Chapter 61: Vomiting

Given the internal strength of Li Miao and Wang Hai, the exhaustion of two days of hard riding was hardly much of a strain. The two of them pushed their horses relentlessly along the road, even exchanging their steeds with passing merchants for fresher mounts, and thus arrived at Tai’an City ahead of schedule.

Neither of them had eaten properly in the past two days, always on horseback, and now they were feeling quite hungry.

“Let’s eat first. Afterward, we’ll head up the mountain tonight and see what tricks the Bright Sect is playing at,” Li Miao said.

Wang Hai had no objections.

So, they found a tavern, tethered their horses at the door, entered, and ordered a few simple dishes before starting their meal.

As they ate, Wang Hai sighed.

“Commander, this assignment… I thought it was just a matter of Zuo Lishan, maybe at most involving a flag leader or two.”

“Now both the Left and Right Envoys have arrived. That Chief Zhou was already a headache for the commander for years, and now he can’t even get a seat at the table.”

“With a task like this—forget another commander—even if Inspector Bu himself came, he’d be caught in the thick of it.”

“And now there’s a eunuch stirring things up… I really don’t know what’s happened on the commander’s end.”

Li Miao, however, just smiled.

Wang Hai wasn’t in the know, but Li Miao was all too familiar with such matters. Naturally, since the two of them had left the capital together and hadn’t met any of the men sent by Shuntian Prefecture, he didn’t know what had changed back there. But when it came to eunuchs snatching assignments from the Embroidered Guards, Li Miao knew the game all too well.

“Punish first, report later, with the emperor’s special sanction. That’s what the Western Depot is for.”

Still, the Great Shuo Dynasty was quite different from the Ming of Li Miao’s previous life. Whether it was the Eastern or Western Depot, their emergence had come much later than in Ming times.

Li Miao picked up some food with his chopsticks. “The matter of the eunuch doesn’t concern me much. Worst case, I’ll beat him up and drag him back to Shuntian Prefecture.”

“I’ve served under the commander for twenty years. He always takes the credit, I take the falls; he gives the orders, I face the danger.”

“If he hasn’t called me back, that means he intends for me to deal with the eunuch. That old man is probably already drafting his memorial of apology in Shuntian Prefecture.”

Li Miao knew Zhu Zaiyan too well.

When he came to Great Shuo, he was only seven or eight, orphaned and waking up huddled among beggars in a corner. His strong constitution was noticed by the Embroidered Guards, who took him in and trained him. By fifteen, he was inducted into their ranks and had served under Zhu Zaiyan ever since.

If he had any family in Great Shuo, it would be Little Four and Zhu Zaiyan. Wang Hai, at best, could be considered half family.

After twenty years together, Li Miao understood Zhu Zaiyan’s mind completely. Zhu Zaiyan knew just as well what Li Miao would do. So even if Li Miao didn’t know the details, he wouldn’t be as hesitant as Wang Hai.

Returning to the present, the two finished their meal in silence. When they were done, Wang Hai called out, “Waiter, the bill!”

The waiter came running over, but stopped halfway to sneeze, then hurried over again.

Li Miao looked him up and down, sniffed the air, and his expression darkened.

“Waiter, are you feeling unwell?”

The waiter quickly replied, “Yes, sir. Caught a bit of a chill yesterday, feeling feverish and achy.”

“But I haven’t been in the kitchen today; others took the orders. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your food, sir, you can rest assured.”

“Oh…” Li Miao looked closely at the waiter’s eyes—the whites were bloodshot, tinged red, just like someone with a cold.

“I’ve traveled far and wide and know a bit of medicine. Why don’t I check your pulse?”

In these times, seeing a doctor or buying medicine was expensive, and ordinary folk could rarely afford it. For something like a chill, most just toughed it out.

The waiter had been feeling poorly since morning, but being poor, with no surplus food at home, he had to work daily to eat daily. Missing a day’s work meant going hungry the next. So he forced himself to go in.

Hearing Li Miao’s offer, the waiter smiled awkwardly, “Sir… no need to trouble yourself. Just a minor cold. I’ll sweat it out.”

“Spending that much money for a small illness isn’t worth it.”

Li Miao replied, “From what I see, it’s not as simple as a cold.”

“Let me check.”

Without waiting for further protest, he seized the waiter’s wrist to take his pulse.

Did Li Miao actually know medicine?

Of course not. But he wasn’t doing this on a whim to fool the waiter.

Li Miao secretly channeled a wisp of true qi into the waiter’s pulse.

People who don’t practice martial arts have their meridians gradually blocked as they age. That’s why sect disciples usually start training around ten, when their bodies are forming and their meridians are still open—building a foundation is twice as effective then.

This waiter was young, around eighteen or nineteen, and most of his meridians were already blocked. Li Miao could only send in the faintest thread of qi, to avoid harming the meridians while probing the state of his body.

As he did so, Li Miao’s expression turned cold.

The waiter had meant to refuse, but Li Miao’s grip was too quick for him to react. As his wrist was seized, he felt a warm current flow into his body, dispelling much of the chill.

He was about to thank Li Miao, when suddenly a sharp pain shot through his chest.

With a violent retch, he vomited all over the floor.

Li Miao let go and stepped aside, fixing his gaze on the pile of vomit.

Within, several blood-red worms, banded with white rings and as thin as hair, writhed and squirmed.

Wang Hai, having watched Li Miao’s actions all along, knew he wouldn’t act without reason. Upon seeing the worms, he immediately stood up.

“Commander! This—!”

Li Miao stared at the sight, his voice cold as ice: “Gu worms.”

“Hai, you and Little Four have taken the Love Gu—you know her location.”

“Go find her immediately. Bring her and the Huashan Sect people to the prefecture office and meet me there.”

“As for the Five Peaks Alliance, let Cheng Yuanzhen play host. If things are as I suspect, this may involve thousands of lives—we can’t bother with those martial artists.”

“Go, now!”

“Yes!” Wang Hai accepted the order, rushed out, mounted his horse, and sped toward the city gate.

“Sir! This—this!” The waiter, now seeing the worms himself, was trembling all over, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Li Miao grabbed him by the collar, employed his lightness skill, and headed straight for the Tai’an prefecture office.

Along the way, his keen hearing picked up the sounds of coughing, retching, and groans coming from houses on either side of the road.

Pedestrians, seeing him dart past with a screaming man in tow, quickly stepped aside.

Glancing left and right, Li Miao saw several pairs of bloodshot eyes among the crowds.

Moments later, he arrived at the prefecture office.

Bang!

He kicked open the main gate, pulled out his Embroidered Guard badge, and, channeling his true qi, unleashed the Buddhist Lion’s Roar.

“I am Embroidered Guard Commander Li Miao!”

“All officials and soldiers, report to me at once!”

His voice rang out like a thunderclap, echoing through the city.