Chapter 144: Chapter 78: Carefree Warbler_1
As I returned, the raindrops had become much smaller.
Yin Zheng was waiting for her from afar at the edge of the woods. Every time, in situations like this, Lu Tong always asked Yin Zheng to keep distance, feeling that it was better to handle certain matters alone and that there was no need to involve others who were unrelated.
Although Yin Zheng had inevitably been drawn into this maelstrom.
By the time they returned to West Street, it was past midnight, and not a soul was on the streets; only the rainwater dripping from the roof tiles left behind a scatter of faded colors on the ground.
Lu Tong and Yin Zheng hurried past the outer yard and into the inner room. Yin Zheng helped Lu Tong take off her cloak.
The White Cloak, soaked by the rain, let drops of water mixed with blood fall to the floor, a burst of blood blossoms staining the snow-white fabric with mottled red flowers, creating a shockingly beautiful sight under the lamp’s glow.
Yin Zheng also felt a shiver at the sight, and after a moment asked Lu Tong, "He’s already..."
Lu Tong hummed in response, her gaze sweeping over the blood-stained cloak in Yin Zheng’s hands before dropping her eyes, "What a shame to ruin a piece of clothing."
There was silence in the room for a long while.
After a moment, Yin Zheng spoke softly, "Miss, you should change into clean clothes first."
"Alright."
In the cold frosty night with the rain, the melancholic chirping of crickets outside, Yin Zheng busied herself with cleaning the blood from Lu Tong’s body, not noticing the horrified gaze hiding in the shadows of the courtyard outside the window.
Once everything was cleaned up and the cloak put away, Yin Zheng carried the lamp to the next room to rest, while Lu Tong blew out the candles on the small table and climbed into bed.
The outside was filled with the continuous drizzle of rain, sounding unbearably chilling.
With no lights lit inside, darkness enveloped the room, a breeze blowing through the crack of the window, sending chills through the body. Listening closely, it was almost like hearing the hoarse gasps of someone’s dying breaths.
Like Liu Kun’s screams under the Brothel’s eaves where he met his end.
Lu Tong lay on her back, staring at the canopy above her.
Liu Kun was poisoned by Sister Ying, those who ingested Sister Ying’s poison would, within a few hours, feel an intolerable itch and pain in the throat, as if thousands of ants were wriggling and gnawing inside.
The poison wasn’t incurable; in fact, after a night, it would naturally dissipate. However, those who were poisoned rarely survived because when the pain became unbearable, the poisoned would go mad, eventually desiring death.
Thus, most who were poisoned by Sister Ying, did not die from the toxicity but rather from their own hand.
She had smeared her letter to Liu Kun with Sister Ying’s poison and arranged to meet him at the exact hour the poison would take effect. In the end, Liu Kun, unable to endure the agony, stabbed his own throat, dying right in front of her.
Everything was seamless.
Remembering Liu Kun’s desperate scratching before death, Lu Tong couldn’t help but cover her own neck, as if she also felt a trace of itchiness there.
She too had once experienced the ferocity of Sister Ying’s poison.
Back then at Luomei Peak, it was early spring in March, the beauty of the season was everywhere, and the hills echoed with the crisp chirping of orioles. Lady Yun’s pink-white robe shimmered in the sunset, her raven hair styled into a high bun, as she sat in front of her little house preparing medicine.
She was in a good mood that day, speaking of the ingredients while preparing the medicine, with Lu Tong sitting on a stool, sorting the herbs and silently memorizing the recipe.
At last, Lady Yun poured the finished medicine into a white porcelain bowl and handed it to Lu Tong.
Whenever a new medicine was made, someone had to test it. After Lu Tong drank the medicine and cleaned the porcelain bowl, she waited for the effects, which could arrive at any time.
Usually, by this time, Lady Yun would have already left, as she was not one for patience and would only come to observe and record once the effects began. However, that day she had stayed an unusually longer while.
"I heard an interesting story when I went down the mountain a few days ago," she suddenly said.
Lu Tong didn’t respond, quietly watching the ant colony on the ground.
Lady Yun, smiling, glanced at Lu Tong and continued, "There’s a brothel down the mountain, and one of the songstresses there has a beautiful voice, surpassing even the orioles and larks. The Madame named her ’Sister Ying’."
"Once Sister Ying became famous, young nobles flocked to her, stirring envy among her peers, and someone poisoned her drink, leaving her throat ruined."
"Sister Ying lost her ability to sing, and her previous admirers stopped coming to call upon her. The Madame treated her harshly, the maids scorned her, and with a heart full of despair, she simply hanged herself in her room with a rope."
After narrating, she sighed deeply, "It’s really pitiable."
Yet despite her sighs, her expression was oddly pleased, her beautiful eyes shining with a strange light.
Lu Tong remained silent.
Lady Yun said, "I was quite moved when I first heard this story, the name was beautiful too. So inspired by it, I created a new medicine. When you take this medicine, initially there’s no reaction, but later, one will feel unbearable itchiness and pain in the throat."