Poison?

The beastfolk clan leader’s weathered face went completely white with fury, and he struck his son hard across the face again, sending him sprawling to the ground. “You wretched fool! A year ago, this python had no venom—but over the past year, with no prey to feed on, it’s been absorbing the poisonous miasma in these mountains day after day, and it’s long since developed the ability to exhale toxic fumes! The fumes it releases gather here in the evenings, but in the mornings, they settle down in the valley itself!”

“You! You… you actually… you didn’t even bother to find out or ask!” The beastfolk clan leader was so furious he nearly fainted on the spot.

“I… I saw Father had been summoned by the King these past few days to discuss important matters, and I didn’t dare disturb you. I thought…”

Wracked with guilt and anxiety, the Second Beast Young Master looked down into the valley and immediately dropped to his knees. “I’m the one who’s ruined the Princess Consort! The Princess Consort accidentally wounded Princess Qianqian, and fearing my father’s punishment, I brought them here to find the antidote!”

Hearing the beastfolk clan leader’s explanation, Situ Haonan’s mind went completely blank. Whatever kind of poison it was, aside from substances like Charm Fragrance, no toxin had ever had any effect on Han Ziqing whatsoever.

Whether it was last night’s fumes or this morning’s, to Han Ziqing, it might as well have been ordinary air!

A moment ago, Situ Haonan had been desperate for Han Ziqing to come back up—now, he found himself almost wishing she wouldn’t come up at all!

The beastfolk clan leader had already explained the situation so clearly, and the Second Beast Young Master himself had confirmed they’d arrived in the evening, with Ziqing descending into the valley that same evening!

If Han Ziqing emerged from the valley safe and sound in a little while, wouldn’t that mean—

Everyone would immediately know she had absolutely no reaction to snake venom whatsoever!

Damn it—if only he could go down and warn her!

But it was currently early morning, and the fumes hadn’t dispersed yet—he simply couldn’t get down there at all.

And as more time passed, he had no idea what to do at all. By now, everyone already assumed Han Ziqing had been poisoned unconscious and devoured by the python!

For a moment, no one dared speak, except the Second Beast Young Master, weeping bitterly. “I’m the one who’s ruined the Princess Consort! I’m the one who’s ruined her!”

The beastfolk clan leader’s brow furrowed tight. His first reaction upon hearing about this had been to stop the messenger heading to inform the King, rushing here himself as fast as possible—never expecting the situation to be this dire.

Right now, his mind had gone completely blank too, with no idea what to do.

“Medicine Clan leader, shouldn’t this matter be… reported to Prince Yao?” the Empress of Eastern Qin asked, her expression full of concern, so fake it made Situ Haonan grit his teeth in frustration.

This was truly a mess now. Xuanyuan Zhaoxi immediately chimed in. “Second Beast Young Master, how exactly did the Princess Consort accidentally wound Princess Qianqian? Someone that big, and she couldn’t even see her before firing the arrow? Now that Princess Qianqian is unconscious, surely her attendants ought to at least be informed of this.”

The beastfolk clan leader, looking at this troublesome mother-daughter pair, felt his anger surge, kicking straight at the Second Beast Young Master again. “Wretched fool! Wretched fool!”

“Beastfolk clan leader! The Second Beast Young Master didn’t do this on purpose!” Situ Haonan couldn’t stand by and watch any longer. Just moments ago, he too had suspected the Second Beast Young Master, but the man had lost consciousness even before he had!

And besides, considering the whole situation, aside from not knowing the python was poisonous, there was nothing else about him that seemed suspicious at all!

Seeing the beastfolk clan leader so furious, and the Empress of Eastern Qin provoking him this way, Situ Haonan unconsciously abandoned his own suspicions.

Only the Second Beast Young Master could speak up for Ziqing right now—he had to secure his support.

Otherwise, with Yelu Qianqian currently unconscious, with no telling when she might wake, there’d be no one to clarify the truth.

