The Picture of My Body

After hugging her, Xu Mu grabbed Tong Guoguo's shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Others might be fake with you, but I am sincere. From now on, I am willing to shoulder half of your burdens."

[Affection +20]

Seeing the affection score pop up above Tong Guoguo's head again, Xu Mu was secretly surprised.

As expected of the newly confirmed heroine, the justice points she gave were simply overbearing.

However, justice points were only one aspect; Xu Mu was naturally a man of deep feelings.

Seeing everything before him, along with Tong Guoguo's wailing and crying, made him feel slightly uncomfortable inside.

Xu Mu looked at the staff here and continued to ask, "Why are there only young children? What about those who weren't selected?"

"They... they would be killed. The higher-ups said that you can see a child's future at three and their old age at seven. Between the ages of three and six, the body's various indicators are almost stable."

The slightly older woman replied, "The higher-ups said there's no need to waste food on useless people."

Hearing this, Tong Guoguo's eyes grew increasingly cold.

Her breathing became more rapid, and her body swayed unsteadily.

"Guoguo, take a deep breath. Calm down. Think back to everything in your memory. Was Wang Hun really that good to you?"

Xu Mu supported Tong Guoguo's arm.

Tong Guoguo wiped away her tears and then looked up at the ceiling.

She was originally a hybrid created by Wang Hun through various methods, but due to congenital defects, she was thrown here.

In her memory, from childhood to adulthood, her blood would be drawn at regular intervals.

People told her this was just for medical checkups.

Only now did she understand that this was to see if they were useful.

She was lucky and was taken back by Wang Hun. Because of her constitution, Wang Hun cured her eyes through surgery.

White Jade Heart-Guarding Wood was implanted in her body. She survived and was kept by Wang Hun's side.

Wang Hun said she was his greatest masterpiece, feeding Tong Guoguo empty promises.

He succeeded. Over the years, Tong Guoguo had always looked up to Wang Hun.

As long as it was his order, Tong Guoguo wouldn't think twice; she would only agree.

Besides helping Wang Hun kill and capture people, she used her own flesh and blood to cultivate those experimental subjects.

Just recently, Heart-Guarding Wood was implanted in Tong Guoguo's body again.

The body's rejection and incoordination made her feel like dying from the pain, but Wang Hun didn't stop the surgery.

What he wanted was Tong Guoguo's new flesh and blood, to cultivate experimental subjects with stronger physiques.

"So, he was just using me all along. From my birth until now, I've been nothing but his test subject."

Tong Guoguo took a deep breath, trying hard to keep herself calm.

She originally thought Wang Hun was her benefactor who had saved her from this pigpen.

She never expected that it was Wang Hun who had thrown her into the pigpen in the first place.

It was truly ironic that she had been grateful to him for so long.

Xu Mu also found out from these people that the ancient martial artists outside the door were all people who had drunk poisoned wine.

They had to drink the wine once a month, or they would die.

So those people were extremely loyal and had been here for twenty or thirty years.

As for the women from the orphanage, they hadn't drunk the poisoned wine because the constitution of ordinary people made it hard to resist the toxicity.

There were seven or eight of them in total, working in shifts of one month at a time.

They received salaries, and the pay wasn't low either.

But their family members were all recorded by the Immortality Research Institute. Once they leaked the secret, their families would be ruined.

The higher-ups also told them that they could retire after working until their forties.

So to them, this was considered a good job.

Besides, they didn't do anything bad; their task was simply to take care of these children.

Xu Mu first patted Tong Guoguo's shoulder, then said to the women, "Wait here. Someone will come to pick you up in a while."

After saying that, he left together with Tong Guoguo.

Coming outside, Xu Mu took out his phone and called Jiang Huihui, reporting the situation here to her.

She was far away and couldn't come over, but she would have nearby cleaners rush over immediately.

Xu Mu and Tong Guoguo waited quietly outside the paper mill's gate.

"I have to say, Wang Hun's trick is very useful. Using poisoned wine to control a few hidden energy experts, and then finding a few ordinary people to take care of the kids. Even if the cleaners find out, he won't suffer any losses."

Speaking of this, Xu Mu looked at Tong Guoguo and asked, "Did you know about this kind of place before?"

"No, I never heard Wang Hun mention it."

Tong Guoguo shook her head. "It seems he was also afraid of me knowing this."

Xu Mu glanced at Tong Guoguo. "What are your plans for the future?"

"My mind is a mess right now."

Tong Guoguo sighed.

"Since you have nowhere to go, just stay with me for now. I'll provide your meals. When you figure out where you want to go in the future, let me know."

Xu Mu said with a smile.

Tong Guoguo looked up at Xu Mu and said flatly, "You probably have some ulterior motives toward me too, right?"

"What could I possibly want from you?"

"My body."

Tong Guoguo crossed her arms and turned her face away.

"Guoguo, I don't really like what you just said."

Xu Mu's face was solemn. "I would prefer to hear you say that I'm after your character or your strength. You have many merits, and compared to those, your appearance is actually not that important."

[Affection +15]

Tong Guoguo glanced at Xu Mu and immediately averted her eyes.

She felt that Xu Mu was very right. Her strength was greater than Xu Mu's, and she was a good person. How could she say such a thing?

It made her sound like a mere flower vase, having nothing but this body.

Xu Mu checked Tong Guoguo's filial piety score toward him and found that it was improving really fast.

No wonder Tong Guoguo was played for a fool by Wang Hun; she was way too easy to trust others.

Currently, Tong Guoguo's filial piety score toward Xu Mu had reached Level 6, classifying her as a lower-tier filial daughter.

At this level, she already had an emotional identification with him as a father, feeling that her father deserved to live well.

After seeing this level, Xu Mu raised his left hand, and a dark golden light appeared in his palm.

He had the Spirit-Devouring Sacred Gu command that little sacred Gu to stop absorbing Tong Guoguo's Qi.

In just a moment, Tong Guoguo found that the Qi inside her body was beginning to recover bit by bit.

"It really was your doing!"

Tong Guoguo glared at Xu Mu.

"I had no choice. Your strength is greater than mine. Without this trick, I couldn't trap you at all."

Xu Mu twitched his fingers, not withdrawing the dark golden light in his palm.

Tong Guoguo suddenly frowned, feeling a tickle in her nostril. She wrinkled her nose slightly and suddenly noticed a small dark golden dot fly out of her nostril and land toward Xu Mu's palm.

"This... could it be a Gu bug?"

"That's right, the Spirit-Devouring Sacred Gu. During our last battle, I let the Gu bug enter your body. I can make it devour your Qi at will. That's why, whenever you fight me, your Qi energy disappears."

Xu Mu retracted the small Gu bug into his body. He suddenly found that the Spirit-Devouring Sacred Gu directly devoured this little Gu bug.

At this moment, only a mother bug remained on his fingertip.

"Xu Mu! In other words, you have no way to deal with me now."

Tong Guoguo clenched her fists and sneered, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"