Liu Erlong's chest heaved violently. The embarrassment and anger she had bottled up surged all at once, resentment filling her eyes. She looked ready to erupt on the spot.
Ao Yin's heart tightened. Afraid his fiery teacher would keep dwelling on last night's humiliation, he hurried forward to soothe her, his voice gentle and his manner earnest.
"Teacher Erlong, please don't be angry! It was pitch-dark last night, and the terrain was a maze. All I could think about was saving your life as quickly as possible. I was frantic the whole time and couldn't spare a thought to search the herb garden. How could I have known there was an Immortal Herb like the Fragrant Silk Beauty, the bane of all poisons, hidden in a corner?"
Liu Erlong's anger eased a little at his reasonable explanation, but suspicion still lingered. She stared straight at Ao Yin and asked softly,
"Is that... really true? You're not lying to me on purpose?"
"Absolutely. Every word is true!" Ao Yin answered without hesitation. His gaze was open and steady, never wavering.
Seeing his sincere expression, Liu Erlong finally let go of her doubts and spared him for the time being.
Ao Yin breathed a long, silent sigh of relief, as though he had escaped a calamity. Not daring to linger on the awkward subject, he turned back to the grand task of stripping the herb garden bare. The entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay before him, its grounds strewn with peerless treasures. Every moment wasted was a tremendous loss.
His eyes swept over the ground and soon settled on an unusual, rare herb. Its grayish-white body bore rings of natural markings and was evenly formed, with eight pairs of legs; the four pairs around its middle were especially thick and