The group entered the icehouse of the Ministry of Justice.
A faint white mist began to emerge from their mouths and noses.
At this time, it was already autumn, and the temperature inside the icehouse was chillingly low. However, these people all had cultivation, so the surrounding cold couldn’t easily penetrate their bodies, only their breath would turn to mist when encountering the cold.
This icehouse was originally used by the Ministry of Justice to store corpses, and in this enclosed space, the stench of the dead lingered as if it couldn’t be dispersed.
Ge Hengtai personally led the strange old man surnamed Guo to a corner of the icehouse.
He took out the flint he carried with him and lit a candle on the stone wall. In the cold air, the candlelight flickered, like a blinking eye.
The candlelight illuminated a rectangular wooden box on the ground not far away.
The wooden box was slightly longer than a human body but didn’t resemble a coffin at all because it was much flatter, less than one-third the height of a coffin.
Ge Hengtai pointed to the wooden box and said to the old man surnamed Guo, "It’s there!"
The old man’s eyes moved, and carrying his dark iron box, he walked over.
Jiang Zhe, Lu Geng, and Yang Yi stood not far away, all staring intently at the flat wooden box on the ground.
The old man walked to the box, put down his dark iron box, and opened the lid of the wooden box. Immediately, his aged, murky eyes twitched; inside the box was just a pile of rotten flesh, barely distinguishable into upper body, lower body, and head.
Once the lid was opened, a strong odor wafted out, causing the old man to cough a few times.
But after the three coughs, he quickly calmed down, took out a key, opened his black iron box by his feet, and pulled out a small pair of tweezers.
Jiang Zhe, Lu Geng, and Yang Yi were standing not far away. From their position, they could clearly see the contents of the flat wooden box.
In the dim candlelight, it was obviously a pile of rotten flesh...
Soon after the box was opened, the stench in the surrounding air seemed to grow even stronger. Yang Yi was fine, but Jiang Zhe and Lu Geng both felt somewhat nauseated and had already used their inner strength to enter a breath-holding state.
The old man squatted there, busying himself between the wooden box and his dark iron box...
He used the tweezers to pick some rotten meat from the wooden box, placing it into a bowl of amber liquid, observing the changes in the meat.
A few breaths later, a hint of confusion passed through the old man’s eyes.
He felt for a brown porcelain bottle in his iron box, sprinkled some medicinal powder into the bowl with the rotten meat, and observed once again, finding still no reaction.
The old man used the tweezers to pick small pieces of meat from various parts of the pile of rotten flesh in the wooden box, throwing them into the bowl...
In the blink of an eye, about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, passed. The old man continued to squat there, busying himself, but his furrowed forehead began to perspire slightly.
Jiang Zhe’s expression gradually shifted from calm to mildly anxious.
He remembered the old man stating that results might be available soon.
Jiang Zhe hesitated for a moment but eventually walked over and quietly asked, "Pharmacist Guo, how is it? Any findings?"
The old man was clutching a blue porcelain bottle. When Jiang Zhe spoke, he turned to glare at him and coldly said, "Why don’t you do it?"
The muscles on Jiang Zhe’s face twitched, and he retreated rather awkwardly.
After Jiang Zhe stepped back, the disdain in the old man’s eyes dissipated, and he resumed a calm demeanor. He slowly unscrewed the cap of the blue porcelain bottle and poured a blue-black liquid into the bowl before him.
As the liquid entered the bowl, a faint blue smoke rose gracefully from the bowl’s rim...
Jiang Zhe and Lu Geng were in a breath-holding state and did not smell it, but Yang Yi caught a whiff of the intense fragrance, causing his nostrils to twitch. The scent was an unusual mix of rich floral and meaty aromas.
"This fragrance is nontoxic but has a certain hallucinogenic effect, not to be inhaled excessively!"
The old man’s quavering voice suddenly echoed in the dim, cold, and eerie icehouse, causing Yang Yi’s heart to jolt. He immediately entered a breath-holding state as well.
As time ticked by, Jiang Zhe grew increasingly impatient, though he refrained from questioning the old man again, but nonetheless began to pace in the stillness of the space.
His restless footsteps echoed in the eerie environment like the strides of a ghostly harbinger of hell.
Suddenly, Jiang Zhe halted and focused his gaze on Liu Shushan, who stood behind everyone, asking, "Shushan, how long has it been?"
Liu Shushan hesitated, glanced at the old man still squatting in front of the wooden box, and said, "Senior Brother, I reckon it’s nearly been an hour..."
Just then, the old man suddenly stood up, exhaled a long breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a well-used towel.
As soon as Jiang Zhe saw the old man rise, he immediately approached him again, tentatively asking, "Pharmacist Guo, have you reached a conclusion?"
"Yes, there’s a result," the old man said, setting down the towel.
"And?" Jiang Zhe asked the old man, instinctively glancing at Lu Geng, who stood not far away.
The old man’s voice was hoarse as he replied, "He’s not poisoned!"
"What?!" Jiang Zhe thought he had misheard.
The old man’s voice rang out clearly once more, "Li Shensi was not poisoned!"
Lu Geng let a faint smile appear on his face. At that moment, Duan Rong’s determined gaze flashed through his mind, and he secretly thought: This guy really has some skills.