Chapter Forty-Six: The Antidote

As dawn gradually broke, the pale blue sky still bore a few sparse, lingering stars. The earth lay shrouded in a silvery, bluish mist, as if veiled by a fine gauze dyed in shades of ash and azure. In this world of utter silence, a single birdcall suddenly pierced the tranquil beauty. Soon after, at the edge of the eastern horizon, a broad swath of white began to glow.

A sudden flurry of sparrows erupted from the thickets, their wings rustling in alarm.

Beneath the gentle light of early morning, two figures appeared.

The one in front walked lightly, yet a shadow clouded his brow, as though weighed down by worries. In contrast, the one following behind seemed utterly at ease, strolling idly along the path.

“Could you move any faster? At this rate, it’ll take us days to reach Yanxing City,” the one ahead finally snapped, unable to endure the other’s slow pace.

“I was stabbed just last night, you know. How could I possibly keep up with you?” grumbled the one behind.

At this, the first let out a cold laugh. “Oh? So you remember who stabbed you. I thought you were so deeply attached to her you’d be reluctant to see her dead.”

These two were none other than Su Bai and Wei Mingyuan, fleeing the mountain under cover of night.

After a night’s hard travel, they had finally reached the foot of the mountain as dawn broke. Yet the road ahead was still long—Yanxing City lay a hundred li away. Worse still, their provisions had run out; before they could continue, they would have to find something to eat.

Facing such mockery, Su Bai’s expression did not falter. “Lin Tong was, after all, the one who saved both our lives. Killing her like that sits ill with my conscience.”

“Save that for when you see her in the netherworld. See if she’ll forgive you—just don’t bother telling me.” Wei Mingyuan, tired of his companion’s endless moralizing, plugged his ears and strode forward with long steps.

Behind, Su Bai suddenly halted, his eyes flickering as if lost in thought.

“I wonder how well I played my part. It all depends on how that person delivers the message.”

He shook his head. “No matter. I’ve done all I can; the rest is up to fate.”

Glancing up at the sky, Su Bai saw the sun now rising above the horizon. The gentle sunlight made him unconsciously open his arms, basking in the holy radiance that flooded the earth.

With his spirits adjusted, he strained to catch up with Wei Mingyuan.

Three days later

Beneath the lush summer grasses, life flourished in vibrant abundance. Amid the verdant green, a thatched cottage stood half-hidden.

From outside came the steady sound of firewood being chopped, blending harmoniously with the rhythmic clatter of cooking from within—a peaceful, idyllic scene.

Yet inside, a young girl lay flat upon the warm brick bed. Her face was pale, her body weak—clearly the result of severe blood loss. After days without food, her stomach protested in vain.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, still bloodshot despite three days of rest.

“Where am I?” Her first glance revealed a scene wholly unlike the wild outdoors—she was indoors, but as to whose home, she had no idea.

Even as she strained to take in her surroundings, the chopping outside abruptly ceased, replaced by hurried footsteps.

Before she could turn her head, the owner of those footsteps stood before her.

“Lin Tong, you’re finally awake!”

Hearing her name, Lin Tong looked up. A boy in coarse homespun, joy written all over his face, gazed at her.

She asked incredulously, “Ziheng, is it really you?”

“It’s me! It’s really me!” The boy’s hands trembled with excitement, but seeing Lin Tong’s frail state, he restrained the urge to embrace her.

“Why are you here?” Lin Tong asked, still puzzled. “Didn’t you… four years ago…”

Before she could finish, Zhou Ziheng rushed to recount his experiences from the past years.

“You have no idea how close I came. That year, when I fell off the cliff gathering herbs… it was a miracle I survived. I was sure I’d never see you again.” His eyes grew distant, as if reliving those perilous days. “Perhaps Heaven itself spared me. When I fell into the ravine, I landed among pine trees. Though I was grievously injured, I managed to survive by clinging to a rope at my waist and slowly making my way to the bottom.

