The Crazy Fox Demon Devours My Heart - Chapter 31
Late at night, the doctor was fast asleep when he was abruptly awakened by the sound of urgent knocking on the door.
“Who is it? In the middle of the night! At my age, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in years!” The doctor shivered as he put on his clothes, preparing to open the door.
With a loud crash, the door fell off its hinges.
“Oh, my precious century-old nanmu wood!”
Cangya ignored the doctor’s exclamations of pain and dragged him outside.
The doctor, struggling to keep up, shouted repeatedly, “Slow down! Slow down!”
Cangya transformed into his wolf form, lifting the doctor onto his back. “Sorry, sir. The Young Master is gravely injured—you must hurry to see him.”
Hearing that the Young Master was seriously hurt, the doctor straightened immediately. “The Young Master injured again?”
How could someone who rarely got hurt now suffer serious injuries so frequently?
On the bed, Hu Yan’s face was pale, eyes tightly shut. Bl00d trickled from his wounds, soaking the bedding in crimson.
The doctor asked Cangya to help turn him over, pulling open the clothing near the wound.
There was only a small puncture in his back, but it was deep and bleeding steadily.
The doctor frowned. Though the wound was small, it was extremely deep.
Qingyu gazed at the wound, recalling vaguely that she had exerted all her strength at that moment.
Fu Yin, hiding behind Qingyu, squinted her round eyes into mere slits. She had always been afraid of bl00d and gore. “Princess, what exactly happened in the room back then?”
Fu Yin wanted to ask if the wound on the Young Master’s back was caused by the Princess, but with others in the room, she dared not speak.
The doctor treated Hu Yan’s back wound, then turned him over to check his pulse, his expression grave.
These symptoms resembled the effects of the Spring Silkworm Poison, a toxin long banned in the demon realm. How could the Young Master have been poisoned? Even if poisoned, someone could neutralize it; there was no reason for the toxin to reach his heart meridian.
Cangya asked anxiously, “Is the Young Master all right?”
The doctor stroked his graying beard and shook his head. “His meridians are severely damaged, and most of his demonic energy has been lost. Otherwise, there’s nothing else critical.”
Cangya’s brow tightened. “Then why hasn’t he woken up?”
“Shock caused the poison to enter his heart meridian, which led to his unconscious state. After taking the medicine, he should awaken shortly.”
The doctor prescribed medicine before leaving, casting a cryptic glance at Qingyu on his way out.
Since the Young Master was severely poisoned, the doctor needed to report the matter immediately.
Upon learning that Hu Yan had been poisoned, lost much of his demonic energy, and fallen unconscious, the Elder Lady flew into a furious rage. She immediately summoned Cangya and Qingyu for interrogation.
Cangya knelt on the ground, his back a mess of bl00d from previous lashes, and recounted the events word by word.
The Elder Lady, upon hearing the truth, was burning with anger.
“Guards! Lock this ungrateful woman in the dungeon! As for Cangya, failing to protect the Young Master and withholding information—execute him immediately with the staff!”
Hearing the words “execute with the staff,” Cangya went pale and collapsed.
The executioner approached, holding a staff taller than a man. Cangya resignedly closed his eyes.
Qingyu, seeing that Hu Yan’s meridians were damaged and half his demonic energy lost, was momentarily shocked. This poison was truly formidable. She wondered why Hu Yan had insisted on enduring it when Ye Die’er had offered to neutralize it.
As the executioner raised the staff high, Qingyu intervened. “Grandmother, please wait.”
The Elder Lady glanced at Qingyu, clearly impatient. “What do you have to say?”
“The Young Master is still unconscious and needs someone to care for him. Cangya has served him for years; no one is more suitable. Please, wait until he awakens before punishing him.”
Although Elder Tian Gong disliked Qingyu, he had to agree. “Grandmother, although this woman is despicable, she makes sense. If Hu Yan knew you executed his servant, he would hold a grudge against you.”
