Gu Ning's cheeks felt frighteningly hot, and not for any other reason. It was simply far too humiliating.
The neck, and even the lower belly, she could just about hold out through.
But the soles of her feet were surely too much!
Gu Ning bit down hard on her lower lip, her eyes rimmed red as she looked at the perfectly serious Yu Ruo in front of her.
A thread of bitterness rose in her.
"Why are you being so serious about it, hey! Hurry up and say you were tricking me!"
Heaven and man went to war inside Gu Ning.
If Tao Yao was a savage wolf that ate people and did not spit out the bones.
Then Yu Ruo was a venomous snake lying in the dark, waiting for its moment.
And a very venomous one at that.
Gu Ning could also feel that while her spiritual power ran freely through her upper body now, her legs still had no sensation at all.
Could it be that what she said was true?
Looking at Gu Ning, her whole face full of struggle and shamed fury.
Yu Ruo's breathing quickened, and a faint flush came up on her pale cheeks.
Simply because Gu Ning was too lovely, and above all in this state of wanting to resist and having to submit to her arrangements anyway.
It really did leave her unable to stop.
"This is dreadful..."
In the end Gu Ning set down what little dignity she had left. What came first was obviously her own life.
She shifted, and reached down to undo the bindings on her feet.
Seeing Gu Ning come round, Yu Ruo's heart leapt, and she reached out to help with the other shoe.
And in the instant she reached, that small foot dodged.
Yu Ruo's hand closed on nothing.
Yu Ruo blinked, and looked up into Gu Ning's cold, shame-filled eyes.
A low whimpering was still coming from her throat, exactly like a small cat guarding its food.
Yu Ruo could only smile awkwardly and withdraw her hand, chastened.
Before long Gu Ning had both feet free.
Her ankles were slender and pale, the arch of each foot beautifully curved.
The soles, which had been a faint pink, now held a dark purple alarming enough to make anyone frown.
Gu Ning kept her eyes away from Yu Ruo with all her might, turned her head aside, and sent her foot over, wearing the look of something offered up to be plucked.
Yu Ruo took in this view, her heart missed half a beat, and she stared for a good while.
Seeing that Yu Ruo had not moved at all, Gu Ning even drifted a puzzled look her way.
Realizing she had forgotten herself, Yu Ruo hurriedly coughed a few times to smooth over the awkwardness.
"If Senior Sister is ready, then I shall begin."
Yu Ruo dissolved out all the liquid the pill had left.
She lifted Gu Ning's small, pale foot, poured the liquid onto her fingertips, and pressed it to the center of the sole.
In that instant, Gu Ning's whole body gave a violent jolt.
The soles carry a great many acupoints and connect to every nerve in the body, and they are the most sensitive place there is.
What Gu Ning feared most in the world was anyone tickling the soles of her feet. It made her giggle helplessly every time.
Which was the biggest reason she had balked.
Slowly, the liquid began to soak in.
But unlike at the other two sites, this time there was no pain and no itch.
There was a stimulation instead, running up the meridians to her spine and straight to the crown of her head.
It pulled her body taut beyond her control.
She sucked in a breath, and a low, stifled sound came out of her throat.
Yu Ruo's hands did not stop, kneading on.
When the last thread of liquid was absorbed, Yu Ruo finally let go of her ankle.
She looked up at Gu Ning.
Gu Ning was leaning against the stone wall, head tipped slightly back, both eyes shut, her small mouth open and taking short, shallow breaths.
As though she were afraid someone might hear her breathing.
Feeling the person in front of her go still, Gu Ning opened her eyes.
Their eyes met, and Yu Ruo looked into those pale blue eyes.
Veiled now in a film of water, with a single tear standing at the corner from sheer physical reflex.
Realizing the treatment was finished.
Gu Ning shifted away as though fleeing, terrified of further "torment."
Yu Ruo watched this reaction and took a good while to come back to herself, then gave a soft laugh.
"So this senior sister of mine is more innocent than I thought..."
She seemed to have found a side of Gu Ning nobody else knew.
Only once she had moved three or four paces off did Gu Ning feel safe, and she looked at Yu Ruo beside her with complicated eyes.
"If I'd known, I would never have opened that furnace..."
Gu Ning began to regret what she had done, though the thing was done, and saying more would change nothing.
She circulated her art and found that her spiritual energy no longer had that stuck feeling.
Her heart lifted.
The stabbing pain in her throat had not faded, though, and she still could not make a sound.
"Looks like I'll be a mute for a while," Gu Ning thought.
"B-Boss, you didn't die!"
Dumpling had been watching from a distance in fear and trembling. It had seen Gu Ning's face turn green a moment ago.
It thought she was done for, and here she was alive again.
At this thunderbolt of a remark, Gu Ning rolled her eyes at it.
Why was this dog still cursing her to die?
Only then did Dumpling relax.
If it lost this thigh to cling to, how was it supposed to get out, or get the ward off itself?
It would end up stuck here, growing old alone.
Feeling most of her strength back, Gu Ning finally got to her feet.
Yu Ruo came over as well.
Gu Ning looked at her, gritted her teeth, and forced out a sound.
"Th... thank you."
She disliked her intensely, but there was nothing for it.
Not liking her was one thing, and being saved was another. Two separate accounts.
"Senior Sister saved my life too, so we are square. And without Senior Sister's strength, this dog and I would have a hard time escaping this secret realm at all," Yu Ruo said.
Gu Ning made no sound, and could make none, so she only nodded quietly.
Dumpling bounced around at their feet, its tail cocked high.
"Square this, square that, you people are so much trouble... in our dog world, we don't keep accounts."
Gu Ning pretended not to hear.
The three of them went back through the main pill chamber, where the poison mist had largely dispersed.
And in the middle of searching, they heard Dumpling's voice.
"Over here! There's a crack!"
At some point Dumpling had got to a stone wall at the very back.
Its tail was spinning like a propeller, and both front paws were scrabbling away at the base of the wall, making a racket.
Gu Ning went over and used her divine sense, and found there was more here than met the eye. Behind this wall was empty space.
"It's a hidden door." Yu Ruo crouched down. "A concealment formation. There should be something important behind it."
She laid her palm over the crack and poured in spiritual power.
A ring of pale golden formation lines surfaced on the wall.
With a wet snap, the formation broke.
The stone door gave a low rumble and slid aside, revealing a narrow passage.
The three of them went in.
And it opened out.
It was a stone chamber, with three rows of stone racks arranged neatly against the walls on either side.
The first row held pill formulas. Nine-Revolution Soul-Returning Pill, Taiyi Marrow-Cleansing Powder...
The second held medicinal materials, jade boxes and wooden cases stacked several layers deep, sealing away no small number of spirit herbs over a thousand years old.
Dumpling crouched beside the rack gazing longingly at those materials, undignified tears leaking from the corners of its mouth.
"Um... do you guys smell somethin' real fragrant?"
Nobody paid it any attention.
Gu Ning's gaze settled on a jade slip on top of the third row, and she sent her divine sense in.
Utterly unremarkable.
But her instincts as a veteran gamer told her this thing was absolutely an S+ grade treasure.
She used spiritual power to float the jade slip into her palm and began to read.
Gu Ning's lips moved as she read the four large characters at the top of it.
"Ashen Extinction Pill Body..."