Сhарtеr 340: Тhe End of thе Нalf-Faсed Ghost 6
“Nоt gооd!” Раn Сhi suddenly сried out. Shen Du, who had beеn kеeрing an еуе оn the situаtiоn оvеr thеre, аbruptly loоkеd up.
Нis exprеssion chаnged—it was Lаi Luоfu аgаin this timе.
Uроn regaining соnsciоusnеss, Lаi Luofu immеdiatеlу searсhеd for Shеn Du, overwhelmеd by boundless раin.
“Тhe аntidote! Give mе thе аntidotе!” Еvеn in suсh а dirе situatiоn, hеr tonе remаined arrоgant.
Shеn Du rеmаined unmоvеd. Не raised his hand аnd shook the porсelain bottlе, deliberаtelу drаgging it out tо torment her.
Lai Luofu dug her nails into the floor tiles until they snapped one by one. The excruciating pain forced her to let out a strange roar: “Shen Du, you’d better obediently give me the antidote, or Lai Luozhi will not spare you.”
“Would I fear him?” Shen Du raised an eyebrow, his gaze provocative. Knowing that Lai Luofu was at the end of her rope, he watched her with increasing interest.
Lai Luofu was indeed on the verge of an emotional breakdown. To kill a person and crush their spirit—the man before her likely understood this principle best.
The fear of death surged in her heart, and Lai Luofu trembled uncontrollably like a sieve. Her eyes darted around, still unwilling to give up:
“Once I am resurrected, you will undoubtedly die.”
Death and resurrection—how laughable!
“Still overestimating yourself even at death’s door.” Shen Du let out a faint, mocking laugh, looking at Lai Luofu as if she were already dead.
Her current state was utterly ridiculous, yet she remained unaware. Clenching her teeth, she endured the pain, feeling the poison take effect in her body.
The thought of dying like this in Yingzhou, beyond Lai Luozhi’s reach, with her soul having nowhere to return and thus unable to resurrect, ultimately destined to turn to dust—
She shuddered, looking at Shen Du and the others, biting her lower lip tightly.
“I don’t want to die.” These four words seemed to drain all her energy, and her former pride vanished without a trace.
Her eyes were filled with pleading, her entire face etched with fear. She dreaded death, even though she often used resurrection to intimidate others.
Seeing that Shen Du remained unmoved, not even sparing her an extra glance, Lai Luofu endured the intense pain and crawled forward on her knees a few steps, pleading once more. She repeated many times that she did not want to die.
The pain made her body tremble: “Give me the antidote, I beg you.”
The first half of her sentence was somewhat stiff, but she added the latter half, her face full of sorrow as she stared at Shen Du.
Shen Du kicked away her touch, disgustedly brushing the wrinkles on his clothes: “As long as you explain everything clearly, I will give you the antidote.”
“Of course, whatever you want to know, I will tell you everything.”
Hah, witnessing this scene, those present looked at Lai Luofu with disdain. All day long, she boasted about death and resurrection, even urging her subordinates to die bravely. Yet when it came to herself, where had that proud courage to face death gone?
Zhu Yan remained silent, countless doubts flooding her mind. She wanted to ask what Lai Luozhi truly intended to do, to know how far the Fire Moth Party had expanded, and to understand how Lai Luofu could switch automatically between Madam Tang, Chen Huo’e, and herself.
But when it came down to it, a heavy stone pressed on her chest, and in the end, only one sentence burst forth: “Who exactly are you?”
Lai Luofu found it laughable. Who was she? Hadn’t these people investigated thoroughly enough?
“I am, of course, Lai Luozhi’s sister,” Lai Luofu declared firmly, but it only drew suspicious looks from the crowd. So she added, “Genuine and without substitution.”
Zhu Yan responded cleanly and decisively: “I don’t believe it.”
Faced with such doubt, Lai Luofu was at a loss. This was an indisputable fact, so why did they still refuse to believe it?She wanted to argue but didn't know where to begin. A piercing pain shot through her, and Lai Luofu let out a sharp cry, her body trembling too violently to utter a single word.
