Chapter 406: Unless You Can Give Me Ahzhi

Xiao Yichen was like a beast gathering strength, but this beast had its fangs and claws pulled out, possessing no intimidation whatsoever, and could only glare ferociously at its prey with its vicious eyes.

Cao Cixiu leisurely opened the ceramic jar in his hand, and immediately a foul smell assailed his nostrils, accompanied by wisps of purplish-black smoke.

Without him saying it, Xiao Yichen could guess what was inside—the Gu!

This is Juechen Valley, whose valley master, the Qilin, is skilled in using Gu, a fact Xiao Yichen naturally knows.

"Young Master Xiao is a smart person; it seems you've already figured out what this is?" Cao Cixiu smiled, curling his lip. "That's right, this is the Gu I specially requested from the Qilin valley master—oh, and the princess was present at the time as well."

He added that on purpose, satisfied to see Xiao Yichen's pupils violently twitch.

"Naturally, the Qilin young master's Gu must undergo some change in my hands, otherwise it would be hard to adapt." Cao Cixiu said with a smile, "Using Gu can sometimes be dangerous; a moment's carelessness will backlash onto oneself, so Young Master Xiao, I have risked my life for you."

He wore an expression of having made a great sacrifice.

As if afraid Xiao Yichen couldn't see clearly what the Gu in his hand looked like, Cao Cixiu thoughtfully tilted the ceramic jar, bringing it close to Xiao Yichen's face so he could clearly see the pitch-black Gu worms inside, wriggling, as if they might emerge at any moment, yet no matter how they tried they couldn't crawl out.

An ordinary person seeing such a horrifying thing would have broken out in a cold sweat long ago, but Xiao Yichen's gaze remained calm.

It seemed this person now only reacted to matters concerning Mu Yuanzhi.

"I am a good person; I'll give you one last chance—tell me everything you know, and this will be over. After all, we have no past grudges and no recent resentment, and you have no need to give your life for Andeluo."

It's true we have no past grudges, and as for recent resentment, that's still up for discussion.

Xiao Yichen sneered, curling his dry, cracked lips from long dehydration: "Andeluo has nothing to do with me, but why should I help you? Unless you give me Ahzhi, I'll unconditionally tell you everything."

He summoned the little strength he had left, painfully leaning toward Cao Cixiu and added: "Besides, you have nothing to do with Juechen Valley either, especially you—aren't you curious? Bring Ahzhi to me, and I'll tell you just one thing."

"You seem a bit out of it, Young Master Xiao." Cao Cixiu pushed him away with slight disdain. "How could my interest in this compare to my loyalty to His Highness? I am a death warrior commander."

"You're a boring person; I should have known." Xiao Yichen's eyes showed contempt: "I shouldn't have hoped for a mere watchdog."

"I'm willing to be a watchdog, nothing wrong with that." Cao Cixiu looked Xiao Yichen up and down: "Otherwise, a poor mad dog like you would be miserable."

He glanced at the Gu worms in the jar again, then said: "Since Young Master Xiao won't cooperate, I'll have to be rude."

Cao Cixiu said this, dropping his earlier leisure, he suddenly seized Xiao Yichen's cheeks and forced the contents of the ceramic jar into Xiao Yichen's unwillingly opened mouth.

A chilling sound echoed in the cool pavilion of the side hall of the Mysterious Palace, waking the barely conscious Ruohua, who shivered uncontrollably, curled up, wanting to flee but unable to move even a fraction, not even able to turn her eyes to see what was happening nearby.

She could only curl herself up as tightly as possible, as if that could protect her, yet even so she merely stayed curled, unable to do anything else.

She wanted to shout, to cry out, but could not make a sound.

After an unknown amount of time, the nearby commotion seemed to cease, footsteps faded from near to far, and everything appeared to return to calm.

In the cool pavilion the atmosphere was strange; Ruohua's eyeballs finally managed to turn enough to barely see Xiao Yichen's angle.

Only then did she see Xiao Yichen slumped on the ground, his whole body seeming drained of energy; looking closely, she could see something moving under his skin, bulging in segments, writhing up, down, left, right, with no pattern.

It seemed like a living thing, ready to burst through his flesh at any moment, but Xiao Yichen appeared unfazed, motionless, head bowed, seated.

No feeling?

Ruohua's slow, numb mind recalled the terrifying sound just now, and she shuddered violently.

More terrifying than death is the fear of the unknown; this feeling spread in her heart, even overwhelming the heart‑rending, bone‑piercing pain on her body.

She had never wanted death as much as she did now—death would end everything!

But she knew that evil ghost would not let her die.

The door of the cool pavilion was pushed open again, and Ruohua's heart almost stopped.

The movements of the Mysterious Palace did not reach the Earth Palace; there, Mu Yuanzhi was in the garden studying the ear‑rat in her hand with the Qilin.

"Generally speaking, Gu arts are associated with dark, evil, poisonous practices; I often wonder if they could be changed—if the schools of Gu could also have a pure stream?" The Qilin said while tinkering, "So I've been pondering this newly born Symbiotic Gu, used to save people!"

"As expected of you, Qilin—great idea! Senior sister supports you!" Mu Yuanzhi praised, patting the Qilin's head.

No matter how big the junior brother grows, he's still her adorable little junior brother.

The valley master, whose head had been patted and praised, showed a childish smile, but soon sighed: "Alas, I have too many things to do; it's been put off. Now that Cao Cixiu has gotten hold of this, I had a sudden inspiration—maybe it can cure my illness and also inaugurate my pure‑stream Gu arts, killing two birds with one stone!"

"Keep at it! Let's work hard together!" Mu Yuanzhi encouraged him.

Guarding aside, Gu Rongjin had no chance to interject; he knew nothing about this, and even if he wanted to help he couldn't.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Idle as he was, he'd rather go down the mountain to find Andeluo, but his wife wouldn't let him go alone to challenge Andeluo.

He thought maybe he himself could finish Andeluo in two or three moves, avoiding having to wait here and set up all those defenses; after so many days, he figured Andeluo, that timid rat, wouldn't dare come up to cause trouble.

Mu Yuanzhi shook her head: "You won't; don't make things busier by trying to help."

Gu Rongjin felt like a bolt from the blue.

His wife actually spoke to him like that?!

She actually doubted that helping more would cause more trouble? Never before had this happened!

Is he really that unreliable? He shouldn't be! He's supposed to be a reassuring presence!