The Tomb of the King of Miaojiang Gu Poison

The Tomb of the Witch King of Southern Yunnan

[Story Introduction]

Deep in the Wuliang Mountains of southern Yunnan, the elders of the Nuogan ancient village still forbid the younger generation from entering the depths of the rainforest. A “City of a Hundred Gu” lies buried there, a necropolis belonging to the last Dai chieftain of ancient times. Legend says that, unwilling to let his entire people be slaughtered and burned out by the Burmese, the chieftain used the forbidden art of “Nine Gu to Birth a King” to have himself buried alive in a vine coffin, vowing to become a Gu and protect the village for a thousand years. But as a result, anyone who approaches the tomb with greed in their heart will have blood vines coil around their ankles and drain them of their lifeblood.

In 2003, in Pu'er, Yunnan. Lu Yan, a discharged reconnaissance soldier, receives an anonymous letter from Myanmar. Inside is a crimson vine covered in barbs, identical to the last keepsake his father sent home before leaving on a mission along the Yunnan-Myanmar border eighteen years ago. Wu Sanxiang, an old comrade of his father's who now runs an antique shop and is nicknamed Old Owl, recognizes the vine as a root of the legendary “man-eating vine coffin.” The coffin does not guard gold or silver, but the Gu King, raised with the last chieftain's lifelong cultivation: a living creature between insect and beast, able to read people's minds and discern