"What's wrong? Is something on your mind?" Seeing Sun Miao'er's worried look, Fu Yuchi couldn't help but ask her what was wrong.
However, he was still savoring the delicious pork loin slices he had just eaten.
Sun Miao'er did not hide anything and told the truth, "My second uncle wants to sell the medicinal herb land, but our herbs have only just been planted."
“I see…” Fu Yuchi nodded. “Xiao Miao’er is good in every way, but she has too many worries.”
Sun Miao'er knew he didn't understand these things, nor did he understand what the medicinal herb land meant to the Sun family. She said dejectedly, "Without the medicinal herb land, my grandmother and I can't survive. Master, you wouldn't understand."
Her career was just beginning to take shape, but things weren't peaceful at home, and things weren't going smoothly outside either. Was fate deliberately working against her?
“Isn’t there still me?” Fu Yuchi retorted.
Sun Miao'er sighed, "Master, you can help us for a while, but not forever. Besides, most of the time we have to rely on ourselves to get through life. Only by taking it one step at a time can we look back without fear. Others' help is a ladder; once they remove it, you can't get down. Your own efforts are the steps you carve out; you can go up and come down, and you won't be afraid of being lost and helpless one day when no one is there to help you."
Fu Yuchi remained silent for a long time. It turned out that from the very beginning, what attracted him to this girl was not just her ability to cook a few dishes, but that he could always directly compare his own cowardice to her.
That coward, burdened with hatred yet powerless to do anything about it.
As night fell, the moon shone brightly, while the starlight dimmed.
The two ginkgo trees outside the medicine hut were laden with fruit, hanging heavily, their branches bent under the weight. If they were even a fraction heavier, they would risk breaking.
The fallen leaves on the ground made a crisp sound as they were stepped on by shoes. Fu Yuchi stood in front of the medicine hut but did not go in. Instead, he turned around and stepped onto the path leading into the mountains.
The vast night enveloped the mountains. He didn't even need to light a lantern or use the moonlight to see the way, because he knew this mountain better than anyone else. He could find his way out even with his eyes closed.
Beyond the hillside, hidden among the vines, lies a narrow cave.
Before even entering the cave, they heard a pitiful scream coming from inside: "Help! Someone, please save me!"
When Wu Dali woke up, he was already trapped in the cave. Fear enveloped him. He wanted to escape, but his hands and feet were chained, and he could only stay close to the cave entrance, unable to move even an inch further.
He tried to attract attention by calling for help, but his cries for help gradually weakened as he suffered from hunger and cold. His lips cracked and each word he uttered was accompanied by tearing pain.
The footsteps outside the cave ignited a fleeting hope in his heart, only to be dashed just as quickly.
Fu Yuchi parted the vines, took out the tinderbox he carried with him, and lit the stone lampstands on both sides of the cave, which suddenly became bright inside.
Wu Dali saw his face clearly, his pupils contracted, and he also got a feel for his surroundings. The cave was not large, but not far from him were several neatly arranged cages, half-covered by black cloth.
"Let me out, please! I'll kowtow to you, I admit my mistake, I..." Wu Dali felt fear whenever he met Fu Yuchi's eyes; he had no idea what was standing in front of him.
The more Wu Dali moved, the tighter the chains would become. The chains were covered with sharp spikes finer than silver needles, which would pierce his skin little by little. He felt no pain, but instead experienced an unbearable itch.
Fu Yuchi sat on the stone bench, rubbing his fingers together, his sinister eyes sharp and piercing. "Is it too late?"
"Not late, ah, not at all... not at all..." Wu Dali couldn't even utter a complete sentence, feeling as if countless ants were gnawing at his entire body.
Fu Yuchi tapped the stone tabletop, looking relaxed. "Don't struggle. The iron chain is covered with needles. The harder you pull, the deeper the needles will pierce."
"If you want money, I can find a way to get it from my parents. Please let me go, I promise I'll never do it again!" Wu Dali lowered his hands in despair, tears welling up in his eyes.
Fu Yuchi suddenly stood up, walked up to him, and looked down at him. "Do you know where you went wrong?"
Wu Dali dared not nod or shake his head, and could only curl up and let him do as he pleased.
"Your mistake was touching the wrong person and having the wrong thoughts." Every time Fu Yuchi saw Wu Dali's face, which filled him with disgust, he could truly feel the despair he felt that night.
The moment he witnessed that figure fall into the water, he couldn't grab onto anything.
He had experienced this sense of powerlessness firsthand when the Fu family was wiped out, with Fu Zhong covering his mouth tightly to prevent him from making a sound.
When the fire started, he hid in a corner and watched his parents die, unable to even utter a sound.
Teenagers who have suddenly experienced tremendous changes are no longer the spirited and passionate young men they once were.
In the end, even Fu Zhong died protecting him from an arrow, leaving him truly all alone in the world.
He vividly remembered that before Fu Zhong died, he held his hand tightly, and a mouthful of blood stained his moon-white robe.
"Second Young Master, live on, please, take care."
It was this single thought of survival that kept him going, even as he endured hardship and lived a life of hunger and thirst.
The more Fu Yuchi recalled the past, the stronger the hatred in his heart became.
This person almost took away Xiao Miao'er, the Xiao Miao'er he had finally met.
"There's a saying that it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Which would you choose?" Fu Yuchi smiled and lifted the black cloth covering the iron cages.
Beneath the black cloth, inside the iron cage, was a crammed full of venomous snakes of various colors, greedily flicking their tongues, revealing their hunger accumulated over many days.
Wu Dali was terrified. He closed his eyes, then couldn't help but peek through a crack, as if he were about to become the food of these poisonous creatures. "I... I want to live..."
He uttered a few words tremblingly, not daring to think about them further.
Fu Yuchi's smile froze instantly, and his cold voice echoed in the cave, "Then I will grant your wish."
He opened the iron cages one by one, as if admiring his treasures. "These venomous snakes are all carefully fed by me. Each one survived a battle and its venom is so potent that even I don't know how strong it is."
“Since you’ve chosen to live a life of ease, I might as well tell you.” Fu Yuchi held a small snake in his palm. “These snakes will burrow into your seven orifices, leaving their venom behind, and then they will burrow out. Their venom will mix together, and you will be refined into a medicinal human who is immune to all poisons and has no senses. At that time, I will be able to command you.”
Wu Dali collapsed, his body going limp. The pain was a hundred times worse than being skinned alive. He stared wide-eyed in terror at the writhing slender snakes swimming towards him, already regretting his decision. "Please, let me die!"
"It's too late."
As soon as the words fell, the cave returned to deathly silence.
Bathed in moonlight, the man's face remained as gentle as ever.
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