Before she died, she wouldn't mind taking a moment out of her busy schedule to add another stab at Hua Rongjian.
"Mhm, Second Young Master Hua makes a fair point. One shouldn't conceal their illness for fear of treatment," Mo Sigui agreed.
This "common hatred for the enemy" instantly united two people who had long been in oppressed positions. Hua Rongjian added, "You don’t have to listen to me, but you can’t ignore the words of Miraculous Doctor Mo."
An Jiu squinted one eye to check if the main shaft of the crossbow was perfectly straight, casually remarking, "You two haven’t exchanged more than a few words in half a month. Now, is this a case of 'a turtle eyeing a mung bean—the more they look, the better they suit each other'?"
"Then I must be the mung bean," Hua Rongjian quickly responded.
Mo Sigui paused his work, staring at the dashing Hua Rongjian in amazement. "May I ask, dear brother, where your integrity has gone?!"
Clad in a stone-blue robe, Hua Rongjian’s smile under the sunlight was clean and bright, the very image of a noble young master in a corrupt world—his entire being practically gleaming with the words "moral integrity."
"Hmph!" Seeing his indifference, Mo Sigui decided to throw caution to the wind as well, gesturing with his hands. "What’s so great about mung beans? A turtle is at least this big!"
Hearing this, Hua Rongjian actually found Mo Sigui a bit more likable and smoothly changed the subject. "My elder brother heard that the Miracle Doctor is fond of fans, so he tasked me with finding one. Would you care to take a look?"
Only then did Mo Sigui notice the box in his hands.
Hua Rongjian opened it, revealing a folding fan resting inside. The jet-black fan ribs emitted a cold, faint glow under the sunlight, casting a dark violet hue over the snow-white satin lining the box.
"This is…" Mo Sigui was instantly captivated, reaching out to touch the fan ribs.
A chilling energy seeped into his fingers, flowing through his meridians along with his True Energy. Within moments, his mind felt crystal clear.
"Ice Dragon Brain." Mo Sigui lifted the fan and unfolded it. The plain white fan surface shimmered faintly, as if dotted with glistening water. "Celestial Silk."
"Correct. And from a Lovebird Cocoon, no less," Hua Rongjian added with a smile.
Celestial Silk was not only more resilient—impervious to water, fire, and blades—but also woven into exceptionally beautiful fabric, dazzling even without dye.
Ordinary silkworm cocoons sometimes contained Lovebird Cocoons as well. A "Lovebird Cocoon" referred to a single cocoon housing two silkworm pupae. Typically, the embroidered "lovebird quilt covers" placed in a bride’s dowry chest were woven from such cocoons, while wealthy families even used silk drawn from Lovebird Cocoons as filling for their quilts. Lovebird Cocoons were already rarer than ordinary ones, and among Celestial Silkworms, they were virtually unheard of.
"The Hua Clan gifts such a precious item—may I ask why?" Mo Sigui placed the fan back in the box.
The Hua Clan’s repeated overtures surely came with expectations. No matter how exquisite the fan, he had to weigh the implications carefully.
"Truthfully, for the Miracle Doctor, it would be but a trivial effort," Hua Rongjian said. "My elder brother was poisoned. We only ask that you cure him."
Mo Sigui’s interest was piqued. "Oh? What kind of poison?"
Hua Rongjian explained, "Two years ago, just after my brother was promoted to Privy Council Commissioner, someone poisoned him—though we still don’t know where or how. At first, there were no major symptoms, just a brief stabbing pain near his heart every night as he was about to sleep. He didn’t pay it much mind. But after two months, the pain lasted longer. Then, half a month ago, a speck of cinnabar red appeared right over his heart…"
"Why didn’t he seek treatment earlier?" Mo Sigui understood now. Still, it was odd—given the Hua Clan’s influence, requesting The Emperor to dispatch Elder Qi for treatment shouldn’t have been difficult."How could we not? We sought renowned physicians far and wide, yet none could cure him. Then we recalled there was a Miracle Doctor in the Crane Control Army who could bring the dead back to life. So my father personally went to the palace to kneel and plead, but the Emperor, placing great trust in those Taoist priests, bestowed some 'Elixirs' upon my father instead, never once mentioning the Miracle Doctor." Hua Rongjian's smile vanished completely, veins bulging on his forehead and neck as he visibly struggled to contain his emotions.
