Yi Yi smiled, revealing two tiny, gleaming little fangs.
She reached into her small pouch and pulled out a fine jade vial. Its surface was milky white, yet within glowed a deep crimson hue.
Clutching the bottle, she shook it gently, then pulled out the stopper.
Yi Yi felt a pang of reluctance this held two drops of her own lifeblood, precious beyond measure.
Her face scrunched up as if she had just bitten into a bitter gourd. “Father, when we get back, I want lots of meat.”
For sacrificing so much of her blood, she demanded golden roasted drumsticks, braised chicken wings, whole roasted lamb, suckling pig… ten of each!
No, wait a hundred of each!
As she imagined the feast, her expression turned dreamy, and she stood there grinning foolishly to herself.
Dongfang Mo could barely look at her. He reached out and squeezed the soft flesh of her cheeks. “Wake up!”
“Here come the roasted drumsticks!”
“Where? Where?!” Yi Yi’s big eyes darted around, but seeing no sign of food, she realized she had been tricked. She puffed out her cheeks in indignation. “Naughty Father!”
Watching her silly, distracted manner, Minister Wei Yang felt even more confident that he would win his bet with Lu Zhao. “Prime Minister, you’d better change your name to Zhao Lu from now on.” He added a taunting chuckle for good measure.
Lu Zhao huffed in annoyance. “Just you wait, Minister Yang Wei!” He dragged out the ridiculous name with deliberate emphasis.
Wei Yang ignored him, smiling and waiting to see how the Princess would prove herself.
In the center of the room, Yi Yi’s round little face turned serious. She set the vial on the ground and chanted a string of soft, unfamiliar words.
Invisible golden threads, visible only to her, spread out through the air like a net, connecting to many of the villagers.
No one else could see them, yet everyone felt a sudden sense of calm and refreshment.
“Prick your fingers!” Yi Yi called out, instructing the villagers to make a small cut in their fingertips.
Under Dongfang Mo’s cold, unyielding gaze, Red Hawk forced those who refused to cooperate to open their palms.
“Ah! Bugs… bugs are crawling out!”
“Mine too! But Master Bai said he had already removed the Gu from my body!”
“Same here I can see them too!”
“…”
Immediately, all eyes turned toward Bai Ningbing in suspicion.
The Gu had never been fully removed; they had only been driven deeper into their bodies and hidden away.
One tiny insect after another, sensing the call, began to crawl toward the jade vial at Yi Yi’s feet.
Behind the treatment table, Bai Ningbing pressed his sleeves tight against his wrists and chanted rapidly, trying to force the Gu to stay in place.
Ayan, meanwhile, stared blankly ahead, her nails digging deep into her palms until blood began to seep through.
Once every last Gu from the villagers had crawled into the vial, Yi Yi shook it lightly and turned toward Bai Ningbing and Ayan.
These two have even more delicious bugs inside them I can’t let them get away!
Ayan’s face went pale with terror as Yi Yi approached, and every hair on her body stood on end. She felt a primal fear unlike anything she had ever known.
“Master… I think I’m going to die.” She sensed it clearly: this Princess would devour her completely, leaving not even bones behind.
Bai Ningbing’s expression also hardened. He could feel the Gu beneath his skin writhing in frenzy, and he could no longer hold them back.
His eyes turned cold and ruthless. In a flash, he struck a flint and tossed the lit tinder into the medicine chest beneath the table.
Sizzle The fuse caught fire.
Then came a deafening explosion.
Yi Yi was standing directly in front, and the blast threw her backward. Bai Ningbing and Ayan were caught in the force as well, along with everyone else nearby.
Ayan’s beautiful face was frozen in shock. She had never imagined Bai Ningbing would hide gunpowder beneath the table he was willing to take everyone with him to the grave.
Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at him. “Master…” Her voice came out hoarse and broken.
In the next instant, she threw herself over him without hesitation.
Dongfang Mo had already moved the second the blast sounded, catching Yi Yi in midair before she hit the ground.
Cough… cough… Yi Yi gasped and coughed.
Her round face was covered in soot, and she looked thoroughly displeased.
That bad man attacked from behind!
Yi Yi puffed out her cheeks, furious.
Dongfang Mo checked her over from head to toe, relieved to find not a single scratch only a layer of ash on her skin. Not even a bruise.
What kind of little monster have I raised? he wondered.
Yi Yi had no idea her father now thought of her as a monster. She marched straight back toward Bai Ningbing, ready to settle the score.
“Naughty bad man!”
“Tried to hurt me!”
“And knocked over my jar!”
The jade vial had been sent flying and shattered on the ground. Fortunately, her divine blood had wrapped tightly around the Gu, forming a solid, sealed blood pellet.
Her little brows furrowed into an angry V-shape as she faced Bai Ningbing, ready for battle.
“Hey… where did he go?” She shouted so fiercely, yet there was no reply from the villain. How rude!
From where he was putting out the flames and clearing debris, Red Hawk called back, “Your Highness, Bai Ningbing was thrown into the burning building. I’ll drag him out right away!”
He worked quickly, hauling away charred beams and dousing the fire.
Finally, in a corner, he found Bai Ningbing crumpled and barely breathing, already unconscious. Coiled around him was a brilliantly colored serpent, shielding him from the worst of the flames.
The snake had the body of a serpent but the head of a woman. Summoning his courage, Red Hawk turned the face toward the light.
The moment he saw it, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
It was Ayan.
Compared to their condition, Yi Yi looked as if she had merely been playing in ink and dust completely unharmed.
Red Hawk dragged both Bai Ningbing and the serpent out and laid them before Yi Yi.
The instant she saw the snake, Yi Yi’s eyes lit up.
Smells so good!
But she hesitated. The pretty lady’s head was still attached to the body, and she felt a little reluctant to take a bite.
“Bad man fainted.”
She hadn’t even gotten to attack him yet!
Still annoyed, she raised her tiny fists and began to pummel Bai Ningbing’s body.
This is for hurting Auntie Qinghe! For attacking me from behind! For scaring the villagers!
She would make them pay!
Her fists were small and soft, looking as if they could do no damage at all.
But only Bai Ningbing, deep in unconsciousness, felt the searing agony that tore through his very soul.
The villagers had suffered heavy casualties. Already weakened by the Gu poison, their bodies could not withstand the blast.
Those still clinging to life were quickly carried onto carriages by Red Hawk to be taken to healers.
Seeing the urgency, Dongfang Mo scooped up the still-fuming little girl. “You can keep hitting him once we get back.”
After all, Bai Ningbing was to be taken back to the palace for interrogation anyway.
Yi Yi nodded obediently.
Later, she would stand on top of the bad man while holding a big roasted drumstick in her hand. Hehe…
The thought made her eager to return to the palace. She could not wait to tell her mother the good news she had beaten the villains who hurt Auntie Qinghe!
The injured villagers were settled into the carriages.
Dongfang Mo lifted Yi Yi onto his horse and pulled her close, holding her securely to keep her from falling.
As expected, the energetic little girl began squirming excitedly the moment she sat on the horse’s back.
She gripped the horse’s mane with her chubby hands and shouted loudly, “Giddyup! Giddyup!”
An hour later, they finally arrived back at the palace.