Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Removing the Mother Parasite

“Nan Feng, go to the cellar and call Chen Rong and the others up for lunch,” Changxia said.

Su Ye, standing nearby, frowned.

Changxia glanced at Su Ye and said softly, “I’ll go eat in the cave dwelling. Let Chen Rong come up for lunch. Once he’s finished, I’ll come back.”

“Witch, what’s going on?” Muqin asked in confusion. Why did Changxia have to avoid Chen Rong just to let him come up for lunch?

Nan Feng was also full of curiosity, unable to figure out what was happening.

“The witch is detoxifying Chen Rong. Because it’s a human blood parasite, he’s vomited a lot of blood and can’t have any emotional fluctuations. Granny Su Ye told me to avoid Chen Rong for a few days until the detox is complete,” Changxia explained, taking a fruit flour pancake and filling a wooden bowl with some meat and a few radish balls from the pig slaughter dish.

When she was serving the food, she asked Nan Feng to scoop a bowl for Nuan Chun as well, to be delivered later.

After Changxia left the kitchen, Nan Feng went down to the cellar to call the others.

Muqin looked at Su Ye and whispered, “Witch, is that true?”

“Human blood parasites are very rare. Chen Rong is lucky to have survived this long. If he hadn’t come to the Heluo tribe with Changxia and met me, he would have died for sure,” Su Ye replied coldly.

Her coldness wasn’t directed at Chen Rong, but at the Yuan family of the Tianyuan continent and the Nan Yue barbarians.

Such ruthless methods were simply too much.

The Nan Yue barbarians had once been wiped out for their obsession with using parasites and gu. Even after their tribe was destroyed, they didn’t change their ways; instead, they became even more vicious and sinister. If this continued, the true extinction of the barbarians was not far off.

After hearing this, Muqin couldn’t help but gasp.

The kitchen fell into silence.

A moment later, Chen Rong and the others came up from the cellar.

“Witch, where’s Changxia?” Chen Rong asked.

“She’s eating in the cave dwelling,” Su Ye replied. “Come, everyone, have a seat.”

This time, they didn’t sit at the table. Changxia had said that pig slaughter dish was best eaten gathered around the stove for the best flavor.

So Muqin and Su Ye brought over low stools, and everyone sat around the stove.

“Is this stewed meat? Smells a bit different,” Ya Dong asked.

“Changxia said this is pig slaughter dish,” Muqin replied. “Gen, let Chen Rong sit down. Don’t worry about Changxia—she’s got her own food and won’t go hungry.”

“Quick, try the radish balls!”

“This pig slaughter dish really is different from any stew I’ve had before.”

Chen Rong didn’t hesitate, sitting next to Gen, chopsticks in one hand and a fruit flour pancake in the other, joining everyone around the stove to eat.

“Chen Rong, how long will it take to finish the cellar?” Gen asked.

“Two or three days,” Chen Rong replied. “Once the walls are scraped, we’ll need to apply several layers of clay. The floor also needs to be tamped and coated with yellow mud a few times. After that, we’ll need to build shelves.”

“What’s this about a kang bed-stove?” Nan Feng piped up, unwilling to be left out.

She’d seen the blueprint for the kang bed-stove when she went down to the cellar and was instantly intrigued. Compared to a kang bed, she preferred a wooden bed, but the kang bed could keep out the cold during the winter, so she hadn’t refused to have one built in the cave. Now that she knew the kang bed-stove could combine both, how could she not be tempted?

“Changxia drew the plans, but we’ll need to experiment to figure out how to build it,” Chen Rong said cautiously. “It’s a lot more complicated than making tables and stools.”

Su Ye knew what a kang bed-stove was, so she wasn’t surprised.

Muqin, on the other hand, was completely lost listening to their conversation.

But she was always careful—if she didn’t understand, she wouldn’t interrupt, just listened quietly.

Next, Gen asked about the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, and Chen Rong explained each one. But when it came to the corridor and eaves, Chen Rong didn’t say much.

