Chapter 174: Chapter 171: Hit Me
The Spirit Gu afflicting Qian Duoduo was called the Soul-Draining Mother Spider.
It was a lethal, slow-acting poison.
It lived as a parasite within Qian Duoduo’s body. It wouldn’t kill him immediately; in fact, during the initial period, he wouldn’t feel any pain or notice anything unusual at all.
All it would do was continuously drain Qian Duoduo’s vital essence, and then reproduce, and reproduce, and reproduce!
Only when every corner of Qian Duoduo’s body was saturated with its venom would its true power begin to manifest.
By that time, the Soul-Draining Mother Spider would be mature and possess a considerable degree of intelligence.
This was what made the poison so terrifying.
Even after maturing and gaining the ability to kill its host, it remained patient. It would never reveal itself until the final moment, content to simply drain Qian Duoduo slowly.
This was why so many of the Empire’s renowned doctors and Pill Masters had been utterly helpless, unable even to find the cause of his illness.
Now, the Soul-Draining Mother Spider was rooted to Qian Duoduo’s heart, creating a standoff where if one perished, so would the other.
The Nether Soul Flame was clearly not an option. One wrong move, and it could incinerate Qian Duoduo’s heart as well.
It was a risk Mo Qi could not, and dared not, take.
He could only wait for over two months until his period of weakness ended. Once his Dantian was filled with True Essence and his Cultivation took a great leap, he would have the absolute confidence to detoxify Qian Duoduo using another method.
"Damn it! How dare they try to harm me! They must have balls of steel! When I get back, I’m going to make the old-timers launch a full investigation and find the bastard who did this!" Qian Duoduo’s face was livid with rage.
Nangong Yan and the other two exchanged a look. They knew that once they got out of here, the Imperial City was going to be in an uproar, and so was the Empire!
With its one prince, two generals, and three high officials, the Qian Family was notoriously protective of its own. Moreover, every last one of them, from top to bottom, exuded the unmistakable air of the nouveau riche.
Years ago, when Qian Juduo wasn’t yet the Patriarch, a Prince from the Li Family had relied on his status and slapped him across the face.
When word reached the Qian Family, it was like kicking a hornet’s nest.
Hundreds of powerful experts in seclusion in the Qian Family’s ancestral land awoke at the same time, leading over ten thousand family disciples to surround that Prince’s mansion, sealing it off completely.
There were no negotiations, no attempts at reason.
Every single disciple of the Qian Family, each holding a Thunder Shocking Bomb worth a thousand gold pieces, threw them all inside at once.
No one knows what became of that Prince. In any case, from that day forward, a new, bottomless lake appeared within the Imperial City.
More critically, His Holiness Li Shimu not only failed to seek justice for the Prince—his own kinsman—but he actually bestowed lavish gifts upon the Qian Family to appease them.
It was hard to imagine how the Qian Family would react when they found out that their precious Qian Duoduo, whom they treated like a priceless treasure, had been poisoned into his current state.
...
To help Qian Duoduo recover his strength as quickly as possible, Mo Qi gave him another Medicinal Pill.
Qian Duoduo once again swallowed it whole, making Nangong Yan shake her head and think, ’What a waste.’
Freed from the Soul-Draining Mother Spider’s toxins, Qian Duoduo’s lost vital essence began to slowly recover, although he still hadn’t broken through in his Cultivation.
"I’m finally becoming a man!"
Qian Duoduo stood off to one side, feeling the changes in his body and cheering with delight.
Under the influence of the Soul-Draining Mother Spider, he had been unable to develop and mature like a normal person.
Now that his vital essence was recovering, he was finally becoming a true man.
"I’m going to marry ten wives!"
"No, ten isn’t nearly enough! I’m going to have a hundred! Hahaha!"
Nangong Yan was speechless. She turned her back, unable to stand the sight of Qian Duoduo’s punchable face any longer.
’Hmph, Xiaohuihui is so much better!’
Mo Qi, Zhao Zijun, and Zhu Fan, on the other hand, were quite understanding of Qian Duoduo. After all, the man had lived for nearly twenty years, and this was the first time his "little brother" had ever reacted. It was only natural for him to be excited.
