Nina hesitated. She hadn’t expected the Princess to be so clever as to ask to learn how to remove a gu curse.
She had really underestimated the Princess!
No wonder people said that children were often far cleverer than they looked.
Now, if she refused to teach her, she would be breaking her promise.
But if she did teach her, she would be violating the rules of her people.
Nina was caught in a dilemma.
Seeing Nina’s troubled expression, Duoduo exchanged a glance with Lüdou.
“Nina, as the saying goes, ‘Once someone is your teacher, they’re your father for life.’”
“You’re the Princess’s teacher, so that makes you family!”
“Since you’re family, why are you still hiding things from her?”
“Could it be that you only pretended to accept the Princess as your disciple?”
“Were you just trying to trick me into giving you pastries for nothing?”
“I even thought of a new pastry yesterday. I was going to make it for you!”
“But now that I think about it, forget it…”
“Who said I wouldn’t teach her?” Nina hurriedly said. “I was only thinking about how to teach her so the Princess wouldn’t learn it incorrectly.”
“Removing a gu is even more difficult than placing one!”
“If anything goes wrong, not only will the person carrying the gu be in danger, but the person removing it could also easily be attacked by the gu worm!”
Nina’s expression turned solemn.
Lüdou froze. “Is it really that serious?”
Nina nodded. “Of course!”
“If it weren’t, why would I have hesitated for so long?”
“Even among our people, many know how to place gu curses but don’t know how to remove them.”
“If my own master hadn’t been so skilled, I might not have learned how to remove them either.”
“Nina, don’t worry. I promise I won’t use it recklessly before I’ve completely mastered it,” Duoduo said solemnly.
Nina reluctantly agreed.
One reason was that she had taken Lüdou’s words to heart.
She was her master’s disciple, which was why her master had taught her.
The Princess was her disciple.
There was nothing wrong with teaching her own disciple!
As for the other reason…
“Lüdou, I’m hungry.” Nina turned to Lüdou.
Lüdou looked surprised.
It hadn’t even been the time it took to burn a single stick of incense since breakfast!
But she quickly understood.
“Perfect timing. I was just about to make some pastries.”
“Come to think of it, I’ll make a few extra. Aren’t you going back to visit your master, Nina?”
“I’ll make them look especially nice and pack them beautifully.”
“When you take them home, you’ll have plenty of face!” Lüdou coaxed her with a beaming smile.
Nina’s eyes lit up.
“Good! I’m going to start teaching the Princess, so hurry up and go!”
Lüdou bowed to the two of them before leaving.
Nina thought for a while before finally speaking.
“Princess, I once told you that we don’t casually place gu curses on other people.”
“One reason is that raising a gu worm that suits us is no easy task.”
“Before a gu worm is fully grown, it drinks one drop of our blood every day. That’s how it becomes connected to its master’s thoughts.”
“But once it enters a host’s body, it can no longer continue drinking its master’s blood.”
Duoduo nodded.
She had an excellent memory. After Nina explained something once, she remembered it all.
“The most direct—and cruelest—way to remove a gu is to kill its original master.”
“The gu worm and its master are connected in mind. Once the master dies, the gu worm won’t survive either!”
Duoduo’s eyes widened.
How cruel!
“The second method is to find a way to lure the gu worm out of the host’s body.”
“This method is somewhat difficult and carries great risks.”
“Once the gu worm leaves its host, it must be killed immediately.”
“Otherwise, it will attack the person removing the gu!”
Nina picked up her teacup and took a sip.
“The third method is to take a drop of blood from the host’s heart.”
“Then the person removing the gu must also give up a drop of their own blood.”
“After mixing the two drops with a secret formula unique to our Miaojiang homeland, the host must drink it.”
“When the gu worm senses the different blood, it will leave the host’s body on its own and burrow into the body of a new host.”
Duoduo couldn’t help shivering.
None of the three methods was simple.
What was more, none of them could be called humane.
A trace of mockery appeared on Nina’s face.
“What is it? Are you frightened?”
Duoduo forced herself to remain calm. “I’m not scared. I just don’t understand why there isn’t a normal way to do this.”
Nina glared at her. “Removing a gu was never a normal procedure to begin with!”
Duoduo puffed out her cheeks.
That was true!
Placing gu curses on people wasn’t something normal people did either.
“All right, you’re right.”
“Nina, keep going.” Duoduo admitted that she simply lacked experience.
Nina continued.
“The best way to learn these methods is through practice.”
Duoduo’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
“How do we practice?”
“Do I have to place a gu on someone first, then learn how to remove it?”
Nina nodded.
“Aren’t there plenty of people in the Prince’s Residence? Just call someone over.”
“That’s how my master taught me back then!”
Duoduo hurriedly shook her head.
“No, that won’t do!”
“We’re in the capital, not southern Miao territory!”
Nina shrugged.
“That’s your problem, then!”
“I’ve already taught you the methods. Whether you want to learn them or not is up to you.”
Duoduo bit her lip.
She remembered Xu Jinxin telling her about the “guinea pig” theory.
It wasn’t easy to catch mice in the Prince’s Residence.
But there were always chickens, ducks, and fish available.
“Nina, can I try it on an animal first?” Duoduo asked, seeking Nina’s opinion.
Nina looked shocked.
“An animal?”
“Princess, aren’t you wasting your gu worms?”
Duoduo raised one finger. “I’ll lend you my Golden Toad for an hour!”
Nina immediately smiled.
“Deal!”
“Qingliu, go to the kitchen and see what poultry the residence bought today.”
Afraid that Nina might change her mind, Duoduo immediately gave Qingliu her orders.
“Yes! This servant will go right away!” Qingliu said before running off and disappearing from sight.
Nina held out her hand to Duoduo. “The Golden Toad!”
Duoduo blinked.
“You have to teach me first.”
Nina looked dejected.
A few days earlier, Nina had shown off her gu worms to Duoduo.
She raised more than one kind of gu worm.
Among them was a toad that was green with red markings.
Nina had said that its venom was extraordinarily potent.
Duoduo had remembered the Golden Toad she raised and immediately brought it out to show Nina.
The moment Nina saw it, she fell in love with it.
She recognized at a glance that Duoduo’s Golden Toad was exceptionally rare in the world.
When members of Nina’s tribe competed with one another using gu, part of the contest involved comparing the toxicity of their gu worms.
She raised her toad to extract its venom for her little snakes.
Nina had immediately asked Duoduo for some of the Golden Toad’s venom, but Duoduo had refused.
Now, in order to learn, Duoduo had no choice but to sacrifice her Golden Toad.
As for whether Nina could actually extract any venom, that would depend on Nina’s own ability.
Qingliu soon came running back, a rooster dangling from her hand.
“Princess, on my way back, I ran into the Princess.”
“Princess asked what you wanted a chicken for.”
Qingliu’s face was full of guilt.
