Dongfang Heng nodded, took Shen Lixue's small hand, and turned to walk away.
"Prince An, Black Mist Mountain is fraught with danger. Unless there are special circumstances, neither of us will come in. Why don't we travel together?" Dongfang Zhan looked at Dongfang Heng, who was dressed in blue, noble, gentle, and outstanding.
Dongfang Heng glanced at Dongfang Zhan: "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together!"
Dongfang Zhan smiled slightly, not annoyed: "We're entering Black Cloud Mountain simply to find medicine. We're all human, and when faced with dangerous animals, we're on the same side!"
Seeing that Dongfang Heng remained unmoved, Dongfang Zhan subtly gave the woman a wink. The woman understood and curtsied to Dongfang Heng: "This humble woman, Li Youlan, greets Prince An."
Li Youlan! Zi Mo and the two guards were stunned. Li Youlan was the most precious legitimate daughter of the Li family and Dongfang Zhan's cousin. She was quite knowledgeable about poisons and liked to study various poisons. She rarely attended noble banquets, and many people in the capital had only heard of her name but had never seen her.
"What does Prince Zhan mean?" Dongfang Heng looked coldly at Dongfang Zhan.
Dongfang Zhan smiled gently, politely replying, "Black Cloud Mountain is teeming with poisonous creatures. Youlan is skilled in poisons and can cure all poisons. If our two teams travel together, we can look out for each other along the way!"
"Li Xue also knows medicine. If I am truly poisoned, she can cure me!" Dongfang Heng said coldly, tightening his grip on Shen Li Xue's small hand.
Dongfang Zhan raised an eyebrow: "Are you really not planning to travel with me?"
"The Prince Zhan came looking for medicine, and so did we. But we're looking for different medicines, and we're going to different places. It's best we part ways!" Shen Lixue smiled and glanced at the elegant Li Youlan: "We've been chased by a snake once, and the experience is etched in our memories. We don't want to be chased a second time!"
Zi Mo raised an eyebrow. Li Youlan had provoked the snakes, but Princess Li Xue had quelled their frenzied pursuit. In all things considered, Princess Li Xue was more capable than Li Youlan. They really didn't need to associate with a woman who loved to cause trouble and create more problems for themselves in Black Cloud Mountain.
"Let's go!" Dongfang Heng took Shen Lixue's small hand and walked slowly forward, with Zi Mo and the guards following closely behind.
Dongfang Zhan remained standing still, his gaze towards Chen Lixue now filled with deeper thought.
Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue walked into the mist and disappeared. Dongzhu Zhan came back to his senses and looked at Li Youlan: "Which direction is the medicine you're looking for?"
Li Youlan carefully examined her surroundings, then pointed forward: "It should be in that direction!"
Dongfang Zhan's gaze sharpened; it was in the direction Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue had disappeared: "Go!"
Under the bright sunshine and amidst the misty air, Shen Lixue, Dongfang Heng, and Zi Mo arrived at a riverbank. A guard took out two small bottles and walked towards the river.
It was very hot, and they had walked a long way and were very thirsty. The lake they had just crossed had been burned by snakes, so the water was undrinkable. They had finally come across a clear river and needed to quench their thirst.
"Cousin, there's water here!" A clear, cheerful female voice rang out. Shen Lixue knew who it was without even looking up. She frowned. Weren't they supposed to part ways? Why are they catching up again? Or is the medicine they're looking for also in this direction?
"Your Highness, Your Highness, please have some!" The guards handed two bottles of water to Shen Lixue and Dongfang Heng.
Shen Lixue took the water bottle and brought it to her lips. A faint scent entered her nostrils. She frowned and glanced to the side. The soil by the water was light red.
Just as Dongfang Heng was about to drink the water, her expression changed, and she slapped the water bottle out of his hand: "You can't drink this water!"
The guard was startled and immediately knelt down: "Your Highness, please understand! This humble servant would never dare to harm the Prince! Your Highness!"
"It's none of your business, the problem is with this river!" Shen Lixue frowned as she looked at the clear river water.
"Is the water undrinkable? How come she didn't detect any poison?" Li Youlan frowned, repeatedly testing the water with a silver needle. The needle remained gleaming, showing no change in color. "Princess Lixue, the water is not poisonous; it's safe to drink!"
Shen Lixue's gaze deepened: "The water is indeed not poisonous, but there is something very special in it called heavy metal. If someone drinks it, they will die very quickly!"
"Heavy metals?" Li Youlan frowned. "What are those things?" She had never heard of such a strange name before.
Zi Mo and the others looked at Shen Lixue with puzzled expressions. Water containing heavy metals, can't be drunk?
"It's something that can kill people, even more potent than poison!" Shen Lixue explained simply and concisely. Poison can be detected by its toxicity, but this thing is completely undetectable.
"Really?" Li Youlan was still a little skeptical. She looked closely at the clear river water, rubbed her dry lips, and wondered whether to drink or not.
"Ah!" A guard suddenly clutched his throat, howling in pain, rolling around on the ground, his face contorted.
"What's wrong with you?" Li Youlan was startled and quickly took a few steps back, frantically searching for the pills.
"Water...water..." The guard pointed at the river and squeezed out a few words from his throat.
Li Youlan was taken aback: "You drank water!"
Chapter 148: Bewitched by Love
Li Youlan turned around and looked at Shen Lixue in shock: "How did you know there was something wrong with the water?" She was highly skilled in poisons and extremely sensitive to poisons. She didn't notice anything wrong with the water, but it still killed people.
Dongfang Heng, Dongfang Zhan, Zi Mo, and the others also looked at Shen Lixue, as they too wanted to know the answer.
"Have you noticed how quiet this area is?" Shen Lixue replied, seemingly unrelated to the question.
Everyone looked around and saw nothing but trees and grass. They calmed down and listened carefully, and all they could hear was the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves and grass. Suddenly, they felt a chill.
"There were no birdsong, no wild rabbits or other small animals, and not even a single ant or snake, which are the most common animals on the mountain."
In the deep mountains and forests, there should be clusters of bird nests in the trees, flocks of birds chirping incessantly, and various small animals hopping and jumping on the ground to drink water, leaving behind a trail of tiny footprints. But here, there is nothing, just a deathly silence.
Shen Lixue pointed to the ground: "The soil here is light red and the particles are very coarse, which is a major characteristic of containing heavy metals. Neither the seeping water nor the plants growing here are edible."
Li Youlan's gaze sharpened: "You mean, the grass here is also poisonous?"
“That’s right!” Shen Lixue nodded solemnly.
Li Youlan plucked a blade of grass with some skepticism and tested it with a silver needle. The needle gleamed, and there were no signs of poisoning. She held it to her nose and sniffed it; it was fragrant and showed no abnormalities. Tiny green sap oozed from the emerald leaves, refreshing and pleasant. She hesitated, not daring to taste it easily.
"Who goes there?" A guard's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly drew his long sword and quickly darted behind a large tree.
The crowd turned their heads and saw what looked like a person sitting behind the big tree, with their back to them. The grass was too tall for them to see, but when the wind blew, it lowered the grass and revealed half of the person's head.
The guard stood behind the big tree, looking at the person leaning against the trunk, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and sheathed his long sword: "Your Highness, this is a dead man, dead for a long time!"
Dongfang Zhan smiled gently. No wonder he didn't sense anyone else nearby; it turned out to be a lifeless corpse.