Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 419 - 417

The sun began to sink down towards the western horizon.

Another bout of abdominal pain struck Feng Xing.

Upon witnessing this, the mood of the group drastically darkened.

"He had an antidote pill in the afternoon, but the pain’s returned now. This proves that when night falls, Feng Xing gets poisoned again." Xiao’er stated, looking at Feng Xing’s darkening lips.

"But no one here is poisoning him again!" Shangguan Xuanhao exclaimed.

"Master, Feng Xing’s case isn’t just ordinary poisoning, he’s been infested with an insect." Bai Tian voiced echoed inside Xiao’er’s mind.

"Infested? With what insect?" Xiao’er mentally responded back.

No wonder the antidote pill didn’t work; the spirit liquid from the Ashoka Tree detoxifies toxins but cannot kill the creatures that produce them.

"It’s the Dark Elf Insect. This insect creature wakes up and stirs around as darkness falls. It releases a toxin that causes intense and unbearable abdominal pain to its victim. The deeper the night, the more active it becomes, and the more toxin it releases, causing the victim a pain worse than death. It also has a characteristic of liking warmth, so if the body’s temperature elevates while causing the body to run inner strength or is having fever, it will become active again. And if the daily toxins are not cleared out with an antidote, then after forty-nine days, the infected person’s intestines and stomach will rot, causing their death." Bai Tian explained to Xiao’er.

Xiao’er relayed Bai Tian’s explanation to the group.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xing grit his teeth against the pain and mumbled,"Jug Ears also mentioned this. He said there’s no antidote and after forty-nine days, the victim’s intestines and stomach would rot, inducing death!"

"The Dark Elf Insect? What kind of insect is that?" Di Shaowei seemed confused, he had never heard of such a peculiar insect before.

Shangguan Xuanyi had come across it in a text he received from the Medicine Sage.

"The Dark Elf Insect is a type of insect infestation method developed by the Miao Country over two hundred years ago. As the Miao Country disappeared from the course of history, so did this insect, yet it appears to have re-emerged now." Shangguan Xuanyi relayed the information he found in the text.

"So, if we don’t draw out the insect, the toxins it releases will just return tonight, after the sun sets and when it’s active again." Di Shaowei marveled at how dominating this insect was.

"But how do we draw this insect out?" Shangguan Xuanhao asked, intrigued by this new domain for the first time. For a person who had been relentlessly studying medical arts, this new field was extremely attractive.

"I don’t know." He hadn’t finished reading the book left behind by the Medicine Sage, he had only skimmed the surface. He happened to come across this insect while randomly flipping through one of the books.

"So what do we do about Feng Xing? Shall he continue to take antidote pills everyday?" Shangguan Xuanjun asked, looking at Xiao’er.

The antidote pills refined by Rui’an County’s County Master were a universal antidote, but were they easy to refine?

Taking antidote pills every day? At Xiao’er’s silence, the thought of her space having enough spirit liquid to produce a pool was not insignificant, but even then, it wouldn’t be sufficient to keep Feng Xing alive for long.

"Bai Tian, is there a method to draw out this Dark Elf Insect?"

"Yes, all insects have something they like. The Dark Elf Insect likes darkness and feeds on high-quality blood. As long as the environment is sufficiently dark and the quality of the blood is high enough, it won’t be able to resist the temptation and will come out. The Dark Elf Insect has an extreme aversion to light, so after it comes out, if you immediately shine bright light on it, it will die!"

Xiao’er once again relayed Bai Tian’s words to the group.

"It needs a really dark environment for it to come out, but you need to shine a strong light on it to kill it! This is so contradictory, how is this possibly achievable?" Shangguan Xuanhao couldn’t prevent himself from mumbling in confusion.

And what qualified as high-quality blood? How would you know it when you found it?

"The intense light isn’t a problem, I have a solution for that!" Xiao’er stated after hearing his musing.

"But how do you determine what good blood is? Would a person with better martial arts skills and better health have better blood? Can the makeshift god of medicine explain this a bit?" Di Shaowei looked towards Shangguan Xuanhao.

"What makeshift god of medicine? I’m a genuine god of medicine! Across the entire Minze Dynasty, whose medical skills..."

"Self-claimed god of medicine, just explain it! Can’t you see Feng Xing is in agonizing pain?"

"Of course the healthier and stronger the person, the better their blood!"

"Let’s try my blood first then!" Shangguan Xuanyi intervened.

Taking an antidote pill every day is not a solution, the only way to solve this problem once and for all is to draw out the insect.

"Master, that’s not acceptable! We can obtain high-quality blood from Feng Yang and others. We can’t possibly use your blood to draw out an insect from your own body! That would be hugely disrespectful."

"Let’s try mine first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll talk about other options later." Shangguan Xuanyi stated in a non-negotiable tone.

"Master, please stop making things difficult for your subordinates."

"Feng Xing’s blood is good. Even if yours were better than Feng Xing’s, it would not attract the Dark Elf Insect. This insect has one characteristic: It is lazy. If it has settled into a place and the environment is not too bad, it won’t want to change." Bai Tian offered his thoughts once more.

Xiao’er silently looked up towards the sky, such a unique insect!

Without voicing it, Xiao’er added in her mind, "Then whose blood would suffice?"

"Use Xiao Huang’s! Xiao Huang has lived for tens of thousands of years, it’s a snake that’s become a elf through aging. It has absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon for tens of thousands of years, every droplet of its blood is the concentrated essence of time, and it would absolutely be able to lure the Dark Elf Insect out." Bai Tian didn’t hesitate to sell out his friend.

"Master, use Bai Tian’s blood! Bai Tian has always lived in space, and the aura is full of spirit, its blood is far more precious! Wouldn’t even a meager insect smell the vitality of Bai Tian’s concentrated blood and eagerly rush out? Whereas I, I am golden boned and silver skinned, extracting a concentrated droplet of blood is both difficult and painful!"

"You also know that my blood is extremely precious, so of course we have to use yours! Trying to pretend to be big and strong, and you cannot even bear a little pain! You’re useless! And also, it’s painful to extract your concentrated blood, you think it wouldn’t hurt me as well? Don’t you understand ’Do not do to others what you yourself do not want’? Hasn’t your master taught you?"

Who was it that sold it out? How dare it say don’t do to others what you don’t want for yourself!

"You old goose, come here, I promise I won’t kill you!"

"I have wings and can fly, why would I roll! You, round and revolting, you roll! Roll around!"

...

So, a snake and goose began to glower and curse at each other in the space before launching into a fierce brawl.

The other animals in the space were scared off and fled into hiding.

With one sweep of its tail, the snake knocked all the fruits off the trees.

One wave of its white wing, and the goose uprooted all the crops in the field!

Watching this scene, Xiao’er’s temples throbbed and she couldn’t help but yell,

"STOP!"

Everyone present looked at her in surprise.

Only then did Xiao’er realize that she had let her inside voice slip out in public.

Xiao’er awkwardly laughed,"Stop, you don’t have to argue! If Brother Shangguan’s blood quality is not sufficient, nobody else’s will do either. Your blood quality is too similar and Dark Elf Insect is lazy! If the blood quality isn’t outstanding, it won’t be bothered to change its environment. So, let’s use Xiao Huang’s blood!"