Chapter 187
Chapter 187
Shen Qingzhu had also changed into local clothing.
His outfit was more elaborate and ornate than Ji Yan’an’s.
A beautiful, commanding woman stood beside him.
Women were generally more skilled at controlling Gu. In many mysterious stockades that practiced the art, women held important positions such as priestess and clan leader. This Miao stockade was one of them.
The priestess smiled warmly when she saw Jiang Yunsui.
“You were the one who provided the method for preparing Taisui, weren’t you?”
She beckoned to Jiang Yunsui.
Little Mushroom pressed close to Ji Yan’an, looking timid and exceedingly well behaved. She was exactly the sort of pretty, obedient little girl adults adored.
Jiang Yunsui instinctively looked up at Ji Yan’an. Only after he nodded did she walk over to Priestess Xu Qingyan.
“You solved a great problem for me. Little Zhuzi said that piece of Taisui belongs to you. May I buy a portion?”
“If Ji Yan’an can’t use all of it, then you can,” Jiang Yunsui answered in her tender little voice.
Everyone looked at Ji Yan’an.
He replied without hurry. “The specimen is quite large. If Priestess Xu needs it, I can give you five taels.”
The priestess nodded. “That will be enough.”
Taisui was exceedingly rare, let alone properly prepared Taisui. Even a single gram was worth a fortune.
Xu Qingyan took out a tiny white egg and handed it to Jiang Yunsui.
“Inside is a venomous snake I raised. Drip your blood onto the shell, one drop each day. It will hatch after seven days. Then it will recognize you as its master and protect you.”
Jiang Yunsui accepted the tiny snake egg and held it up to the sunlight. She could just make out the shadow of a minuscule snake curled inside.
“Thank you, pretty big sister.”
Xu Qingyan laughed. “You should call me auntie.”
Despite looking only in her twenties, Xu Qingyan was actually over fifty.
The stockade possessed Gu that preserved a person’s youthful appearance.
The women there were all slender and beautiful as well. Long ago, someone who loved beauty had developed a harmless Gu that fed on fat and similar substances. As a result, the women looked young and kept excellent figures.
After all, who did not want to be a little prettier?
Jiang Yunsui took the snake egg back to their lodging. She held a dagger above her finger and made several attempts.
In the end, she gave up and ran to find Ji Yan’an.
“Ji Yan’an, I can’t do it.”
She thought nothing of bleeding after an accidental scrape or bump, but deliberately stabbing her own finger was impossible.
It looked as if it would hurt terribly.
“I’ll do it,” Nanmo said steadily, drawing his saber.
Jiang Yunsui immediately hugged both hands to her chest and hid them, staring at him in alarm.
“No!”
Her eyes accused him. “Nanmo, you look so fierce. It feels like you don’t want one drop of blood. It feels like you want to chop off my whole paw.”
Nanmo touched his face. Did he truly look that frightening?
Nanshu rolled his eyes.
“Little Ancestor only needs one drop. Why pull out such a huge saber? Are you planning to drain her dry?”
Jiang Yunsui nodded vigorously in agreement.
“I can control it,” Nanmo said.
She hid behind Ji Yan’an. “I still don’t want you to. I’m scared.”
“Ow!”
Her fingertip suddenly stung. Jiang Yunsui looked down and discovered that Ji Yan’an had somehow taken her little hand.
While she had been busy talking, he had pricked her finger. A bead of blood had already appeared.
Jiang Yunsui stared in speechless betrayal.
“Done,” Ji Yan’an said.
Nanshu chuckled. “I told you this would work. We had to catch her by surprise.”
Jiang Yunsui slowly realized what had happened. So they had planned it together!
Still, being caught off guard meant she had not felt nervous at all.
She squeezed out a drop of blood and let it fall onto the snake egg, then cradled the tiny egg and examined it from every angle.
“I wonder what color the snake will be.”
“I hope it’s pink. Pink is pretty.”
She liked pink.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
It was time to set out in search of the King Serpent.
Jiang Yunsui wore a small pack on her back, a proper little backpack with two shoulder straps.
Inside was one change of clothes. Everything else was food.
She carried little water because she could condense dew from the air herself.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Tiny as she was, two majestic dogs and two magnificent roosters accompanied her.
Milk Tea would not come. The young golden eagle was too small and difficult to care for on the road, so it would remain behind with Ji Yan’an.
Nanshu dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief.
“You must all come back safely.”
Nanmo gave him a disdainful look and silently moved farther away.
Fat Chef patted his large belly.
“Don’t worry. As long as I’m there, none of them will go hungry.”
Only a small party was making the journey: Jiang Yunsui, Shen Qingzhu, Fat Chef, Song Jin, and the three hidden guards Ji Yi, Ji San, and Ji Si.
Ji Yan’an watched them leave and suppressed the worry in his heart.
May everything go smoothly.
Ailao Mountain was still far away. The route was steep and difficult, and the muddy trails remained slick after the rain.
Venomous snakes and insects were everywhere, and it was easy to lose all sense of direction in such a forest.
Fortunately, everyone possessed lightness skills. Even Fat Chef was agile despite his build.
Jiang Yunsui could not use lightness skills, but that only made the journey more comfortable for her. Whenever the terrain grew difficult, Ji Si or one of the others carried her.
Fat Chef huffed and puffed, rubbing his belly wearily.
“Good heavens. It took me forever to put on all this flesh, and this trip has burned several catties right off!”
Jiang Yunsui popped out from behind him and patted his belly with one small hand.
“Don’t worry, Fat Grandpa. None of it is missing.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
“Hey, you little rascal! You definitely didn’t look closely enough. Your Fat Grandpa has lost real weight!”
They all sat down to rest. The air around them was oppressively damp, the fog dense, and the mosquitoes larger than flies and viciously venomous.
The forest also teemed with leeches and ticks. If a traveler grew careless, something could latch on and drink their blood without being noticed.
Song Jin used his saber to lift aside the grass, revealing a rabbit hide. He teased Shen Qingzhu.
“Good thing we have Mr. Shen’s insect-repelling sachets. Otherwise, this whole party might be sucked dry.”
Beneath the hide lay nothing but the rabbit’s bones. Every shred of flesh and every drop of blood had been consumed. They even found dead ticks among the remains.
The sight made everyone shudder.
“There are things even more disgusting,” Shen Qingzhu said.
“I once treated patients infested by a kind of fly. The flies lay their young beneath the skin of people or animals. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on flesh and blood as they grow. They look somewhat like maggots.”
“Ugh… Mr. Shen, please stop. That’s revolting.”
Everyone nodded.
Even hearing the creatures described made them nauseous. Imagining those things living beneath their own skin…
Their scalps prickled at the thought.