Tengshe was still trapped by Feng Xiwu's inability to completely detoxify and the blow of her master being infected by ač.
Hearing this, its small head poked out, hissing and complaining to Lu Qingwan, "It's unfair! I am the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, how can there be a poison that I cannot detoxify?"
Lu Qingwan flicked it away with a finger, making it fall backward. "You, the King of Ten Thousand Poisons?"
Tengshe was so angry that its whole body stood upright. "You actually look down on me! I am the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, the King of Ten Thousand Poisons!"
"Then my lover was almost invaded by the Qingjiang Tongming Gu throughout his body, and I was poisoned under your nose, how do you explain that?" Lu Qingwan lifted Tengshe, which was as thick as her thumb, forcing it to look her in the eye. "You claim to be the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, yet you allow poisons to run rampant under your nose. Have you always been bragging, or do you just not want to detoxify him?" As she spoke, her fingers already pinched Tengshe's seven-inch mark. "You'd better think carefully before answering. I can bring you back to life, and I can also turn you into a bracelet without spiritual consciousness for the rest of your life."
Tengshe recognized Lu Qingwan as its master, and although others couldn't tell, Lu Qingwan, as the master, could clearly perceive Tengshe's changes. When Tengshe transformed into a small snake and coiled around her wrist in the Hall of Reincarnation, it had only shrunk in size, and the entire snake was still alive. However, after recognizing a master, it became like an ordinary bracelet, losing its vitality. It was only when Lu Qingwan dripped her blood into its mouth today to detoxify Feng Xiwu that Tengshe came back to life. Thus, she clearly realized that Tengshe's fate was in her hands.
With its seven-inch mark held by Lu Qingwan, Tengshe struggled uncomfortably, its slender tail coiling around Lu Qingwan's wrist, emitting faint hisses. "It's not that I deliberately don't want to detoxify the stinky man, but his yang energy is too strong. Our snake clan is naturally cold and yin. Detoxifying him would cost me half my life."
Lu Qingwan did not believe it. "Impossible. You are the sacred artifact of the Hall of Reincarnation. If that were the case, how could Liu Xunran agree to let you detoxify my lover?" Lu Qingwan did not believe that Liu Xunran would willingly sacrifice the sect's sacred artifact, which had guarded the Hall of Reincarnation for thousands of years, for her granddaughter, whom she had not seen for more than a decade. Yet, Tengshe's tone was like an old nun who had seen through the world. "Nothing is impossible. In that old guy's eyes, his daughter is the most important, the sect's inheritance is second, and everything else is external." It seized the opportunity when Lu Qingwan loosened her grip slightly and slipped out of her hand. "You may not know, but I have always lived in my original form in the Hall of Reincarnation. The reason I transformed into this form in front of you is simply because his yang energy is too strong, forcing me to shrink my body to conserve energy."
This was an unexpected explanation. Lu Qingwan carefully recalled the situation at the time. After careful consideration, she still maintained a skeptical attitude. "No, you had already shrunk in size before you bit him, otherwise, with your massive size, we wouldn't have let you bite him."
Tengshe did not expect her to remember so many details and swayed its body helplessly. "That was indeed an accident, but do you remember how I recognized you as my master?"
Lu Qingwan rolled her eyes speechlessly. "Are you testing me?" How could she, a living person, have inexplicably contracted a snake and forgotten it? As the guardian beast of the Hall of Reincarnation, Tengshe inexplicably recognized an unrelated person as its master, so it should have a deeper memory. Both the person and the snake should not be able to forget.
Tengshe lowered its head resignedly. "I saw your bleeding hand at the time. Normally, I could have easily avoided it, but at that time, I could only let your blood fall on me and be forced to recognize you as my master. Doesn't that explain the problem?"
Lu Qingwan raised an eyebrow. "Forced to recognize you as master? When Liu Xunran wanted to kill us at the beginning, wasn't it you who blocked the fatal blow for us?" Tengshe had always adhered to the principle of acting rather than talking, and no disciple in the Hall of Reincarnation dared to argue with it. Now, Lu Qingwan had truly argued it into speechlessness. "You have the Hundred Poisons Gu of my former master in your body. I just wanted to find my former master, who knew it would be such a coincidence?!" Tengshe had no intention of recognizing Lu Qingwan as its master, and now it was forced to do so and was constantly suspected. Lu Qingwan's attitude of 'if you don't explain clearly, I'll kill you' successfully made it also irritable.
Lu Qingwan snorted coldly upon hearing this and asked Da Bai, "Who is stronger between you and this guy?" Da Bai licked its paws, exuding a disdainful look. "Does a feudal relic from ten thousand years ago have the right to compare with a high-tech product like His Excellency the Cat?"
Lu Qingwan understood. She summoned Da Bai and casually threw both of them into a bush. "Teach your little snake brother a good lesson and let him understand the perils of society!" A mere snake dared to act so arrogantly towards her. She thought she was easy to bully?
Tengshe only felt its vision blur and then it changed places. It had no idea it had gained a cat big brother and was about to usher in a life of suffering for a snake.
After deploying an informant, the space laboratory also produced an analysis report on the cause of Feng Xiwu's poisoning. Lu Qingwan leisurely returned to Emperor Jingyou's imperial study. Lu Zhenting was no longer there. Emperor Jingyou was sitting behind his desk, reviewing memorials. Seeing her return, he said with an inscrutable expression, "You've had your fill of fresh air, isn't it time to investigate the case?"
"This matter cannot be rushed. Please, Your Majesty, be patient." As she spoke, she looked at Liyang, who was guarding Feng Xiwu's bedside. "Have you finished writing what I asked for?" Liyang presented a few sheets of paper. "Here are the reports from myself and Lijing. Fearing there might be any omissions, I also had several shadow guards who followed the prince write their travel reports. I have compared them, and there are no discrepancies." They were all in this line of work, and everyone understood Lu Qingwan's purpose in asking for travel reports, so they cooperated exceptionally well.
Lu Qingwan took the travel report and indeed could not find any flaws. "The prince's physical condition has been very stable. The catalyst for the Gu poison is a medicinal ingredient called Bai Nian Sheng. As long as a person has Gu poison, contact with this medicine will rapidly trigger the Gu poison. However, the preservation conditions for Bai Nian Sheng are extremely strict, and it must be attached to fresh plants to remain effective. Your Majesty, may I ask if the prince has personally come into contact with any plants today?"
"Plants?" Shen Ci, who had been guarding the emperor's bedside, exclaimed softly, his eyes fixed on Emperor Jingyou. The latter spoke directly, "Tang Xiao, bring that pot of Bailian Linglan."
"No!" Meng Tang shouted out. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he suddenly remembered where he was, shrunk his head, and whispered, "Master transferred the Qingjiang Tongming Gu into himself. If that Bai Nian Sheng is indeed attached to that Bailian Linglan, and Master comes into contact with it, won't he also suffer from the Gu poison?"