Chapter 70 Volcanic Spring: Forget about detoxification, people would drown in it.
Li Yuheng leaned closer, and after seeing the words on it, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, but more than anything, he was overjoyed.
"Sister, he has already gone alone. We will wait for him here for five days. Surely he will be blessed by heaven." It would be best if he died on the mountain.
Gu Shanyue remained silent, put on his outer robe, and walked out with his sword in hand.
Li Yuheng understood that Gu Shanyue still wouldn't give up, and his expression changed drastically. He blocked her way, saying, "Sister, where are you going! Are you crazy?!"
Gu Shanyue coldly uttered only two words: "Get out of the way."
"I won't let him," Li Yuheng said, his hand trembling as he blocked the door. His face showed a mixture of anger, worry, and an undeniable jealousy. "What's so great about him? You'd risk your life for him, but what about me? Don't you care about me?"
He used to derive a sense of superiority from his false illusions; he never envied anyone, nor was anyone worthy of his jealousy.
Now that his dream has shattered, he has fallen miserably from his high seat, leaving only a burning jealousy that slithers like a snake.
He was jealous of Qi Baitong, jealous of this lowly bodyguard whom he had never taken seriously.
"I don't want to hurt you, move aside."
Gu Shanyue offered no explanation for his questioning, pressing the cold scabbard against his chest with a slight pressure.
This is a warning to him.
For Qi Baitong's sake, she was going to take action against him.
Li Yuheng could tell that she was serious.
Every time he realized that he was no longer important in Gu Shanyue's eyes, it was another form of torture for him.
Li Yuheng, his face pale, slowly stepped back. Gu Shanyue immediately hurried forward without giving him another glance.
Li Yuheng lowered his head and suddenly laughed, a sorrowful laugh.
"Sister, you're so good to him, but it's unfair to me... Do you think he'll never let you down?"
Gu Shanyue did not stop because of his words, and his figure disappeared into the distance like the wind.
“He’s just a stray dog. He’s only willing to risk everything when he has nothing. If he had more like me, he might not have done any better. Sister, you still don’t understand…”
That sigh, filled with resentment, went unheard in the darkness.
The moon was hidden behind dark clouds, revealing only a crescent-shaped tip that barely illuminated the path up the mountain. The flowers in Wanhua Die Valley swayed silently and peacefully.
Gu Shanyue's skirt swept across the flowers and grass, as fast as a gust of wind.
As Gu Shanyue walked past the flower stand, a "crackling" sound rang out. He glanced sideways and saw Hu Feiwei sitting on a rock, munching on a green pear.
"You two young people are running to the back of the mountain one after another instead of sleeping in the middle of the night."
Gu Shanyue hadn't intended to chat with him, but upon hearing this, she immediately turned around and asked, "You saw Qi Baitong? When?"
"About an hour and a half ago," Hu Fei replied.
Gu Shanyue's heart sank slightly. He had been gone for a long time, and she had to speed up to catch up.
"Click, click."
Hu Fei was gnawing away with gusto when Gu Shanyue strode over and held out her hand to him: "Give me whatever medicine is effective for him."
Hu Fei looked at her hands, then without saying much, took out two porcelain bottles from his pocket, pointed to the celadon bottle and said, "Kill the detached Gu worms."
He then pointed to the white porcelain bottle and said, "Eat it when you're about to die."
With concise and to-the-point words, Gu Shanyue carefully put away the porcelain bottle and bowed to him, saying, "Thank you, Valley Master."
After saying that, she turned and left. Hu Feiwei watched her retreating figure while munching on a pear, and chuckled twice: "What a young girl."
Beyond the valley lies another valley, and beyond that, a continuous mountain range, with peaks standing shoulder to shoulder, casting enormous shadows in the dark night.
Gu Shanyue had heard of volcanic springs when she was young, but had never been there. Although she did not know the exact location of the volcanic springs, she could locate them by sound and followed the sound of the underground water flowing through the mountain, groping her way there little by little.
The volcanic spring is a spring with a long flow path, and there are many pools of different sizes along the way. Some of them are naturally formed, and some were dug out later.
