Yue Qiao'e wished she could rush forward immediately, but she turned back and hugged Wen An back into her arms.

She repeatedly confirmed that Gu Xun's injuries were not fatal before yelling at Gu Jiangli:

"You dare to lay a hand on your own father? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

Gu Jiangli loosened the rope and pushed Gu Xun out.

Gu Xun stumbled and fell to the ground, letting out a hoarse cry of pain. She said, seemingly unconcerned:

"He never cared about my life or death from the beginning. Even if he deserves to be struck by lightning, he should be the one struck first."

Gu Xun cried out a few times in a hoarse voice from the ground.

Yue Qiao'e was a little anxious and wanted to go forward, but she was holding the child and was afraid that Gu Jiangli might be up to something.

Gu Jiangli understood what was going on by looking into Yue Qiao'e's eyes.

She deliberately stabbed Gu Xun on the way.

On one hand, he wanted to vent his anger, and on the other hand, he wanted to see how much Gu Xun meant to Yue Qiao'e.

She was indeed somewhat surprised.

The current situation shows that Yue Qiao'e cares a lot about Gu Xun.

This kind of concern transcends the bond between master and servant.

Thinking of this, Gu Jiangli squatted down.

He grabbed Gu Xun by the back of the neck and made him tilt his head back.

She sneered at the terrified Yue Qiao'e:

"To be honest, your attitude toward Gu Xun did surprise me a bit."

"What? Is there some shady story between you two?"

Yue Qiao'e's expression suddenly became strange and unusual.

She didn't immediately refute him, clearly because Gu Jiangli had touched a nerve.

Gu Jiangli glanced at Gu Xun, who was in pain, once again.

Gu Xun showed no sign of feeling guilty.

His expression showed nothing but composure and pain.

Then she continued:

"I don't think Gu Xun has any other thoughts about you, Yue Qiao'e."

Before he came, he only said that you were an obedient subordinate.

"Is that so, my dear father?"

Gu Xun was forced to tilt his head back; the wound on his shoulder was still bleeding, and the pain made him not want to speak at all.

However, Gu Jiangli's question forced him to say something.

He struggled to open his mouth and said to Yue Qiao'e in an extremely hoarse voice:

"Qiao'e, you must not be soft-hearted and hand the child over to her."

"If the child is in your hands, then neither of us will have a chance to survive..."

Before Gu Xun could finish speaking, Gu Jiangli suddenly appeared in front of him and slapped him hard across the face.

With a "snap," blood foam gushed from Gu Xun's mouth.

Yue Qiao'e and Gu Xun looked at Gu Jiangli with disbelief.

Gu Jiangli didn't even give Gu Xun a second glance.

With swift movements, he pulled the short knife out of his shoulder.

"Ah—!" Gu Xun let out a scream.

Crimson blood splattered on Gu Jiangli's face.

Before Gu Xun could utter any insults, she had already coldly placed the dagger against his neck.

The sharp blade caused blood to seep from Gu Xun's neck, and it seemed that the short knife would cut through Gu Xun's throat at any moment, causing him to bleed profusely.

Gu Xun and Yue Qiao'e immediately panicked.

"What are you doing?!" Yue Qiao'e's voice became extremely agitated.

She looked at Yue Qiao'e, her eyes filled with endless indifference.

"Yue Qiao'e, I can tell you that I never considered him my father from the bottom of my heart."

“Killing him wouldn’t bring me any pain at all.”

"From now on, I will count from one."

“Every time I count, I will poke a hole in Gu Xun with this short knife until you are willing to put Wen An on the stool behind you.”

"Don't worry, I will definitely avoid vital points with every strike. I will make his hoarse screams echo throughout every corner of this City God Temple."

"I'd also like to know just how much you value Gu Xun."

"Can you just stand by and watch your once respected and beloved master suffer such inhuman torture?"

Yue Qiao'e showed a look of horror.

He roared menacingly, "How dare you! Wen An is in my hands now!"

Gu Jiangli's eyes darkened. "If Wen An loses even a single hair, I will put you and Gu Xun together and subject them to the punishment of slow slicing. Each of you will have 1,200 cuts on your body, and you will not be allowed to die until all of them are done. You are welcome to try it."

Yue Qiao'e's forehead was covered in sweat as she held Wen An, anxiously spinning around in circles.

Gu Jiangli sneered, "I'll start counting now."

"one."

Yue Qiao'e gritted her teeth and took a step forward fiercely.

Gu Jiangli raised his knife and plunged it into Gu Xun's right shoulder.

"Ah—! Gu Jiangli, you unfilial daughter!" Gu Xun screamed, drops of blood flowing down her arm.

Yue Qiao'e was still spinning around in the same spot as if she were going crazy.

"two."

Gu Jiangli counted slowly and deliberately.

He continued what he was doing with a cold look in his eyes.

The dagger pierced Gu Xun's arm, and Gu Xun screamed again.

"three."

"Wait!" Just as Gu Jiangli raised his knife above his head, about to bring it down, Yue Qiao'e finally spoke.

She was covered in sweat and hurriedly placed Wen An on the stool behind her.

"I've put the child down! But I can't hand him over to you! Untie Gu Xun first!"

Wen An, who was on the stool, was shielded behind Yue Qiao'e.

Gu Jiangli was unable to see Wen An's condition.

But at least it's safer than being in Yue Qiao'e's arms.

Gu Jiangli smiled and pulled the injured Gu Xun up from the ground.

She slowly untied him, but still grabbed the back of his neck with his clothes, preventing him from escaping.

"Gu Jiangli, you unfilial daughter, you will surely die a horrible death!" Gu Xun cursed incessantly.

But Gu Jiangli didn't take it to heart at all.

Seeing that Gu Xun was no longer in danger of being stabbed again, Yue Qiao'e breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly spoke again:

"Now that you've brought Gu Xun here, I won't touch Wen An. But I have one more condition! Where's the medicine?"

Gu Jiangli took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket and said, "Of course I have the medicine, but I need to understand what you need it for before I give it to you."

"Nonsense! Of course, it's to remove the tattoo!" Yue Qiao'e said without hesitation.

“You’re not telling the truth.” Gu Jiangli’s eyes were cold, and he saw through Yue Qiao’e’s lie at a glance. “Even if you have tattoos, you can live a peaceful life. Whether you remove them or not will not affect you at all.”

"You went through all that trouble, risking your life, just to remove a tattoo that has no effect on you whatsoever."

"If you don't tell the truth, I'd rather throw this medicine on the ground than give it to you."

"You...!" Yue Qiao'e blushed with anxiety, not knowing what to say.

Lost in thought, she was completely unaware that the roof of the dilapidated City God Temple was quietly undergoing some changes.

She didn't even notice that Gu Jiangli and Xie Shiyan, who were always inseparable, were not together at this moment.

A handful of sand fell from the roof and landed right on her head.

She was about to look up when Gu Jiangli's words diverted her attention.

"Yue Qiao'e, you're so eager to get this medicine because you still have other scars that need to be removed, right?"