Chapter 366: Zulya took poison? Luo'er seeks revenge!

Li Qingluo, her eyes full of shock, instantly opened them again.

Meeting Duan Rongshi's dark, deep eyes, she trembled slightly.

Immediately, she turned her body, and Duan Rongshi brought her to the big tree by the cliff.

He pressed her against the tree trunk, tightly gripping one of her hands.

With his other hand, he embraced her, wishing to knead her into his very bones and blood.

He trembled in his eyes, then left, and whispered: "Open your mouth."

Li Qingluo, panicked, slightly opened her lips.

Duan Rongshi then moved in and pressed upon her again.

Unfortunately, both lacked experience.

Their kiss was clumsy and stumbling.

Li Qingluo's lips quickly split.

The smell of blood quickly filled the space between their mouths and teeth.

Duan Rongshi: …

Li Qingluo: …

He felt embarrassed.

She felt shy.

The two of them, one hurriedly looked up at the sky.

The other lightly coughed, gazing toward the distant layered green mountains…

Suddenly, she gave a "puchi" laugh.

Duan Rongshi glared at her, annoyed: "What are you laughing at? My performance… cough, was somewhat passable, but try laughing again and see?"

Li Qingluo quickly covered her mouth.

"It's clearly me whose lips were bitten…"

Duan Rongshi sighed helplessly.

He reached out, lifted her chin, and let her go.

"Let me take a look."

Her lower lip was split.

It was all red and swollen, indeed pitiful to see.

He couldn't help but lower his head and lightly peck at it again.

"Don't scare This King."

Duan Rongshi stared at Li Qingluo's eyes, solemn and serious, and told her.

Li Qingluo nodded.

"Actually… I just came to blow some wind…"

"I haven't figured out my next move; how could I easily abandon this mess?"

Duan Rongshi narrowed his eyes dangerously: "Then how do you explain jumping into the river last night?"

Li Qingluo: "Just to feel more comfortable sinking down…"

Duan Rongshi: "You mean I wrongly accused you of attempting suicide?"

"Then you avoided This King and came to this mountain ditch—what were you planning to do?"

"Did you avoid 【me】?"

"Why don't you stay farther away?"

Faced with the fierce Duan Rongshi, Li Qingluo's aggrieved head lowered further: "All right, next time I'll hide on a mountain a hundred li away…"

Duan Rongshi, angry, pinched her face: "Li Qingluo, another time!? You still want to run?"

"This King will tie you with a rope to your waistband—how does that sound?"

Li Qingluo quickly waved her hands: "Your Highness, I was joking."

Duan Rongshi: "This King is also joking. Because This King usually cuts off the legs of those who run around, so they can't run."

Li Qingluo gave a dry laugh twice.

"Your Highness… I smell you now, and I don't find you fragrant."

"It's true, Your Highness."

Duan Rongshi: "Then you mean This King now smells bad?"

Li Qingluo felt he was very hard to coax at the moment.

She reached out to grab his arm, intending to shake it.

Seeing his brow suddenly twitch, she realized she had likely touched his wound.

She immediately let go and became flustered.

"I… I may have touched your wound?"

"I… last night… exactly how much of your blood did I suck?"

"You are noble and precious, yet for my sake you harmed your sacred body—Your Highness, I truly… deserve death ten thousand times."

Li Qingluo's heart at this moment was extremely confused, painful, even struggling.

Death, of course, can free one from everything.

But if she died just like that, wouldn't she be fulfilling Zulya's and those behind him who equally hate her to the bone's wish?

She did not want to do something that hurts loved ones and pleases enemies.

Moreover, this time she went up the mountain hiding, originally intending to bear the first outbreak of poison herself, to find out whether she truly had bloodlust syndrome.

At this moment she had confirmed it, but she did not know how to tell those close to her.

Would she become the Duke Pei whom they all once despised, that monster and madman?

And would her grandmother… uphold righteousness and kill kin?

And what choice would Duan Rongshi make?

Would he likewise see her as a monster, finding her repulsive?

She feared those looks.

So she hid herself.

She never imagined he would find her so quickly.

In the darkness, even the depths of that water could find her, and he hauled her ashore.

And what she could hardly believe was that he not only wasn't afraid or disgusted by such a version of herself, but even actively cut his own flesh to feed her blood… just to keep her alive.

Even Li Qingluo, who was as insensate as grass and wood, was moved by his sincerity at this moment.

Likewise, she felt guilty for having drunk his blood.

Duan Rongshi saw at a glance what she was thinking.

He took her hand and held it tightly in his palm: "It's only a few drops of my blood, nothing to worry about."

"Since you are the one I, Duan Rongshi, have chosen for this lifetime, no matter what you become, I will not despise you in the slightest."

"Even if you were a ghost, I could keep you alive. Do you understand?"

"What's more, it's merely a minor blood‑lust condition; I could scour mountains and rivers and surely cure you. What is there to fear?"

Li Qingluo felt despondent: "Your Highness, if one day I too become like my great‑uncle, that monster, would you personally slay me?"

Duan Rongshi: "No."

He spoke with the certainty of cutting gold and slicing iron: "With me here, you will not become a monster. Moreover, you differ from the old duke—you are not poisoned by a gu, merely poisoned."

"Any poison manufactured in the world, if there is a trace to follow, is certainly not beyond cure."

Hearing him say this, Li Qingluo's heart gradually brightened.

