Chapter 173
Chapter 173
The two words “symbiotic” and ‘Slave’ were enough to sway me.
Even though I had reincarnated, my current appearance still bore many similarities to Feng Lishu.
Otherwise, she would never have dared to impersonate Ah Li so openly and use that identity to deceive Hu Yulin.
Could Feng Lishu and I have been twin sisters in my previous life?
Had I been tragically abandoned at birth, afflicted with the Symbiotic Curse, and reduced to a stepping stone on Feng Lishu’s path to power?
Had I spent my entire previous life living for her sake?
Even after finally reincarnating, had I still failed to escape her control? Had she actually chased me all the way into this life?
Where was the justice in that?!
I was so furious that I nearly crushed the cup in my hand.
Why?
What law of Heaven had I broken to deserve Feng Lishu clinging to me like a leech, draining me lifetime after lifetime?
At that moment, my desire to kill Feng Lishu reached its peak.
And that was exactly what the proprietress wanted. She wanted to kindle my thirst for revenge.
“Xiao Jiu, this is my show of sincerity. The Symbiotic Curse is one of the oldest witchcraft curses in existence. Finding its Antidote will be extremely difficult, especially since the Antidote is most likely in the hands of the person who cursed you.
“The Antidote may be difficult to find, but I do know one risky method that could help you suppress the Symbiotic Curse to some extent.”
I hurriedly asked, “What method?”
“I can raise a Gu worm inside your body and have it bear the curse for you,” the proprietress said solemnly.
Raise a Gu worm inside my body?
The proprietress and I might have been on friendly terms, but we were nowhere near close enough for me to trust her unconditionally.
That was a Gu worm!
What if she planned to use the Gu worm to control and coerce me, or even force Liu Junyan, who stood behind me, to help her take revenge?
I had no intention of harming others, but I could not afford to let down my guard either.
Still, this truly was an opportunity…
After hesitating for a long time, I looked up and asked, “What do you want me to do for you in exchange?”
“Help me kill them!” the proprietress said through gritted teeth. “They’re currently entrenched in the area around Huicheng and Jiangcheng. The Buddha Eyes are still in your possession, so sooner or later, you’ll inevitably face them head-on. They’re my enemies, but they’re also yours. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Xiao Jiu, I don’t just want to be your friend. I want to be your ally!”
She was right.
As long as I had the Buddha Eyes, those people would never give up. Sooner or later, they would come after me again.
There was nothing unreasonable about the proprietress’s request.
“All right. I agree to work with you,” I said after thinking it over. “But keep that Gu worm for me for now. When I’ve truly run out of options, I’ll come to you for it.”
The proprietress took my hand and smiled. “Xiao Jiu, here’s to a successful partnership.”
I smiled as well. “To a successful partnership.”
The light rain continued to fall.
I slowly walked back beneath my umbrella, but my mind had completely calmed.
Questions about my origins and my past and present lives had plagued me for a long time, especially since Feng Lishu appeared.
No one around me knew anything about my previous incarnation.
But today, I had finally found a clue.
Although it was terrible news, it was still extremely important to me.
Now I could not help wondering what would happen to me if I killed Feng Lishu.
Would I die along with her?
The bond between Feng Lishu and me was like that between a child Gu and its mother Gu.
If the child Gu died, the mother Gu would hardly be affected. But if the mother Gu died, the child Gu would immediately die with it.
More importantly, Feng Lishu’s desire to kill me was no stronger than her desire to take my place.
She wants my body, my destiny, and my spirit bones!
Feng Lishu came from the Phoenix Clan. If I truly was her twin sister, then the person who had cursed me must also be from the Phoenix Clan.
And they had to hold a position of immense power and authority.
That also meant that if I made a move against Feng Lishu, I would be making an enemy of the entire Phoenix Clan.
What gave me the right to even try?
Without Liu Junyan, without all the friends I had made, without Senior Sister… I would be nothing more than an ant that could be crushed underfoot at any moment. Utterly insignificant.
But I had been lucky enough.
Now, I even felt that I might be able to hold my own against Feng Lishu, at least to some extent.
Even if I died, I would drag her down with me.
The Yan Guilai Teahouse closed its doors that very night, and the proprietress posted a notice outside.
It read: Returning home for a family funeral. Date of return uncertain.
She kept her promise and charged straight back to Xiangxi.
Meanwhile, I told Jiang Yingxue to come to the Pawnshop as soon as possible to complete the paperwork for pawning the Bronze Bell.
After dinner, Hui Moqiong told me what he had recently uncovered about Tafeng Village.
“The barrier around Tafeng Village appeared a week ago. None of the villagers have managed to get out, and no one knows whether they’re alive or dead,” Hui Moqiong said. “But even before that, something seemed to be wrong in the village. At least half a month ago, the villagers began making repeated trips to Qilin Temple on the mountain behind the village to worship. The news has been kept under wraps, though, and my people haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet.”
Half a month ago.
I instinctively touched my left arm.
That was it.
The burn mark on my left arm must have reacted around that time too. It simply hadn’t appeared because Liu Junyan’s Scale had been suppressing it all along.
Only after the Scale was completely depleted had I noticed something was wrong.
The last time the burn mark appeared, something had also happened to all the children in Tafeng Village.
Could the situation be even more serious this time?
Hadn’t they practically placed Feng Lishu on an altar and worshiped her as their savior before? Why wasn’t she saving them this time?
Hui Moqiong said he would keep investigating. He promised to turn every inch of Tafeng Village upside down for me until he uncovered the whole truth.
By the time I finished washing up that night, it was already past ten.
Sitting before the vanity, I examined the ‘Slave’ character on my right cheek again and was surprised to find that its color seemed to have faded slightly.
The burn mark on my left arm hadn’t begun festering as rapidly as it had last time, either.
What was going on?
Still puzzled, I drifted into a hazy sleep.
In the middle of the night, the mattress beside me suddenly sank.
I jolted awake almost on instinct. Just as I was about to turn around, a strong arm pulled me back by the waist, and I fell into a broad, solid embrace.
The familiar scent of dark wood enveloped me, and my tense body instantly relaxed.
My earlobe tingled.
In the darkness, the man’s slightly urgent breaths washed over my ear and lingered there.
I closed my eyes, greedily savoring the tenderness of this moment.
He was back.
It was as though I had suddenly found my pillar of support again, and all my fear vanished.
His large hand rested against my waist, caressing it gently. The cool touch of the Prayer Beads brushed my skin, releasing a faint sandalwood fragrance that made my body relax even further.
It was just that… I still wasn’t used to how cold his body had become…
I really wasn’t used to it…
For a moment, I even imagined that one day, Liu Junyan’s entire body would turn into a Copper Coin skeleton, with none of the living flesh and blood he had now.
The next instant, he gently caught my lips between his teeth.
In a low, husky voice, Liu Junyan reminded me, “Xiao Jiu, focus…”