The less he said, the more curious Gen and the others became.

Everyone was thoroughly satisfied with the pig slaughter dish.

After the meal, they all said they wanted to have it again.

But since it was the early rainy season, it wasn’t convenient to go out. If they wanted to eat pig slaughter dish again, they’d have to wait until the rain stopped. Muqin and Nan Feng cleaned up the kitchen, and Gen took Muqin back to the tribe.

Their own cave dwelling had just been dug out, and there was still a lot of work to be done.

Especially after seeing Changxia’s stack of blueprints, Gen had a lot of new ideas.

Although he hadn’t managed to finish Muqin’s cave before Nuan Chun and the others, he could still be the first to make her a kang bed-stove. As for the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, Gen also wanted to build those for Muqin.

When it came to caring for females, Gen was second to none.

In the days that followed—

Changxia kept herself busy, while Chen Rong, after finishing the cellar renovations, led Ya Dong, Kong Shan, and a few others to start working on the kang bed-stove, as well as renovating the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet.

By the time Changxia snapped out of her busyness, the entire cave dwelling had been transformed, and even a short corridor had been built outside.

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At this moment, the first spring rain of the year finally came to a stop.

At the same time, Shen Rong’s detoxification had reached its most critical stage.

On this day, Chang Xia didn’t wander around Bai Lake as usual. Down by the lakeshore, a row of fences had been set up among the reeds, enclosing the hundred or so chickens and ducks she’d recently caught—she’d even managed to catch over a dozen geese.

Aside from the poultry, Chang Xia was now completely familiar with the Bai Lake area.

The wild vegetables she’d foraged had greatly enriched their daily meals.

In Su Ye’s words, she’d put on quite a bit of weight lately.

“Chang Xia, can you sit down for a moment? You’re making me dizzy, pacing like that,” Nan Feng whispered.

Inside the bathroom, Shen Rong was soaking in a medicinal bath.

This time was different from the first time he’d taken such a bath.

Now, Shen Rong felt no discomfort at all; in fact, he was completely at ease, his whole body warm and relaxed. This bath was mainly for nourishment. According to Su Ye, the goal was to draw out the true mother parasite from Shen Rong’s body. Previously, the parasites Shen Rong had coughed up were mostly eggs laid by the mother parasite.

After several rounds of medicinal baths and bloodletting, most of the parasites in Shen Rong’s body had been expelled.

Now, only the mother parasite remained.

As long as they could deal with the mother parasite, Shen Rong’s poisoning would truly be cured.

“Bai Qing, hold the wooden basin steady,” Su Ye instructed.

She used a bone needle to pierce all ten of Shen Rong’s fingertips and the webbing between his thumbs and index fingers. Previously, the blood from these spots had been black, but after repeated detoxification, it was gradually returning to normal.

In the corner of the bathroom, a special medicinal incense was burning.

This incense was a favorite of the parasites—and Su Ye had specially prepared it for this purpose.

To cure Shen Rong, Su Ye had spared no effort. She’d used up two-thirds of the rare herbs stored in the Shaman’s Hall; once Shen Rong was cured, she’d have to replenish them.

“I’ve got it, Shaman,” Bai Qing replied earnestly.

Soon, Shen Rong’s thin body began to convulse.

A mother parasite, as long as a finger, started wriggling around inside him. Shen Rong fought back his nausea, emptied his mind, and let the parasite move freely through his body.

Suddenly, Shen Rong felt a tickle in his throat and a wave of nausea surged up.

He abruptly stood and leaned over the edge of the tub. Seeing this, Bai Qing hurriedly brought the wooden basin over.

“Ugh—”

Shen Rong retched violently.

As he vomited, Su Ye quickly sprinkled a white powder into the basin.

Bai Qing’s face turned pale as he held the basin, frozen.

The faint medicinal scent in the bathroom couldn’t mask the stench that spread from the basin.