Just as these words left her mouth, the quiet and exquisite girl was already having a hard time staying awake. Then, she fainted.
Gu Zuo was startled.
Just now, that black-clothed figure was the Ice Phoenix Goddess?
This was truly unexpected.
These two women were members of Jade Flame Valley. Although this quiet and exquisite girl seemed to treat the Ice Phoenix Goddess with great disapproval, they were fellow disciples. The Ice Phoenix Goddess shouldn’t have gone so far as to murder because of this, right?
Besides that, what was the meaning of that warning before the girl lost consciousness? Could it be that the Ice Phoenix Goddess had plotted a conspiracy?
Gu Zuo recalled that he had always felt repelled by the Ice Phoenix Goddess, and his complexion couldn’t help becoming a little serious. He tilted his head, and looked at Gongyi Tianheng: “Big brother, I think that we need to get a clear understanding of this matter.”
Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Does Ah Zuo have any methods that can treat her?”
Gu Zuo turned around, and looked at the remains of the cluster of ruined and haphazard withered rattan. His expression changed several times: “Being nailed onto this withered rattan is her misfortune, but it’s also considered her good luck…”
After he finished speaking, Gu Zuo swiftly arrived in front of that withered rattan. He reached out a hand, rummaged around the remains, and scooped out a section of the interior roots.
This thing looked like a fresh and green bamboo tube. Compared to the withered rattan, which had tumors growing all over its exterior, it wasn’t known how many times better-looking this thing was. And inside this “bamboo tube” was a stone ovum the size of a chicken egg.
As it turned out, there was actually a stone ovum inside the withered rattan!
After Tianheng got closer, he raised an eyebrow and smiled: “So it’s this thing.”
At this moment, Gu Zuo and Tianheng went through their recollections.
The name of this withered rattan was the Hundred-Tumors Bloodsucking Rattan. It was considered a strange phenomenon as well as a wondrous medicine produced by the leyline. However, this type of wondrous medicine was comparatively monstrous. The stone ovum was equivalent to its inner core, that section of tree roots that resembled a bamboo tube was its heart, and the vines were its method of self-protection. Even the Earth Worms that got close to guard it had all been devoured by this plant. After killing the Hundred-Tumors Bloodsucking Rattan, one would be able to extract the true wondrous medicine.
The Bloodsucking Rattan was naturally bloodthirsty. Since it was bloodthirsty, it was certainly fiendish and black-hearted. Though, as the saying went, yin was born from extreme yang, and yang was born from extreme yin. When malevolence reached extremes, the wondrous medicine that was produced would instead be an exceptionally good substance that was brimming with vitality — Not only did it have marvelous effects on martial artists, it was also useful to pharmacists!
Consequently, this wondrous medicine’s name was the Hundred-Spirits Revival Pearl.
As one cut open the stone ovum, the verdant pearl would be taken out and soaked in pure spring water. Once some time passed, the spring water would turn a bluish-green color. Then, it would become Hundred-Spirits Revival Water. This water could be refined into medicine or directly ingested. Of course, the pearl could also be directly refined into medicinal pills or swallowed whole, but that would be too much of a waste. Normally, when utilized in medicine, the pharmacist would use the Hundred-Spirits Revival Water. At most, a few specks of dust would be shaved off the pearl for refinement.
Gu Zuo took out the bamboo-like section of tree roots, and used a knife to cut a small hole. In a split second, verdant liquid within that bamboo tube rapidly flowed into his jade bottle. After all of the liquid ran out, he split apart the bamboo tube, extracted the stone ovum, and put it away.
Like the Thunderous Jade Liquid he initially obtained, this verdant liquid was formed through the condensation of emitted medicinal properties. The purity was very high, and it was also a type of first-rate derivative used in treatment. Its name was the Hundred-Spirits Revival Nectar. Its efficacy was a cut above the healing properties of Hundred-Spirits Revival Water, but it was somewhat inferior when compared to the dust shaved off the Hundred-Spirits Revival Pearl itself.
