Mu Qianli failed to dodge in time and inhaled a mouthful of purple vapor before he could react. He was instantly overcome by dizziness and weakness in all four limbs, secretly cursing himself for his carelessness. He never expected these two tender, unremarkable youths he had initially disregarded would deal him such a heavy blow.
"Purple Fragrance Soul-Bewitching Powder—I've improved it a bit, and now I'm returning it to you." Bai Buyu walked up to Mu Qianli. Her once pretty and playful face was now shadowed with gloom, and the look she gave Mu Qianli was as if she were staring at a dead man. "The things you and Feng Wuqi used on me five years ago, I've now added a dash of Heart-Breaking Powder to and given right back to you."
"You won't die immediately. Dying immediately is far too easy on you."
"Could you be..." Mu Qianli's expression flickered in shock, as though remembering something and finding it hard to believe. "You're actually not dead?"
"With amateur poisoning tricks like yours, my grandmother and I will live longer than you and Feng Wuqi combined."
Bai Buyu let out a light laugh, as if suddenly remembering something: "I asked you about Feng Wuqi just now and you didn't answer. Could it be he's already dead? Or is it that ever since he was struck by my grandmother's Linglang Gu, there was no cure, and now he's bedridden and crippled? Surely not. The Linglang Gu isn't some peerless poison under heaven—if your Old Prince had truly cared, he could have found an antidote for him in five years. After all, the two of you risked your lives for him for so many years..."
"Shut your mouth." Mu Qianli's eyes were filled with hatred—whenever someone reacted like that, it usually meant they had been stepped on their tail.
It seemed Old Prince Yongjing truly hadn't regarded the lives of these two loyal subordinates as anything worth valuing.
Li Lianhua felt a tinge of emotion, but more than that, he was simply watching a good show.
"Let me guess the whole sequence of events. Five years ago, you and Feng Wuqi were ordered by the Old Prince to hunt down sorcerers everywhere. By a twist of fate, you learned of the Buddha-Descending Sarira from Miss Bai's grandmother. In order to win merit and report back on your mission, the two of you racked your brains to get this treasure from Miss Bai's grandmother and presented it to Old Prince Yongjing."
"So-called fate was nothing more than my youthful ignorance, reaching out to save someone who shouldn't have been saved." Bai Buyu glanced at Mu Qianli. By now, he was completely drained of strength, barely propping himself up with a final shred of willpower to keep from falling.
"Too young and ignorant of the hazards of the martial world, I never expected you to repay kindness with enmity. My momentary carelessness brought disaster upon my grandmother and me." Bai Buyu struck without warning, chopping down toward Mu Qianli's knee. Unable to defend himself at all, Mu Qianli collapsed straight down.
"Be careful, Lady Buyu."
Seeing the ferocious look on Mu Qianli's face and sensing him secretly gathering strength in his hands, Li Lianhua knew trouble was brewing. In a split second, he casually groped for an object on his body and hurled it out.
With a sharp *clang*, a cross-shaped flying blade collided with a pearl-white pill, knocking it off its original trajectory and sending it clattering to the ground from mid-air a short distance away.
"You scoundrel, you're at death's door and still daring to launch a sneak attack on this lady?" Bai Buyu widened her eyes. Realizing what had just happened, she unceremoniously planted a kick right into the center of Mu Qianli's chest. She used her full strength, causing Mu Qianli to grunt in stifled pain.
"And you—why didn't you eat the pill I gave you? Sneakily hiding it away instead. I saved your life too; did you really think I was going to harm you?"
"Well..." Li Lianhua guiltily rubbed his nose, coughed lightly, and hurriedly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, since you and Feng Wuqi presented the treasure, and Old Prince Yongjing valued the Buddha-Descending Sarira so much, why did you still orchestrate such an elaborate plot after his death, deliberately drawing in the Qi family siblings to shift the blame, just to make it easier for you to come and take the treasure?"
The Qi family siblings, who had been lying on the verge of death nearby, felt as though they had been struck by lightning upon hearing these words. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined they were merely pawns in Mu Qianli's scheme.
Mu Qianli did not answer, maintaining an aloof expression as if he had already cast aside all thoughts of life and death.
Yet Li Lianhua was certain that Mu Qianli did not want to die. A person who calculated every move to seize a treasure could never truly treat life and death lightly.
"If you won't talk, let me keep guessing. After presenting the treasure, you and Feng Wuqi should have lived a comfortable life for a while—until Feng Wuqi's poison flared up. You discovered that the Old Prince was obsessed with longevity and had no intention of finding a cure for Feng Wuqi, and so a rift formed between you?"
Mu Qianli let out a cold snort. Noticing that Li Lianhua was observing him, he simply squeezed his eyes shut and said nothing more.
Li Lianhua's eyes rolled around in circles as he looked Mu Qianli up and down. Finally, as if he had discovered something, the corners of his mouth curved upward. "That explains it."
"Explains what?" Bai Buyu asked, completely baffled.
"Rumor has it that although the Old Prince's two right-hand men followed him for many years, they weren't on good terms and constantly competed for dominance. If the two of them would fight over even a woman in a Jiangnan brothel, why would Mu Qianli completely change his tune after the Old Prince's death and go to such painstaking lengths to steal the treasure for Feng Wuqi? It doesn't make sense."
"So you mean Mu Qianli didn't steal the Buddha-Descending Sarira to cure the Linglang Gu poison inside Feng Wuqi?"
"No," Li Lianhua said emphatically. "It's because he was poisoned by the corpse poison as well."
Bai Buyu looked Mu Qianli over closely. Strangely, there was not the slightest sign of poisoning on his face. Turning her head, she looked at Li Lianhua, and following the guidance of his gaze, her eyes fell upon Mu Qianli's wrist.
There, an extremely faint and thin black line was visible. If one didn't look closely, it would be utterly impossible to spot.
Had she not checked Li Lianhua's pulse earlier, she certainly would not have believed that the man before her was deeply poisoned. The sharpness of vision and meticulousness of mind possessed by this man named Li Lianhua truly commanded awe.
"The poison on him is the exact same as the one on Qiu Yurong."
"Yes," Li Lianhua nodded. "He must have been poisoned even earlier than Qiu Yurong, which is why he had the time to orchestrate such a massive scheme."
Poisoned earlier than Qiu Yurong, yet still appearing completely safe and sound today—there was only one possibility.
"He found a method to detoxify the poison, but due to various reasons, avoiding future trouble required finding a reasonable justification to take it out—for instance, framing someone else." Li Lianhua smiled warmly. Qiu Yurong, however, experienced a sudden flash of insight connecting all the causes and effects, and was so enraged that he coughed up a mouthful of blood right then and there.