Chapter 16: Poison Mist Mystery: Xie Wujiu's False Death Scheme

Shen Yan’s head felt like it had been stuffed into an overloaded server, buzzing incessantly. He leaned against the stone steps, eyelids so heavy he couldn’t lift them, but suddenly a sharp shout exploded in his ears: “Wake up! The medicine library is in trouble!”

It was Ye Zhao’s voice.

He shuddered, nearly jumping up from the ground, but his legs went weak and he fell back down. His black-framed glasses tilted on his nose bridge, the lenses crisscrossed with cracks, exactly like his broken phone screen.

Yet on this shattered screen, a line of green text flickered faintly—”Warning: Detected high concentration of anomalous spiritual energy particles, analyzing composition…”

“Damn… this system finally decided to boot up?” he muttered, biting his fingertip and rapidly tapping on the broken screen. The code flow ran intermittently, like a lagging old game image, faint purple trajectory lines gradually appearing in the air, extending like spiderwebs toward the depths of the medicine library.

“Toxin diffusion path… locked.” He gasped. “It’s Soul-devouring Powder, an old formula, disguised with a death-simulating agent.”

Ye Zhao frowned tightly: “Who did it?”

“Don’t know yet, but definitely not some kind-hearted believer.” He shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness. “Let’s go, first check the situation at the medicine library entrance.”

Just as they reached the entrance, they bumped into a panicked guard disciple: “Xie Wujiu… died! Right in the herb pile! His whole body… is dissolving!”

Pushing the door open, indeed.

A “corpse” wearing servant clothes lay between ginseng and poria cocos, skin slowly dripping like melted wax, purple mist seeping from every inch of dissolving flesh, spreading throughout the space.

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes, forcing himself to initiate the scanning program. The terminal popped up a notice: “Biological signal disappearance time: three minutes ago. Toxin type: Soul-devouring Powder + death-simulating agent. Conclusion: unnatural death, artificially induced false death.”

“False death?” Ye Zhao asked coldly. “What does he want?”

“Of course, to lure the tiger away from the mountain.” Shen Yan sneered. “His true body has already slipped away, leaving a substitute to release poison, while framing himself, so everyone thinks ‘the murderer is dead’ and relaxes vigilance.”

Before the words finished, a “boom” erupted from the direction of the alchemy room!

Flames soared, smoke billowed, alarm bells instantly rang.

“I’ll check!” Shen Yan sprinted off, Ye Zhao closely following.

Just as they turned the corridor, they saw Pei Yue standing outside the alchemy room, her black hair slightly messy, a jade hairpin tilted, clutching a medicine pouch in her hand, but her eyes sharp like needles.

“There’s someone inside.” She whispered. “Not a valley guard disciple, movements too familiar, like a rat that often steals herbs.”

Shen Yan grinned: “Then today, we catch a live one.”

He deliberately stepped on the fire alarm formation’s trigger point.

“Ding—Woo—Woo—Woo—”

Piercing alarms resounded throughout Medicine Valley, all disciples hurriedly evacuating to safe zones. Amid the chaos, a dark shadow flashed out from the alchemy room’s side door, holding a dark red cloth bag, about to slip away.

“Now!” Shen Yan hissed.

Pei Yue had already held a silver needle between her fingertips, gaze locked on that person’s back. She didn’t move, just waited—waited for a moment when a drifting medicinal leaf exactly blocked her line of sight.

Silver light flashed!

The needle tip precisely nailed into a corner of the cloth bag, firmly fixing the entire bag onto the wall pillar. The bag’s opening hadn’t yet been opened, no poison powder spilled.

“Wrap it up.” Pei Yue let out a soft sigh, raising a hand to adjust her hairpin.

Ye Zhao swept her Sword Qi across, sealing off any escape route. The Dark Shadow abruptly turned, revealing half of a pale face—it was Xie Wujiu.

“You… how did you see through it?” His voice was hoarse, yet there was no trace of panic in his eyes. Instead, a hint of eerie amusement lingered.

Shen Yan raised his phone. Though the screen was cracked, most functions had been restored, automatically recording the poison powder’s composition, residual Energy, and fingerprint wave frequencies. “Did you forget? No matter how realistic a simulated death potion is, it can’t fool the Data Stream. Three minutes before you ‘died,’ your body’s Spiritual Power Fluctuation Frequency didn’t match what it is now. And…” He paused, chuckling. “You acted too seriously, even meticulously simulating skin melting. But a true victim of Soul-Devouring Powder would explode internally—there’s no such slow liquefaction.”

