Pampered Poisonous Royal Wife-Chapter 2046 - 526: Return to the Sky Punishment Pavilion (Part 2)
During this past month and a half, she has thoroughly enjoyed her time with the Dragon Clan. While the outside world is full of strife and intrigue, the members of the Dragon Clan are simple and sincere. Aside from the infighting among a few top families, this tribe is truly a paradise untainted by the troubles of the world.
Ever since becoming the Dragon-Taming Technique Successor, An Yiqing has developed an indescribable attachment to the Dragon Tribe. She doesn’t want this tribe to vanish, nor does she want the guardians of this land to perish one by one.
At least, she doesn’t want to see her Xiao Hong in unbearable grief.
This is why An Yiqing has lingered with the Dragon Clan for so long without leaving.
As night falls, a crescent moon emerges intermittently through the clouds. Under the night sky, only a few stars are visible as thick clouds blanket the heavens, suggesting that a heavy downpour may soon follow.
The Dragon Tribe has settled into tranquility with the arrival of night. Without televisions or computers, the Dragon Clansmen rise and retire with the sun. At nightfall, they light dim candles, gathering on beds to chat or fall asleep early.
Along the banks of the Luo River, a long chain of candlelight links together, forming a giant fiery dragon. Following the river upstream, the Clan Leader’s Residence is located at the uppermost point. Behind it stretch the endless and rolling mountains. Between two of these mountains stands the Sky Punishment Pavilion.
An Yiqing and Long Zixuan, both dressed in nightwear, skillfully navigate through the mountains, leaving only faint shadows behind.
Every night, the Sky Punishment Pavilion is brightly lit, with patrols alternating constantly outside the tower, ensuring that not even a fly could get through.
At this time, Xuan Mo is supposed to be ’cultivating’ in the back mountain. An Yiqing and Long Zixuan hide in a corner, carefully observing the Sky Punishment Pavilion’s internal dynamics.
"Xuan Mo isn’t inside the tower; everything’s normal." An Yiqing, retrieving her Clairvoyant Eye, uses the Invisibility Technique and swiftly sneaks into the Sky Punishment Pavilion with Long Zixuan.
The fourth floor of the Sky Punishment Pavilion is the rooms of successive Pavilion Masters. From the staircase, one can see a total of four rooms on this level. The room to the left of the stairs is Xuan Mo’s bedroom. Opposite it is the Sky Punishment Pavilion’s Scripture Pavilion. The two rooms further inside include one used by Xuan Mo for reading and cultivation, and the last room is the Sword Pavilion where the Dragon-Slaying Sword is stored.
With Old Jin’s help, An Yiqing and Long Zixuan successfully reach the fourth floor and head straight for the Sword Pavilion where the Dragon-Slaying Sword is kept.
At the entrance, An Yiqing pauses, using her Clairvoyant Eye to peer inside.
The Sword Pavilion is not large, about sixteen square meters. The room is pitch black, devoid of any furniture, save for an Eight Immortals Table placed in the corner. On the table stands a sword rack, prominently displaying an entirely pitch-black treasured sword.
This must be the Sky Punishment Pavilion’s treasure, the Dragon-Slaying Sword!
After careful observation and confirming there are no traps, An Yiqing silently pushes open the door to the Sword Pavilion.
"Sister An, this is the Dragon-Slaying Sword," Long Zixuan says, excitedly stepping forward to gaze at the legendary weapon.
"Are you sure?"
Long Zixuan hesitates, a flicker of doubt in his eyes, "Sister An, the Dragon-Slaying Sword is the Pavilion Master’s weapon from the Sky Punishment Pavilion, always stored here. Even the past Dragon Clan leaders have never seen its true form. But there’s a depiction and illustrations of it in the Dragon Clan’s historical records—I saw them as a child. This should be it, no mistake."
An Yiqing presses her lips together, staring at the Dragon-Slaying Sword, sensing something amiss. She slowly reaches out to touch the black blade.
However, just before touching it, An Yiqing suddenly stops, deciding not to step forward.
