The alchemist set up an altar before the Lutai platform and began his ritual. Incense smoke curled through the air as the chanting continued without pause. Just as the ceremony reached its halfway point, an unexpected change struck.
Daji, who had been lying limp and frail upon the couch, suddenly shuddered violently from head to toe.
Then she abruptly opened her mouth and spewed a torrent of scarlet blood. Her body tilted, and she fell headfirst onto the cold floor of Lutai, looking utterly miserable.
"Beauty!"
At the sight, King Zhou's heart clenched. Seeing Daji pale, vomiting blood, and unconscious, his face instantly filled with worry and panic.
He pretended not to notice anything and strode forward, gathering the limp Daji tightly into his arms. Even his voice shook uncontrollably.
"Beauty, how are you? What exactly happened?"
As King Zhou panicked, the posturing alchemist silently moved to Hu Ximei's side and quickly whispered a few words to her.
Hu Ximei's expression changed drastically, instantly turning solemn and flustered. She hurried to King Zhou, her eyes red-rimmed, her voice choked with urgency.
"Your Majesty! This is terrible! The Immortal Official just said that Sister Daji's old ailment has fully erupted.
"Ordinary Immortal Arts and spiritual medicine are useless. Only the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart can serve as the medicinal catalyst and preserve her life, saving Sister!"
Those words crashed beside King Zhou's ears like thunder, and he understood at once.
From Daji's feigned illness, to inviting the alchemist to hold a ritual and pray for blessings, to this sudden critical condition demanding the Exquisite Heart—step by step, from beginning to end, these demons had been targeting Prime Minister Bi Gan!
The so-called prayers and treatment had all been a death trap aimed at Bi Gan.
Holding the dying Daji, King Zhou heard