It was pitch black in the gorge, and I was wounded besides. With no water, I soon collapsed. I thought I was dead for sure. But then, as if fate intervened, a heavy rain fell, and miraculously, light appeared in a cave, illuminating everything before me.”

As he spoke, Zhou Ziheng’s gaze grew unfocused, his lips murmuring, “It was a fairyland—truly a fairyland…”

“Ziheng!” Lin Tong called out, sensing something was wrong. Her voice snapped him back to reality.

“Let’s not talk about that now,” Zhou Ziheng said awkwardly, as though he’d revealed something he shouldn’t. He quickly changed the subject. “Why were you captured by those two people?”

At the mention of this, Lin Tong immediately recalled the massacre of her village. Tears streamed down her cheeks, breaching the barrier of her eyelids.

“They’re all dead… everyone is dead… I’m the only one left. My mother… oh…”

Her grief was heart-wrenching. Zhou Ziheng, being rather straightforward, had no idea how to comfort her, and could only repeat, “Don’t be too sad; it’ll get better.”

She wept for a long time before her sorrow subsided. When her tears finally stopped, a ruthless determination had replaced her earlier grief.

“Those beasts—I will pay any price to tear out their hearts and eat their flesh.”

Her jaw clenched, and a murderous aura radiated from her so intensely that even Zhou Ziheng, a few years her senior, felt a chill.

“Ah, right.” Suddenly remembering something, he said, “Actually, you surviving wasn’t really thanks to me.”

“Hm?” Lin Tong asked in confusion. “Was there someone else?”

To her, Zhou Ziheng’s appearance was a sign that Heaven had spared her. She hadn’t expected that anyone else could have helped.

“There was someone else,” Zhou Ziheng admitted, though he hesitated to explain further.

Seeing him falter, Lin Tong pressed, “What is it? Is there something you can’t say?”

Zhou Ziheng knitted his brows. “I find it strange. He was with your captors, yet he saved you. When you were wounded, he crawled to your side, applied medicine, and left another healing potion. Without that, even my skills couldn’t have kept you alive.”

“What?” Lin Tong’s eyes widened in disbelief, faint suspicion flickering in her mind. “Could it have been him? But that’s impossible! Was he kidnapped by that child? No, he’s younger than me—how could he have kidnapped anyone?”

The mystery only deepened.

After a long silence, Zhou Ziheng ventured, “Perhaps the scar-faced boy was forced to go along with them. Otherwise, why would he save you after hurting you?”

“That must be it,” Lin Tong murmured. A silent struggle played out within her heart.

She gazed up at the thatched ceiling, lost in thought. “Was it really you who saved me?”

After this mental storm, a wave of drowsiness overtook her.

“I’m tired, Ziheng. Let me sleep a little longer,” she murmured weakly, eyes fluttering closed.

But Zhou Ziheng stopped her. “Wait, you’ve been unconscious for days and haven’t eaten. That won’t do. Try to have a bite first.”

“No need,” Lin Tong replied, shaking her head, her breath short. “I really can’t eat right now—maybe later.”

“Well… all right then…” Zhou Ziheng, sensing he was unwelcome, scratched his head awkwardly and slipped out.

No sooner had he left than Lin Tong’s eyes opened once more.

Outside, Zhou Ziheng kept glancing back at the house, worried for her safety.

Lin Tong, overwhelmed by the slaughter of her village, had little to say to Zhou Ziheng. Not even the return of her childhood friend could pull her from the depths of grief.

But Zhou Ziheng had been away for four years and endured much that he had never spoken of. He felt no particular sorrow for the village; his only concern was for his last remaining friend.

He suddenly thought of something, producing a token from his breast. Three characters were etched upon it: “Six Gates Division.”

As he gazed at the token, his expression shifted from honest simplicity to a chilling coldness.

