Red String of Fate

The moans of Leng Yaozhu drifted into Li Luo's ears.

Li Luo's footsteps faltered involuntarily.

His gaze pierced through the gauze curtains, and he was instantly stunned...

Upon the bed, Leng Yaozhu lay on her side, her entire body trembling as if she were struggling to suppress something.

Yet, she had failed...

Fragrant sweat had dampened her hair.

"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, what is wrong?" Li Luo asked from outside the door. "May I come in?"

Leng Yaozhu jolted awake, her face burning with shame.

She had never imagined she would do something so absurd.

If a junior like Li Luo were to see her in such a wretched state, how could she ever face anyone again?

"Wait a moment!" Leng Yaozhu called out toward the door.

Then, she forced herself to regain her composure. Feeling her strength return slightly, she climbed off the bed.

The moment her feet touched the floor, they couldn't stop shaking.

She tried her best to maintain her usual air of nobility and grace.

However, the Seven-Colored Mushroom that had sprouted due to the spore infection was the most toxic one on Leng Yaozhu's body.

And Li Luo was right outside.

Leng Yaozhu dared not use her hands, fearing Li Luo would catch sight of it.

She suppressed herself with all her might, barely managing to reach Li Luo.

"Li Luo, something is very wrong with me, and it seems to be related to you," Leng Yaozhu said weakly.

Li Luo's expression turned grave. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I believe I understand."

Leng Yaozhu's face flushed red. What did Li Luo understand? Did he know about the Seven-Colored Mushroom?

Or did he know about the World of Alms?

Could it be that Li Luo also felt the experiences from the World of Alms?

Leng Yaozhu's face burned like fire.

Her heart was filled with confusion.

"What do you understand?" No sooner had Leng Yaozhu finished the sentence than she felt waves of dizziness.

"Li Luo, I... I..."

Before Leng Yaozhu could finish, her entire body went limp, and she collapsed.

"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix!"

Li Luo cried out in alarm, quickly reaching out to catch Leng Yaozhu. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, what is wrong?"

But by then, Leng Yaozhu had already fallen completely unconscious.

Li Luo held Leng Yaozhu in his arms.

He struggled to drag her back onto the bed, silently complaining to himself, Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix really should lose some weight, especially those two mounds; they're heavy enough to kill me.

Li Luo pondered, Where could Leng Yaozhu's mushroom be growing?

He examined her entire body.

"That's strange. I found the mushrooms on Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, and Gu Yue."

"There's no reason I shouldn't be able to find Leng Yaozhu's."

"It wouldn't be in the same place as Gu Yue's, would it?"

Li Luo's gaze sharpened instantly. Thinking of Leng Yaozhu's explosive figure—it wasn't as if he hadn't seen her in her black combat suit before.

"This is truly a nightmare!"

He dared not reach out any further.

Even if he were to reach out, he would have to wait until Leng Yaozhu woke up and see what her wishes were.

Meanwhile, Leng Yaozhu was once again dragged into the World of Alms.

Alms, alms.

Every place, every corner, was her offering of alms to Li Luo.

But Leng Yaozhu truly could not hold on any longer.

Her life essence was nearly exhausted...

"Ah!"

Leng Yaozhu cried out involuntarily and woke up once again. She saw Li Luo sitting by her bedside, staring at her with a dazed expression.

Leng Yaozhu felt as if her head were about to explode.

It was over!

He had seen everything.

"Li Luo, if I told you this was a medical condition, would you believe me?" Leng Yaozhu tried her best to calm her emotions.

Li Luo kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I am willing to believe you."

"Please do not speak of what you saw here, alright?" Leng Yaozhu struggled to maintain a calm facade.

Li Luo sat up straight. "I swear, I did not see anything."

Li Luo spoke with absolute certainty.

However, his eyes still betrayed him, darting across her legs.

"Pfft!"

Li Luo hurriedly tilted his head back to prevent a nosebleed from spraying out.

Damn it!

It was too stimulating.

Li Luo quickly changed the subject. "Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, I might know the reason for your condition."

"May I ask, have mushrooms grown on your body?"

Leng Yaozhu widened her eyes. "You... you really do know!"

The "know" Leng Yaozhu referred to meant he not only knew about the mushrooms but also about the World of Alms.

She felt she had no face left to live as a human being.

"Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, all the fault lies with me. It is because of me that you have had to suffer this ordeal," Li Luo apologized.

A look of confusion appeared on Leng Yaozhu's weak face. "What do you mean?"

Li Luo said sincerely, "The mushrooms growing on your body were caused by my absorption of the second spirit soul, the Seven-Colored Mushroom."

"That day at the Braised Beef Shop, I had just finished absorbing it and could not yet fully control its abilities."

"The toxic spores of the Seven-Colored Mushroom drifted out with my breath and landed on the people I had the most contact with. You, Her Excellency, were one of them."

Listening to Li Luo's explanation, Leng Yaozhu bit her red lips tightly; she was afraid that if she acted on impulse, she would devour him.

So, all the pain she had suffered was brought upon her by Li Luo.

She really wanted to explode.

But looking at Li Luo's sincere face, Leng Yaozhu's anger subsided slightly.

The key now was to solve the problem.

She said coldly, "Why is it that when I try to pluck the mushroom myself, I cannot pull it off?"

Li Luo pondered. "Your Excellency, I am not entirely sure of the reason, but I have observed that as long as I am the one to pluck it off, you will be able to return to normal."

Leng Yaozhu's expression turned somewhat ugly. "It can only be plucked by you?"

Li Luo nodded and explained, "There were four people in total infected by the Seven-Colored spores."

"Among them, two tried to pluck the mushrooms themselves, but the mushrooms simply grew back."

"After I plucked them off personally, they did not grow back again."

"The other person was the same."

"Once their mushrooms were removed by me, they became normal."

Leng Yaozhu asked in a murmur, "Is there no other way?"

Li Luo replied, "There is no other way."

When he had checked Leng Yaozhu's body earlier, he hadn't found anything in the more visible areas.

The mushroom must be growing in a more hidden location.

He did not want Leng Yaozhu to think he was being frivolous, so Li Luo asked with great solemnity.

"May I ask, Your Excellency, where is the mushroom growing?"

Leng Yaozhu froze. She found it truly difficult to speak of the mushroom's location, especially since the Li Luo before her was still a junior.

Just thinking about having to reveal it to this junior made her face burn with embarrassment.

Seeing Leng Yaozhu's expression, Li Luo understood well; the mushroom on Leng Yaozhu's body was likely in the same location as Gu Yue's.

Gu Yue had no defenses against him.

But Leng Yaozhu was different.

Leng Yaozhu was the Vice Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda, a person of noble and exalted status, and her personal relationship with him was not deep.

It was naturally very difficult for her to say it out loud.

Li Luo spoke up, "Your Excellency, do you have any red string here?"