Chapter One Hundred: Mass Poisoning

The words “Blood-Ginseng Pill” from Qiao Zhi’s remark instantly lit up Yue Lingjun and Meng Chuchen’s eyes. Back then, when Yuwen Lingxi gave Lianyue that entire bottle, the two of them had benefited greatly; by now, there was little left.

Yuwen Lingxiao felt a chill run through him under the three men’s unabashed, hungry stares, colder even than the aloof mask he usually wore.

“The main ingredients for the Blood-Ginseng Pill are scarce. Lingxi only has a few left now.”

Yue Lingjun and Meng Chuchen did not hide their regret in the least; after all, it was not proper to seize another’s beloved possession.

But Qiao Zhi was different. Still shamelessly ingratiating himself, he refused to give up. “A few will do.”

For a prince raised in luxury and abundance to lower himself so cringingly over a mere handful of pills was indeed rather unsightly.

The people around him, mindful of his status, did not openly despise him, but their eyes still kept drifting toward Qiao Zhi. As for his personal guards, they were already too embarrassed to help but blush on his behalf.

Yet there were always those who cared nothing for his rank. Yaoyao was naturally one of them. Her bright, watery eyes were full of disdain. “They already said there are only a few left, and you still want to snatch what belongs to another. You really are as usual... what was it Sister Yue called you?”

Yaoyao thought for a moment. “Right! Shameless! Yes! That is exactly what Sister Yue called you.”

Qiao Zhi’s fawning expression froze on his face. He looked at Yaoyao with a darkened countenance and asked, “Did Sister Yue really describe me like that?”

Yaoyao nodded with certainty.

A trace of disappointment and hurt flashed through Qiao Zhi’s eyes. He did not continue pestering Yuwen Lingxi for the Blood-Ginseng Pills, and simply sat there in silence beside the fire.

Meng Chuchen shot Yaoyao a warning glare, then apologized to Qiao Zhi. “Yaoyao speaks without thinking, Your Highness should not take it to heart.”

“That was what Sister Yue said in the first place. I didn’t say anything wrong,” Yaoyao muttered. Her little complaint left Meng Chuchen, who had been trying to smooth things over for her, momentarily at a loss. He was about to instruct the girl at his side when Yaoyao hastily changed the subject and cooed, “Senior Brother Chuchen, I’m hungry. What are we eating?”

Seeing her blinking those pitiful, antique-style eyes, Meng Chuchen could no longer bring himself to scold her. Turning to look at the busy crowd behind him, he said, “Where is the dry rations you brought? If you’re hungry, eat a little first.”

“But I want meat...”

“Can you even keep it down?” Meng Chuchen frowned.

At his reminder, Yaoyao immediately recalled the ghastly scene from that morning, with bodies strewn everywhere. She could not help gagging a few times and waved her hands repeatedly. “I’ll eat the dry rations, I’ll eat the dry rations... urgh...”

Meng Chuchen looked at her pitiful state and regretted reminding her of that scene. Reaching out, he opened the oil paper wrapping the dry rations for her, and just then he heard a dull thud behind him.

Turning around, he saw one of Qiao Zhi’s guards collapsed limply beside the fire, his voice weak as he said, “Poison...” No sooner had he spoken than several others near the fire began to suffer the same symptoms one after another.

Yue Lingjun and the others inwardly cried that something was wrong. When they tried to rise, they found their bodies had gone weak as well, with even dizziness and nausea setting in.

Yuwen Lingxiao checked his pulse with his right hand. His face also darkened, his black eyes scanning the surroundings before finally settling on the fire before him. With some effort, he picked up a branch that had not yet burned completely and stirred the embers. As expected, on the charred branches beneath, he discovered something unusual.

Meng Chuchen drew Yaoyao closer to his side, then said gravely to Yuwen Lingxiao, “What poison is it? Can Brother Yuwen resolve it?”

This time, they had indeed been careless.

Yuwen Lingxiao rolled up his sleeve, revealing large patches of red rash. “Weak limbs, dizziness, vomiting, and a rash. I have heard the old apothecary speak of such poison before, though I cannot be certain. Have any of you heard of Wood-Fragrance Incense?”

Meng Chuchen’s eyes tightened; he clearly had heard of it. “Does Brother Yuwen have a way?”

Yuwen Lingxiao nodded. “Judging by it, the one who poisoned us did not truly intend to take our lives. We only inhaled it indirectly. With acupuncture and rest, we should recover in at most two days.”

“Two days...” Yue Lingjun’s brow was tightly furrowed. “Is there no faster way?”

