Chapter 75 Entrance Exam ② Entrance Exam Two, Demon...
"Love-sickness."
Upon approaching the unconscious humans, Enid easily identified the root cause of their coma: heartbreak syndrome. This was the easiest to identify and the easiest to cure; as long as the Moonlight Rose was available, there would be no problem.
Legend has it that true love is so powerful that it can move all things to pity, and thus moon roses will bloom nearby. However, love that is not pure enough will not receive moon roses. That is how the story goes. But it is only because some places are not suited to moon roses. They are a bit strangely delicate and will become less lovely after blooming for the first time.
"Sister, you are the honored guests the prophet spoke of. You must have a way to save Dad and Mom, right?"
The girl looked utterly pitiful; she was on the verge of tears again. Enid reached out and patted her head, then smiled and nodded. Of course, she could heal them, even if such illnesses were merely a means of tormenting them repeatedly. Even if everything here was not real, the pain in this moment was real. She could only regret that she couldn't break the cycle of this curse, because this was the exam, the secret realm, not reality.
"I can cure it."
“Great! His Highness the Prophet has prepared gifts and a thank-you present! You can go directly to the Prophet! He's in the blue house at the very end of this area.”
"Okay, thank you."
She reached out and touched her head, then walked out with Tim and the others. Outside the door, a thin mist still shrouded the village, and no trace of smoke could be seen. Only the sounds of a few animals passing by proved that the world had not been silenced, until Barbara's voice broke the momentary stillness.
"They...aren't human, right?"
"Yeah, it's similar to what Timmy encountered last time."
That was forbidden alchemy, using human bodies and souls as the price of exchange. The river water after the demonic purification was used as a binder, and human blood was turned into ink to draw the most intricate and vast magic array. The resulting body was one that could be completely controlled. This was described in detail in the book, and Enid had always known it, but she loathed it.
Fortunately, the traces of this spell seem to be from a long time ago. After all, thanks to Prince Oko's efforts, such bad people have been driven out, with only a few occasionally slipping through the net. The Empress has always been very strict about cracking down on such behavior.
"Moonlight Rose, is it around here?"
"Yes, that's the spot of light that Barbara saw! But she's really smart, she spotted it right away!"
The floating lights in the mist were the shadows of the Moonlight Rose. They weren't easy to spot. Enid certainly saw them, but she didn't immediately realize that the lights were pointing to the village. Well, Enid had to admit she was relying on them because she knew they would definitely find out.
“You saw it too, right?” Barbara pondered for a moment. “I think Tim and I need to keep quiet from now on. After all, it’s not our place to steal the spotlight from your exam.”
“I agree, but Barbara and I will give you some pointers.”
Her subtle thoughts were discovered, so a new plan was immediately devised. She opened her eyes wide, somewhat at a loss, but then, after thinking of something, Enid nodded vigorously. She wasn't incapable of doing it! Seeing Enid's expression, Barbara couldn't help but smile.
"Let's go, our witch, let's start brewing the antidote."
"good!"
Enid naturally led the way, and as they entered the gray-blue mist, she gently crouched down and lightly stroked the rose petals with her fingertips. Some of the transparent petals trembled slightly, and her hand carried a slightly greenish-blue light that almost blended with the mist, making them indistinguishable.
Then they saw the petals fall from Enid's hands, as if they were offering a gift to nature, but it was also a kind of illusion, because she had clearly picked them herself, yet the light in her hands was still radiating. The moon rose looked perfectly fine, as if it had just had its hair cut.
Enid stood up, holding a bunch of flower petals, her eyes bright and sparkling. Her light steps allowed her to approach them more quickly.
"It's all ready. The rest is what the village has. We can start preparing to brew the medicine." Not only did she see it, but Enid had also picked a lot on the way here. So now all the medicinal herbs are ready. Everything is in place except for the final step.
"Sister! Have you found the medicinal herbs yet?!"
The girl appeared at just the right moment. Enid nodded, and under the girl's excited gaze, they followed her into a relatively luxurious house, which clearly smelled of herbs. The girl opened the door for them and respectfully invited them into the room.
"This is His Highness the Prophet's potion room. I'm entrusting everything to you, sister!"
"good."
After watching the girl leave, Enid looked at Tim and Barbara, pursed her lips, and asked with some suspicion because of something strange: "If there is a prophet, and the prophet has a potions room, why would they need us to come? After all, the prophet should be able to do that too, right?" Her tone was filled with obvious doubt.
