69: Chapter 69: The Truth About Poison Well

To completely dispel the villagers' doubts, Yun Song selected a few villagers and walked with them into the kitchen, where he retrieved those malicious poisonous herbs.

He held the poisonous herbs high and said with a serious expression, "If this herb is ground into powder and thrown into the well, it is colorless and odorless, and it can make the entire well slightly toxic."

As he spoke, he gestured to the uncle beside him, "Come, Uncle, show these herbs to the fellow villagers."

The villagers crowded around to examine them closely.

Suddenly, a few villagers shouted excitedly, "I recognize this herb! When my family's cow ate it before, it had diarrhea for several days!"

These words were like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a thousand ripples.

The villagers whispered to one another, and the sound of discussion rose and fell.

The skepticism that had originally been on their faces vanished, replaced by a raging fire of anger.

Some villagers could not hold back and stomped fiercely on the corpse of the Daoist.

They did this to vent the resentment in their hearts; the corpse looked small and pathetic under their feet, as if it were a silent accusation of his evil deeds.

At this moment, an old man squeezed to the front, his face full of anxiety and worry.

His eyes were filled with helplessness and fear, and he asked in a near roar, "Now that the village well is poisoned, what will we do for drinking water later? If we don't have clean water to drink, how are we supposed to live?"

In that voice was nothing but panic about future life, as if he could already see the village falling into a desperate situation due to a lack of water.

Yun Song looked grave and, after a moment of thought, said, "The priority right now is to solve the water problem. There are two ways: first, seal the poisoned well and dig a new one; second, find the antidote and put it into the well to neutralize the poison."

A bearded man sighed, his face showing difficulty, "Digging a new well is easier said than done. Not to mention the manpower and resources, we can't afford the time either. It would be great if we could find the antidote."

The other villagers nodded in agreement.

Yun Song pondered and said, "Then let's look for the antidote first."

After speaking, he turned and walked into the main hall.

In the center of the hall stood a solemn statue, and to its lower left were two antique wooden cabinets.

Yun Song thought to himself that if the Daoist temple had an antidote, these two cabinets were the most likely place.

He walked to the first cabinet; its handle was smooth and shiny, clearly touched often.

He pulled open the cabinet door, and a medicinal scent assaulted his nose; inside, it was filled with pitch-black pills.

He picked one up and brought it close to sniff; the scent was the same as the pill Gouzi had given him before, so he immediately confirmed that this was the antidote.

He looked at the second cabinet; its handle was covered in dust.

Opening the cabinet door, he found two books arranged neatly inside. The pages were also dusty, having not been flipped through for a long time.

He picked them up to look and realized they were actually true scriptures of the Dao, so he tucked them into his pocket.

Next, he went around the statue and found a wooden box half a person's height behind it. He opened the lid and found it piled high with gleaming white silver. He mused to himself that this must be ill-gotten gains obtained by the Daoist through swindling and deceit.

After finding what he needed, he led the villagers to carry the pills and silver back to the village.

Arriving at the well, Yun Song had another idea: "Everyone, don't rush. The antidote cannot be thrown in directly; we must drain the well water first."

He called to the villagers, "Everyone bring a wooden bucket, and together we will drain the well water so that the antidote can work better."

The villagers responded one after another, quickly gathering around the well with wooden buckets. It was lively and bustling, with everyone encouraging each other.

Everyone was full of energy, lining up to take turns drawing water. Some lowered the buckets and hauled them up, while others nearby helped pass them along to pour the water into the drainage ditch.

Even though the sun was blazing and everyone was drenched in sweat, they did not slack off. The elders helped pass the buckets and cheered them on, while the children jumped around on the side, shouting encouragement.

Just like that, under Yun Song's leadership, after half a day of effort, the well water was finally drained.

Seeing the newly seeping well water, Yun Song threw all the black pills into the well.

After the pills dissolved, he drew a bucket of water to examine it carefully. The well water was as clear as before, and the toxicity seemed to have been neutralized.