The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“I’m sorry, I choked.”

These words exploded in Lu Fengmian’s ears like a clap of thunder from a clear sky, and the force in her hand involuntarily relaxed.

Logically, the water bottle contained Tusu Wine, which was worth a fortune. Any kind of ghost or monster that came into contact with it would show some reaction, especially since the person opposite had choked down several mouthfuls.

Although this talisman wine had the same name as a certain folk liquor, its efficacy was worlds apart.

The talisman wine, so named, was prepared by not only adding the original soaking ingredients but also by burning several cinnabar talismans into it, sealing it, and burying it in a place rich in spiritual energy for seven or eight years.

Lu Fengmian was a little stunned. She scrutinized Li Qinghuai’s face. The other woman still looked soft and easily bullied, but the corners of her mouth held a hint of playful amusement.

The sparse firelight flickered uncertainly, casting dancing light and shadow on that terribly pale face.

There were deep gray-blue shadows under her eyes, and coupled with the large, horrifying red birthmark, she looked strangely like a phantom with an eerie and fatal attraction.

Even now, Lu Fengmian was more inclined to believe she was a ghost wearing human skin; otherwise, there was no way to explain her series of bizarre behaviors. Her performance seemed too exaggerated, as if it could be seen through without much effort.

But…

After drinking the talisman wine, she first pretended to be in distress, but she didn’t actually suffer any burning pain. Although there were wine stains on her jaw and clothes, the skin there was perfectly fine, without any trace of being scalded or wrinkled.

Wounded Li Qinghuai saw Lu Fengmian’s hand slowly withdraw, leaned forward, sat up straight, clasped her hands, and smiled, “I am Zhao Pan’er of Maoshan, a disciple under Baopuzi. I have long admired the reputation of you two. Seeing is believing.”

“How have you been, fellow Daoist?”

The air immediately went silent; no one opened their mouth to respond.

After a brief silence, Mo Xianghao walked over with a look of irritation, grabbed Li Qinghuai by the collar, and pulled her up, “What do you mean? Are you playing games with us?”

Li Qinghuai, abruptly pulled up, took a moment to recover, then smiled and apologized, “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’m here on a mission too, you see.”

“Everyone here knows why they came. The capital received word that Young Master Song Xuanxuan was heading to his ancestral home, but he mysteriously disappeared in Tuoliang Mountain. The Song family naturally sent people to look for him. I probably wasn’t the first group of hired hands you encountered, so why such a big fuss?” Li Qinghuai smiled, glancing meaningfully at Lu Fengmian.

“You can’t say that just because the Song family’s fiancée has arrived, you won’t allow us second-rate folks to earn a living, right?”

Her words were truly unpleasant and immediately stirred up resentment.

“When I first arrived, I couldn’t be sure if you were human or demon. We’ve all tested each other. You indeed have skill, you are impressive, and I admire you.” She rattled off the words in one breath.

Finally, seeing that she was still in someone else’s grip, her tone shifted. She softened her attitude and said with a ingratiating smile, “Look, I’ve already apologized… don’t be angry anymore…”

Mo Xianghao was so angry she laughed. Her fist, clenched at her side, tightened, but before she could speak, she saw Lu Fengmian still sitting there blankly. She released her grip on the person, shoved her back, and impatiently called out to her friend to get up.

“Look at her, she’s asking for a punch.”

Li Qinghuai slammed into the stone wall, instantly grimacing in pain.

“Forget it, let’s treat her injuries first,” Lu Fengmian seemed to sigh, weakly stopping her friend’s eager fists and looking disheartened.

After she spoke, Daoist Li finally registered the fear and thanked them profusely.

Afterward, none of the dozen or so people present could figure out how she had developed such an excessively familiar nature, acting as if she were at home. She chattered endlessly, leaving the escorts, who hadn’t even fully grasped the turn of events, with no opportunity to interject.

“Daoist Lu, what is going on? You said there was heavy resentment here. We all thought it was the wolf, but then… we thought it was the injured woman, but now it’s not her either…”

Finding a chance, several escorts eagerly questioned them.

While listening to the escorts, Lu Fengmian removed the dart that was pinned to the stone wall.