Tim and Barbara looked around and roughly guessed the reason, so Barbara gave Enid an encouraging look. Encouraged by Barbara, Enid thought of something. Well, she couldn't ask for the answer directly, so she calmed down, looked around carefully, and then suddenly realized.
"Okay, I understand. It seems the prophet's potion-making skills are not up to par. It's probably because he didn't control the heat properly when brewing the potions, and he's not very good at controlling the compatibility between herbs. Plants can actually fight each other quite easily, so they need to be balanced."
Enid's analysis was accurate, revealing more than they had seen. Of course, this was normal, since Enid was the one skilled in potions, not the two of them. However, it was still possible to grasp the general idea, and thus Enid received a perfect compliment.
“Very good, well done.” Compared to Tim’s somewhat restrained approval, Barbara’s was more pronounced: “Little Fia is great, of course you can do it too.”
"Great! Now it's my turn!"
Enid was pleased with the praise, but quickly regained her composure after a brief moment of elation. She calmly laid the ingredients out flat on the table, taking out her own knife, cutting board, and bowls and plates to serve them. She carefully processed the herbs and placed them on the plates.
At this time, Tim and his companions also found some notes in the potion room. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the steps for brewing the potion seemed to be the same as Enid's previous process. However, the difference was that Enid placed the petals of the Moonlight Rose in a larger bowl and used magic to condense a clear spring to soak them, a step that was not mentioned in the notes at all.
Enid seemed to notice what they were looking at, so she leaned over to take a look, and then realized what it was about.
"I was just worried about how students who didn't know the recipe would pass the test. It's great to see that it's here. Actually, this one is also acceptable, but obviously, the quality won't be as good. This is because the water attribute can neutralize the conflict between Moonlight Rose and Elmer Grass, making the brewing process smoother. This isn't my secret recipe; I learned it from the Cold Medicine recipe."
The process of brewing the cold potion involves a similar step, but instead of the moonlight rose, it uses another blue flower. However, this flower has similar properties to the moonlight rose, so it can be used as a reference. As it turns out, Enid was right. The clear and bright moonlight-colored potion, in a dimly lit room, is like spring water kissed by the moon.
When she walked out with the potion, the girl was overjoyed and ran over excitedly.
"His Highness the Prophet wants to see you, sister!" The potion needed to be examined by the Prophet before they could drink it. They also learned from the girl that the Prophet had recently injured his hand and was therefore unable to brew the potion.
Although this excuse may sound unbelievable, it is clearly a pre-arranged plot and the kind of storyline that other candidates will likely encounter. Most people would not want to make unfounded accusations about the Prophet's potion-making skills in the potion room, just like the unseen surveillance magic in the potion room (in fact, Enid knows, Tim and Barbara know too, but they are just pretending not to know).
"I have seen the Prophet."
Upon entering the blue house, they saw a person wearing a huge hood. After Enid and the others greeted him politely, the prophet nodded, his voice somewhat indistinct, making it impossible to discern his gender: "Well, Annie, just give them the potion." With that, the prophet poured out half the potion and handed it to the girl, his hand visibly trembling, as if he were reluctant to part with it.
After the girl left, the prophet suddenly seemed to change his expression, looking at the potion from left to right, and then moved closer to Enid and the others, as if he was no longer going to hide it.
"How on earth did you manage to concoct such a perfect potion?!" His voice was quite loud, but fortunately the house was well soundproofed.
"The blue flower is a flower of the wood and water attributes, while the moon rose is of the water attribute. However, the moon rose itself is a plant, and the Elmer grass is a plant that grows in sunlight and has some fire attributes. Originally, the Elmer grass and water attribute plants did not have a violent reaction, so it is obviously because of the moon attribute."
Enid's voice was gentle and clear, and even the face that the prophet couldn't see seemed to convey surprise and approval.
"You're amazing. It's rare to find someone your age who knows so much about potions."
"No, actually it's because I happened to have studied cold medicine, and besides, you were testing us on purpose, weren't you?"
Facing Enid's sincere eyes, the prophet paused for a moment before nodding hesitantly yet confidently. Tim, who had noticed everything behind him, roughly understood that the prophet's potion-making skills seemed genuinely poor, rather than having failed the test. He glanced at Barbara, and after their eyes met…
Perhaps we shouldn't shatter Enid's beautiful illusions. Let's give this prophet some insignificant face, shall we?
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The author says: Everything is ready except for the east wind - from Chapter 49 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
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