Everyone stared blankly at Feng Yao. However, as soon as they blinked, they found that her expression was the same as usual, almost as if the look from before had just been a fleeting illusion.

Mr. Uncle, who had been silently watching her, spoke up at that moment.

"Are you able to get rid his poison?"

Feng Yao retracted her gaze from the shivering young boy in the guard's arms to meet Mr. Uncle's eyes.

"Perhaps. Do you have any medical herbs that I could have?"

"Mhm. I'll show you to them."

She nodded in thanks before turning to the two guards.

"Wrap him up in warm blankets and place him on the bed. Make sure his body temperature rises up to normal, and keep a close eye on his breathing and pulse."

They immediately nodded and hurriedly rushed over to the other room with the child. Feng Yao was just about turn to ask Mr. Uncle something when she noticed the young girl still fidgeting nervously in the corner. 

Slightly sighing in her heart, she softened her voice before speaking to her.

"Go. Follow the two guards, and keep an eye on your brother. If he wakes up, he'll want to see you the most."

The young girl quickly nodded, relieved that Feng Yao no longer seemed to want to inquire about the wandering village from earlier. With her little feet, she turned and ran after the two guards and her brother.

As the soft pitter-patter of her feet left the room, Feng Yao turned back to face Mr. Uncle who simply turned and began walking out of the house.

We're going outside?

Feng Yao raised her eyebrow, but she immediately followed him as he led them out and around the back of his home. Outside, the chilly wind brushed against her skin and made a few stray strands of her hair fly around. However, Feng Yao didn't seem to notice.

Instead, her entire attention was focused on the secret passage that had suddenly appeared on the side of the home that was the most secluded by the shadows of the surrounding bamboo.

She hadn't seen how Mr. Uncle had managed to make it appear. There had not even been the slightest signs of a door being there earlier. 

...Oh dear. Please don't tell me that Mr. Uncle is actually an incredibly rich underworld boss. 

However, she didn't voice her questions as she wordlessly followed him inside.

A small staircase leading deeper into a secluded but surprisingly well ventilated basement brought them farther down until finally the dark passage surrounding them suddenly brightened. 

As Feng Yao's eyes began to readjust to the change in lighting, the sight of an incredibly large room slowly filled her line of sight. On every side were countless rows of various rare items such as legendary artifacts, priceless armor pieces, and hundreds of weapons of every shape and size.

Some of them seemed quite new as if they had just been recently added while others looked as if they were the ancient heirlooms to family bloodlines that had long been wiped out. But no matter in what shape or style they were, Feng Yao could tell that every single item she laid eyes on could cost well over the price of a small noble home.

...Holy heavenly gods of above. 

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the absurd scene. 

Who needs bows and arrows when you can just take all of these things and endlessly pelt people to death? 

While pelting the enemies with these artifacts, you could even simultaneously make their hearts bleed from the pain of tactlessly abusing these priceless items.

Yep yep, it'd be quite effective. It'd deal double the damage, much more than a single arrow. Bruises on the outside, and a bleeding heart on the inside.

Mr. Uncle let out a slight cough before lightly commenting, "Please excuse the mess. The medical herbs are in the room over there."

He motioned towards one out of the many other connecting rooms near the back wall. Feng Yao didn't dare to think about how many other priceless treasures could be hiding behind the other doorways as she quickly followed him into the last room on the right. 

I don't see anything. Nope. Not at all. 

I'm just an ignorant peasant strolling through the morning market.

The room that they entered thankfully contained no more of the outrageous items from the other room making Feng Yao let out a small sigh. 

Thank goodness he didn't show me anymore of his...unique collection. If my eyes were subjected to see anymore of those things, I'd be worried that he was actually planning to kill me after showing off to silence me.

Her eyes glanced around, noticing that all of the walls were filled with different types of medical herbs and other strange plants. Some had been dried and were neatly organized into trays while others were preserved in jars filled with herbal water. On the other side, she could also make out a few containers filled with plant leaves that had been grinded into fine powder. 

There were hundreds of different herbs in the room; it was enough to make the average person stand in shock from the massive magnificent display. 

However, after a single look around, Feng Yao had already steadily walked over towards the wall and began pulling out certain items from their unlabeled positions. It was clear by her swift movements that she was familiar with this type of setup and these plants. 

Mr. Uncle watched her actions from the side as he leaned against the doorway.

Casually, he asked, "You seem to have experience with poison and creating antidotes?"

Feng Yao didn't pause in her actions of collecting various herbs as she answered back.

"Yep, quite a lot. Unfortunately, it's become a skill of mine. Although I'd much rather have the skill of eating fast without choking and looking like an overly ripe apple."

She had muttered that last part under her breath, but Mr. Uncle still seemed to have heard it.

He let out a little laugh, the sound of it slightly echoing around them.

"Haha, really now? I actually think apples are quite nice."

"They are. But personally, I prefer potatoes."

Another small chuckle of his sounded in the room. Feng Yao's lips also turned up into a small smile, but very quickly it disappeared as she continued with her work. 

