Chapter 257 The Seven-Colored Frog

Chapter 257 The Seven-Colored Frog

Hearing the name of the seven-colored frog, He Zhiran suddenly felt it wasn't so unfamiliar.

When she discovered that her sisters-in-law had been poisoned, she had purchased a book about ancient poisoning techniques, which mentioned the seven-colored frog. At the time, she had only casually flipped through it.

The book seemed to say that the blood of the seven-colored frog, when mixed with other medicinal ingredients, could be used to make a fake death potion and also an excellent sedative.

The seven-colored frog prefers dark and damp environments, and its food must be poisonous animals, such as venomous snakes and scorpions.

Given that it feeds on venomous snakes and scorpions, one can imagine that the seven-colored frog is quite aggressive.

It seems these seven-colored frogs are truly valuable.

He Zhiran felt an urge to take possession of these seven-colored frogs, regardless of whether she could keep them alive. If they were in her hands, she could extract their blood when she had the chance, which might prove useful in the future.

With this idea in mind, she entered the space mentally and bought an iron cage, planning to take all the seven-colored frogs away.

Currently, she was at the well's edge, quite far from the seven-colored frogs. It was impossible to use her mind to move them into the cage.

However, considering how toxic these creatures were, she dared not rashly descend into the well.

It seemed she needed her little treasure, Fan Tuan'er, to help capture these frogs.

Sure enough, as soon as the little one appeared, it quickly dealt with the seven-colored frogs.

It growled at the frogs, and they swiftly climbed up the well wall, leaping out of the well and obediently entering the cage.

Fan Tuan'er wanted to break free from its owner's embrace to check on its spoils.

But He Zhiran mercilessly sent it back into the space. These seven-colored frogs were different from others; they carried potent toxins. If Fan Tuan'er accidentally touched them, it would be a disaster.

For safety, He Zhiran bought another box large enough to contain the iron cage. After placing the cage inside and locking it, she felt reassured sending Fan Tuan'er back into the space.

She knew Fan Tuan'er would be unhappy being forcibly sent back, so she prepared to enter the space to comfort it. However, just then, she heard movement from below the well.

"Senior Brother, our seven-colored frogs are gone, and someone has destroyed the mechanism."

He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye heard someone speaking from below but couldn't gauge their skills. For safety, they quickly retreated behind a nearby tree.

"It must have been Fan Tuan'er's barking that drew them out," He Zhiran guessed.

"Yes, at least we know there are people down there," Mo Jiuye agreed.

As they spoke, Mo Jiuye sensed someone ascending from the well.

"Someone is coming," he whispered.

He Zhiran did not respond but focused her gaze on the well's entrance.

Soon, two middle-aged men, one tall and one short, climbed out of the well.

They first checked the mechanism controller that Mo Jiuye had just destroyed.

The tall man said, "Not good, my seven-colored frogs are missing."

Though the short man didn't speak, his eyes scanned the surroundings. Simultaneously, he reached into his robe and pulled out several small porcelain bottles.

He uncorked one of the bottles and released a tiny insect inside.

"Darling, go find the scent of strangers."

As soon as he finished speaking, the insect, about the size of a bee, flew toward Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.

He Zhiran knew from the book that realgar could counteract insects, but she had never personally tested it, so she remained cautious.

To be safe, she retrieved a flamethrower from the space and handed it to Mo Jiuye. If necessary, they were willing to reveal their presence to burn the insect.

The insect flew straight toward them. Just as it approached the tree hiding them, it suddenly stopped and began flying around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Seeing the insect's reaction, He Zhiran confirmed that realgar worked and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although neither she nor Mo Jiuye feared the two men, it was best not to reveal their presence without gathering any information.

Watching the insect fly away, the short man looked puzzled.

"Senior Brother, why is my insect acting so strangely today?"

The tall man was equally perplexed. They had raised insects for years and had never encountered such a situation.

"Your insect started acting strange near that tree. There must be something odd there."

As they spoke, both men fixed their gaze on the tree.

"Senior Brother, let's go check it out."

"Alright."

As they cautiously approached, checking every step, Mo Jiuye readied himself to act.

He Zhiran retrieved a sedative made from silver ring snake venom. Once these two men got close, she planned to knock them out.

The two were cautious, each holding a weapon in one hand and a porcelain bottle containing the nourished gu worms in the other, always ready to act.

Just as Mo Jiuye was about to make his move, he was held back by He Zhiran.

She shook her head at Mo Jiuye and quickly circled around him, scattering a handful of sedative powder towards the two men.

In an instant, before they could react, the two men collapsed.

With a wave of her hand, He Zhiran transported the two men into her spatial realm.

Now that they had someone to interrogate, she and Mo Jiuye did not rush to check the well. Instead, they both entered the spatial realm together.

Mo Jiuye first searched the two men and found five small porcelain bottles containing gu worms on them.

It seemed these two were exceptionally skilled at nurturing gu worms. An average practitioner could raise no more than two gu worms in their lifetime, but these two, including the one just released, had a total of six.

That meant each of them had nurtured three gu worms.

Mo Jiuye despised these gu worms the most. Two out of the three elder brothers he had found at home had been poisoned by them, showing how harmful they could be.

Without waiting for He Zhiran to say anything, he fetched a flamethrower and immediately incinerated all five gu worms.

However, he had overlooked something—among the five gu worms, one was the tall man's life-bound gu worm. With its death, the unconscious tall man spat blood and died...

Mo Jiuye...

He only hated these gu worms and never expected that one of them would be a life-bound gu worm.

They hadn't even asked any questions, and the man was already dead.

He Zhiran was speechless. She had seen Mo Jiuye's actions but did not stop him because she also didn't expect the tall man to be so powerful as to have a life-bound gu worm.

Now, there was only one survivor left, and they couldn't afford another mistake.

To ensure safety, Mo Jiuye bound the short man tightly before allowing He Zhiran to wake him up.

When the short man opened his eyes, he was stunned by the lush greenery around him. Instinctively, he tried to stand up but realized he was tied up like a dumpling.

Turning his head, he saw the two people standing there with ambiguous smiles. Looking down, he saw his master's corpse...