Chapter 37: The Heart of the Mother Gu Part 1

The snake was still there. It seemed her wound had healed too quickly, trapping it momentarily—or perhaps the snake’s saliva possessed some miraculous properties of its own.

It made sense. If Wen Lanxin raised medicinal humans, she likely raised medicinal snakes as well.

“Are you truly dazed?” Sang Chencao teased.

Feng Yun’ai shot her a cold look.

“Once we go further, we’ll likely run into the scouts of Guanfeng Gate again. They truly are like lingering ghosts,” Sang Chencao remarked indifferently.

Feng Yun’ai was determined to reach Cloud City. However, the thought of the traps laid along the way and the innocent lives that might be lost made her heart heavy. She lowered her eyes and asked, “Can we bypass them?”

“There are settlements within ten miles of Cloud City. You came from there; how could you not know?” Sang Chencao lightly flicked her whip.

The horse galloped forward, its hooves sending grass and dirt flying.

“I know, of course.” Feng Yun’ai leaned back slightly as the other woman’s flying hair brushed against her face.

“If you have any more brilliant ideas, feel free to share them,” Sang Chencao said with an air of magnanimity.

“When you burned the Snake Pit, was it truly just because you didn’t want the venomous snakes running wild?” Feng Yun’ai asked abruptly.

The horse had just begun to gallop when the reins were pulled tight. It reared its front legs, neighing as it came to a sudden halt.

Sang Chencao turned her head, her gaze meaningful. “You didn’t ask a few days ago. Why ask now?”

“It just occurred to me.” Feng Yun’ai shifted her gaze. Even through the white veil, she didn’t want to meet this woman’s eyes.

Sang Chencao’s mind was always meticulous and strange, and her martial arts were bizarre. Feng Yun’ai wondered if she also practiced some wicked art of mind-reading or seduction.

If she did, perhaps a single look would be enough to make one strip away all their defenses and reveal everything.

Just like…

Feng Yun’ai suddenly thought of Qiu Xianpei. Yes, just like Qiu Xianpei.

Sang Chencao chuckled. “Of course they had to be burned. Those venomous snakes were meticulously raised by Wen Lanxin, each with different toxins. If they all crawled out of Yellow Sand Cliff, the entire martial world of the Central Plains would likely collapse from within.”

She paused, then added slowly, “I suspect Wen Lanxin doesn’t actually want the Central Plains in chaos. After all, she has to look out for Feng Rong.”

“You know her that well? You seemed to hate her before, yet now you’re helping her.” Feng Yun’ai didn’t quite believe it.

Sang Chencao flicked her whip again, her cold voice drowned out by the rhythmic thumping of hooves. “She cherishes Feng Rong so much, and the current peace in the Central Plains was established under Feng Rong’s hand. How could she stand by and watch it fall? As for me, I’m not some person who hates heaven and earth. Does the idea of me doing a good deed scare you?”

Feng Yun’ai thought to herself that she wasn’t scared, but whether it was a “good deed” or if Sang Chencao was a “good person” remained to be seen.

Then, she immediately thought of the portraits in the secret chamber of Yellow Sand Cliff.

Among them were likely portraits of Feng Rong in her youth. Some even featured another blurred figure; she wondered if that was Wen Lanxin herself.

Wen Lanxin didn’t even have a clear portrait of herself, yet she hid Feng Rong’s paintings in the most secret of places—at the very bottom of Yellow Sand Cliff, a place free from disturbance.

Unfortunately, even such a secluded place had been unearthed.

Feng Yun’ai could never fathom such complex emotions. She felt that Wen Lanxin’s feelings for Feng Rong weren’t hatred. Hatred shouldn’t be buried like that. It should be…

Like Sang Chencao, treating someone as a thorn in her side or a needle in her eye.

Snapping back to the present, Feng Yun’ai said suspiciously, “But that was Yellow Sand Cliff. Even if those snakes grew wings, they couldn’t reach the Central Plains in an instant. How could they harm the martial world? Don’t try to lie to me.”

“Xiuxiu, you’re so clever. You saw right through me.” Sang Chencao laughed softly, urging the horse forward. “Actually, I just wanted to destroy them. I hate the house and its crows; since those things were raised by Wen Lanxin, I naturally wouldn’t let them remain.”

Feng Yun’ai didn’t believe her at all. These words were likely half-truths again.

“Could it be that your bodhisattva heart suddenly jumped out, and you’re blaming me for harming the innocent?” Sang Chencao arched an eyebrow. “Do snakes even count as innocent?”

Feng Yun’ai said bluntly, “You must be hiding some other motive. You burned the Snake Pit yet kept one snake by your side. I don’t know what you’re really planning.”

“If you can’t guess, then don’t.” Sang Chencao remained composed. “Lest you break your brain thinking about it. By the time we reach Cloud City, you won’t have the strength to face the enemy.”

“Is it that those snakes are special, and you don’t want others to possess them?” Feng Yun’ai frowned.

Sang Chencao hummed softly. Holding the reins with one hand, she lifted her arm, allowing the Black Snake on her wrist to slide out of her sleeve. “If you possessed a unique, peerless skill, would you hide it away or broadcast it to the world?”

Feng Yun’ai froze, thinking of Feng Rong.

Feng Rong, the world’s number one swordswoman, had only passed the Solitary Peak Sword Art to her; she had never proclaimed it to the world.

The Black Snake poked out its arrow-like head, hissing as it flicked its forked tongue.

Glancing at the snake, Sang Chencao lowered her arm. “I imagine you understand now.”

Feng Yun’ai locked eyes with the Black Snake for a brief moment. With just that one look, she felt the Gu insects inside her begin to stir again. She became even more certain that the Mother Gu was within that Black Snake.

Then she felt something was off. Before last night, she had never seen this woman feed the snake. And on their first trip toward Cloud City, she had fallen into a deep sleep for no reason after being poisoned…

Under the white veil, Feng Yun’ai narrowed her eyes, her gaze turning icy. “You doubled back to Yellow Sand Cliff specifically to find a snake to plant a Gu in me. You knew the snakes in the pit weren’t all dead. So when you said you didn’t want them to escape, it was a complete lie.”

“You figured out the Mother Gu is in the Black Snake?” Sang Chencao feigned surprise.

“I guessed.” Feng Yun’ai looked away, not wanting the other woman to know what had happened the previous night.

“Xiuxiu is so good at guessing,” Sang Chencao said with a smile. “Try guessing again: what was my original intention for burning the Snake Pit?”

“Such rare snakes would be a waste to burn. You wanted to disperse them so outsiders wouldn’t find them,” Feng Yun’ai said decisively. “You just didn’t want those snakes to be taken by anyone else.”