Gu Zuo carried the jade bottle containing the Hundred-Spirits Revival Nectar, and came next to that quiet and exquisite girl. He lowered himself to one knee, held her lower jaw, and forced her mouth open.
Tianheng: “…”
Immediately following which, Gu Zuo extracted several drops of Hundred-Spirits Revival Nectar, and allowed them to drip into the girl’s mouth. After that, he let go of her jaw.
In a split second, the speed of blood loss at the site of the girl’s chest wound immediately slowed. One could see it coming to a halt with the naked eye. At this time, Gu Zuo unraveled the cloth strips that were used to bind her injury, and found that the huge wound was shrinking. It was healing swiftly.
At once, Gu Zuo stepped back, and used another set of clothes to cover the girl’s body.
Previously, he didn’t think about it when there was a wound, but now… En, it was better to stay a little farther away.
The girl’s willpower was strong. Although she had lost a lot of blood and her complexion was pale, her qi emissions were already much more stable and placid than just a while ago. Perhaps, because she was anxious in her heart, it took less than ten minutes for her to regain consciousness! Afterwards, she looked at Gu Zuo and Tianheng.
After being dazed for a moment, the girl’s graceful eyes flashed with vigor. She remembered the matter just now, and she also recalled these two people.
Following that, the girl used all her willpower to say: “Many thanks to these two sirs…for saving my life.”
Originally, she thought that she was going to die. But now, she could sense an extra burst of vitality within her body. She was a pharmacist, so it was naturally obvious that medicinal pills wouldn’t have any effect on her. Only the refined juices of a small number of medicinal herbs could treat her injury. As for such medicinal herbs, they were all extremely precious. The fact that she was currently alive was due to the enormous kindness of these two people.
Gu Zuo waved a hand: “Never mind that. Before you lost consciousness, weren’t you warning me and my big brother to be careful?” While he spoke, his expression was upright and proper, “You have to tell us what’s going on with the Ice Phoenix Goddess. Why did you tell us to be careful of her?”
After listening to this series of questions, the quiet and exquisite girl’s complexion changed slightly.
She seemed to struggle for a short while. In the end, she came to a decision, and showed a resolute expression: “I’ve hidden this matter in my heart for a long time. I’ve always been careful about it, but the Ice Phoenix Goddess discovered that I knew her secret and moved to kill me… Although I escaped this time, who can say when I’ll end up dying at her hands? Rather than letting everyone be fooled by her disguise, it’s better that I tell these two sirs about the truth. If I die, I hope that these two sirs…”
Whatever she hoped that they would do, the girl didn’t finish telling them.
Did she want them to expose the secret? Did she want them to pay attention to their own matters? Or could it be that she simply didn’t want the Ice Phoenix Goddess to live happily? No matter what, since she didn’t say it clearly, maybe she herself didn’t know which she wanted the most.
Presently, Gu Zuo and Tianheng only wanted to know what was going on.
Soon after, the quiet and exquisite girl straightened out her train of thought, and explained the entire sequence of events in great detail: “My real name is Hua Lanruo. I’m an orphan girl…”
As mentioned previously, almost every day on the Central Continent, many clans and organizations would be overturned and lots of villages would be destroyed. Originally, Hua Lanruo was a member of a small family. When she was just two or three years old, the family was wiped out by enemies, and she was similarly going to die under such circumstances. But her mother had long made preparations, and thought of all kinds of methods to hide her so that she could survive.
Yet, in the end, she was just too young. Back then, she should’ve froze to death amid the icy sky and snowy earth. Coincidentally, that time’s Mu Baiyue and Mu Baizhi happened to come across her. Mu Baiyue wanted to save her. Mu Baizhi didn’t object, so Hua Lanruo lived on.
At the same time, she became the playmate and future maidservant of the Mu Clan siblings, who were only two years older than her.