Gu Shanyue walked through pools and puddles in the night, the air thick with moisture, and the deeper he went, the more humid and stifling the air became.
After searching for a long time without finding her, Gu Shanyue's brows furrowed more and more, but his steps remained steady.
With a "whoosh," a shadow suddenly flashed by.
Gu Shanyue suddenly turned his head, his eyes scanning around, as if he saw nothing.
With a flick of his wrist, Gu Shanyue unsheathed Wugou and slashed. A rustling sound came from the grass, and half of a frantically writhing, beautiful snake emerged, its head wide open, ready to attack.
Feeling nauseous at the sight, she slapped the half-writhed colorful snake with her sword, sending it flying into the distance.
With another sound of weapons being drawn, the colorful snake that had just flown past was lifted into the air again, then crashed onto a rock with a thud and fell silent.
Gu Shanyue narrowed his eyes slightly and walked over slowly, sword in hand.
Ahead, shrouded in mist, lies a large pool, nestled against a protruding rock wall, like a natural roof overhead, yet also bringing with it a sense of oppressive grandeur.
In the hot spring, a naked figure was faintly visible in the thick steam.
"Paulownia lacquer?" Gu Shanyue was delighted and quickly walked over.
Qi Baitong, who was meditating in the water, opened his eyes. Most of his body was submerged in the hot soup. His black hair was spread out in the water like lush water plants. The exposed half of his chest was a dark red in the night. His face was as white as paper, and his eyes and lips were as red as dripping blood. In the quiet mountain forest, he had an inexplicable eerie and ghostly aura.
"Don't come any closer."
Qi Baitong opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The blood in the hot spring boiled and then vanished without a trace.
Gu Shanyue then realized that the dark red on his chest was not skin color, but a dense layer of breathing flesh that was slowly writhing.
After absorbing the blood he spat out, the fleshy skin made of Gu worms became even more vibrant in color.
Gu Shanyue felt a chill run down his spine and stopped in his tracks, not moving any closer as he had said.
Qi Baitong looked at her without saying another word.
Gu Shanyue watched him quietly for a while, then sat down ten steps away from the hot spring and cut off a piece of her undergarment to wipe her sword.
She wiped slowly, but not with her usual focus, glancing at the white lacquer tree every now and then.
Qi Baitong was completely silent, his breathing extremely faint, as still as a stone tablet in the water. The dark red skin on his chest grew thicker and thicker, like moss climbing up his body, sometimes clinging tightly to him, sometimes reaching into the water.
Gu Shanyue knew that the skin was made up of countless needle-like insects that had not yet completely detached from the body.
The two remained silent. Gu Shanyue did not question Qi Baitong about why he left alone, nor did Qi Baitong ask Gu Shanyue why he insisted on following him.
They stood ten meters apart, gazing at each other quietly.
The Immaculate Sword was filthy after slaying the snake, and Gu Shanyue spent the whole night wiping it. Even though the sword was already dazzlingly bright, Gu Shanyue continued to wipe it.
As the sun peeked over the mountain peaks, its warm yellow rays gradually shone down, illuminating the land and causing the water vapor to rise even more intensely, blurring the vegetation and rocks into a hazy mist.
The white tung tree in the water closed its eyes at some point, swam to the edge of the stone wall and leaned against it, and the dark red skin on its body disappeared.
Beneath the skin, the familiar, excruciating pain returned, overwhelming everything like a tidal wave.
His breathing grew heavier and heavier, his muscles and bones trembled uncontrollably, and countless tiny cracks slowly appeared on his skin, from which bright red blood seeped out, like countless blood-red eyes opening up, eerie and terrifying.
Gu Shanyue stood up, sword in hand: "Qi Baitong, how are you?"
Qi Baitong opened his mouth but could not speak. Blood flowed from his mouth, and tangled, misaligned muscles appeared. His body gradually stiffened.
Gu Shanyue's eyes were filled with anxiety. It was like the Gu worm was acting up. But he was alone in the water. If he was stiff and unable to move as before, wouldn't he sink to the bottom like a stone?
At that point, let alone detoxification, people will drown first.
