Although the little apprentice sister is weak, she can fight

"Brother, do you...feel embarrassed?"

"Yes, a little bit." Su Tingyu admitted it calmly.

"But as for face...if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem to be a big deal. If it's gone, it's gone."

Zhang Qiyan looked hesitant, "I think there's definitely something wrong with you."

Su Tingyu is a typical official disciple. His behavior has been very strict since he was a child. Although he has become more relaxed after practicing Taoism, he still has the habit of speaking in an official tone and making polite remarks. When faced with embarrassing things, he always subconsciously tries to smooth things over.

But today, this person actually speaks bluntly?

Zhang Qiyan touched his chin, thoughtfully.

"According to the method you mentioned on the way here, Mr. Su and I have examined everyone in this hall, and now all the poisonous insects in their bodies have been removed."

Tao Yao said this and handed a small cloth bag in her hand to Shen Qiao.

This contained the corpses of these Gu worms. Shen Qiao had discussed this with Tao Yao before. If a fight broke out, Tao Yao wouldn't have to use all her strength; she could just save her energy for the aftermath. As for the corpses, Shen Qiao had other uses for them.

Taking the cloth bag, Shen Qiao bowed and said, "Thank you for your help, Senior."

Tao Yao snorted and laughed, "What are you thanking me for? I didn't help much, I just came along to join in the fun. But what do you want with these insect corpses?"

"Oh, actually it's used as bait." Shen Qiao said with a smile.

"This incident has had such a wide impact that even the people and officials in the capital don't know who else has been infected. Previously, we could only investigate step by step to find out. Now that we have this intact insect corpse, we finally have all the bait materials to attract the Gu worms, which will make it easier to investigate."

Taoyao understood.

Just as he finished speaking, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the hall, "It's too late... It's too late..."

Su Tingyu reacted and looked at the emperor sitting on the throne who had long lost his presence.

He frowned. Although the Divine Sky Sect was now cooperating with the royal family, it did not mean to aid the evildoers. "Your Majesty, are you still trying to make a last-ditch effort?"

"Ah......"

The "Si Huang Xu" on the throne sat up unsteadily, holding his forehead. Shen Qiao always felt that the oppressive feeling from this person had completely dissipated, and he seemed to have become an ordinary person.

Moreover...this soul seems to be quite different from the previous Si Huangxu, as if the person has been replaced.

"A dying struggle...Haven't I always been on the verge of life and death, a dying struggle?"

The princes stared at each other for a moment, until Shen Qiao spoke tentatively, "You... are not Si Huangxu."

The middle-aged man raised his head. Although his eyes and eyebrows did resemble the Si Huangxu that everyone had previously thought of, his facial features looked gentler and he did not have that oppressive feeling of bullying others by taking advantage of his power.

Someone really changed.

This "miracle of a living being" scene caused the group of people present to fall into a brief silence, until Zhang Qiyan scratched the back of his head.

"What's going on here? I clearly didn't detect any trace of illusion."

Su Tingyu was the first to recognize him, "Are you...Si Huangzhao?"

"Si Huangzhao?" Tao Yao had obviously heard of this name before. She folded her arms in front of her and looked at the man. "That short-lived prince? Wasn't it said that he was assassinated while on an incognito tour decades ago?"

"Maybe... it's just a cover-up?" Shen Qiao formed a bold hypothesis in his mind.

She looked at Si Huangzhao and said, "Si Huangxu's cultivation went awry, but he was reluctant to hand over the power to you, so he borrowed your life and body?"

Si Huangzhao seemed to be staggering without any effort. He tried to get up several times but failed. Finally, he leaned against the throne as if to give up. "You are a brave girl... I guessed that this was almost right."

He chuckled and shook his head. "We can talk about these things later. Right now, there's something important I need to discuss with you all."

After Si Huangzhao finished speaking, he took a few breaths and said:

"My father had originally planned to use this sacrifice to release all the poisonous insects he'd been keeping in the private prison in the back garden. I've seen the power of these things. As long as a person comes into contact with a certain potion, the insects will smell the scent and bite them. The person bitten will develop a high fever within a day. After the fever lasts for seven days, the insect eggs will hatch in the body. If the host can survive these seven days, they will appear healthy again, but in reality, they have been successfully infected with the poisonous insects."

"If you can't recover, you will die immediately."

As he was speaking, he started coughing without catching his breath.

Shen Qiao frowned. "Is Si Huangxu doing this to turn everyone in the capital into backup test subjects for the Undead Army?"

"That's right." Si Huangzhao took the opportunity to take a deep breath and finally recovered.

"My father has been researching the Undead Army experiment for a long time, and he finally discovered that the Xiyuan Gu worms alone can only achieve the purpose of controlling or increasing physical fitness, but cannot increase a person's strength in a short period of time."

"So, if we want to develop a true 'Undead Army', we must combine it with soul magic. A two-pronged approach."

He smiled bitterly, "Father has long been obsessed. He wants to expand the scope of the Undead Army's experiments. First, he wants to inoculate everyone in the capital with Gu worms, and then further transform them when the time is right."

"Crazy." Tao Yao, an outsider, couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine when he heard this.

"Are those specific potions you mentioned the 'holy water' displayed in the city for the city's residents to soak in?"

"Exactly." Si Huangzhao seemed flustered when he heard Shen Qiao mention it. "Could it be that the city has already set it up?"

Shen Qiao nodded.

Si Huangzhao looked dejected and in pain.

"Aren't those poisonous insects still in the private prison you mentioned? How about we go and burn them now?"

Si Huangzhao shook his head. "At first I knew he had indeed kept these things in his private prison, but I had no idea during this period. I just vaguely felt that he seemed to have found some of the poisonous insects in this prison and transported them elsewhere..."

"Do you know the place?"

Si Huangzhao slowly shook his head again.

Su Tingyu immediately spoke to calm the situation and said, "Don't panic. Since Si Huangxu's goal is the capital, then these insects that were transported out should still be somewhere in the city. We can split up and look for them. We should still have time."

"There's one more thing." Si Huangzhao quickly interrupted, "I remember... he once mentioned a time to someone."

"It's the hour of Hai today."

The hour of Hai...

Shen Qiao calculated, "Doesn't that mean it's already passed?"

The atmosphere became solemn again, and at this moment a buzzing sound was heard outside the house.

Zhang Qiyan, who was closest to the door, turned around to look for it, but suddenly felt an itch on the back of his neck as if something had fallen on it.

“Hiss…what the…!!”