Liu Ying felt somewhat displeased. She disliked such underhanded methods that went against another’s will—it was utterly shameful. If she witnessed such a thing, she would always choose to intervene, let alone when it concerned her personally.
The next day, Liu Ying set off at once, determined to reach the location before the others.
The sky was gloomy and cold today, with a light drizzle falling. Liu Ying swiftly weaved through the forest with Hu Niu on her shoulder, moving at an astonishing speed.
Hu Niu nestled on her shoulder, licking her paw and remarking, “Silly master, talking about stopping things that violate personal will—truth is, you just took a liking to that fragile human and don’t want her getting involved with someone else.”
Liu Ying shot a sidelong glance at Hu Niu, who was still grooming herself, and chose not to respond.
Liu Ying took to the air, flying directly, yet no matter how fast she went, Hu Niu never slipped from her shoulder. The tiger cub even gloated, “Not saying anything means you admit it! I could tell just from the way you looked at her.”
“What do you beasts, who only care about continuing your bloodline, understand? Even in marriage, such methods violate personal will. These things require mutual affection. Besides, liking someone is a strange feeling—it doesn’t mean you’re ready for intimacy. And my mother always said, liking and loving are two different things.”
“This lady doesn’t believe that! The old master was always full of nonsense. You definitely have feelings for her. That day when you were painting, you chatted with her so happily—I’ve never seen you like that before.”
Liu Ying: “…”
“And didn’t your heart race when you saw her bathing that time?”
Liu Ying’s face flushed slightly, and she sighed helplessly. “Can we not bring that up? It was just an accident. As for my goodwill toward her—sure, it exists, but I treat others the same way!”
“Hehe, you admitted it!” Hu Niu grinned triumphantly. “If I were you, I wouldn’t stop them this time. I’d take the chance to pretend I was poisoned, get close to her, and then carry her home.”
Liu Ying couldn’t be bothered to argue.
“Alright, alright, don’t be mad,” Hu Niu giggled. “But seriously, how are we supposed to find the meeting spot? The Beast Island is huge—even with your speed, it’s impossible.”
Hu Niu racked her brain. Was there any way to figure out where those people were headed? She pondered, but Liu Ying remained silent.
Still, Hu Niu had a rough idea. Liu Ying knew most of the medicinal herbs on the island. If they could locate that particular herb, wouldn’t that lead them there? The search area might be large, but it wouldn’t be too difficult for them.
She was so clever!
Liu Ying slowed down, stopping near a waterfall. She scanned the surroundings and finally answered, “It’s simple. Xue Ruoqing said the plan would be executed in two days. So, we just need to calculate how far Yang Xiyan and the others could walk in two days and the direction they’re heading. That should give us a rough idea of where they’ll be.”
“If we can find traces of the Moonlit Academy and estimate their speed and route, we can narrow down the meeting point even more precisely.”
“Wow, that’s precise! Perfect! I thought we’d have to sniff around everywhere—I was already bracing for a tough time.” Hu Niu huffed. “Now I get it. We just look for the place with the Love Grass, and that’ll be the spot. Even more precise!”
Liu Ying ignored Hu Niu and began searching the area.
The place she was currently in was a canyon, with steep cliffs and no tall trees or dangerous magical beasts. The sky was clear, and there was a breathtakingly beautiful waterfall—truly a picturesque scene.
Yang Xiyan was highly likely to gather here.
Moreover, the surrounding area was adorned with fragrant flowers and plants, and the sun was visible—absolutely a stunning view. Taking a photo and posting it online would surely be awe-inspiring.
Yang Xiyan loved painting, and for her, this place was a dream.
Liu Ying thought to herself as she began searching for herbs nearby, enlisting the help of Hu Niu. However, after searching for a long time, she couldn’t find any type of aphrodisiac herb—only an abandoned cave.
“Master, this definitely isn’t the right place. There’s no such herb here. Could you have miscalculated the location?”
At that moment, Liu Ying was inside the cave, running her hand over a stone bed. The place had been manually carved out, with four stone beds and a stove. But now, it was overgrown with moss, weeds, and crawling with insects—clearly long abandoned.
Hu Niu was right. If they calculated the distance, the gathering point should be a bit farther away. But Liu Ying thought this canyon was perfect and that Yang Xiyan might be here.
Now, seeing this cave, she was even more convinced.
Liu Ying didn’t touch anything inside the cave, not even leaving footprints behind, and continued searching the canyon.
The canyon was vast, and her earlier search had been cursory—it was normal not to find anything. But now, Hu Niu was slacking off.
“Don’t slack off, Niu Niu. I’ll make you something delicious when we get back,” Liu Ying could only coax her. “For the family to cultivate love herbs in a place like this, three conditions must be met. First, it must be extremely hard to find. Everyone here is a mage—if it were easy to discover, who would dare live here?”
“Second, it’s probably a rare type of love herb. Only if people don’t recognize it will they assume it’s just a coincidence.”
“Third, and most importantly, it must be airborne and an incurable poison, making it impossible to guard against.”
“And among the herbs capable of such effects, according to the ‘Compendium of Rare Plants Through the Ages,’ only three types of herbs fit the description… Found it!” Liu Ying suddenly crouched down beside a flowerbed.