"Sister An, is something wrong?" Long Zixuan asks in confusion.
An Yiqing remains silent, her expression slightly darkening, her gaze shifting. Moments later, she retracts her right hand, exhaling a breath, "The sword is poisoned."
"Poisoned?" Long Zixuan gasps softly.
An Yiqing nods, plucking a random blade of grass from the Ancient Space and tossing it onto the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
Instantly, the grass rapidly disintegrates, turning into vapor.
Long Zixuan sucks in a sharp breath; thinking about how An Yiqing’s hand was just about to touch it sends sweat trickling down his spine!
"Sister An, how did you know?"
"The moment I entered this room, I felt uneasy, like something was off," An Yiqing says, shaking her head. Though normally sensitive to toxins, her sense wasn’t keen enough to identify severe poisons by sight alone. What betrayed it was the atmosphere in this room. She recognized it; when she was researching Corpse-Dissolving Liquid in the lab for some time, she remembered the decayed smell in the lab that was very similar to this Sword Pavilion’s odor. Back then, she conducted experiments using many dead animal carcasses. Although the lab was equipped with air purifiers, there was still a strong smell of decay. The ambiance in this Sword Pavilion is nearly identical to how the lab was.
For a regular person, even a medical expert, it would be hard to detect. But An Yiqing, spending so much time surrounded by rotting corpses, became incredibly familiar with the odor.
Therefore, she deduced that there had to have been many rapidly corroding corpses in this Sword Pavilion.
Only poison can cause such quick corpse corrosion.
It’s safe to say, An Yiqing’s experience saved her life.
"Sister An, can you neutralize the poison on this?" Long Zixuan asks.
An Yiqing shakes her head, "I don’t know what composes the toxin; it can’t be solved quickly. But perhaps I can collect a sample for study later." Saying this, she conjures a transparent, colorless Jade Spirit, scraping a small piece off and rubbing it on the Dragon-Slaying Sword’s blade.
The Jade Spirit, being a natural essence, is naturally impervious to toxins.
"Let’s take a look at Xuan Mo’s bedroom, maybe we’ll find something useful."
Xuan Mo’s bedroom appears quite ordinary, with a row of shelves, a large bed, a round table, and several bamboo chairs.
Long Zixuan walks around the room, casually flipping through things on the shelves, disappointedly finding that Xuan Mo has no secrets hidden here.
"Sister An, doesn’t Xuan Mo’s room seem too clean?" Long Zixuan complains casually.
"It is indeed a bit too clean," An Yiqing remarks, rubbing her chin, scanning the room without missing even Xuan Mo’s wardrobe. Finally, she concludes that this Xuan Mo doesn’t even need a bathroom, an odd individual.
"Zixuan, do your Dragon Clan members not have to go to the bathroom?"
Long Zixuan is momentarily perplexed, "The Dragon Clan’s metabolism is different from humans, but we do need bathrooms."
"And do you need toilet paper?" An Yiqing follows up.
Long Zixuan is at a loss, "Sister An, the Dragon Clan is a high-ranking race; like humans, we definitely use paper in the bathroom—" His voice cuts off abruptly.
He realizes what’s odd about this room.
Whether human or Dragon Clan, everyone needs daily essentials, like toiletries, food, water, even toilet paper. Yet in this room, all of these are absent, leaving only a bed and a few clothes; excessively clean!
This doesn’t even resemble a bedroom, let alone a temporary residence.
"Sister An..."
An Yiqing chuckles coldly, "It seems your Pavilion Master loves to play tricks on the eyes, and he does it tirelessly."
With that, she deploys the Clairvoyant Eye, swiftly scanning the room. As suspected, there’s a secret chamber!
Standing before the bookshelf, An Yiqing observes quietly for a long while. After a moment, she suddenly bends down, feeling around a crack between the floor and wall, a bright look crossing her face.
Her fingertip touches an inconspicuous bump; she presses it lightly—
The bookshelf silently splits apart, revealing a pitch-black entrance.
