by La Mi Tu
The elongated tone from Misha’s made Murong Qing Lian’s heart made a ‘thud’ sound once and froze there. After being played by this man for so long, Murong Qing Lian couldn’t distinguish clearly if he was good or evil. She also didn’t know which one was the real him.
Anyway, it was just the death. Although, Murong Qing Lian was unwilling to die at Misha’s hand, but she accepted. At least, these past few days, Misha gave her a beautiful dream; let her see the hope to continue living and also let her have a purpose. Dying here was at least clean. It was a lot better than dying in the smelly prison.
“My life is here. You can take it any time! I only have one request. When I’m dead, burn me to ashes and bury me on a mountain facing the west. So, I can look at Xi Qi and look at my hometown.”
Murong Qing Lian raised her head. She closed her eyes. The eyelashes on the closed eyelids trembled slightly. She was afraid, but on the surface, she still pretended to be calm. Seeing Murong Qing Lian like this, Misha chuckled. He retrieved the gun.
“Hehe, I won’t kill you…”
After hearing Misha, Murong Qing Lian opened her eyes. She looked in disbelief at Misha. She didn’t dare to believe that Misha would let her off like this. Just now, she saw the strong killing intent in Misha’s eyes. He was truly going to kill her!
“I have a lot of ways to let someone die, but I’m better at letting people feel like living is more painful than death!”
He didn’t wait for Murong Qing Lian to understand, a silver light flashed in Misha’s hand. Two needles made from bones pierced into Murong Qing Lian’s shoulder blade.
“Ah…” A piercing pain let Murong Qing Lian scream.
That bone needle pierced into the gap between her bones. Every time she breathed, Murong Qing Lian could feel the bone needle went a bit deeper and pried open her shoulder blade. It mercilessly drilled inside, making her unable not to slow the frequency of her breathing to reduce the pain the bone needle brought her.
“Not bad! The ability to adapt is quite fast!” Misha smiled and returned to the gentle him of before as if what had happened was only a nightmare of Murong Qing Lian. He was still an innocent young man. His voice was gentle like warm milk without any impurities.
“Why don’t you directly kill me…,” Murong Qing Lian had never experienced such pain. Although, before, she was beaten hundred times every day in the prison, but that was only the pain of the flesh. Compared with this pain that came from the bones, it paled into an insignificance by comparison.
Now, Murong Qing Lian finally understood what kind of feeling was Misha’s ‘living is more painful than death’. That kind of numbness and heaviness spread from the shoulder. Inch by inch her shoulders lost consciousness. When she felt something was wrong, she was already unable to lift her hands.
“I think, you presumably don’t know what the paralysis of the upper body is. Your people of this era presumably don’t know…So, I specifically let you have a taste of it. It won’t take long before your whole body, aside from your head, would be like your hands and would gradually lose consciousness until there is no feeling.”
“No! I don’t want it to be like that!”
Although, Murong Qing Lian couldn’t fully understand what Misha had said, but she could understand his meaning. If other parts aside from the head couldn’t move, then wasn’t it that she would be no different from trash? She didn’t want to be trash. No! Rather than being a trash, it would be better to die fast!
“Don’t be like this…”
Aware that Murong Qing Lian wanted to bite her tongue, Xia Xue who was next to Misha, pried her mouth open. She stuffed a piece of wood to keep her mouth open, so, her teeth couldn’t come together and she wouldn’t be able to bite her tongue.
“You’re not a bit well-behaved, yo!” Misha pushed the wheelchair a few steps back.
“Only weak people will choose suicide to end their own lives. You want to use suicide to end all of this, but you need to ask me first! If I’m unhappy and let your whole body be paralyzed, then you will completely continue to live on like a rubbish! By then, I will throw you on the street and let everyone see how Murong household’s fourth miss looks like. You say, how would people evaluate you?”
Murong Qing Lian knew that Misha wasn’t scaring her.
This man had the means and had the ability. What he said, he could do. it was not a simple joke. The thought that she would lay on the ground like rubbish, receiving the gazes with despise from the people’s eyes, being ridiculed and maybe even insulted, Murong Qing Lian gave up the idea of suicide.
