Chapter 1231: Implanting the Gu

This kind of pain.

It was like a dull knife cutting into flesh.

And this was not the end of it.

Half of Liu Min's body was in the water, and the other half was in the humid, stuffy, moldy-smelling air.

A large amount of sea salt had been poured into the murky water, and whenever the thug whipped her, he would dip it in the seawater first.

With the bloody wounds being stung by the seawater, that kind of pain—even a man who had undergone special training might not be able to endure it!

Yet even so, Liu Min did not give in.

With every strike, the thug would repeat the same question: "Speak, where are those brats and the old thing from the Ji Family hidden?"

"I don't know."

Liu Min was growing weaker, her voice becoming smaller and smaller.

But the answer had never changed.

She truly did not know, or perhaps, she had forgotten.

In any case, her mind was a mess of mush, with only one thought remaining clear—kill Qi Heng!

There was nothing else, and even if there were, she couldn't remember it.

The hulking thug, standing one meter ninety tall and weighing over two hundred jin, was panting from the exertion of beating her.

He gulped down a pot of cold water, only then feeling slightly better.

This place was truly not meant for humans; it was so hot and humid that one would be drenched in sweat even without moving, let alone the physical labor of beating someone.

He rested for a while.

The thug prepared to start again, but as he raised the whip high, it did not fall—Liu Min's head was tilted to one side, unconscious.

This was bad; he hadn't gotten the information out, and if he beat her to death, he couldn't bear the responsibility.

The thug extended his index finger to test under Liu Min's nose; fortunately, there was still a faint breath. As long as there was a breath, it would do.

But he couldn't continue the beating, so he called Qi Heng to report: "President, she has fainted; I'm afraid she'll die if I keep hitting her."

"Has she given in?"

"No."

Qi Heng was displeased: "Useless thing, send her to the Medical Room for treatment; you cannot let her die!"

He hung up the phone.

Qi Heng paced back and forth in the spacious Presidential Office.

The landline on the desk rang incessantly; any call that could get through to his office involved important matters or urgent official business.

But he was in no mood to deal with it now, so he unplugged the phone line—finally, it was quiet.

After he became the president of L Country again, he began searching for the whereabouts of Liu Quan and his daughter.

Intelligence reports came back: Liu Quan and his daughter had fled to the Ji Family's territory and were with Zhu Qingrui!

Zhu Qingrui.

He gritted his teeth at this name; the hatred for his father's murder was irreconcilable.

He wanted revenge, desperately so; he wished he could lead men to the Ji Family immediately and raze the place to the ground.

The idea was fine, but the problem was—he couldn't find where the Ji Family was at all!

The location of the Ji Family was extremely complex, and there were many natural barriers and man-made defenses; even if he knew the general direction, he couldn't get in.

Just as he was at his wit's end, he learned the news that Liu Quan had arrived in Jiangzhou.

So he also rushed to Jiangzhou, and incidentally saved Shi Ran.

It was just a pity that Liu Quan died too quickly, and the hard-won lead was cut off.

Yet, there was also a bountiful harvest in Jiangzhou.

As he was preparing to leave, there was an unexpected gain—Liu Min had delivered herself to his doorstep.

How could he possibly let Shi Youxuan keep her? That was absolutely impossible; it was a lead he had obtained with such difficulty, and he would not give it up easily.

As Qi Heng wished, she was brought back by him.

The things he wanted to ask were not complicated; he only needed to know the specific location of the Ji Family and which areas had weaker defenses so he could occupy the Ji Family with the minimum cost.

Qi Heng felt this request was not excessive.

But Liu Min would rather die than speak, which made him extremely annoyed.

Medical Room.

The doctor performed a detailed examination on Liu Min and reached a conclusion—she had been drugged!

She had been given a very special kind of drug.

Those who were affected appeared no different from normal people on the surface, but they would obey the commands of the person who drugged them, only doing what that person told them to do.

If there were no commands, even if she endured more torture, she would not say a single word!

It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't remember.

Things without commands would not form clear memories in the mind of the person who was drugged; it was just like a lump of mush.

"There is such a drug?" Qi Heng heard of this for the first time.

The doctor: "To be precise, it is not a drug, but insect eggs, kept inside a person's body."

This kind of insect is sentient and can obey human commands, but once raised to a certain level, it must be removed using a special method; if not removed, the insect will turn on its host, and death is certain.

Qi Heng understood now; it meant that Liu Min was effectively a pawn of Zhu Qingrui.

When useful, she was a sharp blade; when useless, she was discarded like a rag!

Qi Heng frowned slightly, lost in thought.

Ten minutes later.

He seemed to have made up his mind and asked the doctor, "Can this medicine be neutralized?"

The doctor replied, "It can be neutralized now, but it will be a bit troublesome; in another week, it won't be possible."

"Good, you cure her."

Qi Heng was concise and to the point; after saying this, he left.

Inside a spacious room, the four walls were bare, with nothing at all.

In the very center of the room sat a large prayer mat, and Liu Min was sitting upright upon it.

This was no ordinary prayer mat; smoke was rising from underneath it, and the scent of mugwort permeated the air, growing thicker and thicker!

Liu Min's expression began to turn painful.

Large beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, dripping down her cheeks.

She seemed to be in great discomfort and, wanting to escape, kept twisting and turning.

Back when she endured the whip in the Water Prison, she hadn't even frowned, but now, with just the mugwort smoke, she had a strong reaction right from the start.

Qi Heng stood outside the window watching, a smile appearing on his face.

The doctor was right; that kind of insect fears fire but not water. Her ability to withstand the inhuman torture of the Water Prison was not due to Liu Min's own great endurance, but because the insect could adapt.

Liu Min's expression became increasingly agonizing, until finally, her features were distorted!

"Spare me."

"Let me go."

"It's too hot, I beg you... put out the fire!"

No matter how bitterly she pleaded, no one would listen to her.

The temperature of the prayer mat did not drop; instead, it grew higher and higher.

The thick smoke also increased, and she began to wail!

The sounds coming from her mouth were like those of a small beast, not like sounds made by a human.

The cries grew louder and louder; Liu Min roared and wailed.

She sprawled on the prayer mat, desperately trying to escape, but helplessly, her hands and feet were fixed by iron chains, and she could not break free at all.

Gradually, the sound grew smaller, weaker and weaker.

The doctor brought over a bowl of medicinal soup that had been prepared in advance and forced her to drink it.

Then he had someone prepare a spittoon.

"Ugh—"

"Ugh—"

She began to retch, and soon, all of the medicinal soup that had just been forced down was vomited back out.

However, the medicinal soup she had just drunk was a pale amber color, but what she vomited out now was a pitch-black, viscous liquid.

"Very good, keep pouring it in!"

The doctor ordered; this time he did not do it himself, but had a nurse do it for him.

Bowl after bowl of medicinal soup was poured down.

And she kept vomiting it back up.

Liu Min's complexion gradually began to look better, turning from a deathly, ashen gray to pale, and then slowly gaining some color!