The Gusu Mistake - Chapter 20

“Creak!” The sound of the door opening reached the ears of the demon Taoist Qiu Rong, who was tied up. He had been locked in the secret room for so long that when the sunlight suddenly streamed in, he couldn’t help but close his eyes to avoid it. After he had adapted a little, he slowly opened them and saw Jiang Yilan and Yuan Ruo standing in front of him.

“You… what do you want to do?” Qiu Rong was both angry and frightened, questioning these two busybodies. “I have no grudge against you, why did you ruin my plans?”

“We do have no grudge against you!” Yuan Ruo said coldly, “But what you’ve done is against human decency and deserves death!”

“This world is a jungle where the strong prey on the weak!” Qiu Rong retorted defiantly, “What human decency are you talking about?”

Yuan Ruo blinked. “You mean the strong can bully the weak?”

Qiu Rong straightened his neck. “Naturally!”

“Then what are you asking for?” Yuan Ruo smiled. “I’m stronger than you, so I can do whatever I want to you. Just take it!”

“You…” Qiu Rong was speechless.

“Alright, husband, stop wasting words on him!” Jiang Yilan deliberately leaned against Yuan Ruo. “I think this man is stubborn and pigheaded. We probably won’t get anything out of him. Just calm down and let me kill him directly!”

“You…” Upon hearing that he was going to be killed, Qiu Rong panicked. “You haven’t even asked anything, why do you assume I won’t talk?”

“Oh?” Jiang Yilan feigned innocence. “You mean you’ll tell us anything we ask?”

Qiu Rong hesitated, not answering for a moment.

“Let’s just kill him then!”

“Wait!” Qiu Rong shrank back, avoiding Jiang Yilan. “What do you want to ask?”

Jiang Yilan smiled and asked, “You’re willing to talk now?”

Qiu Rong was defiant, but he truly wanted to live. “Ask!”

“I’ll ask you this!” Jiang Yilan asked, “Why did you put that poisonous toad spirit in the Li family’s well?”

“I…”

“Yilan, do it!”

As soon as Qiu Rong hesitated for a moment, Yuan Ruo urged, provoking him to immediately spill the beans:

“I wanted to practice Corpse Demon arts. At that time, I encountered that toad spirit that had become a demon. Out of greed, I had this idea!”

Yuan Ruo frowned. “Then why did you put it in the Li family’s well?”

Qiu Rong lowered his head guiltily. “It… it was just a coincidence that I came across the Li family. It wasn’t intentional!”

“Heh!” Yuan Ruo sneered. “You incited Squire Zhong to move his ancestral graves to borrow the luck of his ancestors, so the Zhong family’s son was also harmed by you!”

“No, it’s not!” Qiu Rong quickly denied. “His son’s illness really has nothing to do with me. I just wanted them to move their ancestral graves!”

Yuan Ruo frowned. “It’s really not you?”

“It’s really not me!” Qiu Rong looked up at Yuan Ruo. “I’ve told you everything I can. Can… can you let me go?”

“Let you go? Dream on!” Jiang Yilan said angrily. “Do you know that because you put that toad spirit in the Li family’s well, it caused the Li family’s daughter-in-law to die? You owe a life debt, and you still want to get away scot-free?”

“I…” Qiu Rong panicked. “I didn’t know that toad spirit would poison people to death. I really didn’t know!”

“You didn’t know?” Yuan Ruo didn’t believe Qiu Rong’s nonsense. “You didn’t know you were practicing Corpse Demon arts? How murderous are Corpse Demons? Does someone else need to tell you?”

Seeing that he couldn’t get away with it, Qiu Rong revealed his true nature. “So what? I did raise a Corpse Demon, but if you dare to touch me today, my elder brother will never let you off the hook.”

“Your elder brother?” Yuan Ruo caught the key information. “Could he be the one who harmed the Zhong family’s child?”

Qiu Rong’s eyes suddenly darted away. “I don’t know!”

