Chapter 353: 353
Xiao An did not answer Li Qingshan immediately . Instead, she began thinking in silence .
“Since you’re considering it, then let’s go look for her . It’s not like it’ll take a lot of time anyway . ” It was rare for Xiao An to be interested in someone else . Li Qingshan felt like he should encourage something like this . And, with what Qian Rongzhi had left for Xiao An, they had to do what they could .
“It’s too dangerous . ” Xiao An shook her head .
“Don’t worry . I might not know divination like you, but I can still sense real danger . ” Li Qingshan pointed at his head before rubbing her hair . “Just treat it as me going out to have some fun with you . ”
“Alright . ”
They arrived at the Hawkwolf Guard . Li Qingshan accepted the mission and went upstairs to give Han Qiongzhi some notice .
After a series of intimate contact, Han Qiongzhi heard about the details of Li Qingshan’s mission . She said in surprise, “You want to accept this mission? Do you know her very well?”
“I obviously don’t know her as well as you . We’ve basically just worked together a few times . She’s probably dead already, but I should still bring her remains back!” Li Qingshan studied Han Qiongzhi as he said without the slightest concern .
The floor-to-ceiling windows allowed scorching sunlight to pour in . As she sat in the tall back chair in her Scarlet Wolf uniform, she seemed extremely valiant . Li Qingshan leaned against the table right in front of her, daydreaming away .
Han Qiongzhi stroked her chin in thought; this action was extremely masculine, which gave her a different kind of charm .
“Alright, you can go!”
Li Qingsha smiled . “What, are you worried that your man might run into the White Lotus Mother, and she might keep him around as a trophy husband?”
Han Qiongzhi leaned against the seat back and raised her legs, crossing them on the table . She looked down . “If it were little Hua, then there might have been some chance for that to happen . With your looks, you’ll probably just be cut up immediately . I received news a few days ago that the White Lotus Mother and Altar Lord Black Lotus have already returned to the Mist province to rebuild the White Lotus cult . ”
Li Qingshan asked, “Is the information reliable? Aren’t they afraid of being caught there?”
“The Mist province is not the Green province . It’s truly a lawless place . Basically all the people who cannot deal with the Hawkwolf Guard in the Green province will flee there . If you really can’t find her, don’t forget to just bring some remains back . ” Han Qiongzhi winked .
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea!” Li Qingshan said . The search mission for Qian Rongzhi came with quite a lot of contribution . After all, it had to do with the fate of a Scarlet Wolf guard .
“Fine then . Wait for my return . ” Li Qingshan leaned over and gave her a deep kiss before standing up and leaving .
Han Qiongzhi arrived beside the floor-to-ceiling windows and watched his cloud takeoff . She smiled with her lips closed .
The daemonic beast moved with startling speeds . Its two glowing eyes were like drifting shadows, producing two long trails of light . It circled around Qian Rongzhi again and again, rapidly drawing closer .
Qian Rongzhi widened her eyes as far as she could . In the beginning, they managed to follow the daemonic beast around, but afterwards, they stopped moving, as if she had completely grown numb to it all already .
The daemonic beast confirmed that this was not a trap . The two balls of circling green light suddenly moved towards the centre of the cave . The daemonic beast lunged over and bit Qian Rongzhi’s neck . That was the only place on her body with fewer wounds . Even when she was in extreme pain, she would constantly control herself so that she would not accidentally end her own life .
Was this going to be it after enduring all that pain for three months?
Four canines pierced her skin first, followed by the rest of the teeth . They just needed to close up a little more, and there would be no need to wait for her to suffocate . They would directly shatter her vertebrae .
Even at this moment, her gaze and expression remained the same as before . The pain that could agonise others was as lovely as the spring breeze to her, while the looming death might have only been salvation to her .
The daemonic beast stiffened . Tremendous pain permeated its entire body instantly like venom .
Qian Rongzhi finally revealed a smile, which seemed more demonic than anything else on her terrifying face . With her hands beside her body, she propped herself up slowly before biting into the daemonic beast’s neck .
At a closer glance, a tiny, gorgeously-coloured snake had already begun circling around Qian Rongzhi’s neck . A parasite would protect its host . Its method of protection was obviously to make the enemy have a taste of the same pain .
When the punishments of hell descended, the daemonic beast’s daemon qi completely dispersed . It could not even move a single muscle . Its tough hide was gradually pierced by her teeth, and the metallic, salty blood flowed into her mouth . She was like a vampire, sucking hard and using the blood of others to make up for her own blood loss .
She had already finished off the food she had prepared in her hundred treasures pouch a long time ago . Fortunately, the smell of blood she gave off lured many wild beasts over . This was the method she had used to eat them all and replenish her energy . Filling herself with blood, she recovered quite a lot of strength . She ripped open the daemonic beast’s belly and took out a translucent daemon core the size of a rice grain . She consumed it immediately and did her best to meditate .
The daemon core happened to match her elemental affinity . It was basically luck bestowed upon her by heaven . The true qi she had not seen in a very long time finally appeared within her sea of qi once more . Powered by the true qi, her wounds gradually closed up .
Qian Rongzhi suddenly felt dizzy . Touching her forehead, she found that it was another fever . Remaining within the forest and having lost her true qi for an extended period of time, this was already the third time she had fallen sick .
