Chapter 52 Ajiu's "Dog Nose"
"How many people are there in your 'Withered Vine Sect'? Who is your leader? How many of your accomplices are there in the palace?" Xiao Yu asked a series of questions.
Xiao Linzi's face was ashen as death. He sporadically confessed some information about the "Withered Vine Cult." This organization was extremely secretive, with members communicating through a single line of communication. He only knew that his superior was an insignificant old maid in the palace. As for the higher-ups, he knew nothing. The "Withered Seeds" he carried were also regularly provided by his superior.
The interrogation continued until late at night.
When Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu walked out of the secret room, both of them looked extremely ugly.
"This matter must be thoroughly investigated!"
Chu Xuanyi nodded and said in a deep voice, "It seems that a bloody storm is about to break out in the palace. However, this 'Withered Vine Cult' acts so secretly, it may not be easy to eradicate them completely."
"No matter how difficult it is, we must pull it out!"
"I want to see who has the guts to dare to touch the Tai Sui!"
At this moment, our "little lucky girl who protects the country" Ajiu was already sleeping with drool on the small couch next to her. In her dream, she was directing a hundred families to plant candied haws trees and osmanthus cake fields all over the mountains for her.
Chu Xuanyi looked at her carefree sleeping face, and the depression in his heart eased a little.
He gently picked up Jiu and took her back to her room.
The next day, an invisible atmosphere of tension began to spread in the palace.
Xiao Yu secretly arrested the old woman that Xiao Linzi had revealed with lightning speed. However, before being arrested, the old woman committed suicide by taking poison, and the clues were cut off again.
The "Dry Vine Cult" is like a poisonous snake hiding in the shadows. It only reveals its fangs slightly before quickly retracting, making it impossible to take action.
Xiao Yu was furious, but also more vigilant. He ordered the strictest inspection of the Crown Prince's diet and daily life, and all the close attendants were repeatedly screened.
Chu Xuanyi was ordered to secretly develop medicines and talismans that could detect and dissolve the "Withered Seeds".
After Ajiu woke up, the first thing he did was to run to find Chu Xuanyi.
"Sir, sir! What about my one hundred families? When will they start planting candied haws trees for me?" the little girl asked with anticipation.
Chu Xuanyi was having a headache over the matter of the "Ku Teng Cult". When he heard this, the blue veins on his forehead began to jump happily again.
He took a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm: "Ajiu, the fiefdom is just a title. It doesn't mean you have to collect rent and grow candied haws."
"Ah?" Ah Jiu's face instantly fell. "What's the use of that 'Little Lucky Girl Protecting the Country'? It would be better to give me a few more strings of candied haws!"
Chu Xuanyi: "..."
Chu Xuanyi was ultimately unable to overcome Ajiu's obsession with the "fields", and thought that perhaps a change of environment would allow her to temporarily forget the grand blueprint of the "candied haws tree", so he chose a sunny day and took her to the royal farm on the outskirts of Beijing.
This royal farm is large in scale, with neatly arranged fields and various crops growing well. It also has special livestock and orchard areas, and it is truly a pastoral scene.
Jiu was quite excited at first, like a bird out of a cage, running around on the edge of the field, chasing butterflies, pulling up grass leaves and holding them in his mouth, having a lot of fun.
However, when they walked to a newly cultivated medicinal field deep in the farm, Ajiu's originally smiling face suddenly changed, his little nose twitched violently a few times, and then his little eyebrows were tightly frowned.
"Sir," she pulled Chu Xuanyi's sleeve and whispered, "There's a smell here... there's a smell..."
Chu Xuanyi's heart moved, and he immediately became alert: "What's that smell?"
"It's... it's that 'rotten root smell' that little Linzi has!" Ah Jiu said confidently, "But... it's much lighter than his, and... it floats around, appearing and disappearing. It seems... it seems to be blown by the wind."
Chu Xuanyi's expression grew serious. The Royal Farm was heavily guarded, so there shouldn't be any evil spirits around.
He observed his surroundings calmly while secretly inducing his spiritual senses. Sure enough, he detected a faint, yet tangible, gloomy aura in the air, somewhat similar to the energy fluctuations of the Withered Seed.
"Ajiu, can you point and tell me which direction the smell is coming from?" Chu Xuanyi asked in a low voice.
Ah Jiu closed his eyes and sniffed hard like a puppy, then pointed his little hand at a dense forest behind the medicinal field: "Over there! The smell is coming from the woods! It's hidden deep inside!"
After receiving Ajiu's guidance, Chu Xuanyi immediately sent someone to secretly inform Xiao Yu, who was in the capital to command the clearing operation.
Soon, Xiao Yu arrived at the royal farm quietly in plain clothes with a team of elite imperial guards.
Guided by Ajiu's "dog nose", they avoided the farm guards and sneaked into the woods.
Deep in the woods, the light was dim and the weeds were overgrown. After pushing aside the layers of vines and bushes, they found an extremely hidden valley.
In the valley, there was a clearing that had been cleared by humans. The ground was littered with ashes of burnt grass and trees, as well as some broken pottery jars and tools.
Chu Xuanyi stepped forward to carefully examine the ashes and debris, his expression becoming increasingly solemn.
"Here...someone once cultivated a large amount of poisonous weeds. Furthermore, they were the kind that could corrode the soul and nourish evil!" He picked up a strangely shaped black leaf that hadn't yet been completely burned from the ashes and said in a deep voice, "This is the leaf of the 'Soul-Eating Flower'! And judging by the fragments of these pottery jars and the remaining medicinal residue, they weren't just cultivating it, they were actually refining it!"
Xiao Yu's eyes also turned cold. "Soul-devouring Flower... I remember that this flower seemed to be worshipped by the 'Black Bone Tribe', a cult that was wiped out hundreds of years ago. It is said that it can absorb the essence of living people and refine it into a poison that controls people's hearts."
Chu Xuanyi nodded. "Exactly. And, look at the remaining symbols on these pottery jars." He pointed to the twisted pattern engraved on the bottom of a relatively intact pottery jar. "This is exactly a variation of the 'Black Bone Tribe' totem! It seems that this 'Withered Vine Cult' is closely related to the remnants of the 'Black Bone Tribe' from back then!"
The clues seemed to break off here again. This base had obviously been abandoned. After realizing that Xiao Linzi had failed, the enemy immediately destroyed the evidence and fled.
"They can't get far," Xiao Yu said coldly. "Immediately seal off all entrances and exits in the surrounding area and conduct a thorough search! Also, make a copy of these symbols and spread the word everywhere. Report any related clues immediately!"
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