Chapter 27 Imperial Kitchen
Shinjuku racked his brains for names that appeared in historical records, but still had no clue. His curiosity was thoroughly piqued, so he asked directly, "Whose name is this?"
Unexpectedly, the emperor parted his thin lips slightly, but did not utter a single word for a long time. After a while, a trace of irritation and sadness seemed to flash in the emperor's eyes. He remained silent and simply placed the purple brush into Zhen Su's hand.
Shinju looked down at his hand holding the pen, and seeing that the emperor showed no intention of covering his hand with it, he copied the two characters "鸩默" by referring to the emperor's handwriting.
The characters he wrote this time reverted to their original form. After all, Shinju had not systematically studied the handling of strokes, so it was difficult for him to fully grasp the meaning of the characters he wrote.
However, after taking a few more glances, it's still possible to barely make out that there are two characters.
Shinju glanced at the Emperor and saw that although he remained silent, there was no sign of disdain on his face, which gave him a boost of confidence.
However, the next moment, the emperor took his hand and wrote it again.
The connected strokes are neat and clean, while the strokes that return to the starting point are vigorous and elegant, as if imbuing the characters "鸩默" with a ruthless and domineering soul. Standing next to his own crooked and messy handwriting, even if Shinju wanted to deceive himself into thinking his own writing wasn't bad, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Suddenly, the emperor let out a muffled laugh from his chest, which tickled Shinju's ears. Annoyed, Shinju put the pen back on the pen mountain.
The Emperor was still reviewing memorials, but he didn't argue with Masakuni and leisurely took his pen back from the pen mountain.
Not long after, an attendant eunuch came in to announce that the Ministry of Justice was requesting an audience. Masakuni felt he should leave, and this time the Emperor did not stop him, but allowed him to take the dried elk meat from the fruit bowl before leaving.
After Masakatsu left, the Emperor did not immediately summon the Ministry of Justice to the palace. Instead, he stared at a piece of crooked calligraphy on the table. After a long while, he rolled up the calligraphy, tied a knot, and put it in an inconspicuous place on the bookshelf.
Then, the Minister of Justice was summoned to report.
When Shinjuku returned to the vicinity of the servants' quarters, he found that Kodama was unusually not waiting for him at the door. Shinjuku felt strange and went in. He then saw Kodama curled up in a big ball on the bed, covering his stomach with his hands and groaning softly.
"What's wrong?" Shinju knelt on the edge of the bed, rested his hands on Kodama's legs, and shook him.
Xiao Dunzi could always sense Shinju's presence, whether near or far. Even from a hundred feet away, he could faintly sense it, while when it was close, it felt as if a blazing sun was approaching, scorching his blood. He knew Shinju had arrived, but he didn't go to greet him.
Because he couldn't muster the strength.
"I'm so hungry..." Xiaodunzi said weakly.
"?" Masaya paused for a moment, then silently sat down on the edge of the bed.
"You haven't eaten?" he asked.
Xiao Dunzi nodded weakly.
Seeing that he was having trouble speaking, Masakuni simply held the dried elk meat in his hand to his mouth.
Xiaodunzi glanced at Shinjuku with teary eyes, then ate a few bites, rested for a bit, and finally had the strength to get up.
"What's wrong? Didn't the station provide meals?" Masaki asked him.
"I was released, but I only ate two bowls of rice at noon... Today the admiral suddenly came and said that each person is limited to two bowls of rice. I'm not full, and he won't let me have any more. Qingqing, Qing Chuanshan, you haven't been back for a long time. I waited and waited until I was exhausted. I thought I would be fine after a short rest, but I didn't know I would be so hungry that I couldn't sleep." Xiaodunzi lowered his tiger eyebrows and had an oil bottle hanging from his mouth.
Shinju knew how much Xiaodunzi ate. Usually, when he saw that Xiaodunzi had eaten four or five bowls and was still not full, he would give him his share as well.
Masaya hasn't gone to collect his meal yet today. He thought he'd already eaten enough of the Emperor's food, so he decided not to go. But now it seems he should go and collect two portions.
Shinjuku simply said he understood, told Kodama to wait there, and then went to the kitchen.
The little boy left behind stared at Masakatsu's departing figure, unable to understand why Keiki, who looked like a young brother, was always so reliable and had a stronger presence than many older people, making people unconsciously want to listen to him.
Little Dunzi sensed the distance between himself and Shinjuku and waited obediently.
Fifteen minutes later.
Shinju brought the food, and Kodukiko mustered his spirits and went to greet him.
"Eat."
When Xiaodunzi took the food box, he found it was slightly hot to the touch. But he knew very well that the food he was getting at this hour would be cold rice at the bottom of the pot... Xiaodunzi buried his head in his food, and as he ate, he noticed that the rice had become sticky and salty.
Masakatsu didn't watch him eat; he was lying on his own bed, reflecting on recent events.
He can go without rice, but he cannot go without poison.
According to his investigation, Guan Shiyi's execution was a foregone conclusion. It seemed unwise for him to rashly attempt a prison break now and force the man to reveal the source of the poison. Even if he found out, the mastermind would likely have already moved the source to avoid being rounded up. Furthermore, while Guan Shiyi possessed the ability to concoct poisons, ability alone was insufficient; ultimately, the most crucial element was the raw material.
He didn't know when the person behind the scenes would open up a new route for poisoning, and before that, he couldn't just wait idly; he had to plan ahead.
After reaching the intermediate stage of poison cultivation, the first priority is to condense a poison pill. However, his dantian is currently riddled with holes, and he needs to repair it first before he can form a new poison pill. Then, he can use poison to nourish poison and transform the poison pill into a golden pill.
