Detoxifying Soup!

A twisty, turny path!

I was about to head out when I ran into a Crow, and after dealing with the Crow, I met Xiangma. After finally reaching the examination hall entrance, I was stopped by the two guards who wouldn't let me in—

Li Mu Yang felt his life was incredibly hard. Who had he offended in his past life? His journey so far had been fraught with bumps and bruises, almost to the point of exhaustion.

Just as Li Mu Yang was about to beg the two guards to let him in, he heard a sharp reprimand from behind: "What are you talking about?"

Li Mu Yang turned and saw Zhao Mingzhu, dressed in plain clothes with a serious expression, walking quickly towards him.

Zhao Mingzhu strode up to Li Mu Yang, her eyes sharp as she stared at him. "Li Mu Yang, do you have any sense of time at all? What kind of day is it today? Today is the day of the Literary Examination, the day when thousands cross a single bridge, the day that marks a watershed moment in your future life—and yet you're late on the very first day of the exam. What are you thinking? Have you ever considered taking responsibility for your own life?"

"Teacher Zhao—" Li Mu Yang clenched his fists, his face turning grim. He couldn't explain his experiences to others, but that didn't mean he harbored no resentment.

As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he was unwilling to miss it. The moment he realized he didn't have to sleep drowsily every day, the moment he discovered he could actually learn things, he worked harder than anyone else, he fought more desperately than anyone. He woke up before dawn to study, and he did practice problems until three in the morning. Apart from his three meals and brief sleep, he dedicated all his time to reviewing and learning.

But in Zhao Mingzhu's eyes, was he just a failing student who refused to take responsibility for his own life?

When you try your best, when you painstakingly achieve even a small success, and those people merely glance at it dismissively and say, "It's nothing special," it feels worse than being doused with ice water on a winter's day.

A chill to the bone!

"Li Mu Yang—" Zhao Mingzhu smoothed a strand of hair from her ear, her eyes thoughtfully appraising the student before her. This was the first time she had seen him since he packed his bags and left last time. She couldn't understand this student anymore; he was vastly different from the information she had previously gathered. "I know you want to prove yourself, and I know you work hard enough—your mother came to the school to find me. She told me how much time you spend studying every day. I admit, your past laziness and habit of sleeping in class made me biased. But this time, please, do well—shock us all, make everyone who knows you look at you with new eyes."

"Teacher Zhao—" Li Mu Yang's fists relaxed, his body's muscles eased, and he looked at Zhao Mingzhu with surprise and gratitude. He hadn't expected to meet Zhao Mingzhu at this time and place, nor did he expect her to rush over and say such things to him.

His heart felt soft, his body warm, and this feeling of being affirmed—it was truly wonderful.

Zhao Mingzhu turned to the two guards and said, "Open the gate and let the students in."

"No, we have regulations. People aren't allowed in at this time—"

Zhao Mingzhu reached into her pocket and pulled out a black identification booklet, showing it to the two guards. "I am a member of the Jiangnan City Literary Examination Ceremony Institute. I will be filing a complaint with the Institute against both of you for deliberately making things difficult for students, affecting their exam morale, and maliciously destroying their futures—"

"We didn't do anything like that!"

"Are you going to deny it? I just heard you mocking and discouraging this student. You mocked him for not being able to get into a good school, and you advised him to give up early—"

The two guards exchanged glances. One, tall and thin, was quicker-witted. He quickly ran over, unlocked the gate, and said with a smile, "Let the young man go in for his exam first. We can discuss any misunderstandings here slowly, but exam time waits for no one. We can't afford to delay the students' precious time any further—"

Zhao Mingzhu glanced at Li Mu Yang, signaling him to hurry inside.

Li Mu Yang bowed deeply to Zhao Mingzhu and said, "Teacher Zhao, thank you."

Zhao Mingzhu waved her hand, not saying much more.

"This student is yours, isn't he?" the tall, thin guard said fawningly. "He looks like a good student. He'll surely pass with flying colors and achieve great success."

Zhao Mingzhu looked up at Li Mu Yang's retreating figure and said, "Every student who studies diligently and refuses to give up is a good student."

When Li Mu Yang reached the examination hall, many students were already past the halfway mark on their papers.

The invigilator raised an eyebrow, looking displeased, as he watched him. Nevertheless, he took a test paper from the desk and handed it to Li Mu Yang.

Li Mu Yang smiled and nodded at the invigilator, then quietly walked to his exam desk.

Li Mu Yang spread out the test paper but didn't start answering immediately.

As he opened his pencil case to arrange scratch paper, brushes, and inkstones, he calmed his agitated emotions.

