My girlfriend is a Miao demon.

The night at Circle Art City is like being gently shrouded in a soft, dark veil, even the evening breeze carries a touch of mellowness from being soaked in ink.

After the daytime hustle and bustle subsided, the relics in the park that carried the memories of the industrial era—rusted blast furnaces, winding pipes, and broken conveyor belt supports—shed their desolation and vicissitudes, revealing a unique arrogance under the soft, warm yellow glow of the night lights.

The light flowed slowly along the steel's texture, reflecting the mottled rust into varying shades of ochre-red patterns, like the scales of a sleeping beast, gleaming with a somber luster in the night.

The winding path through the lawn is paved with bluish-gray flagstones, with a few tiny wild grasses occasionally sprouting from the gaps, intertwining with the freely growing shrubs along the path to create a natural landscape. The shrubs exude a faint fragrance of grass and trees, mixed with the dampness of the soil and the metallic rust smell unique to industrial relics, forming a strange yet harmonious aroma.

Occasionally, an evening breeze would sweep by, carrying the coolness of late autumn, causing the leaves to rustle softly and lingeringly, as if countless unseen hands were whispering secrets unknown to anyone.

The distant quenching reflection pool reflects the lights of the sky, and the outline of the blast furnace sways on the water, creating a fantastic landscape where water and sky merge into one. Occasionally, a bird returning home at night skims across the water, stirring up ripples and breaking the brief tranquility.

Xiang Nanfeng, Mao Xigu, and Zuo Hezi walked side by side on the path, their pace unhurried, seemingly leisurely, yet each harboring their own anxieties. A subtle distance remained between them, and the occasional mingling of their footsteps with the sound of the wind accentuated the stillness of the night.

After walking several hundred meters, none of the three spoke. Suddenly, the leader of the Maoxi Gu clan stopped and slowly raised his head. Xiang Nanfeng and Zuohezi subconsciously followed suit and looked up. They saw that the night sky had cleared up and was exceptionally clear, without a single cloud obscuring it, like a piece of carefully polished black velvet.

Countless stars dot the sky, like scattered diamonds on velvet, shimmering with a faint yet resolute light. Even the outline of the Milky Way is clearly visible, gently stretching across the sky.

"Look there."

The leader of the Maoxi Gu clan pointed precisely to an exceptionally bright cluster of stars in the sky, her tone tinged with undisguised solemnity, breaking the stillness of the night. Her fingertips were slender, her nails painted a pale indigo, contrasting beautifully with the starlight. Xiang Nanfeng and Zuohezi looked in the direction she was pointing and indeed saw a halo of light much brighter than the surrounding stars, standing out starkly against the deep night sky.

"That's Liu Su."

The Master of the Maoxi Gu Sect spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of awe:

"The Willow Constellation governs all plants and trees in the world. Its changes in brightness directly foreshadow the flourishing and withering of plants and trees. Since ancient times, when plants and trees flourish in spring and summer, the Willow Constellation shines brightly; when all things wither in autumn and winter, the Willow Constellation dims. This is an unchanging law. But now it is late autumn, the plants and trees are withered and yellow, and all is silent, yet the Willow Constellation shines so brightly that it even overshadows the surrounding stars—there can only be one reason: the Gu Mulberry, which is parasitized by the Child-Losing Gu, is blooming."

"A Gu mulberry parasitized by the Child-Losing Gu?" Sawako's brows furrowed instantly, her face showing obvious confusion. She subconsciously took half a step forward, her eyes full of incomprehension. "What is a Gu mulberry parasitized by the Child-Losing Gu? I've never heard of such a thing before. My father never mentioned it."

Xiang Nanfeng raised an eyebrow slightly, a sense of doubt rising in his heart. Although he had heard the name "Child-Losing Gu" from the Gu Master Mao Xi before, and knew that it was one of the most superior Gu worms of the Flower Seedlings, he had never heard of the term "Gu Sang". He turned to look at the Gu Master Mao Xi, waiting for his further explanation.

Mao west Gu Master withdrew his gaze from the sky, turned to look at the two of them, and his eyes gradually became distant, as if he had opened a long-sealed gate to his memories.

"Do you remember the 'Child-Losing Gu' I just told you about? The old mulberry tree by the Qi River, the dead infant buried under the tree, the concubine hanging from the tree—that tragic mother and child—that's the source of the Child-Losing Gu." He paused, as if sorting through fragments of his grandmother's memories. "Back then, when my grandmother was young, she was pushed into the Twin Gates. In that critical moment, Jiang Yang, the ancestor of the Flower Seedlings, appeared and personally placed a wood spirit infested with the Child-Losing Gu into my grandmother's arms."

