The porcelain bottle shattered.
At the bottom of the bottle, there appeared tiny particles resembling ceramic grains.
Seeing this, I spoke directly, "This is it."
The others were confused, not understanding.
"Old Qin, what are you talking about?"
"These ceramic grains," I replied.
As I had observed the bottom of the bottle earlier, I noticed a ceramic grain had broken. It looked like a broken insect egg, with some black bloodstains on it. Therefore, I concluded that these objects, which looked like ceramic grains, were precisely the cause of Wu Lianhua's body turning into that of a pig. To be more direct, these ceramic grains were indeed gu worm eggs.
According to my deduction, the female ghost's soul had been in this porcelain bottle all along. Wu Lianhua bought the bottle at the antique market and accidentally broke an egg. The worm entered Wu Lianhua's body, which awakened the female ghost, causing her to leave the bottle and possess Wu Lianhua, thereby tormenting her. The female ghost's obsession was strong; she was intent on raising pigs and, once grown, using them to repay debts. Thus, while Wu Lianhua was afflicted with a pig-transformation gu, she was controlled by the female ghost to overeat and be fed like a farm pig. As time passed, besides gaining weight, her body increasingly resembled that of a pig.
Of course, this was just my speculation. Whether it was true or not would only be revealed by smashing these ceramic grains.
"Daoist Priest Qin, is there something wrong with these ceramic grains? Generally, poorly fired ceramics can have small bubbles like this," Wu Lianyong asked, not seeing any issue.
I didn't answer, but stepped forward and crushed two ceramic grains with my foot. With a "crack," the ceramic grains split open. When I moved my foot away, I saw that inside the cracked ceramic grains, there was a very fine, red worm, like a threadworm. The worm was as thin as a strand of hair, and quite short, only about two centimeters long. If one didn't look closely, it would be impossible to see.
Seeing this, a cold smile tugged at my lips. Old Mo was also startled, "A worm!" Wu Lianyong and Wu Ma craned their necks.
"That's right, a worm. I believe this is the culprit behind Sister Wu's body growing pig hair and tusks, and why her body gained several hundred pounds in such a short period," I explained, crouching down to observe the worm. No matter how much a person ate, even pig feed, they wouldn't gain three to four hundred pounds in just over a month.
"Ah! My sister, wasn't my sister just possessed by that female ghost, which caused her to become obese? Now, how is it related to worms?" Wu Lianyong was a bit confused.
I crouched down, looking at the red worm. I touched it with a cigarette and found that this small worm was very aggressive. It arched its body and burrowed directly into the cigarette.
"Damn, this little worm is so aggressive!" Old Mo exclaimed in surprise.
I nodded, "This must be it. Burn it with fire." After speaking, I stood up, telling the others not to get too close. I then explained, "This should be a type of gu worm that can turn animals or humans into pigs. The previous owner of this gu worm was that female ghost. Sister Wu bought this bottle and accidentally contracted this gu worm. That's why the female ghost possessed Sister Wu and began raising her like a pig. Now, all we need to do is drive out the female ghost and remove this gu worm from Sister Wu's body, and she should recover..."
The Wu family members nodded repeatedly. At the same time, I took out my phone and took a picture, sending it to my Uncle-Master. Old Mo and I should be able to handle the possessing female ghost, but we currently had no means of dealing with the gu worm. Asking my Uncle-Master was one option.
There were still seven or eight more such gu worm eggs on the ground. Outwardly, they looked like ceramic bubbles. We collected all the gu worm eggs in the house and finally took them outside, burning them all completely with fire to prevent them from harming others. As for Wu Lianhua, her self-awareness didn't last long before she fell back into a dazed state. Now that we had found the gu worm and understood the cause, the next step was to remove the female ghost from Wu Lianhua's body. To protect Wu Lianhua and prevent the female ghost from causing further damage to her body, we had to wait.
We waited until ten o'clock at night. At this time, the Yin energy was heavy, making it much easier to use talismans to force out the female ghost. If we used talismans now, in broad daylight, the female ghost would undoubtedly resist fiercely, causing more harm to Wu Lianhua's body. Therefore, we spent the afternoon waiting at the Wu family's house.
My Uncle-Master hadn't responded to our messages all afternoon. He wasn't answering his phone either. He must have been drunk and still sleeping. It wasn't until past eight in the evening that my Uncle-Master finally called back. Seeing it was my Uncle-Master, I quickly answered. As soon as I connected, my Uncle-Master's hoarse voice came through, "Xiao Qin! I've seen the pictures you sent. This type of gu worm should be called a Livestock Gu."
"Livestock Gu? Uncle-Master, what kind of gu worm is this, what's its origin, and how do we get rid of it?" I asked, pressing for details.
My Uncle-Master continued in his hoarse voice, "This gu comes from Miao Jiang. It's more common during times of famine. It's somewhat similar to the beast-making sorcery from Jiangbei, but this deviant method is even more vicious. It literally turns people into beasts through the gu worm. The gu worm is easy to get rid of; I'll send you a prescription later. You just need to brew a dose of medicine according to the formula. This issue isn't significant. But, Uncle-Master must remind you, since the possessing ghost can use gu, it's definitely not an ordinary ghost. Be extremely careful when you and Xiao Mo deal with it. If you can't handle it, call me. Safety first, understand?"