Chapter 1163: Why is it thorny thistles? (2/2)

“Where’s Lil Thing? Have it search, it’ll definitely find them,” Han Yunxi was getting uneasy.

“Princess, Lil Thing is right by the maternity ward, but Fourth Young Miss Ren said that Sir Beiyue hasn’t dropped by in the past two days at all,” Xu Donglin replied honestly.

“Then what’s Lil Thing doing now?” Han Yunxi grew doubtful.

“It’s just perching on the rafters,” Xu Donglin replied. “It hasn’t done anything. Fourth Young Miss Ren said that Lil Thing has been staring at her for the past two days. She has no idea what it wants.”

Han Yunxi didn’t speak. She wanted to communicate telepatically with Lil Thing, but found that it was impossible after she took its poison beast blood.

“Could something have happened to them?” Han Yunxi looked to Long Feiye, ignoring Lil Thing for now.

“Don’t worry,” Long Feiye replied.

It wasn’t until evening that Gu Beiyue appeared before Han Yunxi and Long Feiye. Long Feiye seemed to have guessed at something and kept quiet, but Han Yunxi was full of doubts. “Where did you go? We couldn’t find you all day.”

“I went to find Qishao, but couldn’t find him after scouring all of Medical City,” Gu Beiyue sighed helplessly.

That was enough to switch Han Yunxi’s focus on Gu Qishao. Before she could ask, Gu Qishao’s laughter sounded from beyond the courtyard.

“Poison lass! Poison lass, guess what Qi gege’s brought back for you?”

Gu Qishao came sauntering in with two bags of piping hot goodies. He set the parcels on the table and opened them up, sending fragrant, droolworthy flavors into the air. He began to introduce each of the items, all famous street foods from the little towns surrounding Medical City.

“I heard people get picky when they’re pregnant, so Qi gege found all these just for you. I’ve run around all day taste-testing them, so I can promise they’re harmless. Hurry up and try some, see if they suit your palate,” Gu Qishao said earnestly.

Han Yunxi had forgotten how many times it’d been since Gu Qishao had gifted her food. He must have offered up all the snacks on Cloud Realm Continent by now.

Long Feiye gave him a decisive judgment. “You have too much free time.”

“As long as it makes Poison lass happy!” Gu Qishao retorted.

Too lazy to bother arguing, Long Feiye sat down. Seeing this, the gluttonous Han Yunxi joined him while beckoning Gu Beiyue, Gu Qishao, and Xu Donglin to do the same. Like this, their dinner was set.

After the meal, Gu Qishao prepared to flee when Han Yunxi called him back. “Hold it! I’ve been waiting for you all day. Let’s go to our Academy Head Gu’s consultation room.”

Gu Qishao turned back with a smile. “I’ll go wherever you want me to.”

Long Feiye turned to Gu Beiyue, who met his gaze and shook his head. It was unclear whether Long Feiye understood the unspoken signal, but he remained mute. They ended up in a study, where Gu Beiyue took out a thick volume of records and a thinner booklet on medicine.

“Princess, this is the result of interrogations by this subordinate on Gu Yuntian,” Gu Beiyue explained. “It’s a record of all medicines Qishao has ingested from his time in the womb to his banishment from Medical City. The other is a list of medicine this subordinate organized from the intel, so princess can just read that one.”

Han Yunxi glanced over the contents without studying them in detail. She asked, “Qishao, how do you grow your vines? Why are they thorny thistles and not something else?”

Gu Qishao’s blood could nurture vines until they possessed the same undying, poison-immune characteristics as himself. Han Yunxi suspected that the secret to his constitution came from his bloodstream. Meanwhile, his current state must be a result of all the medicines he took since his conception. No matter how rare those medicines were, it was improbable that they could create an undying body after ingestion. Thus, she had to tell Gu Beiyue and Gu Qishao all her guesses and conjectures before leaving Medical City so they could stay and study it slowly.

Gu Qishao took out a blood-red seed. “Take a look, see if there’s anything special.”

Han Yunxi studied it carefully but didn’t find anything strange. She asked, “Gu Qishao, what kind of plants are your thorny thistles?” Naturally, this wasn’t their actual name--just a moniker based on their appeaances.

In truth, the thistle referred to the vine like projections while the thorns referred to spiky plants. Most people meant the thorny brambles growing in the mountainside when they said “thistles,” while “thorny thistles” was used here to describe spiky vines.

“Blood Rattan,”Gu Qishao said as he broke apart the seed to reveal a drop of fresh blood within.

Gu Beiyue looked at it carefully, then askd, “Qishao, is that...your blood?”

“Yep!” Gu Qishao was in a rare serious mood as he began to explain.

Many years ago, he had gotten bored of planting medicine in Pill Fiend Valley and wanted to make some sort of weaponized plant. In the end, his research led him to discovered a rare speciment of vine called thorny thistle. It fed off the nutrients of animal corpses and the essence of their blood and flesh to alow hyper growth within a short time. The vines were also very pliable and sturdy, making it ideal for tying up in knots or using as ropes.

They inspired Gu Qishao to plant the vines into his own flesh. He discovered that after taking in his blood, they could grow to maturity in an instant and be controlled at will. Later on, he used his blood to nurture the plants and plopped the seeds into the blood of animals and humans alike. Those seeds could grow rapidly as well while still remaining under his control. After that, he discovered that those seeds grown in the earth could also sprout at his command and be at his beck and call.

He called the special seeds raised by his blood the “Blood Rattan.” As long as the Blood Rattan grew within short-distance range of his body, it would possess the same undying characteristics and be immune to poisons. But there was nothing special to them beyond that--and his absolute control of the vines.

When Gu Qishao finished, Han Yunxi, Gu Beiyue, and Long Feiye were all exchanging looks.

Gu Beiyue muttered, “Qishao, the problem has to be in your blood!”