Chapter 135: Clues of Conspiracy Emerge from the Medicine Valley Poison Manual

The moment the light pillar dissipated, Shen Yan felt as if he had been thrown from a great height into a medicine grinder, his bones creaking with every movement. He stumbled and fell to the ground, his elbow hitting something hard, causing him to gasp in pain.

“Cough… Pei Yue?”

He turned his head to see Pei Yue slowly sitting up while leaning against the wall, her face slightly pale, her medicine pouch askew on her shoulder, and her jade hairpin half-loosened. She raised a hand to press her temple, her voice so soft it seemed afraid of disturbing something: “Are we… in the Medicine Hut?”

Shen Yan didn’t respond, his fingers already swiftly swiping across his phone screen. The terminal interface flickered a few times before displaying a line of text:

【Local Spiritual Power Field Anomaly: Encrypted Interference Detected】

【Jump Coordinates Tampered With, Actual Landing Point: Unknown Secret Chamber】

【Communication Protocol Offline, Unable to Connect to Ye Zhao, Yu Xiaotang, Luo Li】

His brow furrowed, and he immediately activated the Source Code Spiritual Root scanning program. A pale green data stream spread from his fingertips, outlining the contours of the secret chamber in the air—the walls were carved with reverse spirit-guiding formation patterns, all variations of Medicine Valley restriction seals, specifically designed to block the leakage of spiritual consciousness.

“This place isn’t right,” he whispered. “It’s not a data core, more like… an underground medicine library.”

Pei Yue had already stood up, a silver needle held between her fingers. With a light flick, the needle tip cut through the air, emitting a faint hum. The next moment, the tip of the needle turned a layer of gray-black.

“Nine Revolutions Soul-Corroding Powder,” she said, her tone heavy. “Volatile residue, not highly concentrated, but it has persisted for a long time.”

Shen Yan was taken aback. “Isn’t that a lost forbidden technique of Medicine Valley? It slowly robs people of their will, turning them into obedient puppets in the end?”

“Correct,” Pei Yue replied, flipping open the booklet she carried with her, its pages already yellowed at the edges. “While organizing the royal family’s medical records, I discovered that in the past three months, all the sick princes and princesses have been taking ‘Calming Spirit Soup’ long-term. The formula appears harmless, but…” She paused. “There’s something wrong with it.”

Shen Yan leaned over to take a look, his mind immediately switching to code structure analysis mode. He pressed his phone against the booklet and initiated the decompilation program.

As soon as the screen lit up, the terminal suddenly popped up a notice:

【File Source Legitimate, Recommend Terminating Detection】

He sneered coldly. “Whoever wrote this notice knows exactly what they’re doing.”

With a swipe of his finger, he directly cut off the external data interface and switched to pure manual encoding to rebuild the analysis environment. Closing his eyes, he used his Source Code Spiritual Root as an anchor point, breaking down the “Calming Spirit Soup” formula into a spiritual energy molecular spectrum, screening each item one by one.

Poria, Polygala, Dragon Bone, Licorice…

Everything seemed normal.

Until he scanned the entry for “Poria,” when the system suddenly froze.

Something was off.

The spiritual energy frequency of this medicinal ingredient didn’t match the other components, as if it had been forcibly embedded as a module afterward. He zoomed in on the underlying structure and, sure enough, dug out a hidden command within the gaps of the code:

【Running Condition: Continuous Ingestion for Seven Days or More】

【Trigger Signal: Synchronization with Bai Guizhen’s Dojo Spiritual Power Fluctuation】

【Execution Target: Suppress Autonomous Consciousness, Open Mental Channel】

Shen Yan opened his eyes, his gaze as cold as frost.

“Bai Guizhen is using Calming Spirit Soup as a backdoor to remotely control members of the royal family.”

Pei Yue stared at that line of code, her fingertips trembling slightly. “How did he obtain Medicine Valley’s forbidden formulas? Unless… someone leaked the classics.”

“Now is not the time to assign blame.” Shen Yan put away his phone. “We need to find physical evidence to prove this medicine was actually prepared here.”

The two walked further inside. At the back of the secret chamber stood a row of medicine cabinets, their lacquer peeling, each layer sealed with blood-patterned strips. The cabinet doors were tightly shut, only a hidden compartment on the bottom layer faintly visible.

Pei Yue walked up to the first cabinet, hesitated for a moment, then bit her fingertip and dripped blood onto the lock.

With a click, the cabinet door sprang open.

