SWDnovel Chapter 7 Strange Illness
Chapter 7 Strange Illness
The filthy fourth senior brother, dejected, led his donkey through the streets, intending to find a river to wash himself clean.
At this moment, an old man in a brocade robe, panting heavily, shouted, "Please wait, two Taoist priests!"
Song Quyou and his companion stopped, turned around, and bowed, asking, "Uncle, is there anything I can help you with?"
The old man, supporting his trembling legs, slowly walked over.
"Esteemed Taoist priests, my master invites you in."
Xiao Zhuoguang raised an eyebrow and said in a pretentious manner, "We've just gotten ourselves all dirty. Do you have a place at your house for us to wash up?"
"It certainly exists."
"In that case, please lead the way, sir."
The old man walked ahead, with Song Quyou and his companion following slowly behind. They crossed several streets and arrived at the residence of the wealthy in the east of the city.
The roads here are smooth and clean, and every household, regardless of wealth, displays something at their door. The poorer ones display a stone dog, the richer ones display a lion, and the extremely wealthy display only larger, taller, and more exquisite lions.
The lions at the old man's house were taller than a person, and their bodies were so detailed that if it weren't for the unusual color, passersby would really think there were two real lions sitting at the door.
After entering the house, the two tidied themselves up and followed the old man to the main hall.
"Please sit down and rest for a while, I will go and invite my master."
Song Quyou sat on the wooden chair and glanced around at the layout. The room was furnished with exquisite screens and carved tables and chairs on both sides, and the central aisle led directly to an exceptionally large armchair at the head of the main hall.
Suddenly, the house began to tremble rhythmically.
The old man who had led the way earlier came in, cupped his hands, and said, "Taoist Master, my master has arrived."
Before even seeing the person, one could sense their imposing presence. It turned out that the owner of this house was incredibly obese, resembling a bloated corpse that had drowned. He needed four men to support him as he walked, and with each step, his entire body trembled, causing the teacups on the table to jump high into the air.
"Esteemed Taoist priests, I am unwell and apologize for my rudeness."
"No, no."
The man sat gently on the chair, his fat spreading out like water, leaving no space at all.
"My uncle told me that the two Taoist priests casually brought a donkey back to life."
Xiao Zhuoguang said, "That donkey accidentally ate the contents of a dead body and developed ascites. The medicine I carried with me was just the right antidote, so it recovered faster."
"Master, is there any medicine that can cure my obesity?"
Xiao Zhuoguang rescued the donkey on the street, intending to show off his skills, make some name for himself, sell some amulets, perform some rituals to help the spirits pass on, earn some money, and then take his junior brother on a carefree trip in the city. But who knew that he would actually encounter a difficult and complicated illness.
Meanwhile, Song Quyou, sitting to the side, had a glint in his eyes, secretly using his supernatural powers. The head of the household immediately changed his demeanor, seeing that the corpse energy in this person's body was contained within his skin and flesh, not leaking out at all, and appearing as round spheres.
This is understandable; the corpse aura, which is usually easy to identify, was not recognized at first glance.
"To be honest, the causes of obesity are complex, and I still need to..."
Before Xiao Zhuoguang could continue speaking, Song Quyou interrupted him, explaining the situation of the master's family to his senior brother. The fourth senior brother then suddenly changed his mind, saying:
"I need to know the cause and effect of the illness in my master's family. After all, the obesity in my master's family is caused by the invasion of filth into the body. If we do not know the cause, it will only repeat itself."
The head of the household avoided eye contact, and after a moment of silence, said:
"Two months ago, I went to the south of the city to burn incense and pray to Buddha. After returning, I contracted this strange illness. I don't know the specific cause."
Xiao Zhuoguang frowned, rose, and walked to the front of his master's house. He made a sword-finger gesture, a wisp of white light covering his fingertip. With a gentle stroke, he cut open the skin, but not a drop of blood flowed out. Instead, plump, fat-white insect eggs jumped out, rolling to the ground and bouncing far away. A servant trying to dodge accidentally stepped on one, revealing it filled with pure white fat.
Seeing the countless worm eggs embedded under the skin inside his body, one by one, the homeowner was shocked. His body trembled uncontrollably, and there was a faint sound of water dripping from under the chair, along with a faint smell of urine.
"Junior brother, let's go. The master's intentions are not sincere, and his words are not true. Let's not waste any more time."
Song Quyou got up and followed his senior brother, shook his head and sighed softly, then walked away.
The host, seated at the head of the table, tumbled off his chair in terror, his large, swollen face contorted in panic as he cried out:
"Master, save me, and I will reward you handsomely."
At this moment, two servants carried a box and placed it at the door, blocking the two people's way.
"Open it quickly."
The servant did as instructed, revealing the pearls and gold hidden inside. The glittering jewels made the main hall even brighter.
Xiao Zhuoguang glanced at it and said with righteous indignation:
"Although the Taoist priest is greedy for money, he would not go against his conscience to save an evil person."
The master gradually collapsed, his obese body trembling incessantly, whimpering:
"Two months ago, I went to burn incense in the south of the city alone. On my way home, I was caught in a sudden downpour, so I led my horse to a wooden pavilion in the mountains not far away, intending to wait for the rain to subside before continuing. When I arrived at the pavilion, there was already a beautiful woman inside. She had fair skin, was half-wet, and her slender shoulders and waist were faintly visible. She was so beautiful that she seemed otherworldly. I had wicked thoughts, and the woman half-heartedly resisted. We spent the night together."
The sound suddenly stopped, followed by a retching sound.
Song Quyou looked closely and saw that what the man vomited was a ghastly green bile.
"When I woke up the next day, the woman had turned into a maggot-infested corpse, barely recognizable as human, while my whole body was covered in sticky, rotting flesh and crawling maggots..."
Xiao Zhuoguang took out the pills he used to feed the donkey, tossed them into the man's mouth, and sighed softly:
"At this time, the insects have not yet hatched. You only need to take this medicine, soak in a mugwort bath for seven days, and eat raw glutinous rice for seven days to kill the insect eggs. However, you should note that you should not eat meat for seven days."
……
On the street, Song Quyou looked at his fourth senior brother leading a donkey ahead and asked in confusion:
"Senior brother, I don't think what that person said is necessarily true, so why were you still willing to save him?"
"Junior brother, how could you tell that person wasn't telling the truth?"
"How could someone from a wealthy family go to burn incense alone? And the wooden pavilion that person mentioned, if I remember correctly, when we came here, looking down from the mountain, there was only fertile fields and beautiful ponds. How could there be a wooden pavilion there?"
Xiao Zhuoguang's eyes flickered, and he sighed softly, "Before I started cultivating, I sold a horse to a group of tomb raiders. I listened to them talk about their profession. Before entering an ancient tomb, they would burn incense in the tomb passage. The entrance to the tomb passage usually faces south. If they found a female corpse that had not decomposed in the tomb and saw that she was beautiful, they would also have sex with her."
"In underground cemeteries, where there is no sunlight, how could they know whether a corpse has decomposed or not? So that person told the truth and simply concealed his profession."
After hearing his fourth senior brother's explanation, Song Quyou's doubts were resolved, and he understood why the corpse energy on that person's body was so restrained and stagnant.
Song Quyou stopped thinking about it and sighed softly, "Fourth Senior Brother, after hearing your explanation today, I am truly astonished. I never imagined that there would be people in this world who engage in sexual relations with corpses."
"This is nothing. There are many shady things in the world. No matter how glorious one is in life, as long as one does evil, even after death, the afterlife will drag one's body and scatter one's ashes."