The Five Elements Classic is so extraordinary because once the poison pill transforms into a golden pill, it means that he has broken through from the Qi Refining stage to the Golden Core stage in one fell swoop, surpassing the traditional Foundation Establishment stage.
But as powerful as it is, the price is truly enormous. The amount of poison needed just to repair the dantian is not small, and the subsequent poison-nourishing pills will increase by an order of magnitude, which is unimaginable.
As for attempting to break through the twenty-eight layers of the Purple Mansion Seal, relatively speaking, it doesn't require as much poison. However, it is limited to using poisons that damage the mind, not just any poison, so the difficulty is still considerable.
Unfortunately, there has been no harvest lately, which has made Shinju somewhat discouraged.
He possesses the skill to absorb poison, yet has no poison to absorb...
Before long, Shinju suddenly opened his golden eyes, as if he had thought of something, and sat up leisurely.
I'm going out for a bit!
.
Shinjuku returned to Nishimaba once again; he had not been back since mastering the Poison-Capturing Technique.
He was previously powerless against the birds and beasts that still harbored toxins, but now that he had the poison-absorbing technique, perhaps he could give it a try.
The gyrfalcon, the gray wolf, and the lynx, perhaps having seen Shinju several times and grown accustomed to it, were not alarmed, though still somewhat intimidated. It wasn't until Shinju swiftly caught them one by one that their fur stood on end, and they struggled violently, immediately trying to escape.
Unfortunately, they couldn't escape Shinju's grasp. After a while, as their bodies became lighter and their meridians became clearer, they were no longer tormented by illness and could exert their strength everywhere. They all took the initiative to rub against Shinju's palm and burrow into his arms.
Before he knew it, Shinjuku was nearly knocked over and forced to bury himself in the furry chest of the gyrfalcon. His arms were lifted up by the huge wolf's head, while a large raccoon dog clung to his back, its saliva dripping onto Shinjuku's head.
"...Aren't you afraid of me anymore?" Shinjuku was somewhat amused and exasperated.
The three big guys let out a delicate cry in their throats.
Shinju pulled the gyrfalcon further away; its size was enormous, enough to completely obscure his head even without spreading its wings. Shinju first stuffed it back into the cage, then dragged the lynx on his back and led the gray wolf back into the cage. Finally, he grabbed the lynx by the scruff of its neck, gave it a couple of snorts, and locked it inside.
The old waiter stood there dumbfounded the whole time, rubbing his eyes every time he looked at something, completely speechless.
He figured if he went back and told others what he had seen today, they would definitely think he was bragging. After all, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it either!
After finally managing to take a few photos, a coin-sized ink blot appeared in Mayu's palm. Well, even a mosquito bite is still a bite.
Shinju turned and walked towards Sasori's Palace.
Side gate of Scorpion Shadow Palace.
Shinjuku had already familiarized himself with the defenses of the Sasori Shadow Palace. He knew that at this time of day, there would generally only be one head maid guarding the palace, and the palace was dimly lit with many curtains, so it wouldn't be difficult to sneak in.
However, just as Shinjuku was about to go in, his target—the giant scorpion of Mount Hitsuji—slipped out on its own.
Shinjuku, pressed against the wall, activated his five senses and discovered a living creature approaching from afar with an unpredictable movement. A moment later, he looked up and came face to face with a giant scorpion whose black shell gleamed with a cold light.
"How did you know I came to find you? Look, I brought you some bugs." It was something that Shinjuku had just picked from the grass, intending to use it to lure the giant scorpion.
But the giant scorpion flicked its stinger, as if to say it wasn't necessary.
Shinjuku offered the insect to it, but the giant scorpion of Tongshan took a half step back.
"Why are you still picky about food..." Shinju asked the head palace maid Zhixi, having heard that scorpions eat insects.
"Come here for a second, let me touch it." Shinju raised his hand and reached out to the giant scorpion under the eaves.
The giant scorpion of Tongshan did not retreat, but slightly shook its stinger, as if hesitating.
"I won't play with your tailspin, really, trust me."
As soon as Shinjuku said that, the giant scorpion actually climbed down the wall and landed on Shinjuku's shoulder.
A cunning glint flashed in Shinju's eyes. He thought to himself that not playing around didn't mean he wouldn't touch it. He now had the Poison-Absorbing Technique, so he didn't need to prick his hand with the tail spike. He could just touch it lightly and draw out all the toxins from the tail spike.
A human's soft fingertip lightly touched the hook-shaped carapace at the tail end, and instantly, an invisible vortex formed, attempting to carry something away from its tail.
The giant scorpion leaped out instantly, raising its tail hook in an attack posture, but seemingly realizing that this was exactly what someone wanted, it curled up its tail hook and hid it inside.
"Eh—" Shinjuku withdrew his hand and realized that his fingertips had not absorbed a single drop of ink. His golden eyes trembled and he fell into deep thought.
How could this be? He had definitely felt the poison being drawn to his fingers just now, and in that brief moment, it had been returned? Even if the poison-absorbing technique was interrupted, it would never return the poison...
Shinjuku opened his eyes, his six senses activated, but he was even more confused. He hadn't used his senses to observe the giant scorpion's venomous spots before, because he knew the venom was concentrated in the venom sac at the end of the scorpion's tail. But now, with his senses activated, he discovered that the giant scorpion's body was covered in a deep purple-red, just like the emperor!
A note from the author:
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I managed to update before midnight! I kept my promise! There's a ranking list this week, so updates for the next few days will follow the rankings. That means at least three more updates before Thursday.
I have to do a big cleaning tomorrow, it's exhausting!
Thank you everyone for your comments and support!
[Edit] There was a small bug with the giant scorpion, which I've fixed. Sorry for rushing this.
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