Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 48: The Antidote

Chapter 48: The Antidote

Lin Bo was the housekeeper of the Lin family, who had watched Lin's sister grow up. He was unable to send them away as he returned home visiting his family, but once he returned, he hurriedly climbed the mountain to wait for their successful departure.

"Ah, what happened to you, second lady?" Lin Bo saw Lin Qingxue being carried on Zhuo Yifeng's back and hurriedly asked.

"I'm fine, Lin Bo, I only sustained a slight injury," Lin Qingxue replied with a smile. His face had regained its usual liveliness, but his legs were sometimes still soft if he tried to walk.

“Ah, then—”

"Lin Bo, is Grandpa okay?" Lin Bo wanted to ask more about his injury, but Yun Ruoyan stopped him.

“He is fine. He was so worried about all of you that he sent me here early. Come quickly home, I'm sure Master Lin will be happy to know that you've all passed the exam."

“Grandfather is a patient person, Lin Bo, weren't you the one who worried about us all along?” Lin Qingxue joked.

"Ah, I can't hide anything from you, second lady!"

Yun Ruoyan glanced around her, noticing that the Yun Family carriage did not exist. There weren't many carriages out there, and he was sure he didn't just ignore them. "Lin Bo, have you seen my sister?"

“Yes, they arrived two days earlier than your group, and they have already returned to Yun's house. I even asked them where you guys are!”

"Oh?" Yun Ruoyan could not help but raise an eyebrow. "What did they say?"

“They said that they were originally with you, but a fortuitous encounter with some ferocious beast broke up your members, so they also have no idea what happened to your group. That worries me a lot!”

"Don't worry, aren't we all back now?" Lin Qingxue smiled. "Let's go home, Lin Bo!"

Lin Qingxue pulled Yun Ruoyan's wrist. "Sister Ruoyan, why don't you come back with us?"

Yun Ruoyan nodded, and the entire entourage walked towards the Lin family carriage.

Zhuo Yifeng sent Lin Qingxue aboard the carriage before taking Zhuo Lin'er once more.

"Sister Zhuo, are you going home?" Yun Ruoyan poked her head out of the carriage and looked towards Zhuo Yifeng.

Zhuo Yifeng nodded, his gaze sweeping across the crowd before pausing for a moment at Yun Ruoyan. “Be careful, see you at Kongming Academy.”

No one had expected Zhuo Yifeng to leave so quickly, and Lin Qingchen shouted from behind, "What about the treasure ?!"

But Zhuo Yifeng had already gone a long way. He turned around and waved to the girls, "Take it for me." And then he disappeared into the distance.

Lin Qingxue slightly gaped—leaving behind such precious herbs, medicines, and nuclei? Isn't that treating their wealth too carelessly?

“It may be inconvenient for them to have such a valuable item on their person,” Yun Ruoyan commented.

When the carriage finally arrived at Lin's manor, Lin Qingxue jumped off the carriage before completely stopping and shouted, "Grandfather, I'm home!"

In front of the amazed eyes of Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen, he dashed into the manor.

His feet look fine! Was he just pretending to have weak legs so that he could be carried by Zhuo Yifeng?! Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen glanced at each other before shaking their heads helplessly.

Seeing that his three grandchildren were safe and sound, and they had all passed the test, Lin Zainan was of course very happy.

The three girls could not wait to show off their treasures.

Lin Qingchen took everything out of the storage bag one by one, and the results they gathered completely filled the entire guest room floor.

"Grandfather, aren't we amazing?" Lin Qingxue pulled Lin Zainan's wrist.

"of course! How could grandpa's granddaughter not be amazing?” Lin Zainan stroked her white beard, her eyes curved into two crescent moons.

"That's right, you are amazing," Lin Qingchen willingly added. “If it were not for Sister Ruoyan and I going there to save you, you would be a wonderful companion to the wild spirit of wine.”

"That's .. it ..." Reprimanded by his sister, Lin Qingxue stuttered slightly as she defended herself. "If it wasn't for me, would you be able to obtain all of these treasures?" He pointed to the pill and powder bottles they had taken from the room where the wild wine spirits lived. "If I don't fall into that hole, you won't go to save me, and you won't kill the wild wine spirits and get all these treasures!"

His logic left Lin Qingchen at a loss for words.

Yun Ruoyan's gaze landed on the black porcelain bottle, and she picked it up and handed it to Lin Zainan. “Grandfather, do you know what this is? None of us can identify it."

Lin Zainan picked up the bottle, opened the lid, and exhaled steam towards it. As he sniffed lightly, his expression immediately turned bright.  

"Grandfather, is this a good thing?" Yun Ruoyan asked after seeing his face.

Yun Ruoyan paused for a moment before asking, somewhat hesitatingly, "Really, the complete antidote?"

The Lin siblings quickly crowded around him and repeated the same question.

