Ning Chen had no choice but to make up a friend. Nobody could know that getting near Lone Stride made it feel like a knife turning in his heart.

He was afraid someone would find out and use it against him.

The Grand Elder thought it over for a long while, then asked, "Does it feel like a knife turning in his heart only when he gets near a tiger?"

Ning Chen gave a slight nod. "Doctors have examined him. They say he's strong and healthy, with vitality to spare... But whenever he gets near a tiger, it feels like a knife turning in his heart."

The Grand Elder stroked his beard. "From what my lord prince describes, your friend really isn't ill. He has a gu in him." (TL Note: Gu (蠱) is a sorcerer's bug. In Chinese folk belief it was bred by sealing venomous creatures together until only one survived, and it could be planted inside a person to sicken, control or kill them.)

Ning Chen's pupils shrank sharply. "A gu?"

Pan Yucheng and Feng Qizheng were jolted too.

The Grand Elder nodded. "Gu worms are nearly all creatures of yin and venom... and a tiger is a creature of the purest, hardest yang. It is their natural enemy.

By what my lord prince says, your friend's reaction can only mean he has a gu in him."

Ning Chen narrowed his eyes. So he had a gu in him.

First they'd drugged him, then they'd planted a gu in him. What were they after?

If they'd wanted him dead, they could have killed him right then. There'd have been no need for all the trouble of a gu.

So what was their real aim?

Whatever it was, the most important thing now was getting rid of the gu.

Ning Chen looked at the Grand Elder. "Grand Elder, is there a way to get rid of it?"

The Grand Elder said, "I would need to see my lord prince's friend before I could be sure."

Ning Chen gave a mild "Mm," then said, "Then I'll trouble the Grand…