Gu Qianying and Su Cheng dismounted, preparing to inquire about the Saintess Lu Zhu from the tribal people.
However, as they approached the tribe, they found the scene before them vastly different from their last visit.
Gu Qianying frowned at the sight before her. The people in the tribe all had vacant expressions, walking between houses with twisted and bizarre postures. How had the once peaceful and prosperous tribe become like this? The tribesmen seemed to have lost their minds.
Su Cheng walked to Gu Qianying's side, pulling her to a hidden corner to discuss countermeasures.
"Qianying, these people are acting strangely, just like the one who extracted a soul and three spirits. They have no independent thoughts."
Upon hearing Su Cheng's speculation about souls and spirits, Gu Qianying shook her head and stated her understanding.
"No, no matter how high the skill and level of the person behind this evil deed, it's impossible to extract the souls and three spirits of an entire Wu clan tribe in such a short time. This is simply too unbelievable."
Little Yi Hao, held in Su Cheng's arms, also saw the strange appearance of the Wu clan tribesmen. Hearing his mother and Su Cheng's discussion, he reached out and tugged at Gu Qianying's collar.
"Mother, could it be that those people have been poisoned by Gu?"
Gu Qianying's thoughts were sparked by her son Xiao Yi Hao's question, and she nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, son, your guess is very likely. Only Gu poison can spread throughout the entire tribe at once and control the minds of the tribesmen."
Gu Qianying reached out and stroked Xiao Yi Hao's head, very pleased with her son's intelligence.
Hearing the word "Gu poison," Su Cheng also understood that this was likely the cause of the situation. But how to detoxify the tribesmen and make them clear-headed to ask about the whereabouts of Saintess Lu Zhu?
Seeing Su Cheng's thoughtful expression, Gu Qianying knew he was thinking the same thing. She pursed her lips and softly suggested to Su Cheng, "Let's walk into the tribe first, look for more clues, and find an opportunity to detoxify them. Anyway, neither of us has low cultivation, so we won't be subdued by ordinary people who are defenseless and now move slowly."
Su Cheng nodded, hugged Xiao Yi Hao tightly, and followed Gu Qianying into the Wu clan tribe.
As they entered the Wu clan tribe, they attracted the attention of the already foolish tribesmen.
Sensing the aura that did not belong to the Wu clan on Su Cheng, Gu Qianying, and Xiao Yi Hao, the tribesmen glanced at them and gradually moved away from the three outsiders.
Gu Qianying approached the crowd and stopped one person, intending to observe the tribesman's complexion and physical condition closely. However, the tribesman pushed her away forcefully. Gu Qianying's brow furrowed, and she adopted a defensive posture.
Their actions attracted a large number of people from the Wu clan tribe.
Although the tribesmen were not clear-headed and could not express themselves normally, they all let out shouts from their mouths.
Some of the slightly faster-moving young men of the Wu clan tribe extended their hands flat, holding their palms upright, and quickly approached Gu Qianying, intending to push her down.
Others surrounded Su Cheng and Xiao Yi Hao, forming a circle.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Su Cheng told Xiao Yi Hao to hold on tight and prepared to fight his way out.
"Hold on tight, little one, don't fall off."
Xiao Yi Hao was very sensible, his small arms tightly encircling Su Cheng's waist and back, burying his little head in Su Cheng's chest.
Su Cheng protected Xiao Yi Hao with one hand and drew his sword with the other. He did not want to stain his hands with the blood of too many innocent people, so he did not injure them with his sword but swung it to defend against the attacks of the Wu clan tribesmen.
While fending off the tribesmen, who were not clear-headed but inexplicably hostile towards them, Su Cheng moved forward, trying to break out of the encirclement and reunite with Gu Qianying on the other side.
Gu Qianying had to deal with even more people than Su Cheng, and the Wu clan tribesmen were full of hostility towards her.
They all looked at her as if they wanted to kill her.
Su Cheng, worried that Gu Qianying would be exhausted after the long journey and then engage in combat, shouted to her, "Qianying, let's retreat first! This place is not suitable for staying long!"
Hearing Su Cheng's words, Gu Qianying knew he was worried that the three of them would be trapped here. However, if they left like this, they would not be able to find Lu Zhu's whereabouts.
"No, we can't just leave! We still need to find a way to get Lu Zhu's whereabouts from these Wu clan tribesmen."
Su Cheng felt anxious and had no time to think further. He directly retorted, "Then what should we do now?"
Gu Qianying thought rapidly in her mind and quickly came up with a plan. While dealing with the Wu clan tribesmen who had been poisoned by Gu, she said, "You take Xiao Yi Hao to a safe place first, and I'll follow immediately!"
Although Su Cheng did not agree with Gu Qianying's arrangement, he knew that if he continued to stay here with Xiao Yi Hao, he would not be of much help. Therefore, Su Cheng took a deep breath, exerted his strength, and swung his sword qi to knock down those who were close to him and Xiao Yi Hao. Seizing this opportunity, he hugged Xiao Yi Hao and went to a hidden corner where the Wu clan tribesmen would not notice.
Seeing Xiao Yi Hao being taken away by Su Cheng, Gu Qianying breathed a sigh of relief and then proceeded with her plan: to capture a few people who were most likely to know Lu Zhu's whereabouts, detoxify them, and obtain information about Lu Zhu's movements after they regained their senses.
She slowly retreated while scanning the faces of the nearby Wu clan tribesmen.
Finally, in the crowd, she saw Lu Zhu's maid Wu Xiaolan and two male subordinates who always accompanied Lu Zhu – Wu Ming and Wu Lei.
After identifying the targets, Gu Qianying stopped resisting passively. Instead, she leaped forward, grabbed Wu Xiaolan with one hand, and held her under her arm. She then immediately grabbed Wu Ming and Wu Lei, who were near Wu Xiaolan, and brought the three of them to the corner where Su Cheng and Xiao Yi Hao were.
After being brought to this corner, Wu Xiaolan, Wu Ming, and Wu Lei still looked foolish, and their behavior revealed their resistance to Gu Qianying and the others. They kept backing away.
Seeing this, Su Cheng quickly took out ropes from his bag and cooperated with Gu Qianying to tie up Wu Xiaolan, Wu Ming, and Wu Lei.
With their movements restricted, it became easier for Gu Qianying to investigate and understand.
She leaned closer to examine Wu Xiaolan, flipped open her eyelids, observed her skin, and then grabbed Wu Xiaolan's wrist to take her pulse, confirming that she had indeed been poisoned by Gu.
Looking at Wu Ming and Wu Lei, their symptoms and conditions were exactly the same as Wu Xiaolan's.
Gu Qianying combined her knowledge of Gu poison to determine the type of Gu poison and then informed Xiao Yi Hao.
Xiao Yi Hao knew that his mother was telling him this because she needed his help to detoxify them.
Mother and son took out silver needles, preparing to remove the Gu poison from Wu Xiaolan, Wu Ming, and Wu Lei.