Black mist surged out, transforming into countless tiny Gu Worms, their mouthparts gaping as they lunged straight for their faces!

Shen Yan reacted swiftly. With a flick of his phone, Code flashed at his fingertips, instantly compiling a purification barrier. Flames erupted, burning the Gu Worms to ashes mid-air, which fell rustling to the ground.

“The methods of the Mystic Gate’s Gu Refining Hall.” He picked up a piece of residue and input it into the Terminal. The System quickly confirmed, “This batch of Gu Worms are parasitic bodies used in conjunction with ‘Nine Revolutions Soul-Eroding Powder’ to enhance the drug’s effects and also devour Memory.”

Pei Yue’s face grew even paler. “They don’t just want to control people… they want to turn the royal family into empty shells with no past.”

Shen Yan didn’t reply. He crouched down to inspect the back of the medicine cabinet. His fingers brushed over a depression. He pushed hard, and the hidden compartment slid open, revealing a bronze box hidden inside. Its surface was engraved with the Mystic Gate emblem, and its corners were stained with dried blood.

“Open it,” he said.

Pei Yue reached for the box, but her fingers paused just as they touched it. “Wait… the temperature is wrong. It’s been warm all along.”

“It’s fine, I’m right here.” Shen Yan stood beside her, his phone charged and ready. “You open it, I’ll protect you.”

She took a deep breath and lifted the lid.

Inside, there were no Pills, no Classics.

Only a stack of pink Talisman Paper, neatly arranged within, its edges charred black as if burned by flames and then forcibly suppressed. The top sheet still carried a faint, sweet strawberry fragrance.

Shen Yan’s pupils constricted sharply.

“Is this… Yu Xiaotang’s Talisman Paper?”

Pei Yue picked up a sheet and examined it closely. The Rune structure was clearly the unique brushwork of the Yu Family, even the folding angles identical to what she usually used.

“Why would she leave Talisman Paper here?” Pei Yue murmured. “And hidden in a place like this…”

Shen Yan reached out and took it. The moment his fingertips touched the paper surface, the Terminal suddenly vibrated.

【Detected highly active Spiritual Power Residue】

【Talisman Paper once bore high-intensity Energy output】

【Residual aura matches: Yu Xiaotang】

His heart sank.

This wasn’t ordinary loss.

This was a trace of battle.

Someone had pushed her to her limit. The Talisman Paper had exploded and was then recovered, and she might even have been… captured.

“Bai Guizhen knows her identity,” he said quietly. “Not only knows, he’s used her as a tool.”

Pei Yue looked up at him, a flicker of heartache in her eyes. “Where is she now? We have to save her.”

“First, let’s figure out why this box is here.” Shen Yan suppressed his emotions, placed the Talisman Paper back, and began scanning the bottom of the box. “There must be other clues here.”

His fingers traced over the patterns on the bottom and suddenly stopped.

An extremely fine engraving, hidden beneath the emblem, shaped like half an oath-sealing pattern.

Exactly like Yu Xiaotang’s habit when drawing Runes.

“She left a mark,” Shen Yan’s voice tightened. “She’s calling for help.”

Pei Yue gripped her Silver Needle, her fingertips turning white. “We can’t just stay here. We have to find a way out, to go find her.”

“No.” Shen Yan shook his head. “Communications are cut off, and the situation outside is unclear. Acting rashly would only play into their trap.”

“But she…”

“I know.” He interrupted her, his tone suddenly softening. “I’m worried too. But if she saw you rushing out to your death now, she’d probably pop out from somewhere and slap a Talisman Paper right on your face.”

Pei Yue froze, her eyes growing warm.

Shen Yan reached out and gently wiped a smudge of medicinal ash from her cheek. “Don’t panic, I’m here. The Source Code Spiritual Root isn’t just for show. As long as she’s alive, I will find her.”

He paused, his voice growing quieter. “Besides… she still owes me that milk tea she promised. She wouldn’t disappear so easily.”

Pei Yue finally couldn’t hold back, the corner of her mouth trembling slightly as she let out a faint smile.

Just then, the last Talisman Paper inside the bronze box suddenly trembled lightly.

As if stirred by a breeze.

Yet in the Secret Chamber, there was not a single trace of wind.

Shen Yan’s eyes sharpened, and he reached out to press his hand against the paper.

Beneath the surface, a faint line of vermilion characters gradually appeared—

“Do not trust the third ingredient in the prescription.”

(End of Chapter)