A Shui grabbed her hand, "Sister." She whispered, "I'm sorry." Yu Tuan'er was glaring furiously at Liu Yan, her fist raised to strike, but paused at these words, "What?" A Shui clutched her hand tightly, "I can't face you. I told him... I told him... that if he wanted me, I would go with him. I promised you I would never compete with you, but I have no shame, I..." Yu Tuan'er froze, suddenly turning her head. A Shui's face was deathly pale, "I'm sorry."
A flash of hurt passed through Yu Tuan'er's eyes as she stared blankly at her, "I'm very angry." A Shui nodded, but Yu Tuan'er shook her head, "But... but he's not my husband. If you want to be with him, what's wrong with that?" Her sorrowful gaze wasn't directed at A Shui, "Even though I want to be with him the most, he always seems to like me less." Tears welled up in A Shui's eyes, streaming down when she closed them, "I told him, if he wanted me, I'd stay with him forever. But he didn't want me..." Yu Tuan'er's mouth fell open in shock, "He misses you, he likes you, why wouldn't he want you?"
"Silly girl," A Shui said mournfully, "He didn't want me. He wouldn't let you take the poison, he took it himself. Don't you understand?" Yu Tuan'er was speechless. A Shui gave a bitter smile, brushing the hair from Yu Tuan'er's forehead, "He cares about you. He didn't want you to suffer, so he chose to suffer himself. At the very least, he considers you important."
Tears suddenly gushed from Yu Tuan'er's eyes, "He... why didn't he say anything? If he doesn't say it, how would I know?" She threw herself down, kneeling beside Liu Yan, "What do we do now? How do we save him? Is he in a lot of pain?"
"Step back." Fang Pingzhai's red fan tapped her shoulder, "Getting too close is dangerous. Let me handle this." Yu Tuan'er was pushed aside by his fan. Fang Pingzhai fanned Liu Yan lightly, "Master, this secret room of yours is a mess—poor ventilation, dim lighting, and everything knocked over. I really don't know which bottle contains the Antidote you prepared. If you're still conscious and can speak, try to tell us which medicine to give you to counteract the poison."
Liu Yan was drenched in cold sweat, his eyes tightly shut, and it was unclear if he heard. After a pause, Fang Pingzhai continued, "If you can't speak, then listen. Is the Antidote a pill or a liquid? Move a finger if it's a pill, don't move if it's a liquid." Yu Tuan'er scrambled up. Liu Yan remained stiff for a long moment, unmoving.
"Good. What kind of container is the liquid in? Move a finger if it's in this room, don't move if it's not." Fang Pingzhai added. Liu Yan twitched a finger slightly. Yu Tuan'er exclaimed joyfully, "It's in the room, it's in the room!"
"What color is the bottle? Move if it's patterned, don't move if it's solid-colored."
Liu Yan didn't move.
Yu Tuan'er jumped up, "A solid-colored bottle with liquid inside!" She began rummaging frantically through the room. A Shui quickly stood and joined the search for the Antidote. Within moments, they found seven or eight solid-colored bottles containing liquid. Fang Pingzhai questioned them one by one, but none turned out to be the Antidote.
The three exchanged bewildered glances. Where exactly was the Antidote Liu Yan had mentioned?After a long while, Liu Yan slowly opened his eyes, looking at the three people before him with disgust. Being surrounded by them during his poisoning episode had left him with an indescribable sense of awkwardness. The effects of Lonely Branch Like Snow had passed, and the next attack wouldn’t come until midnight. He sat up, his body still trembling intermittently. He opened his mouth, but his teeth continued to chatter, rendering him unable to speak a single word.
"I’m truly baffled—which bottle is the antidote? This secret room of yours has hundreds, if not thousands, of medicine bottles inside and out. After much effort, we found these eight, yet you claim none of them are it. Where exactly is the antidote?" Fang Pingzhai fanned himself as he stared at Liu Yan. "And when will these hideous, grotesque, nauseating spots on your body fade?"
Liu Yan raised his hand and picked up a teacup from the table, which contained a dark brown liquid. Fang Pingzhai’s mouth fell open. "Could this be the antidote?" The teacup had been sitting there, its contents looking filthy and bearing no resemblance to an "antidote."
Liu Yan lifted the cup, took a short knife from the table, and made a cut on his wrist. Yu Tuan'er gasped in shock, crying out, "Ah!" But then she watched as Liu Yan smeared the dark brown liquid over the wound, applying it once and then again after a short while.
Soon, the red spots on his arm faded, restoring his skin to its original snowy smoothness. The antidote seemed to follow his bloodstream, spreading throughout his body and neutralizing the strange poison. Fang Pingzhai was overjoyed. "What is this? How can it have such miraculous effects?"
"This is Tang Lici’s blood," Liu Yan said flatly.
