The little rat looked at the other person's fair hand, as if lost in thought. Finally, he shook his head.
"I'll wait here for Lady Xiao," the little rat said seriously.
Ruo Hong thought this might be the last instruction from Weng Lian. "I'm sent by Lady Xiao," she said.
The little rat scrutinized them carefully before agreeing to go with them.
Yi Qing was looking at the bats on the table. It had been a long time since she last dissected something. She never expected that the first thing she'd dissect here would be a bat.
The structure of this bat was different from that of ordinary bats. There was an extra gland inside, along with a bit of transparent liquid.
Vampire bats would feed their companions. When a companion was injured or old, other bats would feed it. But there was a prerequisite: this bat must have fed other companions before.
No one knew how bats could tell whether the other had fed other bats. Maybe it was their unique ability.
What was even more curious to Yi Qing was that what this bat spat out was something transparent.
"Lady," Ruo Hong returned with the little rat. "Weng Erduo and the others were all killed by the bats."
Yi Qing's hand paused for a moment.
"You're Lady Xiao," the little rat knelt down immediately. "Grandpa said there's something wrong with the Tuma Zi Pit in the east of the city."
Yi Qing thought for a while. The Tuma Zi Pit was the small pond they'd found last time. People in the area called it the Tuma Zi Pit.
"I see. Ruo Hong, take him down to wash up and change his clothes."
"Yes," Ruo Hong led the little rat away.
Yi Qing looked at the corpses of the three bats on the table. The lighter the color, the larger the extra gland inside. Could this kind of bat be a unique species here?
She couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, Xiao Jinghan was making a clean sweep in the court. This time, he was truly enraged.
Some noble officials who went to the academy to demand medicine had sons studying in the academy. They didn't even care about their sons' lives. How could they be expected to be good officials?
This time, no one dared to say a word. The medicine was sent by the General's Mansion. These people dared to go to the academy to take it away. They were simply courting death.
Of course, some of these people also had sons studying there and hoped to severely punish those involved. Since Xiao Jinghan took the lead, they just needed to take a stand.
The emperor was, of course, furious. He confiscated the properties of some officials and demoted others. Finally, something serious was discussed in the court, and it could be resolved on the spot.
This morning court session didn't end until noon. More than a dozen officials in the capital were punished.
"This is the first time that all the court officials have supported you," the emperor was too hungry and invited Xiao Jinghan to have lunch with him. "Fortunately, you didn't kill anyone directly."
Xiao Jinghan had wanted to kill someone at that time. When he drew his sword, he wanted to kill Liu Yifeng. But when he saw that Liu had listed so many officials, he held back. After all, he was a witness.
"He's not worthy of dirtying my sword," Xiao Jinghan said coldly.
"It's good that you have such an awareness," the emperor was very satisfied. If Xiao Jinghan killed people at every turn, no matter whether he was in the right or not, as the emperor, he would have to take a stance.
Xiao Jinghan quickly ate a bit and then went home. Yi Qing had been so frightened yesterday. He had to go back quickly to comfort her.
"Where's Lady?" Xiao Jinghan asked as soon as he dismounted.
"Lady has taken people to the Tuma Zi Pit," the guard at the gate reached out to take the reins.
Xiao Jinghan remounted his horse and headed for the Tuma Zi Pit.
Yi Qing wanted to drain the water from the Tuma Zi Pit to see what was wrong with it. She hadn't been in such a hurry before, but now she was very clear that if Lin Mo wasn't found soon, more people in the capital would die.
Hearing the sound of hooves, Yi Qing turned her head and saw Xiao Jinghan galloping towards her. Xiao Jinghan dismounted and tossed the reins onto the horse's back.
"Why did you suddenly decide to drain the water here?" Xiao Jinghan asked Yi Qing curiously.
They hadn't slept well last night. He thought Yi Qing would have a good sleep during the day.
"I went to find a man named Weng Lian yesterday. He was a very well - informed beggar in the capital. Last night, all the beggars around the land temple in the west of the city were killed by bats," Yi Qing said in a low voice.
She didn't have much interaction with Weng Lian, just a buyer - seller relationship for information. But he was someone she had met.
"It turns out that people have been dying in the capital these days, but it's just that we didn't know about it. The enemy is too cunning," Yi Qing let out a deep breath.
She had only met one such person before, Ping Xinian. Now, she was having the same feeling again.
"I'll stay and watch. You go back and rest," Xiao Jinghan knew that Yi Qing had been easily fatigued recently.
"There's a hole here," someone shouted.
"Dig it," Yi Qing ordered and perked up a bit.
Wu Min was lying on the dark and damp ground. Her skin had become so transparent that the blood vessels inside could be seen. The noise from outside made her eyes roll a bit, but she didn't have the strength to open them.
Soon, more light shone in. The crawling insects on the ground were afraid of the light and scurried away. When the light shone on Wu Min, she moved slightly.
"It seems to be a cellar inside," the crowd had dug to a wall and didn't know how to dig further.
Yi Qing looked at the courtyard beside. This courtyard was back - to - back with the courtyard where Jin Xiao had lived. "Go and see who lives there."
The guards opened the courtyard. It was empty, but it seemed that someone had lived there. They searched for a long time before finding a cellar. When they opened it, a large number of bats flew out, scaring the guards.
Xiao Jinghan led Yi Qing into the courtyard.
"Bring torches," Xiao Jinghan was going to enter the cellar.
"General, let me do it," He Tai took the torch and went down.
The people above were eagerly waiting. There was a cool breath and a strange smell below, like the smell of rotten wood and a faint fragrance of honey. It wasn't turbid, but it made people feel a chill in their chests.
"General, Miss Wu Min is down here," He Tai called out in surprise.
Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing glanced at each other and hurriedly went down. Wu Min was very afraid of light and desperately dodged the fire.
"Wu Min, it's me," Yi Qing didn't know what Wu Min had been through and why she had become like this.
Wu Min paused slightly.
"Take off your coat," Yi Qing said and was about to take off Xiao Jinghan's coat.
Xiao Jinghan stepped aside. "He Tai, take off your coat and wrap Wu Min up. Then take her back."
He Tai had no choice but to take off his coat and wrap it around Wu Min. Wu Min kept struggling, so He Tai knocked her out with a chop to the neck.
Wu Min was wrapped tightly and sent to the carriage. He Tai was left there to conduct a thorough search. Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing returned.
Yi Qing examined Wu Min's body. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Wu Min's irises had turned light brown. A person couldn't lose so much melanin in such a short time. The key was that Wu Min's condition was similar to that of the dead children.
"How's Wu Min?" Lu Tianxun rushed in.
"I don't know. I've never seen this kind of situation before," Yi Qing thought that Wu Min now showed some characteristics of a gu worm. Could it be that Lin Mo had really used Wu Min to train a human gu?