Shen Chunyi sighed,
“You really do know how to apply what I taught you.”
Why didn’t Shi Yun understand such things? Of course, it was because she had always disdained learning these bizarre and underhanded techniques. But why was she able to use them? Naturally, because the effect of the Life-Nourishing Curse was discovered by Shen Chunyi himself.
On the entire Taiwu Mountain, he was the most skilled in such arts. But where was Shen Chunyi now? He had fled. So, barring any accidents, this was truly a flawless plan. Shen Chunyi couldn’t help but marvel inwardly at Shi Yun’s meticulousness. Even when something went wrong, she could quickly think of a solution. Dongfang Zhen truly hadn’t misjudged her back then.
However, it seemed there had been some unexpected complications:
“Do you know what the Rain-Birth Curse is?”
After a moment, Shi Yun shook her head. Xuan Shuangxu leaned back in his chair, crossed one black-booted leg over the other knee, and chuckled with his arms folded, inexplicably giving off a sense of schadenfreude as he reminded her,
“You’ve been framed.”
Shen Chunyi said, “The prescription I gave you was obtained from the Zhao family.”
What was wrong with that prescription? The problem, of course, lay in that prescription! Few physicians would prescribe aconitine to the elderly because their metabolism and excretion abilities are too weak. Even a standard dose of aconitine could easily accumulate and cause poisoning. One of the most characteristic symptoms of such herbal poisoning is numbness of the lips and tongue.
And the issue was right here—what could numbness of the lips and tongue easily lead to? For example, choking to death, suffocating, accidentally swallowing small bones that puncture blood vessels and cause internal bleeding—just like the old woman from the Zhao family.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that as soon as Shi Yun acted, the old woman choked to death on a fish bone?
Shi Yun stood up abruptly and said,
“This really has nothing to do with me! Zhao Er did mention that his mother suffered from stubborn ailments like wind-cold-dampness, and I did prescribe medicine for him, but I truly never included that ingredient!”
Xuan Shuangxu rocked back and forth on his chair leisurely and said,
“You didn’t write it, but someone else did. That old woman was elderly and had numbness in her mouth and tongue. Even if she hadn’t been pierced by a fish bone today, she would have choked on something else tomorrow. Sooner or later, you would have had to come down for this matter, and sooner or later, you would have had to bear the blame. Coincidentally, this kind of death is most easily mistaken as an accident by coroners, so aside from this piece of paper, no evidence would remain. It could be said to be killing without a trace.”
Shen Chunyi waved his hand, signaling Shi Yun to calm down and sit before speaking further. He continued,
“Alright, let’s set aside the matter of aconitine for now. Let me first explain to you what the Rain-Birth Curse is.”
“The Rain-Birth Curse is hundreds of times more cruel than the Life-Nourishing Curse. You should have some idea. Someone cast the Rain-Birth Curse on the roots of the twin lotus before you did, so both flowers were affected. About two hours ago, the Rain-Birth Curses on both sides awakened simultaneously. Over at Jiaoyun Tower, we might have intervened in time, so perhaps it wasn’t too tragic. But at the Zhao residence, there are no survivors left—everyone has been drained dry.”
“They were all sucked to death by vines, their deaths comparable to death by a thousand cuts. That’s why it’s said to be hundreds of times more vicious.”
Shi Yun was truly disoriented at this moment. After a long pause, she said with difficulty,
“This really isn’t me. I truly know nothing about the Rain-Birth Curse.”
“I know,” Shen Chunyi concluded. “So in this matter, there was someone else who cast the Rain-Birth Curse before you. Because the Rain-Birth Curse is far more potent than the Moist-Birth Curse, it completely overshadowed it, which is why we couldn’t sense the yin energy of the Moist-Birth Curse on the lotus later.”
“Then, that person altered your prescription, causing the old woman’s death. After learning about the murder in the Zhao household, you would naturally worry that your curse had gone wrong. Feeling guilty and wanting to hide it, you most likely took on the assignment alone. Once the truth came to light, they could easily pin the blame on you. You did cast a curse, and you do have a grudge against the Zhao family. As for what curse you actually cast, there’s little room for argument—no justification could clear you.”
