096. Fabrication
“What is this…?” Shang Changheng watched Qing Ling’s actions with interest.
He was originally a fierce ghost with a murderous nature and a strong evil spirit. He fell in love with Qingling because it was not a truly pure white flower, but a vine covered with thorns. Even though it was covered with clusters of beautiful flowers, it could not conceal its sharp aggressiveness - although on the surface, he looked weak and gentle.
"That boy put a poison on Miss Zhu." Qing Ling explained briefly, without stopping his hands, and asked casually, "How are you?"
Shang Changheng glanced at Zhu Lezhi who was squatting far away. This place used to be a vassal state of the Great Zhou. However, he had never been to this kind of place with towering mountains, steep cliffs, green plants, complex and dangerous terrain. The Dongyi were also far away. From the historical books of later generations, Shang Changheng had seen this place change its name several times. Sometimes it declared itself a king and sometimes it submitted to others. Now, this group of foreign people has become a vassal of the Great Xia.
However, the Great Zhou had fought with the Dongyi for decades, and some of the soldiers were from the southwest. Shang Changheng had also heard them mention that there were people who raised poisonous insects in the mountains of the southwest. These people usually did not go down the mountains. They were born and died in the mountains, making a living by farming and weaving vines, and raising poisonous insects - that is, Gu - just for the purpose of curing diseases.
Maybe also for self-defense.
In short, at that time, it was difficult to find someone who could read here.
Thousands of years have passed, and they still live in the mountains. If they want to go out, they have to walk a long, rugged mountain road. Whether it is snowing, raining or windy, the bad weather will be doubly severe in the mountains. But... this method of raising insects is even more sophisticated.
It's quite interesting.
"There is no road behind the terraced fields. They are all blocked by weeds and shrubs. The mountains and rivers are intertwined, but there is a high place. Let's go to the top of the mountain after dawn and let Miss Zhu have a look." Shang Changheng finished speaking, and looked at the mushroom in the corner with interest. He was a fierce ghost, so of course he could keenly feel that Zhu Lezhi had another life force, so he said, "The smell of that thing on her is the same as those people in the village, but I don't know if the whole village is raising Gu, or-"
He didn't say anything else.
But everyone understood.
If they were not all raising the same Gu, then it’s hard to say... they were all infected.
Qing Ling tapped the paper figurine on the table again, and it moved its legs stiffly, like a puppet. The person controlling it said calmly, "Then I think the latter possibility is more likely."
When standing outside the village, Qingling felt that this place was like a paradise, with men and women in strange clothes and wearing all kinds of exquisite accessories singing and dancing. But from the moment Aji appeared, this village seemed eerie and filled with gloomy energy, just like a ghost village full of evil spirits. However, because of those angry people, he suppressed his thoughts.
Just as he was saying this, stiff footsteps were heard outside the bamboo building. A figure slowly approached and then slowly opened the door. Then Aji, who was still wearing the same clothes but whose skin was as red as if it had been peeled off, walked in. There were dark lines on his skin and no expression on his wooden face, except for the uncontrollable rage and fear in his eyes.
Qingling found it quite interesting.
He even saw a little bit of his own shadow in this Aji - but it was not quite the same, because Aji had no intention of concealing his brutality.
Even the timing and means of his actions were so...rough and crude.
This would never happen to Qing Ling. Qing Ling had always been introverted and cautious. When he said nothing, his delicate and elegant eyebrows looked cold and indifferent, like a pure white, solitary jade tree. However, once it felt threatened, this beautiful white jade plant would quietly extend its thorny vines, which were covered with fragrant and beautiful flowers, and then -
Strangling and crushing all threats without hesitation.
So the two young men of similar age looked at each other, Aji was standing and Qingling was sitting, but the one sitting seemed to be superior, looking at him with contempt as the prey in front of him had its neck strangled and might die at any time.
——Shang Changheng saw all of this, and his Adam’s apple rolled violently, almost uncontrollably.
Qingling really was... there was nothing he disliked about her. He wanted to grab hold of this vine that cunningly hid its thorns under the flowers, so he stretched out his hand openly and gently stroked Qingling's satin-like black hair.
But the vines meekly retracted their thorns - Qingling raised her eyes and glanced at him, her look was a little doubtful, yet gentle and harmless, almost as if she was acting coquettishly.
Shang Changheng remained calm, and after a moment he said softly, "It's okay, do your thing."
This is like saying, it doesn’t matter, I’m here anyway.
Qing Ling's confidence came mostly from the thousand-year-old evil spirit that was standing by his side, so he once again looked at Aji and spoke in a calm tone: "Either you remove the poison from this girl now, or I'll get rid of you. It's your choice."
