Chapter 71 Escaping is never a solution. ...
Chapter 71
Shen Suining followed the white-haired old man to a thatched hut. Although her legs were not very nimble, she still forced herself to follow him inside.
The old man took a black porcelain cup from the cabinet and handed it to Shen Suining.
Shen Suining knew what it was, but didn't move. She just looked at the old man's heterochromatic eyes and suddenly asked, "Actually, you're not that old, are you?"
“Young lady, you have a keen eye,” the man smiled, gently pressing his brow bone. “Since you can tell I’m not old, you must also know what’s in this bowl.”
“The mother worm of the Gu worm is raised on a human body. The person who raises the Gu worm must feed it with the blood essence of a young man. Over time, this will accelerate aging,” Shen Suining stared at his red eyes for a moment and smiled, “You want to control me with the Gu worm.”
“I had no choice,” the man said softly. “My name is Shan Qian. There are more than twenty households in this village, and each family regards the mountain as their parent. There are no clans or surnames; we are all one family. Our ancestors fled here to escape war, and we have lived here for hundreds of years. We do not need, nor will we allow, any outsiders to disturb us. I believe you are a good person, but others do not, and I cannot gamble the peace of our village with your character.”
Looking at the bloodshot eyes around Shan Qian, Shen Suining suddenly asked, "So how old are you now?"
"sixteen."
"It's smaller than I expected."
Shan Qian chuckled twice, "It's not that young. People my age in the village all have two-year-old children."
After a long silence, Shen Suining took the porcelain bowl containing the larvae from his hand. "If I put this into my body, will you trust me?"
Shan Qian: "I said I can trust you, but others may not. After all, you are someone who can walk out of the Seven Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation alive. No one has been able to break that formation for hundreds of years, but you can. This is a great threat to us."
Shen Suining smiled, opened the porcelain bowl without saying a word, and swallowed the worm whole.
Then she said, "My friends were poisoned by arrows in the underground palace. You must give me the antidote to cure them."
“Of course,” Shan Qian said in surprise as he watched her swallow the larvae without batting an eye. “Do you know that even if the larvae you swallowed are no longer under the control of the mother worm, they are still highly poisonous? You actually…”
Shen Suining ignored him, only instructing him about the antidote, and then turned and walked out of the thatched hut.
She had barely stepped out of the door when she coughed up a mouthful of blood. All the blood rushed to the top of her head, and she felt as if her brain was about to explode. For the first time in her life, she tasted pain.
It hurts, it hurts so much.
Large beads of sweat instantly poured down his forehead and back. Shen Suining leaned against the wooden railing, panting heavily, and pressed his other hand desperately against his chest, where it felt as if a million ants were gnawing at him.
Lingrui, who had followed along out of concern, saw this and cried out in alarm, "Young Master!"
Seeing that the blood she vomited was jet black, Lingrui reached for the antidote and asked, "That old bastard poisoned you?!"
Shen Suining shook her head, stopping her. "Are Feng Yu and He Hansheng awake?"
"No, we gave them the antidote, but Yan Zhen and I checked their wounds just now, and they're still the same. They haven't shown any signs of waking up."
"As expected, our medicine cannot cure their poison."
Since He Hansheng hadn't woken up after taking the antidote, Shen Suining guessed that Jishetang's antidote wasn't a panacea. Neither she nor Feng Yu could withstand the intoxicating smoke in the underground palace, so the poison must have been a rare item.
As Shen Suining spoke, she vomited another mouthful of blood. She bent over and half-squatted on the ground, her expression one of extreme pain.
Ling Rui's voice trembled with fright, "Young Master, what kind of poison have you been given?! Miao Wei and Su Xiyao aren't here, you..."
Ling Rui was at a loss and tears streamed down her face. She forced herself to calm down, raised her hand to circulate her internal energy to support Shen Suining's body, and tried to use a set of internal energy secrets from Shuyu Manor to force out the poison from her body.