The Hua Clan's chief minister had never been able to decipher the Emperor's intentions. If the Emperor had no intention of saving Hua Rongtian's life, why would he offer "Elixirs"? After all, the Emperor was deeply devoted to Taoism, following a Taoist master in pursuit of immortality and constantly consuming elixirs. Unless... these "Elixirs" were fake.
"Tsk tsk." Upon hearing this, Mo Sigui already knew—this poison was the "Ghost Flower" concocted by Elder Qi. From the moment of poisoning until death, a large red mark resembling a spider lily would form over the victim's heart.
In some regions, spider lilies were colloquially called Ghost Flowers. In Taoism, they served to guide souls and symbolized the profound mysteries of past and present lives. Elder Qi, understanding Hua Rongtian's bond with his deceased wife, must have been moved to create this unique poison for him.
Setting aside all these esoteric trappings, Ghost Flower was essentially a slow-acting poison requiring prolonged ingestion to be fatal. Once the cinnabar-red mark on the chest fully bloomed into a flower shape, no medicine could reverse it. Calculating the progression, even if Hua Rongtian hadn't taken it daily, he must have consumed this poison for at least half a year.
Seeing Mo Sigui frown, Hua Rongjian couldn't help but ask, "Is it serious?"
Elder Qi had rarely visited Bianjing in the past decade and couldn't possibly have any deep-seated grudge against Hua Rongtian. The only explanation was that he'd been commissioned to create this Poison Pill, which someone else then administered.
For Mo Sigui, curing the poison wasn't difficult. What troubled him was how this matter implicated power struggles. He pondered whether helping might plunge him into irreversible peril—was a mere fan really worth that risk?
Yet considering the Hua Clan had been the first to inform him of An Jiu's whereabouts and offered such generous compensation, he couldn't openly break his recent promise. "Alright, but you must agree to one condition."
"Name it." Hua Rongjian's expression relaxed slightly.
"Your brother's cure must remain confidential," Mo Sigui stated.
Hua Rongjian assured him, "You needn't worry—we'll keep it quiet."
Mo Sigui took paper and brush, swiftly writing a medical formula. "Prepare these ingredients."
Accepting the prescription with surprise, Hua Rongjian paused briefly before his face darkened. "That Miracle Doctor from the Crane Control Army... is from the Mei Clan, isn't he?"
Without prior knowledge of this poison, Mo Sigui couldn't possibly prescribe ingredients without examination.
While Elder Qi's reputation among common folk paled beside Mo Sigui's, Crane Control Army families and martial circles knew of him. During his early travels, people hailed him as the "Divine Hand of Sacred Medicine," feared even by the King of Hell. Few knew he was actually a Mei Clan elder—otherwise Plum Blossom Village's threshold would have been worn down by endless visitors.
Contemplating this, Mo Sigui thought the King of Hell better not hold this against him, lest the old man suffer when reaching the underworld.
"Miracle Doctor?" Hua Rongjian's voice pulled him back.
Mo Sigui hastily distanced himself. "I'm only treating the illness. You'll have to figure out the rest yourselves—don't involve me.""That must be the case. I asked too much, please don't take offense, Miracle Doctor." Hua Rongjian had actually already guessed everything behind the scenes but just wanted confirmation. Since Mo Sigui wasn't willing to speak, he didn't press the matter at all. "I'll trouble the Miracle Doctor with my elder brother's illness then."
"Of course, just fulfilling my promise!" Mo Sigui replied.
After finishing their serious discussion, the two men noticed An Jiu still working diligently nearby, completely occupied with no time to spare for them. (To be continued...)
OpenNovel