A’Shui grasped her hand, “Little sister.” She said in a low voice, “Elder sister has wronged you.” Yu Tuan’er was angrily looking at Liu Yan, raising her fist to strike down, when hearing these words she was stunned, “What?” A’Shui tightly gripped her hand, “I have no face to see you. I told him… I told him… as long as he said he wanted me, I would go with him. I promised you I would never compete with you, but I’m shameless, I…”

Yu Tuan’er was dumbfounded, suddenly turning around. A’Shui’s face was deathly pale, “I’ve wronged you.”

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 she shook her head, “But… but he’s not my husband. If you want to be with him, what’s wrong with that?” Her sad expression was not directed at A’Shui, “Although I’m the one who most wants to be with him, he always likes me less.” A’Shui’s eyes were full of tears, and when she closed them, tears flowed down, “I told him, as long as he wanted me, I would stay with him for life. But he doesn’t want me…” Yu Tuan’er opened her mouth wide in surprise, “He really misses you, likes you. Why wouldn’t he want you?”

“Silly little sister.” A’Shui said miserably, “He doesn’t want me, he won’t let you take poison, he took the poison himself – don’t you understand yet?” Yu Tuan’er was speechless. A’Shui smiled bitterly, reaching out to smooth the hair on her forehead, “He cares about you. He doesn’t want you to suffer, so he’d rather suffer himself. At least he considers you a very important person.”

Tears suddenly gushed from Yu Tuan’er’s eyes, “Why… why didn’t he say so? 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 touched her shoulder, “Being too close is dangerous. Let me handle this.” Yu Tuan’er was knocked down by his fan. Fang Pingzhai fanned Liu Yan, “Master, this secret chamber of yours is chaotic, poorly ventilated, dimly lit, and you’ve knocked things all over the floor. I really don’t know which bottle contains the antidote you’ve refined. If your mind is still clear and you can still speak, please make an effort to tell us which bottle of medicine you need to take to detoxify?”

Liu Yan was covered in cold sweat, his eyes tightly closed, and it was unknown whether he heard what was said. After a pause, Fang Pingzhai continued, “If you can’t speak, then listen to me. That antidote – is it pills or liquid medicine? If it’s pills, move your finger. If it’s liquid, don’t move.” Yu Tuan’er crawled up. Liu Yan remained rigid for quite a while, completely motionless.

“Very good. What kind of container holds the liquid medicine? If it’s in this room, move your finger. If not in this room, don’t move.” Fang Pingzhai said again. Liu Yan slightly moved his finger. Yu Tuan’er was overjoyed, “It’s in the room! It’s in the room!”

“What color bottle is it? If it’s patterned, move. If it’s solid colored, don’t move.”

Liu Yan didn’t move.

Yu Tuan’er jumped up, “A solid-colored medicine bottle with liquid inside.” She began searching through boxes and cabinets in the room. A’Shui hurriedly stood up and joined in looking for the antidote. In less than a moment, the two found seven or eight solid-colored bottles containing liquid medicine. Fang Pingzhai inquired about them one by one, but surprisingly, not one was the antidote.

The three looked at each other in bewilderment. Where exactly was the antidote Liu Yan spoke of?

After quite a while, Liu Yan slowly opened his eyes, looking at the three people before him with disgust. Being surrounded by these three when the poison attacked gave him an indescribable embarrassment. The toxicity of Guzhi Ruoxue had passed, and the next attack would wait until midnight. He sat up, his whole body still convulsing in waves. Opening his mouth, his teeth were still chattering, unable to say a single word.

“I’m really curious – which bottle is the antidote? In this secret chamber of yours, there are hundreds if not thousands of medicine bottles inside and out. We finally found these eight bottles of liquid medicine, but you say none of them are it. Where exactly is the antidote?” Fang Pingzhai waved his fan looking at Liu Yan, “And those ugly, hideous, terrifying, nauseating spots on your body – when will they fade?”

Liu Yan raised his hand and picked up a tea bowl from the table. The bowl contained some dark brown liquid. Fang Pingzhai opened his mouth wide, “Could this be the antidote?” This tea bowl sat on the table, and the contents looked very dirty, not showing the slightest aura of “antidote.”

Liu Yan picked up the tea bowl, took a short knife from the table, and cut a wound on his wrist. Yu Tuan’er was greatly shocked, crying out “Aiya!” for him, but saw Liu Yan apply the dark brown liquid to the wound, coating it once, then after a moment, coating it again.

Soon the red spots on his arm faded, returning to snow-white, smooth skin. This antidote seemed to follow the blood upward, able to spread throughout the body with blood circulation and neutralize the strange poison. Fang Pingzhai was overjoyed, “What is this substance? How can it have such miraculous effects?”

“This is Tang Lici’s blood.” Liu Yan said flatly.

The three had originally shown joyful expressions, but hearing this statement, they were all suddenly stunned, “Tang Lici’s blood?”