However, this secret technique is called "Shifting Stars and Changing Constellations." Although it can detoxify, it requires the practitioner to reverse the flow of energy through their meridians. If they are not careful, they will lose all their internal energy or even die suddenly. Using this method to detoxify is tantamount to trading one's life for another.
"Ling Rui, don't waste your energy." Shen Suining knew what Ling Rui was going to do, so he forced his internal energy to rebound back, and the two of them were both affected by the backlash and spat out a mouthful of blood at the same time.
Shen Suining wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and closed her eyes. "This is a mother-child gu. Once the gu worm enters the body, it will be connected to the person's bloodline. Even if you risk your life here, you can't force it out. Listen to me, help me back first, and pretend that nothing happened. Someone will bring the antidote to cure Feng Yu and the others in a while."
Lingrui was unwilling to give up and raised her hand to ask for luck again.
"Ling Rui!" Shen Suining turned her head and shouted sharply, "Do you want to die here with me? Listen to me!"
Ling Rui's hand froze in mid-air. She knew that the two of them had similar internal strength. If the young master disagreed, her forced exertion of her power would only cause both of them to suffer backlash. However, given the young master's temperament, he would never allow her to exchange her life for his.
After gritting her teeth and struggling for a moment, Ling Rui stopped, calmed herself down, helped Chen Suining up, and carried her back to the house the villagers had arranged for them.
After the two left, Shan Qian came out of the thatched hut, watched their departing figures, and sighed softly.
...
Two days later, Shen Suining sat cross-legged on a rock, meditating and adjusting his internal energy.
After the worm enters the body, there will be an adaptation process, which can be extremely painful. Shen Suining is afraid that others will notice anything unusual, so she has been avoiding it for the past two days.
Yan Zhen went to great lengths to find her, but did not rush forward to disturb her. Instead, she stood at a distance and watched silently.
Shen Suining noticed and opened her eyes. "Is something wrong?"
Yan Zhen was silent for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "The village chief of Shanqian Village ordered his men to shut down the Seven Palaces Formation these past two days, and with our help, we retrieved Lord He's remains. Some of his belongings were also taken out, and he asked me to give them to you to handle."
Shen Suining glanced at He Changxin's belongings: his sword, the Xuanwu-patterned jade pendant, and the letter to the eldest princess that he was clutching in his hand.
After a moment's thought, Shen Suining said calmly, "You should personally escort Lord He's remains back to the capital and hand over these relics to the Princess."
Yan Zhen countered, "Does the young master mean that I should leave here first?"
Shen Suining glanced at her. Yan Zhen was the most docile of the three protectors, and she never spoke to her in this tone.
She guessed the reason, "Lingrui told you?"
Yan Zhen neither admitted nor denied it, saying, "Young Master shouldn't have kept it a secret."
"So now that you know, what can you do besides live in fear together?"
Yan Zhen was about to speak when Shen Suining immediately interrupted her: "Yan Zhen, I know what you and Ling Rui are thinking, and my attitude is very clear. After all, we have trespassed into their paradise. It is only natural that they do not trust us and are wary of us. As long as we do not overstep their rules, this Gu worm cannot harm me. I do not need you to use a life-for-life method to remove the Gu from me. Do you understand?"
Shen Suining's attitude was firm, and Yan Zhen had nothing to say. She just stood there silently, her eyes reddening.
“I’ve said this twice already, and I don’t want to say it a third time,” Shen Suining’s voice was filled with exhaustion. She slowly closed her eyes. “Go tell Ling Rui that if she keeps talking and Feng Yu finds out, she should pack her things and go back to Yangzhou.”
Yan Zhen opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a deep, restrained voice suddenly came from behind her: "What about me?"
Shen Suining opened her eyes in surprise and saw Shen Yan standing not far behind Yan Zhen, his hands behind his back, his face ashen, asking her, "I already know. Young Master Shen, are you going to use those same words to fob me off and send me back to Yangzhou?"
"Father? What happened to you..."