This entire time, she hadn't slowed in her speed at all. Her nimble fingers expertly plucked off certain leaves of a few stalks and began sorting them into various piles onto the side table. Every once in a while, she would also bring some up to her nose and smell them before placing them back on the table to make sure that they were the correct herb.

Mr. Uncle had already walked over and was watching her fingers closely. But upon seeing the various piles of mixed medicine leaves that seemed to be laid out in no particular order on the table, a flash of surprise appeared in his eyes. 

"I haven't seen these particular groupings of herbs used together before. What are you making?"

Hearing his question, Feng Yao looked over at him.

"You're also skilled with medicine?"

He let out a smile but didn't answer her question. 

Although he didn't say anything though, Feng Yao was sure that he had to be somewhat skilled.

Otherwise, how else would he be able to keep track of such a large room of medical herbs that ranged from common to rare without any signs or labels indicating what they were?

She moved her attention back down at her fingers, but she answered his question nonetheless. 

"Each pile and ratio is a unique combination that I've experimented in the past and come up with. When put together, they're able to suppress the painful effects of most poisons while simultaneously purging them from the blood stream."

Mr. Uncle picked up one of the stalks that she had already finished deleafing and discarded to the side.

"But isn't this the poisonous Moon-Flower plant?"

"Yes. But if you can neutralize its poison and use its hidden sub-properties, it can act as an excellent base for many antidotes."

She motioned with her head towards the pile that was at the very end.

"When you combine that with this mixture after it's also neutralized, their seemingly different medical properties actually merge together to create a different effect of cooling. It's quite effective at getting rid of fevers. However--"

She pointed towards another pile in the middle.

"--if you can combine it with the finely ground-up powder of this mixture of Yellow Sun-Blossom petals and the leaves from the Hundred-Year Dew plant, the result of using it as a common antidote for poisons is at least thirty times more efficient than using the other commonly known herbal mixtures. Of course, you could also try using the liquid extracts instead of their powder form."

Her hand reached out to grab a few clean bowls at the side and began placing the different mixtures into them.

"However, in doing so, it would upset the original balance of the medications too quickly before being able to be safely consumed, so the powder version is the best way. But it's actually quite difficult to dissolve the Yellow Sun-Blossom and Hundred-Year Dew Plant into our first mixture because of their opposite properties. So that's why it's also necessary to use the raw roots of immature Water-Wood stalks to help act as a safe base to create a catalyst using..."

Feng Yao continued to explain as she worked, ignoring the bright look in his eyes as if he had just discovered something new. 

As she finished up putting the last few piles into separate trays, she turned and handed four to him.

With a smile, she finished off with, "And that's why I have so many strange mixtures. I think that should have answered your question. Now, can you help me carry these back upstairs?"

He blinked at her a few times before he began to chuckle. 

"Haha, no wonder I found you so interesting the first time we met. You truly do have many interesting layers."

"Why thank you."

Feng Yao walked into the bedroom with the unconscious young boy, his sister, and the two guards inside before going to sit on the stool next to the bedside. 

As she placed the tray of the medical antidote that she had just finished brewing and mixing together with the help of Mr. Uncle onto the table, she turned to examine the boy's face.

His condition didn't look as bad as earlier when she had first seen him. His lips were no longer blue, and he wasn't uncontrollably shaking from the cold like before. 

However, his skin was still just as deathly pale and clammy, and his eyes underneath his eyelids were moving rapidly around as if he was suffering from a nightmare. 

Reaching out and placing her hand gently against his sweaty forehead, she could feel that his fever from before was still there. Removing her hand from his head, she placed her fingertips at his wrist to feel his pulse while her other hand was lightly placed at his chest to assess his breathing.

After a moment, she finally sighed.

As expected. I know these specific signs too well. He really has been poisoned.

Although, she didn't know how or what exactly the boy was poisoned with, she was too familiar with the unique pulse that he currently had along with his specific breathing pattern. 

She quickly picked up a small spoonful of the herbal mixture and began to feed it to him. One hand opened his small mouth while the other gently poured in small amounts at a time. The shorter guard had already helped propped up the boy, making sure that he wouldn't choke. 

Feng Yao patiently continued until the entire bowl had finally been emptied. Luckily, the boy had been able to drink most of it with only a few drops being spilled onto him which the young girl next to Feng Yao had immediately cleaned up. 

With tears falling down the young girl's face, she turned to look at Feng Yao before choking out, "Big Sister...My brother...My brother, is he going to be all right now?"

Feng Yao, however, didn't immediately answer her right away. Her full attention was still on the face of the little boy. 

There seemed to be no change at all to his condition. His skin was still an unnatural shade of sickly-white, and his breathing was just as labored as before. 

"I think..." 

She had just opened her mouth to reply to the girl when the boy abruptly opened his eyes and frantically turned to the side before spraying out a mouthful of dark blood all over the blankets and pillows, dying it a frightening shade of deep red.

Everyone was taken aback.

"Brother!" 

The young girl jumped at the sudden action before her eyes began welling up with tears again.

As she held tightly onto the boy's hands, she cried out, "Brother, what's wrong! Where does it hurt?"

The guards at the side were also taken aback by the sudden situation. The one who was still holding the boy upright quickly tried to rub the boy's back as the boy continued to cough up more blood.

