"I've heard that there's a kind of Gu poison in the Southern Frontier. The practitioner puts insect eggs into a person's body, and after the eggs hatch, they use some kind of secret technique to control the person to achieve some ulterior motive. When I met your father before, I had this suspicion, and I've been testing it with medicine these days. Although it won't work immediately, at least it won't let it grow any further."
Xuan Yuanlan's words revealed the truth about Master Li's illness, which alarmed Xiang Wan.
"Can you tell what kind of Gu it is? If it grows inside a person for a long time, will it erode their internal organs?"
“Erosion? That makes sense.” Xuan Yuanlan stood up, took out the porcelain bottle containing something, and showed it to Xiang Wan.
The porcelain bottle had a wide opening, big enough to fit something about the size of two fingers. She held it up to her eyes and peered inside. She saw a lump of flesh soaking in clear water, with tiny creatures swimming around in it, which sent chills down her spine.
"This is from Shi Liefeng?"
Xuanyuan Lan didn't answer. She took out a medicine packet from the medicine box and sprinkled some into the porcelain bottle. Looking closely, she saw that the thin, thread-like things that had been swimming happily just moments before had all burrowed into the flesh.
"Do these things die naturally?"
"Without flesh and blood, one naturally dies."
"How do we get them out of the body? Or is there some kind of drug that can draw them out?"
"We haven't found any yet. As far as I know, all Gu worms have a mother worm. The person who is cursed will often obey the mother worm's call or the caster's command. Ordinary medicines, if not appropriate for the condition, may have the opposite effect."
Hearing these words, Xiang Wan felt a slight headache. She was only there to complete a mission, and encountering these unbelievable things made her want to go home.
"Master, I suspect that many people in the manor have been infected with this kind of poison. Is it possible to identify them all?"
Xuanyuan Lan pondered for a moment and said, "It is possible, but those who are afflicted by the Gu will experience extreme pain. If they go berserk, I'm afraid you and I won't be able to control them."
"Let's test the people around my father first, and the people around you and me. We can talk about the others later."
That night, Xiang Wan spent the night at Xuan Yuanlan's place. The next day, she took a porcelain bottle containing a special medicine that Xuan Yuanlan had given her. It was harmless to normal people, and she could use it without worry.
Xiang Wan entrusted the matter to Li Quan and Fu Quan, while she went to meet with Shi Yuanyuan, who had regained consciousness.
"You bitch, you think I can't do anything to you just because you've tied me up?"
Shi Yuanyuan rushed towards Wan in a fit of rage, her eyes bloodshot and faintly glowing blue.
"I know you're capable, but if you don't eat or drink for days and become too weak to keep up, can you still manage?" Xiang Wan scoffed, then added, "You should remember what happened last night, right?"
Shi Yuanyuan's expression turned grim, then she erupted in fury: "You did this? How could you be so vicious? What have you done to us?"
"It's nothing, I just added fuel to the fire because I haven't seen you guys for a long time."
After a pause, Xiang Wan suddenly had a guess: "Is it because no one is helping to relieve the strain, and the body is about to give out?"
Shi Yuanyuan stiffened, her lips pressed tightly together, and her eyes gradually hardened.
"Don't look at me so fiercely, I'm so scared!" Xiang Wan patted her chest as if she were scared and whispered, "If no one helps you satisfy your body's desires, will the thing inside you eat you up?"
"What do you know?" Shi Yuanyuan suddenly looked pained, sweat beading on her forehead, and veins bulging on her forehead. "You drugged me, don't you know what the consequences will be?"
"That's hard to say."
Xiang Wan left those words behind and turned to leave the room. If Shi Yuanyuan could truly control those she had cursed, this house certainly couldn't hold her.
After thinking for a moment, Xiang Wan asked Xuan Yuanlan for a few more bottles of medicine and sprinkled them around the room. Anyone who wanted to save Shi Yuanyuan would suffer unbearable pain if they inhaled this medicine. She had already instructed several loyal servants to tie up those who looked extremely painful and lock them in a special room, ostensibly to treat their illnesses.
After a few days, Xiang Wan clearly sensed that everyone in the manor had become suspicious, and many were whispering among themselves. Only after dealing with several key servants did peace return to the manor.
Xuanyuan Lan was very busy, spending her days making medicine and testing it on the servants to see their reactions.
Xiang Wan was also having another headache: how to deal with Shi Liefeng. They had already gone through the wedding ceremony, and Shi Liefeng was still nominally the son-in-law of the Li family. It probably wouldn't be appropriate to lock him up like Shi Yuanyuan had.
After much thought, he decided to use him to find a way to break the curse.
"Awake?" Xiang Wan stood in front of Shi Liefeng's bed, watching him slowly open his eyes, then turn his head away indifferently.
Ever since Shi Liefeng discovered that he was impotent, he had been in this state, not saying much and treating everyone the same way.
"Shi Liefeng, do you know why you've come to this?"
Shi Liefeng remained silent, and Xiang Wan continued, "Shi Yuanyuan has already confessed. She said you entered the manor only to obtain me so she could offer me to your master. She has cursed everyone in the manor, including you!"
Xiang Wan, who had been staring at Shi Liefeng, noticed that he raised his eyelids slightly, sighed, and said, "If you want me, you can just kidnap me. Why bother with so many people?"
If you want the Li family mansion, there's no need to go to such lengths. Given our relationship, the Li family mansion will be yours sooner or later, so why rush things?
My father is probably nearing the end of his life. How can a weak woman like me shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the Li family?
"Don't bother with all this. Now that you know everything, what do you plan to do with us?"
Shi Liefeng suddenly spoke up, interrupting Xiang Wan's rambling. These kinds of tired old clichés were indeed unsuitable for her to say.
"Alright, let's get serious. You have a Gu poison inside you, do you know that?"
Xiang Wan revealed his secret, and Shi Liefeng fell silent.
"We are currently looking for a way to break this curse. Do you have any good suggestions?"
"Ha, you've probably asked the wrong person."
Shi Liefeng's attitude softened somewhat, but he still didn't give Xiang Wan a friendly look.
"I know you had no choice. From the moment you entered the manor until now, I know you, Lie Feng, couldn't bear to harm me, and I know your inner struggle. But Lie Feng, don't you want to break free from the control of your so-called master? You're suffering every moment; it must be unbearable. If you had the chance to eradicate it forever, you would be willing, wouldn't you?"
Shi Liefeng frowned, then gave a self-deprecating laugh, and didn't reply.
"Based on my guess, what's inside you needs nourishment. If it's not your own flesh and blood, then it needs someone else's. Leaving it inside you indefinitely will not only threaten yourselves but also sacrifice the lives of others. What good will that do you?"
If you can help us remove this curse, I will set you free and even give you gold and silver to fly far away. How about it?
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