Chapter 278: The expert won’t let her say (1/2)
Chapter 278: The expert won’t let her say
Long Feiye led along Han Yunxi to walk in the front, while Aunt Ru brought up the rear. The secret passageway behind the tree trunk kept stretching downwards, the slope getting steeper the farther they went. By the end, it was practically a vertical passage. Long Feiye held Han Yunxi in his arms and jumped down, with Aunt Ru following close behind. Unexpectedly, they landed in an underground stone chamber illuminated by night-luminous pearls. The chamber itself was completely empty, but had a door that led to places unknown. Moreover, the acrid scent in the air was much stronger than above.
After landing with Han Yunxi in his arms, Long Feiye didn’t let her go, but grabbed her hand again. Han Yunxi’s eyes drifted to the fingers grasping her own and move her hand experimentally, as if trying to get free. Unfortunately, Long Feiye only tightened his grip in return. Han Yunxi furrowed her eyebrows and looked straight at him, but he didn’t look at her. She only saw his face in profile, the chiseled features as coldly handsome and aggressively serious as always. Han Yunxi stared at him for quite a while and tried to struggle free a few more times. It wasn’t clear whether Long Feiye realized she was staring at him, but he kept as icy and domineering as always, ignoring her without letting her go. Finally, Han Yunxi conceded defeat. She was too lazy to struggle any further, so she let him do as he liked.
Aunt Ru saw everything with her eyes and decided to interrogate Tang Li for more details on the couple when she returned. Ye’er was someone who had to complete a great undertaking. No matter how useful Han Yunxi could be, he couldn’t harbor true feelings for her. Love between a man and a woman would only bungle matters! Ye’er’s mufei1 had long told him to kill and discard the people closest to him if it helped the greater goal.
“Since the Poison Sect carved into the mountain to build this chamber, it must be an important strategic point for them,” Aunt Ru said seriously. Unfortunately, neither Long Feiye nor Han Yunxi paid her any attention as they headed for the only exit out of the room. She stared after their retreating forms, mouth opening and closing, before finally following suit. Upon leaving the room, they were greeted by a stone path that led into the distance before it rounded a bend. The acrid odor in the air had also intensified. Rather than call this an underground chamber, it was more apt to call it an open grave instead.
After walking for an hour, they discovered that the bend in the path actually led to a stone door. Beyond it shone light even brighter than the luminous-night pearls they’d seen in the first room. Right at this moment, Han Yunxi halted and said, “There are noxious fumes inside from Violet Miasma.”
Now Aunt Ru was curious. They were still some distance away from the stone door, but she hadn’t discovered anything amiss. How did Han Yunxi know? If she hadn’t witnessed Han Yunxi’s skills firsthand back then, she wouldn’t have believed her, but now she did.
“This is the only path,” Long Feiye said. His meaning was obvious–they had to go this way. Aunt Ru was quick to offer an explanation. Violet Miasma had the lower toxicity when compared to other poisonous gases, almost enough to be imperceptible. At most, its victims would only experience dizziness and blurry vision. There was no antidote to this type of poison, but neither did they need one. After inhaling the miasma, the victim would only need some fresh air and rest to recover.
“From my experience, this doesn’t even count as poison at all,” Aunt Ru was rather confident. After hearing her words, Long Feiye decided to move forward. Han Yunxi followed silently along, but stilled her steps at the door.
“Not so fast.” From her medical pouch, Han Yunxi took out three small packets of medicine and handed one each to Long Feiye and Aunt Ru, leaving one portion for herself. “This can be counted as its antidote as well. Just keep it in your mouth and chew on it.”
As soon as Aunt Ru opened the package, she recognized the plant inside as fresh mint leaves. Doubtfully she asked, “The antidote to Violet Miasma?”
Ever since her older sister had left the world, she’d dedicated her heart to studying poisons and read through all of her sister’s secret notes. Miasmas were one of the most common poison types, but she’d never heard of antidotes to any of them.
“Poisons with no antidotes, nor need for them, are some of the most dangerous types. The best way to deal with them isn’t to keep the poison out, but to take precautions. Mint isn’t an antidote, but it can prevent the Violet Miasma from entering the body’s respiratory system and eliminate the possibility of poisoning. Otherwise, the concentration of miasma will accumulate to toxic levels equal to a fatal, hypertoxic poison!”
As Han Yunxi spoke, she tossed a mint leaf into her mouth, using the opportunity to wrest free of Long Feiye’s hand and enter the door first. Seeing her confident, unrestrained figure, Long Feiye grew distracted. Aunt Ru couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice, “Ye’er, where did she learn her poison arts from? I’ve never heard of anyone in the Han Family who knew poisons.”
“An expert,” Long Feiye answered without thinking.
“An expert?” Aunt Ru was bewildered. “Who is it?”
“The expert won’t let her say!”
As soon as Long Feiye placed the mint leaf in his mouth and chewed it a few times, he followed after Han Yunxi. Aunt Ru was left with a face full of confusion. “Expert? There’s only a few experts in the poisons world, so who is it? Is there any need for Ye’er to hide their identity?”
Once she walked to the stone door, she realized that the concentration of Violet Miasma was extremely thick. She silently rejoiced at Han Yunxi’s precautions, because the scent would have knocked them out otherwise as soon as they went in. Han Yunxi was about to enter when Long Feiye grabbed her hand again. Once more, he forcefully entwined their fingers together. This time, Han Yunxi whipped her head back with a clear, penetrating look. All she did was stare without saying a word. She was obviously asking him for his reasons, but she was also giving him a chance to explain himself.
But Long Feiye had spotted Aunt Ru staring at them from the corner of his eye. He didn’t answer Han Yunxi’s unspoken question, but avoided her gaze instead. Han Yunxi furrowed her eyebrows and viciously shook her hand. Because Long Feiye wasn’t expecting it, she managed to get free.