Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

"Thank goodness you're back."

Sang Quan said, "It doesn't matter whether I live or die, but she's still so young."

This tiny cub doesn't even know what the poison of the hook is, and when it's in pain or hungry, it only dares to cry softly.

Every time Sang Quan went out to find food, the little cub would look at him in fear. Although Sang Quan repeatedly assured him that he would come back, the little cub was always worried that he would be abandoned.

Sangzhi touched the little bump on the cub's head. In fact, he himself was still a cub that hadn't grown up, but in front of the even smaller cubs, he actually looked like a mature adult.

“I’m going to Fengqiu to find the tree root right now, you won’t die,” Sangzhi said.

He handed the cub to Sang Quan, then looked at Xu Lingguang with eager eyes.

Xu Lingguang patted his shoulder and said gently, "There is still some soil left. Let me see your injuries. Perhaps we can use this soil to temporarily alleviate the poison."

Sang Quan carefully held the cub, who couldn't speak much yet, in her arms and rolled up her trouser legs so that Xu Lingguang could see her: "At that time, those hooks took advantage of the fact that Sang Shui and I couldn't get away and crawled in through the tree hole... Hong Guo and the others were all scratched to some extent."

Fortunately, the space inside the hollow tree trunk was not large, and the enormous Jie Gou could not maneuver in the narrow space, which gave him and Sang Shui the opportunity to kill Jie Gou and save several cubs.

However, the cubs were too young, and after being frightened and infected with the poison, only Hongguo survived.

"So your name is Hongguo (Red Fruit)."

Xu Lingguang gently touched her trembling ear with his fingertips, took out a fasting pill and put it in her hand: "Here, take this. Don't be afraid, you'll be fine soon."

Hongguo blinked and looked down at the small round ball in her hand. The ball was a pale yellow. She glanced at her brother who was hugging her, but he didn't stop her. So she tentatively lowered her head and licked the ball.

The sweet taste on her tongue made her eyes widen in surprise. She raised her hand to gesture for Sang Quan to try it too, and said in a little disjointedness, "Sweet, brother, eat!"

A smile appeared in Sang Quan's eyes. He pretended to lick it and said, "Brother has already eaten. You can have the rest."

Hongguo, unaware of anything, genuinely believed her brother had already eaten, and withdrew her hand, contentedly licking the small round ball bit by bit.

Xu Lingguang only began to treat her wounds after he saw that her attention had shifted to the fasting pills.

Both of Hongguo's legs had wounds, including pecks and scratches.

Although the wounds were not deep, the large area caused the cub's legs to be infected with toxins. The skin, which should have been smooth and delicate, had shriveled and wrinkled, resembling old tree bark.

Xu Lingguang first cleaned her external wounds, and then took out the remaining soil to refine a medicinal liquid to detoxify her.

However, this soil was not as pure as the white jade roots. Xu Lingguang spent a lot of effort but only managed to refine a small amount of medicinal liquid, which was barely enough to treat one leg.

As for Sangquan, he wouldn't even get a single drop.

Sang Quan, however, was quite open-minded. Seeing that the poison on Hong Guo's leg had truly subsided, he completely dispelled his worries and said loudly, "Didn't you say that the White Jade Tree Root is in Fengqiu? I've been to Fengqiu a lot, I'll go with you to find it."

Xu Lingguang nodded: "Let me take a look at your injuries first."

To everyone's surprise, Sang Quan hesitated and said, "I think I won't. It's not a serious injury."

Xu Lingguang frowned slightly and suddenly realized that he had been hunched over and hadn't been standing up straight for a long time.

His tone became more serious: "Let me see your injury. If it's too serious, you'll only be a hindrance if you come with us."

Sang Quan's face stiffened, but Xu Lingguang was right. He told Sang Zhi to take the red fruit to the side so the cubs wouldn't see it.

Then he turned around and said, "The injury is on my back."

Xu Lingguang lifted the hem of his shirt, and his brows immediately furrowed.

Sang Quan had several crisscrossing scratches on his back, one of which, near his heart, was particularly deep, with the flesh torn and never healed. Part of his back was withered and dry skin, and another part was rotting flesh corroded by toxins, making it look horrifying.

It's hard to imagine that a boy who is only seventeen or eighteen years old would go out every day to find food and raise a cub while suffering such serious injuries.

Xu Lingguang sighed, gesturing for him to sit down. He then gave him a quick treatment of his festering wound: "Sangzhi and I are going to Fengqiu. You stay here and take care of Hongguo. We'll be back as soon as we find the tree root."

Sang Quan was clearly reluctant, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Xu Lingguang said seriously, "There is no room for discussion, it's settled."

Sang Quan frowned and looked at Sang Zhi, but Sang Zhi was playing with the red fruit and completely ignored him, let alone speak up for him.

He hung his head dejectedly: "Okay."

Xu Lingguang and Sang Zhi set off the next day.

In addition to leaving Sangquan and Hongguo enough fasting pills and medicine for injuries, Xu Lingguang also left them some pills for self-defense.

With everything arranged, Xu Lingguang took Sangzhi and set off under the rising sun.

As evening fell, they arrived at the outskirts of Fengqiu. The two of them quietly hid in the grass to observe the surrounding environment: "I felt that the whole of Fengqiu was very restless and unsafe."

But he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was causing the disturbance.

They just instinctively felt that Fengqiu was different from before they left. Although they didn't smell the stench of the Jie Gou or hear its hissing, they still felt a chill down their spines.

Xu Lingguang asked Sangzhi in a low voice, "Do you ever feel this way?"

Sangzhi nodded solemnly.

With his eyes closed, he slowly turned his face around, his nose twitching slightly, and his ears open as if sensing something: "I smelled a strong stench of blood, and I also heard the joyful cries of the hook."

"It's like a celebration."

Xu Lingguang's heart skipped a beat: "Celebrate?"

What could Jie Gou possibly have to celebrate?

He almost immediately thought of the white jade tree roots underground, the source of which he didn't know what they were.

Many years ago, Jie Gou suddenly appeared in Fengqiu, and the ancestors of Sangjiazhuang were forced to move out of Fengqiu. After that, Jie Gou has been entrenched in Fengqiu and has never left.

Thinking about it that way, it really does seem like they're looking for something.

The priest, in his drunken ramblings, mentioned the roots of the white elm tree and the god of Fengqiu, so what they saw that day was actually the "god of Fengqiu".

And Jie Gou is probably looking for it too.

"Let's go over and take a look."

Xu Lingguang picked up a mulberry branch, tossed it behind his back, and made him hold on tight before gathering his strength and heading deeper into Fengqiu.

As the distance closed, the chilling sense of danger intensified.

At the same time, Xu Lingguang also smelled a very faint fragrance. It was hard to describe what kind of smell it was, but it made Xu Lingguang unconsciously swallow.

He held his breath and carefully jumped onto a large, leafy tree, gazing toward the source of the fragrance.

Upon seeing it clearly, her pupils contracted—

Amidst the overlapping shadows of the trees, a huge white flower opened its petals. Its roots, which should have been deeply embedded in the soil, were forcibly pulled out of the earth, each root held in place by countless hooks and sharp claws.

In the very center, the two exceptionally robust and enormous hooks that Xu Lingguang had seen before roughly tore open the tightly closed petals and burrowed into the flower bud to peck at it.

The fragrance in the air became even stronger.

Xu Lingguang swallowed hard. No wonder he hadn't smelled the foul odor of the hook before; it had been diluted by the fragrance.

"What exactly is this thing?" Xu Lingguang murmured.

Suddenly, the mulberry branch lying on his back said, "I heard it crying for help."