The autumn night was quiet and cold.

The light in the kitchen was weak, like tiny sparks that would be swallowed by the surging darkness at any moment.

The woman stood at the doorway, her yellow camellia-colored dress fluttering in the wind, the flower in her hair fresh and dewy, as she slowly opened her mouth to address the person before her.

“Brazenly breaking into someone’s home at night without even wearing a face covering – how daring indeed.”

She paused, looking at the other person’s increasingly round eyes filled with terror, and continued: “If you weren’t an old acquaintance, I would have thought the medical hall had thieves tonight.”

The young man Duan Xiaoyan, sitting on the ground, swallowed hard, suddenly feeling guilty.

“Doctor Lu.”

Before he could think of a suitable excuse to deceive the person before him, he heard her calmly ask: “After following me for an entire day, what business does Young Master Duan have?”

Duan Xiaoyan’s expression changed as he sharply looked at Lu Tong.

How did she know?

Early this morning, Pei Yunying had gone out. Duan Xiaoyan, troubled by the male corpse incident at Wangchun Mountain last night and having no guard duty today, decided to visit the market district to relax his mind.

The market wasn’t far from the Fang family residence. As Duan Xiaoyan passed by, remembering that this was where he had lost his money pouch, his footsteps unconsciously slowed.

This slowdown led him to encounter Lu Tong conversing with a man at the Fang residence entrance.

The man wasn’t unfamiliar to Duan Xiaoyan – Qi Chuan, Fan Zhenlian’s unfortunate confidant, who was nominally a trusted aide but handled everything from the maids’ affairs to household management, short of being a wet nurse. Unfortunately, despite his talents, he remained just an insignificant clerk.

Lu Tong was talking with Qi Chuan at the Fang residence entrance.

In the past, Duan Xiaoyan wouldn’t have paid attention to this. However, having just experienced being framed by the money pouch incident last night, and recently hearing Pei Yunying’s warning to stay away from Lu Tong, Duan Xiaoyan now viewed Lu Tong’s every move with suspicion, sensing deeper meanings and hidden motives.

Lu Tong and Qi Chuan parted ways after exchanging only a few words. Duan Xiaoyan stood there contemplating for a moment before deciding to follow Lu Tong.

He wanted to see if there was truly something suspicious about this Doctor Lu.

For the rest of the day, Duan Xiaoyan’s legs nearly gave out from exhaustion.

Instead of returning directly to the medical hall, Lu Tong lingered in the market district. Duan Xiaoyan suspected she might be meeting someone privately, so he watched particularly carefully.

When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng watched the variety shows, he stared with wide eyes, missing nothing.

When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng watched the rope-walking performers, he held his breath, focusing intently.

When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng sat under the pavilion watching shadow plays, he watched Lu Tong more attentively than she watched the performance, scrutinizing everyone who sat near her, trying to spot signs of any secret communications.

When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng were at the Southern Restaurant tasting fish pouches and fried fish rice, drinking sweet mung bean soup, he crouched in a corner across the street, swallowing saliva while watching unblinkingly.

Finally, they went to look at the pearl shop.

Duan Xiaoyan couldn’t understand – they didn’t buy anything, yet they could look for so long? Didn’t they feel it was a waste of time?

All in all, by the end of the day, Duan Xiaoyan felt his eyes were about to fall out of their sockets, yet nothing unusual had happened with Lu Tong. It seemed they had simply come to the market for leisure and entertainment.

Duan Xiaoyan didn’t know if other women had such stamina when shopping in the market, but from what he observed, Lu Tong and Yin Zheng showed no signs of fatigue after their day of entertainment. The market was crowded – if he weren’t a Palace Front Guard, an ordinary person would have lost them in the crowds within an hour.

Duan Xiaoyan believed he had followed them perfectly, trailing them until Lu Tong returned to the medical hall. Seeing nothing unusual, he was about to leave when he noticed her lingering over a black jar in the small kitchen, which piqued his curiosity and led him to sneak in after she left.

