Leng Yaozhu's moan.
Drifted into Li Luo's ears.
Li Luo's steps faltered.
He peered through the gauze curtain and froze...
On the bed,
Leng Yaozhu lay on her side, trembling all over as if trying to suppress something.
But she failed...
Her fragrant sweat had dampened her hair.
"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, what's wrong?" Li Luo asked through the door. "May I come in?"
Leng Yaozhu abruptly came to her senses, her face burning with embarrassment.
She hadn't expected herself to do something so outrageous.
If a junior like Li Luo saw her in such a state, how could she ever face anyone again?
"Wait a moment!" Leng Yaozhu called toward the door.
Then she did her best to steady her emotions. Feeling a little stronger, Leng Yaozhu climbed out of bed.
The moment her feet touched the ground,
her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
She tried to put on the dignified and graceful air she usually wore.
But the Seven-Colored Mushroom that had grown on her after she was infected by the spores was the most poisonous one of all.
And Li Luo was right outside.
Leng Yaozhu didn't dare use her hands, afraid Li Luo might see.
She desperately held herself back and barely made it over to him.
"Li Luo, something's very wrong with my body. It seems to have something to do with you," Leng Yaozhu said weakly.
Li Luo's expression turned grave. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I think I understand."
Leng Yaozhu's face flushed. What did Li Luo understand? Did he know about the Seven-Colored Mushroom?
Or did he know about the World of Alms?
Could Li Luo have felt what happened in the World of Alms, too?
Her face burned.
Her mind was full of confusion.
"What do you understand?" Leng Yaozhu had barely finished speaking when a wave of dizziness washed over her.
"Li Luo, I... I—"
Before Leng Yaozhu could finish, her whole body went limp and she collapsed.
"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix!"
Li Luo cried out in alarm and hurriedly reached out to catch her. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, what's wrong?"
But by then, Leng Yaozhu had already fallen completely unconscious.
Li Luo carried Leng Yaozhu.
With great effort, he dragged her onto the bed, silently grumbling to himself, Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix ought to lose some weight, especially those two mountains. They're killing me.
Li Luo wondered, Where did Leng Yaozhu's mushroom grow?
He checked her all over.
"This is strange. I found the mushrooms on Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, and Gu Yue."
"There's no reason I can't find Leng Yaozhu's."
"Could it be like Gu Yue's?"
His gaze sharpened. He thought of Leng Yaozhu's explosive figure—he'd seen her in a black combat suit, after all.
"This is going to kill me!"
He didn't dare reach out.
Even if he had to, he'd wait until Leng Yaozhu woke up and let her decide.
Meanwhile, Leng Yaozhu was once again pulled into the World of Alms.
Alms, alms.
Every place, every corner, was where she gave alms to Li Luo.
But Leng Yaozhu truly couldn't hold on any longer.
Her life essence was nearly spent...
"Ah!"
Leng Yaozhu cried out involuntarily and woke with a start. She saw Li Luo sitting beside her bed, staring at her in a daze.
Leng Yaozhu felt like her head was about to explode.
It was over!
He'd seen everything.
"Li Luo, if I told you this was an illness, would you believe me?" Leng Yaozhu asked, doing her best to calm herself.
Li Luo kept his eyes straight ahead. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I'm willing to believe you."
"Please don't tell anyone what you saw here, all right?" Leng Yaozhu tried to look calm.
Li Luo sat bolt upright. "I swear, I didn't see a thing."
Li Luo swore solemnly.
But his eyes still betrayed him, stealing a glance past her legs.
"Pfft!"
Li Luo hurriedly raised his head, stopping his nosebleed from spurting out.
Damn!
That was too stimulating.
Li Luo hurriedly changed the subject. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I might know what's causing your condition."
"May I ask, has a mushroom grown on your body?"
Leng Yaozhu's eyes widened. "You... you really do know!"
By "know," Leng Yaozhu meant that he knew not only about the mushroom but also about the World of Alms.
She felt she could never show her face again.
"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, it's all my fault. You suffered because of me," Li Luo apologized.
Confusion showed on Leng Yaozhu's pale face. "What do you mean?"
Li Luo answered earnestly, "The mushroom that grew on you was caused by me absorbing my second Soul Spirit, the Seven-Colored Mushroom."
"At the Braised Beef Shop that day, I'd just absorbed it and couldn't fully control its abilities yet."
"The Seven-Colored Mushroom's poisonous spores drifted away with my breath and landed on the people I'd been in contact with most. Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, you were one of them."
As Li Luo explained, Leng Yaozhu bit down hard on her red lips, afraid she might lose control and devour him.
So all the suffering she'd endured had been caused by Li Luo.
She really wanted to explode.
But seeing Li Luo's sincere expression, her anger eased a little.
The important thing now was to solve the problem.
She said coldly, "Why couldn't I pull the mushroom out myself?"
Li Luo pondered. "Your Excellency, I don't know the reason either, but I've noticed that you'll return to normal if I pull it out myself."
Leng Yaozhu's face darkened. "Only you can pull it out?"
Li Luo nodded and explained, "Four people were infected by the Seven-Colored spores."
"Two of them pulled out their own mushrooms, but the mushrooms grew back."
"After I pulled them out myself, they didn't grow back."
"The other person was the same."
"Once I removed their mushrooms, they returned to normal."
Leng Yaozhu murmured, "Is that the only way?"
Li Luo replied, "It's the only way."
When he'd checked Leng Yaozhu's body just now, he hadn't found anything in any obvious places.
The mushroom must have grown somewhere more hidden.
He didn't want Leng Yaozhu to think he was taking liberties with her, so Li Luo asked with solemnity,
"May I ask where the mushroom grew, Your Excellency?"
Leng Yaozhu froze. She could hardly bring herself to say where the mushroom had grown. What's more, Li Luo was a junior.
Just thinking about confessing it to him made her face burn.
Seeing Leng Yaozhu's expression, Li Luo understood. The mushroom on her had probably grown in the same place as Gu Yue's.
Gu Yue didn't keep her guard up around him.
But Leng Yaozhu was different.
Leng Yaozhu was the Spirit Pagoda's vice-tower master, a woman of exalted status and standing, and she wasn't close to him personally.
Naturally, it would be difficult for her to say it aloud.
Li Luo asked, "Your Excellency, do you have a red string?"
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