"This is the place."
"Yeah, here."
Two big men, one armed with a sabre and the other with a rod stood at the front of the kitchen, but didn't dare continue forward.
The two of them exchanged glances.
"Brother Zhang, your specialty the Big Whirlwind Slash's overwhelming power rules Hejian! Don't hold back when you go in. As soon as you see that ghost, slice him into six with three slashes! Slash him like a savage!"
"Brother Li, your school's Cross Soul-Chaser rod style is powerful too. Cross Soul-Chaser style could knock someone out before they could react. When you see him, you don't need to say anything, just batter him!"
"Yeah, fuck him up."
"Yeah, fuck him up!"
The two of them were fired up and looked awe-inspiring. But then after a while…
"…… Why aren't you going in?"
"What a stupid question. There's a ghost inside, who would want to go in first?!"
"Have you no shame? Didn't you say cut him into six?"
"You said to batter him as soon as you saw him! Have you no shame?!"
The two of them argued endlessly until a voice came from inside.
"Where did you say there was a ghost?"
I think that was the first and last thing I said to them because I enjoyed slapping them afterwards.
Where in the devil are these people coming from?
I looked down at this uhh… and the dozens of people in black I slapped out of convenience before. When you're dressed in black like this, it's dead-obvious you aren't up to no good, yet they dared to strut around in the palace with no reserve. I don't know that there's anyone braver than them.
A fragrant smell suddenly hit my nose. Imperial Doctor Dai was carrying a dish of refreshments. I don't know what it is but there was steam coming from it. The very sight of it would make you drool.
Imperial Doctor Dai courteously smiled and said: "There are some refreshments that have just been made. See if this… you got it?" After I taught him about the meridians controlling one's conscious mind, he seemed to firmly believe that I was his second shifu, and then he started behaving like this. He was a medical-studies fanatic, however, he wasn't someone who'd hurt anyone so I didn't bother him.
"Alright, thank you." I grabbed the refreshments and took a bite. Wow, did it leave a nice fragrance in my mouth. The imperial kitchen's dishes lives up to its reputation!
That's right.
I brought an unconscious Su Xiao with me to the imperial kitchen following the lead of Imperial Doctor Dai. And right now, I'm eating their food without permission!
Kekeke, don't look down on me! I'm actually trying to make sense of the entire incident here…… Where are the braised pork shoulders? That's minus points! I reluctantly collected all the food I could find together, but not even all of it together was enough for me. And so, I sat to one side and slowly enjoyed them. Su Xiao was sound asleep next to the boiler as if he was having a sweet dream.
"Huehue… Big Brother Ming, I scared you, didn't I……?"
It sounded like he saw me in his dream. I don't know what he was doing but he was smiling sweetly.
"It's snowing heavily. Why are you drinking outside?" Su Xiao was holding firewood. His face twitched gently, "You're such a scaredy-cat. You're crying over something so trivial."
……
What?! How dare an insignificant Su Xiao act so arrogant in his dreams? I wiped my finger on the dust of the boiler and then carefully drew on his face……
Hehe. Alright, time for proper work.
I cleaned my hands and then grabbed a meticulously made cookie, rolled it up with some chives, coriander and some paste. I rolled it and rolled it and into my mouth it went…… I'm ninety-percent certain that Mystery got involved with the orange prince's revolt after he invited them. The orange prince doesn't look like he'd amount to anything, but his plan this time has impressed me.
His plan was very meticulous, and his clever arrangements were definitely most impressive. I surmise that everyone in the flying fish pavilion is currently under his control. It's probably the combination of Mystery' skill and their way of operating.
As the League of Assassins' second ranked assassination group, Mystery isn't just a group skilled fighters. Their setups are unbelievable.
