As soon as I realized what Yang Xiao was doing, I knew he was using the nurses as human shields…
Yet his face still wore a carefree smile, chatting happily with the young nurses, not even sparing a glance at the door. But I noticed his hands had already moved behind his back—right where he kept over a dozen large brass nails.
"What's wrong with the door?" asked the elderly doctor who had been testing my knee reflexes. He glanced back at the door and, seeing nothing, turned back to me with a puzzled look. "Young man, are you experiencing hallucinations? That's completely normal in your condition. After two years of unconsciousness, it's typical for your senses to be out of sync. Auditory and visual hallucinations are…"
Before the doctor could finish, Yang Xiao suddenly slapped his forehead and muttered, "Oh, my memory!" He turned to the nurse closest to the door and said, "Could you do me a favor? I think I left my phone at your station. You know the rules—our superiors don't let me leave this room. Would you mind…"
Hearing she'd been singled out by Yang Xiao, the nurse smiled brightly. "Your phone? I'll go grab it right now." As she spoke, she turned and began walking toward the door.
"Don't go!" I shouted, startling the nurse. She froze in place, confused. At that exact moment, the trace of deathly aura outside the room vanished completely.
Yang Xiao let out a cold snort, sprang toward the door in one leap, and kicked it open. He darted out like a flash.
I could clearly sense his presence racing through the hallway and out of the hospital. He circled the building twice without being stopped by anyone and finally returned.
Once back in the room, Yang Xiao gave me a subtle shake of his head. The nurse, misinterpreting the situation, said, "You couldn't find your phone? Maybe someone picked it up for you? Did you ask the nurse on duty?"
Yang Xiao handled it smoothly, giving a helpless chuckle and brushing it off with some excuse about the phone being lost. The other nurses whispered to each other, speculating that maybe his phone had something private in it, and that's why he freaked out and kicked the door open.
Once the doctors and nurses had left, I turned to Yang Xiao and asked, "Was it Lin Feng?"
Yang Xiao's expression grew a bit odd—like a kid who had gotten away with sneaking a treat. "Can't be certain. Aside from that sliver of death aura, I couldn't sense anything else… but—"
He suddenly grinned wickedly, flashing a set of bright white teeth. "I laid a little trap in the hospital earlier. Looks like some idiot walked right into it."
"You mean the one who manipulated the death aura triggered your formation?" I nearly jumped out of bed in excitement. This guy had been downplaying himself lately, but he was once the head of the Ghost Path Sect. If whoever it was really did step into his trap—whether it was Lin Feng or not—they were going to suffer.
"What kind of trap was it?" I asked, eyes gleaming. "One of those 'nine deaths, one life' setups?"
"Nine deaths, one life… You're really starting to sound like me back in the day," Yang Xiao chuckled. "I would've loved to set something like that up. But your Vice Director Sun found out beforehand and stopped me. He made me promise—no spell formations that might hurt the innocent."
Only then did I realize—this was a hospital, full of foot traffic. Yang Xiao's kind of large-scale destruction wasn't an option here.
Yang Xiao glanced at me again and continued, "The little thing I set up won't kill anyone, but it sticks like a cursed leech. Unless I personally remove it, whoever gets marked won't be able to shake it off. Every month during the full moon, they'll suffer for a few days. And even if they die, the curse will cling to them in the next life. It'll take three, maybe five lifetimes before they're free of it."
Yang Xiao spoke as if it were nothing, but I didn't believe it was just a matter of "suffering for a few days." The thought that something could cling to you for several lifetimes—meaning you'd be tormented across reincarnations—sent a chill straight down my spine. I swallowed hard after he finished, then asked a bit nervously, "Old Yang, what exactly is this little thing of yours? Are you sure it didn't target the wrong person?"
"Relax, it won't hurt you. I'm the one who released them, and I control who they attach to or not." As he spoke, Yang Xiao suddenly reached into the air and made a grabbing motion. When he opened his hand, dozens of tiny creatures the size of rice grains squirmed in his palm.
Maggots.I instantly felt nauseous when I recognized them, watching them writhe across his skin. But Yang Xiao seemed completely unfazed. He held out his hand toward my face and said, "Let me introduce you—these are Bone-Burrowing Maggots."
Bone-Burrowing Maggots.The name alone wiped away my nausea, replacing it with sheer dread. I stared fixedly at the squirming horrors in his hand, too stunned to even flinch.
These things were the stuff of legend. Even in Ouyang Pianzuo's archives, there were only brief mentions—no diagrams, no specimens.
