Entanglements

Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying left Chang'an City quietly, and returned without making a sound.

"Once you leave the imperial court, don't even think about going back!"

After they had washed up, Zheng Wukong, leaning on his cane, also tried to persuade Chunyu Tiying, who was also using a cane.

"I wanted to give it a try, but I was also a little unwilling to give up!"

Chunyu Tiying looked at the cane in her hand. She never expected that in just a few years, she would go from being the top female physician in the palace to needing a cane.

With major changes occurring at Anle Palace, it was clear that she could no longer afford to take on any risks.

Even after the Empress Dowager's funeral, with Princess Dou still in power at Anle Palace, Chunyu Tiying would have no chance to re-enter the court system, let alone rely on the connections and resources of the Imperial Medical Academy.

"It's better to use crutches than to lose your head!"

Zheng Wukong murmured to himself.

"You've lived enough, but I haven't," Chunyu Tiying replied sullenly.

"I didn't want to die!"

Zheng Wukong replied in surprise, then reached out his hand towards Zhang Xuezhou.

It's gone!

Upon receiving the dry, unhelpful response, Zheng Wukong's heart skipped a beat.

"What's gone?" Zheng Wukong asked.

"Your gourd had vines growing inside it, and then it burst open," Zhang Xuezhou said. "The water gushed out all over the mountains and almost drowned us!"

Following Chunyu Tiying's resentment, Zheng Wukong also felt a bit more resentful.

He not only lost the possibility of retrieving the items passed down in the Suspended Pot Sect, but also lost the way to deduce the physical body's counterpart.

The water gourd is a precious gourd used by the Suspended Gourd Sect for alchemy and medicine making. Not only can it continuously draw water, but the water from this gourd may also help to refine better elixirs.

However, this water gourd is not without its advantages. Many of the successors of the Suspended Pot Sect have consumed too many elixirs, which has left them as frail as rotten wood in their old age, with difficulty walking, much like Zheng Wukong's current situation.

If it weren't for the contrasting example of Chunyu Tiying, Zheng Wukong would almost have thought he was following in the footsteps of many of the predecessors of the Xuanhu Sect.

However, their physical symptoms are undoubtedly similar to those of water hyacinth.

"Where did the gourd break? Where's the water? Where's the gourd vine?" Zheng Wukong asked, unwilling to give up.

"The gourd must have broken off on Fangzhang Island in the East China Sea. There used to be only a spring there, but now it's filled into a large lake," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Li Shaojun took the gourd vine and used it to make a Law Artifact to bind people, but it's unreliable and doesn't work very well, so he didn't gain any advantage!"

"That's truly the end!"

Zheng Wukong did not doubt the truthfulness of Zhang Xuezhou's words, and Zhang Xuezhou had no reason to take advantage of his water hyacinth.

The thought of the distant East Sea and the difficulty in tracing Li Shaojun's whereabouts completely dispelled Zheng Wukong's worries.

"Don't worry about that water hyacinth anymore!"

Zhang Xuezhou reached behind him and took out Yi Shuo's purple-gold gourd.

"This gourd has wondrous uses in alchemy, capable of enhancing the quality of elixirs. The elixirs you took back then were produced by this gourd," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Studying this gourd makes no difference!"

"This gourd..."

"This gourd is a bit of a problem. If the people from Anle Palace find it, they'll have to chop it up!"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed to his head.

The case of the gourd has basically come to an end. Of those involved, only Yi Shuo escaped. The others either died from torture or were forced to confess, or they are suffering in prison until the Empress Dowager is buried as funerary companions.

The Empress Dowager's burial may still be a year or two away. If someone investigates during this time and overturns the previous case, that would be a major misfortune.

Zhang Xuezhou gave several instructions, indicating that Zheng Wukong and the others could conduct their research, but they should not reveal it to others to avoid future troubles.

"That's strange, when did you become so kind?"

Chunyu Tiying looked back and forth at Zhang Xuezhou, feeling that Zhang Xuezhou was being a little too enthusiastic.

"I've always been a kind person," Zhang Xuezhou said, waving his hand.

"Impossible!"

Chunyu Tiying shook her head repeatedly. Zheng Wukong and Zhang Xuezhou had limited contact, while Chunyu Tiying had truly fought against Zhang Xuezhou, and there was no shortage of scheming between them.

The opponent knows the opponent best, and Chunyu Tiying knew Zhang Xuezhou's true character all too well.

"Did you later also take the medicine from this gourd and know about its side effects?" Chunyu Tiying asked suspiciously.

"What are you talking about?" Zhang Xuezhou denied, "I can walk, I can jump, I can even jump high. I'm in excellent health, I don't have any of the symptoms you have!"

"Then wait until we develop the antidote and don't take it," Chunyu Tiying said.

"Cut!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied sullenly.

He inherited the skills of the Yin-Yang School- Yang School in alchemy, but he was only a mediocre Alchemist and could not cure diseases.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals. Having ingested so much blood essence refined from gourds, Zhang Xuezhou was worried that one day his luck would be so bad that he would suddenly fall ill and end up as a true vegetative state.

"I also know of any elixirs that can cure this disease," Zhang Xuezhou muttered.

"What kind of pill?" Chunyu Tiying asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I had taken the Gourd Pill once before, and later the Marquis of Pingyang bestowed upon me a Life-Creating Pill," Zhang Xuezhou said. "At the time, I didn't feel any side effects from the Gourd Pill, but after taking the Life-Creating Pill, I could feel my stomach and intestines being thoroughly cleansed, and the lesions were cleared away!"

"As expected, it's a problem with his stomach and intestines," Zheng Wukong said seriously.

"If you knew the consequences, you shouldn't have given us that medicine," Chunyu Tiying said dejectedly.

"You wanted to eat it yourselves, what could I do? You were even unhappy when I didn't give it to you!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied irritably.

Although the three bickered constantly, Zhang Xuezhou knew very well that a three-person research group had been formed at this moment.

Zhang Xuezhou provided the research materials and directions, while Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong believed in the topic and would conduct research in this direction, rather than aimlessly seeking a direction.

With the Purple-Gold Red Gourd, the Gourd Elixir can be reproduced and used as research material.

The Life-Creating Pill is another direction. Although none of them know the Pill Formula for the Life-Creating Pill, Zheng Wukong and the others have heard of this pill to some extent, so it is not entirely unfamiliar to them.

After the war ended, Zhang Xuezhou awoke and returned to this world. He felt that his influence was also being exerted in this world, causing some things that were hard to say whether they were good or bad, and they were also involved with him.

For example, there's A-Qiao, who can unblock his power of Yang; there's the agricultural and military strength of the nation; there's the Heavenly Court's operational techniques that Divine Lord Zhenyuan told him about; and there's the project to establish a research facility for the gourd pill.

Nothing has a real outcome right now, but everything seems to sow a seed of new hope.

Zhang Xuezhou keenly sensed that various events seemed to involve the art of manipulation, but he only had a superficial understanding of it and was unable to grasp its principles. He was even unaware of his own state after the end of the manipulation battle.

This made Zhang Xuezhou look in the direction of the palace.

He felt it necessary to go to the palace to see if he could use the fortune of the Great Han Dynasty to his advantage, thereby revealing the power of his own destiny, so that he could properly examine the post-war situation.