Forget it, she accepted her fate! Falling into Misha’s hands, she could only be manipulated by him!
“Really well-behaved. It’s fine if you don’t want to die!”
Misha saw compromise from Murong Qing Lian’s eyes. He gave Xia Xue a glance. Xia Xue went forward and took out the wood in Murong Qing Lian’s mouth and took out the bone needles in her shoulders.
Without the stimulation of the bone needles, Murong Qing Lian felt the pain was relieved a lot. With the bone needle pulled away, the numbness on her body disappeared. It seemed that Misha wanted to try to truly torture her, but it was to give her a deterrence to let her fear and also surrender.
“Say, what do you want to get from me?”
The difference in Misha’s treatment and his merciless torture of just now, made Murong Qing Lian become clear of one reality. That was, in Misha’s eyes, she’s a very insignificant existence. Whether it was the gentleness and consideration of before or the coldness and ruthlessness of now, she was just a plaything in his hands. She couldn’t even be compared to a plaything. She was just an existence like an ant.
Murong Qing Lian came at things like this made Misha very satisfied. He handed the gun in his hand to Xia Xue. With his hands crossed, he leaned against the chair.
“I want to know everything that happened at the tournament of the four countries. Especially, everything that happened after you entered the pagoda…”
Murong Qing Lian wasn’t a fool. Misha must have his reasons for asking this. Could it be that the person Misha was looking for was a contestant of the tournament?
“You want to find Yi Lian, that was why you brought me back, isn’t it?! Are you so sure that Yi Lian was among the contestants?”
‘Pa…’ The moment Murong Qing Lian’s words fell, the wood in Xia Xue’s hand directly hit Murong Qing Lian’s face. This wood was small and exquisite. It was only the size of a palm of the hand. Using it to beat people, won’t let your hand hurt, but it would inflict serious damage on the other party.
“Cough, cough…,” Murong Qing Lian spit out two blood stained teeth. It couldn’t be seen that this Xia Xue was so ruthless. Her mouth had been cracked. Her left face was very swollen. Her mouth was full of the taste of blood.
“Just answer whatever young master asks. Don’t waste young master’s time.”
Xia Xue’s voice was cold without any emotions. After hearing Xia Xue, Murong Qing Lian laughed. While laughing, blood came out of the corner of her mouth. Coupled with the original scars on her face, she looked more hideous.
“Who do you think you are?! Now, it’s your young master who is begging me. You don’t serve me well and still treat me like this? Then…kill me! Don’t think you can get anything from me!”
Murong Qing Lian faced death with equanimity. She thought about it clearly. Sooner or later, she would die after falling into Misha’s hands. She couldn’t be casually tortured. If Xia Xue treated her like this, she would just be a dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water and let them toss around! It was just, Misha wouldn’t get any valuable information from her.
A dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water: unaffected
“Looking for death!” Xia Xue raised her hand and slapped Murong Qing Lian’s right cheek.
If that slap from before, Xia Xue only used fifty percent of her strength, now she used eighty percent. The reason she didn’t use hundred percent was because s
he was worried that if she used full strength, she would’ve killed Murong Qing Lian. So, she held back some strength.
This slap made Murong Qing Lian’s mind make a ‘weng’ sound. In front of her eyes, were gold little stars. Her nose felt a warmth. Hot blood flew out.
Murong Qing Lian got a burst of dizziness. Both sides of her cheeks were swollen, so that her eyes narrowed into a narrow slit. Just when Murong Qing Lian wanted to let herself sober up, from her ears came the gentle and long voice of Misha.
“I forgot to tell you. Aside from hating people lying to me, I also hate to be threatened. To talk conditions with me, you should at least have the same strength as I do.”
Now, she finally knows the difficulties to deal with Misha. This person wore a lovely and normal face and always maintained a clean and pure smile, but his heart was harder than anyone else’s. It seemed, she was mistaken. She simply didn’t have the qualifications to talk about conditions with such a person.
“Good, I will talk…”
Murong Qing Lian was completely woken up by Xia Xue’s two slaps. Looking at Misha’s smiling face again, in Murong Qing Lian’s heart raised a fear she never had before. This man was completely different from the ones she encountered. She could only follow his rules…
While at Misha’s, Murong Qing Lian remembered what happened at the tournament of the four countries, at Feng Cang’s Nan Lin wangfu1, a special guest arrived.
