The cave fell into silence. Never mind the poison beasts—even Ziqing herself couldn’t make sense of it.
As far as Ziqing understood of the Isolated Island bloodline, there was no precedent for this.
A baby who could cry, laugh, and fuss could absolutely not be a human Gu—yet he possessed human-Gu blood.
Ziqing stared at the baby for a long while, before finally steeling herself. She picked him up, and gritting her teeth against the ache in her heart, pinched him hard!
“Waaah…”
The baby jolted awake from his sleep at once, bursting into wailing tears, utterly wronged. “Wahhh… wahhh…”
He could feel pain, he could sense it—that alone proved his body was normal, not a Gu!
He cried when hurt—that alone proved he had emotions, that his consciousness was completely normal!
Everyone except the great clumsy bear understood what Ziqing was doing. Watching the baby cry so pitifully, the bear, for the first time, showed anger toward Ziqing, growling and roaring at her as though issuing a warning!
Ziqing had no attention to spare for the bear right now. She and Zizhu exchanged a look, both equally puzzled.
Seeing Ziqing ignore it, the bear grew even angrier, raising a paw to strike at her shoulder. Just then, Ziqing suddenly spun around. “Big Bear, come here…”
Before she’d even finished speaking, seeing the bear paw coming, Ziqing grabbed hold of it, used Liuguang to lightly slice open a cut, letting the blood drip onto the blade, then pushed the great paw away.
The whole sequence was swift and clean, leaving the bear no time to resist—it was practically defeated before it began. Growling resentfully, it drew back its injured paw, raising the other to strike at Ziqing again—only to see her gently smear the blood from the blade onto the baby’s tiny hand!
And then, the miraculous thing happened once more!
The baby’s crying stopped abruptly, and at the same moment, the blood on his plump little hand—just as had happened with Ziqing before—was completely absorbed, leaving not a trace behind!
Heavens!
They hadn’t guessed wrong—every anomaly had been because of this baby!
Was this child some kind of defiance of fate?
Clearly not a human Gu, and yet possessing the most terrifying ability of a human Gu—truly immune to all poisons, able to absorb every toxin in the world to strengthen the poison in his own blood!
The blood and constitution of a human Gu was something everyone dreamed of—only the price was so steep that no one was willing to be cultivated into one!
If she could keep her joys and sorrows, her full range of emotion, keep her own consciousness, Ziqing herself would have been willing to become a human Gu!
And yet this wonderful thing had happened to her own son!
Ziqing stared at her child in disbelief, not knowing what to do with herself—relief, joy, gratitude all at once. She swept the baby up into her arms, holding him tightly. She didn’t care why this was happening, didn’t care whether there was precedent in the Isolated Island bloodline—she only knew her child was fine.
Yet Zizhu’s brow remained furrowed, and it couldn’t help but remind her, “Master, this isn’t how the Isolated Island bloodline works! Your child is far too abnormal! There must be something wrong with his lineage!”
“I think this is great, just like I said—our little master won’t need us to protect him, he’ll be the one protecting us!” Henggong Fish said happily.
“Heh heh, congratulations, Master, congratulations! Sweet after bitter, at last!” Howling Rabbit crowed with joy, practically bouncing in place—clearly they hadn’t chosen the wrong master.
The nine-tailed white fox rolled its eyes disdainfully, thinking Henggong Fish and Howling Rabbit were no different in essence from the great clumsy bear.
“Master, this situation runs counter to the Isolated Island bloodline—could it be the child’s father’s side of the bloodline…”
The moment these words left its mouth, the smile on Ziqing’s lips froze. Her presence was so overwhelming that the instant her smile stiffened, the whole atmosphere in the room shifted immediately—no one dared speak.
It seemed this was the first time anyone had ever brought up the child’s father in front of Ziqing…
Ziqing went completely still, an intangible aura radiating from her that struck fear into everyone present. Even the great clumsy bear didn’t dare act up, obediently curling up to one side to lick its paws.
After a long, long silence, Ziqing finally said flatly, “Perhaps. Once we’re out… you can all come with me to ask him.”
Everyone nodded in silent unison, none daring to press further, each thinking privately that something must have happened between the baby’s mother and father!
Ziqing paid no attention to their reactions. She gently stroked the sore spot on the baby’s body.
Compared to before, she felt calmer now.
She thought, once she got out, she’d ask first—ask about the matter with Bai Mengmeng first. Only with an answer would she consider whether to tell him about the child’s existence.
It wasn’t that she’d lost her composure, or stopped believing in what they’d once shared. She knew she’d been trapped in the Poison Beast World for seven months now, the child already born, and still he hadn’t come.
While waiting for the Gu cultivator to arrive, some quiet part of her still hoped, deep down, that he would come!
If it had truly been a misunderstanding over Bai Mengmeng, he should have gone half-mad searching for her by now—he’d have searched for her even if it meant breaking irrevocably with the King of Nanzhao. Yet to this day, not a single word from him!
What was he doing right now, at this very moment?
She didn’t want to dwell on it. To this day, no one had come. In another three months, it would be a full year.
“Zizhu, all of you keep watch outside. Just three more months, and the Gu cultivator should be arriving,” Ziqing said flatly.
Seeing her dispirited, dejected look, Zizhu didn’t dare press the matter of the child any further, and immediately went to take up its post.
Three months… the final three months.
If everything had gone as planned, the Gu-nanny should have been eagerly anticipating the human Gu’s cultivation by now—except, once she discovered her heart-devouring worm had failed, all her anticipation had vanished completely!
Without properly cultivating the mind first, throwing a yin-type person immune to all poisons into the Poison Beast World would only produce an uncontrollable human Gu!
How could she possibly dare go into the Poison Beast World?
Of course, she could use a yang-type poison Gu to kill Han Ziqing—but if she killed her, wouldn’t all her effort go to waste?
What she wanted was control, restraint—not death!
At this moment, she was hiding deep in the desert, poring over the ancient scriptures handed down from antiquity, searching for a way to fix things! A way to re-cultivate the mind.
In any case, after the tornado, that entrance beneath Mingsha Mountain had been destroyed too. In this entire world, apart from herself, not even the Nanzhao royal family understood what had caused that tornado. In all the world, she alone knew how to enter the Poison Beast World!
She had long since decided—she would trap Han Ziqing in the Poison Beast World forever, until she found a way to fix things!
However, while the Gu-nanny was preoccupied with searching for a remedy, she overlooked one person who knew the scriptures existed—Baili Weisheng.
She had always assumed Baili Weisheng avoided her like the plague, never imagining he would dare come looking for trouble at her doorstep.
Just as the Gu-nanny closed one of the scriptures, sighing helplessly, a sharp, piercing cry suddenly split the silence of the sky!
The Gu-nanny startled instantly, looking up to see Minhan Mude’er’s messenger hawk circling right above her head!
Because of her disappearance, the Xiongnu royal family and the Great Barbarian Witch-God Cult were searching everywhere for her—only Minhan Mude’er could reach her.
Soon, the eagle delivered a sealed letter. The Gu-nanny tore it open hurriedly, finding only a few brief words: “Cult headquarters on fire, return at once!”