Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Living Parasite Worms

“Parasite worms!!”

Chang Xia stared at Bai Qing in shock, her hand trembling as she pointed at Shen Rong, who was still coughing up blood in the tub. Her face alternated between pale and flushed—clearly, she was struggling to accept this reality.

“The pills and medicinal bath made by the Wu have the effect of invigorating the blood. Before, Shen Rong used medicine to forcibly put the parasite worms to sleep in his body. To detoxify him, we have to wake them up,” Bai Qing explained calmly. His knowledge of parasite worms came from the Wu.

Shen Rong’s coughing up blood was within the expected range of detoxification.

In fact, aside from the blood, what was even more terrifying was that Shen Rong felt as if his whole body was being gnawed by countless insects. The pain was relentless, attacking both his body and soul.

But—

Shen Rong’s expression was far too calm.

So calm that Bai Qing couldn’t help but doubt what the Wu had told him.

Could it be that the parasite worms weren’t as terrifying as she’d described?!

But when Bai Qing’s gaze fell on Shen Rong’s face, he saw alternating beads of cold and hot sweat, and veins bulging beneath the skin. Bai Qing realized that Shen Rong wasn’t free from pain—he was just enduring it all.

At that thought, Bai Qing couldn’t help but suck in a few sharp breaths.

So tough?

For no reason, Bai Qing’s gaze toward Shen Rong lost some of its former hostility and gained a trace of respect.

At this moment, he truly admired Shen Rong’s strength!

Very few people could endure such bone-gnawing pain.

Not even the bravest totem warriors.

“Isn’t there any other way to detoxify him?” Chang Xia asked hesitantly.

Su Ye stepped into the storeroom and said, “No. The poison in Shen Rong’s body is too deep. If we don’t use drastic measures, his condition will only get worse. Coughing up blood is just the parasite worms leaving his body with the blood—it won’t kill him. If you really care about him, make him some food to replenish his blood. But don’t overdo it, or you’ll just end up nourishing the worms inside him.”

Before, Shen Rong had forcibly put the parasite worms in his body to sleep.

Other than being unable to use his bloodline power in battle, he wasn’t affected much.

But after taking the pills Su Ye gave him and soaking in the blood-invigorating medicinal bath, the dormant worms had awakened. Now, there were things he absolutely couldn’t eat carelessly.

Eating the wrong thing could be fatal.

“Are you sure coughing up this much blood won’t kill him?” Chang Xia asked.

The black blood splattered around the tub had even stained the packed yellow earth floor—a considerable amount.

How much blood does a normal person have in their body, anyway—

The amount Shen Rong had coughed up seemed to be nearly half of his total blood volume.

Su Ye replied calmly, “I personally prepared the pills and the herbs for the bath. Don’t worry, Shen Rong won’t die.” At worst, he’d wish he was dead.

Shen Rong gripped the edge of the tub tightly with both hands.

Faint fingerprints were left behind.

It was clear how much strength Shen Rong was using to keep himself from crying out in pain in front of Chang Xia.

Such excruciating, bone-piercing pain could easily drive a person mad.

Even someone as strong-willed as Shen Rong was nearly at his limit.

“Chang—Chang Xia. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Those few short words took all of Shen Rong’s remaining strength. He didn’t want Chang Xia to see him in such a miserable state, so he tried to get her to leave the storeroom.

Sensing Chang Xia’s presence, Shen Rong couldn’t suppress the heat surging inside him.

His body temperature rose, his blood flowed faster.

As a result, he started coughing up blood even more quickly.

Seeing things taking a turn for the worse, Su Ye picked Chang Xia up and tossed her out of the storeroom, warning, “I told you, during Shen Rong’s detoxification, you two should sleep separately. For the next few days, avoid seeing each other as much as possible. Otherwise, Shen Rong could die from blood loss.”

That last sentence—

Su Ye wasn’t trying to threaten her.

She was just stating the facts.

“Bai Qing—” Chang Xia looked at him, hoping for an explanation. She only half-understood what Su Ye had said, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Su Ye was hinting at something else.

