1st Rank Princess?!

6: Poisonous Toxins

Myeo-Rin combed through You Du's bushels of herbs, looking carefully for what she needed. 

Other than the poison testing materials for the palace, Myeo-Rin was looking for plants to stir into a poisonous mixture that killed three generations to dip her arrows in. Myeo-Rin, when necessary, was more of a blade person, but arrows were handy ever so often. 

"Hmpf," You Du scoffed, sounding offended as he sat under the shade of his house and gulped down the peach blossom wine. "What am I, your poison supply? For free?"

You Du slammed down his cup, a little drunk already. "Ha! Poison masters all over the world (well none of them are better poison master than me) seek this uncle to catch a glimpse of his poisons plants! There are children's tales made about me! The biggest poison sects in the world all have shrines dedicated to me!" You Du laughed loudly, and took the entire jug of peach blossom wine and lifted it to his lips. 

Myeo-Rin rolled her eyes. Was the old man drunk already?

"Yes, uncle." Myeo-Rin sighed. "You are just my poison supply."

You Du fell down onto his seat loudly, the wine jug held in one hand. He frowned, eyes focused on Myeo-Rin as she hopped around, combing through leaves. 

"I'm sad, Myeo-Rin." You Du sniffed. "I remember when you came to me nine years ago, alone and shivering, after jiejie had died. It took me three months to get you to open up, and that was only because you were curious about what I did for a living. Ah, my adorable little niece, only spent time with this old man because you wanted to be an assassin."

You Du sniffed loudly, holding his arm over his eyes. "Oh, poor poor me!"

Myeo-Rin sighed again, and stood up, dusting her knees off. "Don't go giving yourself a heart attack, old man." She walked over to You Du and lifted up his arm easily. You Du was thin because of his scholarly nature, although he studied poisons, and rarely walked a mile out of his house. He walked every day for collecting his plants, but other than that, there was nothing else. "You're drunk enough already, so go take a nap." Myeo-Rin sniffed the air, and then looked inside the peach blossom jug. 

What?! Her eyes went wide as she peered down. Hundred-Year old Intoxifying Grass?! No wonder why her uncle couldn't even stand up straight. 

Intoxifying Grass was a common plant that grew in the colder areas of the Leng Feng Mountains. Although it was common, Intoxifying Grass was not favored for its usually impure nature. With a wild piece of Hundred-Year Intofixying Grass, at best it would raise the alcohol content by five percent. But it would also bring a lot of impurities to the drink, bringing down its worth. Of course, You Du knew how to clear the impurities of Intoxifying Grass, so now it had raised the alcohol content by ten percent, and the smell of peach blossoms was more prominent than before. With a piece of pure Thousand-Year Intoxifying Grass, the alcohol content would be raised by twenty percent. Truly terrifying. 

Myeo-Rin sighed, and dragged her uncle into his small cottage, and pushed him onto his bed. Afraid that he'd really die, Myeo-Rin broke a stalk of Poison-Absorbing Tree, the clear slime like liquid falling under You Du's nose. The Poison Absorbing Tree was a rare plant that only grew wild on the tip of mountains with an altitude over five km. You Du had five of them growing in his garden, as a necessity for botched projects. 

"Ai, you stupid grandpa." Myeo-Rin scowled, tossing the empty halves of the stalk over her shoulder and draping a blanket over You Du. 

Myeo-Rin walked over to the makeshift workshop You Du had in his cottage, and proceeded to make some of the poisons. It would take her a couple hours to create what she needed, but having the poisons in little vials was better than bringing a big bushel of plants back down the mountain with her.