Chapter 1 Cute Little Girl

　　Qiao Yu looked up and saw a cute little girl who looked like a porcelain doll in front of him.

　　The little girl was wearing a patched-up dress and carrying a small medicine basket. Her big, blinking eyes were full of curiosity.

　　However, Qiao Yu didn't dare to take it lightly. A little girl who could appear in the Myriad Poisons Cave was definitely not simple.

　　"Little friend, are you from the Myriad Poisons Cave tribe?" Fang Xun couldn't help but ask.

　　"That's nonsense! Our tribe isn't called the Myriad Poisons Cave!" The little girl waved her delicate little fist.

　　"Uh... then what is your tribe called?" Fang Xun asked.

　　"You're too ugly, I don't want to tell you!" The little girl turned her head and said.

　　Fang Xun almost choked to death. Although he couldn't be said to be as handsome as Pan An, he certainly wasn't ugly, right?

　　To be so obsessed with appearance at such a young age, what would she be like when she grew up?

　　"Little friend, what's your name, and what's your tribe called?"

　　Qiao Yu smiled like a bad uncle trying to abduct a child. Being obsessed with appearance was great; he, Qiao Yu, specialized in dealing with those kinds of people.

　　Sure enough, when the little girl saw Qiao Yu, her eyes lit up, and she happily said.

　　"My name is Xun Dong, you can call me Xiao Dong. Our tribe, the Myriad Spirits Cave, is not far away. Would you like to visit our tribe?"

　　Qiao Yu turned his head and exchanged a glance with Yang Xiangdi and said.

　　"Okay, then we'll trouble Xiao Dong to take us to your tribe."

　　"Yay!"

　　Xiao Dong, with her ponytail, hopped and skipped ahead, and Qiao Yu and the others almost couldn't keep up with her pace.

　　"By the way, Xiao Dong, do the people in your tribe use gu?" Yang Xiangdi tried to get information out of the little girl.

　　"Of course not! Our tribal chief would be angry if we randomly used gu on others!" Xiao Dong said.

　　Fang Xun and the others exchanged glances, all with the same thought in their minds: their tribe really did use gu!

　　"Then Xiao Dong, do you know how to cure the Heavenly Silkworm gu?" Fang Yuan asked the question he was most concerned about.

　　Xiao Dong stopped and pondered for a moment.

　　"Heavenly Silkworm gu? That's easy to cure. Put geckos, centipedes, scorpions, and toads in a pot, add scallions, ginger, and garlic, and then add yellow wine to get rid of the fishy smell. Then add MSG, peppercorns, and star anise and simmer for three hours. Finally, add a little bit of white sugar before serving to enhance the flavor. Drink it, and you can detoxify."

　　Qiao Yu: ......

　　Wasn't this just some kind of soup recipe?

　　"Xiao Dong, if I'm not mistaken, a gecko is a lizard, and a centipede is a...? " Qiao Yu asked.

　　"That's right, as expected, people who are good-looking are smart, you're right!" Xiao Dong praised.

　　Using the five poisonous creatures to make soup, and then drinking the soup... Qiao Yu suddenly felt that being poisoned to death didn't seem so unacceptable.

　　"Handsome big brother, have you been infected with the Heavenly Silkworm gu?"

　　After Xiao Dong asked, she didn't wait for Qiao Yu to answer and lifted Qiao Yu's sleeve.

　　When she saw that Qiao Yu's wrist was purple, a look of solemnity that didn't match her age flashed across Xiao Dong's immature little face.

　　"It really is the Heavenly Silkworm gu, let's go quickly! The antidote takes three hours to brew. If we don't hurry, your internal organs will be eaten away by the Heavenly Silkworm gu."

　　Xiao Dong's pace obviously became more hurried.

　　The group of six soon approached an ancient group of buildings. Most of these buildings were built with bluestone slabs, which had fire-resistant properties, forming a style of stone walls, stone doors, and stone windows.

　　Several villagers saw Qiao Yu and his group of outsiders and stared at them with strange eyes.

