Deep in Nalan Mansion, the bedroom was shrouded in deathly silence.
The pungent smell of medicine mingled with a strange, scorched odor, almost thick enough to touch. It weighed on the chest and made it hard to breathe. Every window in the room was covered by heavy black curtains. The only light came from a Moonlight Stone beside the bed, casting a soft white glow.
Beneath its light, an emaciated old man lay motionless on a broad Cold Jade Bed.
He was Nalan Jie, the pillar of the Jia Ma Empire's military and a man once ennobled as the "Lionheart Marshal" for his illustrious service.
Yet now, the life in this Dou Wang expert—who had once been able to cow armies single-handedly—flickered like a candle in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
Every bit of exposed skin on his face and body was covered in strange black lines. They seemed alive, slowly writhing beneath his skin. Each time they moved, his body convulsed violently against his will, and a suppressed groan of pain escaped from deep in his throat.
Brand Poison—a rare poison of the world that even Pill King Gu He could do nothing about.
A slender figure stood silently beside the bed.
The woman wore a moon-white dress. Her figure was graceful, and her bearing ethereal. Her exquisite face could have outshone a hundred flowers, but now it was utterly drained of color. Her limpid eyes had grown dull from long worry and exhaustion.
Nalan Yanran.
The direct disciple of Yun Yun, the Misty Cloud Sect Master, and the most dazzling young woman of her generation in the Imperial Capital.
With a damp, soft cloth, she gently wiped the cold sweat that had gathered at her grandfather's temples from the agony. Her movements were light