There were nine Broken Moon darts, all deeply embedded in the lone wolf’s body. The wolf was large with a round lower abdomen. When Lu Fengmian took out a dagger and slit the wolf’s flesh along the wound, she realized it was a pregnant female wolf about to give birth; its belly was subtly fluctuating.

Lu Fengmian did not make a sound, subtly pushing the big responsibility of “explaining” to Mo Xianghao. “Luoyi, you explain it to them.”

Luoyi must be her courtesy name.

“Daoist Priest, I understand! I’ll explain to them. You two carry on with your work; leave this to me!” A short escort with a pale, sharp-eyed face was very eager and volunteered to take on the task.

Mo Xianghao easily dodged the burden and had to attend to Li Qinghuai, the patient. She called over the only female escort present to help support the injured person.

The others consciously turned their backs.

Outside, the dew was heavy and the sinister wind never stopped. No one wanted to be asked to leave and wait outside at this time.

Escorts on the road always carried medicine, but even a royal physician couldn’t alleviate the pain of applying it.

The woman surnamed Mo had to press down hard on Li Qinghuai’s shoulders to keep her from moving wildly. Sweat beaded on her forehead and rolled down one after another until the wound was finally dealt with.

The dim lighting earlier had only shown that she was scratched but remained flippant, leading to the subconscious feeling that the injury wasn’t severe.

Mo Xianghao was speechless for a moment. Li Qinghuai gritted her teeth and didn’t utter a sound, so Mo Xianghao couldn’t say much in front of so many people. The female escort, however, was unreserved. She even took Li Qinghuai’s pulse and spoke her diagnosis bluntly.

“Miss, have you not had your period for a few months? Hmm, at least two or three months, right? Look how anemic you are!”

Perhaps those who live rough and travel extensively all have an uninhibited mindset. Although she didn’t say it loudly, it wasn’t quiet either.

Even Mo Xianghao couldn’t tell if the men sitting a few meters away could hear it. She instinctively watched Li Qinghuai’s expression, only to find that the other hadn’t recovered yet, her mouth slightly open and her eyes unfocused.

In her ears, there were no words about her period, only her own rough breathing. She had long lost the concept of time, like drowning in a boundaryless ocean, quickly losing sensation.

When she finally regained awareness, a dark robe was draped over her. The fabric was soft, like high-quality silk, with silver-gray hidden patterns embroidered on the hem.

Not only that, but she was sitting among a group of escorts, warming herself by the fire. Scanning her surroundings, the woman who had bandaged her was sitting right next to her.

The woman surnamed Lu hadn’t come over to the fire; the firelight didn’t reach her. She held a dagger in her hand, idly gesturing at the wolf corpse from a distance.

“You were looking for this, weren’t you? It fell out of your clothes.” The escort physician spoke, handing her a small object wrapped in oiled paper.

Li Qinghuai hadn’t even realized she had dropped anything. She took it and smiled shyly.

Others came to talk. Though they hadn’t known her for many hours, she only remembered the overly eager pale-faced escort and exchanged a few desultory words with him.

Meanwhile, Lu Fengmian still hadn’t resolved to cut open the wolf corpse.

Li Qinghuai couldn’t watch any longer. She got up easily and walked over to Lu Fengmian, standing silently beside her.

In the silence, Lu Fengmian felt a bit uncomfortable, increasingly unsure of where to make the first incision.

This indescribable feeling made her feel awkward. Just moments ago, she had been clamping the other person’s neck and forcing wine down her throat, and now she was expected to coexist peacefully with her.

Before she could process this strange feeling, Mo Xianghao, who had gone out to check the surroundings, walked in and immediately began to address the escorts’ questions.

The brief conversation helped to ease the awkward atmosphere between the two women.

But before Lu Fengmian could sigh in relief, someone gently pinched the dagger she was holding.

The handle of the dagger was small; when one person gripped it, there was barely any room left. Yet, Li Qinghuai delicately stretched out two fingers and pinched the very edge of the handle.

Lu Fengmian was accustomed to cooperating with people. After two seconds of hesitation, she slowly loosened her grip, and the dagger was smoothly drawn away from her hand.