If not for that experience, he probably wouldn't have had any anticipation for this exam at all.

In what state would he have approached this exam back then?

Even if he had entered, he would have just taken the test paper and then slept through it.

But today's Li Mu Yang was different from before.

Even though he had gone through so much, even though he had only half the exam time of others, he was now far, far stronger than before—

He was no longer the Li Mu Yang of the past.

Li Mu Yang picked up his pen and carefully wrote his name on the name line: Li Mu Yang.

When Li Sinian woke up, she saw a man's gaze fixed on her like a flame.

Li Sinian was startled and shouted at the stranger, "Who are you? Where is this place?"

"Miss, you're awake? This is your home, I am Yan Xiangma—" Yan Xiangma said with a smile. He beckoned and said, "Quickly bring the Detox Soup I prepared for the young lady. You were afflicted by the Poisonous Mist, and even though you've woken up now, there's likely still residual poison in your body—you need to use Detox Soup to help expel the toxins from your body."

"Right away," Li Dalu replied and personally brought a bowl of medicinal soup from the kitchen.

Li Dalu walked towards Li Sinian with the medicinal soup and said, "Miss, please drink the soup."

Yan Xiangma coughed lightly twice.

Li Dalu quickly turned and asked, "Young master, are you feeling unwell? Could it be that you've also been poisoned by the Smoke Barrier Poison?"

As he spoke, he brought the medicinal soup over and said, "Young master, you should drink this bowl of soup first. You mustn't let your body be poisoned—"

Yan Xiangma secretly decided to stuff this idiot into a sack and send him to the Beast Forest later.

Yan Xiangma glared fiercely at Li Dalu, put his fan into his sleeve, took the bowl of medicinal soup from the tray, and said, "The young lady has difficulty moving, so allow me to feed her the soup—"

"Go away." Li Yan and Li Sinian shouted simultaneously.

Li Yan yelled at Li Sinian, "Sinian, don't drink their medicine."

Li Sinian saw her father lying diagonally in the distance and asked urgently, "Dad, are you okay? Are you injured? Where's Mom—is Mom okay too?"

"I'm fine, and your mother is fine—don't drink his soup," Li Yan cautioned again. "This person's origins are unknown."

"Dad, I know." Li Sinian stared at Yan Xiangma with full vigilance, looking adorably like she was thinking, Don't hide it, I know you're a bad guy.

"I've explained it repeatedly. I am Yan Xiangma, the son of Jiangnan City Lord Yan Bolai, Cui Xiaoxin's cousin, and Li Mu Yang's—brother through life and death. Li Mu Yang entrusting you to me in this critical moment is a sign of his extreme trust. Otherwise, how could he possibly leave you with me and go take the exam himself?" Yan Xiangma explained earnestly, looking at Li Sinian.

"Hmph—" Li Sinian snorted coldly and clenched her fist. Thankfully, her strength was gradually recovering. She quickly used the breathing technique her master taught her to regulate her qi and speed up the recovery process. If this scoundrel dared to lay a hand on her, she would blast him with a punch—

"You've been poisoned by the Crow's Bewildering Poison. You must expel the toxins from your body with this medicinal soup, otherwise, there might be lingering side effects later— I am truly thinking of your health and have no ill intentions towards you. Please believe me and drink this soup with peace of mind— I swear on my honor that absolutely no poison, sedatives, or anything of that sort have been added. I, Yan Xiangma, am a model youth of Jiangnan City and would never do such a despicable and shameless thing—"

"Your honor? I don't even know you, how can I know if you have honor?"

"A young lady with such wisdom at such a tender age truly makes me, Xiangma, greatly admire you—" Yan Xiangma picked up the bowl of soup and said, "Since you don't trust my character, then let Xiangma set an example for you."

Saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the bowl of dark soup.

Yan Xiangma held up the empty bowl for Li Yan and Li Sinian to see, saying, "Please look, the soup has been consumed, and Xiangma is not—"

Gurgle—

A loud sound came from Yan Xiangma's stomach.

Yan Xiangma turned to look at Li Dalu and asked, "I asked you to make Detox Soup, didn't I?"

"Young Master, we are indeed making Detox Soup."

"Then why does my stomach feel— a little uncomfortable?"

Li Dalu grinned and replied, "Young Master, don't panic. This is the soup taking effect— it's detoxifying you."

"Detoxifying?"

"Yes." Li Dalu smiled back. "It's powerful detoxification. It just needs to expel the feces from your body— Young Master, what's wrong? Your complexion looks rather bad."

"Where is the latrine?" Yan Xiangma asked through gritted teeth.

"—"