By the time Mu Yunjin arrived on the main street, the sky had completely darkened. The streets were sparsely populated, and many of the small vendors were preparing to close their stalls and leave.

This was Mu Yunjin’s first visit to Anyang City. After walking for a while, he stopped a passing middle-aged woman to ask, “Excuse me, is there a pharmacy around here?”

“A pharmacy? Just turn left at the front, the second shop is a pharmacy,” the woman answered.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Mu Yunjin expressed his gratitude. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the woman mumble under her breath, “How strange today, so many people asking about pharmacies.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin paused, turned back to look at the woman, and pursed his lips. Without asking anything further, he continued on his way.

Following the woman’s directions, Mu Yunjin indeed found a pharmacy.

When he stepped through the door, it seemed they were about to close. The assistants were all busy packing up. Seeing this, Mu Yunjin hurriedly approached one of them and asked, “Do you sell Hexian Lotus here?”

The assistant was stunned for a moment and looked up at Mu Yunjin. “You want Hexian Lotus?”

Mu Yunjin nodded. “Do you have any?”

“Unfortunately, all our Hexian Lotus were bought by someone at noon. We don’t have a single plant left,” the assistant replied.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunjin suddenly narrowed his eyes, staring at the assistant. “Someone bought it all?”

“Yes, we thought it was quite extraordinary too. Hexian Lotus isn’t cheap, and normally someone might come to buy one plant every ten days or half a month. Today, that person bought all fifteen plants we had left in one go.”

After a pause, the assistant suddenly realized something. “Miss, are you also here to buy Hexian Lotus?”

Mu Yunjin pursed his lips, his eyes showing deep thought, then asked, “Are there other pharmacies around here?”

“Yes, there are pharmacies in the south and north of the city,” the assistant answered.

“Where do you source your Hexian Lotus from?” Mu Yunjin inquired further.

Hearing this question, the assistant looked somewhat troubled. He scratched his head and glanced at a man nearby who appeared to be the owner.

The man had been listening to the conversation between Mu Yunjin and the assistant. He now looked over and responded, “Hexian Lotus is grown and sold to various pharmacies by an old man who lives outside the city. This plant is difficult to cultivate and expensive to produce, so the old man supplies us whenever he has stock.”

The implication was clear: even if they found the supplier of Hexian Lotus, there would be no stock available.

After hearing this, Mu Yunjin silently walked out of the pharmacy.

Standing on the street, he looked back at the pharmacy, puzzled by what the assistant had said. Hexian Lotus was rarely purchased, yet today, coincidentally, all of it had been bought…

Could it be…

Mu Yunjin sensed a whiff of conspiracy.

After considering for a moment, he quickened his pace and headed toward the southern part of the city.

When he found the pharmacy in the south, it was still open, with several citizens buying medicine.

“Miss, what do you need?” A middle-aged woman approached and asked Mu Yunjin.

“Do you have Hexian Lotus?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Upon hearing the request for Hexian Lotus, the woman’s expression changed, becoming somewhat strange. “You want Hexian Lotus?”

“What, don’t tell me all your Hexian Lotus has been bought too?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow, looking at the middle-aged woman.

“That’s right. Someone bought all our Hexian Lotus at noon today. We don’t have a single plant left now,” the woman replied with a troubled expression, also finding it peculiar that so many people were asking for this item today.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin didn’t ask anything more and walked out of the pharmacy.

Outside, Mu Yunjin stood for a while, momentarily at a loss. All the Hexian Lotus had suddenly been bought out, and now what could be done? According to Bai Qinghuan, without Hexian Lotus, there was no way to solve the epidemic.

After some thought, Mu Yunjin went to the place he had previously arranged to meet with Chu Li.

By the time he reached the city gate of Anyang City, Chu Li was already waiting for him. Seeing him return empty-handed, Chu Li seemed unsurprised. “It seems this matter has become difficult.”

“Yes, all the Hexian Lotus in Anyang City were bought at noon. I suspect finding it in other cities won’t be easy either,” Mu Yunjin said.

Chu Li nodded slightly. “Lives are at stake, and we can’t delay. Perhaps we should return to the Western Yuan Kingdom?”

Mu Yunjin had no objection to this proposal and readily agreed. As they walked, he sighed, “The sudden epidemic in Gushan City must be connected to whoever bought all the Hexian Lotus.”

When they returned to the Western Yuan Kingdom, it was already an hour and a half later.

After visiting several pharmacies, they were surprised to find that all the Hexian Lotus here had been bought out the day before.

When they inquired about the details, each pharmacy owner only mentioned that it was purchased by a man whose appearance they couldn’t see.

With no other option, the two entered the palace and went directly to the Imperial Medical Department.

The imperial physicians there were surprised to see Chu Li and Mu Yunjin arriving so late and hurried out to receive them. When the two asked for Hexian Lotus, the physicians searched the entire medicine storehouse and found only three plants.

“Who usually supplies this herb?” Chu Li inquired.

Hearing this, Imperial Physician Yang stepped forward, bowed to Chu Li, and replied, “In response to Prince Ning, this humble official grows Hexian Lotus on Fengxiu Mountain on the outskirts. Fengxiu Mountain is a medicinal mountain, and all herbs there are exclusively for the palace. Usually, there are guards stationed there.”