Xie Wujiu’s expression shifted.

“You weren’t here to kill anyone,” Shen Yan stared at him. “You were here to frame someone. You wanted us to think you had ‘atoned with death,’ while also redirecting the source of the poison mist toward yourself, all to cover up the real major move.”

“Clever,” Xie Wujiu actually smiled. “Unfortunately, no matter how much you know, it won’t change anything.”

He suddenly leaped backward, crashing toward a hidden tunnel entrance in the corner.

“Don’t let him escape!” Ye Zhao moved to pursue but was stopped by Shen Yan.

“Don’t chase,” he shook his head. “There’s definitely an ambush in that tunnel. Going in now would be like handing them our heads.”

Pei Yue walked over, crouching to examine the poison pouch. “The pouch is tightly sealed, but there are slight scratches along the edges, as if hastily stitched. Besides the Soul-Devouring Powder, there’s also half a withered leaf inside—it doesn’t seem like a variety from the medicine Library.”

“Interesting,” Shen Yan stroked his chin. “He specifically repaired it, which means this pouch is important—he couldn’t lose it or destroy it. Yet he didn’t dare carry it for too long, afraid of exposure, so he chose to retrieve it during the chaos. That means this thing is a key part of his plan.”

Ye Zhao looked at the Silver Needle embedded in the wall and suddenly said, “You already guessed he would come?”

Pei Yue nodded. “Before Shen Yan triggered the fire alarm, I saw him hiding under the eaves, observing the commotion. He didn’t look like he was fleeing for his life—more like waiting for some Signal.”

“Great minds think alike,” Shen Yan grinned. “That’s why I deliberately caused such a big scene, just to force him out.”

Pei Yue shot him a glare. “You’re quite the schemer.”

“What choice did I have?” He shrugged. “My Mental Power was just depleted, and the System is half-broken. If I can’t fight, I have to outsmart them. Besides…” He glanced at Pei Yue, winking. “I still have your ‘divine needle,’ don’t I? At critical moments, it’s even steadier than my Code.”

The tips of Pei Yue’s ears flushed slightly as she turned away, pretending to organize her Medicine Pouch. “Enough nonsense. Hurry up and trace the source of this poison powder.”

Just as Shen Yan was about to speak, his phone suddenly vibrated.

The screen lit up, displaying a line of small text: “Soul-Devouring Powder traceability path loading… Raw materials sourced from the abandoned mine cave in North Ridge. Transport records show it was warehoused three days ago under the name ‘Guiyuan Hall.’ Signed by: Bai Guizhen.”

“Bai Guizhen?” He read the name aloud, his gaze turning icy.

That was a Mystic Gate elder—and one of the masterminds behind the hunt for him back then.

“So that’s how it is,” he murmured softly. “Xie Wujiu is merely a pawn; the ones truly behind this are those above. They intend to use his ‘fake death’ to cast blame on Medicine Valley, then seize the opportunity to investigate and take over, ultimately… gaining control over the entire Cultivation Realm’s Spiritual Energy distribution.”

Ye Zhao said coldly, “Then let them try.”

Pei Yue stood up, the silver needle in her hand gleaming coldly under the light. “Next time, I won’t just pin the bag.”

Shen Yan looked at her and suddenly smiled. “Your needle technique is even more ruthless than my defense program.”

“Then you’d better not provoke me,” she glanced at him. “Otherwise, you’ll be the first to test my new poison.”

“I promise to behave,” he raised his hands in surrender, then leaned closer to his phone, staring at the incomplete traceability information.

In the distance, the purple mist over the medicine library still lingered.

The Alchemy Furnace retained its residual warmth, a crack slowly spreading across its wall.

Shen Yan leaned against the furnace, breathing heavily, yet his fingers continued to slide across the screen.

Pei Yue bent down to examine the poisoned bag, dipping the tip of her finger into a bit of powder and bringing it to her nose to sniff.

Ye Zhao stood at the doorway, her gaze piercing through the night, fixed on the entrance to the dark, deep tunnel.

A breeze blew in from the window, rustling an unfinished prescription on the table.

The ink had yet to dry.

(End of Chapter)