Luo Wanqing shook her head abruptly, pricking herself a few times with a silver needle. She sneered, "So you're not only skilled in Gu techniques but also witchcraft. I was indeed careless. You never actually removed the Gu from Gu Sinian; you merely created an illusion, making us believe the Gu worms had been expelled."
A trickle of blood flowed from Xu Miaoniang's lips, making her already pale face appear even more so. She swayed precariously, as if she might collapse at any moment.
"You can actually break my 'Bewitching the Heart' technique? I truly underestimated you," Xu Miaoniang said, shocked.
"'Bewitching the Heart'? That's quite a fitting name," Luo Wanqing retorted sarcastically. "It's a pity such tricks can only fool those with wavering resolve. My desperate desire for you to remove the Gu from Gu Sinian allowed you to exploit a loophole."
Gu Sinian looked astonished. "What do you mean?"
Luo Wanqing's old face flushed. "We both fell into her trap, but thankfully, we're fine now."
Gu Sinian's expression turned wary. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's a type of witchcraft that controls one's mind, making us believe something has already happened. The moment she agreed to remove the Gu, we were both ensnared," Luo Wanqing explained. "But it's alright now. I broke her spell, and the one cast upon us has released itself."
Behind the screen, Qi Zhenzhen and the others stared with wide eyes. They had been observing the three outside. The moment Xu Miaoniang pulled out her hairpin, Luo Wanqing and Gu Sinian had suddenly frozen. A while later, Luo Wanqing suddenly pricked herself with a silver needle, and then Xu Miaoniang spat blood. They then heard Luo Wanqing mention witchcraft, realizing that their immobility was due to it.
It was utterly bewildering. From their perspective, Xu Miaoniang had merely pulled out a hairpin.
"Do you have any other tricks?" Luo Wanqing asked.
Xu Miaoniang gave a wry smile. "No, I only learned these two."
"I've learned more than just those two," Luo Wanqing said slowly, using her silver needle to prick Xu Miaoniang in several more places. Xu Miaoniang felt her limbs twitching uncontrollably, her mouth and eyes twisting, and saliva dribbling from her lips. She looked like an elderly person suffering a stroke.
"Tell me, how would you like it if you were like this forever?" Luo Wanqing asked with a smile.
Xu Miaoniang looked terrified. She wanted to say no, but her tongue felt tied, and she could only emit gurgling sounds. Accompanied by these gurgles, her saliva soon soaked her clothes.
Being like this forever would be worse than death.
Luo Wanqing pricked her a few more times, and the uncontrollable movements began to subside slightly.
"Have you thought about it?" Luo Wanqing asked.
Xu Miaoniang nodded silently and took out a dark object from her sleeve. "This is an insect-luring incense. You just need to scrape off a bit of powder and ingest it, and the sub-Gu within his body will automatically emerge."
Luo Wanqing took the object, scraped off a small amount, and dropped it into a jade bottle filled with liquid. After observing it for a while and seeing no abnormalities, she gave a small portion to Gu Sinian. In less than fifteen minutes, a bulge on Gu Sinian's neck slowly moved. It traveled from his neck to behind his ear, then to his cheek, then to his brow, and finally, along his nose, emerging from his nostril.
The entire process was slow and disgusting.
The small worm seemed to possess a spirit of its own and immediately burrowed into Xu Miaoniang, vanishing without a trace. Xu Miaoniang swayed, and a grayish-blue hue spread across her pale face, making her appear as though a great deal of her life force had been drained.