Thank you, young master... for bestowing the gu to save my life.

[Mother Gu (White Jade): Requires the host to swallow and refine it, taking residence in the heart meridian. Effect: No side effects; can nourish the host's mind, unilaterally sense the locations of all Child Gu, and suppress foreign Gu insects within the bodies of Child Gu hosts.

Child Gu (Crimson Red): Must be fed to another person. Effect: Once the Child Gu enters the body, it will take root in the host's dantian, assisting them in purifying spiritual energy and accelerating cultivation speed. Cost: The Child Gu host cannot harbor killing intent towards the Mother Gu host; otherwise, their heart will feel as though bitten by ten thousand ants.

Note: This Gu is not a Love Gu; it cannot forcefully twist will and emotions.]

Gu Yang raised his eyebrows slightly.

It wasn't one of those low-grade, despicable Gu insects that forcefully turned people into rutting slaves.

Rather, it was akin to a binding of interests combined with a safety lock.

This was very good.

This suited Gu Yang's tastes much better.

He didn't want to get entangled in any more karma.

Without hesitation, Gu Yang tilted his head back and swallowed the plump, white Mother Gu.

Cool.

It felt like a mint sliding down his throat, which then transformed into a warm current that settled in his heart, without the slightest sensation of a foreign object.

Instead, he felt his heart beating more powerfully, and even his divine sense became a bit clearer.

Next, he picked up a red Child Gu between two fingers.

Extending his left hand, he gripped Lan Caidie's delicate and petite jawbone with the web of his hand, applying a little force.

Mmph...

Lan Caidie was forced to open her mouth.

Holding the red Child Gu in his right hand, Gu Yang sent it directly deep into her throat, then gave it a gentle push with his spiritual energy.

Gulp.

With a roll of her throat, the Child Gu slid down her esophagus.

The next second.

Lan Caidie's previously stiff body began to convulse violently.

As the red Concentric Child Gu entered her stomach, it did not ravage her intestines like poison. Instead, it was like a scalding hot coal, brutally crashing into her long-frozen dantian.

It was a crushing suppression on the level of life itself.

The Corpse Gu and Silk-Pulling Puppet Bugs that had originally entrenched themselves throughout her meridians like maggots in her bones had absolutely no power to resist under this bloodline pressure from an ancient royal clan.

Blergh—

Another mouthful of black blood spewed out.

This time, what mixed in the bloody water were no longer dead bugs, but clumps of foul-smelling black mucus. Those were the impurities and death aura that had been refined and expelled.

As this filth left her body, Lan Caidie's originally ashen complexion actually regained its vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It was an almost demonic rosiness.

Hah... hah...

She lay on her back on the ground, gasping for air.

The palm-sized animal skin bandeau on her chest had long been soaked in cold sweat, clinging tightly to her skin and outlining a full, almost bursting silhouette.

Her long leg, tattooed with a crimson snake, curled up slightly, her toes tense from the lingering spasms, exuding a dying, decadent beauty.

Her previously unfocused eyes were now gazing mistily at Gu Yang.

Because of the effect of the Concentric Gu.

At this moment.

She could clearly hear Gu Yang's heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump.

Steady, powerful, like an unshakeable mountain.

And her own heartbeat, unknowingly, began to synchronize with this frequency.

An unprecedented sense of intimacy and dependence surged up from the depths of her soul.

It wasn't love.

But rather a sense of belonging, like a baby bird's imprinting.

As if the man before her was her only reliance in this world.

Thank you, Young Master... for bestowing the Gu and saving my life.

Lan Caidie's voice was a bit weak, yet it carried an unprecedented coldness.

She didn't rush to get up, but first smoothed out her messy silver-tasseled skirt hem, and then pulled up the animal skin bandeau that was soaked in cold sweat and precariously slipping.

Her movements were unhurried and elegant, as if she were dressing in her boudoir rather than being in a tomb strewn with corpses.

That Concentric Child Gu had made its home in her dantian, and a warm current was continuously repairing her riddled meridians.

More importantly... the heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump.

Through the connection of the Mother and Child Gu, she could clearly hear the steady and powerful throbbing in that man's chest.

Every beat was like a heavy hammer striking her soul, miraculously calming her originally terrified and uneasy heart.

This was a sense of security she had never felt before.

It was like being tethered to a towering, solitary peak by an invisible chain.

Lan Caidie took a deep breath, a chilling glint flashing through her fox-like eyes that were gradually regaining their luster.

Young Master.

She looked up at Gu Yang, a poignantly beautiful arc curving at the corners of her mouth.

Caidie has a presumptuous request.

This dog... could you let me handle him personally?

Gu Yang leaned against the cold blue brick wall, his bamboo hat pulled low, obscuring his expression.

He just waved his hand casually, as if shooing away a fly.

Receiving his approval.

Lan Caidie slowly stood up.

She walked towards the twitching mass of mangled flesh in the corner.

Li Qingzhe's breastbone was completely shattered, and his ten fingers were charred black. He looked like a mangy dog with its spine ripped out, paralyzed in the corner, barely clinging to life.

Hearing the footsteps, he struggled to open his eyes.

Seeing Lan Caidie's condescending gaze, a trace of instinctive fear flashed through his cloudy eyes.

Cai... Caidie...

Blood froth bubbled from his mouth as he begged for mercy indistinctly, his one intact right hand attempting to grab the hem of Lan Caidie's skirt.

Don't... don't kill me... I am... I am Ah Zhe...

Ah Zhe?

Lan Caidie stopped in front of him, not avoiding that hand covered in foul blood.

Suddenly, she laughed.

She laughed so hard she trembled, the snowy cleavage on her chest rising and falling, rippling in a breathtaking display.

Yet the smile did not reach her eyes; there was only a bone-piercing coldness.

Are you even worthy of that name?

Lan Caidie did not look at Li Qingzhe, but turned her head to speak softly to Gu Yang, her tone as flat as if she were telling someone else's story.

Young Master, did you know?

This person was originally just a dung-sweeping slave in my Lan family's stables.

The winter that year was exceptionally cold; heavy snow sealed off the mountains of the Southern Border.

I passed by the stables and saw he was freezing to death, yet his hands tightly gripped a torn copy of the Basic Gu Refining Record. I thought he had some aptitude and felt a bit of pity, so I gave him a bite to eat, bestowed the surname Li upon him, and kept him by my side as an apothecary boy.

Hearing these past events, Li Qingzhe's pupils, which had been unfocused from fear, suddenly contracted.

That past, as lowly as dust, was the deepest thorn in his heart.

Now, being exposed in public, shame and resentment intertwined, causing his body to tremble violently as strange gurgling sounds came from his throat.

Lan Caidie did not stop; her voice was distant and ethereal.

I taught him how to read, taught him how to refine Gu.

To help him establish his foundation, I did not hesitate to consume my natal essence blood to cleanse his marrow and forge his tendons, even damaging my own vitality to the point where I lay in bed for three whole months.