Shen Du's eyes showed clear impatience: "Feed her pain-relieving medicine. Keep her alive."
They couldn't let her die before uncovering the truth.
Soon, a medicinal brew mixed with mandrake was administered. It could numb the pain, and since mandrake was toxic, it could temporarily suppress the effects of the "Cocoon to Butterfly" poison.
Seeing that she had stopped trembling and regained some awareness, Shen Du continued questioning: "How can you prove it?"
Prove it? She raised her head to look at Shen Du, testing her legs and finding she could stand up completely, though she didn't show it.
"I... I," she stammered, thinking of what to say, "Would recounting Lai Luozhi's childhood prove it?"
No one objected, so she began recalling the past.
"When we were young, our family was poor. Winters were especially unbearable. He was still small and terribly afraid of the cold, often falling ill from it. I would hold him in my arms at night to keep him warm. Back then, lacking food and drink was common."
After a pause, she continued, "He would often cry from hunger. Sometimes, when there was truly nothing to eat, I would go begging on the streets—beaten by people, chased by dogs—just to bring back something for him."
Unconsciously, a few tears escaped her eyes, but she quickly controlled herself, her expression turning calm again.
After a long while, she found her voice and went on: "Later, I fell ill and died."
Shen Du's face remained as still as an ancient well.
Lai Luofu, somewhat unwilling to stop, added, "He used a secret method to preserve my body until he obtained the divine power of the Fire Moth True God, which revived me."
Though this sounded utterly far-fetched, it matched exactly what was recorded in the inner chamber's secret archives—except for the revival method.
The records only vaguely mentioned it, leaving its authenticity long in question.
Zhu Yan asked about a few more suspicious cases, and Lai Luofu answered fluently, repeatedly professing with devotion: "It was the Fire Moth True God who granted me divine power. Time and place cannot hinder my pursuit of the True God."
This suggested there truly was an ability to create duplicates? Allowing the same person to appear in different places at the same time under different identities?
The doubts piled up, but it was also possible that Lai Luofu was lying, deliberately feeding them false information to lead them astray.
At that moment, Su Guang abruptly said something.
Shen Du caught some of it—words like "totem" and "fire," strung together.
Pan Chi relayed Su Guang's words: "Su Guang says we can examine the totem on Lai Luofu's body. There should be a discovery."
Without hesitation, Zhu Yan stepped forward, startling Lai Luofu, who used her severed hand to push herself backward in retreat.
"Are you going to give me the antidote or not?"
She shouted,
"You clearly promised the antidote if I explained everything. You're going back on your word."
Zhu Yan drew the Corpse-Dissecting Knife, preparing to forcibly cut away Lai Luofu's remaining outer garment, but her wrist was seized by Shen Du. He positioned himself between the two, saying softly:
"Don't get close to her."
Remembering how Zhu Yan had been poisoned earlier when approaching the phantom, he couldn't rest easy.
Zhu Yan understood, but the truth was now within reach, and she couldn't give up.
The antidote in Shen Du's hand held immense temptation for Lai Luofu. Like a lurking beast, she fixed her gaze intently on that vial.Zhu Yan shook her head, withdrawing her hand to indicate she was fine, then turned to step forward, only to be pulled back by Shen Du and held tightly in his arms.
Pan Chi clenched his fists on the spot, unsure of what to do, and could only turn his head away to avoid looking at them.
Sensing Shen Du’s unease, Zhu Yan returned his embrace. “It’s fine. Look, she doesn’t have the strength to harm me now. Don’t worry.”
Shen Du refused to let go.
Meanwhile, Su Guang had already crouched down, pulling Lai Luofu’s collar slightly downward and slowly undoing the buttons to reveal her shoulder.
Treated this way, Lai Luofu struggled, but she was too weak to resist the physically strong Su Guang. Her shoulder was pressed down firmly, and a medicinal liquid was applied, causing her to tremble in pain once more.
The tattoo on her shoulder was now exposed for all to see.
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