Chapter 413: If the mother gu dies, one can live!

Immediately after, Hudie let out a "wa—" sound, she turned her head and lay on the bed edge, vomiting again.

Dozens of worms followed, all spilling out of her mouth together.

Jin Yun immediately gave a low shout: "A Lan!"

A Lan scattered a handful of white substance over those worms.

The worms had just wriggled, then they all fell still.

Seeing this, Ying'er, the various grannies, and Li Qingluo all couldn't help but turn their heads and vomit.

It was truly disgusting.

Hudie's mouth still had a small white worm hanging from it.

Jin Yun pinched it off with her own hands.

After Hudie finished vomiting, she lay weakly on the bed, her eyes dull, as if her spirit had scattered.

Jin Yun stared at the worm, slightly narrowing her eyes: "Indeed so."

Li Qingluo: "These, are they the gu worms inside her?"

Jin Yun nodded, and picked out her own red worm from the pile of white ash: "This worm that guides the gu is called the rouge worm. I also only have one."

"I won't use it unless absolutely necessary."

"This time, it also needs to recuperate for a year or so before it can recover."

Jin Yun carefully placed the rouge worm into a small box, then hung it among the embroidered pouches at her waist.

She then looked at Hudie, sighing and shaking her head: "Was this done by Zuliya?"

"This girl's bloodline is naturally special, and Zuliya deliberately cultivated her into a vessel for raising gu."

"Moreover, to make Hudie serve her, she even turned this living person into a mother gu."

Li Qingluo felt her heart tremble slightly.

"You mean, we who are poisoned are actually infected with child gu?"

Jin Yun: "Do you have any special mark on your body?"

Li Qingluo reached out to touch the spot behind her shoulder.

"There is a butterfly that changes color. When the poison flares, it especially burns and hurts."

Jin Yun immediately had everyone leave.

Then she personally pulled down Li Qingluo's clothing on her shoulder.

Upon seeing that scarlet red butterfly, Jin Yun's pupils flickered slightly.

"So that's how it is……"

Li Qingluo slowly pulled her clothing back up: "Senior, just speak plainly if you have anything to say."

Jin Yun: "This is a butterfly unique to our MiaoJiang."

"This butterfly is called the skull‑blood butterfly."

"Before it cocoons, its true form is a flesh‑colored worm."

"After transforming, it becomes a butterfly entirely blood‑red, with patterns on its back resembling a skull face."

"This butterfly is wicked; it sucks human blood like a mosquito, yet the butterfly itself is non‑toxic."

"However, its worm eggs are extremely toxic, rare in the world."

Li Qingluo felt the spot behind her shoulder also burn as she heard this.

She recalled that blood gu worm.

"Could it be the precursor of the skull‑blood butterfly?"

"Or is there some other connection?"

Jin Yun: "Originally I found it strange—when this poison is cut open, what are the white granules inside?"

"Now I understand. They are the worm eggs of the skull‑blood butterfly."

Li Qingluo barely managed to suppress the nausea rising in her chest again.

Now she deeply regretted having changed Gu Li's name to Hudie.

It really is a fate‑entangled mess.

Jin Yun saw that although her complexion was grim, she was still fairly composed.

She continued: "Because Hudie is a mother gu, the poison refined using her flesh and blood as a guide makes your bodies emit a special scent that those uniquely perceptive mosquitoes cannot approach."

"I initially wasn't sure whether Hudie was merely a poisoned person or also a mother gu, so I overlooked that the antidote must never again use her blood and flesh."

"Doing so would instead further stimulate the poison's progression in you who are poisoned."

The more Li Qingluo listened, the heavier her heart grew.

"Is there still a cure for this poison?"

"And Hudie—since she has vomited out all the gu worms, is she then fine?"

Jin Yun shook her head: "If I use gu arts again, perhaps she could barely survive another year or so."

"But you, and those villagers, must either drink human blood or endure each poison flare by gritting your teeth."