"Hey, boy! What's wrong? Can you hear us?"

"Brother! Please answer me! Please..."

But it was no use. The boy only continued to violently cough over and over again with no indication of responding or hearing. Before long, his entire side of the bed was stained a dark red.

Mr. Uncle had already appeared next to his side and was checking his pulse. However, not even a few moments had passed before he turned towards Feng Yao with quizzical look in his eyes.

"Did the medicine..."

"No." Feng Yao answered. 

Her gaze was still locked onto the boy's face. However, her eyes had slowly darkened until it was impossible to read what she was thinking.

"It didn't fail."

It's the opposite. It worked perfectly. 

His body is just reacting too strongly to this common antidote which means that there's something strange about his poison.

She reached out to take the spare empty bowl on the table. At first, only Mr. Uncle noticed what she was doing. However, the others around her very quickly realized that she didn't seem flustered by the sudden turn of events and turned to watch her silent actions.

Feng Yao pricked one of the boy's fingers before letting his blood drip into the bowl. By now, the boy had already calmed down and had fallen unconscious against the guard again, so there wasn't too much trouble taking his fresh blood.

"Young Miss..." One of the guards hesitantly spoke up at that moment as he stared strangely at her actions. "What are you planning to do?"

"Testing how much poison his body has."

As soon as there was a small pool of red, Feng Yao also immediately pricked herself and allowed a few drops of her blood to fall and merge with his in the center of the bowl until the two portions were equal and properly mixed together.

Reaching into her robes, her fingers wrapped tightly around the one single item that she always carried with her no matter what. 

It didn't matter if she was dressed up as a beggar or a beautiful woman, this was something that she absolutely would not, no, could not lose.

A single, but very small black vial appeared in her hands. It was only the size of her thumb, but the way that she held it in her palm showed that it was obviously incredibly important to her.

But before she opened it, she hesitated.

If I use this now and something actually happens to me in the future...

She quickly forced herself to abandon that thought. 

No, it's more important to use it now. I need to know how badly his body is poisoned. Worse case scenario, I'll just attempt to make another vial later in the future for myself. 

Opening the lid of the vial, she carefully allowed a few drops of the pure black liquid inside to fall in the blood mixture before capping the bottle and returning it securely back into her innermost pocket. 

Suddenly, the sound of a small sharp intake of breath sounded out in front of her. 

Feng Yao briefly glanced upward only to see that the same expression of fear from before had appeared on the young girl's face as she stared at Feng Yao's actions with frightened eyes as if she'd just seen a ghost.

A small crease emerged between Feng Yao's eyebrows as she watched the girl quickly cover her mouth, but she didn't pursue it and instead returned her attention back to the bowl in her hands. 

At that moment, Mr. Uncle quietly spoke up.

"What are you waiting for?"

Nothing was happening in the bowl of blood, despite the addition of the unknown black liquid.

However, Feng Yao didn't dare move her eyes as she replied back in a whisper.

"A sign."

Suddenly, under the gazes of everyone in the room, something strange began to happen.

The blood mixture that had originally been a single pool of dark red suddenly began to change colors. On one side of the blood pool, the blood had suddenly began to brighten into a brighter red that was the same color as healthy blood. 

The other side, however, had slowly started to darken into a deep shade of red. However, it didn't stop there. The shade gradually got darker and darker until it was an ominous pitch black, the same color as thick ink.

The darker in color it became, the colder Feng Yao's heart seemed to feel.

The only way that our blood mixture would turn this dark is if...

No, that's impossible! 

There is no way that someone else would have the exact same  concoction of poisons in their body as mine. It is not possible to replicate such a specific sequence of hundreds of poisons. 

Unless...

An impossible scenario suddenly popped into her head.

Unless...it really is that man.

Around her, gasps of surprise had rung out as the others who had been watching also noticed the unusual happening of the blood mixture. It was as if the pool of blood was slowly separating itself into one section that was healthy and another that was deadly.

"Young Miss...what is going on? What does this mean?"

Feng Yao slowly let out a deep breath, her eyes still lowered and watching her hands. After a short moment of thought, however, she finally raised her face. 

Her eyes immediately met the girl's who had also similarly been staring nervously at her. Like before, as soon as she noticed that she had caught Feng Yao's attention, she quickly looked away.

However, this time Feng Yao didn't let her escape and speedily held tightly onto her shoulder. 

"You said that your brother has heart problems right? And that he's always been weak and sickly?"

The girl, perhaps shocked at Feng Yao's sudden interrogation, didn't dare hesitate and immediately nodded.

Feng Yao's darkened eyes stared at her silently for what felt to be forever but had actually only lasted a few seconds before she suddenly lowered her voice. 

"Are you sure you aren't lying to me?"

The girl stiffened, but Feng Yao didn't give her a chance to respond.

"You and your brother are from the wandering village."

A clear look of fear immediately entered the girl's eyes.

"A certain person entered your village as a wandering outsider in the past. And according to your village's rule, anyone who manages to find their way to that hidden village is able to reside there, so that person became a part of your community."

The two guards and Mr. Uncle seemed to have no idea what Feng