Chapter 563: Messed Yuan Gravel

　　The medicinal garden that was previously filled with lush greenery had now become an actual place that couldn’t grow a single thing. One glance at it, and one could see that the ochre cracked ground wasn’t only left with dried herbs.

　　A faint bitter smell permeated throughout the air.

　　Chu Liuyue stared at the medicinal garden closely. “How… did it become like this…”

　　When she heard Lu Zhiyao said that this place was also affected, she didn’t pay much attention to it. But now that she saw it personally, she knew how serious it was!

　　The medicinal garden that Chong Xu Cabinet had meticulously nurtured was ruined overnight!

　　Lu Zhiyao lightly sighed. “When the incident happened, I was coincidentally outside with Master. Hence, I’m not sure what exactly happened. When we came back, we realized that the medicinal garden had already been ruined… Actually, there were always people specifically taking care of the medicinal garden, but that day, too many from the other party came. They had also clearly planned it in advance as they directly killed the people taking care of the medicinal garden and ruined it…”

　　This was undoubtedly a lethal blow to Chong Xu Cabinet.

　　Chu Liuyue thought for a while. “This medicinal garden is huge. Being able to ruin it overnight… They must’ve used some special method, right?”

　　“We’re very confused about this too, but even until now, we still can’t find out what exactly happened. We only know that this land can’t grow anything anymore, and it has thoroughly become barren…”

　　Chu Liuyue walked forward.

　　Ye Ranran pulled her back. “Liuyue! What are you doing?! The medicinal garden is locked now, and nobody can enter! Even if the Cabinet Master doesn’t pursue this, what if there’s still some danger lurking inside?”

　　Chu Liuyue patted her shoulders. “Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing. I just want to go closer.”

　　“What’s there to look at?” Ye Ranran advised kindly. “Cabinet Master and Mentor have already checked several times but to no avail. What can you do even if you go there? We should go back earlier.”

　　Lu Zhiyao had a look of disapproval. “We previously said that we’d only come in to look at it. Junior Sister, you can’t go back on your words.”

　　Chu Liuyue frowned. I just felt that the medicinal garden was strange, so I wanted to go closer. But I really can’t go over with the duo stopping me.

　　But at this moment, Qiang Wanzhou—who kept quiet by the side all this while—suddenly walked over.

　　“Hey… Wanzhou!” Ye Ranran and Lu Zhiyao were frightened.

　　They only cared about stopping Chu Liuyue, but they forgot that there was still another person! By the time they discovered it, Qiang Wanzhou had already walked to the front of the medicinal garden.

　　A rusty metal lock was hanging on the damaged metal fence, and one could still see the faint bloodstains.

　　One could just imagine how horrific the massacre here was back then.

　　This medicinal garden was previously surrounded by a barrier as well, but now it had completely disappeared. Only this broken door was left, but actually, it couldn’t stop anyone either.

　　Qiang Wanzhou jumped up and directly went in.

　　Lu Zhiyao and Ye Ranran’s expressions froze. Qiang Wanzhou actually went in! How should we explain to Cabinet Master?

　　Just as the two of them were in a daze, Chu Liuyue moved her feet and instantly broke through the duo’s encirclement and rushed to the metal gate.

　　“Liuyue! Don’t—” Before Ye Ranran could even finish her words of advice, she saw Chu Liuyue’s body leap into the air, and she also jumped in.

　　Oh no! The both of them actually went in!

　　Ye Ranran’s circular face flushed red. “W-what should we do?”

　　“Wait here. I’ll follow them in!” Lu Zhiyao clenched his teeth. Since the two of them have already entered, it’s useless to say anything more. The most important thing now is to protect the duo’s safety.

　　Ye Ranran nervously nodded.

　　At this point, they could only do this.

　　Lu Zhiyao rapidly followed them and clenched his teeth before the entrance.

　　Just as he was about to enter, Chu Liuyue suddenly turned around and said, “Senior Brother Lu, don’t enter!”

　　Lu Zhiyao’s one leg had already crossed over, and he stiffly retracted it when he heard her words. He almost couldn’t stand stably. “W-what’s wrong?”

　　Chu Liuyue looked solemn. “There’s poison in the ground.”

　　“What?” Once Lu Zhiyao heard this, he was even more worried. “Why aren’t you guys getting out of there then?!”

　　Chu Liuyue shook her head. “Senior Brother Lu, don’t worry. This bit of poison doesn’t count for much to Little Zhou and me. You should just wait outside for us.”

　　Lu Zhiyao was confused. What does she mean by… doesn’t count for much? Didn’t she say that there’s poison?

　　His heart was filled with worry, and he still decided to go in after much thinking. “No, I can’t watch as you guys risk—”

　　“Senior Brother Lu, it really will be dangerous if you come in,” said Chu Liuyue calmly as she raised her brows.

　　Looking at her calm and composed manner, Lu Zhiyao was gradually starting to calm down. After much thinking, he finally said, “I’ll wait here first then. If there’s anything wrong, call for me immediately!”

　　Chu Liuyue nodded and walked inside. The faint bitter smell that I had smelled earlier indeed came from here. Besides, it has poison as I expected. However, it’s very hard to detect it due to the thin air. Once one enters here, they can feel it more clearly. The nearer one is to the ground, the stronger the poison.

　　Qiang Wanzhou’s body had the harsh air that had accumulated over many years, so average poisons had no effect on him.

　　As for Chu Liuyue, she had used the opportunity of recovering her Yuan meridian when she was reborn to strengthen her physical body. Perhaps it was also due to the water droplet’s strength, so the effects were much better than she imagined. Even though she couldn’t be considered to be invulnerable to poison, it was more than enough to deal with such a situation.

　　But it was a pity that she still couldn’t identify the poison.

　　Chu Liuyue walked inward as she carefully searched the ground, wanting to find some clues. At some point, she suddenly paused in her tracks and leaned down.

　　A dehydrated Manling Ginseng was by her feet. The wilted and curled-up leaves at its roots were faintly red.

　　She used her force to wrap her palm and formed a defensive barrier to slowly pluck out the Manling Ginseng before checking it seriously.

　　As expected, there was a red string as thin as hair at the roots area, and it extended upward along the leaves.

　　If one didn’t look closely, they wouldn’t be able to tell at all.

　　“What is this…” muttered Chu Liuyue softly with furrowed brows. Is this red string the reason why the Manling Ginseng wilted?

　　She walked further in and plucked out a snow cloud vine. There was the same red string in its roots.

　　“There’s Messed Yuan Gravel here,” said Qiang Wanzhou suddenly.

　　Chu Liuyue looked up and strangely asked, “What did you say?”

　　Qiang Wanzhou pointed at the item in her hands. “That red string is nurtured by Messed Yuan Gravel.”