Hearing this, the general wore a look of slight confusion on his face, not quite understanding what he meant.
"What is the Huanshen Flower? What's it for?"
The divine doctor pursed his lips and first told the general his diagnosis.
"These soldiers aren't completely beyond saving. It seems the Guitu was secretly replaced, which is why the situation backfired. But this replacement has actually led me to a more effective solution. The juice made from the Huanshen Flower can completely neutralize the Gu poison in these soldiers' bodies."
Unexpectedly, what seemed like a bad thing on the surface turned out to be a good one. This made everyone heave a sigh of relief. However, since they hadn't seen the results yet, the general wasn't fully convinced.
"Draw this so - called Huanshen Flower for me. I'll immediately send someone to look for it. Or you can just describe its features."
San Qi acted quickly. In no time, he had drawn the Huanshen Flower and written down its features below the drawing.
Looking at the words on the paper, the general felt something was off.
"This looks like the flower we saw yesterday. I thought it was useless then, so I had people pick them all and throw them in the kitchen."
Hearing this, San Qi blew his beard and glared: "What do you mean? I initially thought we couldn't find the Huanshen Flower on this border, and you used it as firewood!"
The general coughed lightly and immediately ordered the soldiers behind him to check if the flowers were still in the kitchen.
Now that he knew everything could be solved, his tone became much lighter.
"Well, we rough men had no idea this thing could be useful."
"Humph. I'll have someone find it. If there's none left in the kitchen, send someone to find new ones quickly. We need a lot."
"I'll give the order right away."
Just as the general and his subordinates were about to leave the tent, the soldier who had just left returned with a smile on his face.
"The kitchen staff thought the flowers weren't completely dry. They were afraid it might put out the fire if they used them as firewood, so they left them aside. General, I've already brought the flowers back. Take a look if it's the right one."
A large quantity of Huanshen Flowers was brought into the tent. San Qi was so excited that he almost jumped up.
"Immediately have someone make the juice. Once we get these soldiers to drink it, they'll be fine."
The general's order was immediately obeyed. In just half the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, all the Huanshen Flowers were turned into juice. After using what was needed, there was still a large amount left.
After San Qi had the soldiers give the juice to the poisoned soldiers, he began to observe their reactions.
At first, the soldiers vomited blood just like when they first took the Guitu. If it weren't for the fact that the blood they vomited was all black, the general might have had them pulled out and torn limb from limb on the spot.
As the black blood came out, there were also Gu worms in it. These worms struggled in the blood for just a moment before dying.
The soldiers' complexions gradually improved. Some of them could even open their eyes and speak.
"General... Am I alive? Am I okay?"
The general was even more excited than them. Seeing them wake up one by one, this tough man shed tears for the first time.
"Good, good. You're finally okay. You've scared me to death."
Hearing this, these tough men broke down and cried. How could they not be excited? They had almost been separated from their loved ones forever.
Shi Muyuan always wore a faint smile: "Now these soldiers should all be fine. General, you won't suspect that we're impostors anymore, right?"
Hearing this, the general felt a bit guilty.
"Sorry, Empress Dowager. I really shouldn't have suspected you. Fortunately, you didn't give up. Otherwise, my subordinates would never have seen the sun tomorrow."
"Alright. It's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up. Now, what we should think about most is how to get all the soldiers fully recovered."
"I can develop an antidote, but there's an urgent problem now. Who replaced my Guitu on the way? I must find this person, or there will be more problems in the future."
This question stumped everyone.
"In the past few days, you've always kept the Guitu with you, Divine Doctor. We don't know how it was replaced."
San Qi said seriously: "I just finished developing the Guitu when I came here. I've always carried it with me. Logically, no outsider should have had access to it..."
His words suddenly stopped, attracting everyone's attention.
The divine doctor seemed to have thought of something. He looked at the person beside him.
"Besides me, the only one who could have access to the Guitu is General Qin. He's been the closest to me these days."
Qin Feng widened his eyes: "Divine Doctor, you can't say that. You've taken care of me all the way. How could I do such a thing?"
The general on the side thought it over carefully. With a cold face, he suddenly said: "I remember that General Qin was a general of the enemy country before. Later, I heard that he defected. Now it seems that it doesn't match the rumors at all. Empress Dowager, you must have been deceived by this scoundrel."
Qin Feng couldn't stand it when people always brought up his past.
"What are you talking nonsense about? That was all in the past. I'm no longer from the enemy country. I meant it when I said I defected. I won't lie."
Even though he said it seriously, the general didn't believe him.
"Humph. You can say whatever you want, but I won't believe that a general with great power can change so easily. You must be lying. Maybe you're a spy sent by the enemy country to catch us off guard when we're not prepared."
"I'm not such a person. A gentleman's word is his bond. I understand this truth even though I'm a general. Don't think everyone is full of schemes."
"The people of the enemy country have killed so many innocent border soldiers of ours. Now you're saying these things to us. I've already given the Empress Dowager face by not killing you when you showed up here. What do you think gives you the right to argue with me? Arrogant."
"Oh? Are you not convinced? If so, let's settle this the way soldiers do. Don't make things difficult for others. How about it? Are you scared?"
His arrogant attitude really made the general unable to swallow his anger.
"If someone wants to court death, I, of course, won't refuse. And since you're from the enemy country, I've been unhappy with you people for a long time. Finally, I have a chance to vent my anger today."
Before the others could stop them, the two had already fought each other.
Shi Muyuan felt a bit of a headache. They hadn't even said anything yet, and Qin Feng was really too hot - tempered.