Wen Yuxian held the Ice Glacial Lotus Seed, and the pain caused by the cold poison instantly lessened. Her tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed.
"It's effective," Wen Yuxian said with a smile.
Yan Shouyi pursed his lips, not daring to make decisions for Wen Yuxian, but she had already made up her mind.
"There's no better way right now, so I'll give it a try. If I die, it's my destiny to face this tribulation. You don't need to blame yourselves or be sad, especially you, Shouyi."
While her words sounded comforting, they were more like a final testament. Abbess Guanyun, who had already lost too much, couldn't help but feel a sting in her nose, murmuring "Amitabha" with red eyes.
"Junior Sister, please step out for a moment. I have something to say to Shouyi privately."
Wen Yuxian waved her hand, asking Abbess Guanyun to leave. Abbess Guanyun wiped away a tear, lowered her head, and walked out of the room. She knew that Wen Yuxian was likely about to leave last words for Yan Shouyi.
As the door closed, Wen Yuxian said in a gentle and kind tone,
"Shouyi, I have no regrets in this life now that I have seen you grow up. My grandmother can now pass on with peace."
"Grandmother..."
Yan Shouyi tightly gripped Wen Yuxian's hand. Having faced death multiple times, he was completely unprepared to lose his grandmother.
Wen Yuxian clasped Yan Shouyi's hand back and said,
"This time, it's a matter of life and death for your grandmother. If I don't say some things now, I might not have another chance. So, before I try to detoxify, your grandmother has some words to leave you."
She paused and then asked, "You must be very curious about what kind of person your mother was."
Yan Shouyi's mind suddenly went blank, and then the word "mother" appeared, with nothing else.
The reason there were only these two words was that he had never seen his mother. Even when he tried to imagine her, he couldn't picture her face.
"My dad said my mom was just an ordinary person," Yan Shouyi replied.
His answer was flat, but his heart was pounding like it would leap out of his throat.
Wen Yuxian smiled slightly, "What do you think?"
Yan Shouyi pondered for a moment, "I think my dad was lying to me."
In the past, Yan Shouyi truly believed that his mother was an ordinary woman. However, an incident in Chang'an later made him doubt his mother's identity.
At that time, in Chang'an, he met Zhu Ling and Zhu Huansi, a grandfather and grandson from Fengyi Pavilion in Yanjing. Zhu Ling recognized Yan Shouyi's satchel and said that it was made by Fengyi Pavilion, and even by Zhu Ling's granduncle.
This satchel was also personally made by Zhu Ling's granduncle for Yan Shouyi's mother.
One had to wonder, if Yan Shouyi's mother was truly just an ordinary woman, how could she have commissioned Fengyi Pavilion?
Although Yan Shouyi harbored doubts, he sensed that the elders intended to conceal it and, being tactful, he didn't ask any further questions.
He didn't expect his grandmother to bring up the matter so proactively now, at a life-or-death juncture.
"They are indeed hiding something from you. This is your father's old habit. He believes that secrets that are not beneficial to you currently should not be told. However, he is also doing it to protect you," Wen Yuxian sighed.
Yan Shouyi nodded slightly. His father did have that kind of personality.
Moreover, Yan Shouyi had long suspected that his father was still planning something. His father kept many secrets.
Yan Shouyi suppressed his excitement and asked, "Grandmother, are you going to tell me about my mother?"
Unexpectedly, Wen Yuxian shook her head and replied,
"I cannot tell you yet, but I can point you in a direction. If I don't make it through this time, after you leave Emei, go to Longhu Mountain and find Zhang Santong. He will tell you everything."
Wen Yuxian did not know many people in this world, and Zhang Santong was an old acquaintance.
Yan Shouyi took this to heart upon hearing it.
But even more, he wished that his grandmother would safely pass through this ordeal.
After giving a few more instructions about final arrangements, Wen Yuxian also sent Yan Shouyi out. She wanted to face the effects of the Ice Glacial Lotus Seed alone, to maintain a semblance of dignity regardless of the outcome.
With mixed feelings, Yan Shouyi left the room.
Outside, Abbess Guanyun, to calm herself, placed a meditation cushion and sat cross-legged on it, chanting scriptures and praying for Wen Yuxian.
Beside her, an empty meditation cushion remained, clearly prepared for Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi glanced at the cushion, composed himself, and sat cross-legged beside Abbess Guanyun, also chanting scriptures.
Inside the room, Wen Yuxian silently raised the Ice Glacial Lotus Seed, opened her mouth, and crushed the seed.
Crystal-clear juice dripped into Wen Yuxian's mouth, and an icy chill instantly swept through the room. Even Yan Shouyi and Abbess Guanyun, sitting outside, felt a cold current approaching from behind.
"Grandmother, you will be alright!" Yan Shouyi whispered to himself.
...
In a ravine in the back mountains of Mount Emei, Zhuge Ji was so frightened by the white bones in the grass that he retreated repeatedly.
Although Lele saw nothing, she was startled by Zhuge Ji's scream and scurried up a tree.
Tian Jue'er, worried about Zhuge Ji's safety, leaped directly from above.
Landing steadily beside Zhuge Ji, Tian Jue'er glanced at the bones on the ground, "Don't be scared, they're just human bones."
"Thank you for the reminder!" Zhuge Ji laughed in exasperation. Human bones were precisely what he was afraid of!
Tian Jue'er, however, was not afraid of human bones at all. She even walked forward, parted the grass, and picked up a large bone to examine it.
Seeing Tian Jue'er's composure, Zhuge Ji felt his own reaction was rather embarrassing. He forced himself to act calm, squatted beside Tian Jue'er, and asked,
"Are you knowledgeable about skeletons?"
Tian Jue'er nodded, "Some蛊 insects need to be raised in human bones."
She collected a few more bones and quickly determined the findings from the bones she found:
"This is the skeleton of an adult male, about twenty years old. The cause of death is not clear, but it has definitely been dead for many years..."
Zhuge Ji pondered for a moment after hearing this and said, "Let's search the vicinity again. We might find more."
Tian Jue'er looked up in confusion, "Why search? Isn't our mission to find the Lotus Array Eye?"
Zhuge Ji adjusted his glasses, "While finding the array eye is important, the appearance of this skeleton is also very strange. Think about it, this is Mount Emei, a sacred Buddhist place, a place that forbids killing. Yet, so close to the Emei Sect, there is a skeleton, and no one has discovered it for so many years. This is very unusual."
"Since we've found something unusual, we should investigate it. Perhaps we'll make a significant discovery, or even help us find the Lotus Array Eye."
Tian Jue'er didn't quite understand, but her attitude was honest:
"Oh... you're smarter than me. What you say is right. Then let's start looking for other bones!"