Bai Qing explained, “The parasite worms will make Shen Rong feel the urge to reproduce, which increases his blood flow and makes him cough up blood faster. During this time, it’s best for you two to stay apart.”

“…” Chang Xia stared speechlessly at Bai Qing.

Hearing this kind of thing from someone Bai Qing’s age felt so awkward and out of place.

Luckily, Bai Qing’s face remained blank, his expression unreadable.

That spared Chang Xia from dying of embarrassment.

“Alright, I’ll leave Shen Rong to you and Granny Su Ye. I’m going to bed,” Chang Xia said, her face burning with embarrassment. She quickly ran back to her own cave, slammed the door shut, and flopped onto her kang bed to sleep.

So Chang Xia went to sleep.

Back in the storeroom, Shen Rong and the other two stood there, faces serious.

Su Ye shook her head at Shen Rong, took out a wooden stick, and handed it to him. “If it hurts, bite down on this. Don’t bite your tongue off—that’s a real hassle, and I wouldn’t know how to explain it to Chang Xia.”

“Mm!” Shen Rong grunted heavily and bit down on the stick Su Ye held to his mouth.

"Open your mouth and bite down hard on the wooden stick."Groans of pain echoed in the air, low and suppressed, like the dying moans of a wild beast. The guttural sounds were so raw that anyone listening could almost feel the excruciating pain themselves.

“Hang in there a little longer, the medicinal bath will be over soon,” Su Ye said gently. “You’re the most resilient male I’ve ever seen—no wonder you managed to survive even after being poisoned by a Gu. The Yuan family letting you walk out of the Western Lands alive might have been their biggest mistake.”

“If he hadn’t come to the Twilight Forest, Chang Xia would have been better off,” Bai Qing replied, unwavering.

Su Ye looked at Bai Qing calmly and said, “Bai Qing, you’re being too extreme. Chang Xia meeting Chen Rong at the Normandy Market was fate, a destiny bestowed by the Beast God.”

“I don’t trust him,” Bai Qing said bluntly.

The look he gave Chen Rong was no longer the respectful and humble gaze he’d shown during the day.

Bai Qing cared for Chang Xia, but it wasn’t romantic—it was a pure, simple attachment. In his eyes, Chen Rong wasn’t good enough for Chang Xia, and might even bring disaster upon her. The Western Lands had always been a calamity that the Eastern Lands wanted nothing to do with. Chen Rong’s arrival could very well be the spark that ignited that disaster.

Back then, Chen Rong hadn’t gone to the Sirius Tribe, but had chosen to wander in the Twilight Forest instead. He must have understood the complexities involved.

Su Ye smiled and gently ruffled Bai Qing’s hair, as warm as ever. “You don’t need to trust him. The one who needs to trust him is Chang Xia. Neither you nor I have the right to interfere with her choices. Bai Qing, you should trust Chang Xia—trust her judgment. She’s always been the best.”

In Su Ye’s eyes, no one in the Twilight Forest could compare to Chang Xia. Not even Bai Qing, the next successor to the shaman, could hold a candle to her.

Su Ye was openly biased, and he meant it.

After hearing Su Ye’s words, Bai Qing fell silent. He watched Chen Rong, who was struggling against the Gu poison in the bath barrel, and realized that, just as Su Ye said, he should trust Chang Xia’s judgment. If Chen Rong was truly unworthy, Chang Xia would never have brought him back to the Heluo Tribe.

Still, Bai Qing felt he needed time—time to get to know Chen Rong.

Seeing Bai Qing’s attitude soften, Su Ye didn’t say anything more about Chen Rong.

“Come, give me a hand and help me get him out,” Su Ye said.

Time was up, and Chen Rong had reached his limit. They needed to pull him out of the bath barrel.

Chen Rong was incredibly strong, and Su Ye couldn’t manage it alone. Before approaching the barrel, Su Ye scattered a layer of white powder on the ground near the bath. As soon as the powder touched the black blood on the floor, it sizzled and smoked.