162: Ten Thousand Ants Heart-Devouring Poison

The sky was faintly bright, and the morning mist had not yet dispersed.

Red Silk and Bi Yao groggily opened their eyes, feeling a dull ache at the back of their necks, as if they had been struck hard with a blunt object.

They looked around blankly, finding themselves lying on an unfamiliar soft couch, covered by a thin blanket.

"W-where is this?"

Bi Yao rubbed her temples, her voice tinged with panic.

Red Silk also sat up, trying to recall what had happened last night.

"Didn't we follow Master Jiang into the room? How did we suddenly forget everything?"

The two exchanged glances, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes. Their last memory was the moment they stepped into the room, followed by complete darkness.

"Could it be a sleeping drug?"

Bi Yao whispered, her fingers unconsciously clutching at the corner of her clothes.

Red Silk bit her lip, her gaze sweeping across the empty room.

"But there's not a single soul here. Where did Master Jiang and Senior Sister Red Silk go?"

The room was quiet, with only the lingering warmth from the Medicine Hut proving that someone had been there not long ago.

A faint herbal scent wafted through the air, inexplicably calming, but at this moment, the two only felt a chill down their spines.

"Could it be that we were really used as medicinal ingredients?"

Bi Yao's voice trembled as she instinctively touched her wrist, afraid that a wound would suddenly appear there.

Red Silk forced herself to calm down, pulling back the blanket to check her body. She only let out a sigh of relief after confirming there was nothing amiss.

"Don't scare yourself. If they really wanted to use us for alchemy, why would they cover us with blankets?"

"No matter what, let's leave here first!"

Red Silk made a decisive move, pulling Bi Yao to quietly get off the couch.

They cautiously pushed open the door. The cool morning breeze blew in, clearing their muddled minds a little.

The courtyard was empty, with only a few spiritual herbs swaying in the morning dew.

"Strange, did Master Jiang and Senior Sister Red Silk not sleep all night?"

Bi Yao mumbled.

Red Silk shook her head.

"At their realm, it's common not to rest for several days. Perhaps they are meditating and cultivating somewhere."

As soon as the two stepped out of the courtyard gate, a cold light suddenly flashed.

"Swish!"

A pitch-black flying knife deeply embedded itself into the bluestone slab beside their feet. The hilt was still trembling slightly, emitting a low hum.

Red Silk's pupils contracted. She immediately recognized this knife.

This was the Shadow Blade of Mo Tianhen, a Dou Wang Expert under Ninth Young Master!

Bi Yao was so frightened she almost screamed, but Red Silk quickly covered her mouth.

The two looked at each other, understanding the meaning in each other's eyes.

This was Ninth Young Master urging them to return and report.

"Quick, pull it out!"

Red Silk whispered.

Bi Yao's fingers trembled as she forcefully pulled the flying knife out of the stone slab.

A paper strip, thin as a cicada's wing, was wrapped around the blade. It contained only two words:

Return swiftly!

Red Silk bit her lip and crumpled the paper strip in her palm.

As maids sent out as playthings, the most important thing for them was to know how to adapt to circumstances.

Although they were nominally Master Jiang's people, they were still Ninth Young Master's spies at heart.

"Let's go!" She pulled Bi Yao and hurried towards Ninth Young Master's courtyard.

Inside Bai Xiaofeng's courtyard, sandalwood incense wafted.

When Red Silk and Bi Yao knelt trembling before Ninth Young Master, Bai Xiaofeng was lazily leaning on a soft couch, toying with a jade thumb ring.

"Oh, aren't these the two beauties I sent out?"

A sarcastic curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"What, Master Jiang got tired of playing and sent you back?"

Red Silk and Bi Yao immediately and skillfully prostrated themselves, their foreheads pressed to the ground.

"Ninth Young Master, please be clear!"

Red Silk's voice held a perfectly timed sob.

"Your servants live for you, and die for you! Last night, last night was truly beyond our control!"

Bi Yao quickly chimed in.

"Yes, Ninth Young Master! That Master Jiang and Senior Sister Red Silk were so mysterious. As soon as we entered, they knocked us out. When we woke up this morning, they were nowhere to be found!"

