They say a woman's heart is the most venomous. Bai Youruo had countless methods of dealing with the original host. Not only had she destroyed the original host's entire cultivation level and sold her into the Slave Quarters, but she had also planted a deadly poison inside her body.
Even the original host had failed to discover it, but she could not deceive someone skilled in medicine and poison.
After leaving the water pool, she worried that residual venom from the poisonous snake might remain in her body. She would not have known without checking, but once she did, she discovered that the deadly poison in this body meant that unless she found the antidote quickly, she would not need Bai Youruo to kill her—she would not survive more than a few days on her own.
Fortunately, in her previous life, she had obtained an ancient Chinese medicine medical text by chance. Otherwise, she would not even have known the true cause of her death by the time she breathed her last.
The footsteps behind her gradually drew closer. Gu Qingyun raised her eyes toward the front, then suddenly turned onto a narrow path.
After turning and changing direction several times and shaking off the youth, she began searching the forest for the antidote.
As she had expected, quite a few valuable things grew in this forest. In half a day's time, she found three of the medicinal herbs she needed. With only one left, she could refine the detoxifying medicine.
The remaining medicinal herb was the Yin Silk Flower, a plant that grew on corpses.
This was also the reason she had chosen the Ghost Tomb Forest without hesitation.
Gu Qingyun's steps were not fast, yet strangely, her pace of travel was not slow.
By the time night fell, she had arrived at the inner region of the Ghost Tomb Forest.
In the pitch-black forest, eerie winds howled in waves, like the wailing of ghosts and wolves.
The chill was heavy at night, making the surroundings even more gloomy and terrifying.
Gu Qingyun took a deep breath and quickly walked to a grave.
The surface of this grave was covered in grass, and a tombstone standing before it could be faintly seen.
She ate several fruits she had picked earlier nearby, filled her stomach, and prepared to get to work.
In her previous life, Gu Qingyun had struggled immensely to rise to the ranks of the world's top-tier mercenary, and it was not as if she had never carried out tomb-digging missions.
For that reason, she had also conducted extensive research.
Although these were places where the dead rested, the Tomb Caverns of many ancient people were highly particular. Feng shui, terrain, scale, and other aspects all had strict requirements.
Moreover, the Tomb Caverns were filled with cleverly arranged mechanisms, with real and false Tomb Caverns existing side by side.
The slightest carelessness could result in one falling victim inside a dead person's tomb.
When Gu Qingyun escaped from beside the water pool, she had snatched a dagger. Using it to dig a tomb was somewhat troublesome, but she had no more suitable tools at the moment.
After digging for two hours and covering both hands in blood, she finally reached a stone slab. She let out a soft breath. Relying on her experience and knowledge, she judged that things would instead proceed much more smoothly from there.
She found the mechanism, opened the entrance to the tomb cavern, and followed the stone steps downward.
There was a reason Gu Qingyun had chosen this grave.
The Ghost Tomb Forest was an upgraded version of a mass burial ground. Most people did not dare approach it, and with graves scattered across the entire mountain, it was difficult to determine whose grave was which.
Some people would therefore build their tombs here.
The grass on the grave she was digging was lush, but it grew far too neatly, clearly unlike anything that had grown naturally. Thus, it was very likely man-made. If it was man-made, that meant the grave was not old—in fact, it could even be called a new grave.
The tombstone was quite large, and considering the surrounding environment, Gu Qingyun judged that the identity of the tomb's owner was extraordinary. They might even have belonged to some royal or noble family.
Families like that would usually employ certain preservation measures to keep the corpse from decaying.
The Yin Silk Flower had extremely demanding growth conditions, and Gu Qingyun had even prepared herself to dig several graves.
The tomb cavern before her had the most ideal conditions she had found so far.
The area beneath the tomb cavern was built of stone and was extremely clean.
There were no spiderwebs or places where water leaked through, further confirming Gu Qingyun's guess.
After turning left and right, she arrived at the main tomb. Inside, she saw a stone coffin placed in the main chamber.
Gu Qingyun hurled a small stone in her hand. It landed on the stone coffin, and the metal beast heads set into the four walls suddenly spat sharp arrows from their mouths, firing wildly with a series of whistles.
Gu Qingyun stood outside and was not injured in the slightest.
Only after the rain of arrows ceased did she lighten her steps and enter the main tomb chamber.
She quickly reached the stone coffin and placed both hands on its lid. With a forceful push, she simultaneously retreated swiftly.
Several venomous bees flew out from inside.
Gu Qingyun gripped the dagger, her gaze sharp. With several swift slashes, she cut all the venomous bees in half.
The tomb chamber returned to silence. Dim wall lamps illuminated this area, stretching Gu Qingyun's shadow long.
She slowly walked to the stone coffin and looked down, astonishment appearing in her eyes.
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