The Elder Lady fiddled with her bead chain, then stopped and looked at the pale Cangya. “Very well. I will spare you for now. Go take fifty lashes from the military rods and then return to care for Hu Yan properly.”
Relieved that his life was spared, Cangya’s expression normalized, and he repeatedly kowtowed to the Elder Lady. “Thank you, Grandmother! Thank you, Elder! I will serve the Young Master with all my heart!”
As Cangya left, he looked at Qingyu with gratitude.
Qingyu recalled Hu Yan’s usual smiling eyes and lowered her eyelids. She hadn’t deliberately saved Cangya—she simply felt that if he were executed, Hu Yan would be distressed. Like her and Fu Yin, who had grown up together and shared a deep bond, she knew she would be heartbroken if Fu Yin died because of her.
Qingyu, her hands chained, was roughly escorted into the dungeon and pushed to the ground.
The dungeon was stifling and damp, pitch dark. She buried her head in her legs, wondering how Fu Yin was doing.
Fu Yin, confined in the courtyard, paced back and forth anxiously. Seeing Cangya’s bloodied back, she rushed forward to support him.
“How did you get hurt like this? Where’s the Princess? Why didn’t she come back with you?”
Cangya winced as he moved his injured back. “The Princess was ordered by Grandmother to be locked in the dungeon.”
“What! How can Grandmother lock the Princess in a place like that?”
Cangya shook his head helplessly. “We can only hope the Young Master wakes up soon and rescues the Princess.”
Fu Yin’s eyes lit up. “Yes! The Young Master would never allow the Princess to suffer there. But he’s still unconscious—we don’t know when he will wake.”
She could only silently pray that the Young Master would awaken quickly.
In a hidden corner, Ye Die’er anxiously glanced around. Seeing no one, she grabbed the hand of the person in the shadows. “Second Young Master, save me! Grandmother is investigating—soon, they’ll find me. What should I do?”
Hu Sui, hidden in the shadows, withdrew his hand. “Why worry? Tell me, did anyone see you poison him that day?”
“No… no one did.” Ye Die’er shook her head, clutching a handkerchief, recalling clearly that no one had witnessed the poisoning.
“Then that’s fine.”
Ye Die’er hesitated. “But I’m still afraid.”
Hu Sui lifted her chin with a finger. “Little Die’er, just keep your heart calm. As long as you don’t speak and I don’t speak, no one will ever know.”
After Ye Die’er left, Hu Sui’s lips curled into a twisted smile, his face contorting slightly. Unexpectedly, that fool had drawn the poison onto himself and been severely injured—this was truly a delightful surprise.
Meanwhile, the Elder Lady was handling official matters when someone burst in, face pale, hair flowing to their waist.
The Elder Lady put down her brush and frowned. “Yan’er, bursting in like this—how are you conducting yourself?”
“Please, Grandmother, release Qingyu.” Hu Yan’s hair was unbound, his face weak. He had rushed here immediately after waking.
The Elder Lady’s expression was full of displeasure, her tone sharp. “Yan’er, you are far too indulgent with that girl. I only gave a small punishment, yet you panic like this, disregarding your own dignity.
“Alas, you have feelings for her, but she is unfeeling. Even seeing you poisoned leaves her unmoved!”
Hu Yan ignored her. “Grandmother, this is not Qingyu’s fault.”
The Elder Lady looked at Hu Yan’s stubborn expression, exasperated. “Yan’er, Yan’er, what am I to say? I told you to retrieve the tail from the girl’s heart, yet you refused. You even went so far as to put yourself in this state for her sake.”
Cold light flickered in Hu Yan’s eyes as his voice deepened. “Grandmother, I said it before—I will never harm Qingyu.”
Seeing his obstinacy, the Elder Lady, fearing he might act rashly but recognizing Qingyu’s usefulness, relented. “Fine. She is in the dungeon. Take her back with you.”
After Hu Yan left, Ye Die’er, hiding behind a pillar, watched his departing figure with a face full of malice.
“So it seems, Ning Qingyu… your death day has arrived!”