Chapter 853
Chapter 853 The Truth of the Chosen Witch
Although she couldn’t change what had happened, at least it would be unfair if she did not give the people of the Lieyun Empire a slim chance of survival.
“Madame, don’t be overanxious. I have a wonderful idea to tame the royal venomous insect. At present, the only problem is how to make the Xin family willing to let Xiaoyu in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects,” Lin Mengya said.
The Pool of Various Venomous Insects did not belong to the Xin family, but it was in the charge of the selected witches through the ages, so one intending to get in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects must get the permission of the selected witch of the Xin family.
Now that Madame Jingrou had forfeited the succession of the selected witch, it was reasonable for the Xin family to hate her guts. How could the Xin family easily allow Xiaoyu to enter the Pool of Various Venomous Insects?
In any case, it was bound to be a dead end.
If they were to help Xiaoyu enter the Pool of Various Venomous Insects by force, their force would instead be weakened and their gain would not make up for their loss.
After thinking from different angles, Lin Mengya fixed her eyes on Madame Jingrou.
She had to trace to the source.
Then she said, “I’m confused by something: why is the Pool of Various Venomous Insects in the charge of the selected witches through the ages? Are each of them the child of brother and sister?”
All modern people were aware of the results of inbreeding.
The Xins she knew, both Xin Li who was crafty and Xin Yu, seemed to be abnormal.
Meanwhile, Xin Luan, a member of a branch of the Xin family, seemed to be better than them.
Moreover, Madame Jingrou did not seem to be an inbred child. There was presumably a secret behind this.
Hearing Lin Mengya’s questions, Madame Jingrou blushed slightly.
This kind of secret within her family was quite disgraceful.
But at the thought that it was significant, she couldn’t hide it anymore.
She said, “In fact, my parents are cousins in terms of their seniority in the Xin family. Generally speaking, each of the selected witches is the child of brother and sister. The marriage between my parents is rare. According to the Xin family’s unwritten rule, after having the next qualified selected witch, her parents can get married freely. The previous selected witches basically died in their twenties. I’m lucky to survive till now.”
It was true that children’s early deaths were one of the consequences of inbreeding.
Although inbred children would not necessarily be defective, the Xin family probably had suffered the consequences of inbreeding.
Lin Mengya suddenly recalled Xin Yu had said that he was one of those members given up by the Xin family.
Could it be that they, as inbred children, were defective so that they were given up?
The thought sent a chill down her spine.
What kind of family would take this kind of measure to ensure their reproduction?
“What conditions must be met in order for a girl to be the selected witch? Do the selected witches have any special abilities?” Lin Mengya asked.
Since the selected witches were specific girls, they must have to meet some special conditions.
Otherwise, there would not be only one selected witch within a period of time.
“Each of the baby girls born of the selected witches would be placed by the Pool of Various Venomous Insects on the day when she turned one month old, staying there overnight. If the baby girl was not eaten by the poisonous insects in the pool the next day, she would be the selected witch.” At the mention of this exceedingly cruel selection method, Madame Jingrou shuddered.
She had been told to be loyal to her family and devoted to her duty since she was a child.
But at the thought that if she had a daughter, her daughter might be killed in this way, she found it unacceptable.
This was one of the reasons why she accepted the Emperor without hesitation back then.
Lin Mengya was also furious to hear this ruthless method. How could they sacrifice their children like this?
The Pool of Various Venomous Insects was simply a life-destroying demon.
Now her unfavorable impression of the Xin family could not be worse.
Nevertheless, she still grasped the key point of Madame Jingrou’s words.
She asked, “In this case, anyone capable of keeping the venomous insects off can be the selected witch, can’t she?”
Although the venomous insects were powerful, there were plenty of ways to keep them off.
Madame Jingrou glanced at Lin Mengya and shook her head with a bitter smile.
She said, “Do you think it’s so easy to train the selected witch? Apart from practicing the witchcraft, the selected witch has to learn to identify all kinds of poisons since her childhood. Moreover, she has to take a small amount of poison every day to resist the poisonous miasma in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects. Fortunately, I met His Majesty at that time, otherwise, I’m afraid that I can never escape there. As such, a multitude of girls, who passed the first test, got killed by the small amount of poison.”
Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking it was so easy for her to solve this problem.
She said, “If these are all the conditions to be met, you don’t have to worry about this, Madame. The Xin family goes against you because His Majesty took away you, the selected witch. In that case, if we can train a new selected witch for the Xin family, we will get even with them, won’t we?”
The reason why the Xin family was so furious might be that there was a multitude of poisons and venomous insects in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects and they were the essential raw materials for training venomous insects.
Moreover, the Xin family presumably got its supreme status because of the Pool of Various Venomous Insects that was in the charge of the selected witch.
As such, with no selected witch, they could not use the huge treasure in front of them.
Of course, the Xin family was furious, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Without a new selected witch, they would not be able to use the resources in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects. In this case, the Xin family would soon lose ground and its status.