“This is Tang Lici’s blood, with a little snake venom added to prevent it from coagulating.” Liu Yan said in a low voice, “Plus cloves and cinnamon to prevent decay.”

“Could Tang Lici’s blood be the miraculous medicine to cure the Scarlet Ghost Nine Heart Pill?” Fang Pingzhai asked strangely, “If it’s so simple, why did you rack your brains thinking? Just ask Young Master Tang to sit down, collect three to five bowls of his blood daily, add some snake venom and cloves, distribute it for everyone to apply, wouldn’t world peace come quickly?” Yu Tuan’er glared at him, “Why are you talking about him like he’s a pig?” A’Shui sighed, “It shouldn’t be that simple, right?”

Liu Yan shook his head, “There are many substances that can neutralize the toxicity – pearl green charm, fragrant orchid grass, certain extremely cold poisons, including Tang Lici’s blood.” He looked at the wound on his wrist, “But they can neutralize the poison, not the addiction.” A’Shui said in a low voice, “That means Young Master Tang’s blood can’t truly cure the poison either?” Liu Yan said, “It cannot.”

“Then what exactly can cure the poison?” Yu Tuan’er looked at him puzzledly, “Didn’t you say you made many medicines that might cure the poison?” Liu Yan looked at the many medicine bottles on the table, “Yes, there’s one type here. Taking it will make a person fall into deep sleep. If they can sleep for seven months, perhaps when they wake up the poison will be cured.” Then he smiled bitterly, “But can anyone sleep for seven months and still be alive?”

“What about the others?” Fang Pingzhai waved his fan, “That method is eliminated, try a new approach.” Liu Yan said, “There’s another type that makes a person’s thoughts confused, muddled and dazed. If they can remain muddled for seven months without thinking of the drug, perhaps the poison will also be cured.” Fang Pingzhai shook his head repeatedly, “Seven months of being muddled – when they wake up they’ll very likely have become an idiot. Give up, eliminate that.” Liu Yan said, “There’s another type that makes a person very relaxed, makes them feel that no matter what happens it doesn’t matter, including the pain from withdrawing from the Scarlet Ghost Nine Heart Pill.”

Fang Pingzhai clapped his hands, “This type of medicine is good, but what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that stopping this medicine makes a person suddenly become manic, unable to control themselves.” Liu Yan said in a low voice, “All methods of detoxification have only these three paths – to make people escape the extreme craving for drugs, only through hypnosis, sedation, or enduring with willpower. Spots and itching pain are not difficult to eliminate. What’s difficult to eliminate is that people have become accustomed to the benefits drugs bring and cannot adapt to reality after losing the drugs.”

“Then tie the person up. Whenever they want to take drugs, knock them unconscious with a club, or use torture devices to beat their bottom – make them cry for their parents anyway, so they have no time to think about drugs.” Fang Pingzhai waved his fan, “Mm, I feel this method of mine is quite good. It can also satisfy many people’s sadistic desires under a righteous name.”

“Tying someone up for seven months and beating them like this every day – I think they’d be beaten to death before seven months are up!” Yu Tuan’er glared, “You’re just talking nonsense, specifically giving bad ideas.” A’Shui frowned, feeling inexplicably irritated and confused, “Is there truly no method of detoxification?”

“Knock unconscious… beat to death…” Liu Yan slowly raised his eyes to look at Fang Pingzhai, “Perhaps… there’s another method.” Fang Pingzhai was startled, “Don’t tell me you want to beat someone to death first then revive them? This… what if you beat them to death but can’t revive them – what then?” Liu Yan’s eyes suddenly blazed with brilliant, dazzling light, “No, no, there’s a method that perhaps doesn’t require spending such a long time as seven months.”

“What method?” the three asked in unison. Liu Yan said, “A dangerous method, but worth trying. It’s better than waiting for death.”

Just as the four in the secret chamber were completely focused on detoxification methods, several figures infiltrated Jihe Manor. All were masked, with swift and agile movement skills. After entering, they first roughly searched the manor and found it completely empty, quite surprised, making a sound of “Eh?”

Fengfeng, curled up in the corner, moved slightly. He heard the sound, but those people didn’t notice Fengfeng crouched under the flower stand in the corner.

“Strange, I’ve been tracking Yu Furen for months. He clearly came here several times, and once drove a carriage here. Ever since the carriage appeared at Fengming Mountain, A’Shui disappeared from Haoyun Mountain – she was very likely brought here. This place is very suspicious. Master said Liu Yan might be hidden here, but how is there not a single person?” The leader wore purple clothes with quite superior lightness skills.

“Big brother, there’s food at the stove, tea and clothing are all here. People definitely haven’t gone far. What do we do?” Someone behind lowered their voice, “Should we ambush?” The lead brother pondered, “Fang Pingzhai is very likely here too. That person has strong martial arts – we’re no match. As long as we can confirm Liu Yan is here, that’s enough. Don’t clash with them directly.”

“What now?”

“We’ll hide outside and lurk. As soon as we see Liu Yan, we’ll withdraw and notify Master.”

“Yes.”