Chapter 239: Snakes Are Cute—Are You Kidding Me?
Given Little Eight’s warning that using pain-blocking too often might turn her blind or deaf in the future, Nan Xun avoided it whenever she could.
So not only did she fail to see the Grand Preceptor—the big boss—day after day, she also had endless chores to do.
Although Mo Ran Hall had recruited gu subjects, they didn’t immediately start testing poisons on them. The eighteen disciples instead pampered their treasures every day—those disgusting little bugs—feeding them well and tending to them carefully.
Nan Xun carried the inherited memories of the Zui Li clan, so she was very well-versed in gu poisons and witchcraft. However, people of the Zui Li clan rarely refined gu. Most preferred practicing witchcraft. Besides the fact that cultivating gu poisons took an absurdly long time, there was also a very important reason: gu poisons were just too disgusting.
First, you fed all kinds of poisons and medicines to no fewer than a hundred insects. Once they matured, you threw them into a gu vessel and let them devour each other. The final survivor became the original gu insect. After that, it was fed various toxins along with the handler’s blood, growing stronger and stronger until it became a true gu poison.
When alive, a gu insect was harmless—of course, that was unless it burrowed into your body and gnawed at your organs. But once it died inside a human body, the extreme poison within would be released, killing the host in minutes—or even seconds.
Nan Xun said, “Oh my god, the more I think about it, the more disgusting it gets. I hate wriggling creatures like that. Compared to them, baby snakes are way cuter.”
Little Eight replied, “Snakes are cute? Are you serious? Don’t tell me it’s because you gave birth to a snake baby in the first world, so now you think that way?”
The moment it said that, Little Eight regretted it.
Of all things to mention, why bring up the snake baby from the first world?
While Little Eight was wondering whether to awkwardly change the subject, Nan Xun curved her lips into a smile. “Little Eight, why did you suddenly go quiet? You think mentioning the snake baby would make me sad? How could it? I have so many wonderful memories with my egg son. Honestly, I often dream about what he’ll look like when he grows up. He’ll definitely be as handsome as his dad, Xue Ming—or even more handsome. After all, he has my genes too.”
Hearing this, Little Eight suddenly didn’t feel guilty or uneasy anymore.
So narcissistic.
“Nan Xun, sometimes I really worry about you,” Little Eight said. “I’m afraid you’ll sink too deeply into one of these worlds. This is my first time leading someone on missions to earn merit points, but I’ve heard plenty from other brothers and sisters. Many task-takers fail dozens of times in a row, while very few succeed this many times.
“Do you know why? Because after countless world crossings, some of them can no longer tell the real world from the mission worlds. They start thinking that the world they’re in now is where they should stay. They don’t want to go back.
“Even worse, some go mentally unstable and mix up the people from one world with those from another…”
After that long lecture, Little Eight finished by force-feeding Nan Xun a bowl of motivational soup. “But now I know—you’re different. You’ll definitely succeed! Once I’ve accumulated enough merit to break through and become a saint, I’ll be a holy beast on par with the Heavenly Dao, one in ten thousand. And you’ll be my greatest contributor!”
Nan Xun burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Little Eight. I understand everything you said, and none of that will happen to me. Every world is just a new journey to me. The scenery along the way might be enchanting, but in the end, I’m going home. And when I do, I’ll go see my egg son.”
After a pause, her gaze shifted slightly. “If you carry emotions from the previous world into the next one, that wouldn’t be fair to the next world’s big boss, would it? To me, every one of them is an independent individual.”
Little Eight found her words a bit strange. “They’re independent individuals to begin with.”
Nan Xun gave an “oh” and said nothing more.
“Li Yunduo! Where’s the tea I asked for? Why haven’t you brought it yet—” Gong Seventeen’s ghostly shout came from afar.
Nan Xun rolled her eyes at the sky, picked up a pot of freshly brewed tea, and jogged over.
“Brother Seventeen, your tea is here,” Nan Xun said with a sweet smile.
Gong Seventeen shot her a sideways glance, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. “Who are you calling ‘brother’? Someone of my status—is that something you can aspire to?”
Nan Xun sneered inwardly and immediately changed her tune. “Lord Seventeen, please enjoy your tea. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head to the kitchen to help out.”
The moment he heard that, Gong Seventeen’s smile turned malicious. “Little thing, I figured out your secret long ago. Helping in the kitchen, huh? You’re really just going to scavenge leftovers, aren’t you? You little glutton—if the Grand Preceptor finds out how much you eat, do you believe he could crush you to death with a single finger?”
Nan Xun: “…”
“Mo Ran Hall can’t possibly be so poor it can’t afford a bit of food, right?”
Gong Seventeen snorted coldly, dripping with mockery. “What are you, exactly? Even if Mo Ran Hall has plenty of money, why should it feed a lowly, cheap glutton like you?”
As he spoke, a vicious smile crept onto his lips. “As long as you obediently pour tea and run errands for me every day, I won’t expose what a bottomless pit you are. You can keep sneaking to the kitchen for leftovers. Otherwise—”
Nan Xun didn’t take his threat seriously and rolled her eyes at him. “Gong Seventeen, you’re sick.”
She dumped the teapot onto his small table and turned to leave.
“Stinking girl, you dare walk away! Believe it or not, I’ll poison you with gu!” Gong Seventeen roared.
Nan Xun turned back and flashed him a smile. “I don’t believe you~”
Gong Seventeen: “…”
After Nan Xun had walked far away, Gong Seventeen still stood there dumbly, staring at her retreating figure.
Just now, when she glanced back and smiled, his heart had thumped hard.
It was said that the emperor of Southern Yun Kingdom was on his last legs, so during these days the Grand Preceptor stayed within the palace. Only ten days later did Nan Xun finally see him again.
His face never held any expression, and his gaze was always dead and still. It made Nan Xun feel as though he were a walking, talking corpse, giving her a strange, unsettling sensation.
After finally getting the chance, Nan Xun naturally wanted to make her presence known, so she eagerly brewed a pot of hot tea.
Her attitude was absolutely respectful, and she even greeted him politely upon entering the inner hall.
Gong Mo Ran didn’t let her go inside and merely said indifferently, “Leave it on the table in the outer hall.”
Nan Xun obediently replied, “Yes,” then thought for a moment and asked, “Will my lord dine in the hall tonight? I can ask the small kitchen to prepare a few light dishes for you?”
“No need,” came the cold, distant voice from the inner hall.
Nan Xun immediately shut her mouth.
So cold and heartless—why don’t you just ascend to the heavens and become a true immortal already?
