Chapter 617: Kill Them All

Tuan Tuan lowered her head, looking at Xiao Feifei's damp little body, the white long fur clinging tightly to it, hanging strand by strand.

She raised her hand, slapped her face hard, gently placed Xiao Feifei beside Feng Zhou, stuck out a finger into her mouth, and bit down hard.

The bite was deep and wide, and blood spurted out at once.

"Tuan Tuan!" the brothers shouted in surprise, "What are you doing?"

Xue Tong understood: Xiao Feifei had become the white, plump, cute form because she had once eaten Tuan Tuan's blood, changing from the originally ugly black Gu Worm.

"Everyone stay out!" he whispered sharply, extended both hands, and carefully pried Xiao Feifei's mouth open.

Tuan Tuan hummed a sound, "Thank you, Master," and placed her continuously bleeding finger onto Xiao Feifei's mouth.

The deep red blood flowed into Xiao Feifei's mouth, but quickly overflowed from the mouth's edge.

"No, Tuan Tuan," Xue Tong frowned, "It simply cannot swallow."

"Hmm, Xiao Feifei's mouth is small; this finger is too thick. I'll change it."

Xue Tong: "..."

It's not a matter of finger size, okay!

He was about to speak when Tuan Tuan had already thrust her pinky to the mouth edge, bit hard, and blood spurted out again.

Xiao Yuanhang's lips trembled at the sight, but he made no sound to intervene.

Tuan Tuan pushed the small finger into Xiao Feifei's mouth, squeezed forcefully with the other hand, and forced the blood on the fingertip down into Xiao Feifei's throat.

This time, it did not overflow.

Tuan Tuan shouted joyfully, "It can drink! Master! It swallowed it!"

Xue Tong's mouth twitched with pain, "Alright, I see it."

Such a method—only you could have thought of it!

Tuan Tuan squeezed repeatedly until the bitten spot no longer bled, then bit through another hand's pinky.

Following the same method, she poured it into Xiao Feifei's mouth again.

Xue Tong pressed her hand, "Enough, disciple, really enough. Wait a moment, don't rush; Xiao Feifei will be fine."

Xiao Yuanhang strode forward, crouched, lifted his daughter's two small hands to his eyes and, with a trembling voice, said, "Fetch water."

Xiao Ningchen bolted out of the main tent, swiftly carried a basin of water back.

Xiao Yuanhang personally acted, placed his daughter's small hand into the water, and carefully washed it clean, asking, "Old Valley Master, do you have any high‑quality wound medicine?"

Xiao Ningxun took a clean hemp cloth from beside Feng Zhou and gently dried his sister's hand.

Xue Tong pulled a small porcelain bottle from his chest, opened the lid, and sprinkled the powdered medicine onto Tuan Tuan's wound.

Tuan Tuan flinched.

"Does it hurt?" Xiao Ningyuan leaned his face close, gently blew, "Big brother will blow on it; does it feel better?"

Tuan Tuan lifted her little face and looked at them, "I'm fine! It just hurt a little bit."

Xiao Ningchen, usually quiet, when everyone gathered around Tuan Tuan, picked up a clean hemp cloth and meticulously dried the water stains from Xiao Feifei's body.

Xiao Feifei remained motionless.

Tuan Tuan lay at the bedside and positioned Xiao Feifei in its favorite sleeping posture.

Its long body curled into a ball, head tucked inside, like a white, soft little fur ball.

Tuan Tuan pressed her face against it and gently nudged, "Xiao Feifei, wake up quickly."

She glanced at Feng Zhou again, "Feng Zhou, you too!"

At the same time, Jingcheng.

"Master! Master!" a servant scrambled and rolled into the house, "Please go take a look! My lord, he—he has a headache he can't bear!"

Lu Wu slowly opened his eyes from the cushion, "Didn't I just give him a bottle of medicine not long ago?"

In just a few short months, he seemed to have aged by over a decade.

The wrinkles on his face were deep enough to hold a brush, his eye sockets sank deeply, and his whole body had become much thinner.

The servant hesitated for a moment, "I, too, am not sure."

Lu Wu slowly stood, "Lead the way."

He stepped out of the courtyard and boarded a small sedan chair.

The sedan chair sped along, entering a courtyard.

Just as Lu Wu set one foot out of the sedan chair, a horrible scream rang out.

"Ah—! It hurts so much! Give me another one! Quick! Another one!"

Lu Wu followed the servant quickly into the house.

Cheng Jing was curled up on the couch, his whole body trembling.

His clothes were torn to shreds, and his chest, arms, and thighs were covered with streaks of blood, his fingernails stained with blood.

Liu Guiyan knelt at the couch's edge, gripping his hand tightly, "Brother Cheng! No! You've already taken two; you can't take more!"

"I don't care!" Cheng Jing violently pushed her away, his nails carving three bloody marks on her hand, "Give it to me! You quickly give it to me!"

Liu Guiyan winced, bit her lip, but didn't let go; instead she lunged and held him down, "Just endure it! Endure it and it'll be fine! Brother Cheng!"

Cheng Jing shoved her aside, rolled off the couch, fell to the ground, then struggled to rise, staggering toward the table.

A small cyan porcelain bottle sat on the table.

Just as his hand was about to touch the bottle, Liu Guiyan rushed forward, snatched the porcelain bottle, and clutched it tightly.

"Give it to me!" Cheng Jing lunged to snatch, and the two fell to the ground together.

Cheng Jing rolled on the ground, convulsing, his fingers clawing the floor, nails split, repeatedly shouting, "My head! It hurts so much!"

"If you don't give me medicine, just kill me!"

Liu Guiyan got up, pulled him into her arms, tears dripping onto his face, "Brother Cheng, Brother Cheng, look at me, look at me..."

Cheng Jing couldn't hear at all, curling into a ball, trembling like a winnowing sieve.

Lu Wu stood at the doorway watching, unmoving for a long while.

Finally, he sighed, walked over slowly, pulled a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured out a pill, and handed it to Cheng Jing's mouth.

Liu Guiyan jerked his head up: "You!"

"Two pills can't hold it down; three are needed," Lu Wu said calmly, "First let him survive today, then we'll talk."

Cheng Jing swallowed it in one gulp.

The pill went down his throat and took effect instantly.

After a moment, his trembling body gradually calmed, his tense fingers relaxed one by one, collapsing into Liu Guiyan's arms, panting heavily.

Liu Guiyan held him, looked up at Lu Wu: "Magician, this can't continue."

Lu Wu shook his head: "I told you, this medicine can only help him temporarily; you can't take more, otherwise it will only get worse the more you take."

Cheng Jing slowly lifted his eyelids, his gaze hollowly fixed on the ceiling beam.

After a while, he suddenly spoke: "I understand."

Liu Guiyan was startled: "What?"

Cheng Jing slowly sat up, leaning on Liu Guiyan, his voice hoarse: "The mother Gu Worm went wildly frantic today; I finally understand why that mother Gu Worm took me as its host."

His breath steadied: "Because I let you place that child Gu Worm on Princess Consort Ning, and now it's controlling my mother Gu Worm!"

Liu Guiyan's hand tightened sharply: "Child Gu Worm counterattacking mother Gu Worm? Cheng Lang, are you mistaken? How could that be?"

Cheng Jing looked at his blood‑stained arm, a smile tugging at his mouth: "I've raised Gu Worms all my life; they've always obeyed me."

"Never thought that now, I'd be caught by a child Gu Worm."

He clenched his fist hard, his nails digging into the wound in his palm, blood seeping out from between his fingers.

"If we want the mother Gu Worm to leave my body, we must find that child Gu Worm and its host, and kill them both!"