Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 468 Critical Condition (4)_1

Chapter 468: Chapter 468 Critical Condition (4)_1

"Aoow—" Little Flower understood her master’s intention, obediently nuzzled her hand with its large head, and then called out to Maomao.

To save a life was as urgent as putting out a fire, and Mo Yan dared not delay any longer. She quickly left the Space with Little Flower and Maomao.

The room’s door was being banged fiercely, accompanied by the anxious shouts of Xin Er, Mo Wu, and others. Mo Yan swiftly opened the door, and under the astonished gaze of the crowd, Maomao, with wings fluttering rapidly, soared into the high skies, and soon became a small black dot that disappeared under the blue sky and white clouds; Little Flower was no exception, spreading its hooves like a speeding Arrow, and ran out of the yard following the direction Maomao had flown, quickly vanishing from sight...

Faced with the concerned greetings from Xin Er and the others, Mo Yan’s mind was in turmoil, uncertain how to explain. Seeing that she was unwilling to speak, though they were very worried, they dared not press her for information and could only convince her to lie down and rest.

Mo Yan’s mind was in disarray, so she lay on the bed pretending to be sound asleep according to their suggestion, and once they left, she suddenly opened her eyes, her mind whirring rapidly as she pondered what dangers Xiao Ruiyuan might have encountered.

In his last letter, he had clearly stated that he would return by mid-April. Today was already the eighteenth of April. Based on the timeline, he ought to be on the road, or even very close to Jing City. As the commander of the 100,000 Army, he had emerged victorious this time, not only retaking lost cities but also slaying tens of thousands of enemies, inflicting severe damage to the Bai people’s morale, to the point where they dared not invade Great Chu again for some time. At this moment, his reputation was at its peak—who would harm him now?

Could it be political rivals? Or the Bai people, unwilling to accept defeat, sent assassins to kill him? Or... due to his outstanding achievements, did he provoke the jealousy of those in power, who wished to get rid of him?

Considering the last possibility, Mo Yan’s face drained of color, a wave of suffocating pain surged in her chest, nearly leaving her breathless. Looking at the dried blood in her palm, she wished she could sprout wings and fly to his side to ensure he was safe with her own eyes.

...

Near a small river where the grassland was stained red with blood, there appeared nearly a hundred warriors in combat attire. They held Sharp Swords and formed a circle, faithfully guarding the person in the middle, not even allowing a fly to pass through. These warriors were the elite Guards of the Prince’s Mansion, who had been ordered by the Crown Prince to rendezvous with Doctor Gui and assist Xiao Ruiyuan but had arrived a step too late.

After inserting the last Silver Needle, Doctor Gui, drenched in sweat, stood up. Perhaps because he had been bending over for too long, he felt momentarily dizzy. If not for the quick reaction of the Guard beside him, who promptly supported him, he might have fallen to the ground.

Xiao Ruiyuan lay on the ground, his upper body bare, his eyes tightly shut, and his face completely devoid of color. However, his thin lips displayed an unnatural purplish-blue, a clear sign of poisoning; nearly a hundred Silver Needles were crowded around his chest area, and in the center, surrounded by the needles, an Arrow had pierced through his chest, with only a short length of the feather showing.

It turned out that among the assassins sent to kill, there was a skillful archer. He had been lying in wait in the nearby dense forest, poised to strike, and at the moment when Xiao Ruiyuan let down his guard, the archer released that poisoned arrow. If Xiao Ruiyuan hadn’t instinctively sensed the danger and turned his body aside just as the arrow was about to hit him, it would have pierced directly through his heart, leaving no chance of survival. Even so, the deadly poison smeared on the arrowhead had deeply infiltrated his body.

After a while, as Doctor Gui regained some strength, he squatted down and took Xiao Ruiyuan’s pulse again. Seeing that the pulse was even weaker than before, he closed his eyes with a pained expression.

Despite rushing over, it was still too late. Although he had used all his skills to seal the young Xiao lad’s heart meridian, the poison had still seeped into it—it was beyond the help of gods!

Seeing this, Xiao Jiu immediately realized that their master was in dire straits. Overcome with sudden extreme grief, he grabbed Doctor Gui, questioning incredulously, "Both were poisoned by ’Heart-eating poison.’ Back then, you managed to contain this intense poison for His Highness, so why can’t you find a way to save our master now?"

Heart-eating poison, a type introduced to Great Chu from an Alien Region decades ago, was exceedingly ferocious. Once it invaded the heart meridian, the poisoned person would go through excruciating agony before finally dying a painful death.

Doctor Gui didn’t take offense at his rudeness, with reddened eyes, he looked at the even weaker Xiao Ruiyuan and said, "His Highness survived by consuming the Imperial Family’s treasured Blood Lingzhi. Even if a second Blood Lingzhi appeared now, the Xiao lad would not be able to wait. That’s fate!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jiu’s face fell into despair, and he felt as though all his strength had been sapped away. His grip on Doctor Gui’s hand unconsciously loosened.

Seeing this, Doctor Gui’s heart ached even more. Thinking of the bottle of Red Python’s Gallbladder in the medicine chamber, he felt an even deeper regret. If Xiao lad’s body hadn’t been emptied by the poison, with just a small piece of Black Lingzhi... no, even a Blood Lingzhi, combined with Red Python’s Gallbladder, without the Thousand-year Ginseng, he was confident he could save Xiao lad. But Black Lingzhi had not appeared in the world for five hundred years, even rarer than Thousand-year Ginseng.

Now that the Heart-eating poison had entered the heart meridian, no matter how profound Xiao lad’s skills or remarkable his willpower, he wouldn’t be able to last through the night. With such a short time, finding Black Lingzhi was an impossible task!

Xiao Ruiyuan, who was still fighting against the Heart-eating poison with his eyes closed, was not unconscious. He heard every word of Doctor Gui and Xiao Jiu’s conversation clearly. He never believed in the so-called "fate"; otherwise, he would have died more than a decade ago, when he was framed and fell into a pack of wolves.

As long as he had a breath left, he would never give up hope for life. He hadn’t lived to see her again, and he hadn’t even been able to tell her personally that his heart cherished her... Thinking of the woman he had kept hidden in his heart, Xiao Ruiyuan, with great effort against the agonizing pain in his chest, forcibly opened his eyes, his ordinarily cold gaze now brimming with a captivating intensity...