She knew that she had to leave here . She required a better environment to recover, or she might end up dying here . If she drew over even stronger daemonic beasts, they would be able to crush her throat before becoming seized by the pain .
She saw the disemboweled carcass of the daemonic beast . Before she left, she had to finish it off so that she could build up enough strength .
The sun set and rose, but there was no concept of time at all in this gloomy cavern .
It had only taken Li Qingshan and Xiao An a few hours to reach the hamlet on the edge of the forest . Sure enough, the villagers had seen traces of her . The last few footprints from her led into the forest .
She had been so brazen, openly disclosing her tracks . Clearly, she did all of this on purpose .
Li Qingshan and Xiao An currently stood before the forest . The serenity made it seem like a different world . Looking for a single person in a forest that extended for thousands of kilometers really would not be easy .
However, it was not too difficult for Li Qingshan . He was very familiar with that woman’s smell and aura .
As he moved about swiftly and undertook a rapid search, a heavy smell of blood caught his attention . He lifted up the curtain formed from vines and saw a monster laying within a wild beast, eating its organs .
A hint of a familiar scent wafted over through the heavy smell of blood . He struggled to believe his eyes . “Qian Rongzhi?”
Li Qingshan said nothing . All he did was take out a pill and walk over . Even he himself found this sight to be rather horrific . He never thought the White Lotus cult could actually be so cruel . Qian Rongzhi spotted Xiao An behind him and suddenly felt a sense of shame . She curled up . The venomous snake in her body settled down slightly for some reason .
Li Qingshan wanted to force her mouth open and shove the pill in there .
“Don’t touch me!”
From that moment of distraction, Li Qingshan’s hand had already touched her face . Immediately, indescribable pain filled his body . Before he knew it, the tattoo of a coloured snake had appeared where the tip of his finger had touched her .
The parasite’s instincts of protecting the host would not change with the host’s will . From now onwards, anyone who wanted to touch her would have to face hellish pain too .
The Spirit Turtle Suppresses the Seas! Li Qingshan jerked his hand back and stared at it in shock, but he discovered that it was unscathed . His body was perfectly fine too; it was as if the pain earlier was just a dream .
At this moment, a pair of small, tender hands grabbed her hand .
“Xiao An!” Li Qingshan and Qian Rongzhi said together .
Xiao An showed no expression of pain at all .
The snakes of hell could be delivered to this world to punish the living, while in the Venomous Snake hell, they punished the dead . However, Xiao An was neither dead nor living .
Warmth spread through her hand . Qian Rongzhi saw holy, golden light rise up from Xiao An . Then, the light spread through her body along her hands, enveloping her completely in the golden light .
Her wounds gradually healed, and subsequently, the vicious, uneven scars were erased bit by bit . This was not the effects of buddhist techniques . Instead, it originated from the power of the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty . Her appearance seemed to become even more charming than before .
Xiao An let go and receded to Li Qingshan’s side . Qian Rongzhi said gently, “Thank you . ” She asked Li Qingshan, “Do you have water?”
With a snap of his fingers, a swirl of water wrapped around her body, washing away the filth and rags on her before vanishing as steam . It revealed her pale body and beautiful proportions, completely naked . Li Qingshan had always been a person with very strong desires, but standing before this woman, his mind would always be as calm as water . It was no different right now . He could not even be bothered with shifting his gaze .
Qian Rongzhi was no different . She picked up her hundred treasures pouch and took out a dress, putting it on . She moved her arms and extended her legs in the process in a natural manner . She was neither trying to seduce him nor avoid him .
It was as if he did not treat her as a woman, and she did not treat him as a man .
Li Qingshan said, “Looks like you’ve suffered quite a lot . ”
“Do you want to know?” Qian Rongzhi had already put on the dress . She was straightening out her hair before a mirror .
“Let’s hear it . ” Li Qingshan was rather curious .
As a result, Qian Rongzhi told him what she went through casually . She said it so easily that it sounded like she was telling a story about someone else .
Even Li Qingshan shivered inside after hearing it all . He asked, “How do you plan on dealing with this gu?”
Qian Rongzhi said, “There’s nothing I can do about it, nor is there any need for me to do anything about it . As long as I let go of my shamelessness and hatred, it’ll naturally stop torturing me . ”
The Venomous Snake hell had always been for punishing those who ran amok due to a lack of shame, those who sinned endlessly due to hatred . However, punishment was not its purpose . Instead, its compassionate purpose was to get the sinner to come to their senses and realise the sins they had committed so that they could attain redemption and salvation .
Li Qingshan mockingly asked, “Can you achieve that?”
Qian Rongzhi smiled in response . “Of course not . I won’t feel shame for anything . I hate everyone in the world!”
The venomous snake swam around happily, and she suddenly collapsed on her knees, digging her fingers deeply into the earth . Her smile became twisted due to the pain, but it also became more resplendent . Even if she sank into endless suffering within Avīci1, she would never repent or mend her ways .
PS: Shamelessly begging for monthly votes is like falling into the Venomous Snake hell, but even if I have to fall into the Venomous Snake hell, I’ll still beg to my heart’s content!