Chapter 99 The Yan Family's Business
Yan Lingxuan retorted, "Ridiculous! My Yan family has fallen from grace? Throughout the entire Xuanmen sect, who doesn't know that my Yan family is the leader in the Gu poison path?"
“If you had ever seen how the Yan clan wielded power and influence in Miao territory a thousand years ago…” Lu Yao stopped speaking, tapping her teacup lightly on the stone table, “Never mind.”
Morning dew dripped from the pear tree branches, splashing tiny water droplets on the stone slab.
When Lu Yao raised her eyes, they were clear: "Tell me, where is the real person who set up the formation, Yan Xiucheng? And from which forbidden book did you steal the formula for those modified Red Beauty Gu?"
Yan Lingxuan trembled, and her wrists, which were tied behind her back, instinctively tightened the rope.
She then realized that there was a deeper purpose behind her being invited.
"Don't even think about getting a single word from me!" Yan Lingxuan sneered.
"Is that so?" Lu Yao raised an eyebrow slightly. You Qing understood and turned to bring out three carved bamboo tubes from the kitchen.
The surface of the bamboo tube gleamed with an eerie bluish light, and a faint rustling sound could be heard coming from inside.
Yan Lingxuan leaned forward abruptly, "Give it back to me!"
With a gentle flick of her slender hand, the bamboo tube opened with a sound.
Three different types of Gu worms slowly crawled out—a dark blue nine-star ladybug, a translucent jade centipede, and a seven-colored spider the size of a fingernail.
"Come here!" Yan Lingxuan shouted sharply.
But those Gu worms that usually obeyed her every word were now frozen in place, completely still.
"What kind of magic did you cast on my babies?!"
“There’s no need to cast a spell. They’re just being sensible; they know their own limitations and are afraid of me,” Lu Yao smiled.
Yan Lingxuan gritted her teeth: "You're talking nonsense. I am their master. They will never bow down to you."
Lu Yao chuckled: "It seems they are better at assessing situations than you are."
She lightly tapped the ladybug with her fingertip, "Go, pay your respects to your former master."
The ladybug flapped its wings and took flight, and suddenly crimson liquid seeped from the nine star-shaped spots on its carapace.
Yan Lingxuan's face turned deathly pale.
This is a sign that the Gu worms are about to launch an attack!
"Ajiu! I'll take care of you for ten years!" Her voice trembled as she desperately tilted her head back to avoid it.
The usually docile Gu worm was now hovering three inches in front of her nose, its venom glands clearly visible.
Lu Yao suddenly snapped her fingers, and the ladybug immediately and obediently landed back on the table.
"Now, can we have a proper talk?"
Yan Lingxuan looked at the Gu worm that had betrayed her and finally slumped down in despair.
“Tell me,” Lu Yao’s voice carried a hint of remoteness, “Does the Miao region still have moon festivals now? Do the elders still live in stilted houses?”
Yan Lingxuan paused for a moment, then suddenly scoffed, "Do you think this is a period drama?"
She loosened the hemp rope around her wrist, "Now even Miao villages have 5G, who still practices those feudal superstitions..."
Before she could finish speaking, You Qing slapped her on the back of the head: "Speak properly!"
A complex emotion flashed in Lu Yao's eyes.
A thousand years ago, she had witnessed priests and elders dancing and offering sacrifices to the heavens under the full moon.
The seventy-two stilted houses were brightly lit, and the silver ornaments shimmered like a galaxy under the moonlight.
And now...
"Who's in charge of the Yan family now?" Lu Yao cut straight to the point.
Yan Lingxuan's eyes flickered: "Of course it's my father, Yan Xiucheng."
Lu Yao almost laughed. In Miao territory a thousand years ago, boys were taken away as soon as they were born, and were not qualified to practice Gu magic.
Yan Lingxuan noticed the contempt in Lu Yao's eyes and retorted, "Now, who in the entire Southwest doesn't know the name of Gu King Yan Sanye?"
"Third Master Yan?"
"That's what they call it in the underworld." Yan Lingxuan curled her lips. "Third in taking orders, third in asking price, and third on the government's wanted list."
You Qing chuckled, but was stopped by a look from Lu Yao.
She gently stroked the teacup and continued to ask, "Does your Yan family now take money to do things?"
"Prices are clearly marked." Yan Lingxuan raised her chin. "Love Gu is one million, Extinction Gu is two million, and Longevity Gu requires reservation, starting price..."
Lu Yao frowned. "You're treating your ancestral secret techniques as a business?"
A thousand years ago, Gu was a sacred art to protect the village, and every Gu master had to make a blood oath in front of the eighteen caves.
Yan Lingxuan was startled by her expression and shrank back, saying, "What era are we living in?"
She muttered to herself, "All the young people in the village have gone out to work. If it weren't for my dad taking on these jobs, the Yan family would have starved long ago."
Lu Yao took a deep breath. "Where is your mother?"
“He’s dead.” Yan Lingxuan’s face suddenly turned cold. “He died in childbirth while giving birth to my brother.”
The courtyard fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of withered leaves falling.
"Your younger brother..." Lu Yao said thoughtfully, "is he the heir?"
Mentioning her younger brother, Yan Lingxuan's breathing immediately became rapid, "That good-for-nothing—"
She gritted her teeth, but then suddenly deflated and slumped her shoulders. "He can't even memorize the simplest Gu-inducing technique, yet he wants to inherit the entire Gu technique manual of the Yan family."
She suddenly pulled open her sleeve, revealing a dense array of needle marks on her arm: "These are the marks I left when I tested the Gu on him. Last year, his attempt to raise a corpse Gu failed, and my father made me feed the Gu worms with my own blood for three consecutive months, just to demonstrate the correct method of raising Gu to him."
“Last month, he stole the Golden Silkworm Gu King that I had nurtured for three years to participate in the competition among fellow disciples.” Yan Lingxuan’s voice trembled with suppressed emotion. “In the end, he killed the Gu worm and came back to blame me for not giving him a docile Gu worm.”
“What’s the most ridiculous thing?” Yan Lingxuan shook her head with a wry smile. “Every time I refine a new Gu, my father would say, ‘Keep it for your younger brother as teaching material.’ But that good-for-nothing wouldn’t even bother to look at it. He would just turn around and go drinking with his cronies.”
You Qing listened intently, deeply immersed in the story, and stomped her feet in anger: "Are you just going to let him ruin all your hard work like this?"
"Resist?" Yan Lingxuan suddenly unbuttoned her collar, revealing a hideous Gu pattern below her collarbone. "This is a filial piety Gu, planted by my father himself. If I dare to say a single word of dissent to my brother, I will suffer excruciating pain."
She finished venting and fell silent, but Lu Yao already understood.
A thousand years ago, Yan Lingxuan was the pride of Miao territory, but in this century, she is her brother's bloodsucker.
Who says times are progressing?
"So you helped Yan Xiucheng do these dirty deeds?" Lu Yao's voice was indifferent, "Using the Beauty Gu to harm people?"
"I had no choice!" Yan Lingxuan's eyes suddenly reddened. "My dad said that once my brother comes of age, he'll make me marry into the Ma family."
Her voice choked with sobs, "That's the Ma family, the ones who specialize in refining corpse oil!"
You Qing gasped, and the steamed bun in her hand fell onto the table with a thud, the filling scattering everywhere. "The commander said that the Ma family is raising the Nine Yin Corpse Child, who is committing all sorts of evil deeds."
Lu Yao's fingertips paused lightly on the stone table, and a thin layer of frost immediately condensed on the surface of the water in the teacup.
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