“I can’t counter this poison.”

Although it was a rare, solemn expression on his face, the other two clearly had no mood to appreciate it. Qiu Huan’s concern for Duan Yunhe was plain for all to see, while Yuan Mo worried that if anything happened to Duan Yunhe, Qiu Huan would be heartbroken and thus took the matter to heart.

“I’ve examined the poison on the blade; it shouldn’t be too difficult to neutralize,” said Qiu Huan. The blade he referred to was none other than the flying dagger Wang Laohu used as a hidden weapon—back then he’d brought one back, and now it finally came in handy.

“Indeed, it’s just an ordinary anesthetic,” Cheng Jingtian said with confidence.

“So…” Qiu Huan recalled the chaotic pulse he’d felt when taking Duan Yunhe’s pulse last night, and a hint of inquiry appeared in his eyes as he looked at her.

Cheng Jingtian nodded. “You must have noticed something unusual about her pulse. I confirmed it with her blood—she’s truly poisoned by several chronic toxins. And the anesthetic on the hidden weapon happened to be the carrier for one of those poisons. As a result, the interaction among these various toxins left her unconscious.”

“Interaction? You mean like using poison to fight poison?” Qiu Huan frowned. “But why would the poisoner do something so self-defeating?”

“There are two possibilities,” Cheng Jingtian gestured. “First, there may be several poisoners involved, which would explain the contradictory symptoms—the poisoners either don’t know about each other or are simply rivals. Second, there might only be one poisoner, but he himself isn’t clear about the origin of the poisons, and since he may not even be a specialist in this field, the end result is exactly what we’re seeing now.”

He tapped the table with his finger. “None of the poisons Duan Yunhe is carrying are common, right?” If they were mainland poisons, even someone without specialized knowledge could identify them; at worst, they could just ask a physician.

Cheng Jingtian nodded again. “Several rare poisons. There are very few people in the whole world who can recognize them all.”

Qiu Huan chuckled. “Do I really need to compliment you a bit?”

“Of course, Xiao Huan’s praise is something Jing Tian would never dare refuse,” Cheng Jingtian said with an expression of eager acceptance.

“Alright. I know you want me to be careful about her background—that’s clear. Since we can’t detoxify her for now, let’s get Yunhe awake first; that’s better than leaving her like this, unconscious. As for her identity… I’ll ask her myself once she wakes up.”

“Waking her up won’t be hard,” Cheng Jingtian mused for a moment. “It’s just that I’m still missing a few herbs here. Xinxiang has a pharmacy, doesn’t it?” After Yuan Mo confirmed this, he continued, “Then I’ll write out a prescription, Xiao Mo will go fetch the herbs, and Xiao Huan can stay behind to help me prepare the medicine. We’ll deal with the rest once she’s awake.”

The two naturally followed his lead.

As soon as Yuan Mo left, Qiu Huan had just brought Cheng Jingtian into the kitchen when he suddenly turned pale.

“Xiao Huan, you’re making me brew medicine in a place like this?!” Cheng Jingtian exclaimed.

Qiu Huan raised an eyebrow. “What else am I supposed to do? This isn’t Xing Gu—it’s not like we have a dedicated pharmacy here.”

“But this is where you make jam! There must be pots and pans here, right?” he insisted.

She disagreed firmly. “I certainly don’t want customers complaining later that the jam tastes like medicine.”

“Fine, fine…” Cheng Jingtian wore a look of grievance. “Who asked you to be a white owl while I’m just a little shrike? Poor Jing Tian, the ‘number one divine doctor’ and head of Xing Gu, is now stuck brewing medicine in this tiny kitchen~”

Qiu Huan rolled her eyes inwardly: calling the shrike position “little” shows that he’d probably only be satisfied if he became an emperor.

That’s right—Cheng Jingtian is also from Tonglou, and it was precisely thanks to the support of the head of this secret branch two years ago that Qiu Huan was able to succeed smoothly.

The divine doctor Jing Tian’s moods change quickly; just moments ago he was complaining, but in a matter of minutes he was already cheerfully chatting with pots and pans.

When it came time to work, though, he shed his playful demeanor and adopted a calm, serious expression that made him look very much like a real doctor.

End of Chapter 19: Encountering a Tiger in the Dark Forest