The night was deep, the campfire had long since gone out, and only a few wisps of smoke drifted through the air.
Several people slept with their backs against the tree trunks. The horses lazily swished their tails. Aside from the sound of their breathing, the surroundings were utterly silent.
The man in black held his breath, watching the area with a cold expression.
He lowered his head, and his fingers suddenly twitched. The box at his waist clicked open, revealing a black venomous insect curled up inside.
Sensing the smell of blood, the insect slowly crawled onto his fingertip. Once it had finished drinking the blood, the man in black struggled to place it on the ground.
In that brief moment, his wrist had already been rubbed raw and was bleeding.
The man in black gritted his teeth and glared at Ji Zhaoxi, who was sleeping soundly across from him.
He never would have thought that that Ji fellow would tie him up so tightly!
The venomous insect crawled over the fallen leaves without making a sound, slowly moving toward Ji Zhaoxi.
The man in black watched with a smug look in his eyes.
As soon as the insect burrowed into her bloodstream, she would certainly die tonight.
“Smack.”
A pebble suddenly struck the insect.
The man in black stared at the person across from him in disbelief.
Fu Xianyan slowly opened his eyes. His expression turned cold when he saw the insect on the ground.
“Using venomous insects?”
The man in black’s expression changed instantly. He had never expected that someone among them would recognize the creature.
The next moment, the insect launched itself directly at Fu Xianyan.
Fu Xianyan did not even get up. He merely reached out and calmly pinched it between his fingers.
“Crack.”
The insect was forcibly restrained. It twisted wildly, its mouthparts opening and closing repeatedly as it tried to drink the blood from Fu Xianyan’s hand.
Fu Xianyan lowered his eyes to look at it.
What a cheap, inferior venomous insect. How dare it be brought out in public?
His fingertips tightened slightly.
With a crisp crack, the insect was crushed instantly, and blood seeped between his fingers.
The man in black’s eyes lit up.
That was right. That Fu fellow had touched the insect’s blood. In the next moment, the poison would flare up, and he would die!
But before he could react, Fu Xianyan had already risen to his feet. His face was half-shadowed, half-lit, and his cold expression made one’s heart tremble.
He lifted a hand, and a rustling sound suddenly came from his sleeve.
The man in black’s face turned deathly pale. He had just opened his mouth to shout when, in the next moment, his throat suddenly constricted. His body convulsed before he collapsed to the ground.
Fu Xianyan stood where he was, his expression completely calm.
The air fell silent.
Zhou Cheng squeezed his eyes shut. His breathing grew heavier and heavier, sweat breaking out all over his back and even beginning to bead on his forehead.
He had seen nothing…
He had seen absolutely nothing…
He suddenly regretted having such good hearing.
The footsteps drew closer and closer. Zhou Cheng’s lashes trembled nonstop, and the muscles on his face began twitching uncontrollably from tension.
Although his eyes were closed, he could feel Fu Xianyan looking at him. He grew even more desperate.
Should he suddenly shout Ji Zhaoxi’s name? Perhaps that would give him a chance of surviving…
He had no idea how long it lasted. Zhou Cheng felt as if he were about to faint from fear when that gaze finally moved away.
The night once again returned to peace.
Still asleep, Ji Zhaoxi instinctively turned over. Her pillow suddenly disappeared, and she drowsily opened her eyes, patting around beside her.
Where had her enormous pillow gone?!
Fu Xianyan did not wake her. He reached out, pulled Ji Zhaoxi toward him, and took hold of her hand.
After an unknown amount of time, his eyelids gradually grew heavy. The familiar scent beside him lingered at the tip of his nose, and his vigilance slowly relaxed.
Early the next morning, sunlight streamed through the gaps between the leaves. The horse opened its eyes, lowered its head, and began munching on the grass. It looked as though it had nearly starved, chewing away noisily.
The sound woke Ji Zhaoxi. She locked eyes with the horse as it chewed, then stood up.
Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng had also gotten up. They were crouching beside the man in black with grim expressions.
Ji Zhaoxi hurried over and crouched down as well. “What happened?”
Xu Ancheng’s expression was solemn. “Miss Ji, Black Young Master seems to be in trouble. He keeps twitching.”
Ji Zhaoxi realized how serious the situation was. She checked his breathing and felt his pulse, her brows drawing tighter and tighter.
Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu stared at her expectantly.
Ji Zhaoxi said seriously, “It looks like he’s been poisoned.”
Qin Qiwu was shocked. “Poisoned? But we didn’t poison him.”
Could someone have poisoned Black Young Master while sleepwalking?
Ji Zhaoxi spoke mysteriously. “If nothing unexpected happened, he was probably bitten by a venomous insect.”
Xu Ancheng looked at Ji Zhaoxi with admiration. He never would have imagined that Miss Ji had truly learned something.
He humbly asked, “Then, Miss Ji, is there any way to wake him? We still need him to testify.”
Qin Qiwu hurriedly nodded as well. “Exactly, exactly. Black Young Master can’t die just yet.”
Ji Zhaoxi looked at their bright, expectant eyes and suddenly found herself at a loss.
This… but she had just been talking nonsense.
Yet when she saw how expectantly they were looking at her, Ji Zhaoxi could not bring herself to disappoint them. She simply had too soft a heart.
She scratched the back of her head and hesitated. “If we force the poison out of his body, that should work… probably…”
Xu Ancheng humbly asked for further instruction. “Then how do we force the poison out?”
Qin Qiwu also looked at her curiously.
Fu Xianyan had woken up at some point. He leaned lazily against the side, watching her with an amused smile.
Zhou Cheng had barely spoken throughout the journey. At that moment, he merely stared blankly at Ji Zhaoxi.
He had truly been scared half to death last night…
Ji Zhaoxi glanced at them.
Four pairs of human eyes and one pair of horse’s eyes all stared at her with complete seriousness.
Ji Zhaoxi: “…”
She suddenly felt a little annoyed by everyone’s curiosity.
She gave a light cough. “Stand farther away. It wouldn’t be good if any of you got the poisonous blood on you.”
With everyone watching, Ji Zhaoxi rolled up the man in black’s sleeve. His blood vessels were all black. The sight made her vision go dark with fright.
The blood in Black Young Master’s body couldn’t really be poisonous, could it?
But for the sake of appearances, she said nothing and continued rolling up his sleeve. Once she had pushed it all the way up, the blood in his veins finally looked less black.
Ji Zhaoxi solemnly spouted more nonsense. “Fortunately, the poison hasn’t spread too deeply. I’m going to let the blood now.”
Fu Xianyan watched Doctor Ji work with leisurely interest.
Ji Zhaoxi wiped the sweat from her forehead and drew her sword.
She carefully made a small cut, and poisonous blood immediately began to flow out. As the black blood dripped onto the ground, the man in black’s complexion gradually returned to normal.
“Black Young Master seems to be getting better!” Qin Qiwu exclaimed in delight. “Miss Ji, you’re amazing.”
Miss Ji’s medical skills were incredible.
Not long afterward, the man in black actually opened his eyes, though he looked somewhat dazed and foolish.
“As expected of Miss Ji!” Xu Ancheng was also stunned.
Ji Zhaoxi stared at the scene, unable to react for a moment.
What was going on? Could she really have been born with a natural talent for medicine?
She looked at the revived man in black, her expression solemn. Perhaps she truly ought to learn more about her actual abilities.