Li Qinghuai weighed the dagger in her hand, then cleanly and forcefully stabbed it in, making a small opening. She then reached her hand into the wolf’s belly.

Others, standing farther away, couldn’t hear clearly, but Lu Fengmian distinctly heard a crying sound emerging from the wolf’s belly. It seemed that the creature inside had sensed danger the moment Li Qinghuai took the knife, and had begun to whimper.

She watched Li Qinghuai’s arm go in and out, searching for a moment, and then slowly withdrew.

What she brought out was a bruised, purplish female infant. The skin was puffy and swollen, seemingly detached from the flesh and bone. If one looked closely, fine red blood vessels crisscrossed beneath the bluish skin.

As the fetus was pulled out, the wolf’s internal organs spilled out through the opening, a mess of red and white intestines covering the ground.

The commotion on their side quickly drew the attention of the others.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” The earlier eagerness of the pale-faced escort had bred dissatisfaction among others, who were secretly paying attention to the three women’s movements.

They hadn’t expected the two seemingly gentle women to be so ruthless in their actions, and they cried out in shock at the sight of the guts all over the floor.

Immediately, everyone noticed the scene.

“Daoist Mo, look…”

“Holy sh*t.”

Mo Xianghao had wanted to get closer to observe their demon-slaying work, but she had people on both sides waiting for her to calm them down. These escorts, who had traveled the length and breadth of the country, had seen all sorts of strange mountains and terrains, and had encountered various demons and monsters in the deep mountains.

However, in recent years, things had changed drastically. For some unknown reason, the monsters had become more ferocious and brutal. The major, famous Daoist temples could suppress one or two areas, but they couldn’t attend to the remaining three or four. The world was no longer as safe as it used to be. Mo Xianghao’s journey was also intended to eliminate harm for the people and contribute her small effort.

“It’s alright. Everyone, trust us. It’s nothing major.”

“What kind of ghost is that? How did a baby fall out of the wolf’s belly?!”

Li Qinghuai did not deliberately use her body to shield the ghostly fetus. The fetus had been quiet in her hand, but after the bursts of shouts and screams, it surprisingly woke up, boldly stretched out a tiny hand, and grasped one of her fingers.

The little thing quickly began to push its luck, intentionally rubbing its swollen cheek against the side of Li Qinghuai’s hand.

“What exactly is this?!”

Li Qinghuai ignored whoever yelled the question and explained calmly, “This is an Abdomen Ghost, or a Ghost Infant. It generally parasitizes inside a woman’s womb, resembling a pregnancy. It can remain for two or three years without being born, or even for life.”

“Very few people have been afflicted by this ghost throughout history. Records in the Yin-Yang Scroll or other classic texts are extremely scarce.”

“But supposedly, its attack power is quite strong,” Li Qinghuai paused, then added.

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for everyone present to hear. The exasperated escorts had no choice but to listen to her continue.

As soon as she finished speaking, several gasps erupted.

The pale-faced escort who had been trying to please them was also scared silly. His gaze slowly shifted from Li Qinghuai to Mo Xianghao.

Daoist Mo didn’t show much reaction, so he stuck his gaze onto Daoist Lu, watching her pull out a yellow talisman from her waist and stick it onto the Ghost Infant’s head.

He didn’t actually know what he was looking for, he was just terribly panicked. He saw that the three Daoist priests all looked calm, yet offered no comfort.

In his anxious and distracted state, one calm statement from Li Qinghuai scared him half to death.

“It’s useless. If you stick this on and put her in the fire later, the talisman will burn away before she dies, and she’ll be able to jump out again.”

“Also, how much stuff are you carrying? I seriously feel like you brought your entire warehouse with you—I’m envious, you must be from a wealthy family.”

While some people cracked jokes to lighten the mood, others quietly moved close to her ear, whispering things like, If you have a way, hurry up and use it. I’ve never seen this thing. We’ll follow your lead and do whatever you say.

“Actually, this thing might be called human,” Li Qinghuai realized, and spoke again to Lu Fengmian with a smile, though this time she lowered her voice considerably.