PGC 676+

Chap 754

Chapter 754: I’m leaving, you don’t need to send me off

An extremely urgent missive from nine days ago? Long Feiye and Han Yunxi exchanged uneasy glances. There had been nothing but urgent messages from the commander-in-chief’s estate at South Ning since they came to Celestial Mountain. But this was the first time it was “extremely urgent.”

Just what happened?

Under these circumstances, even the most pressing news became less important. It was hard to imagine the situation now after nine whole days! Xu Donglin’s expression was ghastly. He had all but forgotten about the letter. If not for another urgent missive today, he never would have remembered the first. 

When Long Feiye read the contents of the message, his face paled even further. He looked at Han Yunxi and muttered, “Gu Beiyue…”

Han Yunxi instantly grew alarmed. “What is it?”

“He’s been poisoned. Even now, he can’t stand,” Long Feiye said.

“What?!” Han Yunxi couldn’t believe her ears. She quickly took the letter from Long Feiye’s hands to read it herself.

Long Feiye wasn’t lying. The letter was all about Gu Beiyue’s poisoning and its symptoms. Mu Linger was writing to ask for an antidote even as she consulted other poison doctors for treatment options. Han Yunxi studied the contents word for words before her fingers grew weak, allowing the paper to flutter to the ground.

“Corpse Cripple?” Long Feiye asked urgently. That was the name of the poison mentioned in the message. Han Yunxi stared at him without a word. Cold sweat had long broken out on her back.

Neither Long Feiye nor Xu Donglin knew what Corpse Cripple was, but the sword sect master did. He was stunned. “Is it really Corpse Cripple? That really exists?”

“People from Pill Fiend Valley diagnosed them. It shouldn’t be wrong,” Han Yunxi murmured.

The details of the letter were very exact. Gu Beiyue’s legs had originally recovered enough to let him walk, but thanks to the poison, they had lost all feeling again. Mu Linger wanted to find Gu Qishao first, but failed. Without a choice, she invited the old steward of Pill Fiend Valley to help her out. He determined that Gu Beiyue had been poisoned with the exceptionally rare Corpse Cripple toxin. The so-called Corpse Cripple was actually a poisonous plant that only grew at gravesites. It was shaped like a ginseng, except much bigger. It thrived in cold, wet, stinking soil, so graves and their absorbed moisture was its perfect resting spot. 

It was classified as both medicine and poison, because it had numbing properties. Han Yunxi had remembered reading about it in ancient texts. The miracle doctor Hua Tuo had used it as a anesthetic. What made it poisonous was that set quantities dissolved in drinks would paralyze the entire body and cause the limbs to lose all feeling. One would be reduced to a human vegetable and then die. 

Han Yunxi’s heart was wavering. She couldn’t even began to wonder why only Gu Beiyue’s legs were affected, only that the symptoms were typical of partial poisoning. As time went on, the poison would spread to the rest of the body.

“This is already a hypertoxic poison, but it’s been eight to nine days. I’m afraid...the prospects look grim,” the sword sect master intoned.

Han Yunxi glanced at Long Feiye, who was looking towards her. Both of them stiffened as their eyes exchanged fearful, uneasy glances. Although she didn’t want to accept the sword sect master’s words, Han Yunxi had to admit that he was right. Corpse Cripple was a lethal poison. Even partially poisoned victims would only take a day to succumb to its effects. With nine days already past, Gu Beiyue was simply bound for death!