Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 372: Removing the Gu

Song Lianhe had just placed her hand on his wrist when E Jintang suddenly grabbed it, yanking her violently toward him—

His strength was immense. Even though Xuan Mei had already reacted, she was still sent stumbling by the sheer force.

Song Lianhe felt herself being thrown into the air. The world before her eyes became a blur, and before she could even react, she was flung away with great force—

Song Lianhe screamed, her eyes wide with terror as the wind roared in her ears.

Xuan Mei’s pupils contracted. She shot into the air, and just as Song Lianhe was about to crash into a tree, Xuan Mei snatched her by the ankle, wrenching her back from the brink!

But Song Lianhe still ended up face-down on the ground, her cheek buried in the dirt. It took her a long moment to lift her head.

"Ah!"

Da Xi stomped her foot anxiously. "Your makeup is ruined! What are we going to do?"

Xuan Mei quickly helped her up while Da Xi took out a handkerchief and hurriedly wiped her face clean.

Meanwhile, Yin Huan had managed to pin down E Jintang.

Song Lianhe felt like every bone in her body had been rattled loose. ’As expected of the future’s number one fierce general,’ she thought. ’It’s a real waste not to put that kind of strength to use clearing farmland.’

She habitually reached for her wrist, only to find it empty.

"Ah, where’s my bracelet!"

"Over here."

Xuan Mei picked it up and handed it to her.

Looking at the snake-shaped gold wrist bracelet, Song Lianhe couldn’t help but recall her experience in the secret passage. She shivered and joked to herself, "I really am fated to be involved with cold-blooded things."

The bracelet had a hidden mechanism. As she was putting it back on, she happened to notice the patterns on the inside. They were quite novel—all irregular shapes that, upon closer inspection, looked a lot like...

"Aargh—it hurts!"

E Jintang was clutching his stomach and rolling on the ground. Song Lianhe had no time for further thought. She quickly fastened the golden bracelet onto her wrist and ran over to check on him.

She rarely encountered Gu, but she remembered one year when her grandmother gave a bowl of rice porridge to an old blind man. After he finished it, he wiped his mouth, pulled a tattered book from his robes, said it was a thank-you gift, and then left.

When her grandfather returned, he became completely engrossed in it. Although she didn’t know many characters back then, she, like her grandfather, was fascinated by the book’s descriptions of strange and absurd events from various places. Among them were records of the Insect Gu of Miaojiang.

She had treated it as a book of miscellaneous tales back then, but recalling it in detail now, she could still remember the methods described inside.

’It’s a long shot, but I have to try!’

She took a deep breath, looked up at Xuan Mei, and said, "Sister Mei, I need you to go find a few things for me."

After hearing her out, Xuan Mei nodded in agreement.

Then, she took out some knockout powder and used it to completely incapacitate the still-struggling E Jintang.

Once he was unconscious, Yin Huan and Da Xi, long since exhausted, collapsed onto the ground.

"I’ve found everything."

Xuan Mei was swift. She returned to the side courtyard with the items Song Lianhe had requested.

——

The man inside the room was putting on his wedding robes. Hearing the whispers outside, he slowly walked out.

"Tell me, what does the Princess Consort want that thing for?"

The Shadow Guard’s eyes held a hint of shyness. "Well, I... could help the Princess Consort with that. What about you?"

Standing beside him, Xuan Qi, with his usual noble and aloof air, said, "Forgive me, but I am unable to be of assistance."

The Shadow Guard was instantly stunned. He looked Xuan Qi up and down in disbelief. "No way! Xuan the Second! You, you, you, you... What have you been doing behind our backs?!"

Xuan Qi ignored him and instead clasped his hands in a salute to the man who had just come out. "Master."

Dressed in his wedding robes, Zhou Cangyan looked every bit the pampered, high-born young master. It was a far cry from his usual cold and sinister demeanor. A faint, teasing smile played on his lips as he leaned lazily against the doorframe, eyeing them askance.

"What are you talking about?"

The Shadow Guard faltered. Just as he was about to say it was nothing, the emotionless Xuan the Second beside him spoke first.

"Replying to the Master, Xuan Kui came by just now to borrow something from us, saying the Princess Consort needed it. Unfortunately, this subordinate could not help the Princess Consort."

