Hearing Zhong Lichun's words, Mo Li turned to look at the still-busy Wei Dengke again. Admiration showed in his eyes. He knew nothing about mechanics and was completely ignorant of science, but from what Zhong Lichun had said earlier, he could sense how impressive the all-purpose assembly tools Wei Dengke had designed were. Judging solely by their appearance, the more than twenty small spheres looked almost exactly alike, with nothing unusual about them at all. At first, Mo Li had even suspected that the spheres Wei Dengke carried were something like grenades.
While Mo Li was still marveling at the assembly tools Wei Dengke had invented, Wei Dengke had already put together another device. It stood nearly twenty centimeters tall and looked like a large funnel.
Before Mo Li could ask any questions this time, Wei Dengke had already given him the answer. He picked up the kettle from the electric stove, then poured the sand-filled water inside it into the funnel-shaped device.
After emptying all the water, Wei Dengke somehow produced a collapsible drinking cup and placed it beneath the funnel. Before long, water began flowing from the bottom of the funnel. It was clean and transparent, without a trace of impurities.
By this point, even an idiot could have guessed that this was a filtration-based water-purifying device. Mo Li never would have imagined that these metal spheres could even be assembled into something like this.
Wei Dengke picked up the cup, put two small white pills of unknown origin into it, and only then walked over to the girl. With Big Beard's help, he lifted the girl up and helped her drink the water.
After the girl drank all the water in the cup, Wei Dengke went back to boil more. According to him, one cup definitely wasn't enough, and this process would have to be repeated many, many times.
Less than two minutes after drinking the water, the girl began to react. She suddenly contorted in unbearable pain, then clutched her stomach and began rolling on the ground, letting out one agonized scream after another. Seeing how much she was suffering, everyone present was at a loss.
After writhing on the ground for a little over a minute, the girl suddenly sat bolt upright. Then she opened her mouth and began vomiting. Since there was nothing in her stomach except the water she had drunk, what came out was naturally water as well.
A large number of black worms writhed among the water. The worms that had been vomited out twisted desperately before quickly dying. After vomiting, the girl was utterly exhausted and lay back down on the ground, apparently lapsing into unconsciousness.
When the girl finally quieted down, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But just then, Wei Dengke had already finished boiling the second cup of water and brought it over for the girl to drink, just as before.
What followed was an endless repetition: feeding the girl water, the girl vomiting, feeding her more water, and the girl vomiting again. The process continued for more than three hours. The girl had been left extremely weak, but fortunately, fewer and fewer worms appeared in the water she vomited. After there were no worms in the water she vomited three times in a row, Wei Dengke stopped boiling more water.
Looking at the unconscious girl, Big Beard asked Wei Dengke nervously, "Have the worms inside the Princess been completely eliminated?"
"I'm not sure. After all, these worms don't just live in the host's stomach; they also inhabit the intestines. The ones in the stomach can be vomited out, but the ones in the intestines can't." Wei Dengke shook his head as he answered.
"...Then what do we do? What if those worms reproduce in large numbers again? Won't all our previous efforts have been wasted?" Big Beard asked anxiously.
"Don't worry. She drank a large amount of alkaline water, so the alkalinity in her intestines should be quite high as well. Although those worms can't be vomited out, they should all be dead by now. They'll be expelled along with her waste later." Wei Dengke smiled and patted Big Beard on the shoulder before answering.
Hearing Wei Dengke's words, the tension on Big Beard's face finally eased somewhat. After glancing at the unconscious girl again, he picked up her shirt from the side and covered her with it.
After dealing with the girl's problem, Wei Dengke dismantled the electric stove and the filter, restoring them to the inconspicuous little metal spheres. Once he had hung the spheres back on the bag, Wei Dengke walked over to Mo Li and Zhong Lichun and said with a grin, "Well? Have I made you see me in a new light?"
However, the man seemed to have forgotten how he had mocked Zhong Lichun earlier. Unfortunately for him, she hadn't forgotten. Just as Wei Dengke approached with a smug grin to claim credit, Zhong Lichun suddenly kicked him without warning. Wei Dengke might have had a sharp mind, but his physical abilities were poor. Even though he saw the kick coming, he couldn't dodge it.
With a scream, Wei Dengke was kicked to the ground by Zhong Lichun. She refused to let up and went over to add several more kicks, saying angrily as she did so, "You bastard, how dare you mock me? So what if I'm big-breasted and brainless? What are you going to do about it? You've got a little cleverness and suddenly you're getting cocky!"
"Ow! Ow! Mo Li! You're really just going to watch her beat me? Come save me!" Wei Dengke covered his head with both hands, screaming as he begged Mo Li for help.
Looking at the fierce Zhong Lichun and the thoroughly beatable Wei Dengke, Mo Li pursed his lips helplessly. He hurried over, grabbed Zhong Lichun, and advised her, "All right, all right! Why are we fighting among ourselves? We still have a mission to complete. What will happen to the mission if you beat him crippled?"
Although Mo Li was holding her back, Zhong Lichun still kicked Wei Dengke once more. Then she pointed at him and said, "If you dare mock me again, I'll make sure that foul mouth of yours can never speak again!"
"Again? There won't be an again! Once this mission is over, I wouldn't go on another mission with you even if you killed me. You're far too violent!" Wei Dengke rubbed the places that had been kicked and sat up, gritting his teeth as he grumbled.
Just as Wei Dengke was complaining, a low growl suddenly came from the distance. Hearing it, Mo Li, Zhong Lichun, and Wei Dengke all turned toward the source at almost the same time.
Not far from the cage holding them was a patch of woods. The ground was covered with a large number of ferns, so the three of them couldn't see what was happening inside the woods at all.
As the three watched the direction the sound had come from warily, the ferns across from them, which stood higher than a person, suddenly began shaking violently. Clearly, something was hiding behind them.
Realizing that something was wrong, Wei Dengke quickly climbed to his feet and handed General's Knife to Zhong Lichun. She took the knife, assumed a fighting stance, and stared warily at the swaying ferns before saying to Mo Li and Wei Dengke, "Be careful. I have a bad feeling about this."
Before you continue