* * *
Wangfu: residence of the prince of first rank
Chapter 154: Fake Faced Misha (2)
* * *
“It’s you…,” When Feng Cang saw the man in purple in front of him, he was very surprised.
That day on the banquet, Ming Yue Cheng’s attitude was very clear. He said that he would give up on Murong Qi Qi. Why would he come look for him now in private? Could it be to persuade him?
Not waiting for Feng Cang to think it through, Ming Yue Cheng stepped on the clogs and came to him, “Nan Lin wang1 seemed very surprised at seeing me! It’s not that you don’t welcome me, right?!”
Feng Cang wanted to deny, but the result was that he couldn’t help but nod. Seeing Feng Cang being so direct, Ming Yue Cheng laughed, “Nan Lin wang is really a straightforward person. No wonder, she would like you.”
Ming Yue Cheng mentioned the woman they both love in common made Feng Cang’s mood loosen slightly, “Your majesty, this way please!”
“If you like, you can call me by my name. I also want to call you Feng Cang!”
Ming Yue Cheng’s temper made Feng Cang began to understand why Murong Qi Qi would become friends with this person. He’s indeed a frank and straightforward person,
“No problem!”
Feng Cang led Ming Yue to the study. Ming Yue Cheng didn’t expect that there was one more person here…Murong Qi Qi.
When she saw Ming Yue Cheng behind Feng Cang, Murong Qi Qi nodded with a smile, “Take a seat! When I’m done, I’ll come over!” Murong Qi Qi was checking Jue Se Fang and Tong Bao Zhai’s accounts. In front of her was an abacus made from pure gold. It made crackling knocking sound accompanied with a shining golden light, making Ming Yue Cheng’s eyes almost dazed.
“What, is it that you think I’m too luxurious?” While Murong Qi Qi fiddled with the beads of the abacus, she chatted with Ming Yue Cheng. “Earning money is for spending it. These accounts are too complicated. Looking at it will make me get a headache. Using a gold abacus can stimulate my brain. Speaking of it, inside here there’s your twenty percent…”
Murong Qi Qi said everything clear and logically. Ming Yue Cheng could only shake his head helplessly. This woman was always justified. He couldn’t win from her!
After sitting for a moment, Ming Yue Cheng said the reason why he came, “I came today is because I want to understand one matter with Feng Cang. Do you have a gu inside of you? Is it that it had been a long time? That day on the palace banquet, I saw that your complexion wasn’t right, so I paid a little attention to it. You also know that Nan Feng’s Qiang ethic group are specialized in using gu. My empress mother is a member of Qiang ethnic group, so, I also know about some of the gu. I hope it would be some help for you!”
The arrival of Ming Yue Cheng was beyond Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi’s expectations. His purpose was even more surprising to the two. Before, Murong Qi Qi was thinking to look for an opportunity to go find Ming Yue Cheng and see if he could provide some information about the gu poison. She didn’t expect that he actually came today for that.
“Ming Yue, you have a way, isn’t it?” Murong Qi Qi stood up excitedly. She walked in two or three steps to Ming Yue Cheng. Her beautiful eyes looked at his face, making Ming Yue Cheng almost lose his soul.
The woman in front of him is the one he loves, but her every happiness, every anger, every smile and every annoyance wasn’t because of him but it was for another man. This made Ming Yue Cheng’s heart very sad.
Although he was sad, but while facing Murong Qi Qi, Ming Yue Cheng still smiled, “If I can cure Feng Cang, how will you repay me?”
Ming Yue Cheng’s words let Feng Cang frown. He reached out and pulled Murong Qi Qi into his arms, “What do you want? As long as it’s within my ability, I will certainly satisfy you. If you want to set your thoughts on her, even if I die, I will not accept (the treatment)!”
Feng Cang showed his overbearing and strong attachment to Murong Qi Qi, making Ming Yue Cheng understand that the man in front of him, had the same heart as him towards Murong Qi Qi. Suddenly, the concern he had, lessened a bit.
