ASV Chapter 76: Gu Poison

(T/N: I’ve been translating “Gu,” ie. 蛊, as “poisonous insect.” 蛊 = gu = legendary venomous insect. So that’s what has been in QKY this whole time. Might switch to just “gu” to get across the full meaning.)

After hearing the system prompt, Qin Kaiyi couldn’t think of a solution for a while. In fact, if Shen Feixiao didn’t know his identity as the masked person, it would be extremely easy to get him to kill Qin Shi, but now… whenever Qin Kaiyi thought about whether to piss off Shen Feixiao, his disastrous encounter after the great formation was set would emerge in his mind. Fine, to some extent Qin Kaiyi was right, because 99% of the consequences of making Shen Feixiao angry would be getting topped…

However, the way home was in front of him. Even if Qin Kaiyi wanted to restrain his temper and properly scheme, it was difficult to suppress the impatience in his heart, so those days that could have originally been considered leisurely became difficult to bear. 

Shen Feixiao seemed not to notice Qin Kaiyi’s anxiety. He still delivered delicious meals to Qin Kaiyi every day or occasionally read a book in Qin Kaiyi’s room. However, most of the time he would leave after finishing the meal, busying himself with something unknown. 

The relationship between the two had been so strangely deadlocked. Some studies say that humans develop a habit on the twenty-first day, and when Qin Kaiyi became aware of it it was too late… he actually unconsciously got used to Shen Feixiao accompanying him to eat.

“I haven’t seen him for a few days. Where is Shen Feixiao?” Poking the tofu in his bowl, Qin Kaiyi’s expression revealed dislike: “Why is it tofu again.”

“… The master has something to do.” The eggplant, still in a gorgeous purple dress, looked at Qin Kaiyi’s picky expression and his mouth involuntarily twitched: “Qin gongzi, do you have something to find master for?” (T/N: polite form of you) 

“…” Actually, I wanted to ask why there’s no meat to eat when Shen Feixiao isn’t here… Qin Kaiyi said silently in his heart, but he still refrained from saying this: “I have eaten tofu for several days, can you change it up?”

“The master said that when he comes back, you can eat meat.” The eggplant rubbed his nose with his hand.

“…” Shen Feixiao you want to cheat me like this! After Qin Kaiyi put a piece of tofu in his mouth, his whole person was in a bad mood. Since Shen Feixiao left inexplicably half a month ago, he had eaten half a month’s worth of cabbage and boiled tofu, to that point that he might turn into cabbage and tofu.

“What is Shen Feixiao leaving to do?” Although he thought that the man in purple before him was a bit familiar, he didn’t connect him with the sable. Qin Kaiyi glanced at the eggplant: “When will he return?”

“The owner has something to do outside, and can only come back in about seven days.” There was no clear answer to Qin Kaiyi’s first question. When the eggplant looked at Qin Kaiyi, there was a little bit of obvious pity in his eyes: “Qin Gongzi please do not be anxious.”

“…” How could he not be anxious, days without meat weren’t for humans to live through… Qin Kaiyi sighed, put down his chopsticks, and nested in the bed again. Shen Feixiao did not allow him to go out when he wanted, and this room had no TV or computer. Aside from reading books and sleeping, Qin Kaiyi had almost no forms of entertainment available.

Seeing Qin Kaiyi returning to the bed, the eggplant began to clean up the wreckage of the food on the table. He naturally knew what Shen Feixiao had gone to do–Feng Shen Gu (T/N: legendary venomous insect conferred by the gods), this kind of thing, could not be found in any old place.

Since he forcefully walked into Tang Shayun’s spiritual consciousness a month ago, he encountered some very strange things from it. What transmigration, what novel… Anyway, he had never seen these things,  but when he saw these peculiarities the eggplant told Shen Feixiao all about it without reservation. The moment Shen Feixiao heard what he had to say, his expression became completely gloomy. 

Since Qin Kaiyi had been caught by Shen Feixiao, the eggplant rarely saw Shen Feixiao get so angry. He looked at Shen Feixiao sitting silently on the chair, but the purple in his eyes was not so obvious–it wasn’t that it was not purple, but that the purple was so intense that it had  a tendency to lean toward black.

“I’m going out.” Shen Feixiao, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth softly. He glanced at the eggplant without expression: “In those days when I’m gone, you know what to do.”

“Yes.” The eggplant knew Shen Feixiao’s temperament well. If Qin Shi had any problems, the first one to suffer would definitely be himself…

Then Shen Feixiao left without stopping to rest. Before leaving, he issued the eggplant a command–he was not allowed to give meat to Qin Kaiyi in those days when Shen Feixiao  wasn’t there. This seemingly childish command actually pinched a certain someone’s  vulnerable spot (死穴, lethal point in acupuncture)… and yes, with such boring days ahead, what could one look forward to besides eating?

So as Shen Feixiao wished, Qin Kaiyi began to think that he very very much wanted him to hurry back–mother’s eggs, he would die if he ate radish and tofu for a few more days!!

Qin Kaiyi, sleeping on the bed, did not know that all of his old background would be uncovered. He now had another problem…

“Are you Yan Gu?” Since Tang Shayun’s incident, Qin Kaiyi expressed skepticism towards all the acquaintances who suddenly appeared beside him. He frowned at the sudden sound in his mind: “Real or fake?”