Just then, a breeze blew in from the courtyard, raising goosebumps on his back. Duan Xiaoyan snapped back to reality and looked at Lu Tong.

“…You knew all along?”

Lu Tong remained silent.

During those years on Luomei Peak, she had mostly lived alone on the mountain. As a young girl of ten or so years, her courage wasn’t as great as it was now.

She feared wild beasts, snakes, insects, rats, sudden natural disasters, and ill-intentioned people.

Sometimes when she woke up in the morning, with no one else on the mountain and everything deathly quiet, she would feel a lonely fear as if she were the only person left in the world. She kept poison powder and scissors hidden on her person, ready to fight for her life against any sudden dangers.

Perhaps people who live in fear for long periods develop an instinctive sense of danger. Or perhaps Duan Xiaoyan’s tracking skills were still too amateur, his gaze too intense to ignore.

She had noticed the gaze behind her almost immediately.

Lu Tong’s gaze moved to Duan Xiaoyan’s elbow.

The young man’s forearm was bleeding profusely, and amid the blur of blood, two sharp fang marks were visible.

Those were snake bite marks.

She had noticed someone following her closely in the market district, never leaving for a moment, yet not taking any action, as if waiting for something.

Since the person didn’t make a move, she changed her plans.

Lu Tong bent down and, under the young man’s suspicious gaze, picked up the limp snake from the doorway.

The snake was already dead, its black corpse coiled around her light yellow silk sleeve like a dead thread climbing a fresh flower, gleaming with a dark luster.

As Duan Xiaoyan watched, his recently bitten forearm began to throb with pain again.

Lu Tong extended her finger, brushing it across the rough snake’s head, and spoke softly.

“This is called the Seven-Steps-Scatter, which I had someone search for a long time to find. I only released it this morning, but unexpectedly Young Master Duan found it.”

She glanced at the wound on Duan Xiaoyan’s forearm, her expression suggesting there was more to say.

Duan Xiaoyan felt chilled to the bone by her look and couldn’t help asking: “What is Seven-Steps-Scatter?”

“Young Master Duan doesn’t know?”

“Seven-Steps-Scatter is a highly venomous snake. Anyone bitten by it will lose their soul within seven steps.”

After these words, the room fell silent for a moment.

Shortly after, Duan Xiaoyan, with a pale face, stammered: “You’re… you’re joking, right, Doctor Lu? Don’t fool me.”

Lu Tong let out a light laugh.

“Why is Young Master Duan so frightened? No snake in the world can make someone fall within seven steps.”

Duan Xiaoyan heard this and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to force a smile, he heard her continue.

“One hour.”

He looked confused: “What?”

Lu Tong looked at him, the smile gradually fading from her face, her tone calm and steady.

“Once the venom takes effect, one hour.”

She said: “Without the antidote within one hour, Young Master Duan, even the King of Hell can’t save you.”

…

The night wind was cold and clear. Under the eaves, in the lamplight, a black dog lay in the courtyard, its silhouette merging with the darkness.

When Pei Yunying returned to the Commander’s mansion, it was nearly the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).

Fresh osmanthus flowers filled all the vases throughout the office, their fragrance permeating the entire hall. Tomorrow would be the fifteenth, a public holiday for the office, and many of the guards had left.

Early this morning, he had entered the palace. The Wangchun Mountain male corpse matter wasn’t major, but it wasn’t minor either, being entangled with the Ministry of Rites’ examination case, inevitably giving opportunists something to exploit.

Setting aside the delicate relationships between the Three Commands, the Bureau of Military Affairs would certainly not miss this opportunity. Fortunately, the Emperor currently had no time to attend to the Palace Front Guard, so this matter was considered settled.

Pei Yunying sat down inside the room and picked up the teapot on the table to pour himself a cup.

The tea was warm and bitter. After taking two sips, not hearing the familiar chattering, he asked the guard Qing Feng beside him.

“Where is Duan Xiaoyan?”

