Chapter 121

As soon as the smoke oil was applied, the wound began to hiss and bubble with blood blisters, and black liquid immediately started flowing out nonstop.

I was overjoyed; it seemed to indeed work.

I only knew that the aged smoke oil in the old smoke gun's big pot could serve as a medicine primer, such as miraculously curing snake‑sore ulcers, but I never thought it would also work on the poisonous spines of this hedgehog essence.

Soon, Li Qingying's fingers twitched slightly, and a gurgling sound came from her throat.

I quickly turned her body sideways and brought the smoke oil to her nostrils.

Li Qingying choked and coughed violently; after spitting out a mouthful of black phlegm, her whole body felt as if an acupuncture point had been released, and she could move.

The detox process was agonizing; Li Qingying's whole body was drenched in sweat, as if she had just been washed in water.

By the time she had completely calmed down, an hour had passed.

She lay on the bed, as if she had just experienced a brief death, her whole body limp.

I capped the remaining smoke oil, placed it on the bedside table, held Li Qingying's right hand with both hands leaning against the bed's edge, rested my forehead on her wrist, and finally couldn't hold back tears.

To me, Li Qingying is family.

Over these past months, we have lived and faced death together; if she couldn't be saved this time, I dare not think…

Li Qingying was startled by me, she struggled to turn over, reached out to touch my head, and asked anxiously, "Xiao Jiu, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Sister Li Qingying, I'm sorry," I blamed myself, "This time it's all my fault—I was too rash and overconfident; I shouldn't have rashly gone to bargain with Bai Jingmo. I didn't expect Bai Xian'er and that little monster to appear together; it's my mistake…"

"Xiao Jiu, you're not wrong," Li Qingying said solemnly, "If everyone hesitated and feared to take this step, we would forever be merely passive victims. Look now: we've not only discovered the two individuals hidden behind Bai Jingmo, but also figured out their techniques and where their deadly points are—this is a major breakthrough."

I looked at her with red‑rimmed eyes, lips trembling: "But… but you almost…"

"I've already recovered," Li Qingying said with a smile, "Xiao Jiu, we are people who aim for great deeds; how could we have no setbacks? If one day I must make a sacrifice, you must not feel the slightest reluctance, nor shed a tear for me—understand?"

I shook my head firmly: "No, I don't want you to sacrifice; I want you to stay safe and sound forever."

Li Qingying laughed and chided: "Silly girl!"

Over the next few days, I and Li Qingying stayed in the pawnshop, watching outside movements.

What I never expected was that the first news we received about the Bai family was that Bai Jingmo had been beaten by the town mayor!

How could this happen?

Aren't they in league with each other?

Soon we uncovered the reason, which ordinary people don't know—it was told to us by Dou Jinsuo.

It turned out that back then the Bai family sent the Qiankun YuanYang Hook to the Dou family's coffin shop, asking Dou Zhile not for a human‑skin red coffin, but for the Dou family's sunken‑wood coffin, and demanded secrecy.

The Dou family has inherited a sunken‑wood coffin, pitch‑black all over, heavy with yin energy; it's said that wherever it lies, within a radius of ten or so meters, not even a fly dares to approach.

It's an excellent item for nurturing and refining corpses.

But originally, the Bai family had agreed with the town mayor to obtain a human‑skin red coffin.

Until last night, when the sunken‑wood coffin was secretly delivered to the Bai household in the middle of the night, the town mayor immediately learned of it, rushed into the Bai residence, and gave Bai Jingmo a beating.

Li Qingying exclaimed happily: "Ha, what a wonderful dog‑eat‑dog show!"

I pondered: "With Bai Xian'er by his side, how could Bai Jingmo be beaten by the town mayor? Unless… Bai Xian'er has entered the sunken‑wood coffin to enter seclusion?"

Li Qingying agreed: "Nine out of ten."

If Bai Xian'er is in seclusion, then we are temporarily safe.

Li Qingying immediately went out to continue gathering news about Bai Xian'er, while I took a trip to the county town, bought some valuable gifts, and prepared to present them to Dou Zhile as thanks.

This time his smoke oil helped a great deal.

Passing by a pet store, I inexplicably walked in, asked a few questions, and ended up buying a huge amount of cat supplies.

Cat nests, cat climbing frames, cat‑stick canned food, etc.

As soon as I returned to the pawnshop, I carried these items to the main hall.

The Mysterious Cat was still curled on the black coffin, appearing as if it had never moved at all.

I gently installed the cat climbing frame, placed the cat nest, and opened the cat‑stick and canned food…

But when the cat‑stick was brought to the Mysterious Cat's mouth, it didn't even sniff—it showed no interest at all.

I wasn't discouraged; I gently coaxed it, but unexpectedly the Little Guy grew impatient and puffed angrily at me.

It truly didn't like it.

I was worried about it; since it refuses these things, how can I help it recover quickly?

After careful thought, I suddenly realized.

The Mysterious Cat is no ordinary cat; it is a Calamity‑crossing Cat, a feline bodhisattva venerated by people!

So it should prefer incense offerings, right?

Only then did I suddenly realize why it always likes to curl on Liu Junyan's black coffin—it's trying to share her offerings!

This Little Guy is quite clever.

This afternoon I personally made a spirit tablet for the Mysterious Cat, placed it on the offering table in the main hall, set out an incense burner for it, and offered yellow incense.

As soon as the yellow incense was placed in the burner, the Mysterious Cat leapt up, jumped onto the offering table, and kept inhaling and exhaling near the incense, obviously enjoying it.

The three sticks of yellow incense soon burned down, and the Mysterious Cat returned to lie on the black coffin.

This time, however, it wasn't curled up but stretched out its limbs, returning to its former lazy state.

From then on, the Wufu Town Pawnshop gained another object of veneration—the Calamity‑crossing Cat!

I saw Bai Jingmo again, and it was at the teahouse.

Jin Wuya, having somehow heard that Li Qingying had been poisoned by a thorn, specially sent some medicine and tonics; Li Qingying invited him for tea.

When we went into the private room, Bai Jingmo happened to come out of the adjacent private room, and we ran into each other.

His complexion was very poor, with deep bruises under his eyes, and the cat scratch marks on his cheeks were still there.

He was much thinner than before, looking very frail.

When he saw me, he actually smiled and nodded at me, as if what had happened before had never occurred.

But I always felt his smile now was somewhat sinister, full of calculation.

Li Qingying pushed open the private room door, and the three of us immediately entered the private room.

After Bái Jīngmò left, I immediately went out, stood at the door of the neighboring private room, and peered inside through the crack.

Nobody was inside.

On the tabletop that hadn't been cleared yet, two cups of plain tea were placed facing each other.

Bái Jīngmò had indeed met someone here just now.

Who could it be?

I went to the front desk again and chatted with the boss lady.

"A stranger of a man," the boss lady said in a lowered voice, "wearing a blue cloth outfit, sleeves covering his hands; as he moved, I saw that both his hands seemed to have six fingers, and on his back he carried an axe..."