The Black Winds Thirteen Wings began killing Qilin Guards before the imperial martial arts tournament to divert attention. But that wasn't all. They were also testing the imperial court's potential. And since I went and exposed the Black Winds Thirteen Wings unknowingly, I immediately became treated as a target for elimination. Because I went right to their door, they turned my own plan against me, and pretended to be the contact person for the League of Assassins' so that I'd drop my guard, thus luring me into the trap one step at a time.
They must've used this setup in every part of their plan.
Let's use the imperial kitchen as an example. Not a single helper in the kitchen was in sight. This is the kitchen that prepares the meals for outer sections of the palace. They might have had to serve food and drinks to the flying fish pavilion at any moment, yet not a soul was in sight. As a matter of fact, they left many delicious dishes behind like they got called away in the midst of work.
And… the food tastes a little strange.
"Imperial Doctor Dai, do you see a problem with these cookies?"
Imperial Doctor Dai was revising the new knowledge I shared with him. It took him a while to react. He picked it up and sniffed it. He frowned and replied: "There seems to be a faint scent, yet not. However, I can say for sure that a potent numbing-drug has been added to it. The formula is very unique too. It's not easy to cure… If it's not Thorn-Tears, then it's Soul Diffuser."
"It's Thorn-Tears."
I picked up a meat-bun and took a few bites. Yep, I'm right. It's Thorn-Tears. Thorn-Tears is a specially made drug by Demon Mirror Cloud Heaven Palace. As soon as someone in the martial world drinks it, they'll become numb after some time. Their true qi essence at their dantian will be stopped like it's pinned down by thorns. Any slight movement will cause excruciating pain.
I swallowed it and then grabbed a cup of wine.
The cup seemed to be made from white-jade with incomparable exquisiteness. A cup of wine from a jade-cup in the palace is one-hundred and eight per cup! Let's see how it tastes. I heard people bragging…… I had a drink. Oh! This wine tastes great!
It looks like this Thorn-Tears was what the orange prince used to control the flying fish pavilion.
Fu Xiang and Zhong Yi have arrived. I imagine Yu Ye and Kuang Tian are close by too. Compared to Kuang Tian who moves around a lot in the pugilistic world, the other three are relatively mysterious. The Black and White Reflection only made mentions about Yu Ye many issues ago. It claimed that he may be serving the imperial court and became a guard for the inner court. I don't know if that's true or not.
Mystery won't fight battles where victory is uncertain. The imperial jade seal and the emperor's decree are required since the orange prince wants to steal the throne. These guys in black can't possibly be running around in the palace around aimlessly. They must be preparing for what's to come next. It looks like their plan to steal those two items will be the next impressive move Mystery makes.
Fu Xiang's stupid face resurfaced in my mind. That guy looks stupid, but he's a sneaky and clever one. He's able to come up with clever and complex plans if you give him time. He's not to be underestimated.
I closed my eyes to think about the possible things that could happen from now, but I couldn't come to a decisive conclusion.
What I'm most concerned about is the situation at the flying fish pavilion. With Boss Shen's personality, she's definitely going to give the orange prince shit. If they get into a fight, the orange prince isn't one who'd show pity she's a beauty.
I drank another mouthful of wine and it left a fragrant taste in my mouth. I only felt the wine had a nice fragrance to it. It carried a hint of sweetness with it. The first drink didn't taste sweet, but why did it taste so sweet on my second drink? I tried it again. This isn't the scent of wine, but the taste of a drug mixed with wine.
Wait a second! Thorn-tears is virtually colourless and tasteless drug. It wouldn't result in this. Something else seems to have also been added to this wine besides Thorn-Tears!"
I drank a few more mouthfuls and figured out what the drug was. I suddenly had a new revelation about the entire incident. I see how it is…… I went silent for a while and then said to Imperial Doctor Dai: "Imperial Doctor Dai, it looks like more and more people are coming here. You should return to the herb garden first. I still have some business to attend to."
"Oh?" A flash of light appeared in his eyes. He swept his gaze around his surroundings, "Haven't you already finished eating everything here?"
"I'm talking about legitimate business!"
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