Qing Feng answered: “In response to Master, Duan Xiaoyan left early this morning, saying he was going to the market district.”

Pei Yunying’s tea-drinking motion paused.

After a moment, he asked: “When did he leave?”

“Nearly the hour of Si (9-11 AM).”

Pei Yunying frowned slightly.

Duan Xiaoyan had left at Si hour, and now it was nearly Hai hour. Six whole hours had passed, and tomorrow was the fifteenth, a public holiday for the office. He needed to return to register his name, but there was still no sign of him.

Seeing his expression, Qing Feng asked: “Does Master think something is amiss?”

Pei Yunying pondered for a moment, then asked: “Did he say anything before leaving?”

Qing Feng shook his head: “No. He just seemed low-spirited, possibly troubled by the Wangchun Mountain corpse matter.”

Wangchun Mountain…

Something crossed his mind, and Pei Yunying’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Outside the window, night had fallen, and the wind rustled through the phoenix trees in the courtyard.

He suddenly stood up with a “whoosh,” grabbed the silver knife from the table, and strode toward the door.

…

The night grew deeper.

In the small courtyard’s shrubbery, a few crickets chirped softly. The fireflies that Acheng had hung under the eaves had already dimmed, leaving only the silver wind chimes dangling below the pouches to spin in the wind.

The cold lamp flickered in the night breeze, seeming ready to extinguish at any moment. The mottled light and shadows fell on the face of the person at the table, making her clear features appear even softer.

The young man sat motionless on the ground, his body stiff as he watched the person unhurriedly grinding medicine at the table.

She seemed to find nothing wrong with the situation. After informing him that he had been poisoned, she simply sat down at the table, picked out dried herbs from the bamboo tray, and went about her usual business as if nothing had happened.

Showing complete disregard for his life or death.

Duan Xiaoyan gritted his teeth and spoke threateningly: “Doctor Lu, I am from the Palace Front Guard. Plotting against an Imperial Guard – are you tired of living?”

“Plotting against an Imperial Guard?”

As if hearing something amusing, she laughed instead, giving him a meaningful glance: “Young Master Duan breaks into a civilian home late at night, presumably attempting to steal property, and accidentally gets bitten by a venomous snake I had acquired for medicinal purposes.”

“You came to the medical hall uninvited, opened the jar without permission, and the thief opened a jar containing a venomous snake, thus losing his life. If this story gets out, others would call it heaven’s justice and karmic retribution. How could the blame fall on me, and how could the word ‘plotting’ be used?”

Her gaze was calm, but her tone carried a hint of mockery.

“Are all Palace Front Guard members so unreasonable?”

Duan Xiaoyan was speechless.

To be fair, Lu Tong’s words weren’t wrong. He had secretly followed her, sneaked into Renxin Medical Hall in the dark, and became curious after seeing her linger at the table for so long, which led him to foolishly touch the ceramic jar containing the snake.

However… it was a snake jar, so why did she linger at the table for so long, looking at it so carefully, causing others to speculate?

As if realizing something, Duan Xiaoyan’s body suddenly trembled.

He looked up at Lu Tong in disbelief.

“You deliberately lured me to touch the jar?”

If she hadn’t deliberately lingered, acting so secretively at the counter, why would he have gone to look through the bamboo basket?

She had deliberately baited him!

Lu Tong smiled faintly: “Is Young Master Duan trying to groundlessly smear someone again?”

The young man could barely contain his anger and let out a cold laugh.

“A medical hall and pharmacy exists to save and treat people, how could you secretly keep such deadly items? Even if you didn’t deliberately lure me here, you must have evil intentions. Waiting for someday to use this venomous snake to bite someone!”

Such a dangerous poisonous creature, casually placed in a jar without even a warning label – how could this not seem suspicious?

Lu Tong’s medicine-grinding motion paused slightly as she looked at the wooden jar before her and sighed slightly, her expression somewhat regretful.

“Snakes have an upward-moving nature, making them excellent as medicinal catalysts. That Seven-Steps-Scatter was bought to use as a catalyst, very precious and hard to find. The materials alone cost two taels of silver.”

