A miserable scream caused Kongqing, who had been stepping back, to imdiately rush forward and shield Li An behind him.
He held a short sword across his chest, his sharp gaze locked onto the room where the sound had originated.
"Brother," Xiaoman ran to the room, trying to push the door open.
"Don't co in. Xiaoman, don't co in." An exhausted, trembling voice echoed from inside the room. "Xiaoman, listen to your brother. Do not co in."
"Brother, I brought a doctor. Please let the doctor co in and see you," Xiaoman pleaded, pounding on the door.
"I don't want a doctor! Go away, go!" Dongzhi fiercely resisted the idea of seeing a physician.
Li An bypassed Kongqing and walked up to the door.
"Dongzhi, I am the doctor your sister invited, a wandering physician. My na is Li An, and I am from the capital. If you don't want to see your sister, could you just let in?"
Silence fell over the room.
"Are you really from the capital? What proof do you have?"
"You've got there," Li An chuckled. How was he supposed to prove that?
While Li An was thinking, absolute quiet settled both inside and outside the room.
"Watch out!" Kongqing threw himself at Li An, brandishing his short sword to deflect the short arrows shooting toward them from afar.
Before Li An could even understand what was happening, he was pinned heavily to the ground beneath Kongqing.
Then, the swishing sounds of incoming arrows filled his ears, accompanied by the sickening thud of arrows piercing flesh.
Soone was hurt.
Li An tried to get up, but Kongqing held him down tightly.
"Second Master, don't move," Kongqing said, letting out a muffled groan.
The swishing sounds ceased, replaced by a sudden, eerie quiet.
Li An shifted slightly. "Kongqing?"
The man on his back did not respond, and the tallic scent of blood filled Li An's nose.
Startled, Li An forcefully pushed Kongqing off and scrambled to his feet.
Three short arrows were firmly embedded in Kongqing's back.
Li An panicked for a fraction of a second but quickly regained his composure. He took out a life-saving pill and fed it to Kongqing.
Opening his dical box, he swiftly took out his needles and began administering ergency treatnt.
While Li An was busy trying to save Kongqing, he did not notice the door behind him slowly opening.
Feeling deeply uneasy, Dongzhi carefully and slowly pushed the door ajar.
His sister, riddled with arrows, stared at him with wide, lifeless eyes, as if asking, "Why didn't you open the door, brother?"
"Xiaoman!" Dongzhi scread, lunging forward to gather his sister into his arms.
"Xiaoman! Xiaoman—" Dongzhi sobbed hysterically. "Brother was wrong, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have... Ah—"
Li An ignored Dongzhi's agonizing cries. The golden needles in his hands flew swiftly as he inserted them into Kongqing's body.
Once Kongqing's breathing steadied, Li An breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Li An then walked over to Xiaoman.
"What are you doing? Don't co closer, get lost!" Dongzhi roared furiously.
"Let see if your sister can still be saved." Li An reached out to check Xiaoman's pulse.
Dongzhi looked at Li An with desperate, fragile hope.
Li An's face grew heavy. "She's gone."
"It's all your fault! You killed Xiaoman! I'll kill you—" Dongzhi lunged at Li An.
As the sun set, Chonglou and Lingyu followed Kongqing's trail markings and arrived at the desolate house.
The ground was littered with arrows, and the thick stench of blood assaulted their noses.
Li An was leaning against the wall, with a blood-soaked Kongqing lying beside him.
"You two ca just in ti. Tie him up."
Li An weakly pointed at Dongzhi, who was covered in blood, his hair a disheveled ss, struggling wildly not far away.
Chonglou and Lingyu tightly bound Dongzhi, then walked over to Li An to ask for punishnt.
"Your subordinates arrived late. Please punish us, Second Master."
"I was the one who told you to go have fun. I don't bla you," Li An waved his hand dismissively, pointing at Xiaoman lying next to Dongzhi.
"Dig a grave and bury the little girl."
Seeing the lifeless little girl, Chonglou and Lingyu instantly tensed up.
They wanted to ask what happened, but seeing Li An's utterly exhausted state, they swallowed their questions and went to find shovels.
