Chapter 572: Obtaining the Dragon Herb

Chapter 572: Getting the Dragon Herb

The next second, thousands of arrows shot out from above the viewing platform, raining down on them.

Ji Yuntang reacted fast. She grabbed Hua Feixue and pulled him into her space, just barely dodging the attack.

However, Hua Feixue caught a scrape on his arm from a blade. Ji Yuntang quickly whipped out some medicine and bandaged him up.

Hua Feixue was still rattled. He asked, looking puzzled, "How did you know there would be danger here?"

Ji Yuntang said, "The second we walked in, I could tell someone had been here. The groove outside was spotless, like someone had come by and wiped it clean. But who the hell would come to a place like this?"

"So I figured the Old Witch must have messed with it again. When your blood dripped into the groove just now, my space's infrared sensors picked up a faint sound from inside, and that's when I shoved you out of the way."

"If I'm right, the Old Witch had someone reinforce the formation. She can't get into the forbidden ground herself, but she's not about to let anyone else take what's inside. If anyone tries to trigger it, the traps up top will pop out and turn us into pincushions."

Hua Feixue, still shaken, let out a long breath. He looked at Ji Yuntang and said, "You've saved this Crown Prince's life again. If I ever get the chance, I'll find a way to repay you."

Ji Yuntang smiled nonchalantly. "You're too kind. We've been through so much—we're practically brothers in arms by now, aren't we?"

Hua Feixue nodded. "That's right, we're friends now. So if you ever need anything from this Crown Prince, I'll have your back no matter what."

As they were talking, Ji Yuntang noticed the traps outside had stopped. She said, "It should be safe out there now. Let's head out."

Once they were out, Ji Yuntang saw spiderweb cracks all over the entrance to the viewing platform. She gave it a hard shove, but it wouldn't budge.

Hua Feixue asked curiously, "Not enough blood? Should this Crown Prince drip some more?"

Ji Yuntang shot him an amused look. "No need for all that. Forget I've got a secret weapon?"

She pulled a grenade out of her space, yanked the pin, and chucked it at the base of the viewing platform.

Hua Feixue had seen what grenades could do before. This time, he didn't need Ji Yuntang to tell him—he bolted like a scared rabbit.

Ji Yuntang's mouth twitched, and she ducked back into her space in a flash.

A huge "boom" echoed outside as the viewing platform blew apart, revealing what was inside the forbidden ground.

It was a narrow cave covered in moss, dead leaves, and cobwebs, like no one had set foot in there for years.

The cave stretched on into darkness, pitch black and endless.

Ji Yuntang pulled out two flashlights and two gas masks from her space and handed one of each to Hua Feixue.

"Alright, let's head in and check it out."

Hua Feixue took point, walking ahead to keep Ji Yuntang out of harm's way.

They found a bunch of skeletons in the cave, plus a faint whiff of sulfur.

Ji Yuntang figured these were the people who'd dug the cave, then got poisoned to death here.

The further they went, the bigger the cave got. They heard water flowing and followed the sound deeper in.

Along the way, they ran into some vampire bats, and Ji Yuntang took care of all of them with her gun.

After going another two hundred meters or so, Hua Feixue suddenly pointed at a plant on the cave wall and shouted, "Look! Is that the Dragon Scale Herb you've been looking for?"

Ji Yuntang immediately looked where he was pointing.

There, five meters up the stone wall, was a blood-red plant. In the light, its leaves gleamed like dragon scales, looking like a dragon soaring through the sky.

And hanging from the branching roots were three red fruits, plump and gorgeous.

Ji Yuntang's heart skipped a beat with excitement. "This really is the Dragon Scale Herb, and those are its fruits."

Both the fruits and the herb were super rare, top-tier medicinal ingredients.

The fruits can cure any poison, and the herb can strengthen the body. As long as you've got a breath left in you, it'll keep you alive.

You have to be super careful when picking it—if you break the roots, the medicinal effects drop off big time.

Ji Yuntang said to Hua Feixue, "Wait here. I'm going up to get the Dragon Scale Herb."

Hua Feixue nodded and said, "Okay, be careful. Yell if you need anything."

Ji Yuntang pulled out her climbing gear, strapped one end around her waist, tossed the other up to catch the wall, and carefully climbed.

The picking went smoothly, but just as she was about to climb down, she spotted a black box tucked in a corner of the cave—easy to miss.

Ji Yuntang brought the box down with her as well.

After making sure the contents weren't dangerous, she carefully opened it.

Inside was nothing but an ordinary-looking slip of paper.

When she unfolded the paper and read its contents, Ji Yuntang's expression shifted through a rainbow of colors.

Hua Feixue asked curiously, "What does it say?"

Ji Yuntang handed him the paper. "See for yourself."

After Hua Feixue read it, his expression also turned strange.

"So, the treasure map that the Old Witch desperately wanted to find... never even existed?"

On the paper were just a few short lines:

"No treasure, no goods. Seek not, yearn not. With a heart free of greed, one may achieve greatness."

Ji Yuntang shrugged and said, "Too bad she's already dead. If she knew the treasure map she'd been searching for decades was just these sixteen characters, she'd probably be so angry she'd come back to life."

Hua Feixue was equally speechless. Empress Dowager Yuan had nearly wiped out the entire Chu imperial clan for the sake of this so-called treasure map.

And this was what it amounted to?

Having found the Dragon Scale Herb, Ji Yuntang also gathered some other precious herbs in the cave before the two made their way back.

Ji Yuntang gave one of the Dragon Scale Herb's fruits to Hua Feixue, telling him it could be used in medicine to cure all poisons and was extremely precious—it could save a life if poisoned.

Hua Feixue accepted it.

She then took out the treasures she had emptied from the Blood Rain Sect, as agreed, and returned them to Hua Feixue from her space.

The treasures filled an entire room. Seeing all of it, Hua Feixue felt a complex mix of emotions.

He remembered that it was because of these very things that he had crossed paths with Ji Yuntang in the first place, and it was through that that he was able to avenge himself.

The two of them had truly become friends through their initial conflict.

Thinking of this, Hua Feixue ordered someone to bring out an item and handed it to Ji Yuntang.

"This Crown Prince also has a gift for you."

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