Half a month ago, the brother and sister had just accepted an invitation to attend Daoist Changqing's martial arts tournament. Returning in triumph after a resounding victory, they reached the foot of Cangjie Mountain, only to be ambushed at an inn in the dead of night. Their opponent possessed formidable martial arts, yet simply wounded them with hidden weapons before departing.
At first, Qiu Yurong did not take the minor wound to heart. It was not until five or six days later, when the poison began to spread extensively through her body, that she and Qiu Yucheng realized the situation was far from simple.
By then, finding a cure was no longer easy. In their panic and desperation, the brother and sister made inquiries everywhere, only to learn that the "Buddha-Descending Sarira"—a rumored treasure capable of curing a hundred poisons—was located right in Gulin City at the Yongjing Estate.
It was common knowledge that Old Prince Yongjing had offered the treasure to the world, but Baixiaotong, who sold them the information, insisted that the Buddha-Descending Sarira still remained within the Yongjing Estate. After weighing their options repeatedly, they decided to take the risk.
Now, looking back, this entire setup was a trap that Mu Qianli had carefully laid for the siblings all along.
Step by step, she had led her younger brother into a fatal trap. Indeed, had these two individuals not appeared, the siblings likely would have gone to their graves without ever knowing the truth.
"Two heroes, Yurong does not know how to address you both. My younger brother and I were schemed against by Mu Qianli, suffering a completely undeserved disaster. Yurong knows full well that the poison has entered her heart and lungs, and I do not ask to prolong my life. However, my brother is truly innocent, and I boldly beg the two of you to spare his life."
"Elder sister, you don't need to beg them." Supporting himself on his saber, Qiu Yucheng forced himself to stand, stepping in front of Qiu Yurong to shield her.
He knew very well that anyone who broke into this tomb to steal a treasure could hardly be a good person.
Since they were not good people, why would they leave behind witnesses or loose ends? If death was inevitable, he was determined not to disgrace the Qiu family name.
"I wouldn't have thought a brat like you had some backbone." Tiptoeing lightly, Bai Buyu crossed the air in a few swift strides to stand before the half-open coffin.
Inside the thick, heavy coffin lay an elderly man with a long white beard, looking very serene. Although more than a month had passed since his death, apart from turning slightly dark, his corpse showed not the slightest sign of decay.
Bai Buyu studied the body for a long time before letting out a soft scoff. "This old man certainly knew how to prepare. He took the venom of the Southern Border 'One-Eyed' poisonous snake, mixed it with the juice of the manxi flower, and took it before he died. In just three days, his corpse would remain uncorrupted after death."
"If the corpse is further placed in a location full of moisture, the manxi poison can diffuse outward from the skin and generate corpse poison. Once the coffin is opened, the corpse poison scatters straight into the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears of the person opening it. What a vicious old man—he couldn't rest in peace even after death."
Bai Buyu's gaze settled on the tightly clenched hands of Old Prince Yongjing. Clutched there was something shaped like a thin piece of jade with an amber luster.
Bai Buyu raised an eyebrow, and with a quick pinch of her fingers, she deftly removed the jade piece from Old Prince Yongjing's grip.
Only then did Li Lianhua and the others get a clear look at the full appearance of the jade piece in Bai Buyu's hand. If anyone called this a sarira, no one would ever have imagined a sarira could look like this.
And... this amber-colored jade piece actually seemed to be...
Broken?
Bai Buyu traced the two characters, *Fu* and *Jiang*, which were nearly worn away near the top of the jade piece, a faint bitterness stirring in her heart as she looked at the clean fracture.
"Miss Buyu, is this the Buddha-Descending Sarira?" Li Lianhua stared at the small, jade-like object, asking with a trace of skepticism.
"This is my grandmother's bone hairpin, and it is nowhere near as magical as the legend claims. The two characters *Fu* and *Jiang*, carved by my grandmother's own hand, are on it, and it was never a sarira to begin with."
Touching the fractured edge of the hairpin, Bai Buyu spoke in a flat tone, "Mu Qianli, it seems you found the true use for this item."
Mu Qianli, who had persisted in playing dead, finally slowly opened his eyes at these words. He felt his vision had grown much blurrier, but his mind at this moment was exceptionally clear.
"That's right," he heard his own hoarse voice reply. "No one can resist the temptation of a treasure, especially a treasure you were tasked with guarding."
"In the first few days after the old prince was buried, I was still able to hold firm to my original intentions, but gradually, I couldn't resist my curiosity. I wanted to see if the treasure that everyone claimed could cure all illnesses, dispel all poisons, and prolong life was truly as magical as they said."
"Clearly, when Feng Wuqi and I fought to seize it, I hadn't thought it was all that rare. So I decided to open the coffin and take just a single look. That one glance was all it took to infect me with the corpse poison..."
"Then I thought, since I'm going to die anyway, why shouldn't I try my luck?"
"I started wearing the sarira on my body, and at first it really did suppress the corpse poison. But later on, it stopped being very effective, so I hardened my heart, broke off a small piece, and ground it into powder. To my surprise, it had miraculous results. Not only was the corpse poison suppressed, but my vital energy and internal force even advanced by leaps and bounds compared to before."
"However, continuing like this was not a long-term solution. Sooner or later, people from the Yongjing Estate would discover that the treasure was damaged, and as the tomb keeper, I would not be able to escape responsibility no matter what. After pondering for a long time, I finally came up with what I thought was a foolproof plan, only I never expected..." By the end, Mu Qianli's voice was hoarse and dry, his throat laden with an endless bitterness and reluctance.
"All things in this world are bound by fate and opportunity. You thought it was a treasure, never imagining that in the end, it would become your death warrant," Li Lianhua said leisurely.
Mu Qianli opened his mouth, but not a single sound came out.
Composing herself, Bai Buyu walked at a leisurely pace to the side of Qiu Yurong and Qiu Yucheng. Although Qiu Yucheng looked as though he could collapse at any second, he still stubbornly blocked the path in front of Qiu Yurong, his sharp hawk-like eyes staring warily at Bai Buyu. "What are you going to do?"
That posture of putting up a bold front amused Bai Buyu.
At the appropriate moment, Li Lianhua spoke up gently, "Little brother of the Qiu family, rest assured. Miss Buyu only wants to examine your elder sister's injury."
"Are you going to move aside or not? If you don't move aside, your sister really won't be saved."
After hesitating for a long time, Qiu Yucheng glared at Bai Buyu and suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. "M-Miss Buyu, if you can truly save my sister, you can take this life of mine as you please. Qiu has no further words."
Startled, Bai Buyu lowered her head, rolled her eyes in secret, and muttered, "This young lady is not the King of Hell, what would I want with your life?"