Guan Lu's miserable scream was like a red-hot iron skewer, savagely piercing Luo Jiangyan's ears.
She lunged forward and caught Guan Lu before her body hit the ground. Guan Lu was scorching hot to the touch; even through her clothes, Luo Jiangyan could feel that terrifying heat.
Guan Lu's eyes were tightly shut, her complexion alternating eerily between flushed red and deathly pale. Her teeth were clenched, and her whole body convulsed uncontrollably. Fine beads of sweat had barely seeped from her skin before the crimson qi constantly leaking from within her evaporated them into white vapor.
What alarmed Luo Jiangyan even more was that beneath the skin of Guan Lu's exposed neck and hands, dark-red patterns were faintly writhing, as though living things were moving through her veins. Wherever they passed, her skin gave off an unsettling crimson glow.
"Sister Lu! Sister Lu, wake up!" Luo Jiangyan tried to send a stream of gentle qi into Guan Lu's body to investigate. The instant it made contact, however, an exceptionally sinister and blazing force with fierce corrosive properties surged back at her. It raced upstream along her qi, scorching her meridians until they ached faintly. She hurriedly severed the connection.
"Someone, hurry!" Luo Jiangyan shouted sharply, her voice trembling slightly with anxiety.
Light and shadows flickered through the courtyard as several figures shot inside. They were the guards left behind, along with Black Armor Guards who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
"Miss!" Everyone's expressions changed at the sight of Guan Lu's condition.
"Quick! Fetch the best alchemists and physicians in the city... Send word to Taichu Peak immediately and request support! And notify the Black Armor Guard—have them send experts skilled in medicine, exorcism, or detoxification at once!" Luo Jiangyan issued one order after another at breakneck speed.