If word of Ziqing wounding and poisoning her reached Yelu Qianqian’s attendants, and from there, exaggerated and embellished, reached the ears of the Emperor of Western Jing, Jun Beiyue’s entire plan for the Western Three Cities could collapse at any moment.

Right now, Western Jing’s Wolf Army had already crossed the Western Three Cities, actively counterattacking Western Chu. If the Emperor of Western Jing lost trust in Jun Beiyue, heaven only knew how badly things could deteriorate out there.

Western Jing and Western Chu might even join forces against Da Zhou—between nations, there was never any true, lasting friendship; today’s ally could be tomorrow’s enemy, and vice versa!

Situ Haonan ignored the Empress of Eastern Qin and Xuanyuan Zhaoxi entirely, explaining instead to the beastfolk clan leader, “Clan Leader, please don’t blame the young master. He originally intended to come find you too. It was I and the Princess Consort who worried the journey would be too far, that the strain of travel would worsen Princess Qianqian’s injury. We’d split into teams for the hunt—Princess Qianqian and I were together, while the young master was with the Princess Consort. As for how Princess Qianqian got hurt, the young master and I are in the best position to speak to that!”

The Second Beast Young Master’s eyes flashed with a cold glint, though he hurried to back up Situ Haonan’s account. “Yes, yes, it was a misunderstanding! The Princess Consort encountered a leopard and had to shoot it out of necessity—who could have known Princess Qianqian was nearby? The arrow passed through the leopard and struck her. I can testify the Princess Consort didn’t do this on purpose!”

Whether it had been intentional or not was never something one person alone could determine.

Since the Second Beast Young Master wasn’t a direct witness himself, he was confident that as long as Yelu Qianqian remained unconscious, once word of this reached the Emperor of Western Jing, the emperor certainly wouldn’t be naive enough to assume it had simply been an accident.

Once something like this happened, suspicion would inevitably follow—and between allied nations, suspicion was the most dangerous thing of all.

At this, the beastfolk clan leader finally nodded, though he hesitated for a long while, saying nothing more.

The Empress of Eastern Qin pressed further. “Medicine Clan leader, surely you don’t intend to just wait here with everyone indefinitely? The Princess Consort has almost certainly fallen into the valley and been devoured by the python. This matter needs to be reported to Prince Yao and His Majesty—this isn’t something you can decide alone.”

“Empress of Eastern Qin, this incident occurred on my beastfolk clan’s own hunting grounds, and naturally my clan will bear responsibility for it. The Princess Consort’s fate remains mere speculation—until we’ve actually gone down into the valley, please don’t jump to conclusions!”

The beastfolk clan leader spoke without holding back now, though deep down, he had none of the confidence his words projected—he was simply stalling for time.

He was, in fact, almost entirely certain the Princess Consort was already dead—he simply had no idea what to do about it, and needed time to think.

And besides, Yelu Qianqian’s life was still hanging in the balance too. They absolutely needed to retrieve the Xining flowers from the valley below, or there would be another life lost as well.

Situ Haonan didn’t dare act either, waiting as well—his one remaining hope was for the poisonous fumes in the valley to disperse, so he could rush down ahead of everyone else and warn Han Ziqing to feign unconsciousness, giving her some excuse to explain herself.

She’d been gone this long without coming back up—something must have happened. But knowing Han Ziqing as well as he did, he was fairly confident she wouldn’t have lost her life over this.

For now, all they could do was wait—the moment the fumes cleared would be the critical juncture.

Hearing the beastfolk clan leader’s response, the Empress of Eastern Qin smiled faintly and settled onto a nearby boulder to wait.

Situ Haonan glanced over at her, both furious and contemptuous.

He thought to himself—if this had been a pure coincidence, it wouldn’t have mattered much; accidents happened sometimes. But if this was a deliberate scheme, then whoever was pulling the strings behind it was truly terrifying—this single “accident” could implicate Nanzhao, Da Zhou, Western Jing, and Western Chu all at once, affecting the entire balance of power across the Longyuan continent!