For a moment, no one in the tea shed spoke a word, leaving only the screams of the blinded old man Zhao.
At this moment, a voice as crisp as a silver bell and as bright as an oriole came from afar: "He'er, it's been so long, what are you doing?"
Hearing this, Heer immediately replied loudly: "Miss, Heer almost didn't see you!"
"Miss!" Qiu Yizi secretly repeated He'er's words in his mind, and then his heart was pounding: Isn't this "Miss" that He'er was talking about Wen Lingjiao, the saint of Tianzun Sect
He wanted very much to get up and take a good look at this beautiful woman who had been haunting him, but he was very weak and after struggling many times, he was still unable to stand up. He could only prick up his ears and listen to the sound of horse hooves approaching. It seemed that a woman had rolled down from the horse's back.
Then the woman said, "He'er, what's going on here? Why are there so many people lying down? And why is that old man blind? Did you do this?"
He'er was still in shock. After hearing such a long string of questions, she was actually a little at a loss. She said, "Miss, I... I... I just got here too, so I don't know much about what's going on inside... By the way, Master Qiu is here too. He's got a clear mind. Why don't you ask him, Miss!"
"Qiu... Mr. Qiu? Which Mr. Qiu?" the woman asked in surprise.
"It's Prince Youyan, oh, the adopted son of the current emperor. Miss talks about him every day, how come you forgot today?" He'er replied.
The woman immediately said angrily, "He'er, what are you talking about? Where is Mr. Qiu now?"
He'er pointed at Qiu Yizhi who was sitting weakly on the ground and said, "Look, it's right here."
The woman quickly walked around to Qiu Yizi, bent down, and faced Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi raised her head with great effort, and saw that the woman was wearing a white silk dress, with a light makeup on her face and her hair tied up in a bun. Her two phoenix eyes were full of worry, and she opened her red lips slightly and said, "Young Master...you...what's wrong with you?"
Qiu Yizi was about to answer, but then he changed his mind and realized that the person in front of him was Wen Lingjiao, who looked like a fairy, and he was lying on the ground like mud. He was really a little out of control, so he pretended to be calm and changed the topic, "So it's Miss Wen who is here. Can you help me up first? Let's sit down and talk in detail."
"Okay, okay." Wen Lingjiao agreed without thinking, and stretched out her two slender hands like ice sculptures. Together with He'er, she helped Qiu Yizi up and sat him down on the chair in front of the Eight Immortals Table.
Wen Lingjiao caught a glimpse of an antique bronze mirror placed on the wooden table - it was the one she had given to Qiu Yizi.
When she saw it, she couldn't help but feel touched, and stammered, "This thing... you... you carry it with you?"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yizi's face immediately turned red and she said, "This bronze mirror is very elegant. I play with it from time to time." As she spoke, she was about to reach out to pick up the bronze mirror, but she couldn't muster the strength.
It turned out that it had been nearly an hour since Qiu Yizhi drank the poisoned herbal tea. Although the drug effect had dissipated a little and he had a little strength, his limbs still could not move as he wished. So he tried several times but couldn't raise his hands. He had no choice but to point at Lin Shuhan who was lying on the ground and said, "This person is my new friend Mr. Lin. Please help him over to talk together."
Wen Lingjiao blushed when she heard this and said, "This... this, men and women shouldn't touch each other, it doesn't seem very convenient, right?" She picked up the bronze mirror on the table and hid it beside her.
Qiu Yizi was stunned when he heard this: Why weren't you so particular when you helped me just now
But he changed his mind, his face flushed again, and he hurriedly explained: "How dare I trouble Miss Wen? I'm asking Jiming and Miss Wu to do it!"
After an awkward moment, Qiu Yizi, Lin Shuhan, Wen Lingjiao and Wu Ruofei finally sat down, while He'er, a maid, and Yuchi Jiming, a junior, stood behind Wen Lingjiao and Qiu Yizi respectively.
After all this trouble, Wen Lingjiao was already a little hot. Seeing a few empty tea bowls on the table, she ordered, "He'er, why don't you take out the Longjing tea we brought with us and brew it for everyone to taste. Although these bowls are a little broken and have lost their charm, it's always inconvenient when you're away from home, so just make do with it."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi hurriedly stopped him and said, "No. I was poisoned because I drank the water in this bowl just now. Even though the water has dried up, the medicinal properties are probably still there!"
Wen Lingjiao was startled when she heard this. She wanted to reach out and push the tea bowl in front of her away, but she was afraid that the poison would stick to her hands, so she was at a loss for a moment.
Qiu Yizi didn't notice Wen Lingjiao's little thought, but seeing Lin Shuhan across from him still scratching his head and feeling uncomfortable, she asked, "Mr. Lin, are you feeling better?"
Lin Shuhan was a weak scholar, so his recovery was naturally slower than Qiu Yizi's. However, he was full of scholarly spirit and refused to show any weakness: "I'm much better now, Master Qiu, don't worry about me."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yizi looked around and saw that some of his ten personal soldiers were barely standing up and gasping for breath, while others were still lying on the ground unable to sit up. The "Iron Head Dragon" who had just rushed to drink two bowls of cold tea was lying on his back on the mud, not knowing whether he was dead or alive. Even Yang Ying'er was lying on the carriage unconscious.
Then Qiu Yizhi suddenly had an idea and said to Yuchi Jiming, "Jiming, please go and search that mother Gu to see if she has the antidote with her."
