“Can’t I, the dignified Prince Wei, kill a few savages who covet my beloved consort?”

One couldn’t argue seriously with Li Tai about this matter. He had already been quite stifled as Prince Wei, and now he even had to send his wife out to show her face publicly, which made Li Tai very unhappy.

Li Tai and Yun Ye’s conversation didn’t mesh well. He angrily slammed the door as he left, heading in the direction of Hypatia’s small building. Yun Ye didn’t linger long in his own dormitory either. Huo Zhu had been exploring the maze these past days. Every year when the cold winds descended was when all insects went into hibernation, and it was also the best time to collect poison. The academy’s usage of these toxins was enormous, especially those scholars hiding deep in the mountains, who were intensely interested in these animal-derived toxins.

Yun Ye often could no longer understand what those people were doing. After all, his meager biological knowledge had long been thoroughly understood under the tireless research of the Tang people. They had even made further improvements on the existing knowledge system.

There were many people in the maze forest. Seven or eight figures completely encased in iron shells were slowly emerging from the shadows behind the spirit wall, holding various jars in their hands. One could even see some palm-sized poisonous scorpions clinging to their shoulders and backs, persistently stabbing their black tail hooks repeatedly at the iron shells, producing harsh grating sounds.

When these people emerged from the spirit wall, a group of people immediately surrounded them, using long tongs to pluck the scorpions off the iron-shelled people. That large fire-red scorpion could swagger outside, but didn’t dare take a single step away from Huo Zhu. Using its large pincers to grip Huo Zhu’s clothing, it stood on his shoulder, seemingly extremely fearful of the things in the maze.

Seeing Yun Ye approach, Huo Zhu said worriedly, “Have you noticed something’s not right there? But anything that can frighten Xiao Huo to this degree must be extraordinary.”

“Originally I wasn’t anxious, but recently the livestock of nearby villagers have been mysteriously dying. I went to look—they all died of poisoning. If this continues, the things in the maze will harm people.”

“Through these years of breeding, the scorpions here have eaten all the centipedes and spiders, not leaving a single ant. Under natural selection, only the scorpion clan has been continuously growing stronger. Xiao Huo has lost its toxicity through my cultivation, which shows that scorpion toxicity cannot be artificially cultivated. There must be other mysteries to how their venom is generated.”

“This creature has now begun expanding its territory. The maze can no longer satisfy them. Although they have a food source—the academy always feeds them on schedule—we’ve overlooked one thing: the scorpions are getting larger and more numerous, but the amount of food we deliver hasn’t changed. I speculate that it’s still insufficient food that’s forcing those scorpions to hunt outside. Fortunately, scorpions have a strong homing instinct and will definitely return at daybreak. The earliest case of livestock death also occurred only after autumn began. This isn’t the scorpions’ time for establishing new colonies—that happens after the spring mating period begins. Taking action now is the perfect time.”

Yun Ye squatted down to carefully examine the poisonous scorpions in the iron cage. Though the cold wind was now whistling, these scorpions were still extremely fierce, gripping the wire with their pincers as if wanting to sever it and escape back to the maze.

Unknowingly, they had raised this creature into a menace. Huo Zhu was right—now was the time for a heavy-handed extermination.

“Animals aren’t much stupider than humans, especially creatures like scorpions. They also have a sense of crisis. Someone come—summon the academy guards, prepare plenty of sulfur and lime to sprinkle around the maze without leaving any gaps. Everyone will stand guard tonight with strict vigilance to prevent even one scorpion from escaping.”

Academy clerks immediately hurried off to relay Yun Ye’s orders. Huo Zhu had been careless. Yushan had now become a recuperation place for high-ranking officials and nobility. If such a menace appeared even once and injured someone, it would be a huge problem.

“Huo Zhu, this clearing must be thorough—not one can remain. Only after completely cleaning them out can we decide whether to continue releasing scorpions into the maze. But we must clear them out every few years—this must become routine.”

Huo Zhu nodded and directly put on his iron shell, leading several others back into the maze. Since a large number of academy guards needed to be mobilized, Master Yuanzhang personally came to investigate. When he saw the hundreds of iron cages piled on the ground, his expression changed, especially since the scorpions in the cages looked thoroughly malevolent. He waved his sleeves, about to argue with Yun Ye. This was academy grounds, yet so many scorpions had been raised! Previously he had thought the number of scorpions wasn’t many—he truly hadn’t expected there would be so many.

“Yun Ye, you’re also a vice-director of the academy. You should know the importance of every child here. Long ago, Master Li Gang wouldn’t even agree to having the gunpowder workshop set up behind the academy’s mountain. Why would he tolerate these vicious creatures within the academy itself? Is there some reason that cannot be told to outsiders? If not, then remove all the scorpions to the depths of the Qinling Mountains for this old man. Otherwise, this old man will order the maze forest and maze to be scorched with great fires until not a single scorpion remains.”