“Looks like I’m right!” Qiu Rong’s demeanor made Yuan Ruo even more certain of his guess. “You and your brother conspired together just to raise a Corpse Demon?”

Qiu Rong’s eyes darted away even more. Yuan Ruo, however, stopped asking, and instead turned to Jiang Yilan:

“Let’s go!”

Jiang Yilan asked, “Are we done?”

“Yes!” Yuan Ruo nodded. “We’re done!”

“What about him?” Jiang Yilan pointed at Qiu Rong.

“Let’s not kill him yet!” Yuan Ruo said, and then stepped out of the room first. After Jiang Yilan came out, she locked the door.

“Oh my, my husband is so considerate!” While Yuan Ruo was locking the door, Jiang Yilan joked.

Yuan Ruo, however, turned back and looked at Jiang Yilan with an inscrutable expression. “Yilan, don’t always make such jokes!”

“Hmmph!” Jiang Yilan was nonchalant. “Why? We’re both women. Are you saying that if I say it too much, you’ll fall in love with me?”

Yuan Ruo didn’t respond, and changed the subject. “If what that demon Taoist said is true, someone will probably come to rescue him!”

“Hmm!” Jiang Yilan also dropped her joking attitude and nodded. “If it really is that person causing trouble, it will save us a lot of effort if he comes!”

“Both of you!” Squire Zhong ran over from the corridor, looking like he had been waiting for a long time. “How is it?”

Yuan Ruo replied, “Your son was not harmed by him. He just wanted to borrow the luck of your ancestors!”

“What?” Squire Zhong was even more furious upon hearing this than when he heard his son was harmed. “This demon Taoist, how shameless can he be?”

“Demon Taoists are naturally shameless!” Jiang Yilan said sarcastically. “But you are even more shameless for foolishly listening to someone and telling people to go and seize someone’s house!”

“I…” Squire Zhong opened and closed his mouth several times. “I told them to buy it, not to seize it!”

“They wouldn’t sell it, and your men still laid hands on them!” Jiang Yilan said angrily. “If it weren’t for me, who knows what would have happened to them!”

“That Tie Zhu, how could he be so reckless!” Squire Zhong cursed, and then bowed to Jiang Yilan and Yuan Ruo. “It’s my fault, but my intention was absolutely not to tell them to seize it. If there is any loss, I am willing to take full responsibility, but please also be considerate. My son’s illness…”

“Take us to see your son!” Yuan Ruo said.

“You…?” Squire Zhong hesitated. “Do you know how to cure illnesses?”

“We don’t know how to cure illnesses!” Jiang Yilan said. “But if it’s some sort of crooked sorcery, we might be able to solve it a little!”

At this point, Squire Zhong couldn’t be bothered with much else. As soon as he heard that they might be able to solve it a little, he immediately agreed. “Please follow me!”

Squire Zhong led Jiang Yilan and Yuan Ruo to a room. When they entered, they saw a teenage boy staring blankly, his eyes dull, as if he were an idiot.

Yuan Ruo asked, “Is this your son?”

“Alas!” Squire Zhong sighed. “Yes! He just woke up, and he doesn’t remember anything!”

Yuan Ruo leaned closer and first looked at the Zhong family’s child for a while. “There is no evil aura on him!”

“Wait!” Just as Yuan Ruo was about to place her hand on the boy’s forehead, Jiang Yilan stopped her.

Yuan Ruo turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s not possessed!” Jiang Yilan pulled Yuan Ruo behind her. “He’s been cursed with a Gu!”

“What? A Gu?” Squire Zhong was shocked.

“Yes! A Gu that erases memory!” Jiang Yilan said, stepping forward and pointing a finger between the boy’s eyebrows. Then, she pressed his head with her other hand. Before long, a small lump bulged out on his forehead, and it was clearly a living thing, moving and squirming inside.

“Please, lady warriors, save my son!” Upon seeing this, Squire Zhong immediately bent his knees and knelt before Jiang Yilan. “I only have this one son. I can’t let him be harmed like this!”

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