"However, because this poison is extremely overbearing and strange,"

"so if you do not drink blood and instead try to endure it, you will drain your own blood and qi."

"Until finally……"

Jin Yun glanced at Li Qingluo: "In the end, one dies from blood depletion."

Li Qingluo's face turned pale as she recalled Zuliya's current appearance: "In the end, just like a skeleton?"

Jin Yun: "Perhaps."

That is beyond doubt.

Li Qingluo noticed Jin Ying had not spoken.

Senior, is there anything else you want to say?

Seeing her so alert, Jin Ying couldn't help but nod.

Saving the people of Wan Jia Village and your own life is actually not difficult.

Jin Ying's words flickered as she said: "Just kill the mother gu."

After the sky brightened, Li Qingluo had only stood in shallow water for two hours before getting up again.

Afterwards, she and Duan Rongshi went to the stone prison behind the pine-covered back mountain.

First, they saw that the Sixth Prince of Great Chu, Zongzheng Wu Heng, was covered in wounds, lying in the corner of the stone prison like a stray dog.

And the tied-up hyena was already at its last breath.

Zongzheng Wu Heng saw them coming, struggled to prop himself up and even spat.

Seeing the prince in this miserable state, are you satisfied?

Today I, Zongzheng Wu Heng, have fallen from power and been bullied by dogs; if I, the prince, can someday escape alive, I will surely repay you with blood for blood!

Li Qingluo held a hammer.

After Kill Three opened the prison door, she walked over.

Escape?

You, a cripple, where do you plan to escape to?

She angrily picked up the hammer and, without a word, smashed it hard onto Zongzheng Wu Heng's both feet.

Zongzheng Wu Heng's tragic cry echoed throughout the stone prison, piercing out and blowing onto the mountain cliff.

Also, the suspended Zu Liya was hit hard with a swing.

Kill Two went over, blocked her mouth and dragged her up.

Not long after, they returned to the stone prison.

Miss, I've brought her back.

Zu Liya shockingly saw that the Sixth Prince's both feet had been smashed into a bloody mess.

Looking at it, those feet were just a pile of rotting flesh.

She moved her dry, cracked, bleeding mouth, muttering only able to utter one word: "Finished..."

Zongzheng Wu Heng weakly lay on the ground, seeming about to faint.

Duan Rongshi then slowly said: "Go have Qin Ling come over to stop the bleeding and save his life."

Zongzheng Wu Heng must die, but it's not yet the time to die.

So, this life must be dragged out, and we must continue to drag it on.

Qin Ling came over with a medicine box, saw the scene before him, then looked at Li Qingluo holding the hammer in her hand, and was frightened to the point of trembling all over.

This miss is truly an incarnation of Yama.

No wonder she is the princess consort of Prince Su who hasn't yet married.

The two are simply a match made in heaven; when tormenting people, it's not about taking lives, but making life worse than death.

Qin Ling carefully did his work, fearing that this young lady would remember how he had treated her before.

He diligently did his work, only hoping that this young lady would see he still had some use and would give him and Yun Niang another chance at life.

Wuwu, it's too hard.

Li Qingluo was exhausted, sweat covering her head.

Duan Rongshi saw her come out, then took a handkerchief and gently wiped her forehead.

Also asked: "Are you tired?"

Li Qingluo shook her head: "It's this beast. Poisoning the upper reaches of the Qin Huai River must have been his decision."

However, the person who made the poison.

Li Qingluo fiercely turned her head to look at Zu Liya.

Zu Liya's pupils shrank fiercely, looking in horror at the pair before him; to him, they were more terrifying than the King Yama who demands life.

She even couldn't help but want to defend herself: "Yes, it's him..."

No... it's not me...

Li Qingluo: "Keep your mouth full of lies, go to hell."

Zu Liya, you've done all the evil deeds; you'll soon face retribution.

