Chapter 83 It's going to be made into medicinal herbs.

Xie Mianmian placed her hands on it, tried to stand on tiptoe, and peeked inside. She found a quiet, verdant courtyard, where the magnificent doll was.

She babbled and climbed over the window. Xie Mianmian did it with ease, a skill honed from countless attempts at climbing through windows.

Xie Mianmian walked in its direction, but stopped at a place where there was a sealed well, which was not surprising.

Strangely, a small statue was hidden in the grass, with a fish tail sticking out. Xie Mianmian squatted down curiously, parted the grass, and took a look.

It is a small stone statue of a chiwen (a mythical creature), yet it is incredibly lifelike.

Xie Mianmian usually sees them on the roof ridge. Chiwen is a mythical beast that can ward off lightning and swallow fire. Apart from the last sacrificial ceremony, she didn't expect to see it here again.

The child curiously examined the mysterious and strange mythical beast, reaching out to flick its high-swung fish tail, only to discover that the fish tail could rotate.

Xie Mianmian suddenly seemed to have discovered something fun and began to twist and turn the stone statue.

"Click." A very slight sound, as if some mechanism had been activated.

Xie Mianmian looked around and found that the well that was originally sealed had been opened. There was a set of steps leading down into the dark hole below. The child shook his head and was about to leave.

A faint scent wafted up – it was the scent of the demonic monk!

Xie Mianmian had second thoughts and didn't want to play hide-and-seek with the dolls anymore. She just wanted to go back and tell her family that there were bad people inside!

Just as Xie Mianmian turned around, a pair of pale, thin hands reached out from the well, suddenly covered the child's mouth, and dragged her down.

The doll in the distance waved for a long time, but the child didn't come over. He ran to the place where the view was blocked and saw that the person could disappear right under his nose. Ah, he quietly shattered.

Xie Mianmian was enveloped by a strong smell. She remembered it; it was the smell of blood, the smell she had smelled when the snow wolf gave birth.

With a loud crash, Xie Mianmian was locked in an iron cage and slammed to the ground.

Xie Mianmian struggled to sit up, frowning as she looked at the person. The ground was dark, and the person was hidden in the dim candlelight.

The scene gradually overlapped with the one where he had first seen that wicked monk. "It's you! You're the monk who ordered the village head to be sacrificed alive!"

The person slowly revealed his face. It was not the repulsive appearance Xie Mianmian had imagined, but rather a man with regular features, resembling a gentle and refined scholar.

"Hehehe, you've come at the right time. You let my medicinal herbs go back then, now you're here to make up for it."

The demonic monk laughed, and the orange candlelight illuminated his grinning mouth. Only then did Xie Mianmian notice a line of red liquid running from the corner of his mouth to his chin.

"What do you want to do?" Xie Mianmian couldn't help but shrink back.

The wicked monk spread his arms wide, raised his head triumphantly, and declared, "I will create a medicine that is unique in the world! Once it is done, I will be able to reach a position second only to the emperor!"

After saying that, he burst into maniacal laughter.

"Bang!" He suddenly walked over and slapped the iron cage. "You'll get a share of the credit then!" He laughed wildly again.

"This eccentric monk is crazy," Xie Mianmian thought to herself.

She quietly observed the situation. The space was not large, and in the middle was a gourd-shaped furnace about half a person's height, which looked like an alchemy furnace.

There was a large wooden table next to it, piled with all sorts of bottles and jars, as well as many shriveled brown objects that children couldn't name, which looked rather sinister.

At this moment, the demonic monk was picking at the dried, yellowed herbs on top, muttering to himself, "Don't rush, don't rush, it'll be your turn soon."

Xie Mianmian discovered that besides the iron cage that held her, there were many other cages of different sizes nearby, filled with strange and unusual animals: snakes, scorpions, and more...

Xie Mianmian was looking around when she was startled by a praying mantis that suddenly appeared in front of her. "Ah!" the child exclaimed.

Good heavens! The praying mantis was standing right in front of her on the cage next to her. It was a pale blue-green color, holding up its sickle-like claws, tilting its head and looking at her with its beady eyes.

Xie Mianmian covered her pounding heart with both hands. She was most afraid of these kinds of insects, even more so than seeing the demonic monk.

Hearing the child's noise, the wicked monk raised his head and smiled evilly, "Scared!"

Xie Mianmian nodded vigorously, scared, begging him to let her out, saying it was scarier than him.

She could only huddle tightly on the other side of the cage, speaking to the demonic monk, "What kind of medicine are you trying to make? It's so potent!"

"It doesn't hurt to tell you, since you are one of the medicinal ingredients anyway."

The demonic monk paused, then said in a longing tone, "Of course, it's the legendary elixir of immortality!"

Xie Mianmian asked tremblingly, "You said it's a legend, how can a legend be true? There are even mermaids in the legends, but there's no evidence to prove it. Besides, do you even have the correct prescription...?"

The evil monk glared at her fiercely. After a pause, Xie Mianmian still spoke, though in a soft voice, "If the prescription is fake, then no matter how genuine Mianmian is, she can't make the elixir of immortality."

"Enough with the nonsense!" The demonic monk stopped what he was doing and said with certainty, "It's the prescription that noble person gave me, it can't be fake."

"A distinguished guest?" Xie Mianmian gripped the iron bars with both hands, her face pressed against them. "Who is it?"

The demonic monk remained silent.

"Mianmian is about to become a medicinal herb, so why don't you say something?"

Seeing the child's harmless appearance, the demonic monk was not wary of her at all. In a good mood, he became more talkative. "I don't know exactly who it is, but I do know that the noble person has connections in the palace and sent someone to give me some ancient prescriptions that have been lost for a long time."

He glanced at the child casually, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across his face. "Oh, right, there's also a prescription that can bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded. I've heard that Miss Xie is famous throughout the capital for her beauty and grace, and she could be my next ingredient."

"You two sisters can be together now, aren't you happy?"