“Don’t be so nervous! I only want her to increase my twenty percent of the profits of the Nan four states a bit. For example, forty percent, what do you think? I can’t get the person, you can’t let me not get the person, not get the money and be empty-handed, right?!”
Ming Yue Cheng showed a frivolous attitude, making Feng Cang’s relax a bit. When Murong Qi Qi heard the conditions Ming Yue Cheng proposed, she immediately nodded and accepted, “As long as you can cure him, I will give fifty percent!”
Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi’s attitude was like this, it made Ming Yue Cheng laugh. Their feelings for each other must be very deep. That was why they would consider for each other like this! It seemed, that even if he wanted to stick a needle in the gap, he couldn’t stick inside…
“Asking Feng Cang to please answer me first. When did you get the gu? Usually, when will it act? What are the symptoms when the poison is acting?”
Ming Yue Cheng’s expression turned serious. Feng Cang told him truthfully about the process.
“Come, let me check for you!” Ming Yue Cheng put his hand on Feng Cang’s wrists. After a long while did Ming Yue Cheng release his hand, “It’s indeed a gu. It’s the mother-child gu! You already have the child gu for ten years in you. To be able to lift the child gu, you must find the mother gu.”
“After finding the mother gu, use the mother gu to lead the child gu out. Then, use hot oil to burn the mother and child gu to ashes at the same time. The gu poison will be eliminated. Then, slowly nurse back your body to health. Your body will get better.”
What Ming Yue Cheng said was something Feng Cang and Murong Qi Qi already know. “Now, the only thing we’re not certain about is the mother gu. We don’t know where the mother gu is.”
Hearing Murong Qi Qi, Ming Yue Cheng frowned. He recalled the appearance of Wanyan Lie when he saw him. Ming Yue Cheng got a bold assumption, “When I arrived, I discovered that your emperor Wanyan Lie also has gu in his body. I don’t know if the gu in his body is the mother gu you’re searching for. If it is, then it would be very simple.”
At this time, Murong Qi Qi and Feng Cang exchanged a glance. If the mother gu they’re searching for is really in Wanyan Lie’s body, then Wanyan Lie truly is a sicko! He actually put the mother gu in his own body. Could it be that he really hated Feng Cang so much?
The expressions on these two people’s face made Ming Yue Cheng guess out some things. It seemed that Nan Lin wang wasn’
t as favored by Bei Zhou’s emperor as he outside world thought. It turned out that no matter which country, the things of an imperial family were not as beautiful as seen on the surface.
“The mother gu will absorb the nutrients of the body. An adult mother gu will suck all the nutrients of the body in about half year and would need to change a host. If the mother gu is really in Wanyan Lie’s body, it hasn’t been there for a long time. Besides the former hosts of the mother gu should be dead now.”
It turned out that gu’s were such scary creatures! Murong Qi Qi was fearful. They really had little understanding of the mother gu. Now, after hearing Ming Yue Cheng explain in detail, did they understand what kind of creatures gu’s were.
“Ming Yue, how to lead the mother gu out? How to use the mother gu to lead out the child gu?”
“The person who put the gu would use a special whistle to control the gu. As long as we can find this whistle, everything would be solved. However, a whistle is not used universally. One whistle could only control one gu. If you’re certain that the gu in Wanyan Lie’s body is the mother gu, then you must find the whistle that controls the mother gu. Otherwise, even if you kill Wanyan Lie, it won’t be of any use.”
Before, Murong Qi Qi thought that as long they find the mother gu and kill it, they would be able to solve the child gu in Feng Cang’s body. She didn’t expect that the mother-child gu is so different from the gu’s she came in contact with. It was actually so complicated.
“Thank you!” Feng Cang thanked Ming Yue Cheng. “We’ll find a way to find the whistle.”
Feng Cang’s answer affirmed the doubts in Ming Yue Cheng’s heart. It seemed that the gu on Wanyan Lie’s body was indeed the mother gu. However, to determine where the mother gu is, the first thing to do was to find the whistle that controlled the mother gu. This matter shouldn’t be difficult for Feng Cang.
“Recently, I’m not busy. I can stay and help you. When you find the mother gu, I know how to control it. Why don’t you hand me the task of destroying the mother-child gu? I mean if…you believe in me!”