"The 'Child Loss Gu' is incredibly powerful and is a treasure among the Hua Miao witchcrafts. It's just a pity that my grandmother was too young and her mind was not yet settled when she encountered a major change. She was unable to calm down and learn how to cultivate the 'Child Loss Gu,' and in the end, she was unable to master this powerful witchcraft."

At this point, Mao Xigu's tone carried a hint of regret:

"Although Grandma failed to master the Child-Losing Gu, she learned from the ancestor Jiang Yang that the wood spirit parasitized by the Child-Losing Gu has a special and wonderful use—it can act as an absolutely safe 'safety box'."

"A safe?"

Xiang Nanfeng and Zuo Hezi repeated in unison, exchanging a glance, both seeing surprise and confusion in each other's eyes. They stared at each other, clearly unable to understand how something could be so useful if they hadn't mastered it. The words "fuse box" also puzzled Xiang Nanfeng; his instinct was to think of a fuse in an electrical circuit, but he couldn't figure out what kind of protection this fuse box provided.

Seeing their confusion, the Gu Master Mao Xi continued, "Don't be hasty, let me explain slowly. The essence of witchcraft is that the Gu Master uses her own cultivation to control the Gu worms. Therefore, to use witchcraft, the Gu Master must be proficient in the relevant methods to establish a connection with the Gu worms and achieve control. I think you understand this."

He paused, observing their reactions, and only continued after they both nodded slightly:

"But the special and wonderful use I'm talking about, this absolutely safe 'safety box,' is not achieved by the sorceress using the 'child-rearing curse,' but simply by utilizing the wood spirit that the 'child-rearing curse' resides in. So, strictly speaking, this kind of wonderful use does not fall under the category of witchcraft, and the user does not need to know any witchcraft, does not need to be a sorceress—anyone, as long as they know this secret, can use it. You, me, him, whoever it is, can use it."

"I have never seen the wood spirit that the Child-Losing Gu parasitizes with my own eyes."

Mao west Gu Master's gaze grew increasingly distant, as if he were looking through the night at a scene his grandmother had once described:

"But my grandmother told me in detail that the thing looks ordinary, like a piece of hardwood that has been exposed to the wind and sun in the wild for many years and has weathered. Its surface is rough and its color is a dark brown. If it is mixed in with a pile of wood, no one would pay special attention to it. But if you hold it in your hand and look at it carefully, you will find that it is special."

Mao Xigu Master's voice became even softer, as if he were revealing a huge secret:

"This hardwood is not actually a single piece, but rather two pieces that fit together tightly. When they are joined together, they fit perfectly, like a naturally formed wooden box. If you gently pry them apart, one piece will be the bottom of the box and the other will be the lid, with an extremely high degree of fit."

"More importantly, the two pieces of wood are hollow in the middle, forming a space that is just the right size. When combined, they form a natural wooden box, and the hollow part can be used to store small items."

"For example, a woman's jewelry, important letters, small keepsakes, and the like."

"Actually, there's a reason why the wood spirit turned out this way."

A hint of pity crept into his voice:

"The 'mourning child' parasite that resides in this wood spirit is actually the mother and child who hanged themselves and were buried by the Qi River. The shape of the box lid resembles the figure of the concubine who hanged herself, while the bottom of the box corresponds to the buried dead infant. The lid is like the mother, and the bottom is like the child. The two depend on each other to form this unique wood spirit."

"hiss……"

Upon hearing this, both Xiang Nanfeng and Zuo Hezi couldn't help but shudder inwardly, a chill running from their feet to the top of their heads. Imagining the wooden box formed from the souls of the mother and child, they both felt a chilling, instinctive fear.

Zuo Hezi subconsciously wrapped her trench coat tighter around herself, as if that would ward off the bone-chilling cold. Her face was slightly pale, and her eyes held a hint of fear.

After a brief moment of fear, Xiang Nanfeng quickly calmed down, and after a little thought, a new question arose in his mind:

Since anyone who knows this secret can use it, and since anyone can open this wooden box while it's in its original form, how can it be considered an "absolutely safe" safe? This question stirred ripples in his heart like a small stone. However, he didn't immediately interrupt, but chose to remain silent, letting the Master of the Maoxi Gu continue.

He knew that since the leader of the Maoxi Gu clan had brought this up, he would inevitably provide an explanation later.

Mao west Gu Master seemed to have read his mind, glanced at him lightly, and continued:

"I know you must have some questions. If anyone can open it, how can it be called absolutely safe? The answer is actually very simple. The safety of this wood spirit does not lie in the spirit itself, but in the subsequent transformation."

