Surprise! The Straight Man Long Aotian Actually Steals the Villain's Skirt - Chapter 18: The Saint of Southern Border Obsessed with Gu Poison 18

Chapter 18: The Saint of Southern Border Obsessed with Gu Poison 18

Hearing this, Lu Yi suddenly froze.

If he hadn’t been implanted with the Love Gu, then what were all the things he had done to Xie Rong during this time? What were all those filthy fantasies about Xie Rong? They all came from his true heart?!

He had genuinely fallen for a criminal, a demon obsessed with torture.

As the chaotic thoughts in his mind gradually cleared, Lu Yi remembered the insect egg he had vomited out.

Or rather, he had never truly forgotten—he had just deceived himself so thoroughly that he started believing his own lies.

You dare play me. Xie Rong spoke extremely slowly and calmly.

I… Lu Yi, with his neck gripped, struggled to utter a single word.

He wanted to say, if he could become so entranced by Xie Rong without even having the Love Gu implanted, shouldn’t Xie Rong be even more pleased?

He also wanted to ask, since there was no Love Gu, since his feelings were genuine, what exactly was Xie Rong dissatisfied with? Why was he so angry?

You deserve to die—no, not just you, all of you deserve to die. Xie Rong released his neck and strode quickly out of the secret chamber.

Host, what are you going to do?

What am I going to do? What can I do? Xie Rong smiled, his slender eyebrows lowering over his eyes. Of course, I’ll do what a villain ought to do.

He walked out of the bamboo house and saw several baskets full of oranges piled beside the steps. Jin Jiuzhou, who had been sitting and waiting for a long time, came forward to meet him, stiffly saying, Valley Master, the oranges have all been picked. I really can’t stay. I’m not a casual man like Lu Yi.

Xie Rong walked straight past him, his robes fluttering, silver ornaments tinkling, carrying a wave of fragrance.

Jin Jiuzhou thought, he was like a butterfly.

By the time he regained his senses, he had already followed this poisonous butterfly to the Five Venoms Cave.

He watched as Xie Rong took the jade flute from his waist and raised it to his lips.

A cold, fierce flute sound echoed throughout Rosy Valley. Jin Jiuzhou was still puzzled until the Gu worms in his meridians began to stir, biting into his meridians more fiercely than ever before.

He staggered and fell to one knee, his face pale, enduring the pain without making a sound.

Blood slowly seeped through the skin on his arms, the droplets connecting to outline the shape of his meridians.

The flute sound continued, as if still not enough.

Host, stop quickly!the system urgently cried out. Your Extremely Yin Gu hasn’t been fully refined yet—you can’t keep playing like this!

A white Slime crawled along Xie Rong’s arm, trying to disrupt him and snatch his jade flute, but Xie Rong coldly flung it to the ground.

Host, stop!

Xie Rong’s heterochromatic eyes were eerily calm, his pale fingertips skillfully controlling each hole on the jade flute.

A trace of blood slowly trickled from the corner of his lips.

Then from under his nose, his ears, and finally, even from beneath his eyes, blood flowed.

Xie Rong seemed not to feel any pain. The flute sound remained steady, and also filled with a sense of release.

Jin Jiuzhou crawled to his feet, clutching his calf tightly. Stop… I’ll stay and be your male concubine, alright?

Xie Rong kicked this fool away.

The flute sound rose to a higher pitch, and poisonous insects and snakes continuously crawled out from the Five Venoms Cave, excitedly scattering in all directions in search of prey.

Jin Jiuzhou lay on the ground, and because he was too close to Xie Rong, the Gu worms bypassed him.

Yet it didn’t stop him from vomiting blood, his pupils blurred from the pain.

Having every meridian in his body severed would feel no worse than this.

Just as the flute sound was about to reach the most intense part of the melody, a sharp, fierce cry from a hawk overhead suddenly drowned out Xie Rong’s flute.

Xie Rong sharply looked up.

The cold moon hung high as several eagles circled in the night sky. Suddenly, one dove down and snatched away a Snake Gu.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth…

His Snake Gu—his children painstakingly nourished with his own blood—were being devoured by eagles.

