Under the lamplight, Lai Luofu’s face was as pale as a specter due to excessive blood loss. Her mouth was full of blood, and her body was soaked in it, truly resembling the man-eating Half-faced Ghost as she sat limply in the center of the room.
“Why wouldn’t I dare to kill you? Leader of the Fire Moth Party, perpetrator of numerous crimes, killing you would be doing a service to the people,” Shen Du said with a mocking smile. Even at death’s door, she was still trying to provoke him. Perhaps she didn’t want to die too quickly.
“Hahaha…” Lai Luofu laughed wildly, accompanied by coughing.
The laughter was too arrogant. Jing Lin, standing nearby, couldn’t bear it. He placed his hand on his sword hilt, wanting to sever her neck with one stroke.
“I am Lai Luofu,” she stopped laughing and stared steadily at Shen Du, “the elder sister of Sipu Shaoqing Lai Luozhi. If you kill me, none of you will escape.”
Shen Du thrust his sword tip forward. Like an enraged lion, his eyes flashing with deep light, he glared at her fiercely: “Nonsense. This Grand Commander dared to burn down Yingzhou’s Guangchun Hall and eliminate Mo Qianzhi. What’s there to fear about killing you?”
But he still withdrew his sword. This action puzzled Jing Lin, who was about to speak up to inquire, but was interrupted by Shen Du raising his hand: “Bring out the antidote, or I’ll make you beg for life but unable to live, beg for death but unable to die. Your bones will be scattered, and your dream of resurrection will remain just that – a dream.”
Without the threat to her life, Lai Luofu struggled to stand up. Her knees had barely left the ground when Jing Lin struck her hard with his scabbard, forcing her to kneel again.
The once glorious leader of Guangchun Hall couldn’t bear such humiliation, especially kneeling before a group of enemies.
She tried to stand once more, but Shen Du blocked Jing Lin’s scabbard with his sword, allowing Lai Luofu to stand up successfully. Just as she looked triumphantly at Jing Lin, Shen Du kicked her back down to her knees.
Jing Lin smirked mockingly from the side.
Humiliated by this treatment, she clenched her fists and pounded the ground in anger.
“I can make people rise from the dead. It doesn’t matter if she dies,” she said disdainfully, clearly unconcerned about Zhu Yan’s fate.
But if her death could cause Shen Du grief, that would make Lai Luofu very happy. Why should she help this woman, she thought, becoming even more determined not to produce the antidote. The corners of her mouth turned up as she raised her head to look at them.
“I’m warning you one last time, bring out the antidote,” Shen Du said.
But no matter what Shen Du said, she didn’t respond: “I can bring her back from the dead, why would I need an antidote!”
Losing patience, Shen Du unsheathed his sword and, with lightning speed, severed the tendons in her hands and feet. The pain from all four limbs concentrated in her heart.
A scream tore from her throat as she gritted her teeth, enduring the agony.
The closest guest to this room was Su Guang. The earlier fight hadn’t woken her from her deep sleep, but this scream startled her awake.
The scream was too sharp and agonizing, but she could tell it was a woman.
Realizing it came from Zhu Yan and Shen Du’s room, she quickly put on her outer clothes and rushed over, only to find everyone already there. Pan Chi was the first to notice her, his eyes brightening as he stepped forward to pull Su Guang inside.
“We were just waiting for you,” he said.
Su Guang was confused. She broke free from Pan Chi’s grip and first glanced at the blood-covered Lai Luofu before turning to Zhu Yan, who was unconscious and looked very unwell.
Somewhat surprised, Su Guang crouched down to examine Zhu Yan. In the firelight, Zhu Yan’s arms, face, and other exposed skin were covered with extremely fine white silk threads. When touched, they immediately turned into a sticky liquid. The wound on her forearm was completely covered by white silk, forming a seal different from other areas.
Su Guang had seen these symptoms in ancient texts, but this poison was rarely used nowadays. She didn’t carry the antidote with her.
She looked around, finally resting her gaze on Pan Chi’s face, and shook her head apologetically, indicating she couldn’t help.
“How can this be?” Pan Chi could barely speak coherently in the Wusun language. Thinking of something, he hurriedly pointed at Lai Luofu with his index finger,
“You’re a woman, go search her. She must have the antidote on her.”
Su Guang nodded and approached Lai Luofu. She first lifted Lai Luofu’s messy hair and stared at her face for a moment, then lowered her head to search for the antidote inside and outside her clothes.
The Holy Maiden had studied medicine since childhood and understood medical principles.
Lai Luofu was furious with shame, but because her tendons had been cut, she could only glare fiercely at Su Guang, unable to stop her from searching, all while cursing Su Guang incessantly in the language of the Great Zhou.
Fortunately, Su Guang couldn’t understand a word. She concentrated on her task and quickly found several different porcelain bottles on Lai Luofu’s person.
Opening one, she could immediately tell it contained the ‘Silk Winding’ poison.
Then there were the remaining three porcelain bottles. After opening them all, she found they contained identical small pills, with the same smell and color. For a moment, Su Guang couldn’t distinguish between them.
Su Guang shook her head at the watching Shen Du, looking confused.
Shen Du took the porcelain bottles. Before Jing Lin could stop him, he had already poured out three pills onto his palm. Everyone gasped: “Grand Commander!” Had he forgotten how he was poisoned last time?
Shen Du ignored them and once again drew his sword, pointing it at Lai Luofu’s right chest: “Which bottle is the antidote? Speak quickly.”
Perhaps guessing she couldn’t escape her fate today, or maybe feeling emboldened by Lai Luozhi’s backing, Lai Luofu remained calm in the face of the threat. She coldly smiled at Shen Du, laughing without pause, like a cornered wild dog.
Seeing Lai Luofu’s fearlessness, Shen Du was overcome with fury. He swung his sword, the blade grazing Lai Luofu’s arm, tearing open her sleeve. A long gash appeared from her forearm upwards, blood droplets continuously rolling down.
“Hehe, the White King of Hell lives up to his name. In terms of cruelty, even the Shaoqing can’t match you.”
Still unwilling to accept defeat, her words were filled with bitterness.
Shen Du frowned and swung his sword again. Lai Luofu felt pain all over her body and, fearing another blow no longer dared to speak.
But while killing Lai Luofu would be easy, what about the antidote?
Without further hesitation, Shen Du stopped tormenting her and took the porcelain bottle containing the “Breaking Cocoon Becoming Butterfly” poison, about to pour it into his mouth.
“Grand Commander!” The internal guards exclaimed in unison once more, their voices breaking through the clouds along with the thunder outside.
A deep sense of despair rose in Jing Lin’s heart.
The porcelain bottle in Shen Du’s hand flew out, caught mid-air by Pan Chi in one swift move. A teapot fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Pan Chi reproached him, exasperated: “Aren’t you supposed to be clever? Why are you being so foolish at such a critical moment?”
Pain evident in his eyes, Shen Du reached out his hand: “Give it to me.”
Pan Chi refused, his eyes filled with anger. He walked directly towards Lai Luofu with the bottle of poison. Allowing no protest from Lai Luofu, he gripped her chin and pulled it down. With a “crack,” Lai Luofu’s jaw dislocated. The next moment, Pan Chi unhesitatingly poured all the poison down her throat, and then reset her jaw.
The repeated pain made Lai Luofu wish for death. Fear overwhelmed her entire body as she felt the poison powder slide down her throat, fall into her stomach, and penetrate her four limbs and a hundred bones.
“Hmph, let her taste the flavor of her poison,” Pan Chi said.
One reaps what one sows. No one would sympathize with her.