The three of them had initially looked delighted, but upon hearing this, they froze in shock. "Tang Lici’s blood?"
"This is Tang Lici’s blood, mixed with a small amount of snake venom to prevent coagulation," Liu Yan murmured. "And with cloves and cinnamon added for preservation."
"So Tang Lici’s blood is the miraculous cure for the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill?" Fang Pingzhai exclaimed in amazement. "If it’s this simple, why have you been racking your brains? Just ask Young Master Tang to sit down, collect three or five bowls of his blood daily, add some snake venom and cloves, and distribute it for everyone to apply. Wouldn’t that quickly bring peace to the world?" Yu Tuan'er glared at him. "Why do you make him sound like a pig?" A Shui sighed. "It probably isn’t that simple, right?"
Liu Yan shook his head. "There are many substances that can neutralize the poison—pearl Green Charm, fragrant orchid grass, certain extremely cold toxins, and Tang Lici’s blood." He looked at the wound on his wrist. "But they can neutralize the poison, not the addiction." A Shui whispered, "So you mean Young Master Tang’s blood can’t truly cure it?" Liu Yan replied, "No."
"Then what exactly can cure it?" Yu Tuan'er asked, puzzled. "Didn’t you say you’ve made many medicines that might work?" Liu Yan gazed at the numerous bottles on the table. "Yes. Among these, there’s one that induces deep sleep. If someone can sleep for seven months, perhaps they’ll wake up cured." Then he smiled bitterly. "But who could survive sleeping for seven months?""What about the others?" Fang Pingzhai waved his fan. "The previous method is discarded. Let's try a new approach." Liu Yan said, "There's another one—it makes the person's thoughts chaotic and muddled. If they can remain in that state for seven months without craving the drug, perhaps the poison will be neutralized." Fang Pingzhai shook his head repeatedly. "Seven months of muddled confusion? By the time they wake up, they might turn into an idiot. Discarded." Liu Yan continued, "There's yet another—it makes people extremely relaxed, feeling as though nothing matters, even the pain of withdrawal from the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill." Fang Pingzhai clapped his hands. "This drug sounds promising, but what's the catch?"
"The catch is that once they stop taking it, the person becomes suddenly manic and uncontrollable," Liu Yan said somberly. "There are only three paths to detoxification: to escape the extreme craving for the drug through hypnosis, sedation, or sheer willpower. The spots and itching aren't hard to eliminate—what's difficult is that people grow accustomed to the benefits of the drug and can't adapt to reality without it."
"Then tie them up. The moment they crave the drug, knock them out with a blunt strike or clamp their legs and beat them—anything to make them cry out in pain, leaving no time to think about the drug." Fang Pingzhai flicked his fan. "Hmm, I think my method is quite good. It could satisfy many people's sadistic urges under a righteous pretext."
"Tie someone up for seven months and beat them like that every day? They'd be dead long before the seven months are up!" Yu Tuan'er glared. "You're just spouting nonsense, always coming up with terrible ideas." A Shui frowned, her heart unsettled. "Is there truly no way to detoxify?"
"Knock them out... beat them to death..." Liu Yan slowly raised his eyes to look at Fang Pingzhai. "Perhaps... there's another way." Fang Pingzhai was startled. "You mean kill them first and then revive them? But... what if you kill them and can't bring them back? What then?" Liu Yan's eyes suddenly gleamed with a dazzling light. "No, not that. There's a method that might not take as long as seven months."
"What method?" the three asked in unison. Liu Yan replied, "A dangerous one, but worth trying. Better than waiting for death."
While the four were engrossed in their secret discussion about detoxification, several shadowy figures slipped into Chicken Coop Mountain Manor. All were masked, their movements swift and nimble. After infiltrating, they conducted a quick search of the manor and were surprised to find it empty. "Huh?" one of them muttered.
Feng Feng, curled up in a corner of the room, stirred slightly. He had heard the noise, but the intruders didn't notice him lying beneath a flower stand by the wall.
"Strange. I've been tracking Yu Furen for months. He clearly came here several times, even arriving once in a carriage. Ever since that carriage appeared at Phoenix Cry Mountain, A Shui vanished from Good Cloud Mountain—likely brought here. This place is highly suspicious. The master said Liu Yan might be hiding here, but how is there no one?" The leader, dressed in purple, had remarkably skilled lightness techniques."Big brother, there's food on the stove, and tea and clothes are still here. The person definitely hasn't gone far. What should we do?" someone behind him whispered in a low voice. "Should we set up an ambush?" The leader pondered, "Fang Pingzhai is likely here as well. His martial arts are formidable; we're no match for him. As long as we can confirm Liu Yan is here, that's enough. We shouldn't confront them head-on."
"What now?"
"We'll hide outside and lie in wait. The moment we spot Liu Yan, we retreat and inform our master."
"Understood."
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