The Miaojiang High Priestess Is Always Soft-Hearted Toward Me

[Main text is written in third person]

--They say there is a love gu in Miaojiang: those afflicted fall in love, and when the gu is removed, love turns to hate. The deeper the love, the fiercer the hatred.

When I first heard of the love gu, I dismissed it with contempt. As a member of a righteous sword sect, I detested Miaojiang's wicked and depraved ways, its poisonous insects and snakes, and its strange, sinister women.

Then, during a trip down the mountain for training, I stumbled into a trap set by a high-ranking demonic cultivator. Just as danger closed in, a hand adorned with a tinkling silver bangle barred my way. "Stop. This person belongs to me."

The woman, dressed like a Miaojiang priestess, carried a short crystal-jade flute. Silver ornaments on her forehead chimed out a tune of their own. Her expressionless face gave nothing away as she stuffed an enormous insect into my mouth. Her nails were a vivid blood red.

She said I was her test subject. If I wanted to live, I had to obey. If I tried to run, I would bleed to death from every orifice.

Her gaze was icy, but I wanted to survive. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her waist. I saw a flash of anger in her eyes, but she didn't act on it.

I said, "Big Sister, did you give me a love gu? Take a good look. I'll do whatever you say."

She glared at me and left.

-

Later, I saw the cultivators captured at the same time as me die one gruesome death after another. I alone grew plumper and plumper, while the spiritual power in my body not only failed to diminish, it increased. My cultivation even grew more stable than before.

I asked her again, "Does the love gu work on both people? Could it be that you can't bear to let me die?"

The gu worm on my hand fed on the blood at her wrist, and dark red, sticky liquid dripped into a dish. She glanced at me coldly. "If you want to die, I'll grant your wish."

-

Later still, when the war between immortals and demons broke out, Miaojiang, on the front line of the demonic realm, bore the brunt of the fighting.

As High Priestess, she sent away all the women who practiced gu cultivation and arranged places for them to go, then stayed behind alone to guard the tribe's formation.

She told me to return to the cultivation world on my own, and to find some Dust-Forgetting Powder to erase these memories, lest they create a heart demon and prevent me from ascending.

I asked her one last time, "Did you give me a love gu? This Dust-Forgetting Powder is too expensive. I can't afford it. Remove the gu for me."

Perhaps because danger was upon us, she didn't lash out for once. She simply told me in a calm voice to get lost.

I said, "Remove it. After one day as spouses, there's a hundred days of affection. We should part on good terms..."

Before I could finish saying "terms," she slapped me. Her sharp nails clamped around my throat, but in the end she only let go dejectedly. She tossed a silver ingot at my feet and sent me flying beyond the borders of Miaojiang.

I never saw her again. Or perhaps I only avoided hearing news of her death.

I wanted to hate her. I thought I should hate her. But it seemed she hadn't removed the gu either, and I refused to admit I still thought of her.

Later, I became the first Sword Venerable in my sect to ascend, and also the first to fail.

As I was about to be reduced to nothing, many thoughts crossed my mind.

For instance, the gu she'd given me was so powerful that I couldn't forget her.

And then there was the fact that I knew the illustrated guide to Miaojiang's sacred creatures by heart. The only insect she'd ever fed me was Miaojiang's healing gu, which could only benefit cultivators. Other than that, there wasn't a trace of any gu worm inside me.

Then, when I opened my eyes in disbelief, I found myself back on the day I first met her.

Before me were the demonic cultivators who had ambushed me back then, and a hand adorned with a tinkling silver bangle.

"Stop."

She still stood before me, her expression cold, clad in enigmatic purple robes. But she didn't feed me an insect.

When she saw me, her eyes flickered away. She seemed dazed for a moment, as if something had hurt her, but soon her expression returned to normal.

She told me to get lost, saying Miaojiang didn't welcome me.

But I stayed anyway.

She had no idea that in my previous life, during my time in Miaojiang, I had already learned how to refine gu.

Nor would she ever know that the third time she threatened to refine me into a living medicine, I stood at her bedside and slipped a love gu of my own making into her cup.

Theme: Cherish the person before you.