She lifted her head and finally smiled: "All right, I'll follow your lead."

Duan Rongshi looked at the red swelling where her brow had split open.

Although he had personally applied medicine to her last night, it was still hard to hide the traces of self‑harm she had inflicted in her extreme confusion and pain.

He raised his hand to caress her brow and said solemnly: "Luo'er, let us marry."

The wind at the cliff's mouth was strong.

The two clung tightly to each other; at this moment all their worries seemed to have vanished like smoke.

What remained was Li Qingluo's renewed firm belief and perseverance.

Behind Qing Song Mountain, the stone prison cliff.

Zheng Wanxiu was imprisoned in the stone dungeon.

After Sha San brought her out, he leapt onto the stone cliff and then passed through a narrow path.

Following the winding, rugged stone path, they soon reached the mountaintop.

On the cliff stood a sheer precipice; upon it grew a towering tree, its branches stretching halfway out over the void.

Zu Liya was hung mid‑air beneath that tree.

At this moment she had gone a full day and two nights without a drop of water or a grain of rice.

Her lips were whitened and cracked, her face turned bluish, and her gaze wandered.

Where was there any trace of her former radiance?

Her body had long gone numb, devoid of sensation.

She was like a withered leaf, liable to be blown away at any moment—so weak it aroused pity.

Alas, on this Qing Song Mountain no one would pity this poisonous snake.

Upon seeing Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi appear together, Zu Liya's scattered eyes managed to gleam faintly.

"Ha… haha…"

"Li Qingluo, you've drunk human blood?"

Li Qingluo: "What, I didn't come to ask you for the antidote—are you disappointed?"

Zu Liya's gaze darkened.

She had indeed been waiting for this lowly wretch to come ask her for the antidote.

Only then would it become her chance to escape.

Who would have thought she would actually tough it out on her own—or rather, she had directly drunk human blood; otherwise she could not possibly be standing before me so vigorous now.

"Haha, haha…"

"You who style yourselves as gentlemen of virtue—how can you also drink human blood?"

"The blood‑lust you despise has finally fallen upon you!"

"How come, when it's your turn, you can't righteous‑ly kill yourselves to eliminate future trouble, but instead cling to a base survival?"

"Prince Su, you who claim to be heavenly nobility and love the common folk of the world—how can you, for the sake of a woman of your mood, kill and take blood?!"

"Pah—! You two hypocrites!"

Li Qingluo drew her sword and stepped forward, thrusting to first sever Zu Liya's two hamstrings.

Amid her anguished screams, blood spattered "splish‑splash" down the cliffside.

Li Qingluo covered her nose and had Sha San and Sha Wu bring everyone up.

Sha San brought up Zheng Wanxiu.

Li Qingluo said nothing to her, merely letting her watch from behind as she carried out her methods.

What Sha wu brought up was Qin Ling, who had just been stolen out of Xiuli Jiangjun Fu today.

Li Qingluo stretched out her hand: "Medicine."

Qin Ling didn't understand: "What, what medicine? Little Ancestor, I, I really don't know......"

Li Qingluo gave him a look.

Sha wu stepped forward and punched Qin Ling hard in the stomach.

Pain twisted Qin Ling's features instantly, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Li Qingluo walked over, squatted down, and threatened him: "If you don't obediently hand over the medicine, I will feed everything I find on you to Li Yunchu."

"Think it over carefully."

Qin Ling's face went pale, and he hurriedly cried while shaking out all the medicine.

"Little Ancestor, which... which one are you talking about?"

Duan Rongshi, who had been leaning against a tree nearby, seemingly just watching the fun while letting Li Qingluo vent herself, suddenly spoke: "Whatever medicine you feed this Little Ancestor, take that same medicine."

Qin Ling felt a thump in his heart.

"This, this one?"

Indeed, the poison that Zu Liya gave to Zongzheng Wu Heng was not just a single pill.

And what Qin Ling received was actually a small half-bottle.

Li Qingluo looked at Duan Rongshi.

"Could she be trying to create a bloodthirsty army?"

That was the worst outcome she could imagine.

Duan Rongshi pinched the medicine bottle, his eyes turning fierce.

"Go, feed it to her."

Zhui Yu took the medicine and asked, "Your Highness, how many should we give?"

"Duan Rongshi: Keep three, feed the rest to her."

Zu Liya's eyes finally filled with shock and fear.

"No, you're crazy…… no, this won't do…… no!"

"Li Qingluo, Duan Rongshi, you two are lunatics!"

"Let go, let go of me——"

Zu Liya strained to twist her body to escape the bonds, but the thing binding her hands was no ordinary rope; even if she grew wings today, she could not escape this fate.

Zhui Yu jumped onto a branch, pinched Zu Liya's face, and shoved a handful of medicine all into her mouth.

Then he slapped her chest, forcing Zu Liya to swallow it all.

Her face full of terror, she shouted: "No, no, it will kill someone, it really will kill someone!"

"I haven't yet developed the antidote; you're trying to kill me——"

"I have no substitute left, no substitute I can use to exchange my life——"

"You two are lunatics!"

"If you want to kill me, why not give me a quick death!!"

"Kill me!!"

Her face twisted ferociously, her eyes already filled with despair.

Li Qingluo approached with a hateful cold smile: "Kill you? Killing you would make you feel relieved, but how would that make me feel relieved?"