Chapter 279: Kill the Blood Gu Worm!

"Is this a girl from the Pei family?"

Li Qingluo saw a familiar-looking woman being brought up, and instantly recalled having seen her at the Pei family.

Moreover, Zhai Yina and the blood gu worm were also brought over.

Li Qingluo saw the blood gu worm in the crystal bottle suddenly become unusually active.

Although it was still merely writhing inside the bottle, its speed had become extremely fast.

It was as if something outside was making it unusually excited, beyond its control.

If not for the stopper blocking it, it might truly try to break out of the bottle!

Zhui Yu: "Miss, this is the Pei family's Fifth Daughter, a direct cousin of Pei Sanlang who shares the same grandfather."

Li Qingluo indeed remembered that she was the one who often stayed by Pei Fourth Lady's side, actually Pei Fifth Lady.

"How did she also get bound? Pei Fourth Lady has now been granted the title of Daiying; you brazenly tied up a Pei family girl—if she disappears without explanation and returns, can she still survive?"

Zhui Yu chuckled, "Miss, she won't live long enough to go back."

After speaking, he took a small bowl and a small knife, crouched beside the unconscious Pei Fifth Lady, slashed her, and began drawing blood from her wrist.

Li Qingluo widened her eyes and turned her head away.

In that instant, she unintentionally met Pei Sanlang's gaze.

Seeing Pei Sanlang looking at her with sorrowful eyes, Li Qingluo felt something suddenly block her chest.

Yet she did not flee.

She even stared at him more sharply, her eyes seeming to say: Even if it's your sister sharing the same room, can you just watch helplessly and do nothing?

She knew that if he were to speak up, Pei Fifth Lady might not necessarily die.

Pei Qinghong was struck hard by her gaze, and ultimately could only let his eyes droop helplessly.

After Zhui Yu stitched Pei Fifth Lady's wound again, Li Qingluo turned her gaze back.

She watched Zhui Yu feed a bowl of blood directly to the unconscious old Duke Pei.

Duan Rongshi stared intently, and after a while the old Duke Pei showed no reaction; then he fixed his gaze on the blood gu worm, and suddenly thought to have Zhui Yu feed the remaining drops of blood in the bowl to the worm.

Pei Sanlang heard this and his expression changed dramatically, panic‑stricken, he shouted, "No!"

"Prince Su, we must not do this—!"

"If we act so recklessly, there will be incalculable, unbearable consequences!"

Prince Su: "Oh? So this means I must do it then?"

"Zhui Yu."

Zhui Yu hurried forward, opened the stopper, poured in the blood drops, and swiftly resealed it.

Pei Sanlang gasped heavily, his eyes filled with horror as he watched the scene, utterly powerless to stop it.

The blood gu worm, feeding on fresh blood—still the blood of a Pei family daughter—immediately danced even more exuberantly.

Unfortunately, there was no large vat here to let it grow, so it could only thrash wildly inside the crystal bottle, and its originally pink flesh gradually turned into a blood‑red hue.

Even Pei Sanlang couldn't help but widen his eyes.

The crystal bottle creaked, and Li Qingluo realized something was wrong: "Careful, it might shatter…"

Before she finished speaking, the crystal bottle went "Boom—" with a huge crack, instantly exploding into fragments.

Prince Su lifted his arm, turned swiftly, and fully shielded Li Qingluo in his embrace, using his sleeve to deflect the flying crystal shards.

The shards flew across the back of his hand, leaving a scratch.

Fresh blood instantly gushed, spilling onto the ground.

Though Pei Fifth Lady remained unconscious, the earlier bloodletting had splattered many drops on the ground, so now a thick, pungent scent of blood filled the surroundings.

The blood gu worm fell out of the crystal bottle.

It emerged unharmed and began thrashing wildly on the ground.

Perhaps because it was not in water, its body didn't move as swiftly as before; instead it arched like a worm, trying to crawl toward the blood‑stained spots on the floor.

Duan Rongshi furrowed his brows, and together with Li Qingluo looked again at the old Duke and Zhai Yina, seeing that the two still showed no reaction.

Pei Sanlang also stared in disbelief, eyes wide: "Wait, wait… wait!"

He couldn't believe it; nothing significant happened as he had expected.

The blood gu worm, crawling on the ground, suddenly went limp at its head.

It merely opened its mouth, looking completely drained, limp and motionless.

Yet at that moment, Zhai Yina suddenly convulsed all over, quickly slipping off the chair onto the floor, her whole body twitching incessantly, even beginning to foam at the mouth…

But on closer look, Li Qingluo screamed in terror, "Worm! Worm!"

Where is the white foam Zhai Yina is supposedly spitting?

It's actually a mouthful of white worms!

Those worms fell to the ground and kept writhing wildly, but gradually, as Zhai Yina calmed, the worms all died.

Zhai Yina kept her eyes open, her pupils flickered.

She seemed fully awakened, rolled over to see everything clearly, then suddenly lunged at the blood gu worm that had long been motionless on the ground.

Zhai Yina grabbed the blood gu worm and tried to shove it into her mouth; Duan Rongshi shouted immediately, "Stop her!"

