Chapter 255: Someone got there first
Perplexing Butterfly Illusion.
That was a poison capable of vaporizing tens of thousands of substances. Leaving aside the door before him, even the poison beast inside would instantly vanish beneath its toxin. When Long Feiye had handed the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion over to Han Yunxi, he’d told her not to ask too many questions. But he never said she couldn’t tell others about it. His warning look made Tang Li think of the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion as well. That thing had decided Long Feiye’s entire life. It was too important to him. The Perplexing Butterfly Illusion was hidden right in Han Yunxi’s sleeve. Was she planning to take it out?
“Poison lass, what kind of ideas do you have?” Gu Qishao was looking forward to it. He loved this woman’s surprises. The white-robed man glanced at the blood-sucking wall, then at Han Yunxi. Though he was still anxious, he forced himself to wait. He’d spent so much thought to lure this woman here to verify her identity. He couldn’t fail to build a mound for want of the last basket of earth–fall short of success for lack of a final effort. None of the people here were ordinary, they all had sharp eyes! He didn’t think Han Yunxi had a way to melt away this door. There was still some time before the entire limestone cave collapsed, so he could afford the delay.
“Something good!” Han Yunxi grinned at Gu Qishao before she grabbed her medical pouch. At this, Tang Li couldn’t help but cry out.
“Han Yunxi, don’t just use things as you please if they don’t belong to you!” That should be an obvious enough reminder. Even outsiders could tell something was up with his warning, so Han Yunxi would definitely know what he meant. But instead of stopping, she didn’t even seem to understand the warning glint in Long Feiye’s eyes. Instead, she gave him a significant look before she opened her medical pouch and reached inside! In an instant, everyone had turned to focus on her and wait. What kind of surprise would this woman show them?
Tang Li clenched his fists before preparing his weapons. Despite the fact that he’d already accepted Han Yunxi, anything related to the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion was taboo. He wouldn’t allow anyone to sell out Long Feiye! But before he could attack, Long Feiye pressed his hand down.
“Long Feiye, be more clear headed! There’s no exceptions when it comes to that!” Tang Li said in a low voice, anxious and angry. What’s the use of simply warning Han Yunxi with his eyes? Long Feiye was cruel and ruthless to everyone he met, but why was he so partial to this woman? Why didn’t he treat her as ruthlessly as everyone else? Long Feiye just kept his grip on Tang Li as he quietly stared at Han Yunxi, not saying a word. Tang Li wanted to struggle free, but Long Feiye was too strong. He couldn’t budge an inch.
“Long Feiye, don’t forget that the thing belongs to your mufei!” Tang Li muttered under his breath. Though Long Feiye gave a small start, he didn’t slacken his hold. By now, Han Yunxi had already retrieved the object from her bag. It turned out to be a large bottle. Unlike a typical bottle of medicine, it was covered in black glaze, making it impossible to see what was inside. As soon as he saw it, the stone weighing on Tang Li’s heart immediately sank away. He gave a long exhale and murmured, “Long Feiye, you…can let go now!”
Good, good, this girl was still reliable!
Just a look at the bottle in Han Yunxi’s hands was enough to confirm that it wasn’t Perplexing Butterfly Illusion. That was in a simple and unsophisticated little blue and white porcelain bottle, unique and particular. Only that bottle in the entire world was capable of holding the poison without corroding away.
“It’s this thing, secret and one of a kind!” Han Yunxi grinned, purposely shooting glances at Long Feiye. Actually, she’d seen his warning glance loud and clear. Did he really think she’d take out the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion? Was she so unreliable? If he didn’t trust her, why leave something so important with her in the first place? Since he had, why didn’t he tell her its origins properly?
Why was this man always such a contradiction?
Long Feiye immediately avoided Han Yunxi’s gaze, his face expressionless. Perhaps Han Yunxi had gotten used to it, because she didn’t mind this at all, and even felt more motivated to play tricks on him in the future.
“What the heck is this?” Gu Qishao scooted over curiously. The entire time, Mu Linger had been standing quietly on the side to watch Han Yunxi, her expression filled with resentment. Unfortunately, everyone was too busy to pay her any attention.
“Take a sniff,” Han Yunxi opened the glazed bottle. It wasn’t just Gu Qishao, but everyone present who caught a whiff of an extremely astringent odor. Though they didn’t know what this liquid was, the smell was enough for Mu Linger, who was intimate with medicinal properties, to determine that it was extremely corrosive! She didn’t quite believe that this item could melt through the Xuan gold, but she trusted that it’d definitely ruin Han Yunxi’s face. She covered her nose as ruthlessness flash through her eyes. Here was her chance! As she stared at Han Yunxi’s bottle and prepared to make her move, Gu Qishao suddenly turned to look at her.
Mu Linger immediately withdrew her hand, her face flustered. Unfortunately, Gu Qishao was never one to pay attention to female expressions. The others disregarded her even less, their focus completely on Han Yunxi.
