“The poison in Guo Ling’s body is a rare one, called the Hellish Caterpillar. It is a virulent poison that takes the form of a worm, moving through the flesh and blood of the victim and feeding on their strength. It has especially powerful corrosive effects on resonant power, which is why ordinary resonant power is largely ineffective against it.
“This sort of rare poison would trouble even a Heavenly Dipper General. Pei Hao has really paid a bomb to secure something to scare Uncle Yuan away.”
Li Luo had gathered what information he could about the poison in Guo Ling’s body, and none of it was good news.
The poison in her body was even harder to deal with than he had expected. It was on a completely different level from the one Tang Yun and the others had been hit with.
The Hellish Caterpillar itself used a whole bunch of ingredients that were notoriously difficult to find. Li Luo had only seen their names mentioned in a bunch of arcane books that he had read in the last few months. With no disrespect to Guo Ling, it was overkill.
Yuan Qing bunched his fists in anger. “Damned Pei Hao!”
Yuan Qing had left House Luolan’s headquarters for many years mainly because of how he favored this disciple of his. He had kept her ensconced away from the gritty ruins of House Luolan for all these years. And now he had brought her back straight into the depths of despair. Yuan Qing could not blame himself any more for the decision.
If he had known that this would happen, he would have come back by himself.
“Can you nullify it?” Jiang Qing’e asked solemnly.
Li Luo pondered the question. “It will be very difficult. But I think there should be no problem in helping her to stop the spread and disperse the concentration. It should buy us time to find a cure.
“Have all the remedies I asked for been prepared?”
“Rest assured that we have secured every last one of them, Young Lord.” Cai Wei bustled into the room, a short line of servants with her carrying all sorts of packages and envelopes. “In good supply.”
“Always reliable, Sister Cai Wei.” Li Luo grinned.
He delayed no more, rolling up his sleeves and preparing the mixture he had in mind. There were many failures, and it took him a full four hours before he was satisfied with the result.
It was not strictly an antidote. It was not formulated to nullify the Hellish Caterpillar within Guo Ling’s body, but merely to hold it at bay for some time.
Guo Ling had already fallen into a coma. Li Luo squeezed her cheeks gently to push her jaw downwards, then tipped the mixture in.
He reached out and took her cold hand in his own. The next step was immensely dangerous. He planned to imbue her body with his water and wood resonant powers. Using his dual antitoxin powers, he hoped to weaken the Hellish Caterpillar.
Yuan Qing and Jiang Qing’e watched tensely, palms sweating profusely. Li Luo closed his eyes, pushing blue and green power deeper into her hands and onward into her body.
The power crept along her skin, brilliant colors playing along her pale skin in a healing bath.
Very quickly, it touched the black, worm-like gas.
At first, Li Luo’s resonant powers fared quite well. The Hellish Caterpillar was stopped from its advance towards Guo Ling’s heart, wood and water resonant power covering it in a protective sheen. Besides that, its speed was also slowed down. As Li Luo had predicted, he was able to successfully slow it down, but not eradicate it.
Truly a poison that could fell even a Heavenly Dipper General.
Still, Li Luo’s goal here was accomplished.
Just as he was about to heave a sigh of relief, the Hellish Caterpillar suddenly went into a frenzy. Li Luo could feel it thrashing madly, and the black worm began to mutate, the shadow-blackness lightening rapidly until it was a dark cherry-red.
The Hellish Caterpillar had morphed into a butterfly.
A cold pang of understanding flooded Li Luo.
A dual exotic poison.
Behind the Hellish Caterpillar was a second exotic poison, the Hellion Butterfly. This poison could also fell a Heavenly Dipper General.
Heavenly Dipper General-killer poisons against a Resonant Master Stage Guo Ling? Was Pei Hao allergic to money?! Li Luo was willing to bet that Pei Hao had gone to great lengths to secure two poisons of such rarity.
But if not Guo Ling, who could the poisons be targeted at?
Panic. Li Luo urgently began to pull back his resonant power from Guo Ling’s body.
But the dark cherry-red butterfly poison had been triggered now. It locked on to his resonant power and flew along the stream.
It showed no intention of staying in Guo Ling’s body at all.
Li Luo pulled back his resonant power decisively, but he had underestimated the Hellion Butterfly’s speed.
Li Luo’s head swam, and he could hear the flutter of a butterfly’s wings fill his ears.
His eyes flared open.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Qing’e was the first to notice the change in Li Luo’s expression.
Yuan Qing looked at Guo Ling. The color was already returning to her face. “Young Lord, have you managed to remove the poison?” he asked in wonder.
Li Luo shook his head with a strange expression. “Not removed… transferred.”
He raised his own arm and showed them the cherry-red butterfly now flitting in and out of it..
Just like the Hellish Caterpillar, the Hellion Butterfly was in a gaseous form that flitted in and out of Li Luo’s body.
He stared down at it in disgust.
“Pei Hao is truly a scumbag, but a scumbag with some uncanny planning skills.
“So many exotic poisons that could take down Heavenly Dipper General experts… he really loves me deeply.”