It was no wonder that they craved for a capable person to defend the status of the Xin family regardless of the difference in status between the members of the main branch and other branches.
It seemed that the Pool of Various Venomous Insects was indeed the lifeblood of the Xin family.
“You’re right, but it’s not an easy job. Nevertheless, if we can really train a new selected witch for the Xin family, they will probably grant any request we make. But the selected witch… Alas, it’s all my fault,” Madame Jingrou said with remorse.
But Lin Mengya knew that if given a second chance, Madame Jingrou would definitely choose to escape from her family again.
She believed anyone able to think independently would make the same choice as Madame Jingrou.
Come to think of it, it was not impossible to train a new selected witch.
However, the candidate must be bold and careful and loyal to Madame Jingrou and Xiaoyu.
It was indeed a difficult problem to find a suitable candidate.
“In fact, it’s not difficult to train a new selected witch and keep it secret for a few months or even a few years. I have a way to do that. But the only knotty problem is to find a suitable candidate,” Lin Mengya said.
Hearing her words, Madame Jingrou had some doubts in her eyes.
Although Xiaoyu had told her that Helan was proficient in the art of poison.
Nevertheless, the witchcraft and the art of poison were different.
Although she was proficient in the art of poison, she would probably have limited knowledge about the witchcraft.
“Madame, since you have practiced the witchcraft, you certainly know how powerful the venomous insect in Xiaoyu’s body is, don’t you?” Lin Mengya asked.
Then she blinked and added with a cunning look in her eyes. “However, there is something more powerful than Xiaoyu’s venomous insect in my body. So his venomous insect has to be obedient in front of me. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Xiaoyu. If I hadn’t brought the venomous insect in his body under control, he wouldn’t have been able to control it.”
Her blood was her sharpest weapon and solidest guarantee.
The features of the poisonous plants determined that they generally fought with and excluded each other.
During their fighting, the final winner would make a further improvement in both its medicinal properties and appearance.
That was probably the reason why medicinal material grew in specific places, while general poisonous plants could survive in all kinds of environments.
She had taken plenty of medicinal materials because of the residual poison in her body.
Those medicinal materials changed her constitution, and she neutralized the poison in her body with the Seven Poisons Sacred Grass later. Now her blood had become the most poisonous thing.
“If that were the case, we can give it a try. However, being exposed to poisons for long will probably affect women’s fertility,” Madame Jingrou said.
Lin Mengya was a little taken aback by this.
She asked, “Why will it affect women’s fertility?”
Hearing Lin Mengya, as a girl, ask so bluntly, Madame Jingrou felt a little embarrassed.
She lowered her voice and explained to her. “Women exposed to poisons for long will naturally have poisons in their bodies, which will make it difficult for them to get pregnant. They should be extremely careful during labor and delivery if they get pregnant. Fortunately, His Majesty found quite a few people proficient in neutralizing poisons to neutralize the poison in my body, so I gave birth to Yu’er. Otherwise, I’m afraid Yu’er would be in danger during my labor and delivery.”
Madame Jingrou, who had only taken a small amount of poison, had difficulty in getting pregnant. In this case, what would happen to her who had the most poisonous blood?
It was only then that Lin Mengya realized how serious the problem was. The baby in the mother’s womb absorbed nutrients through the umbilical cord.
Moreover, her blood would turn into the strongest poison once it was exposed to light.
No one other than herself could touch her blood.
Could it be possible that she was very likely to be infertile?
But what would Long Tianyu think of it?
At the moment, Lin Mengya began to waver.
“But being exposed to poisons in a short period of time will cause no significant harm. I’ve learned in an ancient record of my clan that it takes half a year at most to tame the royal venomous insect. If Yu’er is incapable of doing that, he can’t stay there for longer. If you have a way to bring it under control, it will be good for Yu’er to enhance his ability in the Pool of Various Venomous Insects. After all, even the members of the Xin family can’t get in there easily,” Madame Jingrou said.
Lin Mengya missed most of her words, preoccupied with the possibility of her infertility.
It might be relatively acceptable in modern times.
But now she was in an ancient time, and Long Tianyu was the least likely to accept a future with no descendant.
If he insisted on being loyal to her, he might face a future with no descendant.
At this moment, even Lin Mengya was confused.
Perhaps it was a hint given by God, suggesting that their relationship would eventually come to an end.
So Long Tianyu was going to marry someone else.
“You’re right, Madame. I have to trouble you to find a suitable candidate. We must send Xiaoyu to the Pool of Various Venomous Insects within this month. Otherwise, there will be endless trouble.” Lin Mengya heard herself say in a stiff and vacuous voice.
Ignoring Madame Jingrou’s answer, she walked out of the inner hall in a daze.
The sunlight was dazzling. Lin Mengya felt like a fish on the beach that was gloomy despite the heat she felt.
Why did this happen to her? Why didn’t she realize how cruel the reality was until now?