“Ya, definitely,” firmly Lin Zainan. “Lin Bo, bring me a vat of fifty years old alcohol. We also have to go to the pill maker room later, so wait here and reject any guests who might show up.”

Lin Bo nodded and went to the wine cellar. Armed with alcohol, Lin Zainan brought the three girls to her room.

At his request, Lin Qingxue opened the alcohol seal that Lin Bo had brought before pouring a full cup into the celadon bowl. 

"Grandfather, is this for Sister Ruoyan to drink?" Lin Qingxue asked curiously.

But Lin Zainan did not respond. Instead, he smiled and shook his head. Amidst the other curious gazes, he poured the contents of the bottle into the alcohol.

They only saw small grains of mud-yellow, about the size of a fingernail, sink to the bottom of the bowl, before starting to hiss and producing many small bubbles.

"What's this?" yun Ruoyan asked.

Lin Zainan looked at the mud-yellow thing in awe before revealing her identity. "Bezoar phoenix!"

"The phoenix ?!" Lin Qingchen exclaimed in shock, becoming more agitated than his grandfather.

“Bezoar phoenix? What'sthat?" Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingxue were completely confused.

"Bezoars are small, stone-like objects that form in the stomachs of various animals, such as cows and dogs, that can have rare and valuable medicinal properties" Lin Qingchen said, before pointing to the bowl. “And, of course, the phoenix bezoar is a much rarer bezoar that comes from the phoenix.” body

“Much less often? we'll barely find it in a thousand years!" Lin Zainan's mustache and beard looked twitching. “A phoenix is a mystical beast, and it is quite difficult to meet him, let alone get his bezoar. Using it as a medicinal base ingredient and including some herbs to cure the poison will definitely cure your body completely." Lin Zainan's confident tone finally gave Yun Ruoyan hope that she would be completely free from the poison that was plaguing her.

Everyone stared in amazement at the phoenix bezoar that was currently soaked in alcohol.

That deceptive plain appearance was actually hiding a priceless treasure. As his mud-yellow membrane slowly dissolved in alcohol, it finally turned into sparkling gold.

The fragrant aroma that suddenly spread throughout the room, grew stronger and stronger.

“I'll be making pills soon! Wait for me here.” Lin Zainan lifted the alcohol cup and walked into her inner room.

As soon as Lin Zainan left, Lin Qingxue started to swirl around excitedly. "Sister Ruoyan, you will finally be healed!"

“Ruoyan, that's awesome! Once your poison is cured, the birthmark on your face will definitely disappear.” Lin Qingchen was no less excited than Lin Qingxue. "I'm so happy to see what your face will look like."

Yun Ruoyan sat quietly in her chair, her face cold, her breathing calm, as if she was not excited at all.

The poison had invaded his entire body, restricting his cultivation and destroying his appearance. Although Lin Zainan had given him some pills in the past, they could only treat his poison at a superficial level. She was insensitive about her appearance as it looked, having to walk around with a pus-filled birthmark on her face would harm anyone. But he had spent two lives carrying that disgusting birthmark, and time made him accustomed to the gazes of others.

Now that the hope of curing the poison was completely in front of him, how could he not be excited? It was just that he had gotten used to hiding his emotions and being calm.

Four hours later, Lin Zainan was still in his room. Impatiently, Lin Qingxue wanted to sneak in to take a look, but Lin Qingchen quickly dragged her back.

"You know that Grandfather needs full concentration when making pills, and if you make a disturbance, you won't be able to bear the consequences," Lin Qingchen rebuked him loudly.

Lin Qingxue realized the importance of this matter and sat back down obediently after sticking out her tongue. His gaze was fixed on Yun Ruoyan who was sitting quietly on the other side of the table with her eyes closed, as if this was not a very important matter to her, and she tilted her head in an incomprehensible manner.

On the other hand, Lin Qingchen was very impressed by Yun Ruoyan's cold demeanor, and she wondered when she could be as calm as her cousin.

Four hours later, as the sun slowly set among the hills in the west, Lin Zainan finally came out of her room.

Everyone was shocked when they saw him: his gray hair had turned completely white. His slender body, wearing a pitch-black robe and accompanied by his pale white hair and beard, made him seem like an immortal Daoist.

"Grandfather!" The three girls stood up and called out as one, their eyes becoming wet.

"Grandfather." Lin Qingxue wiped her tears and walked forward, pulled her hand and smiled. "I thought you were immortal when I first saw you."

"You have a silver tongue, don't you?" Lin Zainan laughed and clasped her hands.

Lin Qingchen and Yun Ruoyan also walked over.

“Grandfather, I..” Yun Ruoyan suddenly felt very anxious to cry, and she could not continue her sentence.

Lin Zainan waved her hand forcefully. “You are my granddaughter, my bones, flesh, and blood, and I am happy to do anything for you, Ruoyan.”

He reached out a palm to her, revealing a golden-yellow pill. “Quick, consume with alcohol.”