Chapter 7: Death Powder
Lin Wan blinked, her innocent mask slipping for a fraction of a second as she frantically searched her mind. "Because... because it is a deadly toxin! It is rotting my insides!"
"Fascinating," I said loudly, my voice ringing with indisputable authority. "Because any novice alchemist, any first-year medical apprentice, knows that Nightshade operates by viciously thinning the spiritual veins. It causes internal hemorrhaging that makes the blood violently, unnaturally red. Black blood is a symptom of stagnant energy, not venom."
I turned to the crowd of elders, pointing at Lin Wan. "Furthermore, Nightshade causes the pupils to dilate immediately upon ingestion, making the victim sensitive to light. Look at her eyes. Her pupils are perfectly normal. In fact, her breathing, beneath the fake coughing, is entirely steady."
Xiao Chen frowned, his royal pride conflicting with the logic I was presenting. He looked down at Lin Wan. "Wan'er... is this true? Are your symptoms incorrect?"
"I... I don't know!" Lin Wan sobbed, realizing her superficial medical knowledge was failing her. "I only know I am in agony! Sister is just trying to confuse you with false medical jargon!"
"Let me cure your agony, then," I said, my voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.
I stepped forward with lightning speed, producing a small porcelain vial from my sleeve. On my walk to the hall, I had stealthily extracted a single drop of the Spring of Life from my dimension and mixed it with water.
"Don't come near me!" Lin Wan shrieked, genuinely terrified now. She tried to scramble backward, dropping her handkerchief.
I moved faster than her. Grabbing her by the jaw with an iron grip fueled by my newly purified spiritual veins, I forced her head back and her mouth open.
"Drink your medicine, dear sister!" I hissed, my eyes burning into hers.
I dumped the contents of the vial straight down her throat, clamping her mouth shut until she was forced to swallow.
"Luoyan, stop! You're killing her!" Xiao Chen finally snapped out of his daze, drawing his sword with a metallic shing.
Before he could step forward, Lin Wan gasped.
The moment the diluted golden water hit her stomach, a wave of pure, purifying spiritual energy flared outward. The 'Fake Death Powder' in her system was instantly annihilated. The dark tint vanished from her lips. Her pale, sickly complexion flushed with a perfectly healthy, radiant, rosy color. The sweat dried on her brow.
She looked absolutely glowing. Better, healthier, and more vibrant than she had all week.
A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the hall.
"My, my," I mocked, releasing her jaw and stepping back. Lin Wan slumped to the floor, staring at her own trembling hands in sheer horror as her "fatal symptoms" completely and utterly disappeared. "What an absolutely miraculous recovery from a lethal dose of Nightshade. It’s almost as if you were never poisoned at all. Almost as if you just ingested a cheap, parlor-trick powder to frame me."
The elders of the Shen family weren't fools. Seeing Lin Wan perfectly fine, practically radiating health seconds after being on death's door, the pieces clicked into place. Whispers of disgust began to ripple through the crowd, this time directed entirely at the kneeling girl in white.
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