Shen Suining looked at Shen Yan, who had suddenly appeared, in disbelief. Gradually, she realized what was happening and looked at Yan Zhen with a sullen face.
Yan Zhen lowered her head and remained silent.
Shen Suining was furious and about to reprimand them when Shen Yan interrupted her, "Don't be so quick to blame them. In the end, Ling Rui and Yan Zhen are doing it for your own good."
Shen Yan stepped forward and sat down behind Shen Suining.
"What are you going to do?" Shen Suining jumped up and looked at Shen Yan warily.
Shen Yan possesses profound internal strength. If he were to forcibly remove the curse from her, Shen Suining might not be able to retaliate. In fact, it could cause both of them to suffer from qi deviation and damage to their bones and muscles.
As if seeing through her thoughts, Shen Yan laughed out loud: "Although I only have this one old life, I wouldn't be as generous as I am with my two younger ones, giving it to you!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Suining glared fiercely at Yan Zhen.
“Yan Zhen, you should go back first,” Shen Yan instructed. He was silent for a moment. “I will personally escort Brother Jingchuan’s remains back, along with his belongings. This place is not safe to stay for long. You and Ling Rui should leave after Feng Yu has recovered.”
"Yes," Yan Zhen replied and withdrew.
After Yan Zhen left, Shen Yan sat on the rock without saying a word, seemingly lost in thought. As if the wind had hurt his eyes, he raised his hand and gently rubbed them.
After calming himself down, Shen Yan looked at Shen Suining's hands, which were wrapped up tightly. He felt more heartache than anger. Even though he knew the answer, he still asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
Shen Suining shook her head, not admitting that she seemed to be able to feel pain now. She sat down cross-legged next to Shen Yan. "So how did you end up here? You came from Yangzhou?"
"Let's not talk about that now, Ningning," Shen Yan didn't answer her question directly, but said, "Now that Lord He's remains have been found, the truth will surely come to light. At that time, your father will definitely leave Huadu and won't stay in the court for a moment longer. You and Yun Chu..."
He looked at the faint traces of blood seeping through Shen Suining's palms and wrists, hesitated, and asked, "You... are you still willing to leave?"
"What do I have to be reluctant about?" Shen Suining forced a smile, pretending to be relaxed. "I've been to that godforsaken place, the capital. It's nothing special. It's not as comfortable as Yangzhou. Now that Father's worries are over, I'll definitely find a way to leave soon after you go."
Shen Yan could tell she was being stubborn, so he shook his head, sighed, and didn't expose her.
"So how exactly did you get in here?" Shen Suining changed the subject and pressed on, "You entered the Seven Palaces Formation too?"
“No,” Shen Yan denied. “Before I returned to the capital, I received a letter from my old friend Zhang Xuanqing. Knowing that I had returned to the court, he wrote to invite me to come and have a chat several times. He has lived in seclusion in the Taihang Mountains for many years and is quite familiar with this area. After I received a message from Wei Zhao, I asked him to bring me here. We traveled over mountains and valleys for quite some time and only arrived this morning.”
Shen Suining was already used to Shen Yan's little-known connections. "Then... where is he?"
“He went to see Yun Chu,” Shen Yan smiled. “Before Brother Xuan Qing left the capital, Yun Chu was someone he watched grow up. Now, the two of them, uncle and nephew, haven’t seen each other for many years.”
Shen Suining said "Oh" and didn't reply.
She knew He Hansheng had already woken up, but she was currently carrying the Mother-Child Gu in her body and often felt uncomfortable. Shen Suining was afraid that he would find out, so she had not gone back to see him.
“Ningning,” Shen Yan called softly, “Running away is not the way. What needs to be faced will have to be faced sooner or later.”
He reached out and gently stroked Shen Suining's head with his broad palm, just like he had when she was a child. "Think carefully about what you really want in your heart. If you are really willing to leave, then take advantage of your last days to say goodbye properly. If you... want to stay and stay in Huadu with Yun Chu, then your father... your father will support you."
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