The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 552: Chapter 552: Seven Corpses Gu

Since an autopsy was required, dissecting the bodies was to be expected.

But everyone present had assumed she would only give them a cursory look; no one thought she would go this far.

Fan Chengzhuo’s expression was grim, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop her now.

Lian Zhou, however, went over to Xiao Wu. Seeing the scene, he instinctively shifted to block the little girl’s line of sight.

Xiao Wu tilted her little face up and blinked.

Lian Zhou crouched down and grinned at her. ”There’s nothing to see here! The shadow puppet shows at the West River Bridge market are much more fun! Especially during the Lantern Festival, the streets are filled with tasty food and fun things to do! How about it? Why don’t I have my Princely Heir take you to see it sometime?”

Just as he’d hoped, Xiao Wu’s interest was piqued, and her eyes lit up!

’Yes, yes! We can go with Big Sis and Third Brother... Huh? Why is the Princely Heir coming too?’

Xiao Wu glanced uncertainly at Shen Yanchuan.

She liked the Young Master, but the new year was always the busiest time. ’The Dingbei Marquis Mansion must have so much to deal with, right?’

’Could the Young Master really find the time to go with them?’

Lian Zhou coaxed her, ”The more the merrier, right? Besides, if you bring our Princely Heir along, he’ll definitely be the one paying. You can ask for anything you want, and he’ll surely get it for you!”

Xiao Wu was instantly even more tempted.

’For... for free?’

But a second later, she came to her senses and shook her head like a rattle drum.

’No, no! The Young Master saved Big Sis’s life before. I was even planning to prepare a nice gift for him during the new year to thank him!’

’But Third Brother said the Young Master’s mansion isn’t lacking anything, so giving him some ordinary trinket would be pointless.’

’I have to give him something really special!’

’I haven’t even figured that out yet, so how could I take advantage of the Princely Heir again?’

Seeing her gestures, Lian Zhou roughly guessed what she meant. He chuckled and gestured with his chin toward the dissection.

”What’s the big deal? Look, didn’t your Big Sis save our Princely Heir’s life today too? That fire was huge! She rushed right in without even batting an eye!”

A flicker of confusion appeared in Xiao Wu’s eyes.

’Hmm... When Big Sis went in, wasn’t Mr. Lian Zhou not even here yet? Why is he talking like he saw it with his own eyes?’

’But what he said isn’t wrong. Big Sis really did...’

Xiao Wu stood on her tiptoes, clutching Lian Zhou’s clothes as she craned her neck to look.

Lian Zhou scratched his head.

This little girl was really brave, not even afraid of a scene like this.

’It seems my worrying was a bit unnecessary.’

...

Flesh was cut open, revealing the internal organs.

Ye Chutang’s fine brows furrowed slightly.

Shen Yanchuan sensed something and followed her gaze.

On the surface, nothing seemed amiss.

But Ye Chutang’s expression...

”What is it?” Shen Yanchuan asked.

Ye Chutang didn’t answer. She stood up, moved to the second corpse, and performed the same examination.

Only when the chests of all the men had been cut open did Fan Chengzhuo finally lose his patience. ”Second Miss Ye, what in the world are you doing?!”

Ye Chutang finally paused but didn’t respond to Fan Chengzhuo. Instead, she looked at Shen Yanchuan.

”They weren’t poisoned. They’re afflicted with a poisonous insect.”

”A poisonous insect!?”

Shen Yanchuan immediately realized what she meant and looked at the corpses on the ground.

”You’re saying these men were—”

”Correct. They all died from a poisonous insect.”

Ye Chutang walked over to a prison guard holding a torch.

”Excuse me, may I borrow that torch?”

”Ah? Oh, oh, of course!”

The prison guard quickly handed her the torch.

Ye Chutang thanked him and turned back to the corpses.

Then, she raised the torch and moved it toward the corpse’s chest—

”Stop!”

Fan Chengzhuo immediately tried to stop her.

”What is Second Miss Ye doing? What if you damage the body? That would be trouble!”

Ye Chutang arched an eyebrow. ”Who said I was going to burn the corpse?”

”But you’re—”

Fan Chengzhuo’s face turned cold. He looked again to Shen Yanchuan.

”Princely Heir, are you really not going to stop her!? If Second Miss Ye—”

”No matter what she does, I will bear all the consequences,” Shen Yanchuan cut him off. ”Does Mr. Fan have any further objections?”

”I—”

What else could Fan Chengzhuo say?

Shen Yanchuan had truly blocked every path!

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, a sudden gasp from the crowd caught his attention.

”Look! What is that!?”

Fan Chengzhuo froze and instinctively looked toward Ye Chutang. The next second, the sight before him made his hair stand on end!

As the torch was lowered and its scorching flame neared the corpse, the exposed heart suddenly began to squirm!

It was as if something was hidden underneath it, darting back and forth trying to escape!

The scene was so bizarre it was like seeing a ghost!

Even Fan Chengzhuo, who was accustomed to all sorts of bloody scenes, couldn’t help but take a step back, his face pale. ”Th-that is—”

The torch burned with a CRACKLE and a POP.

Ye Chutang lowered her wrist slightly, bringing the flame closer, and the squirming beneath the heart became even more pronounced!

Finally!

A faint popping sound was heard!

Something shot out from within!

Shen Yanchuan’s expression darkened, and his wrist flickered. ”Careful!”

SHING—THWACK!

An extremely thin dagger had appeared in Ye Chutang’s other hand at some unknown moment. No one saw how she moved; they only saw a flash of silver as the dagger flew out, instantly pinning the scurrying thing to the ground!

A flicker of movement in Shen Yanchuan’s eyes, and he relaxed his stance.

Ye Chutang walked over and pulled out the dagger.

Only then could everyone see clearly that it was a blood-red Gu Worm!

It was only the size of a soybean; one could easily miss it without looking closely.

Ye Chutang studied the tiny Gu Worm.

”This is a Seven Corpses Gu. It’s refined from seven types of venomous insects, fed with corpse fluid, and implanted into a human body. Once it activates, it devours the internal organs, causing the victim to die bleeding from all seven orifices.”

She looked back at the other bodies.

”If I’m not mistaken, the others died the same way.”

Dead silence.

Her tone was perfectly calm, as if she were discussing the most ordinary of matters, yet her words sent a chill down everyone’s spine, striking fear into their hearts!

At this, they finally understood Ye Chutang’s earlier actions—without fire, finding this Gu Worm would have been nearly impossible!

”It’s a good thing we came quickly. This Seven Corpses Gu can only survive in a corpse for a day. If we had waited until tomorrow, I’m afraid all traces would have vanished.”

The corner of Ye Chutang’s lip curled slightly as she looked at Fan Chengzhuo.

”What a fortunate turn of events. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Fan?”