Chapter 457: Breaking the Xijin Gu Poison, the Fierce Battle Rages

Chi Rui had remained behind to guard the camp. He was on the training grounds, leading the soldiers responsible for its defense in their drills.

Seeing Ji Qingwu appear, he quickly put down the spear in his hand.

After last night, everyone in the Northern Border Camp knew of Ji Qingwu’s place in Emperor Wu Su’s heart. No one dared to show this young woman the slightest disrespect.

In a temporary animal pen on the east side of the training grounds, the she-wolf was lying in the shadows, wagging her tail at Ji Qingwu.

Chi Rui said respectfully, "Greetings, Miss Ji."

Ji Qingwu asked, "Vice General Chi, how is the Little Red Spider?"

Chi Rui replied, "I sprinkled some of the medicinal powder Eunuch Li sent over for the spider, but it wouldn’t eat it. I even fed it some insects, but it didn’t touch them."

Ji Qingwu said, puzzled, "The powder is medicinal, so it’s normal that it won’t eat it. But why won’t it even eat food? Do spiders go on hunger strikes?"

Chi Rui couldn’t understand it either. He said, "I’ll go get the Red Spider now."

The group found a military tent suitable for discussion. The flap was rolled open, and the she-wolf crouched guard at the entrance.

Ji Qingwu sat at the table and took the transparent glass bottle that Chi Rui presented with both hands.

The Red Spider, which had been actively crawling inside the bottle, immediately curled up the moment it was in her hands. It looked like a tiny, solidified drop of blood, remaining motionless no matter how she shook the bottle.

Chi Rui clicked his tongue. "The spider’s playing dead again."

Qi Peiyao leaned in for a closer look and recalled, "I remember this thing’s color wasn’t this deep."

Chi Rui said, "Deep? I think the color has gotten lighter."

Hearing their words, a glint flashed in Ji Qingwu’s eyes. She placed the bottle on the table so they could get a better look.

Ji Qingwu had Qi Peiyao sit down before asking, "You’ve seen one before?"

Qi Peiyao nodded. "This little spider is quite cute."

Chi Rui said, finding it hard to believe, "You call this thing cute?"

Qi Peiyao looked at him as if he were simply ignorant. "I used to catch these for fun when I was a child. We called them ’Cherry Ladies.’ Every midsummer, they would spin red webs in the sea buckthorn bushes."

She tapped her fingertip lightly against the bottle, and the spider actually started to climb, following the sound.

Qi Peiyao said, "But when I got a little older, these Cherry Ladies became rare. For a while, merchants were buying them up. A single one could sell for a string of coins."

"So you’re saying it was originally non-venomous." Ji Qingwu tapped the neck of the bottle, and the little spider curled its legs up again. She furrowed her brow and said, "The people of Xijin must have bought them and turned them into a Spider Gu."

"Gu?"

Qi Peiyao’s eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen one, but she knew how potent Gu poison was.

She was a bold one. She reached out to touch the small bottle. Once in Qi Peiyao’s hands, the Little Red Spider began to crawl slowly again, as if it wanted to get out and attach itself to a person.

Chi Rui said, "Put it down, quick! Aren’t you afraid of it?"

Qi Peiyao was both scared and excited. "I am, but I’m also curious. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Gu."

But she still put the small bottle down quickly.

Ji Qingwu stared at the Little Red Spider and suddenly curved the corners of her lips into a smile.

"One of you said its color was deep, and the other said it had faded. If I’m not mistaken, this Gu was likely fed with the caster’s blood, which is why it has such an unnatural red color."

Chi Rui said, "That explains it. Without human blood to feed on, the spider’s color has faded over the past few days. No wonder it doesn’t need to eat."

Ji Qingwu saw the spider start playing dead again as it got closer to her. She spoke, "There’s one more thing I want to verify. Could you two step outside for a moment?"

The two of them exited the tent. She took out a silver hairpin with a crescent moon engraving from her sleeve.

Before the hairpin even got close to the bottle, the Little Red Spider had a strong reaction, scurrying in circles at the bottom.

Ji Qingwu’s eyes lit up.

’That day, the Wolf King regained its senses not because of the she-wolf’s howls, but because of the hairpin I was carrying.’

’This Little Red Spider plays dead whenever it sees me. It’s not afraid of me, but of the silver hairpin I have on me.’

Ji Qingwu held her breath, focused her attention, and opened the bottle’s stopper. The moment the silver hairpin neared the Red Spider, there was a sudden POP. The Little Red Spider had self-destructed, leaving a speck of blood that glowed with a blue halo on the inside of the bottle.

Ji Qingwu prodded the speck of blood with the hairpin, and the blood was instantly absorbed into it.

She looked at the seemingly ordinary hairpin in her hand with a surprised expression. It had broken the Spider Gu so easily.

The silver hairpin was an heirloom from Su Daiyue. Before she died, she had entrusted it to Qingwu to give to her maternal aunt, but it had eventually found its way back into Ji Qingwu’s hands.

She remembered that when Yu Wen Tianqing went to the dungeon to find Su Fengyue, he had also mentioned this hairpin.

’Although I don’t know what relationship Su Daiyue’s aunt has with Gao Zhao Yue, one thing is certain: this hairpin has a great purpose. It’s probably a treasure capable of breaking Xijin’s Gu poison.’

After cleaning the hairpin, Ji Qingwu wrapped it up and carefully put it away.

Outside the military tent, a chorus of wolf howls rose and fell.

Qi Peiyao had never seen such a scene before and looked pleadingly at Ji Qingwu as she walked out of the tent.

The little wolf, which had been tilting its head back to answer its companions, immediately trotted over and affectionately nuzzled against her.

Ji Qingwu asked, "What’s happening?"

Chi Rui frowned as he listened to the howls, which were growing louder, indicating that the wild wolves were getting closer.

He said, "That’s the sound of wild wolves calling their companions. Could the Wolf Clan be under the control of a Gu, coming to attack the camp?"

Although the little wolf was by Ji Qingwu’s side, its eerie green eyes were fixed on the distance. Ji Qingwu followed its gaze.

A pack of wolves was charging toward the camp. Bringing up the rear, the largest of them all, was the very same Wolf King that had been set free that day.

Chi Rui said, "Miss Ji, don’t be afraid. I’ll send men to..."

Ji Qingwu stopped him. "They don’t have any malicious intent. They just want to help us."

The little wolf wagged its tail at her, as if in response to her words.

Sure enough, the wolf pack didn’t charge into the camp. Instead, they lingered on the perimeter. The hundred or so gray wolves formed a living, moving wall, encircling and protecting the camp.

Qi Peiyao said, "They’re here to protect us!"

Ji Qingwu stroked the little wolf nestled by her skirt and said with a gentle smile, "Thank you."

The Northern Border Camp now had another layer of protection, but...

’Even though Gao Zhao Yue can’t control the wolf pack now, she can still control thousands of other ferocious beasts like tigers and leopards.’

’What will Gao Zhao Yue do when she learns that Yu Wen Tianqing isn’t dead?’

Ji Qingwu gazed at the magnificent, round sun setting on the horizon, mentally calculating the army’s marching speed and the hours it would take.

’The Beili Army should have already reached the Xijin Camp. The two armies should be clashing right now, locked in a fierce battle.’

*

While on the march, the Beili Army encountered a mirage that clearly projected the scene inside the Xijin Camp before their eyes.

The Xijin camp was located in an extremely hidden position. Because Yu Wen Tiancheng disliked bright light, the barracks were also kept intentionally dim.

To outsiders, it was like a maze. Not even Beili’s Hidden Guards had ever succeeded in infiltrating it.