Chapter Forty-Seven: Hostages
"Ah Zhe, Ah Zhe..." Feng Wu Niang struggled and collapsed to the ground, tightly hugging the young man's ankle. A few days ago, she inadvertently discovered that the dark markings on Ah Zhe's arm seemed to be spreading, but before she could report it to Mu Lian and the others, she lost consciousness that night. When she awoke, she was in this dark prison, where she had been humiliated by the thieves. The extreme torture and pain made Feng Wu Niang want to bite her tongue and commit suicide several times, but she endured it because she was always thinking of Ah Zhe. Now, seeing him seemingly out of his mind, her heart was torn apart by pain.
"Miss, be careful..." Liu Ruolin, who barely dodged, retreated hastily, her long sword scraping against the floor of the dark prison with a piercing sound.
Stuck firmly in his tracks, A Zhe's attack missed. Numb and stiff, he turned his neck, his bloodshot eyes lifeless, resembling a crazed puppet monster. Sharp claws then struck directly at Feng Wu Niang's head. The fierce gust of wind instantly scattered the woman's long hair. Unable to dodge, Feng Wu Niang could only tightly grip the black jade hairpin in her hand and thrust it straight upwards.
"Thud..." came the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh. Dark red blood slowly flowed down the hairpin, and for a moment, Ah Zhe's frantic expression seemed to show a hint of emotion.
"Girl, get out of the way quickly! People poisoned by Gu don't feel pain..." Liu Ruolin said anxiously from the side.
Shaking her head, Feng Wuniang hugged A Zhe even tighter. This black jade hairpin was a gift from Mu Lian, and it was soaked in a special fragrant liquid made by the Judicial Office. Although it couldn't cure the Gu poison, it had a refreshing effect. Just now, the black jade hairpin had pierced A Zhe's palm, and the fragrant liquid had entered his body through the blood hole. Now was the perfect opportunity to detoxify him.
"Quickly give him the antidote..." The words were spoken in a flash. Hearing the voice, Liu Ruolin flew forward, grabbed A Zhe's vital point, crushed the pills in the sandalwood box, and sprinkled the powder into his mouth. Moments later, A Zhe trembled violently and collapsed to the ground, the black lines on his arm beginning to fade in reverse.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness..." Feng Wuniang held A Zhe tightly, a single tear slowly sliding down her worried and heartbroken eyes. She didn't know when, but the actions of the person in front of her had already touched her heart. Perhaps it was because they were both people with tragic pasts, that they felt a sense of kinship and mutual understanding, and now they were even sharing life and death together.
"Deputy General Liu..." The clicking sound of a mechanism turning suddenly came from the shadows. Liu Ruolin's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around, sword in hand, to protect Feng Wuniang and A Zhe behind him. Liu, the advisor, entered slowly, carrying a lantern. His beautiful beard was covered in night dew, indicating that he had come from the secret passage of the other courtyard.
"Mr. Liu, what is this...?" Liu Ruolin sheathed his longsword, but his body remained in a defensive stance.
Liu, the advisor, stroked his long beard and smiled, indicating to Liu Ruolin that he was a man of sincere intent to make a deal: "Deputy General Liu, rest assured, I'm here to help you. Liu Meng is back soon, so let's not delay, everyone, let's go!"
“In that case, thank you very much, Mr. Liu…” Their eyes met for a moment. Liu Ruolin no longer hesitated and told Feng Wuniang to take A Zhe away quickly. He had a feeling that even if he hadn’t been threatened with the secret chamber's mechanism diagram, this Mr. Liu would still have helped him. With the prior arrangements made, the three of them left the dark prison without any hindrance. Behind them, a disguised death row inmate had already secretly switched places to avoid alerting Liu Meng.
Meanwhile, Mu Lian had already kidnapped Li Peixuan, the heir apparent of the Prince of Ruyang, as a hostage. Since the day Li Peixuan and Liu Zhang parted on bad terms, each offering their own version of events, Li Peixuan hadn't stayed at Liu Zhang's villa again, but instead booked a superior room at "Zui Chun Shan," the largest restaurant in Luoyang. This made things convenient for Mu Lian. He and Meng Yuan, disguised as dancers, infiltrated Zui Chun Shan, and through a series of feigned distractions and deceptions, successfully subdued Li Peixuan.
