Tang Mizi helped Lu Li out of the wooden tub. "Brother Lu, you truly are my—" The word was still on his lips.
Both of them shouted in unison, "Don't move!"
But it was too late. Wang Huzi had already touched the withered leaf.
With a whoosh, it vanished onto Wang Huzi.
Wang Huzi screamed in terror.
Lu Li was frustrated with his carelessness, forgetting Wang Huzi's curiosity and how it could lead to trouble.
At the same time, he was alarmed. Even after the curse had returned to its original form, it was still capable of entering a person's body.
Wang Huzi continued to scream until Lu Li shook him vigorously, and he finally stopped.
"What do you feel?"
"What do I feel? I've been cursed! It's deadly!" Wang Huzi shouted loudly.
Lu Li asked, "Does anything hurt? You're just shouting without saying what's wrong."
Wang Huzi then realized he wasn't in pain.
He was relieved, "It doesn't hurt, so I haven't been cursed?"
Lu Li shook his head, "You have been cursed."
Wang Huzi's face fell again.
"Don't worry. If I can remove it from Tang Mizi, I can remove it from you too. I'll take care of it before it takes effect."
Lu Li spoke calmly, but inside he was troubled.
The curse on the talisman wasn't destroyed by being burned, so it was certainly difficult to remove. How to handle Wang Huzi afterward was another concern.
Tang Mizi seemed to understand Lu Li's thoughts: "Brother Lu, this curse might be a regenerative curse. Once removed, it cannot be destroyed and will reattach to the person."
Lu Li was silent, both were contemplating a permanent solution.
Wang Huzi, however, was unaware and shouted, "Just remove it from me first. As long as it's not on me, we can figure out the rest later. I can't stand pain; I'm not as heroic as others."
He truly regretted getting involved, thinking it was a mistake to come here. He vowed never to get involved in such things again, feeling truly unlucky.
Tang Mizi quickly thought of a solution.
He suggested that Lu Li find an animal and transfer the curse onto it. If the animal dies completely, the curse would disappear.
"What if it only works on people?" Lu Li was concerned.
"Then put it in a bottle, bury it, and once the person dies, the curse will naturally become ineffective." Tang Mizi emphasized the word "die."
They decided to proceed. They caught a mouse for the experiment.
Lu Li had Wang Huzi get back into the tub. Wang Huzi went to pour out the water and refill the tub.
It wasn't that he liked cleanliness; he was repulsed by the water that had been used on Tang Mizi's infected leg, even though the water was now clean.
Lu Li quickly drew an animal summoning talisman and placed it in the corner.
In less than two minutes, a large rat stood next to the talisman, staring blankly.
Wang Huzi was deeply depressed, but also amazed by Lu Li's abilities.
Following the previous steps, Lu Li performed the ritual again and transferred the "withered leaf curse" onto the rat.
Wang Huzi's anxiety finally eased.
The three of them watched the rat in the room, hoping it would work. Otherwise, they'd have to keep it in a jar, like a ticking bomb, and it would be hard to be at ease.
The rat, being hundreds of times smaller than a human, started to decay within an hour.