Black tentacles covered the entire corridor. In the corner where light could not reach, a shadow like a ghost's claw traversed the corridor at extreme speed, climbed onto the window frame of a room, and slipped inside through a gap.
A faint, fresh scent permeated the room, like a mixture of orange and fern root grass. On the table, a bowl contained white soup with several perfectly round, pure white tangyuan floating within. A spoon lay beside the bowl.
The spoon was free of the sticky dough and filling of the tangyuan, indicating the bowl had not yet been eaten. The black shadow flowed, mimicking the swaying candlelight to blend in as part of the room.
It slowly seeped, spreading from the inner room to the outer one. In the corner of the outer room, separated by a screen and dedicated to storing medicinal herbs, it found its target for the day.
It approached silently, then suddenly detached from the ground. The shadow transformed into a giant black hand in mid-air and lunged towards the person with their back turned.
"Slap~"
The black palm grasped at empty air, smashing into a mountain of medicine cabinets.
The medicine cabinets didn't break, but a loud noise erupted. Immediately after, books, herbs, porcelain bottles, and medicine baskets piled on top cascaded down like dumplings.
"Alas!"
A sigh came from within the room. Poison Elder gazed at the giant black hand before him, his feelings unreadable. He had extracted and analyzed the poison that caused Ji Jinmo's illness using the dog's blood. It was a poison called 'You Lian,' its primary ingredient being the Black Lotus that grew on the cliffs of Thousand Layer Mountain. The Black Lotus grew in symbiosis with a type of vine called Bitter Vine. The Bitter Vine was foul-smelling and non-toxic, while the Black Lotus was fragrant and highly poisonous, especially its seeds. A single seed could kill an elephant.
You Lian used only the petals of the Black Lotus, dried and crushed, its potent toxicity removed to leave only a non-fatal chronic poison. It did not need to be ingested; it could spread through the air. Most importantly, if the person poisoned was strong and healthy, the poison would be infinitely weakened, causing at most a headache and fever, posing no threat to life. However, if the poisoned person was weak or elderly, the poison would attack the heart, leading to death from cardiac failure. For those afflicted with Gu poison, this poison was the most lethal. You Lian was mixed with the corpses of parasitic larvae; even dead, the scent they emitted could agitate the Gu worms.
You Lian was a poison that even Poison Elder had to search ancient texts and poison treatises to discover. He was not arrogant, but he knew that there were fewer than a handful of people in the world who understood poison better than he did.
"Uncle-Master, why?"
His response was a giant hand opening and reaching towards him.
Poison Elder remained still, but the giant hand suddenly stopped in mid-air, then receded like a receding tide.
In the back alley of the Prince's mansion, Ying Yi stood atop the wall, his entire being locked onto the person hidden in the shadows of the alley corner.
He drew the sword at his waist, stepped onto the wall, his movements like the wind and lightning. The sword struck so fast that only a cold glint remained.
Black tentacles surged skyward, like chains or whip shadows, blocking Ying Yi's path. The sword edge severed the black shadows, which reformed the next second. This kind of 'spell-like' attack was the most frustrating, as it could not be cut down or burned away. Unless one could swiftly kill the caster directly, all efforts were in vain.
More and more black tentacles appeared, quickly forming a net. With a movement from the caster, the black net lunged down towards Ying Yi.
Ying Yi's movement abruptly stopped, and he rapidly retreated. The black giant net pursued him closely.
Vines swayed in the wind, their rustling hidden within the sounds of combat. A green vine with yellow flowers quietly crept to the feet of the Medicine Venerable. Just as the flower petals were about to touch the Medicine Venerable's trousers, a ball of fire descended from the sky. With a "boom," flames erupted, engulfing the vines and flowers. The fire spread along the vines, forcing out a burly man hiding within the wall, waiting to abduct someone.
The man had a rugged face and a sturdy build, but the band tying his hair was a green vine with a small yellow flower on it. The small yellow flower trembled slightly in the heatwave from the flames, appearing somewhat cute. However, upon looking down at the man's face, this cuteness turned into bewilderment.
He shook his sleeves, looking at his fingers that were almost burned by the fire, and cursed vilely.
"Damn your ancestral grave!"
He shook, and the small flower on his head trembled with him. He grabbed with his hands, his ten fingers transforming into ten vines. The vines rooted into the ground, and with a "boom," a giant tree erupted from the earth, lifting the scoundrel who had lit the fire into the air.
The branches of the tree turned into whip shadows, lashing out like a storm at the figure that had been sent flying, seizing the opportunity to end him while he was down.
A black shadow shot up into the sky, wrapping around the ankle of the person who had been thrown into the air, and with a forceful throw, sent him to a place beyond the reach of the whip-like branches.
Ying Yi's retreating footsteps suddenly halted. The next second, he had vanished from his original position.
"Swish~"
A sword's shadow flashed. In the blink of an eye, Ying Yi appeared before the person secretly controlling the shadows, his sword tip pointed directly at their throat.
"Rumble~"
The ground beneath them suddenly trembled, and a large hole split open at the person's feet. The sword passed over their head, and Ying Yi reversed his grip, thrusting downwards.
"Thwack!"
The sword pierced flesh and blood, and a muffled groan came from below.
"Playing with dirt?"
The burly man with the small yellow flower on his head sneered. The large tree not far away instantly withered, and the leaves that fell to the ground burrowed into the soil like earthworms, transforming into roots. Each root extended deeper into the ground.
The burly man closed his eyes, transferring his visual nerves to each root.
"Found you!"
Thousands upon thousands of roots turned into spears and lunged violently at the person rapidly moving through the earth.
With a "boom," the person underground broke through the soil.
There was no light underground, so there were no shadows.
There was light above ground, so there were shadows.
Countless black shadows enveloped the two individuals who were forced out. The shadows transformed into a swamp-like mire. The roots, once they penetrated, were 'locked' in place. The muddy sensation caused the burly man's face to contort with unbearable disgust.
"Damn it!"
This feeling was akin to eating excrement for the burly man.
The man who had been thrown away by the black shadow returned. He cupped his hands together, rubbing them, and a spark of fire appeared in his palm, gradually expanding into a fireball the size of a watermelon. He threw it forcefully. The fireball sliced through the night sky, the flames burning the air and forming a layer of air current. It was like a falling meteor, with a devastating force, striking towards the burly man's back.