Zhou Tong stopped, his eyes narrowing.
In the gloomy light of the lantern, he could still clearly see the color of the blood, as that blood was so black that it was somewhat dazzling.
He could feel the heart beneath his palm beating faster and faster, causing his hand and arm to tremble. His shoulders also began to tremble, and then his entire body.
His face became abnormally pale, as if he had suffered a serious illness in such a short amount of time.
He had been poisoned, and it was a rare and powerful poison.
The reason he had so quickly determined that this poison was very rare was because his Department for Purging Officials was the place in the world most skilled at using poisons.
He had personally seen and personally used more poisons than an ordinary person could eat in their entire lives.
When had he been poisoned? He didn't know. A faint light flashed past his squinted eyes at high speed. Although there were no clues, he quickly determined who had poisoned him and when he had been poisoned. This didn't require any evidence. All he needed to do was to go back in time and have a grasp of some details.
His assailant was probably still in his original position, but he did not turn around, because the first thing he needed to consider was how to leave.
He took a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the filthy blood from the corner of his mouth. He continued forward, quickly vanishing into the darkness.
After some time, a faint sound came from the darkness. The faint light of the lantern on the stone wall came back to life, reflecting Zhexiu's pale face, his face stained with the traces of dried mud.
He squatted down, dipped his hand in some of the filthy blood, and brought it to his nose to sniff.
The black, dirty blood on the sharp, cold, knife-like fingers gave off a faint stench of blood.
He was very satisfied. Following the scent, he quickly vanished into the darkness.
… …
… …
The tunnels beneath the office of the Department for Purging Officials were as numerous and complex as a spider's web. Moreover, they were unimaginably long and could lead directly to very distant places. If it were possible, if it were any other time, Zhou Tong would normally stay underground for even longer, take even more detours, and set up even more mechanisms to ensure his absolute safety.
But not today. He had already been poisoned.
This poison was completely different from the poisons commonly used by the Department for Purging Officials. It did not specifically target his meridians, star orifices, or sea of consciousness. Instead, it was like a handful of sand pervading his internal organs, giving off a rough and even rough feeling. It even made him think of the vast plains of the north.
This was something that was extremely close to nature, and even the Sacred Light technique might not be able to cure it. However, he was one of the few people in the world who were best at using poison. In this aspect, his ability could be called a great master. Even if he had never seen this kind of poison before, he knew where to start. To deal with this kind of poison, he could only use medicine, and it had to be herbal medicine. Even in Zhou Prison, these herbs were very difficult to find. Fortunately, he knew of a place that was well-prepared, and even more fortunate was that this was the place he had originally wanted to go.
After walking through the damp, cold, and incomparably long alleyway, he didn't know how many turns he had made. The terrain was no longer flat, but slanted upwards. He continued to walk forward until he reached the end. His hands accurately reached into a gap in the wall, dispelling the formation, and then he turned on the mechanism. His hands pushed forward slightly, pushing open a door and leaving the darkness.
A bright ray of sunlight was waiting for him outside the door, as well as a gentle and moving face.
The sunlight came from the sky above the courtyard. The gloomy snow clouds had been blown away by the wind, revealing a porcelain blue sky. The warm winter sun appeared in his line of sight. The gentle and moving face belonged to a beautiful young woman.
Upon seeing the sunlight and the young woman's face, Zhou Tong instantly felt his body warm up and much calmer. Moreover, the unconcealable worry and anxiety on the young woman's face made his chest heat up. This sort of emotion, completely different from fear and disgust, was what he lacked and needed the most in his life.
The young woman helped him out of the tunnel, and then with some difficulty, she closed the tunnel and reactivated the mechanism.
This courtyard was not large, nor could it be said to be exquisite, but whether it was the black eaves or the green bamboo railings, all the details exuded the word 'tranquility'.
When Zhou Tong had personally designed this courtyard, he had pursued this sort of thing. He had always believed that only tranquility had the taste of home.
This courtyard was his home, his true home. It was the final resting place for his exhausted body and his heart that had been soaked in poison for countless years.
Only by returning to this courtyard could he truly find peace, could he truly relax.
For the sake of safety, for the sake of keeping this secret, for the sake of this rare peace and freedom from disturbance, Zhou Tong had very cautiously and carefully managed this courtyard.
No one knew of this place, not the most loyal subordinates of the Department for Purging Officials, not Cheng Jun and the other Eight Tigers, not even the Divine Empress.
The only person who knew of the relationship between him and this courtyard was now dead.
Every time he returned to this courtyard and heard the sounds coming from the neighboring courtyard through the green bamboo, Zhou Tong would always remember a few things.
In these past few years, Xue Xingchuan had very much hoped that he could treat the Xue Estate as his true home, but how could this be possible? Putting aside the fear and unease in the eyes of the servants and juniors of the Xue Estate, just the fact that he was surnamed Zhou made it impossible. His elder brother did not want his surname, but he still wanted it.
… …
… …
Other than the Demon Commander, Zhou Tong had probably killed the most people in the world. Perhaps for this reason, he was also most afraid of death. Besides this courtyard, he had several other secret bases in the capital, but to him, none of those places were as safe, as important, or as comfortable as this one.
This was because this courtyard had a gentle and moving woman who truly respected and loved him. More importantly, he had hidden many precious objects here, like a few extremely rare herbs. A large portion of these herbs had been secretly obtained by people he had sent from the Hundred Herb Garden, while a portion had been gifted to him by the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.
He took the steaming towel and placed it over his face. Perhaps because the heat had irritated his lungs, he let out a few muffled coughs.
When he took off the towel, it was already stained with several spots of black blood. It looked like flowers drawn in ink, unreal and rather frightening.
The woman was very uneasy, but Zhou Tong seemed especially calm and unperturbed. He had her grind the ink while he sat on the chair, closing his eyes and meditating as if he was savoring something.
He was savoring the poison in his body that carried the scent of the wilderness.
After some time, he opened his eyes. With the woman's support, he walked to the desk in front of the window. Raising a brush, he began to write with great elegance and ease.
The paper was dripping with ink, but the handwriting was extremely clear. It was not cursive, but a recipe.
What herbs to use, how many bowls of water, how to boil it, what fire to use, what stove, what charcoal, what water, how to filter the medicine, when to add crystals, it was all very clear.
The woman saw his expression and knew that he was probably fine. Relieved, she took the recipe and went to the back kitchen to boil the medicine.
This sort of thing had happened several times before, and she had experienced it before.
There was no mistake in the type or amount of herbs, and the way she lit the stove was very practiced.
At some point, a beauty dressed in palace attire had appeared by the stove. The stove fire reddened her face, illuminating her incomparably beautiful face.
This beauty was very beautiful.
In truth, in the past few years, she had always been considered the most beautiful woman of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The woman calmly boiled the medicine, her movements of separating the herbs and filtering the dregs very steady. It was like she did not see the beauty.
The beauty placed a few things into the pot.
The woman still acted like she did not see it.
The room was quiet, with only the gurgling of the soup in the pot.
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