Chapter 123 — Grand as Poetry
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu stepped forward to the jade couch, sat upon a jade chair, and said, "Empress Dowager."
A hand extended from behind the curtain and rested on the edge of the couch. Shen Mu took the pulse. After a moment, he turned and said, "Do any of you have silver needles?"
An elderly physician stepped forward and handed him his silver needles. Shen Mu took one and pricked the Empress Dowager's fingertip. Lord Yan coughed and whispered, "A capital offense..."
"Lord Yan, we shall bear it together."
Shen Mu's yuanqi surged forth, suspending the drop of blood in midair. He gazed at it intently.
"Open!"
He gave a low shout, and the Lingxiao Heavenly Eye opened. He looked into the blood, and at the same time his five fingers clenched tight, then suddenly splayed outward. The drop of blood instantly swelled, becoming a large, vivid crimson sphere.
Shen Mu hesitated a moment, then gave another low shout. "Open!"
Within his pupils, countless formation patterns rotated, forming a second heaven—the Qingxiao Heavenly Eye!
Shen Mu felt his yuanqi was somewhat insufficient, difficult to sustain. He turned and said, "Lord Yan, might I borrow your yuanqi cultivation for a moment?"
Lord Yan stepped forward, his yuanqi surging into Shen Mu's body, and whispered, "Young divine physician, are you certain..."
Shen Mu's body trembled violently. Borrowing Lord Yan's yuanqi to pour into his eyes—hum, hum, hum—layer upon layer of sage pupils opened, allowing him to see the drop of blood with absolute clarity, every hidden thing within it unable to escape his eyes. The Blind Elder had fully transmitted the Nine Heavens Gazing Art to him, but Shen Mu's current cultivation was insufficient to open all nine heavens at once; he could only borrow Lord Yan's cultivation.
Shen Mu's eyes blazed with divine light. Two beams of sacred radiance shot from his eyes, a full foot in length. Suddenly, Shen Mu flung open the curtain, the divine light in his eyes surging explosively, and shone it upon the Empress Dowager on the couch.
The Empress Dowager had not expected him to be so audacious as to dare throw open the curtain. Her eyes immediately turned toward him, her gaze like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, imposing without anger.
Shen Mu met her gaze, and the divine light in his eyes dispersed. "I have already discerned the Empress Dowager's illness. The Empress Dowager has been poisoned."
Though the Empress Dowager lay on a sickbed, her countenance aged, one could still see the bearing of one who had once been mother to the realm—a rare beauty. She closed her eyes and said, "This哀家's body grows weaker by the day. Some physicians of the Imperial Physician Office say it is illness, others say poison. There is no consensus. How can you be certain I have been poisoned?"
"The poison within Your Highness is called the Thousand Mechanisms Poison."
Shen Mu said, "This poison is a rare toxin refined from a thousand poisonous substances, each linked to the next. Once the Thousand Mechanisms Poison is refined, its toxicity transforms endlessly, and there is almost no antidote. Any antidote will cause the toxicity to undergo yet another transformation, rendering the antidote useless. The more treatments are attempted, the deeper the toxicity, the crueler the torment. Your Highness has been poisoned for a long time. Fortunately, Your Highness's cultivation is profound, and some physicians did not treat Your Highness's illness but instead used efficacious elixirs to prolong Your Highness's life. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable."
The several physicians of the Imperial Physician Office were all greatly shaken. They exchanged glances and said nothing.
The Empress Dowager said breathlessly, "Physicians, does such a poison exist?"
Physician Yu bowed and said, "Replying to the Empress Dowager, such a poison does exist. It is said to have been refined by the Jade-Faced Poison King, but no one has ever seen it, and therefore..."