At this moment, the elegant room on the top floor of Zuichun Mountain was filled with the rich fragrance of ambergris. Mu Lian had bound the unconscious Li Peixuan to a carved chair, her slender fingers toying with the dragon-patterned jade pendant she had torn from the prince's waist. A faint moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the silver mask on her face with a cool, ethereal glow.
"Does Your Excellency truly intend to use this young master as bait?" Meng Yuan knelt before the low table, brewing tea, the water in the copper kettle bubbling. "What if Liu Zhang discovers the secret prison has been raided..."
“I want him to find out…” Mu Lian suddenly crushed the jade pendant in her hand, the shards falling through her fingers. A moment later, a large, blood-red spider slowly crawled out of the hidden compartment, its antennae greedily licking the blood-stained jade fragments. Mu Lian gently blew a breath, sending the spider away, then looked back at the unconscious Li Peixuan and said calmly, “I heard from Meng Luan that the mother-child Gu requires royal blood to feed on. All these years, Liu Zhang has used the power of the Ruyang Prince's Mansion to cultivate Gu slaves. Does he really think my Judicial Office is unaware?”
Upon hearing this, Meng Yuan's hand, which was pouring tea, trembled slightly. She recalled what she had seen when she visited Liu Zhang's secret prison: the "medicine men" chained up were frenzied and violent, their bodies completely black, with crimson eye sockets and wriggling worms—a truly terrifying and disgusting sight. Thinking of this, Meng Yuan felt another wave of nausea. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a commotion downstairs. She got up and peered through the window, seeing dozens of black-clad guards surging into Zuichun Mountain. The leader wore a black iron mask, and the curved sword at his waist gleamed with a cold, blue light.
“It’s Liu Zhang’s personal guards…” Meng Yuan spun around, drew out a hidden weapon, and prepared to fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mu Lian slowly tear open Li Peixuan’s collar. On the man’s thin, pale chest, seven golden needles trembled slightly with his breath, outlining the shape of the Big Dipper in the moonlight.
The Big Dipper Formation? This Prince Ruyang is quite ruthless; to seize the throne, he's even going so far as to harm his own son. Mu Lian plucked a black jade hairpin from her hair, unscrewed the clasp at the end, and a special fragrant liquid seeped out, wetting the hairpin's tip. Her slender fingers picked up the hairpin and gently traced it along the shape of the Big Dipper across the man's chest. Soon, beneath the man's pale, almost translucent skin, something seemed to be moving.
"What is this?" Meng Yuan's voice trembled slightly. Heaven knows, she, the fearless heroine Meng, was most afraid of these kinds of messy insects.
With lightning speed, she took another long golden needle, dipped it in fragrant liquid, and pierced it into the man's chest, pinning the living thing beneath his skin. Mu Lian's voice carried a hint of a sigh: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the mother Gu of the Mother-Child Gu..."
What? The Mother Gu? How could the Mother Gu be inside the body of the Prince of Ruyang? Meng Yuan's eyes were filled with disbelief and shock.
Yes, it is said that even tigers do not eat their cubs. But this Prince of Ruyang, in order to use Liu Zhang to cultivate Gu slaves, did not hesitate to use his own son as a vessel. How can someone so cruel and tyrannical be fit to be a ruler?
Outside Liu Zhang's villa.
In the darkness, the mountain path grew even more eerily quiet. Feng Wuniang, supporting the still-unconscious A Zhe, hurried close behind Liu Ruolin. Fortunately, they had a map provided by Liu's advisor, preventing them from getting lost. The map was now tightly gripped in Liu Ruolin's hand, the edges already slightly wrinkled. Feng Wuniang took a breath, the heavy smell of blood from the dark cell still lingering in her nostrils. Looking down, she noticed the fading black lines on A Zhe's hand, now down to his wrist, and felt a slight sense of relief. Suddenly, a weight settled on her shoulder as the young man's burning forehead pressed against the crook of her neck, his breath carrying a faint medicinal fragrance.
"Don't sleep, A-Zhe, don't sleep..." Feng Wu Niang's heart skipped a beat. She gritted her teeth and lifted the person up a little, but then she saw Liu Ruolin in front of her suddenly stop.
Ahead, the cold, desolate moonlight cleaved the long road in two, one in glimmer of light and the other in shadow. Ten paces away, in the shadows, several hunched figures were dragging filthy sacks with a rustling sound. A strong stench of decay filled the air. Across from them, the dwarf at the head of the group suddenly looked up, his cloudy eyes reflecting the three figures of the others, and he let out a sickening laugh…
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