Life and Death

"How could the King of Huainan's alchemy have gone so astray like this?"

Zhang Xuezhou thought that the white meat called Li Qi was a new thing that emerged with an extremely low probability, but he did not expect that the King of Huainan would also accidentally develop the magic metal.

Shujin is a type of counterfeit currency, but it is also a type of counterfeit currency that can be circulated.

The King of Huainan, with his official background, had a unique advantage in using metal magic.

Even if the effects of the magic gold last for at least a month, or even if the effects only last for three days, it would still be enough to gain significant benefits from it.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that the King of Huainan's luck was bizarre.

It's no surprise that spies like Hongku met their demise; the Yang Soul Body that Hongku had carefully preserved in Chang'an City collapsed in Huainan.

"I wonder if Master Hongku has glimpsed the entire process of making magic gold!"

Zhang Xuezhou's eavesdropping time was short and late, so what he learned was extremely limited.

The only thing he was certain of was that the King of Jiangdu would be in trouble.

He seemed to know a lot of things, but all of these things were superficial.

"Cousin, how is it?"

Zhang Xuezhou's investigation didn't last long, only about half an hour, and most of that time was spent near Zhang Zhoushi.

He gave a brief explanation and then turned his gaze toward the King of Huainan.

"They tried white meat... white meat..."

Rong Tianding murmured a few times.

Some prisoners may still be gambling with their lives, believing that by repeatedly trying food and miraculously surviving, they can receive a blessing.

But there's no end to trying white meat.

Zhang Xuezhou tasted the food himself and then had Huo Qubing and other children taste it, thus concluding that the food was stable and reliable. However, the King of Huainan's Household used adults and the elderly, which meant that the testing period would be much longer, and they might even have to eat the food until these people died.

"Cousin, since you think they're likely to die from eating it, can we let them die first and gamble with their lives?" Rong Tianding asked.

"Do you want to see if they were dumped or disemboweled to investigate the cause of death?" Zhang Xuezhou asked, frowning.

"This is better than actually eating yourself to death!"

Even the best food can't be eaten every day, at every meal. Eating tough, white meat is one thing, but people's stomachs simply can't handle drinking thin liquids or eating moldy, hairy food.

The experiment, which used death row inmates, was never intended to result in their survival.

Some people from Zhang Household Village, however, stepped into this perilous situation where there was no chance of survival.

"Looks like my cousin has some tricks up his sleeve!" Zhang Xuezhou said.

"This is no different from the zombie horses I control," Rong Tianding nodded. "As long as I remove the spell as soon as possible, their bodies can regain their vitality and they can be resurrected!"

Rong Tianding reached into his pocket and pulled out a gray pill the size of a longan.

"But if this drags on, their bodies will stiffen, causing them to lose consciousness and turn into lifeless zombies," Rong Tianding said. "Therefore, we must control the time as much as possible; the sooner we leave Huainan, the easier it will be to recover!"

"Let's try one first!"

The King of Huainan searched but couldn't find Changxing, and Zhang Xuezhou didn't expect to find anything just by flying over.

Compared to aimless searching, Zhang Xuezhou preferred to do something that could be determined in the present moment, which would allow him to remain in the palace area to gather information.

In any case, once something is discovered, Zhang Xuezhou's speed will be incredibly fast, far exceeding the speed at which the King of Huainan travels to his destination. That might be the best way to investigate the true nature of Changxing.

He reached out and took the pill from Rong Tianding. When he condensed his Yang Soul body again, it became more solid, allowing the Yang Soul body to grasp the pill.

Once the Yang Soul had solidified, the body could no longer be concealed, so Zhang Xuezhou took advantage of the remaining darkness and quickly soared into the sky.

Their small size, with bodies only the length of arms, prevents them from casting powerful Technique Method, but they still have the advantage of being small.

Once again, Zhang Xuezhou flew easily to the vicinity of Zhang Zhou's prison cart. He also discovered that the number of patrolling guards had decreased by 90%, and they were mostly guarding the craftsmen rather than the prisoners who were eating.

"Aunt Zhou..."

Although patrols were much less strict, Zhang Xuezhou down.

He whispered, continuously sending messages to Zhang Zhoushi, whom he had already identified below.

During the brief exchange, Zhang Xuezhou saw that Zhang Zhoushi, who was trapped in the prison cart, had her head, covered in white hair, tilted back and her mouth wide open.

There was far less tedious communication, or perhaps because she had been in despair for too long. After a simple identification process, Zhang Zhoushi cooperated without the slightest hesitation.

Faced with the choice between believing the promises of the King of Huainan's Household and trusting an unseen man from Zhang Household Village, Zhang Zhoushi clearly trusted the latter more.

As a tiny pill fell from the sky, Zhang Zhou's mouth opened even wider.

The hard, dry meatball had just fallen into her throat when she coughed and forced it down.

"Help... help me!"

Following Zhang Xuezhou's advice, Zhang Zhou called out twice, and then she felt her body rapidly grow cold, losing the ability to utter a sound.

She rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the prison cart.

In the dim light, Zhang Zhoushi seemed to hear her own hoarse voice echoing in her ears, followed by a series of footsteps.

How could he have died?

"The amount of plaster she ingested was far from enough to kill her, so how could she suddenly die!"

"Perhaps it's because I'm getting old!"

"These people take more medicine than food, their bodies can handle it, there's no way they could die so quickly. Let's examine them first!"

"How about that guy who eats Li Qi, who stinks like shit?"

"You're not dead yet!"

"This is strange, this is not supposed to be a death sentence!"

The sound eventually disappeared from my ears, leaving a lingering feeling like being immersed in ice water.

Only when a ray of sunlight tinged with red did Zhang Zhoushi manage to open her eyes.

"Those damn quacks actually did a laparotomy to check!"

"Luckily, cousin, after your body stiffened, you lost the feeling of pain, and your muscles and blood almost stopped flowing. Otherwise, before we could even collect the body and use the Supreme Purity True Technique to treat her, Aunt Zhou would have hemorrhaged to death!"

Two young men with striking eyebrows and sharp eyes came into view, and Zhang Zhoushi also recognized the voices.

Her eyes widened, and only after Zhang Xuezhou helped her up did Zhang Zhoushi see the gloomy, rotten earthen slopes all around her.

There were also blood-stained burlap shrouds on the ground, and some White Bone scattered around.

This was clearly a mass grave, and it was also far from the capital city of Huainan.

"This..."

Zhang Zhou opened her mouth, but felt that her speech was still a bit sluggish, and her body seemed to have been lying down for several days, becoming less agile.

Only after Rong Tianding reached out and pressed her repeatedly did Zhang Zhoushi feel her body 'come back to life'.

"Rescuing a group of people is somewhat risky!"

"I can handle it!"

"Aunt Zhou, how many people from our village are still in the Prince's mansion?"

After a brief discussion, Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding looked at Zhang Zhoushi, whose face had turned pale and weak.

This caused Zhang Zhou to sob uncontrollably, and she would occasionally whisper the news to him.

Several years ago, the escape of the men from Zhang Household Village from Beishan brought questions to the women about the punishment of flogging.

According to divination, Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong's remaining lifespan was not long. The people of Zhang Household Village in the Huainan mines were suffering, and due to a combination of factors, many had already died while working.

Of those who survived, only three or four out of ten remain, leaving only forty-two survivors.

As the years drag on, people also gradually disappear.

Having participated in Li Qi's test, these people couldn't delay any longer. Even though it was high-risk, Zhang Xuezhou and the others had no choice but to give it a try.