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Gu (poisonous insect concoction) refers to the practice of gathering various insects and snakes, placing them in a vessel, and allowing them to devour each other until only one remains; this survivor is named Gu. It can harm humans by consuming their Zang-Fu organs (internal organs). Its manifestations include: severe heart pain as if being bitten by an object, or a sensation of hardness; the face appears greenish-yellow, and the disease changes unpredictably. This occurs because the injury first affects the area above the diaphragm, leading to hematemesis (vomiting blood). If not treated immediately, death ensues when the Zang-Fu organs are completely consumed.

Gu is created by gathering various insects and snakes, placing them in a vessel, and allowing them to devour each other until one remains. It can transform into poison and harm humans. Some people rear it to cause harm, often introducing it through diet. Upon infection, humans experience mental restlessness and abdominal pain, unbearable irritability and toxicity, consumption of the five Zang organs, and lower bleeding with dark, clotted blood resembling rotten chicken liver.

Di-Qiang poison (a type of regional toxin) belongs to the category of Gu poison. It is acquired in the Di-Qiang region, hence the name. However, its clinical presentation resembles that of Gu poisoning: stabbing pain in the heart and abdomen, consumption of the five Zang organs, hematemesis, and bloody stools; thus, it is considered a variant of Gu.

Mao-Gui (Cat Ghost) is said to be the spirit of old foxes or wild animals transforming into malevolent entities that attach themselves to humans. People who rear and serve it, similar to serving Gu, use it to harm others with poison. Its symptoms include stabbing pain in the heart and abdomen, consumption of the Zang-Fu organs, hematemesis, bloody stools, and eventual death.

Ye-Dao (Wild Path) refers to Gu without a master. When someone rears Gu to harm others, and after accumulating great evil, they die out completely, the Gu loses its host and floats freely along wild paths. If it encounters and harms people, the onset resembles typical Gu symptoms. Since it is acquired in fields and roads, it is called Ye-Dao.

In Jiangnan, there exists a venomous insect called She-Gong, also known as Duan-Hu (Short Fox) or Yu (Hidden Archer), which dwells in mountain stream waters. This insect has a transverse bone in its mouth shaped like a horn bow. Its body is black, resembling a large mosquito, and it possesses teeth and hair-like structures, with males and females distinguished by two horns at the corners of the male's mouth, which have forked tips and can flex. In winter, they hibernate underground, emitting rising heat such that snow does not freeze upon them. In summer, they live in water. When humans walk on water or bathe, or during heavy rains when water floods, these insects may flow into homes or stop in hoofprints of cattle and horses on roads. By shooting sand at a person's shadow, they induce illness. Initially, symptoms may resemble Taiyang disease (exterior syndrome characterized by aversion to cold and fever), Zhong-E (sudden collapse due to pathogenic invasion), aphasia, stiff body, aversion to cold with high fever, spasticity of the four limbs, headache, difficulty in joint movement, yawning, slight improvement in the morning, and worsening in the evening. Severe cases may result in bleeding from the gums within three days; without immediate treatment, it is fatal. Another account states that initial signs include chills, fever, aversion to cold, yawning, tendon spasms, headache, eye pain, resembling Taiyang disease or Zhong-Shi (corpse-striking), aphasia, slight morning recovery, evening exacerbation, and mental confusion due to chills and fever. Treatment within three to four days is effective; acute cases die within seven days, mild cases within fourteen days, and worst-case scenarios within twenty-one days.
Initially, there are no sores, only aversion to wind, chills, fever, or sensations like needle pricks. When sores form, they initially appear as black spots the size of mung beans, or like burns, or like ulcers caused by earwig urine, with holes in the flesh resembling large needle punctures. Attacks on the head and face are particularly critical; injuries above the waist, closer to the heart, are often fatal. Injuries below the waist are less severe but still fatal if untreated; even if survival occurs, full recovery cannot be guaranteed within 100 days.
There are several types of sores. One type presents as black lesions like millet grains, or entirely red; contact with clothing causes sharp, thorn-like pain. Another type becomes necrotic and sunken over time, accompanied by evening chills and fever. A third type feels like burning flesh, raising rapidly as a sore, which is the most acute and fatal within days. A fourth type rises like a stone boil. All are fatal, varying only in speed. Generally, this disease causes chills, fever, yawning, and stretching. The insect hibernates underground in winter; those who recognize it may carry it while walking by streams for protection. If infected, the dried insect should be ground into powder and taken gradually. Those found in water during summer should not be used.