Chapter 196: Investigating the Altar

Zhang Jun and Lin Xue exchanged a glance, no need for many words.

"I'll go first." Before Zhang Jun's words faded, he had already turned sideways and slipped into the dark passage beneath the altar.

Lin Xue followed closely, stepping into this unknown.

The cave was narrow; one had to hunch to move forward, the stone walls slick and slimy, winding down with no visible bottom.

Not a trace of the outside's deadly miasma seeped in; instead, a thin thread of herbal fragrance drifted out from the cave's depths.

As the two went deeper, the scent grew cleaner and more invigorating.

"This smell," Lin Xue sniffed, her voice muffled in the narrow tunnel, "much nicer; my head feels clearer, unlike the poisonous vapors in the valley that sting the nose."

Zhang Jun gave an affirmative hum; indeed, after a few breaths of this fragrance, his pure yang energy stirred with cheer, and the fatigue from his fight with the old man eased a bit.

Lin Xue's profound yin energy likewise flowed smoothly; in this pure realm it was lively and unimpeded.

Not far in, the jade pendants pressed against their chests suddenly heated up.

Zhang Jun's yang jade glowed with a soft white light, while Lin Xue's yin jade shed a faint blue.

The two beams crossed, shooting straight into the depths of the passage, as if something ahead was pulling them.

"The pendants are burning hot, and the light has grown brighter." Zhang Jun rubbed his chest.

Lin Xue hummed in agreement: "Down here there truly is something good; it's most likely left behind by True Person Shouyi."

After feeling their way down a bit longer, faint carvings could be seen on the stone walls on both sides.

The inscriptions were ancient, their strokes weathered, making many spots illegible.

Lin Xue stopped, extended a finger, gently wiped away the dust on the wall, and leaned in to look.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she pondered for a while before speaking: "This script… matches the handwriting of True Person Shouyi in the bamboo slips Qin Yueyao gave me. It reads like medical notes, yet also seems a warning to future generations."

She pointed to a line and read aloud: "'Herbs divide yin and yang, likewise life and death; those who use them well live, those who act recklessly die…' That's unmistakably True Person Shouyi's tone."

Zhang Jun was baffled, not understanding these twists and turns; seeing Lin Xue absorbed, he took on the job of watching ahead and behind, lest anything unexpected pop up.

Continuing forward, the slope beneath their feet eased considerably.

Ahead lay a heavy stone door, sealed tight.

The door panel was pitted and uneven, not flat, but filled with variously sized grooves; up close, each groove resembled a different herb.

"A lock opened by herbs?" Lin Xue's eyes lit up.

Zhang Jun shoved with all his might, but the stone door, as if rooted to the ground, didn't budge; it seemed hopelessly stubborn.

Lin Xue curled the corner of her mouth, pulling herbs one by one from the medicine pouch at her waist.

She murmured under her breath, as if reciting a medical mantra; her fingers were nimble, she picked a stalk of "dragon tongue grass" and pressed it into a long groove, then took a petal of "phoenix tail flower" and carefully tucked it into another hole.

Her movements were swift and sure, knowing exactly which herb went where without hesitation; she truly mastered this pharmaceutical knowledge.

Zhang Jun watched from the side, clicking his tongue in admiration; "Xue'er's medical skill is getting more divine by the moment."

Soon after, Lin Xue slipped the final fragment of "nine-section sweetflag" root into an inconspicuous hole at the center of the stone door.

"Mmm!"

Lin Xue gave a soft hum; the chill surged along her energy, piercing her viscera, making her body shudder slightly.

Almost simultaneously, the yin jade pressed against her chest flared with an azure light, a cool sensation spreading instantly through her body, dispelling the backlashing chill.

The pendants' light flickered urgently, as if warning her that great danger lurked beneath the altar.

Lin Xue dared not experiment further; instead she examined every part of the altar closely.

At the altar's edge, a small patch covered in thick moss made her pause.

The moss there was paler than elsewhere, as if something had been rubbing against it for years.

She extended a finger and gently pushed aside the moss.

Beneath the moss lay a flat stone slab.

On the slab's corner was etched a tiny mark that made her heart leap—a simplified herb diagram, a very ancient, obscure secret symbol of the Medicine Sect's lineage!

True Person Shouyi!

Lin Xue's heart raced; now the notes on the beast‑skin fragment were most likely true!

She held her breath, pressed both hands on the slab, and pushed slowly.

The slab was heavy and wouldn't budge.

After a moment's thought, she channeled her profound yin energy through a certain secret transmission of the Medicine Sect into her palms.

"Crack."

A faint click of a mechanism's spring sounded, and the stone slab swung open, revealing a narrow downward passage just wide enough for one person to slip into.

Strangely, the passage held no trace of the dark‑green miasma; instead, an extremely faint, pure herbal fragrance drifted up from below.

This aroma was utterly unlike the overpowering toxic vapors of Wan Yao Gu; a single whiff cleared the mind.

Elsewhere, Zhang Jun's struggle with the hunched old man had reached a critical point.

Having been disrupted by Lin Xue's earlier "Disorienting Fragrance," the Bronze Cauldron's hold on the miasma weakened considerably; the old man could no longer freely draw on its power as before, his abilities greatly diminished.

Zhang Jun would not let this chance slip; his attacks came wave after wave, growing ever fiercer.

"Breaking Yang Fist!"

He shouted angrily, golden light exploding on his right fist; his pure yang energy condensed intensely, forming a visible fist aura that smashed through the old man's layered defenses laid out with his staff.

"Bang!"

This punch landed squarely on the old man's chest.

The old man's frail frame jerked backward, his chest caving in a large hollow; he emitted an inhuman wail, flew limp like a broken kite, and crashed heavily into the medicinal garden several zhang away, crushing a patch of strange poisonous herbs.

"Cough… cough cough…"

The hunched old man struggled to rise, but spat out several mouthfuls of black blood, his whole body wilting, his breath so weak it could snap at any moment.

He glared fiercely at Zhang Jun and Lin Xue on the altar, his expression seeming to want to devour them alive.

However, he didn't rush at him again to fight desperately.

He split his mouth open, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, his smile uglier than a cry.

"Heh... hehe... you... wait..."

Before his words even fell, he slammed the ground; the earth beneath him exploded, and he strangely sank down, vanishing in an instant, leaving only a dark pit and a strong earthy stench.

"He ran away?" Zhang Jun walked to the edge of the pit, furrowed his brows.

Lin Xue leapt down from the altar and quickly came to his side: "This old guy has quite a few tricks. That passage below is the real matter."