Xuan Shuangxu leaned back in his chair, rocking it slightly as he commented, “A clever move, smarter than you.”
Shi Yun felt a headache coming on. “What about the Jiaoyun Pavilion?”
Shen Chunyi waved a hand, signaling her to calm down and sit. “Don’t worry. That flower demon eats men with strong yang energy first. Those who frequent such places aren’t afraid of catching diseases anyway—it’s a miracle they’re still alive, and if they die, they deserve it. But I suspect your aunt recognized me, so she’s probably prepared and likely fine.”
“We’re not done yet. Let’s keep going.”
Shi Yun never expected things to unfold this way, and her head was pounding.
“I have no idea what’s going on.”
Shen Chunyi couldn’t find the words to comfort her.
“The way you handled this—there’s not a shred of evidence to clear your name.”
This was the truth. Shen Chunyi first sensed something amiss based on his long-standing understanding of her. This little junior sister was never the type to ruin her own future just to drag down a bunch of scoundrels. Using a method that harmed the enemy a little while destroying herself almost entirely wasn’t her style.
Another reason was that the Rain-Birth Curse had been a forbidden curse hidden away for many years. Shen Chunyi had only seen fragments of it in his master’s ancient scrolls, and since he showed interest, she gave them all to him. As far as he knew, those incomplete scrolls couldn’t be pieced together to form the complete array. Shi Yun wasn’t skilled in this area, so there was no reason for her to suddenly know how to use the Rain-Birth Curse.
Xuan Shuangxu glanced over, as if he could read Shen Chunyi’s thoughts.
“I suppose Shi Yun also studied there. If she could restore it, then it’s hard to say.”
Shen Chunyi smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. If even I can’t restore it, no one on the entire Taiwu Mountain can.”
Though Shi Yun found his words grating, she had to admit it was true.
Shi Yun sighed. “What do we do now?”
Xuan Shuangxu propped his feet against the table leg, leaning back in his chair with one hand resting casually on the edge.
“Nothing. Wait for the other flower demon to come to us.”
Shen Chunyi nodded in agreement. The three fell silent for a moment until a swift, sticky sound of footsteps skittered across the roof tiles. Shen Chunyi glanced at the remains of the flower demon by the wall, his brow tightening.
“Speak of the devil.”
As he rose to his feet, Xuan Shuangxu moved first, pressing Shen Chunyi back down.
“I’ll handle it.”
“You?”
Shen Chunyi wasn’t doubting his abilities—it was just that the creature looked too hideous, and it didn’t seem appropriate for a junior like him to see such a thing.
“Alright.”
“That works.” Shen Chunyi paused for a moment, still feeling the need to add a reminder.
“Don’t play it to death. I need it alive.”
Xuanshuang Xu gave a slight nod, opened the door, and left. After the young man departed, Shen Chunyi spoke again, his tone earnest.
“I must say, Junior Sister, what you did was far too risky. If you hadn’t run into me, you’d be taking the blame for this for sure.”
“Even with you here, I won’t have to take the blame?”
“No.”
Shi Yun’s expression was far from pleasant, and she had no interest in continuing to bicker with Shen Chunyi. She sighed,
“I really had no other choice.”
Shen Chunyi offered some comfort.
“It’s not a complete loss. At the very least, the person who framed you must be someone familiar with you—they had to know your movements to set you up. Let’s keep going over this. Who handled the money and prescriptions you sent to Zhao Er?”
Shi Yun closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head.
“Too many. I didn’t want to go through Taiwu Mountain, so I hired people privately to deliver them for me. As for who they might have interacted with afterward, I have no idea.”
Shen Chunyi decided to set aside the prescriptions for now and shifted his approach.
“Do you have any enemies?”
Shi Yun thought seriously for a moment before replying with a hint of resignation,
“Quite a few, too many to count. But I’m a healer, after all. Minor conflicts are one thing—I don’t have any enemies who’d hold such a deep grudge against me.”
