Before I could fully comprehend, Guo Qiqi continued to tell me, “Before you, there was a Five-Elements Insect Master who mastered all five insect-rearing and controlling arts—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. You must have heard of this, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard of it.” Guo Qiqi opened a bamboo tube she had brought and placed it on the ground—likely meant to contain the Yin Snake. She then said, “The Yin Snake was bred by him.” I collapsed onto the ground, unable to catch my breath for a long time, nearly suffocating. The reason I felt suffocated was because I was finally encountering a legendary figure, and it was overwhelming. There are many people who live in legends—like Michael Jordan in basketball, or superstars like Michael Jackson, or Bruce Lee.
Everyone yearns for legends, but few get the chance to encounter them. I had only heard fragments about the Five-Elements Insect Master from others, and now I was witnessing the Yin Snake he had bred. It felt like Jordan handing me a pair of his autographed sneakers.
Guo Qiqi reached out and pulled me up. “What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
I shook my head. “I am a little scared, but also excited. By the way, Miss Guo, what attribute do you specialize in among insect masters?” Guo Qiqi hesitated for a moment before saying she was of the Wood attribute. She had spent years searching for clues about the Green Wood, but in the end, I had eaten it, and she had resented me for a long time.
As Guo Qiqi helped me up from the ground, I recalled that among the treasure insects of the Wood attribute I had consumed, there was one called Green Wood. It made sense that Guo Qiqi, having been exposed to insects from a young age, would covet the Green Wood. If she knew I had eaten it, she must have hated me.
I smiled bitterly. “If I had known you wanted it, I wouldn’t have eaten it back then. Honestly, I was tricked into consuming those five insects, which set me on this irreversible path.”
As she spoke, Guo Qiqi prepared for the task at hand, placing various spices around us. A ray of sunlight shone down, illuminating her face at just the right angle, making her look exceptionally beautiful.
Guo Qiqi replied, “Well, you ate it, and now you say you didn’t want to. Do you realize how many insect masters would kill to have it?”
I couldn’t help but recall when Guo Qiqi and I first met in North Thailand—was she already holding a grudge against me for eating what should have been her insect?
I asked again, “How did my grandfather take the insect from you in the first place?” I had initially wanted to say “steal,” but I changed it to “take.” Guo Qiqi shouted, “I don’t know. Come here and help me.” She then instructed me to assist in placing spices at the four corners, along with some strange soil that had an odd smell.
Guo Qiqi had me help tie red threads, and soon everything was ready. It was midday. Yi Miao and Lian Xiaoyao were wandering around the square. Liu Wa and Xie Xiaoyu were hiding under a tree, avoiding the sunlight.
With the preparations complete, I stood at the periphery and noticed soil mixed together at five corners, filling the air with an intoxicatingly seductive scent that stirred something primal within.
Guo Qiqi noticed my distracted gaze and scolded, “Stop staring. These spices are meant to lure out the Yin Snake.”
I snapped back to focus. Guo Qiqi chuckled, “Feng Shui master, let’s get serious. If we don’t catch the Yin Snake, the old lady won’t let you off the hook.”
Guo Qiqi instructed everyone to leave the village. Yi Miao reluctantly tore his gaze away from the statue of the Dog God. As I was about to follow, Guo Qiqi stopped me with her delicate hand. “Take this. If you manage to hook the Yin Snake, shout loudly.”
In her hand was a silver bell that jingled softly when shaken. I took it, feeling an eerie chill. When I asked how to use it, Guo Qiqi told me to ring it gently at intervals, ensuring the sound was soothing.
I stood at the center of Guo Qiqi’s insect-trapping formation. She motioned for me to sit down, then left the village with Yi Miao. Xiao Jian and the kitten were taken along. Xie Xiaoyu glanced at me, silently promising to come to my rescue if danger arose.
Before they left, I asked Yi Miao to leave the snail with me in the bamboo tube as my companion.
“Don’t go too far!” I called out as I sat down, the bamboo tube in front of me. I shook the bell once and chanted in my mind, *Yin Snake, come out, Yin Snake, come out.*
Gradually, I sensed Guo Qiqi and the others moving farther away. Suddenly, I looked up and saw Liu Wa perched high in a century-old tree, his lifeless eyes silently watching me, sending a shiver down my spine.
With Liu Wa’s gaze fixed from above, I calmed down momentarily. After all, a zombie emitting red corpse energy was no ordinary foe. I had to admit he was formidable—I still hadn’t figured out how to deal with him.