"My dear brother, just say the word. What do you need me to do?" Qian Duoduo said, walking up to Mo Qi.
Mo Qi had not only saved his life, he had made him a man again. This debt of gratitude was greater than heaven itself.
Now, even if Mo Qi asked him to steal the Qian Family’s entire fortune, he wouldn’t even bat an eye.
"It’s nothing major. I just need you to hit me."
"Huh?" Qian Duoduo looked completely baffled. "My dear brother, what was that? I don’t think I heard you correctly."
He thought he must have misheard.
"I said," Mo Qi repeated, enunciating every syllable, "I want you to hit me."
"Er..."
It took Qian Duoduo a long moment to process that, after which he gave Mo Qi a peculiar look.
’And here I thought *I* knew how to have a good time,’ Qian Duoduo thought. ’Turns out my dear brother is the real master. I can’t believe he’s into... this!’
Mo Qi, oblivious to Qian Duoduo’s wild train of thought, pointed to himself and said, "Attack me with your most powerful technique. Don’t hold back. A continuous attack would be best—the longer you can maintain it, the better."
’What? It has to be continuous?’
’Wow, my dear brother, I had no idea your tastes were not only unique, but so... intense.’
"Um... my dear brother, will you be needing any... props? A whip, for example?" Qian Duoduo asked tentatively.
Now Mo Qi finally understood Qian Duoduo’s bizarre expression.
’A scoundrel will always be a scoundrel,’ Mo Qi thought. ’The scar’s barely healed and he’s already forgotten the pain!’
’Well, if that’s how it is...’
A grin spread across Mo Qi’s face. "Sure, why not."
As he spoke, he thoughtfully transformed the Obsidian into a long whip and handed it to Qian Duoduo.
Qian Duoduo’s smile froze. ’He actually has one!’
"My dear brother, are you sure about this?"
"Enough nonsense, I’m in a hurry! Remember, use all your strength. If you dare slack off, I’ll just let that Spirit Gu stay right where it is."
"No, don’t do that! I’ll start right away! I’ll be sure to use all my strength to satisfy you!"
Nangong Yan, Zhu Fan, and Zhao Zijun were stunned by the conversation between the two.
’What in the world is going on?’
Before they could react, Qian Duoduo swung the long whip and viciously lashed out at Mo Qi.
CRACK!
CRACK!
"AHH!"
Qian Duoduo’s bloodcurdling scream tore through the sky, echoing Within the Pass, audible for miles in every direction.
Why were there two cracking sounds from a single lash of the whip?
As the whip descended, Mo Qi’s Token automatically protected its master. An invisible ripple deflected the incoming lash, sending it flying back along its original path with twice the speed and force, landing right on Qian Duoduo’s burn-scarred, bald forehead.
The sound was spectacularly crisp, like a clap of thunder.
The whip clattered to the ground. Qian Duoduo fell backward, stiff as a board. The searing pain on his forehead made him want to cry, but no tears would come.
’I knew it! When my dear brother is involved, it’s never that simple!’
The corner of Mo Qi’s mouth curled up. ’That’s what you get for being a smart-aleck with me!’
"Keep going," Mo Qi said. "That was only one strike. We agreed on a *continuous* attack, remember?"
"My dear brother, I was wrong again! Please, let me off the hook!"
’Are you kidding me?’ he thought. ’One lash of the whip, and Mo Qi is fine while my own forehead is about to crack open.’
’A few more lashes, and he’d whip himself to death long before the Soul-Draining Mother Spider ever got the chance.’
Seeing he’d had enough fun, Mo Qi stopped teasing him. "Don’t use a weapon," he said. "Attack me from a distance with your True Essence. That way, the attack won’t be reflected back at you."
"And remember, don’t stop for any reason until I tell you to."
"Do you need us to help?"
Although Nangong Yan and the other two didn’t know what Mo Qi was planning, they still offered to help.
"Of course. I couldn’t ask for anything more."