“Minor conflicts don’t mean they won’t hold a grudge,” Shen Chunyi said. “What if someone is particularly petty?”
Shi Yun let out a breath. “I really can’t think of anyone.”
“Alright.” Shen Chunyi had initially intended to unfold his folding fan and give it a wave, only to remember it wasn’t in his hand. He continued,
“Then let’s look at it from another angle. Maybe it’s someone with a grudge against the Zhao family?”
“Even more numerous than the hairs on an ox.”
Shen Chunyi asked, “How many people know about your background?”
Shi Yun rested her elbow on the table, propping up her head, and replied helplessly,
“Even more. You know how people talked about me in the past few years.”
This was clearly not a pleasant topic, so Shen Chunyi wisely dropped it, momentarily at a loss. “From what you’re saying, it seems we have no leads at all.”
Shi Yun sighed.
“Pretty much.”
“You really have a talent for landing yourself in trouble.”
The two fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, the noise outside stopped. Just as Shen Chunyi was about to get up to check, Xuanshuang Xu pushed the door open.
He held the door with one hand and dragged the flower demon in by its hair with the other. The creature trembled in fear, its body scraping against the ground, leaving a winding trail of blood as it squirmed and writhed, clearly wanting to struggle but too terrified to do so.
As soon as the young man entered the room, he tossed the flower demon onto the floor. Glancing at Shi Yun, he said in a relatively calm tone, “Still alive.”
Shen Chunyi wiped his brow. “You were too quick.”
Xuanshuang Xu said nothing, simply crossing his arms and standing beside Shen Chunyi. The three pairs of gilded earrings on his ears gleamed even brighter in the candlelight.
Shen Chunyi had asked the young man to capture the flower demon alive to see if it had any semblance of intelligence. If it did, with some guidance, it might be able to identify the person who had cast the spell on it.
He bent down to examine the creature, but as soon as he turned it over, he was met with a sight of a twisted mouth, drooping eyes, and drool dripping down—a clear sign of mental impairment.
Shen Chunyi inexplicably felt an ominous premonition. He immediately reached out to probe, and moments later, he looked incredulously at the youth standing leisurely nearby. “You shattered its consciousness?!”
Xuan Shuangxu wore an innocent expression as he replied,
“Ah, it seems so. It was a bit too fragile—just a light squeeze and it shattered. I thought Shizun meant that as long as it was alive, it would be fine.”
The life force governs life and death, while consciousness governs the mind. If the consciousness is damaged, the consequence is like this flower demon—appearing dazed and foolish, and in reality, truly dazed and foolish.
In such a state, no guidance would be possible. Shen Chunyi pressed a hand to his forehead, his face full of helplessness, and flicked a talisman onto the flower demon’s forehead. He watched as the flower demon’s eyes shifted from confusion to dullness, and finally to lifelessness.
Shi Yun had never seen this talisman before and asked, “What is this?”
Shen Chunyi replied, “It hasn’t been named yet. It’s something I developed during my seclusion—it can gather and preserve life force. You can call it a Soul-Gathering Talisman. I’ll nurture it for a few days to see if I can repair its consciousness. Once it’s healed, we’ll discuss further.”
Shi Yun asked, “What if it can’t be healed?”
Shen Chunyi said amiably, “Then you’ll have to endure a stint in prison. I’ll rescue you once I catch the real culprit.”
Shi Yun shot a glance at Xuan Shuangxu, filled with unspoken resentment but too afraid to voice it, and silently closed his mouth. Shen Chunyi stood up and turned over the two corpses, wanting to check if there were any other overlooked details. However, the more he looked, the more he found the appearance of these two flower demons eerie. He couldn’t help but remark casually,
“They truly are twin flower demons—even their ugliness is identical.”
As soon as he said this, the expressions of the two behind him changed subtly. For once, Xuan Shuangxu and Shi Yun exchanged a brief glance, their eyes conveying unspoken understanding.