He turned to the Shadow Guard. "Shadow, however, is a perfect match."

"Oh?"

Zhou Cangyan raised an eyebrow, a ripple of interest spreading in his eyes. "And what might that be?"

"..."

The Shadow Guard awkwardly adjusted the half-mask on his face and raised a hand to hide the blush spreading across the other half. "Replying to the Master, it’s... the Three Yang Blood of a virgin man."

’A virgin man?’

Zhou Cangyan clearly hadn’t expected that answer. His gaze subconsciously swept over the Shadow Guard.

"Master!"

The Shadow Guard stomped his foot in embarrassment. "This subordinate, this subordinate... it’s all for the Master’s sake that I’m still..."

’I’m super embarrassed too, you know!’

Then, he looked toward Xuan Qi. ’That guy is always so quiet and reserved!’

’Who would have thought! Xuan Qi, with his strong brows and big eyes, actually lost his virginity long ago!!’

’How am I supposed to live with myself?’

Xuan Qi remained stern and silent, his gaze fixed downward, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

Zhou Cangyan chuckled, his interest piqued.

"What does she want that for?"

Xuan Qi shook his head. "I don’t know. Xuan Mei came looking for it in a hurry."

"Then let’s go have a look." Zhou Cangyan walked straight down the steps.

The three of them went to the side courtyard together.

The servants were all busy in the front courtyard. It was the busiest time of day, and Pang Jiliang was rushed off his feet. In another hour, guests would begin to arrive in a steady stream.

In contrast, the side and rear courtyards were rarely visited and thus very quiet.

When Zhou Cangyan and the others entered, they saw Song Lianhe, Xuan Mei, and Yin Huan gathered around Da Xi. Da Xi was sitting on the steps, clutching a silver bowl and trying her hardest to squeeze out tears.

Da Xi’s face was scrunched up in effort as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Nngh~ Nngh~"

She was using all her might, but not a single tear would fall!

Yin Huan grew anxious. "What if she can’t cry? Isn’t there another way?"

"No," Song Lianhe said with a frown. "It must be tears of sorrow."

"What are you all doing?" The Shadow Guard moved closer, looking at them curiously.

Song Lianhe was busy trying to collect the tears. Without looking up, she said, "I need to remove a Gu from my grand-nephew. I need a few things."

The Shadow Guard had a moment of realization. "So, the Three Yang Blood Xuan Mei asked us for is to remove his Gu?!"

"Mhm," Song Lianhe affirmed, then added as a reminder, "It has to be from a virgin man."

"No problem, leave it to me!" he said, then asked the group, "So what’s going on with Da Xi?"

Yin Huan explained, "Besides the blood of a virgin man, we also need the tears of a virgin woman."

Since it was to remove a Gu, such strange methods weren’t that surprising. He watched for a moment, and seeing that Da Xi really couldn’t cry, he commented casually, "Why does it have to be her? Just have someone else cry!"

Xuan Mei said bluntly, "I can’t."

The Shadow Guard was slow on the uptake, but then he suddenly realized why she couldn’t.

HISS~

He sucked in a sharp breath, unable to stop himself from covering his mouth with one hand and pointing at her with the other. "Xuan the Third, you..."

Xuan Mei looked at him coldly. "I can’t cry."

For her, being asked to cry was harder to accept than being stabbed with a sword.

"Ah~ so that’s why."

He then turned to look at Yin Huan, who bit her lip and averted her gaze. "I can’t either."

The Shadow Guard froze, recalling her past experiences. She really couldn’t be compared to a girl from an ordinary family.

He gave an awkward laugh, then smiled at Song Lianhe. "In that case, let’s have the Princess Consort do it. This subordinate has witnessed the Princess Consort’s ability to cry on command!"

Song Lianhe lowered her eyes, her expression a little strange. Finally, with both awkwardness and resignation, she said, "Let’s just have Da Xi do it."

The expression on the Shadow Guard’s face slowly changed.

He turned his head and looked toward the man standing not far away.

Zhou Cangyan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, seemingly not having heard her words. His eyes were downcast. The fingers of the hand behind his back clenched tighter and tighter, until the knuckles were white and bloodless.