Gu Shanyue took two steps forward and saw the swarm of Gu worms swimming like aquatic plants in the pond, as well as the reminder that Qi Baitong had given her last night, even though she was willing to vomit blood.
She retreated to her original spot and shouted, "Qi Baitong, wrap yourself up with your clothes, don't sink!"
"quick!"
Qi Baitong's ears twitched as he caught her voice. He shook his drowsy head, grabbed the clothes on the shore, fumbled for a piece of sash, and with trembling hands wrapped it around the blue stone on the shore. He used the other piece to tie his arms and sat down by the pond.
Gu Shanyue could not get close and could only watch helplessly as his body twisted and writhed in the water, like a tortured person being hung up.
The huge pool had a pale pink hue that gradually deepened, and tiny, hair-like parasitic worms swam about in swarms, appearing as fleeting as ghostly shadows.
After a long while, the water calmed down, and the white tung tree stopped struggling, as if it had fainted.
He hung his head, his wet black hair disheveled and spread all over his body, his face was frighteningly pale, his thin lips were stained with bright red blood, and there were countless wounds on his body, with strands of blood floating into the water.
"Won't someone die like this?" Gu Shanyue was afraid that he would bleed to death.
"Qi Baitong, wake up!"
She called his name several times, and Qi Baitong's body swayed slightly. He looked at her sluggishly, like a fragile water ghost newly born in the water, and opened his mouth in a hoarse voice: "...A-Yue."
Gu Shanyue immediately shouted at him, "Your body is covered in injuries, and there are many Gu worms in the water. Come up first."
Qi Baitong slowly nodded, dragging herself along the water trail as she slowly climbed ashore. Once she reached the top, she stopped moving. Her upper body was covered in bright red blood, and her dark underpants were soaked with blood, wetting the ground.
Gu Shanyue quickly took out the two porcelain bottles, rolled them on the ground, and the two bottles rolled towards him, hitting his body one after the other, and stopped with a thud.
Qi Baitong kept her face buried and remained motionless.
Gu Shanyue called to him again: "Qi Baitong, don't sleep! Sprinkle the medicine powder from the celadon bottle into the pool, and give him one pill from the white porcelain bottle."
Even though he was about to faint, he would respond as soon as Gu Shanyue spoke. Although his movements were extremely slow, he was still very obedient.
A celadon bottle holds medicine powder in a pool, while a white porcelain bottle holds one pill for oral administration.
After finishing, Qi Baitong seemed to have lost all her strength, and fell backward helplessly with her eyes closed.
Gu Shanyue watched him from afar. Seeing that the wounds on his body had stopped bleeding, she felt a little relieved and used her sword to drive away the birds and foxes that were approaching.
Qi Baitong is now completely defenseless; she cannot leave.
Gu Shanyue didn't chase after the pheasants and rabbits. Instead, he returned to his original spot, took out a pancake, and started eating it.
Qi Baitong lay on her back for a long time, and Gu Shanyue wasted half a day before he slowly sat up and looked at her.
Gu Shanyue, with a biscuit in her mouth, asked him, "Are you hungry?"
She tossed him a pancake, which landed precisely in front of him, and he caught it with a slight movement of his hand.
Qi Baitong slowly broke open the cake, only to find there was no filling. He then slowly put the cake into his mouth and found it tasted terrible.
"Ah Yue, you should go down the mountain."
Gu Shanyue: "No."
Just by looking at her, you can tell she's hard to persuade.
Qi Baitong chuckled very lightly: "At least go down the mountain and eat something good. You don't have to watch over me day and night like this."
Gu Shanyue: "No."
She's the kind of person who sticks to her principles; whatever she says goes, and she'll never change her mind once she's made up her mind.
"Then I'll go catch some wild rabbits for you and roast them."
As Qi Baitong spoke, he actually stood up shakily. As soon as he moved, blood beads appeared all over his body.
Gu Shanyue shouted, "Get into the pool!"
Qi Baitong: "..."
Gu Shanyue said sternly, "Now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Baitong immediately climbed into the pool and obediently tied himself up against the stone wall.
Only his head was visible above the water, smiling at her.
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