I wasn't the only one surprised. Even Lihua and He Bi let out an involuntary "Ah" along with me.
Lihua was gentle by nature. She walked up to Jixiang, but with a serious look on her face, she said, "Jixiang, how many sets of bones do you have for those two 'big devils' out there to break?"
"You seem to be eager to ascend to immortality early," He Bi quipped as well.
After Jixiang heard their conversation and sized me up and down, he suddenly showed a look of disdain on his face. Shaking his head repeatedly, he said, "You're absolutely right. You've reminded me. This little brother is far from meeting my criteria for a partner!"
"Tell me, what's good about you? For breasts..."
I widened my eyes, took a deep breath, and puffed out my chest. If Jixiang dared to say I had no breasts, I'd teach him a lesson.
"Indeed, you do have breasts. For the butt..." He pinched his chin and scrutinized me.
"It's actually not bad."
"But you have a fatal flaw. Just this one point is enough to rule you out."
"What point?" I thought he was going to say he wanted to stay alive and didn't want to die so soon.
"Because you can only give birth to one child at a time. Your productivity is too low. How can you compare to our family, where we have at least a dozen children in one pregnancy."
"So in our family, you're a defective product..."
I kicked out with a flying foot, narrowly missing his butt. That big rat was really quick. By now, he had burrowed into the memorial tablets in the main hall and refused to come out no matter what.
"What? Am I not allowed to tell the truth?"
I was too lazy to banter with him. I placed the jade bracelet on the incense table and went to check on Guyuan and Long Lin.
They were quite obedient. It was rare to see them sitting together without arguing.
As soon as I pushed the door open, Long Lin immediately stood behind me and placed a hand on my back.
I was so scared that I was about to dodge, but Guyuan shook his head, signaling me to stay still.
After about ten seconds, Long Lin withdrew his hand, looking quite angry.
"Meet at the hotel where Su Xiaoxiao was imprisoned at this time tomorrow," he said, then waved his fan and disappeared in a flash of golden light.
His actions left me completely confused.
"Guyuan, what's wrong with him?" I asked.
"Nothing. I just told him that you'll always belong to me alone," Guyuan replied.
My eyebrows rose unevenly. I still didn't quite understand what he meant. Was there something on my back that could prove I was Guyuan's?
I sat down beside him, grabbed his hand, and asked, "What on earth did you put on my back? I really want to know."
Guyuan smiled faintly but remained silent.
"Let me guess. Is it the Soul Seal we mentioned before?"
Guyuan pursed his lips and still had a smile on his face. "You know quite a lot."
Sure enough, it was the Soul Seal. But I wasn't that excited because I still didn't know whether the Soul Seal was meant to protect Manyue or me.
I pressed my face against his chest. I really wanted to get into his heart and see whether he loved Manyue more or me.
...
The next day, I originally wanted to go with Guyuan because I was worried that he and Long Lin would clash again.
But they both refused me at the same time. After all, my yin bones were the target of that seductive ghost. If I went, they'd have to spare some attention to take care of me, which wasn't worth it.
Just as I was about to try to persuade them, my little tail, Bai Qi, came back.
He still had his furry ears on. With his hands in his pockets, he swaggered back.
When Guyuan saw Bai Qi coming back, he was even more relieved to leave me at home.
Before leaving, he told Bai Qi to take good care of me. He and Long Lin were going to deal with the seductive ghost. After that, they still had to exorcise the evil and dispel the resentment of the ghost, so they might be away for a few days.
After saying that, he disappeared in a flash of silver light.
I watched the direction he left in. I was still very anxious. I hoped everything would go smoothly.
Bai Qi stood beside me, looking in the same direction. "I've found out the whereabouts of that painting."
I then shifted my gaze to Bai Qi. This little guy was really well-informed. He'd found out the whereabouts of the painting in just a few days.
"Where is the painting?" I asked.
"It's not in this city. It's enshrined in a minority tribe in Xiangchuan City."
"Can we borrow it to have a look?"
Bai Qi shook his head disappointedly. His two furry ears drooped behind his head. "I've tried. It won't work. Because that painting is the treasure of the village, protected by the Witchcraft God. Only the village head can go in and take it. No one else can get close to it."
Even Bai Qi couldn't get close. It seemed that this Witchcraft God was really not simple.
"Then let's go there in person and ask the village head to take me to see the painting. As long as we can put the three paintings together and take a photo, that's fine."
"The problem is we can't get in. If we want to get in, the only way is to help a girl named Kuaye get rid of the curse."
"What kind of curse?"
"The Snake Curse."
I'd heard that this kind of witchcraft was prevalent in the Xiangchuan area. Most of the curses I'd heard about were insect curses, where people were fed insects to control them. I'd never heard of the Snake Curse before.
Bai Qi told me everything he'd found out about the Snake Curse.
This girl named Kuaye was only twenty-five years old. She wasn't married, and there was no news of her having any sexual experience. But since she was twenty, she'd given birth twice a year.
Even more terrifying was that what she gave birth to wasn't human children but snake fetuses. Every time she gave birth, the black snakes would wriggle around in her belly. It was simply worse than death.
Kuaye's father was the village head. How could he allow such a disgraceful thing to happen? Every time she gave birth, he'd order the midwife to kill the black snakes with a sickle.
Now Kuaye's condition was getting worse. Not only did she have to keep giving birth to snake fetuses, but her body also changed. Snake scales started to grow all over her body, and her posture became more and more like that of a snake. The situation was getting more and more difficult.
The village head had wanted to end his daughter's life several times, but he just couldn't bear to do it and didn't dare to. He was afraid of angering something and bringing disaster to the village.
After Bai Qi talked to him, the village head was willing to use that ancient painting as a bargaining chip to save his poor daughter.
After hearing Bai Qi's story, I felt goosebumps all over my body. Giving birth to snake fetuses was just too terrifying.
"How did she get the Snake Curse? Didn't the village head find out the source?"
"He did. It's said that she angered the Witchcraft God, and this is the punishment for their family."
"Didn't the Witchcraft God give any conditions to calm his anger?" I continued to ask.
Bai Qi still patiently answered my question. "Since the black snakes died, the Witchcraft God has never appeared again, so we haven't found the reason."
"Can we help Kuaye? I'm afraid I'm not capable enough to help."
"How do you know if you don't try? Isn't that painting very important to you?"
Bai Qi was right. I thought it was better to go there.
It just so happened that Guyuan wasn't around these days. I'd been in a bad mood because of Manyue's matter. This time, I could just go out to relax.
Since I didn't have any important classes these days and it was the weekend, I could probably spare seven days. I thought that should be enough.
I booked a plane ticket online and went to a village called Kaluo Village in Xiangchuan City without telling He Bi and the others.
I have to say, this place has a tropical climate. The village is right outside a tropical rainforest. The air is especially fresh, and there's plenty of sunshine. Both men and women are quite tanned. Coupled with those low thatched houses and the small animals running around everywhere, it really has the flavor of an ancient mountain village.
I followed Bai Qi towards the village head's house. The villagers here looked at me like I was a rare animal. They kept turning their heads, making me feel really uncomfortable.
Until a little boy pointed at me and shouted, "Snake Girl!"
One of the women quickly covered the little boy's mouth and looked at me fearfully.
When the villagers heard the child's shout, they all looked in my direction. It felt like they were looking at a monster. They were extremely scared.
Hearing this title, I also felt a bit uncomfortable. I quickly asked Bai Qi.
"Why did that child call me the Snake Girl?"