As expected, Da Meizi only thought for a moment before putting down her carrying pole and resolutely taking off her outer and inner shirts.
Her back and chest were indeed covered with several of these strange, wriggling blood leeches, swollen and distended from feeding, their thin skin transparent and almost bursting.
"Please, Divine Official Xie, save me!" Da Meizi pleaded.
Liu Sheng didn't need Da Meizi's pleading to act.
The Little Tentacle quickly extended, plucking off the blood leeches one by one.
And devoured them.
Delicious! So delicious!
Liu Sheng felt the emotions from the Little Tentacle with a sense of speechlessness.
After confirming that she was completely free of blood leeches, Da Meizi put her clothes back on and said with lingering fear, "Thank you, Divine Official Xie."
The Little Tentacle seemed a bit regretful, then quietly helped her gather the sweet potatoes back into the basket from the ground, dancing behind Liu Sheng as if seeking praise, which made Da Meizi shiver.
"Don't be afraid, this is the power bestowed by Earth Mother," Liu Sheng comforted, "Look, it's so friendly."
The Little Tentacle tried its best to assume what it believed was its least menacing appearance.
But Da Meizi really couldn't see the difference; she just trembled and dared not look.
However, she finally believed that Liu Sheng might truly have the ability to "cure" her son.
...
"Master, we've arrived," Da Meizi said, pointing to a mud house in front of them.
"Gou Wa's mother, didn't you go to the Town to sell sweet potatoes? Why are you back so early?"
As they passed the small courtyard next door, a young woman dressed as a housewife was hanging clothes to dry. Seeing Da Meizi return, she quickly stepped over the low fence and asked with concern.
She wore no makeup, her face bare, and though she worked in the countryside, exposed to wind and sun, her delicate features were undeniable.
But for some reason, she kept glancing left and right, acting nervously, and her face showed the pallor of someone who hadn't rested well.
This should be Sòng Guǎfù, the neighbor Da Meizi mentioned.
The Little Tentacle became excited upon seeing this woman.
Liu Sheng, of course, knew it wasn't because of her beauty; it could only be because she carried the scent of "food."
She could only temporarily restrain the restless, ravenous Little Tentacle.
"Xiaoya's mother, I went to the Town to sell sweet potatoes only to exchange them for money to buy medicine for Gou Wa," Da Meizi said with a worried expression, "It's just that the medicine has been taken for several days, and he hasn't gotten better..."
"However, I've invited a Great Master! Gou Wa might be saved!"
As Da Meizi spoke, a glimmer of hope barely broke through the bitterness on her face.
"Great Master?" Sòng Guǎfù's gaze fell on Liu Sheng behind Da Meizi, harboring deep skepticism that such a young woman could be called a "Great Master."
【Questioned! Unbearable.】
【Questioned by a beautiful older sister, even more unbearable.】
But then this "Great Master" frowned and looked at Sòng Guǎfù for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Madam, do you often feel like you're being watched?"
"Even when you're alone, do you feel like someone is watching you?"
"No matter where you go or hide, you can't escape those gazes?"
Each sentence, gentle and certain, revealed Sòng Guǎfù's secret that she dared not speak to others, striking directly at her deepest fears.
Her pretty face turned deathly pale, and she tremblingly put down her work, looking earnestly at the "Great Master."
"Miss, how did you know?"
Before Liu Sheng could answer, Da Meizi asked curiously, "Sister Sòng, people in the village always look at you, isn't that normal?"
"But if someone is watching you even when you're in your own house, that's not right, you should have told us sooner!"
Da Meizi said, growing indignant.
"Before, in the village, there were indeed always... those men's gazes, even following me home..." Sòng Guǎfù recalled with a trembling voice, "But this time it's different!"
"What's different?" Da Meizi didn't understand.
Although she was anxious to take the Divine Official Xie home to see her son, it was clear that her neighbor Sòng Guǎfù was also facing a thorny issue, so she could only put down her carrying pole and listen.
"That gaze, it's not about wanting to possess... but about wanting to destroy..." Sòng Guǎfù's face showed signs of breaking down.