How could this be? Why has the plot advanced half a month earlier?!

Xie Rong’s eyelids were red as blood, his beautiful face twisted with fury as he grabbed Jin Jiuzhou’s collar, his voice trembling. Was it you, or Lu Yi?

Not me, Jin Jiuzhou stared blankly at the eagles overhead. Those are… eagles from the Dark Guard Camp.

The Dark Guard Camp was where imperial shadow guards were trained. With the current emperor weak, the camp now answered only to the Empress Dowager.

Jin Jiuzhou knew their prolonged stay in Rosy Valley without delivering good news had exhausted the Empress Dowager’s patience. She would rather bury everyone trapped in the valley than fail to capture Xie Rong.

Isn’t the Dark Guard Camp part of your imperial court?

Jin Jiuzhou: Yes.

You’re all imperial hounds! How dare you deny it! Seeing another Snake Gu about to be snatched, Xie Rong released Jin Jiuzhou and threw himself protectively over the snake, ignoring his scraped arms.

Xie Rong! Jin Jiuzhou shielded him with his own body.

An eagle swooped down, tearing through the flesh on the man’s back.

Had those claws struck Xie Rong’s delicate skin, he might have lost half his life.

Jin Jiuzhou came to his senses, staring bewildered at the little devil he’d protected in his arms.

What was he doing? Guarding Lu Yi’s master for him?!

Inside the secret chamber.

Xie Rong’s shackles were exceptionally sturdy—only his own key could open them. After struggling to break them by force, Lu Yi was now drenched in sweat, his lips pale from the torment of Gu worms agitated by flute music. Every meridian in his body burned as if exploding.

A choking, thick smoke seeped through the forgotten-open entrance of the chamber.

Lu Yi’s expression shifted dramatically. Gritting through the pain, he forced himself up from the ground.

As he rushed out, dense smoke assaulted him.

Coughing violently, he covered his mouth and nose, hurrying out of the bamboo house to fetch water from the lake and douse the flames engulfing an orange tree.

Then he rushed back to extinguish the fire threatening another orange tree before the bamboo house.

Xie Rong? Xie Rong?! Lu Yi scanned the surroundings anxiously but found no trace of anyone.

He kept fetching water to fight the fires while searching for any sign of life.

Until his clothes were singed with holes and his face blackened by smoke, he found not a single soul.

The entire valley seemed deserted except for him.

Lu Yi stood breathless before the empty Five Venoms Cave, his eyes red-rimmed.

Like a lost dog, he stood there helpless and disoriented—unable to find his master, yet powerless to change it.

Master Lu. A shrill voice came from behind.

This voice didn’t belong here.

Lu Yi turned to see the Empress Dowager’s chief eunuch holding a horsetail whisk, disdainfully brushing off the surrounding smoke and dust. Behind him trailed a dense crowd, approaching until they stood before Lu Yi.

You haven’t been infected with Gu… How did you safely pass through the poisonous forest—

Lu Yi’s words cut short. He ignored the eunuch, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before his pupils abruptly contracted.

A prison cart forged from dark iron was heavily surrounded by masked guards from the Dark Guard Camp.

Inside the prison cart, the slender figure leaned against the bars, disheveled black hair cascading wildly. The tattered skirt failed to conceal the dark stains on her knees, her silver ornaments were tarnished, and the wooden clogs were missing from her feet. Clutching the only Snake Gu in her arms, she murmured unfamiliar Southern Border dialect, soothing the serpent in her embrace while paying no attention to anyone around her.

Lu Yi felt as if he had been lashed across the heart, all rationality stripped away.

He was the one who hated Xie Rong most in this world. He was the one who had suffered the most under Xie Rong’s torment. He hadn’t even gotten his chance for revenge—how dare these people treat her like this!

Bloodshot veins crept across Lu Yi’s eyes as he released a heavy, heated breath. Like an enraged lone wolf, he viciously kicked the chief eunuch aside and charged toward the prison cage.

What are you all standing around for? Stop him quickly! Don’t let him ruin the Empress Dowager’s plans! The chief eunuch scrambled up from the ground, his shrill voice piercing the air as he straightened his black gauze cap.