Yuchi Jiming had recovered almost completely, and after hearing Qiu Yizi's instructions, he immediately agreed and walked to Gu Erniang, turned her over, and was about to reach out to touch her body, but unexpectedly, Gu Erniang, who had her eyes closed just now, suddenly opened her eyes.
Yuchi Jiming was frightened by her and took two steps back. He stared at Gu Erniang as if he was staring at a ghost and asked, "You...are you dead? Are you alive?"
Gu Erniang no longer had the smile she had before. She said with a flat face, "The young lady's martial arts skills are not yet perfect. A copper coin did not pass through the back of my head, but got stuck in my cervical vertebrae. I can't feel where my hands and feet are now. I am a useless person."
Seeing Gu Erniang's miserable state, Yuchi Jiming felt a little sorry and said, "I didn't use enough force, please forgive me."
Gu Erniang said, "When it comes to risking your life, why would you care about how hard you hit me? If the little girl really showed mercy and beat me like this, then you are really looking down on me."
Yuchi Jiming felt even more embarrassed when he heard her speak so generously: "In the final analysis, I won by a surprise attack, which is really an unfair victory..."
But then I heard Gu Erniang say, "It's nothing. Didn't the little girl get poisoned by me? If I fight her with real swords and guns, I don't think I can beat her! I really regret it. My master was also proficient in all kinds of martial arts, but I just wanted to be clever and asked him to teach me hidden weapon skills. If I had practiced the basics seriously at that time, why would I still be defeated by a girl of ten after practicing for decades..."
Yuchi Jiming was speechless for a moment after hearing Gu Erniang's sad words.
But then Gu Erniang continued, "I heard what you said just now. Miss, are you here to find the antidote? I happen to have it with me. I put it in the bag on my left sleeve, in a small bottle. Just take a little and put it in front of your nostrils and smell it, and you will be cured immediately."
After hearing this, Yuchi Jiming immediately bent down and took out a black sand bottle from Gu Er Niang's sleeve. He shook it and found that there was really half a bottle of unknown liquid inside. He quickly brought it to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizhi heard the words clearly. He unscrewed the bottle cap and was about to smell it when he heard Lin Shuhan say, "Wait a minute, sir. This woman is very vicious. How do you know if there is some other poison in this bottle?"
Qiu Yizhi was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and said: "Although this Gu Erniang's methods are cruel, her words still count..."
Qiu Yi was halfway through her words when she heard Gu Erniang, who was lying on the ground, say, "Thank you, sir, for trusting me. If you don't believe me, you can try it on someone else. By the way, that 'Living Yama' is blind, and there is no difference between him and a dead person. Why not use him to test the medicine?"
Lin Shuhan was confused after hearing this, so he asked, "Gu Erniang, right? Why did you give us the antidote?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Er Niang suddenly laughed miserably a few times: "Hahaha! This gentleman is also a scholar. Can't you see what I'm thinking? Seeing how half-dead I am now, I only hope that you can consider that I will give you the antidote and give me a quick death, which is better than being eaten by ants here! Hahaha..." At the end, others could no longer hear whether Gu Er Niang was crying or laughing.
Gu Er Niang's laughter was still ringing in her ears, but she heard the blind "Hell on Earth" old man Zhao roaring: "Mother Gu is right! I am blind now, so I have more breath than a dead person. You can use me to test the medicine! If it is true, please kill me with a knife afterwards; if it is false, it doesn't matter, it would be better if I die!"
Old Man Zhao's words were also very miserable. While everyone was still hesitating, they heard Wen Lingjiao say coldly: "You two are worthy of being my disciples of the Holy Church. You have some backbone when facing death. He'er, you and Miss Yuchi should use this 'Living Yama' to test the medicine!"
He'er agreed without hesitation. She carefully picked up the empty bowl on the table with two fingers of her right hand, and took the bottle with her left hand, which contained the antidote that she didn't know whether it was real or fake. She scooped half a bowl of herbal tea mixed with poison from the big pot, and turned to Yuchi Jiming and said, "Sister Yuchi, please help me hold this guy down. I'm afraid he will bite me..."
Yuchi Jiming was startled when he heard this, and quickly looked at Qiu Yizi's face, wanting to hear Qiu Yizi's instructions, but he heard Old Man Zhao say, "Don't worry, girl. Give me the tea and I'll drink it myself."
After saying that, Old Man Zhao reached out his hand, took the tea bowl from He'er's hand, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp. Blood immediately flowed from the corners of his eyes.
After a while, the medicinal properties began to evaporate. Old Man Zhao's legs became weak and he collapsed to the ground just like Qiu Yizhi and the group of people just now.
Upon seeing this, He'er unscrewed the lid of the bottle and, in full view of everyone, put it under Old Man Zhao's nostrils, asking him to breathe deeply.
Old man Zhao took a sniff and the antidote seemed to work immediately. He stood up and said, "This antidote is real." After that, he waved his hands and punched.
Seeing that he was very agile, everyone knew that the antidote was indeed effective, but they were afraid that it might contain poison. After observing for a while, they were relieved to see that Old Man Zhao showed no signs of poisoning.
So Qiu Yizi was the first to speak: "He'er, give me the antidote, let me try it first." After that, he took the bottle from He'er's hand and took a sip.
Qiu Yizi didn't expect that the antidote smelled so bad, like cow dung that had been exposed to the sun for a few days. Qiu Yizi couldn't help but shout, "It stinks, it stinks!" While shouting, he stood up and took two steps back. (To be continued)