Leng Ziyue placed his fair fingers on Gu Ruobai's wrist. After a while, his face turned a bit grim. "This poison... should have been easy to deal with. But since he's been taking some poisons since childhood to build up his body's drug resistance, now there are two opposing forces stalemated in his body..."
Su Mingyu felt her heart sink. "Master Leng, please save him..."
"Don't panic." Leng Ziyue squinted his eyes. "There's a hot spring in the back mountain. He may need to go there to get the antidote."
Hearing this, Su Mingyu let out a long sigh of relief.
"Let's go. We'll go up the mountain to gather herbs first."
Seeing Su Mingyu's relieved look, Leng Ziyue couldn't help but chuckle. "You were so calm before. Even when asking for help, you showed little emotion. But now that you hear this man is in critical condition, you're so tense?"
"Um... let's hurry up." Su Mingyu, though thinking herself thick - skinned, still felt a bit embarrassed by the teasing.
The two of them started climbing the mountain. Fortunately, although the slope was steep, it was still passable.
Su Mingyu walked behind Leng Ziyue. Watching his brisk steps, she couldn't help but sigh. This man was not only good - looking but also skilled in medicine and martial arts. Why would he live alone in such a remote mountain forest?
Just as she was thinking, Leng Ziyue in front suddenly stopped. Su Mingyu, not paying attention, was about to bump into him. Fortunately, she dodged to the side.
"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?"
Su Mingyu steadied herself and looked at him suspiciously.
But when she looked up, she saw Leng Ziyue looking at her with a strange expression.
Su Mingyu lowered her eyes. "What's the matter?"
"I'm just wondering who you really are." Leng Ziyue still had that calm look on his face, but there was something dark in his deep eyes.
Su Mingyu felt a sudden uneasiness. "I've said that I got lost and ended up here."
"You and that man are clearly not husband and wife. And your agile skills don't seem like those of an ordinary girl."
As Leng Ziyue said this, his eyes were fixed on Su Mingyu as if he wanted to see through her. "Also, the poison that man was hit with is called Ice - Eroding Poison. At first, the poisoned person just falls into a coma. Then the body temperature drops a little every day. After ten days, they will surely die."
Su Mingyu's heart skipped a beat. Although she knew Gu Ruobai was poisoned, she didn't expect the poison to be so powerful.
"But what does this have to do with my identity?"
Leng Ziyue looked at her with lowered eyes. "This poison is one of the means for the concubines in the palace to fight for favor. It's rarely seen outside."
"Rarely seen doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Su Mingyu looked up at him, her eyes calm.
Leng Ziyue gave a soft laugh. "Do you know why it's rarely seen in the market?"
"Because there's a herb in it called Ten - Absolutes Herb. The growth conditions of Ten - Absolutes Herb are extremely harsh, so it's very precious. And Ten - Absolutes Herb is actually quite useless. It's only used in Ice - Eroding Poison."
"So, except for the powerful and wealthy concubines in the palace, few people would bother to make this kind of poison because its onset is too slow."
Hearing Leng Ziyue's words, Su Mingyu actually felt relieved. If he really wanted to do something to her, there was no need for him to explain so much.
Su Mingyu bowed deeply to Leng Ziyue and said sincerely, "I'm sorry for lying to you, Master Leng. We're not husband and wife, but we're already engaged."
"I'm not an ordinary girl either. My name is Su Mingyu. I'm the legitimate daughter of Minister Su. And the man in the bed is the current Prince Ruixian."
As she said this, the light in Su Mingyu's eyes dimmed. "We were on our way back from the autumn hunt when we were attacked by assassins. Although I know some martial arts, I couldn't fight them all off alone. So we fled in a hurry."
Looking at the suddenly sincere Su Mingyu, Leng Ziyue raised his eyebrows slightly. "You're quite sensible. Don't worry. In other places, I might not be so sure, but luckily there's a hot spring on the mountain behind my wooden house. It's suitable for him."
Hearing this, Su Mingyu let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Master Leng."
Looking at Su Mingyu's lowered head, Leng Ziyue raised his eyebrows. "All right, let's go. The herbs we need to gather are not far ahead."
Seeing Leng Ziyue walking forward first, Su Mingyu stared deeply at his back.
This man definitely had something fishy about him.
Judging from his tone just now, he seemed to know a lot about the schemes in the palace. But if he was from the palace, why would he live in such a remote mountain?
However, detoxifying Gu Ruobai was the most important thing for now. Su Mingyu suppressed her doubts and followed him.
When Su Mingyu finally climbed over the slope and saw the sea of flowers in front of her, she was stunned.
"There's such a large sea of flowers in this forest?" It was so abnormal in this land - precious forest.
Noticing Su Mingyu's surprise, Leng Ziyue curled his lips in a half - smile. "This is the domineering nature of this herb."
Leng Ziyue walked to the edge of the sea of flowers. As if sensing his presence, the surrounding flowers sprayed out yellow smoke from their stamens. Wherever the smoke touched, the plants turned yellow at a visible speed and then turned into a handful of white ash.
Su Mingyu quickly took a step back. Now she finally understood why there was such an open space in the forest.
The powder sprayed by these flowers was poisonous. Once contaminated, it was like being burned by fire and would turn into fertilizer for the flowers.
But Leng Ziyue seemed unaffected. He completely ignored the smoke and walked straight into the middle of the sea of flowers. He found a single white flower and uprooted it without hesitation.
The moment he pulled out the white flower, the whole sea of flowers withered instantly, as if it had lost all its vitality.
Su Mingyu was completely shocked. As someone who had seen high - tech things, this scene that resembled a fairy - tale was extremely impactful.
"What... is this?"
Su Mingyu looked at it from a distance, her eyebrows knitted tightly.
"This is the Flaming Flower." Leng Ziyue carefully put the flower into a bag. "You're really lucky. This flower only produces a white king flower once every ten years, and you just happened to come across it."
Su Mingyu glanced at the withered flowers and asked suspiciously, "Are they all dead?"
"No." Leng Ziyue answered simply. "They will give birth to a new king flower underground. After ten years, there will be another flourishing scene."
Su Mingyu raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but mutter, "This is more like an animal than a flower."