　　When they saw Xiao Dong in the lead, they silently retracted their gazes.

　　Xiao Dong stopped, pushed open the door of a bluestone house, and shouted loudly to a middle-aged couple.

　　"Dad! Mom! Come and see what I brought back!"

　　The couple turned their heads and showed a look of surprise and uncertainty when they saw Qiao Yu and the others.

　　The decoration in the house was very simple. Besides a stove, there was only a square dining table.

　　"You are?" the middle-aged man asked.

　　"Oh, them, I met them when I was gathering herbs in the mountains! They're all outsiders. Quickly check if there are any five poisonous creatures and quickly brew a pot of Five-Poison Soup. They've all been infected with the Heavenly Silkworm gu."

　　After Xiao Dong finished speaking, she picked up the kettle on the dining table and poured it into her mouth.

　　"Okay, please wait a moment, guests. Have a seat first." After the woman finished speaking, she pushed open the back door of the house and walked out.

　　Before long, she returned to the stove with a black basket.

　　With Xiao Dong's previous explanation, Qiao Yu and the others naturally guessed what was in the black basket.

　　"Xiao Dong's mom, how long does it take to make the Five-Poison Soup? Does it really take three hours to brew?" Qiao Yu asked.

　　In his poisoned state, he was losing health too quickly and couldn't last three hours at all.

　　"Well, it does take that long. If you're in a hurry, you can eat the soup and the five poisonous creatures together after they're cooked. The effect is the same," Xiao Dong's mom replied.

　　"Brother Yu, are we really going to drink that Five-Poison Soup? It sounds so disgusting!" Yang Xiangdi whispered into Qiao Yu's ear.

　　Qiao Yu smiled wryly and said, "What else can we do? It's better to be disgusted than to be poisoned to death, right? In just this short amount of time, my health has dropped to only half."

　　Fang Xun and the others had very ugly expressions, and it was clear that they had no choice but to accept this extremely disgusting Five-Poison Soup.

　　After a while, Xiao Dong's dad walked over carrying a large earthenware pot.

　　"Hehe, ahahaha, the Five-Poison Soup is here!"

　　A large pot of Five-Poison Soup was placed in front of Qiao Yu and the others, with a warty toad floating right on top.

　　"Ugh!"

　　As the only girl, Fang Yuan couldn't help but cover her mouth and retch.

　　"What are you afraid of? These are all good things. Drinking this soup is a wonderful thing!"

　　After Xiao Dong's dad finished speaking, he scooped up a bowl of soup and drank it in large gulps. Watching his throat bob up and down, Fang Yuan couldn't hold it in anymore and ran to the door and started throwing up violently.

　　"Oh dear, tsk tsk tsk, not too salty, not too bland, the taste is really excellent! Drink it, drink it while it's hot." After drinking, Xiao Dong's dad smacked his lips as if he hadn't had enough.

　　"Classmate Yang Xiangdi, you're relatively strong, why don't you drink it first?" Fang Xun asked.

　　"I can't! I'm just flabby, if I drink it first, I'll be in the toilet – not far from death! You go first, Fang Xun!" Yang Xiangdi waved his hands repeatedly.

　　"I think you're burning paper money at a grave – fooling ghosts! You're already this fat, and you still call it flabby?" Long Chang said from the side.

　　"Mind your own business! I'm not drinking it!" Yang Xiangdi retorted directly.

　　Seeing that Qiao Yu and the others were pushing each other and didn't dare to move, Xiao Dong's dad urged.

　　"Why aren't you drinking it? If you don't drink it, you won't be able to live when the Heavenly Silkworm gu takes effect."

　　"I'll do it."

　　Qiao Yu took the lead and scooped up a bowl of Five-Poison Soup. He was probably the one with the least health among them.

　　Looking at the toad and centipede floating on top of the soup, Qiao Yu couldn't help but raise his head and ask.

　　"Xiao Dong's dad, do you have any garlic?"