Transmigrated Genius: Fragile Heiress Reigns Supreme-Chapter 702 - 703: Night of Terror (Part 3)

Everyone obeyed the order and scattered to do their tasks.

The guards at the gate of the manor began to be alert as well. Tong Quanzi’s senior brother led more than a dozen guards, lit torches, and searched the entire garden for the snake.

Tong Quanzi ran all the way back, and Xiqiu, seeing his panicked expression, asked, "What’s wrong? What happened?"

"Sixth Sister." Tong Quanzi quickly recounted what had just happened to Xiqiu, "You must think of a way; we don’t even know what this thing is, but if it bites, death is certain."

Xiqiu was too shocked to speak. It was the first time she’d heard of such a thing; it could even enter a person’s body, hollowing out the flesh and organs inside...

"How could this be? Such a thing has never been seen in the garden before." She paused thoughtfully as she spoke, "Go find out where these things are coming from."

Tong Quanzi was taken aback, but then he remembered. This thing had never been in the garden before; its sudden appearance must mean something unusual is happening. He didn’t dare jump to conclusions but felt the situation was not simple: "I know; I’ll take someone to the old woman’s room to search. This thing wouldn’t appear out of nowhere."

Xiqiu nodded, thought for a moment, and added, "Tell everyone to be careful, and watch for any suspicious people in the garden."

"Understood." Tong Quanzi said, and quickly ran out.

Tong Minzhi, Chunliu, and Nanny Cen had not yet recovered from the shock. One by one, they were too surprised to speak. Tong Minzhi hesitated for a moment, looked at Xiqiu, and said, "Sister, could this thing make its way here?"

As soon as he said this, everyone was covered in goosebumps. Xiqiu looked at the two children on the bed and frowned, "Let’s light all the lamps, search the room carefully, and ensure all the doors and windows are securely closed!" Then she looked at Nanny Cen, "Fetch some vinegar and light it in the room. If it really is a snake, it won’t tolerate the pungent smell. Also, sprinkle some burning wine and realgar around." It didn’t matter whether it worked or not, better to be safe!

"I’ll go right away." Nanny Cen left with Chunliu and Bihuai to find the required items. Soon, Chunliu and Bihuai brought along some young maidservants and older women to sprinkle realgar and burning wine inside and outside the courtyard, while Nanny Cen, Nanny Rong, and Ziyang set up several braziers, filling the house with the smell of vinegar.

Xiqiu felt restless. Tong Quanzi said it was no thicker than a chopstick, which made it extremely difficult to detect if it was hiding somewhere. She turned her gaze to the bed and said to Tong Minzhi, "Lift the quilts and check carefully."

Tong Minzhi agreed, and together with Xiqiu, they lifted the quilts on the Warm Pavilion and checked, then opened the cabinets near the stove to search thoroughly...

After working for a long time, the ground dragon in the room continued to burn, and they were drenched in sweat. Xiqiu sat panting, unsure if the vinegar burning outside was affecting the creature, but the smell made Xiqiu feel nauseous. She pointed to Tong Minzhi and said, "Quick, the spittoon!"

Tong Minzhi dashed over, grabbed the spittoon from the corner, and Xiqiu squatted and vomited violently. Once she emptied her stomach, she leaned on Tong Minzhi to stand up, her face pale as paper. She hadn’t slept all night, was tense and frightened, and after vomiting for so long, she barely had any strength left, so she could only lean on the pillow with a sigh, "Go check the courtyard, let Chunliu come in to accompany me, and tell them to be careful."

"Are you okay?" Tong Minzhi looked at her worryingly.

Xiqiu waved her hand, "I’m fine, go ahead. The smell in here is awful; ask Chunliu to open the window for some fresh air later."

Tong Minzhi complied and left the room. Before long, Chunliu came in, opened the window a bit for ventilation, took the spittoon out, and poured Xiqiu some warm water. "Mistress, I feel there’s something very odd about tonight!" She had never felt that any night was so long, with everything inexplicable and bizarre.

Xiqiu knew that these things weren’t without reason; it was just that they hadn’t yet found the cause.

Just then, Nanny Cen lifted the curtain and entered. It was the first time Xiqiu had seen a defeated look on Nanny Cen’s face. She looked at Xiqiu, broken, and quickly said, "Madam, that thing has entered the courtyard."

"Where?" Xiqiu stood up and looked at Nanny Cen, "Just now, it bit Cuilan..." In the blink of an eye, Cuilan disappeared before her eyes. She felt that she had been through so much in life, had weathered many storms, but had never been as frightened as today.

If it were human, she wouldn’t be this afraid; at least humans could be seen and touched. But that tiny creature, so small, slipped away in an instant, and you never knew when it would reappear to deliver a fatal blow.

Her hands trembled with fear as she looked at Xiqiu and asked, "What do we do?"

It seemed that burning vinegar and sprinkling realgar had no effect. She hadn’t even seen the creature, yet it had already claimed two lives. She couldn’t guess how many such things were in the garden, or how many would die if this continued!

"Try lighting torches." Xiqiu told Nanny Cen, "Have everyone light torches to search the courtyard. If they catch it, don’t touch it barehanded; get it into a jar!" Thinking further, she added, "Tell everyone to be careful, and if they spot it, protecting their life is the priority, everything else comes second."

She thought over all the methods she knew to deal with snakes, and these were the only ones she could use, although she wasn’t sure if any would work.

"Yes!" Nanny Cen replied and left, while Xiqiu turned to Chunliu, "Bring Seventh Young Master in, and have him and Tianjing carry Xing and Min on their backs!"

Chunliu frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I’ll carry them. Seventh Young Master is too young."

Xiqiu looked at her, then nodded, "Okay, you can take turns if you get tired." Saying this, she dressed Min and Xing, who were still drowsy, letting Xiqiu dress and undress them without a word, then tied Min securely on Chunliu’s back and wrapped a blanket over. Chunliu was on high alert, looking around with intense focus.

Tianjing entered and carried Xing on his back, and several people stood in the center of the room.

From afar, a scream pierced the air, and Xiqiu’s face changed. Soon, Bihuai ran in crying, and Xiqiu saw that her legs were almost giving out and asked, "Who was it?"

"An old woman from the second gate," Bihuai cried, "right before my eyes..." Biwu followed closely behind, with her hands and feet wrapped tightly in thick cotton cloth. Looking at Xiqiu, she said, "Madam, I’ll go with Third Young Master to catch it. I used to catch snakes at home when I was young; I can’t stand not defeating it." Without waiting for Xiqiu’s response, she clattered out.

"Biwu!" Bihuai was scared and wanted to stop Biwu, but she was already gone.

Xiqiu frowned, grabbed her overcoat from the stove edge, and said, "Let’s go out together and take a look!"