the law say? How would they judge her?

No, no, she was out of time. She couldn’t… What about Mom?

Panic seized Gu Xianwang. Her mind dissolved into chaos, terror and agony crushing her down into a single black speck, like a tiny insect skittering across the water’s surface.

And the swarm showed no mercy.

“Heh.” A raspy sound—half sigh, half laugh—scraped from Gu Xianwang’s throat. Her left arm twitched, the waist knife flashing cold as she swung it in wild arcs, hacking like she was chopping vegetables.

The blade was too long for the narrow confines of the cave. It clanged repeatedly against the rock walls, sharp metallic rings echoing through the space.

Long Li’s brow furrowed. She vaulted over A Yan’s corpse, her arm snapping out to block Gu Xianwang’s inner wrist. A quick twist of her palm, and the knife was wrenched from Gu Xianwang’s grip. They stood face-to-face, Long Li’s long arm snaking around to pin her tightly against her chest. With a flick, the blade sliced across her own palm. Beads of blood welled up and scattered, splattering across Gu Xianwang’s back.

The instant the countless Fly Gu Worms touched the blood, white smoke hissed up in curls. They dropped away in a sizzling heap.

Gu Xianwang’s chin hooked over Long Li’s collarbone. Long Li never seemed to sweat; the slick mix of blood and water from Gu Xianwang’s body smeared across her skin. She carried the fresh scent of crushed herbs—like mint leaves—cool and sharp, slicing through Gu Xianwang’s nostrils like a beam of light piercing the mist barrier.

Gu Xianwang hated this kind of intimate contact more than anything.

“Shh. Don’t move.”

Before she could struggle free, Long Li sheathed the waist knife at her hip, scooped Gu Xianwang up in a fireman’s carry, and strode swiftly from the cave. She deposited her at the entrance and slammed the stone door shut behind her.

Gu Xianwang sprawled amid the rocks, staring blankly at the sealed stone door.

Long Li hadn’t followed.

What the hell was she playing at?

Gu Xianwang froze for a beat, then fury ignited in her chest. Fear and rage tangled together, her clammy skin encasing the storm within like ice over fire. She slammed her palm against the door. “Long Li! Are you insane? Open this goddamn door!”

Slap-slap-slap. Bloody handprints bloomed across the stone. It was impossibly heavy—even summoning every ounce of her strength, she couldn’t budge it an inch.

Was that woman some silverback gorilla reincarnated? Even a gorilla couldn’t just muscle its way through a swarm like that, could it?

Gu Xianwang couldn’t say why she was so furious. Three clashes, three times disarmed. This woman was like a nemesis custom-made by the heavens just to thwart her. And not only her rival—she’d racked up a massive debt of gratitude on top of it.

“Long Li, I’m warning you—I’ve got no moral compass! Save me if you want, leave if you want. No warning, nothing? Did I ask for your help? Fine, you’re the big hero. Go die in there for all I care. I must’ve had my brains bashed in a doorjamb to even think of going back for you!”

She pounded the door, bellowing, “If you’ve got the guts, stay locked in there forever with those damn bugs till you rot! I’m not saving you now, and I never will! I-I’m leaving right this second!”

Gu Xianwang hauled herself to her feet, heaving ragged breaths. She stomped two steps away, then halted. Swiveling back, she glared at the door.

She was going to lose it. “Long Li, you self-righteous asshole—open this door right now!”

The words had barely left her mouth when the stone door ground open with a heavy clank.

Long Li slipped out, straightening to meet her gaze.

Gu Xianwang’s jacket and pants hung in tatters, her long hair a wild tangle. Her almond eyes bulged, cheeks puffed out like a river pufferfish yanked fresh from the water.

With the other woman safely out, Gu Xianwang found herself tongue-tied—relief warring with anger, leaving only awkwardness.

She had no idea if Long Li had heard her tirade through the door. After a long pause, Long Li suddenly smiled. “It’s fine now.”

“Oh.” Gu Xianwang worked her lips, body rigid. “How’d you get over here?”

“Yeah, earlier I took a detour around this path and knew there was a water dungeon here. It must be where they raise their gu. When I saw that man grab the tour guide, I figured he’d bring him to this place.”

Gu Xianwang thought back to how she’d cut Ye Chan off earlier, and embarrassment flooded her anew. “You… have a pretty good sense of direction.”

“Not bad.” Long Li still wore that ambiguous smile as she slid down along the stone railing and sat. She shook out her hand and pulled a soaked sheet of printer paper from her pocket. “Is this yours?”

There was no light anywhere around them, but Gu Xianwang could see as clearly as day. Even so, she had the uncanny feeling that Long Li’s eyes gleamed just as brightly from where she sat, picking up every nuance of her expression.

She could just make out the photo on the printer paper. Gu Xianwang stepped closer and murmured, “Yeah, it’s mine.”

Long Li held out the paper with one hand. “You mentioned earlier that you were looking for something to save a life. Mind if I ask whose?”

Her left palm lay flat, revealing the knife wound crusted with blood—a deep gash that looked like a severed life line.

Gu Xianwang fell silent for a moment before saying, “My mom’s.”

Long Li nodded in understanding and said no more. She stood and returned to the water dungeon with Gu Xianwang.

A few fly ghost corpses had lodged in the stone crevices, but most had washed away with the water, leaving the dungeon walls bare and empty. A Yan’s body still lay where it had fallen.

In the heat of the crisis earlier, Gu Xianwang’s thoughts had been a whirlwind. Now, seeing him like this, a tangle of emotions churned inside her. “I got him killed,” she said.

Her words were oddly phrased, as if she were in the habit of shouldering the blame for everything.

Long Li replied, “He refined the golden silkworm gu into his natal gu. A natal gu shares its life with its host—when the gu dies, so does the host. That’s the nature of the exchange.”

“You killed the golden silkworm gu to protect yourself. That’s only natural. Rather than dwelling on the cause of his death, you should wonder why the swarm targeted you in the first place. That’s not normal.”

Exhausted and dispirited after the brutal fight, Gu Xianwang thought it over. “I don’t know. I’ve always been a little different from other people… Just before you arrived, I think I heard him say that I carry the scent of something called fallen god fragrance.”

“Fallen god fragrance?”

Long Li frowned, then flicked her lighter to life and glanced up at the cavern ceiling. “Are you here alone?”

Gu Xianwang started, suddenly realizing how deathly quiet it was. She looked up. “No, Ye Chan and the tour guide are up above.”

Long Li bent down and fished the army knife out of the water, then snapped off the lighter.

“Something’s happened up there.”