“Are there still any Hexian Lotus plants on the mountain now?” Chu Li glanced at Imperial Physician Yang.

Yang nodded. “There should be.”

“Lead the way,” Chu Li commanded.

With that, they left the palace and headed to Fengxiu Mountain on the outskirts that night.

Imperial Physician Yang didn’t understand why Chu Li and Mu Yunjin suddenly needed Hexian Lotus, but since they asked for it, he naturally dared not refuse.

Soon, they arrived at the outskirts.

The area was pitch black, with no light visible on the mountaintop. Mu Yunjin tugged at Chu Li’s sleeve and whispered, “Your eyes aren’t convenient. Why don’t I go up the mountain to take a look?”

“No,” Chu Li refused immediately.

“The mountain path is difficult. You wouldn’t want them to know about your Que Meng eyes, would you? Although many people know about it now, it’s still better if fewer people are aware,” Mu Yunjin reminded Chu Li.

After a pause, he added, “It’s decided then. Besides, nothing will happen to me.”

Having said that, he turned around, took a lantern from a follower who had come along, and asked Imperial Physician Yang to lead the way up the mountain.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, several guards emerged. “Imperial Physician Yang, Princess Consort Ning.”

“Mm,” Imperial Physician Yang nodded and led Mu Yunjin up the mountain.

As they ascended, Mu Yunjin found that the path was indeed difficult. Although they had a lantern, this mountain was particularly rugged compared to others.

“Where is the Hexian Lotus planted?” Mu Yunjin asked.

“At the top of the mountain,” Imperial Physician Yang replied, secretly lamenting the eerie feeling of climbing to the mountaintop in the dead of night.

What made it worse was that only Mu Yunjin, a woman, was accompanying him up the mountain, which made him even more afraid.

After walking for a long time, they finally reached the mountaintop. Imperial Physician Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly led Mu Yunjin to where the Hexian Lotus was planted. “Princess Consort Ning, it’s right here…”

Halfway through his sentence, Imperial Physician Yang froze, pointing at the ground before them. “What happened? Where did all the Hexian Lotus I planted go?”

Mu Yunjin was startled and held the lantern closer to examine the area. He discovered that not only was there no Hexian Lotus, but not even a leaf could be seen.

Looking more carefully, he noticed that the bare ground had many holes in the soil, making it uneven—clear evidence that something had been uprooted and the holes hadn’t been filled.

Mu Yunjin frowned deeply, feeling that the situation was becoming increasingly serious.

It was bad enough that all the Hexian Lotus in the Southern Court Kingdom had been bought out, but now even the Hexian Lotus in the Western Yuan Kingdom had been destroyed.

What did the person behind this intend to do?

Could it be that they harbored some deep hatred against the Southern Court Kingdom?

Imperial Physician Yang hadn’t noticed Mu Yunjin’s troubled mood and kept lamenting on the spot. The cultivation of Hexian Lotus was extremely difficult, and he had put a great deal of effort into it. Now that it had all been destroyed, how could he not be heartbroken?

“Imperial Physician Yang, didn’t you say this mountain is guarded?” Mu Yunjin remembered and looked sideways at Imperial Physician Yang.

Yang nodded. “Indeed. Because this medicinal mountain is of great importance, and all herbs here are for the palace, there are many guards stationed on this mountain—at the foot, midway up, and even here at the top.”

Mentioning this, Imperial Physician Yang looked around and shouted, “Come out!”

At his call, four guards emerged from the shadows. “Imperial Physician Yang.”

“Explain to me what happened here,” Yang demanded, pointing at the empty plot below, his hand trembling with anger.

The guards looked in that direction and were all stunned, showing surprise. “This…”

“This…”

The four looked at each other for a long time, unable to speak.

After a moment, all four knelt simultaneously. “We have failed in our duties. Please punish us, Imperial Physician!”

“Are you saying you don’t know what happened?” Yang was also stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

The four nodded, and one of them said, “We have been guarding this place the entire time and didn’t notice anything unusual. We don’t know how it came to be like this.”

“You, you all…” Yang was so angry he could hardly speak.

Mu Yunjin didn’t pay attention to Imperial Physician Yang’s side of the conversation and walked around to other parts of the mountaintop. He discovered that apart from the Hexian Lotus, all other medicinal herbs were intact.

The person who destroyed the herbs had managed to evade all the watchful eyes on the mountaintop, which could only mean two things:

First, the person responsible might be among the guards themselves.

Second, the person must be extremely familiar with the terrain of Fengxiu Mountain, enabling them to move undetected.

Considering these two possibilities, Mu Yunjin felt somewhat confused. Looking at the herbs on the ground, he pondered, bent down, and used the lantern to examine the ground carefully.

While checking, he approached the edge of the mountaintop. Mu Yunjin looked down at the mountain, trying to imagine if someone could climb up from places other than the path they had taken, perhaps using lightness kungfu.

As he was lost in thought, a powerful gust of palm force suddenly came from his side, directed at him.

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Mu Yunjin didn’t react in time. He tried to dodge, but the palm force had already arrived. His body instinctively tilted, and he fell over the edge of the cliff…