"This wood spirit, which is like a wooden box, can indeed be opened by anyone when it retains the shape of a wooden box. It looks no different from an ordinary, uncarved, naturally shaped wooden box. Even ordinary people who do not understand witchcraft can easily break it open."

He paused, his tone becoming increasingly serious:

"However, if someone opens it, puts in what they want to collect, closes the wooden box again, buries it in the ground, and then uses their own blood to water the soil where the box was buried—then the wood spirit will absorb the nutrients from the blood underground, take root, and gradually grow into a mulberry tree."

"Of course, this mulberry tree is not a real mulberry tree, but a Gu mulberry."

Mao west, the master of Gu, deliberately emphasized the words "Gu Sang":

"To be precise, it should be a Gu worm that looks like a mulberry tree, but its appearance is no different from that of a mulberry tree. Without careful observation, it is impossible to find any flaws. As this Gu mulberry grows, the thing in the original wooden box will gradually merge with the Gu mulberry and grow into the interior of the Gu mulberry. In this way, the thing that was originally put into the wood spirit is absolutely preserved."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Nanfeng's doubts deepened. Just as he was about to ask a question, Zuohezi beside him preemptively asked the question that had been on his mind: "But if someone accidentally discovers this mulberry tree, finds it unusual, and wants to cut it down, can't they just take the thing out of the trunk of the Gu Sang tree? As long as the tree is cut down, and a careful search is conducted, surely they can find it?"

The Gu Master slowly shook his head, his eyes resolute, and said, "Of course that's impossible. As I just said, the Gu Sang resembles a mulberry tree, but its essence is not a tree, but a Gu. The prototype of the Gu Sang is a wood spirit, and the wood spirit is the vessel in which the Child-Losing Gu resides. Therefore, anything hidden inside the wood spirit receives the Child-Losing Gu's close protection from the moment it is placed inside, and it is impossible for others to break through it."

"Even if you can't find anything by cutting down the tree trunk, as long as the Child-Losing Gu is still there, new branches will grow back in the same place, and it won't be long before it returns to its original state. The thing hidden inside will be completely unharmed."

His voice carried a hint of pride, a reverence for the wonders of the Miao witchcraft:

"Even if someone were to burn the Gu Sang to ashes at all costs, it would be useless. The flames can only destroy the Gu Sang's external form, but they cannot harm the Gu Sang itself. Once the flames are extinguished and the ashes have cooled, the Gu Sang will reassemble its power and return to its original form—that is, the wood spirit, that wooden box."

"At this point, although anyone can open it again, you will find that the wooden box is empty, there is nothing inside, and you still won't get anything."

Mao Xigu shrugged, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness, yet also a sense of entitlement.

"What happened to the contents of the wooden box? Were they destroyed by the fire?"

Sawako refused to give up and continued to press for answers, her brows furrowing even more deeply, clearly finding the outcome unacceptable. In her mind, anything could be destroyed, and the so-called "absolute safety" was far too absolute.

"No, no, of course not."

Mao Xigu Master immediately shook his head in denial, his tone extremely certain:

"How could an absolutely secure secret disappear in such a simple way? Its visual disappearance is just another protective mechanism."

He explained:

"Although the wood spirit has returned to its original state, its contents have not disappeared. As long as the wood spirit is buried in the soil again, this time without needing to be watered with blood, it will still take root and sprout again, growing into a Gu mulberry tree once more. And the contents of the wood spirit will also return to the Gu mulberry tree's body, completely intact."

"How do we get the things inside back in the end?" Xiang Nanfeng, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't help but ask. Like Sawako, he was full of curiosity about this magical process and wanted to know how to open this "absolutely safe" safe box.

Mao west Gu Master looked at him and slowly said:

"The growth cycle of the Gu Mulberry is very fixed. According to my grandmother, it takes root in January, grows tall in February, and blooms in March. From the time the wood spirit is buried to the time the Gu Mulberry blooms, it takes exactly three months. And when the flowers bloom in March, the person who initially watered the shrub spirit with their own blood needs to come to the Gu Mulberry again and water it with their own blood."

"Once this step is completed, Gu Sang will sense its master's presence, wither away on its own, and gradually shrink back to its original form as a wood spirit and wooden box. When that time comes, open the wooden box, and the things hidden inside will appear perfectly intact!"

After Mao Xigu finished speaking, Xiang Nanfeng, who was following behind, stopped in his tracks. He pointed his right hand to the sky, directly at the brightest constellation of the Vermilion Bird, Liu Su, and clicked his tongue in amazement:

"So that means that at this very moment, there is a secret hidden within a Gu mulberry tree, a secret that can only be unraveled by the deceased Professor Zuo himself?"