A cold glint flashed in Bai Xiaofeng's eyes. He suddenly slammed the jade thumb ring in his hand heavily onto Red Silk's forehead!

"Bang!"

Blood immediately flowed down Red Silk's forehead, but she didn't make a sound. Instead, she knelt even lower.

"Useless! I sent you to monitor, and you ended up being played for fools! Speak! What exactly happened last night? Don't miss a single word!"

Bai Xiaofeng roared sternly.

Red Silk suppressed the pain and said with a trembling voice.

"Reporting to Ninth Young Master, your servants truly don't know. The moment we stepped into the Medicine Hut, we felt a pain in the back of our necks and fainted. When we woke up this morning, our clothes were intact, and there were no signs of injury."

Bai Xiaofeng narrowed his eyes, staring at Red Silk and Bi Yao kneeling on the ground with a fake smile. His knuckles gently tapped the armrest of the soft couch, making a dull sound.

"Oh? You know nothing?"

He slowly drew out his words, but a hint of chill flashed in his eyes.

"It seems your courage, both of you, has grown quite a bit compared to before."

The bloodstain on Red Silk's forehead had not yet dried, but she dared not lift her hand to wipe it. She could only prostrate herself even lower, her voice trembling.

"Ninth Young Master, please be clear, your servants truly..."

"Enough!"

Bai Xiaofeng suddenly waved his hand, interrupting her words. The smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of annoyance.

"Get out!"

Red Silk and Bi Yao were stunned, not expecting Ninth Young Master to let them go so easily. But they dared not ask more, quickly kowtowing in thanks, then bowed their heads and quickly retreated.

After the two left, a figure slowly emerged from behind the screen. Ninth Elder Qin Wuye stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze deep as he watched them leave, shaking his head faintly.

"It seems this Master Jiang's methods are even more brilliant than we imagined."

Bai Xiaofeng snorted coldly, a hint of unwillingness flashing in his eyes.

"He usually pretends to be pure and indifferent, disdaining women, but I didn't expect him to be so ruthless, making them not dare to utter a single word!"

Qin Wuye smiled slightly and said meaningfully.

"Perhaps, he didn't touch them at all."

"Didn't touch them?"

Bai Xiaofeng frowned.

"Then why did they faint? And why are they so tight-lipped about what happened last night?"

Qin Wuye's fingertips lightly rubbed the hidden pattern on his sleeve, and he said slowly.

"Perhaps, Master Jiang just didn't want them to know too much."

Bai Xiaofeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered.

"Interesting. It seems this Master is even more hidden than we imagined."

Jiang Donghua sat cross-legged deep within the Medicine Hut. Just last night, the flickering candlelight illuminated his stern profile.

He flipped his palm, and the earth spirit cauldron floated up. Runes flowed on its ancient body, emitting a heavy earthy aura.

"Myriad Ant Devouring Heart Poison!"

He murmured softly, tapping his fingertip, and a wisp of yellow flame ignited from the bottom of the cauldron.

The table was covered with various poisonous materials: the venom glands of black-blooded centipedes, the sap of rot-bone flowers, the powder of heart-eating grass. Each was highly toxic; ordinary people would suffer skin necrosis just by touching them.

Jiang Donghua's expression was calm as he skillfully dropped them one by one into the cauldron.

"Hiss—"

As soon as the poisonous materials entered the cauldron, they transformed into a thick black mist, churning. Faintly, countless tiny poisonous insects seemed to be hissing within the mist.

Jiang Donghua's gaze was serene. He formed hand seals, and the spiritual energy within the earth spirit cauldron slowly compressed, refining the poisonous mist bit by bit into powder as fine as dust.

"My master once said that once this poison enters the blood, it's like myriad ants devouring the heart, a pain worse than death."

The corner of his mouth curved slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"Even a Peak Dou Huang would be stripped of a layer of skin."

The poisonous powder in the cauldron gradually took shape, as black as ink, yet strangely emitting a dark purple glow, seemingly wriggling slightly as if alive.

Jiang Donghua took out a jade bottle, carefully collected the poisonous powder into it, then flicked his fingertip, sealing the bottle mouth with a wisp of Dou Qi to ensure the poison would not leak out.