The only thing known was that when someone got infected by these maggots, each full moon they would burrow into the nearest bone and hollow it out. Once the bone was eaten away, the maggots would vanish—only to reappear at another random spot the next full moon, repeating the cycle until the victim died. Some had even tried cutting off infected limbs at the first signs, but even if they survived the amputation, the maggots would return in a different spot the next month. There was no escape.
Because of that trait, I had always imagined them to be like leeches—semi-mystical parasites. I hadn't expected them to be… actual, squirming maggots.
And what Yang Xiao said today—that they could attach for multiple lifetimes—was something I'd never even heard before.
Watching the live maggots wriggle across his palm, I could almost feel them inside my bones. Once he'd shown off enough, Yang Xiao flicked his wrist, and the dozen or so Bone-Burrowing Maggots dispersed into smoke and vanished into the air.
Knowing those things were now hiding invisibly around us made my neck crawl. Instinctively, I pulled my blanket tighter over my body. Staring at the spot where they disappeared, I asked warily, "Old Yang, those little monsters of yours didn't latch onto the wrong person, right? There were a lot of people around just now. It's hard to say who they touched."
"I decide who they attach to. Even if someone else makes contact, they won't stick unless I will it." Yang Xiao smiled calmly and added, "They obey me alone."
That reassured me slightly. But then I realized—this wasn't something we could just keep to ourselves. We had to let Sun Fatty know. So I asked Yang Xiao for a phone.
But he shook his head. "This is nothing. The two of us can handle it."
Even though his Bone-Burrowing Maggots had done their job and Yang Xiao now had the upper hand—and he was dead certain the culprit was Lin Feng—I still felt uneasy. He was being far too optimistic, and this wasn't something that could be kept quiet just because he said nothing.
So I said again, "We can't cover this up, right? Sun Fatty said he'd be back tonight. With his temperament, he'll find out sooner or later."
"Hehehe…" At the mention of Sun Desheng, Yang Xiao just chuckled. He gave me a sly look and said, "You really think he'll show up tonight? Fine, you and I are the same kind of people now, so I'll level with you. Even if I don't say it, you'll figure it out soon enough…"
His smile faded a bit as he held up one finger.
"First," he said, "no one—not even Gao Liang—knows you've regained consciousness. But someone's already making moves against you. Back when you had just fallen into a coma, someone made a probe at your old hospital. I drove them off, but that's why your Vice Director Sun had you transferred here, along with your attending doctor."
Then he raised a second finger. "Second, I know you saw the hand signal I gave Sun Desheng earlier. Wanna guess what I told him?" Yang Xiao paused, then answered his own question. "He asked me to tail your Director Gao. I followed him all the way to a small motel on the outskirts. He seemed to be waiting for someone. If I hadn't been summoned here, I might've found out who."
I could tell there was something more between the lines of his seemingly rambling account. Once he was done, I sat up slightly and stared at him. "What are you really trying to say?"
Yang Xiao got up, walked over to the window, and gazed out. But he kept talking to me: "Doesn't it all sound kind of familiar? Didn't Sun Desheng tell you a story like this once?"
And then I understood.In Sun Fatty's version, the main character had been Qiu Bulao."Gao Liang went to meet Lin Feng? Are you f***ing kidding me? You just stood there and watched? You know meeting Lin Feng means death—and you did nothing?" I exploded. I jumped out of bed, searching the room for a phone. When I couldn't find one, I stormed over and began digging through Yang Xiao's pockets.
Yang Xiao didn't even flinch. He smiled faintly and let me rifle through his coat. His phone only had one number saved in it—unlabeled, but strangely familiar. I seemed to recall that it belonged to Yang Jun, back when we'd first brought him into the Bureau.
But after two years of unconsciousness, my mind wasn't what it used to be. I used to be able to recite Sun Fatty's and Xiao Heshang's numbers by heart. Now I couldn't even remember Sun Fatty's.
I held up the phone and looked at Yang Xiao. "What's Sun Fatty's number again? Don't tell me you don't know."
Yang Xiao just grinned. "You think I waste brain space remembering crap like that? He always calls me—I rarely call him."
I honestly wanted to punch that smirk off his face. But knowing I'd probably end up worse off if I tried, I suppressed the urge. I tossed his phone back at him and headed for the door. I couldn't remember a phone number, but I still remembered how to get to the Bureau.
I was so angry I didn't even notice that I was walking normally now—no weakness in my legs at all.
But just as I reached the door, Yang Xiao stopped me cold with a single sentence:"Do you even know which hotel Gao Liang went to? Even if you go back to the Bureau, you'll still be in the dark."
I turned around, glared at him. "What the hell are you trying to say?"
Yang Xiao walked back from the window and sat down beside my bed again. "Think calmly. If Gao Liang really did go to meet Lin Feng… then who was it just now—outside the door?"