Hua Lanruo was detected to have the aptitude of a pharmacist. She hardly forgot that life-saving favor, and was loyal and devoted to the Mu Clan siblings. However, because it was Mu Baiyue who wanted to save her, she was more thankful to Mu Baiyue. Meanwhile, she treated Mu Baizhi with a little less enthusiasm. If there hadn’t been any mistakes or accidents, her goal would’ve been to become the two siblings’ pharmacist. She would’ve taken care of their health and made them into the most powerful martial artists.
Since childhood, Mu Baizhi’s temperament was cold and indifferent. As for Mu Baiyue, he was refined and courteous. Hua Lanruo treated both of them with the same reverence, and she felt that there was no one else in the world who was more outstanding than them.
Later on, Hua Lanruo realized that Mu Baizhi’s aptitude was better than that of Mu Baiyue. She possessed a prodigy’s potential. This was incredibly rare! Due to Mu Baizhi’s temperament, Hua Lanruo regarded her as a role model for women, and vowed to learn from her.
However, after finding out the truth, the previous reverence turned into disdain.
With Hua Lanruo’s performance, she gradually gained some trust. It was also because of an unexpected turn of events that Hua Lanruo heard some conversations and saw someone by accident.
At the time, Hua Lanruo was twenty years old and the Mu Clan siblings were twenty-two years old. The person she saw was a woman who had been imprisoned inside a secluded dungeon.
Hua Lanruo was shocked to discover that the young lady’s features were exactly the same as that of Mu Baizhi!
In her mind, she subconsciously felt confused and overwhelmed. She sensed that she had stumbled upon an enormous secret.
When Gu Zuo listened to this part, he seemed a little nervous following her description.
The inner-workings of this secret really appeared to be out of the ordinary?
Hua Lanruo revealed a sneering smile: “Afterwards, I realized that Mu Baizhi actually had a special constitution. And her constitution is called the Cuckoo Body.”
Gu Zuo recited this term: “The Cuckoo Body…”
Was this the same cuckoo as the cuculidae family?
Generally speaking, the name of a physique could display a portion of the physique’s capabilities. In other words, the Cuckoo Body was the body of the cuculidae, so its abilities ought to have been related to the characteristics of the cuculidae family.
And the cuculidae’s most well-known trait was that the mother bird would lay its eggs in the nests of other bird species. It wouldn’t personally hatch the eggs. Rather, it made other birds do the work for free. If it was just this, then it wouldn’t have mattered much. But for the sake of not being discovered, after hatching, the newly-born cuckoo would directly push the other bird eggs out of the nest. It would even push out the other hatched chicks to their deaths!
It harkened back to the old saying — “The turtledove occupies the magpie’s nest”.
A certain premonition grew in Gu Zuo’s heart.
Sure enough, that Hua Lanruo grimly laughed as she continued to talk: “Originally, Mu Baizhi and Senior Sect Brother Mu were fraternal twins. After being born, Mu Baizhi’s aptitude had been satisfactory, but it was Senior Sect Brother Mu who had a special constitution. Merely, because Senior Sect Brother Mu was too young, his constitution couldn’t be awoken yet. But this type of constitution already exhibited great power. In the future, once it was awakened, Senior Sect Brother Mu’s potential would’ve certainly shot straight to the level of a prodigy!”
Speaking up to here, her voice became embittered: “However, when the two of them were a month old, Mu Baizhi’s mouth unknowingly sprouted teeth, and she bit Senior Sect Brother Mu’s finger. After she let go, they both fell unconscious…”
At this point, Hua Lanruo was practically gnashing her teeth.
“Once they woke up again, Mu Baizhi’s aptitude suddenly increased, but it became impossible to awaken Senior Sect Brother Mu’s special constitution!”
The volume of her voice rose. She almost couldn’t bear it: “Mu Baizhi’s innate talent was simply stolen from Senior Sect Brother Mu! She harmed her twin brother, but she still has the gall to wear that holy and inviolable look on her face!”
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