This place—Ziqing had only been here once before, but she would never forget it.

This enormous cave, a cavern within a cavern—the Medicine Clan’s Duku grotto!

At that moment, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had landed on a massive boulder suspended over a cliff face, facing a tightly shut great door.

“This place… this is the gift you meant to give me?” Ziqing was still baffled, still unable to guess, only startled that of all places, it would be here.

Just what, here, could Jun Beiyue possibly have to give her?

This place held the secrets of the lone island, the secrets of the alluring fragrance—but they’d already asked everything there was to ask, exchanged everything there was to exchange.

They still didn’t know exactly how much the Duku Elder knew about the lone island, but they both understood clearly that the Duku Elder was likely the single most difficult person in all of Nanzhao to deal with. Even if he knew everything, prying even the smallest scrap of information from him would be harder than climbing to heaven itself.

Why had Jun Beiyue brought her here?

Ziqing eyed Jun Beiyue suspiciously. His eyes, catching the sunlight, gleamed with ever-deepening mystery. He smiled, handsome and radiant, and without saying much more, stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Just as before, the one who answered was a coldly indifferent guard—it didn’t matter who you were; even if the King of Nanzhao himself stood here, he’d receive the exact same treatment.

At Duku, no one’s face bought you anything.

“Who are you looking for?” the guard asked, displeased.

“Please announce us. Tell them we come at Sha Qiuzi’s recommendation, seeking an audience with the Duku Elder,” Jun Beiyue said evenly.

Ziqing was mildly surprised. Sha Qiuzi and the Duku Elder knew each other?

Puzzling as it seemed, on second thought, medicine and poison had always been kindred arts—it wasn’t so strange for two reclusive masters to be acquainted.

“Wait here!” the guard said, and immediately slammed the door shut with a bang.

Ziqing murmured teasingly, “Old acquaintances, are you?”

“Just acquainted,” Jun Beiyue said. He was telling the truth—compared to Sha Qiuzi, the Duku Elder and himself weren’t quite old friends yet.

“If they’re old friends, then maybe that strange old man will grant Sha Qiuzi a favor and tell us something,” Ziqing mused, then speculated further, “Could it be there’s been a major breakthrough regarding the lone island?”

Jun Beiyue only smiled, saying nothing, neither confirming nor denying, leaving Ziqing completely at a loss. She eyed him sideways, continuing to puzzle it over.

Soon, the guard returned, his attitude just as coldly indifferent as before, dashing whatever hopes Ziqing had left—clearly, the name “Sha Qiuzi” didn’t carry much weight here after all.

“Please, come in. Master is in seclusion. Speak to Senior Disciple for whatever business you have,” the guard said, then let them through.

Ziqing grew even more curious, but said nothing, letting Jun Beiyue lead her by the hand as they followed the guard into the darkness…

Meanwhile, Luocha, Duku’s senior disciple, mulled things over for a moment before personally heading to the rear mountain.

He had already gotten a clear look at the visitors through the window—it was none other than the Prince Yao’s consort, who had once been afflicted by the enchanting fragrance, and Prince Yao himself had come in person, recommended by Sha Qiuzi no less!

Of course he knew about the friendship between Sha Qiuzi and his master. His master had never had many people he’d call a genuine friend—only the miracle healer Sha Qiuzi. As far as he knew, his master had specifically left Duku on several occasions just to exchange techniques in poison and medicine with him.

That these two had come recommended by Sha Qiuzi seemed like a fitting excuse to go ask his master once more whether he was ready to end his seclusion.

This time, his master had been in seclusion far too long—long enough that Luocha had already refined Shiliang into a poison corpse and tested out the antidote for the enchanting fragrance.

And yet his master still hadn’t emerged!

By rights, given how much his master valued Shiliang, how eager he’d been to test out the antidote for the enchanting fragrance, he should have come out to examine the cure himself long ago.

Soon Luocha reached the cave entrance in the rear mountain where the Duku Elder was in seclusion, and was just about to knock when, to his surprise, the door opened on its own first!

There stood the Duku Elder, still wrapped head to toe in his usual pitch-black robe, stretching lazily as he ambled out. Seeing Luocha, he merely glanced at him without much comment, heading straight toward the poison-testing chamber!

Luocha was overjoyed. “Congratulations, Master, on ending your seclusion! Congratulations on your successful advancement in internal energy!”

“How much of the antidote have you produced?” the Duku Elder asked lazily.

“Two doses,” Luocha answered promptly. Even if it had been none at all, that would have been perfectly understandable—the enchanting fragrance wasn’t something to be trifled with, a long-lost toxin of legendary difficulty.

Even if they’d handed Shiliang’s poison corpse over to any other poison master or poison physician, it would have taken them at least five to ten years without producing anything, and even then, coming up empty after all that time would have been considered entirely normal.

But his master was the Duku Elder, the supreme master of poison in the entire realm—what could possibly stump him?

With such an excellent poison-cultivating physique in Shiliang, of course the antidote had come relatively easily.

“And you followed my instructions, my formula, testing each one step by step?” the Duku Elder asked again.

“Rest assured, Master, everything was done exactly as you instructed. We produced two doses of antidote in total—one was used as a test dose, given to Shiliang, and it’s been confirmed to be a genuine cure for the enchanting fragrance!” Luocha answered respectfully, thoroughly delighted.

Those at Duku craved nothing else so much as the satisfaction of curing poison—each time they solved some intractable toxic affliction, it brought them a sense of accomplishment no wealth, power, or status could ever replace!

This, too, was one of the key reasons Duku, despite its formidable strength, remained content to stay isolated in this one corner of the world—though the more important reason, of course, was that despite being an utterly free and unrestrained place, Duku had a master in the Duku Elder whom everyone respected wholeheartedly, willingly submitting to his authority.

“Hehehe, you’re getting more and more reliable at handling things, kid! Quick, lead the way—your grandfather here wants to go see that little girl. It’s been so long, I’ve missed her to death!”

The Duku Elder, in excellent spirits, chuckled and practically danced his way toward the side—but just then, Luocha suddenly remembered the other matter and hurried to add, “Master, there are visitors looking for you!”

Visitors?

The Duku Elder waved a hand dismissively, not the least bit concerned, continuing to bounce along. “Not seeing anyone, not seeing anyone. What visitors? I have no visitors here!”

“Master, wait, please wait—it’s Prince Yao and Princess Yao!” Luocha hurriedly explained.

The Duku Elder froze for a moment, a complicated look flashing through his eyes, but it passed quickly, and he kept walking. “What are those two to me? Calling them visitors—not seeing anyone, not seeing anyone, I just came out of seclusion, I’m not seeing anyone at all!”

As he spoke, he broke into his usual eerie, cackling laughter again. “Little girl, your grandfather here…”

“Master, they said Sha Qiuzi recommended them.”

“What? What the hell did you just say?”

“They said Sha Qiuzi recommended them to come find you!”

In that instant, the Duku Elder stopped dead in his tracks. His front foot slipped, and in the next moment, his entire body toppled over, tumbling straight down the mountainside…