Yuwen Lingxiao shook his head. “If this poison is not expelled completely by acupuncture as soon as possible, it will remain hidden in the meridians. In as few as five days, in as many as ten, it will turn a person into a cripple. My body does have some resistance to poisons, but even to recover enough to receive acupuncture will take six hours.”

The first half of that was no lie; the second half was quite another matter.

“Worthily renowned, Young Master Yuwen. At a single glance, you have laid bare the origins of my poison in such exacting detail.”

Every person present knew that voice. It was one of the four masked men in black.

Nineteen descended from a tree not far away and clasped his hands toward Yue Lingjun and the others in apology. “I have offended you all. It is only that this murderer is extremely important to us. I must trouble all of you to remain here for two days. I assure you that none of you will be in mortal danger. Two days from now, if not a single one of you has left this place, then whether or not your poison has been fully driven out, I will definitely bring the antidote.”

Having said that, he vanished once more into the woods under everyone’s furious gaze.

Yue Lingjun let out a frustrated sigh. Seeing Meng Chuchen nod at him, he could only turn helplessly to Yuwen Lingxiao. “Brother Yuwen, I leave this to you.”

“Lingxi will do everything possible. For now, everyone should sit down and adjust your breathing in place, and guard your heart meridians.”

Everyone followed his instructions. Qiao Zhi wore a wry smile at the corner of his mouth. “Yuwen, my life is in your hands again. I still have not enjoyed myself enough—I do not want to die, so take it easy when you prick the needles.”

It was not long before Nineteen appeared atop a tree. Hidden by the dense leaves, six men in black were waiting for him.

Nineteen stopped on a branch and said, “Everything went smoothly.”

Thirteen had long anticipated this outcome. “Everyone except for me and Nineteen, disperse. Ensure their safety. Keep a constant watch on their movements, and report immediately if anything is amiss. At the same time, if Second Young Master and Ten send any message, report it at once as well. Good, disperse.”

With the exception of Nineteen, the others quickly disappeared.

After a long while, Nineteen asked in a complicated tone, “What do you plan to do next?”

Thirteen reached out and patted his shoulder. “I have already used the family head’s bottle of pills to tempt them with a boost in inner energy, and they have taken them. Once everything is done, all we need do is let them smell sandalwood incense—ten breaths.”

Nineteen felt a chill rise in his heart and interrupted, “All right, stop talking.”

Thirteen withdrew his hand. There was one more thing he did not say: he had taken the medicine as well. In the entire Radiant-Garment Empire, there were no more than five people who could cure it. The young master and the Second Young Master were two of them, but to ask them to save him—such a thing would likely be truly difficult.

The rain grew lighter and lighter, but things on Yuwen Lingxi and Lianyue’s side were far from calm.

Beneath the banyan tree, Yuwen Lingxi and Lianyue were both seated cross-legged on the ground. Lianyue wore only a red belly band over her upper body, concealing her springtime charms, while Yuwen Lingxi pressed both hands against her bare back. Beneath his mask, his face was pale.

At that moment, the inner force within him was being continuously drawn by the inner force lingering behind Lianyue’s body, surging chaotically through her meridians, with faint signs of being devoured.

Yuwen Lingxi had underestimated that force. He had only meant to use his inner energy together with the silver needles already inserted into the crown of Lianyue’s head to seal away the remnants of today’s memories, yet he had not expected that the instant his inner force entered her body, it would provoke her own inner force, leading to the present state.

Carefully controlling his own energy, Yuwen Lingxi continued to send it into Lianyue’s body at a steady pace. He kept on for an unknown length of time until the force within her gradually settled down again. Only then did he dare to guide his inner energy toward the needle’s place and complete the whole process with painstaking precision. By the time he withdrew his energy, his clothes had been soaked through with cold sweat several times over.

Sealing memories was especially exhausting. Looking up at the gradually brightening sky, Yuwen Lingxi dressed Lianyue properly, then took out a porcelain bottle from his bosom. He poured out a lustrous white pill and placed it in her mouth.

If Yaoyao had been here, she would certainly have recognized it at once as the Jade-Skin Pill she had just received. This pill was refined from a thousand-year snow lotus and had been specially made by Yuwen Lingxiao for Yuwen Lingxi, in order to erase the deep and shallow scars all over Yuwen Lingxi’s body.

Yet Yuwen Lingxi had never used it. Now he was using it to remove the bruises left on Lianyue’s body, which was rather a waste of a precious treasure. But Yuwen Lingxi had no such awareness.

What he cared about was only whether the medicine truly worked. Earlier, he had already given Lianyue one pill, and there had been some effect.