“Have you been imprisoned into stupidity by Shen Feixiao?” Someone’s voice was very dissatisfied: “I worked  hard to find you while Shen Feixiao was not here, and this is your attitude?”

“So what attitude should I have?” Qin Kaiyi blinked innocently: “Welcome you by pouring a glass of water?”

“… Fine, it seems that you are living well here.” Yan Gu was at a loss and paused for a bit, then said, “Then will you follow me?”

“… Of course.” After hesitating for a while, Qin Kaiyi agreed. He really couldn’t think of a situation where Shen Feixiao would kill him… unless…

“You seem hesitant, it couldn’t be that you’re not willing to go?” Yan Gu sighed: “If I knew it was like this I wouldn’t have come. It’s so wrong of me to disturb the deep feelings between father and son.”

“…” Qin Kaiyi finally determined that this person was indeed Yan Gu. Who else could say such inappropriate words besides Yan Gu??

“When will you take me away?” During the conversation with Yan Gu, an idea flooded Qin Kaiyi’s mind. He suddenly found that solving his and Shen Feixiao’s problem was very easy… Shen Feixiao was not willing to kill him because he was the masked person. Then if he wasn’t the masked person …

“Shen Feixiao went to find Yu Hong to ask for something.” Yan Gu’s voice didn’t reveal any emotion: “En, according to my years of experience, it must not be anything good…”

“…” Qin Kaiyi had the urge to cry until his nose ran. He knew that Shen Feixiao suddenly disappearing couldn’t be a good thing. 

Then Yan Gu’s voice disappeared. Qin Kaiyi was about to ask something when he heard someone knock on the door, and then the eggplant pushed open the door and walked in.

“Why are you here again?” Seeing the purple-clothed man who delivered meals to him every day, Qin Kaiyi was puzzled. “I just finished eating.”

“…” I know you have just finished your meal, so I didn’t come to give you the meal. Eggplant really didn’t understand why Shen Feixiao had such an extreme obsession with Qin Shi…

“Qin gongzi, please come this way. The master told me to accompany Qin gongzi to the bathing pool every day.” Eggplant cut straight to the point. 

“… What do you mean?” Qin Kaiyi was keenly aware that something was wrong. Usually, he bathed in wooden barrels sent in by others, but why today…

But the eggplant didn’t answer Qin Kaiyi’s question, instead directly making an “after you” gesture–he certainly knew why Shen Feixiao did it. He estimated that the Feng Shen Gu had already been found, so now Qin Kaiyi’s medicinal bath was clearly to prepare for this Gu. 

Knowing that he did not have the right to refuse, Qin Kaiyi followed the eggplant with a blackened expression. After passing through the long corridor, he came to a room that he had never seen before.

One couldn’t tell from the outside, but within this room that seemed like nothing special on the surface there was a huge bath. The material of the bath seemed to be a special jade which Qin Kaiyi didn’t recognize even after staring for a while. 

“Is this water really okay?” Qin Kaiyi leaned slightly closer to the bath, and his face twisted when he did. “What exactly is in the bath?”

He saw that the jade bath was filled with an ice-blue liquid. Qin Kaiyi didn’t stand very close and could already smell a clear fragrance. This kind of smell was like wine, but compared  to wine, it was a bit lighter.

“This is the ten thousand years old emulsion that the owner has found, which is very good for the body.” The eggplant’s expressionless face made it impossible to see whether he was lying or telling the truth. It seemed he wasn’t willing to speak with Qin Kaiyi more, and once again gestured for Qin Kaiyi to go ahead: “Please rest assured Qin gongzi, master will not do anything harmful to Qin gongzi.”

“…” Qin Kaiyi was taken aback for a moment, and then he was dumbfounded. In fact, now, he had no need to be wary of Shen Feixiao. After all, his ultimate goal was to have Shen Feixiao kill him. That is to say, the more harmful things Shen Feixiao did to him, the closer he was to his goal.

Having figured this out, Qin Kaiyi also calmed. After watching the eggplant exit the room, he took off his clothes and slowly entered the bath.

Really comfortable. Qin Kaiyi groaned involuntarily when he immersed his body in this liquid–as if massaging his entire body, the waves of spiritual energy in the water gradually poured into his body along his skin. Qin Kaiyi’s eyes narrowed involuntarily.

As Qin Kaiyi soaked in the bath for longer and longer, the light blue water in the bath gradually became transparent, and Qin Kaiyi lay in the bath with his eyes closed. He dizzily fell asleep just like this. 

He didn’t see this in his sleep, but the longer he soaked in the pool, the more the enchanting red lotus patterns on his face gradually vanished. His long black hair, as if its color was fading, became gray.

Feng Shen Gu—I wish for my life to be attached to thine; I wish to eternally bind thy soul; I wish for black silk hair to become white; when the body is extinguished, your spirit will transform. 

When the metamorphosed world becomes real, and when the real world becomes an unreachable dream… will the first one to go mad be the one persistently seeking a path, or the destroyer who demolishes that path?

Qin Kaiyi and Shen Feixiao both didn’t know the answer to this question.

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Imagine some rando who used to be your 12-year old son getting in your grill and dying all your hair white… tf… 

By the way, if you’re confused about what happened in this chapter, so am I and so are the Chinese readers commenting. I am not 100% confident in my translation of the third-to-last paragraph.