jdhmnovel Chapter 518
Chapter 518
The Imperial Physician's face instantly turned deathly pale. He slammed his token to the ground, and with a sharp crack, six assassins veiled in black rushed out from the mysterious group. The leader wielded a serrated scimitar, its blade covered in dark blue rust—clearly coated with a potent poison. With a shrill whistle as the scimitar sliced through the air, Dongfang Wan'er dodged the blade, throwing three anesthetic needles in a backhand motion, only to have them deflected by the assassin's caltrops. The Regent's Xuan Tie sword clashed with their weapon, sparks flying, and he keenly noticed that the assassins' techniques bore the hallmarks of the Southern Frontier's witchcraft cult…
The passageway was filled with the deafening shouts of battle, the hissing of venomous snakes mingling with the clanging of weapons. Dongfang Wan'er fought her way back when her back suddenly struck a cold stone wall. Looking down, she saw dozens of small, bright red snakes emerging from the cracks in the wall. These were the Crimson-Striped Gu Snakes, found only in the Southern Frontier, and their venom was ten times more potent than ordinary snakes. Meanwhile, the Imperial Physician stood behind a torch, slowly and deliberately popping some kind of pill into his mouth, a chilling, sinister smile playing on his lips.
The crimson snake eyes gleamed eerily in the firelight. The Crimson Gu Serpent flicked its forked tongue, its triangular head held high, the swollen venom sac on its neck emitting an eerie bluish-purple hue. Dongfang Wan'er's back pressed against the damp stone wall, her fingertips touching the last half-bottle of antidote powder in the medicine pouch at her waist, her heart pounding as if it would burst from her chest. At the critical moment, the sharp sound of the Xuan Tie sword tearing through the air suddenly rang out, and the Regent Prince, stepping on the assassin's shield, flew in. Where the blade swept past, the Gu Serpent's scales fell like the sound of a broken pipa string.
"Catch!" The girl tore off the sachet from her neck, and a small porcelain bottle hidden inside popped out. The Regent flicked his sword hilt, and the bottle traced a silvery arc in the air. The moment the stopper flew off, a strange aroma, a mixture of cedarwood and snake venom, exploded out. The Crimson Gu Snakes, which were pouncing in mid-air, suddenly froze, their muscles beneath their scales twitching wildly. Dozens of venomous snakes, as if under a spell, curled up into dark red clumps of flesh, their forked tongues drooping limply, leaving sticky trails on the ground.
The imperial physician's twisted smile froze instantly. He abruptly ripped open his robe, revealing a snake-shaped tattoo coiled around his chest. As the black bamboo tube approached his lips, a sharp whistle pierced eardrums, the sound waves mixed with the buzzing characteristic of Gu worms. The assassins' pupils contracted sharply, spiderweb-like bluish-black patterns appeared beneath their skin, and their weapons left eerie afterimages as they swung. As the curved blades slashed down, Dongfang Wan'er smelled a sweet, rotten stench—the weapons were clearly coated with corpse poison concocted from living people!
The Xuan Tie sword clashed with the poisoned blade, the sparks that flew were a purplish-black. The Regent felt a tingling sensation in his arm, looked down and saw the winding, dark green venom on the sword's blade, only then realizing with shock that his opponent's weapon could corrode refined iron. Dongfang Wan'er's silver needles rained down, but were all blocked by the assassins' shields coated with medicinal mud. Her hand, reaching for the medicine pouch, suddenly stopped—after the fierce battle, the specially made anesthetic was exhausted.
Just as her breathing grew heavier, the clanging sound of clashing armor echoed from the depths of the passage. Twenty guards wielding tiger-headed, golden spears surged forth like a black tide. The leading captain lashed out with a nine-section steel whip, precisely wrapping it around the neck of an assassin. Dongfang Wan'er recognized these as her trusted confidants planted within the Imperial Guard, and her spirits immediately lifted. She pulled out a smoke bomb mixed with chili powder and hurled it. Through the thick white smoke, she heard the guards shout in unison, "Protect our lady!"