Since zombies had no breath, the Yin Snake wouldn’t detect him. I closed my eyes, immersing myself in the aura of the Three Ghosts Village. This was a place where an entire village had been massacred; even in broad daylight, it should feel haunted.
Yet, sitting under the sun, I felt warm and at ease. The Three Ghosts Village didn’t seem like a forsaken land where villagers had met violent ends.
Those who died unjustly often lingered, their grudges festering over the years, making them terrifying entities. As I meditated, time slipped by, and soon I could no longer hear or sense Guo Qiqi and the others. *Did they really have to go that far? Leaving me here alone…*
The air was thick with a complex, intoxicating scent that had a mildly aphrodisiac effect. Though I tried to focus, my thoughts kept drifting to Guo Qiqi—that night in Chiang Mai, which had felt both real and surreal, a fleeting moment of pleasure.
Just then, a surge of sinister energy erupted from all directions, abruptly severing my thoughts. My skin prickled as if hundreds of ants were biting and burrowing into me.
I snapped my eyes open. The sky had darkened, and Liu Wa was gone from the tree. Worst of all, my body was crawling with giant red ants—the kind found in Africa and South America. I had read about them in *National Geographic*—how a migrating swarm could overtake a running lion, leaving behind only bones.
These ants weren’t eating my flesh, though. Raising my hand, I noticed an eerie camellia pattern on the silver bell—something I hadn’t paid attention to earlier.
My body was numb, and I couldn’t move. Even my raised hand froze in place. *Damn it, the wireworms are acting up again!* The red ants scurried over me, and my gaze fell on my hand where they had bitten.
The flesh had turned from yellow to black, as if drained of vitality. These black patches were corpse spots—I had seen them on Abe Yumekawa. Once covered in them, a living person would cast no shadow under light.
In an instant, I understood. These weren’t ordinary flesh-eating ants. If I wasn’t mistaken, they fed on human souls—siphoning vitality before devouring the spirit.
And right now, they were feasting on *my* soul. Each ant harbored a terrifying, desperate, and obsessive spirit. These ants were vessels for the vengeful souls of the Three Ghosts Village villagers—massacred, unavenged, and desperate for release.
Among them were also fragmented souls—strangers, terrified and lost. A deafening crash echoed as a courtyard wall collapsed, revealing rows of blackened, mummified corpses sitting cross-legged—all the insect masters who had entered the village and never left.
Their souls had been eaten by the ants, leaving behind desiccated husks.
I wanted to scream, *Help! Yi Miao! Xiaoyu!* But no sound escaped my throat. Then I thought, *Maybe it’s better if they don’t come. If they do, they might die too. Better just me than all of us. At least they can live on and tell my soul what happens in the world.*
The giant ants crawled up my arm. I felt a sliver of my soul being pulled from my spine. All I hoped was that they wouldn’t consume me entirely—that some memories would remain. Because those memories mattered. They held Xie Lingyu, my mother.
I’d rather die than lose them.
Then, something shifted inside me. Like a droplet disturbing a still lake, ripples spread. A surge of warmth emerged from my dantian. *The five damned insects finally realize I’m dying and are stepping in to deal with these cursed ants!*
Holding my breath, I mentally roared, *Stop, you greedy bastards! Your deaths have nothing to do with me!* The ants paused, hesitating.
But they soon united into a single, powerful consciousness, resisting my command. Their collective energy emitted the same red corpse aura I had seen on Liu Wa. I ordered them to retreat, but they refused.
Voices whispered:
*”It’s him. It’s him. I want his soul.”*
I intensified my command, channeling the power of the five insects. *”Leave now, or you’ll all be poisoned!”*
*”I want his soul. I want his soul.”*
*”Who are you?”*
*”Guo Tianjie. Guo Tianjie.”* The voices grew louder.
I had never heard the name Guo Tianjie before. But anyone could guess—he wasn’t ordinary. Not at all.
This Guo Tianjie was likely the Five-Elements Insect Master of the Guo family. He was responsible for everything in the Three Ghosts Village. *Could he be the one who left the bloody handprint on my grandfather? The one I’ve been searching for?*
I steeled myself and barked, *”Leave now, or be reduced to dust!”*
*Crack!*
A crisp sound rang out.
The bamboo tube beside me burst open, and a snail leaped out, landing on my crown. A wave of cool, soothing energy washed over my entire body.
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