He tapped the red paper figurine's head lightly with his finger, and Ah Ji, who couldn't help but feel relieved, almost didn't think twice and uttered a cold laugh. Then he found that he seemed to be able to speak. After a brief shock, he immediately showed a playful expression, "If the mother Gu dies, the child Gu will also die in her body. The poison in the Gu will be like being dropped into water. She will die immediately because of the poison attacking her heart!"
Qingling frowned slightly.
That would be a difficult problem. What if this guy was killed and Zhu Lezhi followed him down? Wouldn't that be counterproductive? Fortunately, Qingling didn't kill Aji from the beginning. Of course, he would cut the grass and wipe it out without mercy, but before that, he had to get things clear. Because of this, Zhu Lezhi could still squat aside and become a big mushroom instead of becoming a cold corpse.
But his puppet spell can only control Aji, not his brain directly. Otherwise, he would hit wherever he points with just one order.
Aji seemed to like the way Qingling was helpless against him. He was still smiling, but all the malice that he had hidden before poured out, flowing in his eyes like dirty black water.
"If I die, the mother Gu will also die without a nest." Aji laughed a few times before continuing, "If your friends want to live, they'd better not have any ideas about me. My sister is a big shot outside. We have a Tongxin Gu. She will know immediately if I die. The Tongxin Gu has memorized your scent. As long as you appear within three miles of her, the Gu on her body will recognize you. Even if you leave the village, you will become rats crossing the street!"
Aji was smart. He was afraid of death, so he laid his cards out clearly to let these people know that killing him would not only mean taking the life of a companion, but he also had someone to back him up outside.
Qingling's brows furrowed even more tightly.
——Is there another one outside? It's a bit troublesome to cut the grass at its roots. No matter who Aji's sister is, as long as they are enemies, there is no possibility of meeting each other and smiling away the grudges.
Only when you are dead in a way that makes it impossible for you to resurrect or be haunted, can you be truly free from worries.
Aji sensed something bad happening in Qingling's silence. He had never seen any strangers before, and this time he finally met one. He couldn't wait to use them to refine ghost poison. Who could have thought that the one among them...who had the strangest smell and looked the weakest, would have such a weird and unpredictable method!
Aji did not regret taking action, but he regretted that the first person he attacked was not the gentle and thin young master.
"Hey." Zhu Lezhi moved her hands and found that both of them had no reaction. However, from the outside, she could not feel anything wrong. The two white palms covered with thin calluses were hanging naturally. She said helplessly, "I shouldn't have been so naughty just now. I should have whipped this kid to death."
She was quite calm.
"Otherwise..." Qing Ling seemed a little hesitant, but glanced at Aji with ill intent, "Take out some of his soul. The man will become a fool, but the Gu won't kill him. Wait until we figure out what this worm is - or find someone who raises the Gu. It's impossible that there is no one in the world who can cure this Gu."
He downplayed it too lightly, but the cruelty contained in those few words was real.
Especially the tone was very serious, as if he was about to take action in the next second.
"Sure! I'm the best!" Zhu Lezhi simply sat cross-legged on the ground with her hands hanging on her knees. She also smiled like Ah Ji and giggled, "Actually, there's no need to look for anyone else. Our Zhu family has a soul-controlling technique that specializes in extracting a person's soul, casting a curse on it, and then releasing the soul back. That person will then obey whatever the caster says! But--"
She paused.
Miao Yuan cooperated and asked, "But what?"
Zhu Lezhi laughed again, "If it's really that easy, not everyone can be made into a puppet, right? It's not easy. When extracting the soul, it's easy to hurt the living soul. When casting the curse, the half of the living soul may not be able to withstand it and disperse, but there is still some left in the living body, so it won't die. It will just become an idiot in the future. If it fails, we can take this idiot to find someone to remove the poison."
After she finished speaking, she raised her chin towards Miao Yuan - how dare she order Qing Ling around.
"Little Master, stop watching and take out all your weapons."
Miaoyuan thought to himself, what do you want me to take? How would we Buddhist disciples know what those things of yours are used for? But he still turned around to look through the gifts, and even pretended to put out a small incense burner and a few ritual instruments, looking like he was ready to start the ritual.
Qing Ling supported his chin with one hand, not even looking at Aji. Instead, he fixed his eyes on Shang Changheng, looking up at him with a faint smile between his eyebrows.
"His sister might come looking for us." Qing Ling deliberately snorted indifferently, "Why don't we wait a while and solve it together."
Shang Changheng readily agreed: "Okay."
Aji stared blankly at this group of people who were busy and discussing how to deal with him. Anger and fear intertwined and tore at his reason, but at this moment fear had the upper hand - because he found that these people seemed to be really not threatened!
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