Today, you first try the taste of having a butterfly's teeth pulled out, how about it?

Tomorrow, it will be the fingernails.

The day after tomorrow, it will be the hair.

After that, we'll take blood, take flesh, one after another.

Li Qingluo also didn't want to do it herself anymore.

With a wave of her hand, Kill Two and Kill Three each grabbed one of her arms.

Then Leng Dian stepped forward with pliers.

In Zu Liya's fear of being unable to resist or even struggle, Leng Dian cleanly and swiftly acted.

Ah—

One tooth.

Two teeth.

Three, four, five teeth...

After six teeth were pulled out, Zu Liya also fainted from the pain.

Li Qingluo kept a cold face, half-turning her head to look at Qin Ling: "If you can't save them, you might as well die too!"

Qin Ling pressed his lips together, unable to voice his suffering.

He's just a bit better at medicine, not a real divine doctor!

Why must you keep making him go around these people?

Is this also my own karmic retribution?

Qin Ling pounded his chest and shouted inwardly, yet on his face he had to reply respectfully: "Yes, yes, yes, I understand. Rest assured, I, Qin, will handle this trifle."

Having said that, he hastily fumbled in his hands to staunch the bleeding.

Leaving that behind, Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi then walked further inside.

Last night, another new guest arrived in this stone cell.

She was also an old acquaintance of Zongzheng Wuheng and Zu Liya, Zongzheng Yuer.

Zongzheng Yuer had long heard all the commotion outside.

Seeing Li Qingluo and the other approach, she immediately rose and first looked at Duan Rongshi: "Cousin, you've come."

"I know, I've done many wrong things."

"After going through all this, I also know regret."

"But do I still have a chance?"

"Cousin, we can cooperate."

Li Qingluo looked at Duan Rongshi.

Duan Rongshi's eyes flickered, yet he first asked her: "No need to call me cousin. I just want to know where the real Yuer has gone."

Zongzheng Yuer sighed: "You indeed already knew. But I want to know... when did you find out?"

Duan Rongshi: "Not long after the mother consort passed away."

Zongzheng Yuer lowered her eyes, somewhat dejected: "I thought I was pretending convincingly."

"You really are clever; all these years you've tolerated sparring with me just to learn the truth of your mother consort's death."

Duan Rongshi said nothing, merely pressing his lips tightly together.

A hint of reluctance appeared in Zongzheng Yuer's eyes.

"But I really don't know anything."

"My soul indeed comes from another world."

"You can understand it as a later era of the same world you inhabit."

"Our civilization there is hundreds, even thousands of times more advanced than yours."

"Our technology, talent, science, and society are all beyond your imagination."

"Forget it; what's the point of telling you all this? Anyway, you wouldn't understand."

"After my modern self suffered an accidental injury, my soul came here; opening my eyes, I became that three-year-old little girl."

"Moreover, when I awoke, I was already in the princess's residence where your mother consort had died."

"So I really haven't deceived you; I truly don't remember what the real Zongzheng Yuer has seen, and I also don't know how your mother consort died."

Duan Rongshi had long been mentally prepared.

At this moment he still couldn't help feeling down and disappointed.

Li Qingluo tightly grasped his hand.

"Haven't we already figured it out?"

Those people in the palace, since none of them are innocent.

Then let's count everyone, each one as one.

Duan Rongshi lowered his head to meet her worried yet resolute gaze, giving a faint smile.

He merely nodded, then said no more.

Seeing him treat Li Qingluo, this village girl, so gently, Zongzheng Yuer's heart burned with jealousy, nearly driving her mad.

Duan Rongshi, I never expected you to be such a hopeless romantic!

Li Qingluo: "Cooperate with us? What gives you the confidence?"

"Since you don't even know the truth behind the Moon Noble Consort's death, there's no need for you to keep living."

"If the Lotus Sect Master dies, the world can gain peace."

Saying this, she drew the Azure Fall Sword hanging at her waist.