The Imperial Physician's whistle abruptly ceased. He stared at the increasingly weakened assassin, a sinister glint in his eyes, then suddenly bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood mist. The blood droplet transformed into a strange talisman in the air, and a sickening grinding sound came from the cracks in the stone ceiling of the passage—more Gu worms were awakening! Dongfang Wan'er's pupils constricted sharply. She pulled the last bone-piercing nail from her boot, hurling it mixed with the blood from her palm. The moment the silver needle pierced the Imperial Physician's nape, he let out a defiant roar, collapsing to the ground like a kite with a broken string. The scattered parchment scroll in his arms clearly depicted a map of the secret passages throughout the palace…
The twilight, like blood, stained the blue bricks of the long corridor with an eerie crimson hue. Dongfang Wan'er gripped the blood-stained dagger, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force. As the imperial physician caused the hunched body to collapse to the ground with a thud, her tense back finally relaxed slightly, only to see a dark shadow suddenly tear through the setting sun—the old man, who should have been dead, slowly propped himself up in an illogical posture, his joints making a crisp sound like withered branches breaking.
His cloudy eyes were bloodshot, his pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints, and the saliva overflowing from the corner of his mouth gleamed with an eerie green fluorescence. Dongfang Wan'er abruptly took half a step back, the silver needles hidden in her sleeve already drawn. The air was filled with the acrid smell of burnt medicine. The imperial physician tore open his robe, revealing a hideous blood-red pattern on his chest. Those patterns were spreading and moving at a visible speed, like countless fiery serpents darting under his skin—it was the long-lost "Life-Burning Gu" of the Southern Frontier, which cost ten years of lifespan in exchange for three-quarters of an hour of lucidity before death.
As the Imperial Physician let out a superhuman roar, the assassins lurking in the shadows suddenly sprang into action. Veins bulged on their necks, and the faint traces of writhing worms were visible beneath their skin. Their curved blades flashed with chilling arcs of light. The guards of the Prince's mansion, who had previously held the upper hand, were thrown into chaos, screams erupting one after another. One guard, a worm burrowing into his ear, slammed his head against a stone pillar. In the instant his brains splattered, Dongfang Wan'er saw a strange emerald gleam in his pupils.
Cold sweat trickled down Dongfang Wan'er's back. She suddenly caught sight of the bronze bamboo tube the Imperial Physician had dropped—engraved with the Taotie pattern unique to the Southern Frontier's witchcraft cult, and a few strands of white hair clung to the broken end. Memories flashed through her mind like lightning; three months ago, she had been perusing the "Records of Mysterious Techniques of Miao Territory" in the library, which clearly described a method for breaking curses with music!
Trembling fingertips traced the engravings on the bamboo tube. Dongfang Wan'er took a deep breath and pressed the tube to her lips. As the first long, mournful note rang out, the air suddenly thickened like glue. The assassins, controlled by the Gu worms, visibly slowed their movements; their curved blades hovered in mid-air, unable to fall. As the melody rose higher, a thin white mist spewed from the bamboo tube, within which ancient runes faintly appeared. The assassins clutched their ears, screaming and collapsing to their knees. The Gu worms emerged from their seven orifices, writhing on the ground into a pool of foul-smelling black liquid.
The imperial physician staggered backward, knocking over a bronze lampstand in the corner. In the flickering firelight, the regent's black iron sword was already pressed against his throat. The cold gleam of the sword reflected the old man's distorted face; the blood lines on his neck were rapidly fading, and with each step back, white hair fell like snowflakes.
"Speak, who is the mastermind behind this?" The Regent's voice was so cold it could drip ice. The tip of his sword trembled slightly as it sliced a bloody gash across the Imperial Physician's throat. The old man suddenly let out a maniacal laugh, a few broken syllables bursting from between his bloodied teeth: "You think... capturing me... will stop..." Before he could finish speaking, Dongfang Wan'er had already flicked out a silver needle to seal his acupoints, rendering him mute.
"Your Highness, please wait." She stepped forward slowly, took out a jade tablet engraved with runes from her sleeve, and gently waved it in front of the Imperial Physician. "There is a Heart-Eating Gu in the Southern Frontier, which specifically targets those who resist stubbornly. Those afflicted by the Gu will watch their internal organs being devoured within seven days, unable to live or die." The Imperial Physician's eyes widened instantly, fear finally breaking through his mask of madness.
As the group escorted the imperial physician through the secret passage, the setting sun had completely sunk below the horizon. Dongfang Wan'er looked down at the yellowed map of the passage in her hand; the dark patterns at the corners of the map gleamed with a ghostly blue in the moonlight—clearly the unique mark of the royal family. A cold wind swept through the empty corridor, ruffling the stray hairs at her temples. In the distance, the sound of a night watchman's clapper could be heard, but it couldn't mask the faint rumbling from beneath the earth, as if some colossal beast was awakening in the depths of darkness.