"No, you can't!" Dongzhi yelled. "Xiaoman, Xiaoman..."
"Xiaoman died because of you," Li An said in a flat, detached tone.
"No, I didn't, ah," Dongzhi retorted, but suddenly his body convulsed. "Give it to , give it to quickly... I want it, I want it... give it to ."
Dongzhi's sudden, drastic change in behavior startled the three conscious n.
Li An recovered his calm. "What do you want?"
"Yingng, give Yingng, I want Yingng, Yingng, give it to ..."
"What is Yingng?"
"I want Yingng, give it to , give it to ... I beg you, give it to , give it to ..." Dongzhi muttered incessantly.
"Trade Xiaoman for Yingng?"
"No, I can't." Dongzhi shook his head. "Not my sister, no, no..."
"Are you sure you can't?" Li An's voice carried a dark hint of temptation.
"No, no, phew, heh, pant pant... Take her, take it all... give Yingng, Yingng, ng..." Dongzhi went from initial hesitation to complete compromise, his mind entirely consud by his craving for Yingng.
"What is Yingng?" Lingyu was puzzled. What kind of incredible thing was this Yingng that it made Dongzhi willing to give up his own flesh and blood?
"A poison, a poison that seeps deep into the marrow." Li An's voice turned freezing cold as he watched Dongzhi's ugly display.
"Long-term consumption of Yingng plunges a person into endless illusions, making them addicted and unable to extricate themselves, ultimately turning them into its slave."
Li An knew about Yingng from a forbidden book given to him by his master, Gu Cundong.
The forbidden text recorded all sorts of poisons and strange drugs that were strictly forbidden to be developed or spread to the outside world.
Ranked number one in that book was—Yingng.
"Disciple, even if you consu Heartbreak Grass, your master has ways to save you. But if you take Yingng, the only thing your master can do is end your life with my own hands."
Gu Cundong's face had been freezing cold when he said those words, and Li An had always kept them firmly etched in his heart.
"What exactly is this Yingng poison?"
"Do you know how the previous dynasty fell?"
Li An shook his head; he didn't know. He usually read dical texts and was entirely unfamiliar with history books.
"The reason for the previous dynasty's annihilation was that everyone, from the royal family down to the ministers, was consuming Yingng."
Every day they wallowed in hallucinations, living in a perpetual stupor, neglecting all duties and production.
Over ti, their bodily functions deteriorated, turning them into monsters that were neither human nor ghost.
The imperial court was ruined, and enemy nations took the opportunity to invade.
The founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty had petitioned the previous emperor to ban the consumption of Yingng, but was instead exiled to a remote mountain region to serve as a border guard.
The founding emperor could not bear to see the common people suffer such utter devastation.
He gathered resistance forces, drove out the enemy troops, and established the Qing Dynasty.
On the very first day of his reign, he ordered the destruction of all Yingng and strictly forbade anyone from consuming it.
Anyone caught doing so would be punished without rcy.
Any court official found consuming it would be stripped of their post, have their property confiscated, and be sent into exile.
A century passed, and as the older generation passed away, very few people knew about Yingng anymore.
Gu Cundong knew about it because his great-grandfather had been an imperial physician in the previous dynasty. He had witnessed the tragic ends of far too many people who had taken Yingng.
He specifically recorded the details of Yingng and left behind a Gu family ancestral motto.
The very first rule was: Any descendant of the Gu family who consus Yingng must die.
"When I first learned about Yingng, I thought my master was exaggerating," Li An let out a soft chuckle as he looked at Dongzhi, who now resembled a ghoul more than a man.
Now, Li An could confidently say that his master had put it far too lightly.
"Second Master, should we kill him?" Lingyu drew the flexible blade from his waist.
"Spare his life for now," Li An stopped him. Dongzhi was still useful.
"Bury Xiaoman. We are leaving."
"Yes." Chonglou and Lingyu took their shovels and dug a grave to bury Xiaoman.
Once Xiaoman was laid to rest, Chonglou imdiately picked up Kongqing.
Left with no other choice, Lingyu went to drag Dongzhi along.
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