“You bastards, I’ll never forgive you. If you dared to kill, you must be ready to die.”

He reached out, and a creamy-white pigeon landed steadily on his shoulder, bobbing its head as if begging for a treat.

Zhou Ziheng took a slip of paper, fastened it skillfully to the pigeon’s leg, and sent the bird soaring into the sky. Watching it vanish into the distance, he allowed himself a faint, almost imperceptible smile. “The heads of these rebels will be the rungs I climb within the Six Gates.”

Muttering, he added, “Those two boys are strange. I still don’t know how they appeared out of nowhere. One wanted to kill Lin Tong, the other tried to save her. What’s the truth? If only I could have revealed myself and questioned them both.”

At the time, he had refrained from revealing himself for two reasons: first, to avoid attracting the rebels’ attention by fighting Wei Mingyuan, and second, because Su Bai and his companion had not immediately killed Lin Tong.

When Wei Mingyuan stabbed Lin Tong with scissors, Zhou Ziheng had nearly lost control—but what happened next struck him as odd.

“Perhaps the scarred boy was coerced; otherwise, why would he save Lin Tong?” His suspicions matched Lin Tong’s.

Had Su Bai overheard these conjectures, he would surely have laughed. Everything was unfolding exactly as he had planned.

In truth, Su Bai had indeed intended to kill Lin Tong at first. But upon hearing a faint sound from the brush, he changed his mind.

Though his inner strength was gone, his body was still at the level of Tempered Bone—a formidable physique, with keen senses to match.

Zhou Ziheng’s talents were average; four years of training had brought him only to the late Copper Skin stage. And, being older, he underestimated the two children, which allowed Su Bai to set his trap.

From the moment Lin Tong carried him back to the village, Su Bai had marveled at her natural talent. For a girl of eleven or twelve, such strength was unheard of—especially without any formal training, yet she and Wei Mingyuan managed to bring him back.

Indeed, when Lin Tong came to check on him, Su Bai had secretly slashed her leg with a sharp blade. Yet four days later, when he saw her again, only the faintest scar remained.

This only confirmed his suspicion that Lin Tong possessed an extraordinary constitution. Given proper tutelage, she would one day be formidable.

Making an enemy of such a person was not something Su Bai wished for. Yet, just as he was about to remove a potential threat, he sensed Zhou Ziheng’s presence.

A new plan took shape. He staged a drama before Lin Tong and Zhou Ziheng, making it appear he and Wei Mingyuan were not truly allies. When he instructed Wei Mingyuan on how to kill Lin Tong, he did so in a voice too quiet for either Lin Tong or Zhou Ziheng to hear.

Thus, all blame fell on Wei Mingyuan. The application of medicine and the healing pills were all designed to shape the narrative Zhou Ziheng would relay to Lin Tong: that the scar-faced boy was a pitiful child, forced by Wei Mingyuan into unwilling complicity.

Su Bai had no idea whether Wei Mingyuan would yield or resist. If the latter, open conflict would be inevitable. Should things go awry, and Lin Tong survive, she would become Su Bai’s hidden piece—a future ally against Wei Mingyuan.

At this moment, Su Bai followed behind Wei Mingyuan.

Looking up, he saw, some four or five li ahead, the towering walls of a great city rising before him.

Massive, square, and imposing, the city’s fortifications exuded an air of strength and unyielding might. Rows of red lanterns hung from the walls, as though some festival had recently passed. In the vast Ming Empire, customs varied widely from place to place.

The city gates stood open, throngs of commoners and carts streaming in and out in lively bustle.

“We’re almost there,” Su Bai said to Wei Mingyuan.

But Wei Mingyuan’s face darkened; he seemed to hesitate, lost in his own thoughts.

“Why are you stopping?” Su Bai took a few steps back, puzzled.

“Dis—” Wei Mingyuan had just begun to speak when a thunderous shout cut him off.

“You two brats—let’s see how you escape my grasp today!”