Zhai Yina had already half‑filled her mouth with the blood gu worm, but Zhui Yu, Leng Dian, and the Shadow Guard lunged forward and pinned her to the ground.

Zhui Yu seized the worm's tail.

Yet the blood gu worm, as if swallowed, instantly showed signs of life when it touched Zhai Yina's saliva.

Zhui Yu could only grit through nausea, pulling the blood gu worm outward hastily.

Zhai Yina let out a "gurgle" as the blood gu worm's slick body slipped uncontrollably down her throat—

Watching, Zhui Yu was about to lose his grip completely.

Li Qingluo did not hesitate, stepped forward quickly, drew a dagger and sliced her palm, letting the flowing bright blood drip onto Zhai Na's mouth.

Zhai Na suddenly stopped moving.

Everyone held their breath watching the scene, Zhui Yu slowly dragging the blood bug as it was about to emerge…

To everyone's surprise, the blood bug truly came back to life, then suddenly writhed wildly inside Zhai Na's mouth, growing rapidly there, and it quickly blocked Zhai Na's entire mouth, even Zhai Na's throat seemed to swell.

Zhai Na painfully widened its eyes, its eyes blood‑red and tearful, about to suffocate, yet Zhui Yu could not pull the thing away no matter how hard.

Li Qingluo did not hesitate, using her bleeding hand to take the blood bug's tail directly from Zhui Yu's hand!

Sure enough, the blood bug went even more frantic, its whole flesh turning increasingly red, to a blackish hue.

Li Qingluo even felt the blood bug sucking her own blood along the wound!

Li Qingluo raised her hand and, with a swift slash of her dagger, cut off the blood bug's tail.

The blood bug instantly went limp.

Then, with a 'Wah‑la‑la' sound, it poured out through Zhai Na's mouth—a pool of pus and blood.

Li Qingluo felt nauseous.

She and Zhui Yu both quickly stepped back; Prince Su had already arrived, and Li Qingluo, stepping back, collided with his chest.

She looked up, met Prince Su's gaze briefly, sensed his anger, and immediately said, "The situation was urgent just now; I, a civilian girl, didn't have time to report to Your Highness before making a private decision. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

She hadn't expected the blood bug to be so reckless.

But a single slash killed it completely.

Duan Rongshi knew this was not the time to argue with her, so he just glared at her fiercely, "Li Qingluo, are you courting death again?"

He finished his fierce glare, then grabbed her hand, and with a torn strip of his own clothing, swiftly bound her palm tightly.

However, Li Qingluo only now realized that he was also injured?

"Your Highness! Your wound!"

She recalled the shattered crystal just now; could it have been then?

Whenever Li Qingluo is protected by Prince Su, she isn't truly a cold‑hearted wolf.

She then, following suit, tore her own sleeve and, in reverse, bandaged Prince Su as well.

Others: …

Pei Sanlang suddenly shouted, "Grandfather!"

The motionless Pei Lao Guogong turned their head, let out a 'Wow', and spat a mouthful of thick black blood!

Then they slowly opened their eyes, and their pupils were clear as daylight.

"Where… is this?"

"Who… are you…"

Until his gaze suddenly fell on Zhai Na, his expression instantly stirred: "Zha—Zhai Na…"

Zhai Na also lay on the ground.

She kept vomiting large gulps of blood‑puss, and after she expelled it all, she reached out and ripped the blood bug's husk from it.

Only then did Zhai Na lift its head to look at Pei Lao Guogong.

Zhai Na crawled over: "Pei Lang…"

Their hands clasped tightly together.

Pei Lao Guogong held them, their forehead pressed close to Zhai Na's: "I never expected you to be as radiant as before… as beautiful as back then. Yet I… have grown old…"

Pei Lao Guogong reached out tenderly to wipe the blood from Zhai Na's chin, but at that instant saw his own wrinkled hand and sighed.

Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi exchanged a glance; what was happening?

They all felt that Pei Lao Guogong seemed changed!

She and Prince Su walked over.

Duan Rongshi: "Pei Lao Guogong, do you still recall what happened to you?"

Pei Lao Guogong, however, furrowed his brows and asked first, "Who are you? How did I end up here? And why did you hang my son Pei Sanlang?"

"And Zhai Na… what exactly just happened?"

It seems he still recognized Pei Sanlang.

But he did not recognize Prince Su.

But that was not strange.

He had been imprisoned in Pei Guogong's mansion for over thirty years, never having seen Prince Su, which was unsurprising.

It was just that his sudden complete lucidity made it seem he didn't understand his prior illness.

Was it because the blood bug died, and he spat a mouthful of black blood?

Pei Sanlang also stared at the scene in shock.

"Grandfather… are you really okay?"

Pei Lao Guogong gathered his strength: "I am fine—"

But before he could finish, he suddenly clutched his chest, a sound of choking, and instantly fainted.

Zhai Na threw herself onto his chest, anxiously and mournfully shouting, "Pei Lang! Pei Lang—"

Unable to wake Pei Lao Guogong, Zhai Na turned its head toward Li Qingluo and Prince Su, repeatedly kowtowing: "Please save him, hurry and save him!"

"I will tell you everything you want to know!"

"Save him—Pei Lang!!"