“I had someone search for many days, finally managing to find one, but you killed it for no reason, wasting a month’s wages.”

Hearing this, Duan Xiaoyan nearly coughed up blood.

His life was hanging by a thread, yet she only cared about her two taels of silver – did she have any regard for human life at all?

Lu Tong glanced at him, her gaze slowly moving to the wound on the young man’s arm, and spoke consolingly.

“Young Master Duan had better not get angry. Though the Seven-Steps-Scatter won’t kill within seven steps, it’s most dangerous when the blood is agitated. Every time you get excited, every step you take, the venom spreads deeper, so, don’t move around.”

Duan Xiaoyan’s body stiffened.

The reason he was still sitting here motionless was precisely because he feared this poison. Otherwise, with his martial skills, he would have already rushed forward to restrain Lu Tong and forced her to hand over the antidote.

The young man looked at the person before him.

Lu Tong sat at the small kitchen table, one hand holding the medicine jar, the other gripping the pestle as she ground the medicine forcefully. Her light-colored dress hem in the lamplight was like a flower bud about to bloom, her features elegant and delicate, her hair like clouds, as if she were a fairy from the moon palace, leaving behind a lingering fragrance.

Pei Yunying’s parting words echoed in his ears.

“She’s a madwoman, stay away from her. If something goes wrong, even I won’t be able to save you.”

Was she mad?

If someone had said these words to Duan Xiaoyan before, he would have scoffed, not believing Lu Tong harbored evil intentions, and certainly not believing she would kill someone.

But now he wasn’t so sure.

Until now, Lu Tong had refused to provide the antidote, seeming quite content to watch him die.

He was filled with regret, wishing he had listened to Pei Yunying’s warning to stay away from Lu Tong, wishing he hadn’t impulsively followed her alone.

Duan Xiaoyan collected himself and decided to try a different approach.

He said: “Doctor Lu, we have no grudge between us, why push things to life and death? Today’s matter was my fault. Give me the antidote, and we can discuss things properly.”

As he spoke, he glanced around. He had left in a hurry today without bringing fire signals. Pei Yunying should have returned to the Commander’s mansion by now – would he realize that he had been captured?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Lu Tong speak: “Who are you waiting for? Your Lord Pei?”

Duan Xiaoyan was startled.

Lu Tong stopped her movements, her clear eyes looking at him as if seeing through everything in his heart.

“Young Master Duan, why don’t we make a bet?”

“Bet what?”

“Let’s bet on whether your Lord Pei can find you.”

Duan Xiaoyan was stunned: “What?”

Lu Tong rubbed her wrist, sore from grinding medicine. “Half an hour has passed since you were bitten, you have half an hour left.”

“If your Lord Pei can find this place within half an hour, perhaps you can survive.”

“Young Master Duan, want to bet?”

Duan Xiaoyan trembled all over.

When she spoke these words, her tone was calm, her lips even carrying a hint of a smile. Duan Xiaoyan suddenly had a strange feeling – treating someone’s life as such a game, as if he were a helpless lamb awaiting slaughter, and she the butcher holding power over life and death, mockingly looking down at her prey’s struggles.

A spark from the lamp spiraled down onto the table. In the small courtyard, frost and cold moonlight prevailed, with crickets chirping incessantly.

In this deathly silence, suddenly a voice came.

“Then you might lose that bet.”

Lu Tong looked up.

In the distance, someone lifted the felt curtain and walked in from the courtyard. The young man’s handsome profile became even more distinct in the moonlight. As he approached, a very faint orchid musk fragrance wafted over.

He stopped at the kitchen door, wearing a magnificent deep red robe embroidered with treasure flowers, the silver knife at his waist gleaming coldly.

Pei Yunying glanced at the wretched Duan Xiaoyan on the ground and suddenly smiled.

“Doctor Lu.”

He looked at Lu Tong calmly, “I thought that before detaining my person, you should at least have given me notice.”