Song Jinzhao took out a white handkerchief and spread it flat on the table. She picked the pieces of fish meat with the threadworms from the pot and placed them on it.
The poisoner had dripped blood infested with parasites into the dishes; there were certainly more than just these two.
These parasites were too small and could easily latch onto any organ.
Given the few bites they had just taken, even vomiting everything from their stomachs couldn't guarantee no worms remained inside.
The three who had finished vomiting downstairs walked in, clutching their stomachs, their pale lips and faces looking awful.
Song Shixue fixed her gaze on the wriggling threadworms on the handkerchief, a thought dawning on her.
She asked in disbelief, "Elder Sister, are these... from the dishes?"
Song Jinzhao nodded. "It must be the work of the Life-Taking Sect, mixed into the food along with blood."
Song Gaoli drew a sharp breath, the nausea from vomiting rising in his throat again.
He staggered out of the room. This time, he didn't even make it down the stairs, bending over with his right hand braced against the wall, retching as if trying to expel his very organs.
Song Jinzhao had Song Shixue and Song Qiming sit down so she could check their pulses.
"Nothing shows on the pulse for now. The worms can parasitize and reproduce inside the body. We must kill them as soon as possible."
Song Shixue bit her lip, her eyes filled with a mix of urgency, worry, and anxiety.
"Elder Sister, ancient texts mention monsters called gu worms. Is this it?"
Legend had it that those afflicted with gu poison were either controlled for life or faced certain death.
Moreover, the dying process was excruciatingly painful; most couldn't endure it and even resorted to suicide to end their suffering.
Song Jinzhao picked up Song Anhao and placed Huzai into Song Shixue's hands. "Come with me to the pharmacy to buy medicine. I don't know if it's gu poison, but I know how to kill it."
Passing through the corridor, Song Qiming grabbed Song Gaoli by the collar and dragged him along. "Let's go, to the pharmacy."
The Life-Taking Sect people were surely nearby. Even if he was useless, they couldn't leave him behind.
It was dangerous; without Elder Sister here, they felt insecure.
In the room at the end of the corridor, Phantom and Rakshasa Ghost were watching the street below through a crack in the window.
Rakshasa Ghost raised an eyebrow. "Trying to flee?"
A frivolous smile curled Phantom's lips as he sneered, "Even if they run to the ends of the earth, they can't escape death."
"Send someone to follow. Song Jinzhao is very alert; don't get too close."
Rakshasa Ghost nodded. "Once Song Jinzhao and the others are dead, we'll eliminate that child directly."
Uproot the grass and remove the roots, leaving no future trouble.
In the carriage, Song Gaoli hugged his knees, trembling.
He had imagined a real fight with swords and spears, never expecting poison and being fed worms. It was utterly revolting.
Terrified, he clutched the hem of Song Jinzhao's skirt.
"Sister Jinzhao, can we really kill all the worms? Could they already be eating my heart and liver, drinking my blood?"
Disturbed by the noise, Song Anhao instinctively covered his ears with his hands, slowly opening his eyes to find himself in a carriage again.
He muttered to himself in confusion, "It feels like I didn't sleep long. Is it already the next day?"
He felt like he hadn't eaten yet.
Song Jinzhao held him by the back to steady him. "It's not the next day. You only slept for two hours."
Song Anhao nodded groggily, lifted the window curtain to look outside; it was almost dark.
Finding a pharmacy, they went in. Song Jinzhao handed a written prescription to the apprentice in charge of dispensing medicine.
"Please prepare five doses according to this formula."
The apprentice opened the prescription, glanced at it, then looked up at Song Jinzhao with suspicion.
"One moment."
He walked over to an old man wearing a hat and handed him the prescription. "Master, a customer brought this prescription, but it seems all the ingredients listed are poisonous."
The elderly physician took the prescription and peered at it closely, his sparse white eyebrows furrowing deeply.
He stood up and approached Song Jinzhao. "Miss, who prescribed this for you? What illness is it for?"
Song Jinzhao replied frankly, "I prescribed it myself. I am a physician."
The old physician gently stroked his beard. "I see. Miss, are you aware that all these herbs are toxic? If the dosages are incorrect, they could harm rather than heal."
Looking at this young girl, barely in her teens, her medical skills couldn't be that proficient. He worried she might have made a mistake without realizing it.
Song Jinzhao said, "It is precisely to use poison to attack poison."
"Physician, rest assured. I consider myself quite proficient in medicine. Please prepare the medicine quickly."
The old physician held the prescription, reading it over twice more, but still couldn't discern what illness it treated.
"Very well. Since you seem confident, I'll say no more."
He handed the prescription back to the apprentice and instructed, "Prepare the medicine for them according to the formula."
After leaving the pharmacy, Song Jinzhao and the others bought a medicine pot for decoction.
The Life-Taking Sect assassin who had been observing from afar quietly returned to the room and knelt to report.
"Hall Masters, Song Jinzhao took people to a pharmacy, bought a medicine pot, and has now returned to the inn."
Rakshasa Ghost stroked his chin, saying gravely, "Song Jinzhao is a physician, and I hear her skills are quite good. Could she actually neutralize the gu poison?"
The hand holding the fan in Phantom's hand paused slightly. He lowered his gaze, a dark tide swirling in his pupils.
"Our sect master searched the world for divine physicians and found no way to cure gu poison, let alone a girl in her teens. This is nothing but a deathbed struggle."
Sensing the disappointment in Phantom's tone, Rakshasa Ghost wisely kept his mouth shut.