"Madam, may I come into your house and take a look?" Liu Sheng nodded knowingly, then asked with a profound expression.
Sòng Guǎfù gently bit her lower lip, seemingly struggling internally.
..."You may."
Finally, she relented.
"Da Meizi, please wait at the door for a moment, I'll be right back," Liu Sheng turned and said gently to Da Meizi, her tone carrying an undeniable firmness.
If Da Meizi's son was truly a weird object, it was better not to let her go back alone.
Da Meizi was indeed stunned by Liu Sheng's attitude, and having seen Liu Sheng's methods, she obediently waited in place, even though her home was just a step away.
However, just as Liu Sheng said, she returned very quickly.
With a high-pitched scream from inside the house, and the sound of something overturning, a powerful Guai Qi spread out. Although Da Meizi didn't know what it was and had never encountered it, the sacred and warm feeling was like the embrace of the legendary Mother God...
Immediately, everything subsided, the house door was pushed open from the inside, and Liu Sheng walked out, holding an ancient bronze mirror in her hand.
Behind her, Sòng Guǎfù looked grateful and full of reverence, a world apart from her previous guarded expression.
"Thank you, Earth Mother, for your help. This servant does not know how to repay you..." Sòng Guǎfù's voice trembled with excitement, and she was about to kneel on the ground.
Da Meizi could see the deep reverence and worship in Sòng Guǎfù's eyes. Could it be that the Earth Mother whom the Divine Official Xie believed in had truly descended?
"There's no need, Madam Sòng," Liu Sheng gently lifted Sòng Guǎfù.
"Earth Mother pities the world; as long as one believes in Her and prays to Her, She will extend Her helping hand and rescue those struggling in darkness."
Liu Sheng held the divine book in her hand, her face seemingly covered in a layer of sacred radiance, her voice soft and full of magic, as if it could directly reach the depths of the Soul.
Therefore, Sòng Guǎfù's face showed sincere gratitude: "Earth Mother above."
As Da Meizi listened, she couldn't help but murmur softly, "Earth Mother above."
At this moment, Liu Sheng heard the world's voice coldly say: 【Congratulations! thirty-ninth xuan candidate, your temple's faith value +1, the current total value is 1, please continue to work hard!】
【Why are you announcing it?】
Without the boisterous voice of the "Test Assistant," Liu Sheng was still a little unaccustomed.
【Because your faith value began to invade, I successfully took over its authority completely.】
【So the "Test Assistant" is completely offline?】
【Yes.】
【Then many things will be much more convenient.】
【Yes.】
...
Looking at the room with locked doors and windows, Liu Sheng's face was solemn.
"Divine Official Xie, my son Gou Wa... he's inside..." Da Meizi's voice trembled slightly, her face anxious, clearly indicating that Gou Wa's situation was not optimistic.
"I know," Liu Sheng said.
With such dense Guai Qi, how could she not know?
The Little Tentacle was stirring again at this moment, with a gluttonous desire to devour. Liu Sheng gently appeased it, avoiding disturbing the presence inside.
"Master..." Da Meizi hesitated, not knowing what to say. She wanted to ask if he could be saved, but dared not voice the question.
On one hand, she felt that the Divine Official Xie possessed such great Divine Ability, but on the other, she was preparing for the worst.
Because she had been filled with hope again and again, but Gou Wa's condition had plunged her into disappointment and even despair time and time again.
"Mom! Is that you! Mom!" A weak child's voice squeezed out from the crack in the door, with a crying tone.
Upon hearing this voice, Da Meizi recoiled half a step in fear.
But the maternal love deep within her surged forth, overcoming this fear, and she choked out, "Gou Wa... Gou Wa... Are you hungry? Mom... will cook for you in a bit."
"I'm so hungry... Mom, I want to come out and eat, I want to eat a lot of things..."
The voice gradually sank, becoming less and less like a child's, even taking on a heavy resonance.
It sounded like many people speaking at once.
There were men and women, old and young.