“Found it?” Hu Niu rushed back, searching the spot where Liu Ying was crouching, but after a while, she still couldn’t spot any unusual herbs.
Though she was a magical beast, her intelligence was actually quite high. Having grown up learning by Liu Ying’s side, her knowledge was undoubtedly richer than even Yang Xiyan’s, who attended elite noble schools. Combined with her innate magical beast sensitivity to herbs, something like an aphrodisiac herb was child’s play to her.
“Master, you found it? How could it be so fast?”
Liu Ying plucked a beautiful flower from the flowerbed, then looked around and took a deep breath. “Niu Niu, these are Zhenzhu Grass—and there’s so much of it.”
Too much, in fact. The flowerbed was filled with tiny white flowers resembling lilies, but they were very small and inconspicuous.
Honestly, if she hadn’t been prepared, she might not have noticed them at all. Though there were many, they blended in with the other flowers, making them hard to spot—and most people wouldn’t recognize them anyway.
Yes, as far as she knew, this type of grass was supposed to be extinct.
Its effects were too terrifying!
“Master, you’re amazing,” Hu Niu cheered, tapping her claws excitedly. “So, what do we do now?”
“What do we do? Uproot them all!”
“Eh, eh?” Hu Niu floated in mid-air, shaking her head. “Pull them all out, Master… you-you-you can’t be serious, right?”
“These things that bring harm to others must be uprooted the moment they’re spotted. Even if we don’t stop them, they still have to go.” Liu Ying curled her lips, feeling a bit excited. She wondered what would happen to their plans once she pulled out all these plants.
Although there were many, they were concentrated only near the cave entrance and the waterfall, making them easy to remove. It wouldn’t take more than a day to clear them out. Besides, since they were tiny, uprooting them wouldn’t affect the garden’s aesthetics.
No sooner said than done. Liu Ying immediately used her clone magic, sending them off to pull the weeds while she leisurely fished by the small lake beneath the waterfall, a fishing rod pulled from her spatial storage. Hu Niu’s jaw nearly dropped at the sight.
You can play it like this?
By afternoon, faint sunlight slanted westward as the rainy weather began to disperse. The clouds in the west blazed crimson—tomorrow would surely be a fine day.
Liu Ying stretched, recalling all her clones before personally sweeping the area once more. Satisfied that no stragglers remained, she nodded. These aphrodisiac herbs only took effect if one stuck their nose right up to them; a stray plant or two wouldn’t matter.
Strictly speaking, poisoning was unlikely, but if it happened, the consequences would be severe. A simple romp might not even suffice—the effects were too potent to ignore.
That night, Liu Ying bathed in the small lake beneath the waterfall and dozed off wherever she pleased. Sure enough, the next day, the vanguard bodyguards and Tuoba Yichen’s classmates met up first, exchanged nods, and then split up. Yang Xiyan’s bodyguard, Chen Tianjing, went to tidy the cave in preparation for Yang Xiyan’s arrival.
Liu Ying snickered from the shadows.
Little did they know the love herbs had already been plucked clean by her. She couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
The bodyguards all wore gas masks as they wandered through the garden.
One of them looked puzzled. “Captain Chen, which of these plants is the love herb?”
“How should I know? If even we could recognize it, how could we fool a genius like Tuoba Yichen? Don’t be ridiculous—many botanists don’t even know about this. Only descendants of ancient families are aware of it.” Chen Tianjing shook his head. “Just remember to control the wind direction. Once we leave, let the breeze carry it into the cave.”
“That may be so, but after all these years, are the herbs even still here?”
“They are. Last month, the family’s experts came to check—they’re definitely here, and in large numbers. Make sure your masks are secure, or you’ll be in trouble if you get affected.”
The warning sent a chill down everyone’s spines. None of them wanted to fall victim. They’d never live it down the next day.
About two hours later, Yang Xiyan and the others finally arrived.
“Wow, this place is gorgeous! Look, Zi Ye, so many flowers!”
“Don’t go near them. What if there are poisonous insects? Have you forgotten about the mushrooms last time?”
“Yanyan, this cave was excavated by our school a thousand years ago. It’s fully equipped inside—we’ve arranged it like a regular room. Since your feet hurt, rest here. We’ll train outside the gorge and return in a couple of days,” Xue Ruoqing said.
“You’re going on a training trip too?” Yang Xiyan raised an elegant eyebrow, panting as she wiped sweat from her brow. That morning, she had accidentally stumbled into an anti-magic zone, causing her magic to go haystack. She could no longer walk using magic as she used to.
After trudging on foot all morning, stopping and starting under the scorching sun, she hadn’t covered much distance, yet her feet were already blistered. Even now that her magic had recovered, walking was out of the question—what rotten luck.
So, everyone suggested she rest here for a while.
The cave had been swept clean, with thick blankets spread across the floor. The stone bed was furnished with pillows and a quilt, giving it a cozy feel. Maybe resting here for a couple of days wouldn’t be so bad.
“No choice—the designated target hasn’t arrived yet. Since your feet hurt, you’ll have to stay here and rest. But if you’re scared, you can have a maid stay with you,” An Leiya said with a playful grin. She knew full well that Yang Xiyan’s personality would make her choose to stay alone.