“Linger, can you tell what it is?” Gu Qishao asked. Since Mu Linger was a genius pharmacist, her knowledge was extraordinarily broad. Mu Linger’s thumping heart finally settled back in her chest. She forced herself to calm down as she shook her head, unable to even speak.
Ever since she was young, her whole heart had been dedicated to the study and research of medicine. Although each of the houses in her clan competed fiercely for the position of clan head, her innate talent spared her from such struggles. She didn’t need to honor anyone with her presence or make friends with particular people, because as long as she made good medicine, her father would do everything to protect her. Growing up, she rarely suffered any vexations. Her days were extremely simple and pure, as was her personality. Anything she felt was written completely on her face. It was only when she met Qi gege that her worries began, but even those were troubles of the the sweet kind.
However, her entire world had dimmed once Han Yunxi entered Qi gege’s life. Even her bright and shining heart had turned dark. For the first time, she learned to hold a grudge and feel jealous. It was also her first time coming up with evil plots. When she recalled what she’d been planning to do just then, her hand shook. She was afraid and filled with a guilty conscience, but she didn’t regret her thoughts. Qi gege was an orphan who had no one to depend on. He looked like someone who smiled easily, but he wasn’t a happy person. She wanted him to be happy, so she’d never let anyone hurt him!
When Gu Qishao saw Mu Linger shaking her head, he didn’t ask her anymore, but asked Han Yunxi instead. “Just what is this? Where’s it from?”
If neither him nor Mu Linger recognized the thing, then there was basically no one else who would besides Han Yunxi.
“Something I made up myself,” This time, Han Yunxi was telling the truth.
“Can it really melt through Xuan gold?” Even Gu Qishao had his doubts, much less everyone else.
“Let’s see!” Han Yunxi was very self-confident. She measured up the Xuan gold wall once again before ascertaining a spot and pouring her mixture there. Of course she wouldn’t be so stupid as to pour the thing all over the wall. She only needed to melt apart an opening big enough for a person to get though. Han Yunxi knew that time was tight, but she couldn’t rush such a procedure. She thickened the layer of liquid circle by circle, layer by layer. In the quiet room, everyone’s attention was focused on Han Yunxi’s hand. When the Xuan gold wall remained unchanged, every single member of the crowd grew more doubtful.
“Han Yunxi, will it work or not? The cave-in’s almost reached this point!” Tang Li asked anxiously.
“Poison lass, don’t play around with everyone’s lives,” Gu Qishao teased.
Only Long Feiye and the white-robed man remained silent. The white-robed man was watching with furrowed eyebrows as if he’d noticed something different with the Xuan gold wall, while Long Feiye’s attention was completely fixated on the white-robed man. It was then that a giant boulder suddenly crashed down from the ceiling to land right by Mu Linger’s leg. Frightened, she immediately held onto Gu Qishao. “Qi gege!”
Han Yunxi stopped her movements to look over, and Gu Qishao immediately pushed Mu Linger aside. Of course, he didn’t bother to explain himself but urged, “Poison lass, can you really do it?”
“Miss Yunxi, don’t try anymore. Look for the switch instead! It should be right on this wall,” the white-robed man said anxiously.
But it was then that a stream of liquid metal slowly flowed down the Xuan gold wall. At this, everyone grew startled. The white-robed man creased his eyebrows even further. “We won’t make it at this speed, this place is about to collapse!”
“Once it starts melting, it’ll speed up! Wait a sec!” Han Yunxi was very certain. In her hands was none other than hyper strength aqua regia!
Aqua regia was a very strong acid that could melt metals in small quantities. Hyper strength aqua regia was something that Han Yunxi had crafted herself, because sometimes she needed it when practicing medicine. Aqua regia melted metals relatively slowly, but this hyper strength aqua regia was different. A bottle’s worth was enough to help her take care of the obstacle in her way.
Just like Han Yunxi said, more and more liquid metal flowed down the wall at faster and faster speeds. Finally, it turned into a stream as a small hole appeared at the top of the door. It was completely see-through and showed them the scene on the other side. Everyone was stunned by the sight, even Long Feiye. Xuan gold had been coined as the world’s strongest material. Celestial Mountain Sword Sect had a treasure in its central peak that was a sword made out of Xuan gold. It was known as the world’s number one sword, but Han Yunxi actually had a way to destroy it in such a short time!
This woman was too frightening!
Very soon, the little hole grew bigger, revealing the scene behind it by degrees. Han Yunxi glanced inside and gave a start. She didn’t have time to explain about the hyper strength aqua regia, but cried out, “Jun Yixie and Duanmu Yao are in there!”
How…was this possible?
Long Feiye strode forward to look into the hole and actually saw the figures of Jun Yixie and Duanmu Yao. The vast chamber inside was completely empty except for those two. There was nothing else there, not even the poison beast.
“Could it be that there’s another entrance?”
“Where’s the poison beast?”
“How did they get there so fast?”
Tang Li asked multiple questions in a row, but Gu Qishao signaled everyone to be quiet and said, “Listen, it’s the sound of the poison beast.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another giant boulder smashed down from above. This time, it didn’t fall far away or at someone’s feet, but in its wake appeared…
