She suddenly felt a chill creeping up from behind her. Before she could turn around, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
After a while, Su Mu groggily opened her eyes.
“You’re awake, kid. You slept so soundly that I was about to splash water on you if you didn’t wake up.”
A familiar voice rang out. Su Mu realized she was in a dimly lit mountain cave, illuminated by flickering candlelight.
Miao Qing, whom she had parted from not long ago, was looking down at her.
“Aunt Miao, what is this place?”
The dim light made Su Mu feel a bit uneasy.
She had woken up to find only Miao Qing there by herself, so there was no doubt that Miao Qing was the one who had knocked her out.
Could it be because she had made Xiao Meng cry that Miao Qing had Ah Meng lure her out here to avenge her daughter?
In this dark and dreary mountain cave, even if she killed her, no one would ever find out.
At that thought, Su Mu’s pretty face paled slightly.
This mother was way too protective of her own. She had only made Xiao Meng cry once, and now she wanted to kill her to vent her anger.
Besides, she wasn’t the only one who had made Xiao Meng cry—the Villain had been involved too.
Seeing the shift in Su Mu’s expression, Miao Qing burst out laughing with a pfft.
“You little kid, what are you thinking so much for? Xiao Meng’s issue is her own obsession. I won’t retaliate against you just because I’m protective.”
“Then… then why did you knock me out and bring me here?”
Su Mu probed cautiously. Even though Miao Qing said she wouldn’t retaliate, why had she knocked her unconscious and dragged her to this mountain cave?
Seeing how careful and cautious Su Mu was being, Miao Qing dropped her teasing demeanor.
“You should know that your little lover wants to learn Gu Technique, right?”
“I… I know.”
The “little lover” Miao Qing was referring to had to be Chen Qing.
But now that she was tied up, Su Mu didn’t care about such minor details in wording.
“Your little lover is incredibly powerful, and it looks like she won’t leave the village unless she masters Gu Technique. But learning Gu Technique depends on talent. Her internal energy is far too domineering—even if I taught it to her, she wouldn’t be able to control the Gu.”
“You want me to go persuade her to give up?”
Su Mu assumed Miao Qing was telling her all this so she could go back and talk Chen Qing out of pursuing a Gu Technique she could never learn.
“No, I plan to teach Gu Technique to you.”
“To me?”
Miao Qing’s words left Su Mu’s mind reeling. Was this the legendary case of “searching high and low only to find it without effort”?
She had still been racking her brains over how to learn Gu Technique before Chen Qing could, and now the teacher had come knocking on her door.
But Su Mu had plenty of anti-scam knowledge and knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Moreover, the Clan Leader placed such heavy importance on Gu Technique—why would she teach it to her so easily?
Su Mu eyed Miao Qing suspiciously and asked in confusion, “Why do you want to teach Gu Technique to me? Isn’t it a secret not passed on to outsiders?”
“Not to outsiders—you’re Xiao Meng’s future Madam, so of course I can teach you.”
Miao Qing’s train of thought left Su Mu struggling to keep up.
How was she so certain that she would become Xiao Meng’s future wife? She and Xiao Meng were basically on the verge of a complete breakup now.
In any case, if she was willing to teach her Gu Technique no matter the reason, Su Mu was absolutely a hundred percent on board.
“No need for any apprenticeship ceremony. When you and Xiao Meng get married, you’ll kowtow to me then.”
Seeing the tempted look in Su Mu’s eyes, Miao Qing knew she had taken the bait.
With no more wasted words, she pulled a jade bottle from her waist and carefully uncorked it.
A swarm of blue-and-white little bugs crawled out from the bottle’s mouth and hovered in the air.
At the sight of the blue-and-white bugs, Su Mu quickly scooted away to the side.
Just looking at them told her these bugs were highly toxic—if she got bitten by accident, she was as good as dead.
“To learn Gu Technique, you’ll have to deal with Gu Worms like these all the time. Don’t dodge—let me test if you have the talent for it.”
Miao Qing pulled out the hairpin from her hair. Before Su Mu could react, she sliced open Su Mu’s finger.
Crimson blood seeped from the wound, standing out starkly against her fair skin.
The stinging pain at her fingertip brought a layer of mist to Su Mu’s clear eyes.
That pitiful, endearing look made Miao Qing understand why Xiao Meng had fallen for her at first sight.
If she were a few decades younger, she might have ended up just like her daughter.
The scent of blood excited the Gu Worms that had been hovering quietly in the air, making them visibly agitated.
Seeing their excited reaction, Miao Qing was somewhat surprised.
She had nurtured these Gu Worms for so long that nothing but her own blood should have provoked such a strong response from them.
For these Gu Worms to get this worked up, Su Mu’s talent for Gu Technique was at least nothing to worry about for now.
Meanwhile, Chen Qing, who had been in a “friendly” exchange with two Gu Masters, suddenly felt a twinge of discomfort in her heart.
Looking at the two Gu Masters facing her like they were up against a formidable enemy, that uneasy feeling in Chen Qing’s heart grew heavier.
“If you two aren’t willing to cooperate with me, I won’t force you. But if you change your mind, you can come find me anytime.”
With that, Chen Qing turned and left.
Her hurried movements left the two Gu Masters baffled.
They had thought she would force them to hand over the Gu Technique, but she had just walked away like that.
Still, the relief of surviving the ordeal made them breathe a sigh of relief—the pressure from a Grandmaster was simply too much.
After all, the woman across from them could send them to the underworld at any moment.
Chen Qing rushed back to the little hut. When she saw the empty courtyard, her face instantly darkened.
She had still underestimated the Traitorous Shizun’s nerve. Despite the lesson she had given her, she still dared to sneak out behind her back.
It seemed she would have to properly “praise” that commendable courage of hers.
Su Mu had no idea Chen Qing had already returned. Miao Qing had blindfolded her eyes and brought her back to the big tree where Ah Meng had stopped earlier.
“Aunt Miao, I’ve untied the ribbon.”
Hearing no response, Su Mu carefully removed the silk ribbon from her eyes.
But the moment she opened them, Su Mu was dumbfounded.
Standing before her wasn’t Miao Qing in her traditional Miao attire, but Chen Qing with a sullen expression.
Miao Qing lay peacefully on the ground, knocked out just like she had done to Su Mu.
“My good Shizun, don’t you have an explanation for me?”
Chen Qing “smiled” at Su Mu as a chilling gloom nearly seeped from her eyes.
“You… you’re back so soon? Haha.”
With her brain short-circuiting, Su Mu had no idea how to explain things to Chen Qing.
Was she supposed to tell her that Aunt Miao had knocked her out and taken her to a mountain cave to learn Gu Technique?
Then her secret plan to learn Gu Technique would be exposed, and her counterkill scheme would die in the womb.
But if she didn’t explain clearly right now, it felt like she would be killed by Chen Qing before she even had a chance to learn Gu Technique and strike back.
Seeing Su Mu’s guilty look, the gloom in Chen Qing’s eyes deepened.
“Venerable Master, were you hoping I wouldn’t come back?”
