be deceiving us!At that moment, my heart turned cold. No way... Could Miss Lin have been pretending all alongHer slightly childish, yet well-behaved personality, is it all an act!Lin Yanqin's tears w...A short-tempered and pampered little one.

I braced myself against the icy, blade-like wind and struggled to open my eyes, gazing towards the exit of the stone passage.

A bloody, soft tongue protruded from the entrance of the canal.

Mmm... this is what makes Mu Wanchen "love and hate" at the same time—

Little, family, partners.

Compared to Bai Ni's physical body, it was indeed a small one. It wasn't very tall either, maybe… about three stories high.

But that "tonnage," I suspect this Guiling jumps once, the mountain will tremble three times.

The first thing I saw was its tongue, it seemed to flick it out to identify the visitor. Mu Wanchen didn't move at all, and it automatically retracted, opening up the passage.

At the end of the giant stone corridor lay an altar hidden deep within the mountain. As a symbol of witchcraft, each of the Five Poisons had its own underground palace altar.

This was my first time running blindly, I tripped and fell into a massive chasm. Below was the lair of the serpent spirits.

They truly regarded these "animals" as a form of faith, and the cunning Gu spirits were also willing to associate with the Shaman King.

This cave altar wasn't completely enclosed. There was flowing water passing through, and below, giant stones were arranged into a circular, shallow pond. In the middle, sat that "adorable" behemoth.

If this little cutie wasn't moving, I would have thought it was a huge rock.

Its back was uneven and craggy, resembling a treacherous mountain range. It was covered in strange black-blue and black-green patterns.

Mu Wanchen raised his hand and flew out several talismans. The stone lamps around the entire altar lit up with firelight.

With the azure soul lamps surrounding us, the little cutie slowly raised its eyelids.

Those eyes were incredibly large and very watery.

But the pupils were dark crimson slits, looking evil and dangerous.

"...hiss..."

It slowly retracted its tongue into its mouth, puffing out the poison sacs on either side of its cheeks.

A gigantic toad, a spirit of the five poisons.

I stared at the huge venom sac, terrified and burying my head to hide. Mu Wanchen softly said, “Don't make a fuss.”

"Glug...glug...glug..." The poison sac slowly shrank, and the massive toad squinted its eyelids before settling back down in the spring water.

The spring water was crystal clear and still emanated a chill. In the area where the living water flowed, there were some exotic flowers that emitted a fragrance. It was unclear whether it was the scent of flowers or the smell of poison.

"...Why did you come to seek out the spirit of the giant toad" I whispered in Mu Wanchen's ear.

The tiny toad, resembling a small hill, was lying in the water. As soon as I spoke, its half-closed eyelids suddenly flew open, and it stared straight at me.

That icy stare sent chills down my spine.

This was more frightening than when I saw Bai Ni. It gave me a very violent feeling, not at all like the "spiritual" closeness of a Gu spirit.

Moreover, it hadn't left its subterranean altar, unlike other Gu spirits who were close to Mu Wanchen and would appear at his command.

"It seems like it doesn't like strangers, should I go outside and wait for you" I whispered.

"No need, it's like this. I'll just get some toad secretions." Mu Wanchen placed me on the stone slab leading to the pool.

Look closely at the environment here. Every tile is engraved with runes, appearing magnificent and exquisite. This place is very clean, spotless even in a cave.

This place should be cleaned by someone, right

I looked around and suddenly saw something out of place—a piece of ragged cloth hanging from behind a stone lamppost.

Where a Gu spirit is kept, it must be clean and tidy. Where did this ragged cloth come from

Mu Wanchen took out the small bamboo tube and walked up to the giant toad. He raised his hand and touched the toad's face, and the toad closed its eyes slightly, indicating submission and affection.

I saw Mu Wanchen was busy with something, so I didn't call him. I walked over to the piece of torn cloth and picked it up, thinking about taking this trash out to throw away.

The poison of a toad is quite extraordinary. It is said that if the toxin gets into the eyes, it will cause swelling, pain, and vision loss.

But toads can be used as a kind of magical medicine. There is a record in folk recipes that uses ink tablets inserted into the toad's mouth, dried after which it can obtain toad ink, which is a wonderful medicine for detoxifying and cooling blood, especially good at detoxifying boils and carbuncles.

However, my father said this method of medicine-making was harmful to life and would damage one's fortune, so it wasn't commonly used. But ordinary people didn't care about that; if it cured diseases, it was a good thing. They also believed that toads during the Dragon Boat Festival period (and its surrounding days) were the most poisonous, which is why some places have the custom of catching toads during this festival.

And toads are also natural enemies of the geckos. Adding their venom to medicine should be able to quickly dissolve gecko eggs.

The big toad's evil, enormous eyes twitched toward me, and I thought I heard a snicker.

Scoff I shook my head. How could a giant toad scoff And it didn't even move.

Mu Wanchen quickly prepared the toad venom—actually, just its poison, worded more politely.

He handed me the small bamboo tube filled with poison. "Here you go," he said.

"Groooom," the large toad croaked in a low voice, seeming somewhat displeased.

"...It won't let me take it" I asked, puzzled.

"He's probably feeling jealous, didn't expect me to bring the princess," Mu Wanchen said with a smile.

Huh This is a female!

I was dumbfounded. Even a leper likes the Great Witch King!

"What is 'lai ge bao'" Mu Wanchen didn't understand this dialect.

"In common parlance, few people would call a toad formally. They'd usually just say 'toad,' or 'wart-frog.' " I peeked at the large toad from under Mu Wanchen's embrace.

It seemed to lie there, unmoving, in the giant stone pool at its feet.

When Mu Wanchen held me in his arms and walked out, his eyes were fixed on me. I faintly heard a sentence: "Be careful..."

"It's talking!" I pounded Mu Wanchen's shoulder, "Did you hear that Am I hallucinating"

“This is not auditory hallucination. Your spiritual energy grows with the female silkworm, allowing you to hear and feel many unusual things……Do you think those people raise worms for harm Most are not. They use the 'spirituality' of the worms to nourish themselves.” Mu Wanchen said.

"What is this big toad warning me about" I leaned against Mu Wanchen's shoulder, straining to look back.

As I approached the monolithic corridor, the toad spat out its tongue, blocking the entrance as if displeased by my presence.

"...What do you have in your hand" Mu Wanchen turned his head to see me clutching the broken jade pendant in my hand, on his shoulder.

“Oh, I just saw it behind a stone lighthouse, wasn't it someone cleaning up who got their clothes torn Guiling isn't very fond of dirt, is she So I picked it up. I'll throw it away later…” I explained slowly.

Mu Wanchen pinched my hand, making me open my palm.

He looked at the black, embroidered piece of cloth in my palm, his brows furrowing deeply. "This is clothing worn by the dead," he said, "How could it be here"

Oh!uld go and take a look, or stay at the door to guard the guiling inside. These little things won't run around, will theyAt a loss of what to do, a prickling sensation, as if a jolt of electricity had...