The old man was angry. His appearance was quite comical—his goatee bobbing up and down. This was Master Yuanzhang’s signature gesture. However, what he said made great sense. The scorpions truly could no longer be kept in the maze forest and maze—this was too close to people.

Yun Ye was explaining to the old man when he heard exclamations from the surrounding crowd. Yun Ye turned his head and was startled. Huo Zhu, wearing iron gloves, was actually holding a giant scorpion over a foot long. Its tail hook, thick as a finger, was continuously stabbing fiercely at Huo Zhu’s arm. If not for the iron armor blocking it, Yun Ye even believed this scorpion’s tail hook could pierce through Huo Zhu’s arm.

Pulling Master Yuanzhang back a few steps, he was very worried that if Huo Zhu’s grip slipped, this creature would escape. But Huo Zhu was extremely excited. Through his helmet, he said in a muffled voice to Yun Ye, “My lord, look—this is the scorpion king, and it’s a female scorpion. Growing this large, no wonder Xiao Huo didn’t dare approach.”

“Monstrosity!” Master Yuanzhang was furious, so angry he couldn’t speak. He pointed at the scorpion, then at Yun Ye, meaning this matter was non-negotiable—all the scorpions must leave the academy.

Master Yuanzhang wasn’t someone who liked to talk and was taciturn by nature. But once he made up his mind, no amount of persuasion would work. So his ruling was the final ruling.

Seeing Master Yuanzhang walk away, Huo Zhu placed the fierce-looking large scorpion into an iron cage and squatted on the ground watching the scorpion charging left and right in the cage as gently as if looking at his wife.

After watching for a while, he said to Yun Ye, “My lord, this is a heavenly treasure! Not even one in a million scorpions would grow this large. I always thought Xiao Huo was the largest scorpion, but I never imagined such a king would appear. Look here.” As Huo Zhu spoke, he removed the armor from his arm and tilted it over a clean porcelain dish. A thread of crystalline transparent liquid slid down from the armor, and before long it filled the bottom of the dish.

“My lord, this is the scorpion king’s venom. Can you imagine a single scorpion producing this much venom? And it’s all the purest venom. Just a little could poison a cow to death. Look—the toxins expelled by other scorpions are all white, but only the scorpion king’s toxins are colorless. Daoist Sun should be very pleased to see these toxins.”

Yun Ye was also very pleased. The ginseng restorative pills, great invigoration elixirs, and deviation-correcting powder that Sun Simiao had formulated using whole scorpions were all excellent traditional Chinese medicines. Especially the deviation-correcting powder—it had almost miraculous effects on elderly people suffering strokes.

Huo Zhu continued, “Daoist Sun believes that in those medicines he’s developed containing scorpions, what’s likely taking effect is the scorpion venom. He’s also discovered that scorpion venom can clear blocked blood vessels and can turn already coagulated blood back into liquid. This is very important! Unfortunately, injecting toxins into human blood vessels often poisons people to death. Daoist Sun is searching for a balance point. Now with so many scorpions, the old gentleman should be very happy.”

Yun Ye indeed felt happy. Whether it was Qing Que telling him that the steam engine he created could now grind flour, or Master Sun beginning to have an intuitive understanding of human internal organs and even starting to use toxins to treat cardiovascular disease—all of this was a great leap forward for Tang society.

Such changes were like spring rain, silently moistening things, and like grass underground quietly growing. Sooner or later, they would bring earth-shattering changes to this world.

Standing at the edge of the maze forest, looking down at Yushan Academy below, Yun Ye’s heart swelled with pride that he could barely contain. He wanted to shout it out loud—this place had now truly become a base camp producing new思潮 and new things.

Compared to these changes, what did Zhangsun Wuji amount to? He wanted to control the reins of power for a time, but decades later who would still remember who he was? Only when browsing history books could one see a few sentences describing him.

But the academy was destined to shine brilliantly. Yun Ye believed that even the most foolish emperor wouldn’t touch the academy, because given time, it would become the foundation of the entire nation, the entire people.

Yun Ye hardly slept the entire night. Under the pale moonlight, he muttered in front of Li Gang’s tomb, telling Li Gang all the good news he had discovered and witnessed.

The voyage to discover the world was about to begin. The steam engine had finally appeared. The seeds of modern medicine were gradually breaking through the soil. One day, it would grow into a towering tree.

After a lifetime of hard work, the rewards were substantial. Only the thick smoke from the Dry Plains iron foundry and the coal smoke covering Chang’an City left Yun Ye’s heart somewhat uneasy. Perhaps this was the price. While others didn’t yet have the capacity to pollute, he hoped the Great Tang could quickly pass through this dark, filthy period and further enter post-modern civilization. Perhaps the child he left behind in that world wouldn’t have to live so hard.