PNB Chapter 446: I set the fire
Chapter 446: I set the fire
The sky was covered with dark clouds, thunder rumbled incessantly, and the heavy rain poured down like a dam bursting.
Fang Xiaoxiao's eyes were red in the rain, and the water stains on her face were indistinguishable between rainwater and tears.
She stood at the door of the thatched hut, her body trembling involuntarily.
Meanwhile, Li Cui was wailing inside the thatched hut.
"Save me, please save me, Madam Fang, save me..."
Fang Xiaoxiao had already examined Li Cui's body and found that the virus had already penetrated deep into her heart and meridians, and there was no way to save her.
Even though she wanted to save him, it was already too late.
Fang Xiaoxiao suppressed her inner pain and reached out to wipe the water stains from her face.
He turned around, opened the thatched hut, his expression extremely grim, and slowly walked over to Li Cui, who was lying on the muddy ground rolling around.
She crouched down and said with a sorrowful expression.
"I'm sorry, I can't save you. The plague has already invaded your heart and meridians. Even a great immortal would be powerless to help."
"No! Aren't you the one who created this plague? How could you not have a cure, you vicious devil!"
Li Cui endured the pain all over her body, her eyes filled with resentment and venom.
In fact, she knew that Fang Xiaoxiao had brought the Western Regions delegation here several days ago.
Zhong Zicheng, however, remained inactive and instead sent her out to lure Fang Xiaoxiao.
The goal was simple: to use Fang Xiaoxiao's compassionate heart to provide an antidote for the virus.
All of this was already part of everyone's plan. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a fairy tale if Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er encountered bandits abusing women as soon as they left the city. How could it be such a coincidence?
Li Cui reluctantly stretched out her trembling arm, trying to grab Fang Xiaoxiao, but it felt as if thousands of ants were biting her, causing her to writhe on the ground in pain.
As she touched the ground, she cursed Fang Xiaoxiao with the most vicious words, completely losing her previous charming appearance.
Human nature is the most terrifying thing.
"Fang Xiaoxiao, you are a murderer. For the sake of those lowly people in Suzhou, you killed hundreds of thousands of our Wei family soldiers."
"Do you know that some of them are still children, and some are still elderly people?"
Fang Xiaoxiao listened to Li Cui's hysterical roar, her brows furrowing deeply.
"What do you mean?"
Li Cui was on the verge of collapse when she roared.
"What do I mean? Do you really think no one knows what you're doing? Do you really think coming to this city was an accident?"
"Hahaha, I'll tell you, all of this is under General Wei's control. You're looking for the princess, aren't you? You saved me, and I'll tell you where she is."
Clinging to the last vestige of threat, she forced herself to look up at Fang Xiaoxiao, enduring the pain.
Her words made Fang Xiaoxiao, who was initially confused, instantly realize what was going on.
It turns out that everything I do is being monitored.
But she quickly regained her composure.
She stood up, patted the water off her clothes, and smiled.
"Sorry, I don't care about any of that. You can control things however you want, just don't let me know where you are. Otherwise, I don't recommend making a poison that's even more potent than the plague virus."
"Also, I didn't care about finding the princess at all. I just wanted to hitch a ride back to Jiangnan Province on that group of Western Region envoys' ships."
"..."
The sky is falling!
Li Cui was still thinking of using this to threaten her, but to her surprise, the other party didn't fall for it at all, and it was completely different from the information Zhong Zicheng had told her.
As Zhong Zicheng's closest subordinate, after contracting the plague, she followed Zhong Zicheng's advice and acted as if she were wronged to gain Fang Xiaoxiao's sympathy and obtain the antidote for the plague.
But now, she seems to be overthinking things.
Fang Xiaoxiao didn't linger any longer and got up to walk outside.
As she closed the door, sounds came from inside the thatched hut again.
This time, however, it wasn't arrogance, but sorrow, the deepest sorrow.
Back to Li Wan'er's room.
They found that the princess was sleeping very soundly, and even though it was raining heavily outside and drizzling inside, it did not affect her at all.
Fang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.
"As expected of someone who has weathered many storms with me, you can remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses!"
"Xiao Xiao, I hate you so much! You never buy me anything delicious. From now on, I'll punish you by making you buy me delicious food."
Li Wan'er was sucking her fingers and talking in her sleep.
The night passed quickly.
Fang Xiaoxiao got up, stretched, and stared at her panda eyes, indicating that she hadn't slept well last night.
No wonder she couldn't sleep well; she spent the entire night thinking about her current situation.
They originally thought that they would survive on the island and hang out with the Western Regions delegation. As for finding the princess, they would leave it to fate; if they found her, great, but if they didn't, it was none of their business.
Who would have thought that they would encounter Li Cui, and even obtain some crucial information from her: Zhong Zicheng was in this city, and the princess was in his hands.
"Ugh, this is so hard! My head is so big, I feel like it's about to grow a brain!"
She patted her forehead, then put on her shoes and went out to see Li Cui, who was still in the thatched hut next door.
Based on the extent of the poisoning, the person should already be dead.
Upon opening the door, a nauseating stench of decay assaulted my senses.
Luckily, I was prepared, otherwise I would have been overwhelmed by the stench.
Fang Xiaoxiao glanced at Li Cui's corpse, which had been dead for some time, and frowned slightly.
Fortunately, the weather is sunny today.
He took out a tinderbox from his pocket, lit the torch in his hand, and the advantage of the thatched hut was that it could be lit instantly.
Only after the fire started did he turn around and leave, satisfied.
At this moment, Li Wan'er also came over after washing up at the well.
Upon seeing the fire, he hurriedly ran to Fang Xiaoxiao.
"What happened? Who started the fire? Xiaoxiao, let's get out of here quickly!"
"No need, I started the fire."
"???"
"Let's go, we need to hurry back to the city and tell Nimhar where the princess is."
Fang Xiaoxiao didn't explain much, and pulled the princess along the way they came.
Throughout the journey, Li Wan'er kept asking why.
Fang Xiaoxiao had no choice but to tell the other party the whole story.
When they heard that Li Cui was an undercover agent sent by the Suzhou garrison and that they had been under surveillance all along, their big eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"What?! Li Cui is actually that kind of person?! That's terrifying! If Xiao Xiao hadn't discovered it in time, we would have..."
She dared not think about what happened next. Having experienced so much danger, she was no longer the little girl who would cry at the slightest thing.
The two returned to the inn.
Nimhar hurriedly went up to ask the two where they had gone.
Fang Xiaoxiao did not tell the other party about Li Cui's matter, but only mentioned that there was news about the princess and that the princess was still alive.
Nimhar and his delegation from the Western Regions finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They had been searching for days but had not found any information about the princess's whereabouts, and at one point even suspected that the princess might have met with misfortune.
Receiving this news is the best news I've heard in a while.