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墨書 Inktalez
Lin Dahe kicked aside the last piece of rubble and rolled into a low cellar. Moonlight seeped through the gaps in the ceiling, illuminating a corner piled high with dried herbs. He had just placed Cui Xiaoman on the haystack when the system suddenly popped up an urgent task:
【Antidote Task Activated】
Requirements: Prepare a solution for Aflatoxin within seven days
Formula: Belladonna + Sophora Root + Mung Bean Licorice Soup
Herb Location: Southeast side of the Unmarked Graveyard (Danger Zone)
Failure Penalty: Host's immune system collapse
Lin Dahe rummaged through the vegetable cellar and found half a bag of mung beans, then smashed a ceramic jar to extract saltpeter for ice-making. As the cool cloth was laid on Cui Xiaoman's forehead, she suddenly grabbed his wrist. "You still haven't answered... who is it..."
"Shh—" Lin Dahe dipped a cloth strip in mung bean water and wiped the mold spots on her arm. "I'll tell you everything when you get better."
Cui Xiaoman's pupils had dilated, yet she stubbornly glared at him. "The Unmarked Graveyard... Belladonna grows under the gallows... Sophora has to be dug from old graves..." Before she could finish, another spasm made her bite her lip.
The Unmarked Graveyard was even more eerie at midnight than during the day. Lin Dahe walked cautiously with a torch, each nameless skeleton seeming ready to sit up at any moment. The flashing red dot on the system map guided him to an old crooked locust tree—once a site of execution, with marks still visible on its trunk.
The Belladonna glowed pale under the moonlight, resembling little hands reaching out. Just as he drew his dagger, he suddenly heard the sound of dirt clattering. Turning around, he saw a familiar figure standing near a fresh grave.
"I knew you would come."
Cui Xiaoman leaned on a branch as a makeshift cane, her pale face slick with cold sweat. A short sickle hung from her waist, caked in mud, clearly indicating she had been digging alone for some time.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Lin Dahe rushed over to steady her swaying body.
"Sophora... has to be harvested at noon..." Cui Xiaoman pointed to a patch of inconspicuous green leaves among the graves. "My father said... the best herbs grow on the graves of those wronged..."
The two knelt on the damp, cold ground and began digging with their bare hands, quickly filling their fingernails with black mud. When they reached three feet deep, the sickle suddenly clanged against something hard—it was a fragment of a gravestone, inscribed with the words "Military Doctor Cui."
Tears streamed down Cui Xiaoman's face, splattering onto the gravestone. "That year my father was called to inspect the granary... he came back saying the grain was poisoned..." Her trembling fingers traced over the inscription. "That night, black-clad men broke into our home..."
Lin Dahe silently took over the sickle and continued digging until finally unearthing three roots of Sophora as thick as an infant's arm before dawn. The roots glistened in the morning light, whether dew or droplets of blood unclear.
The medicine pot had been bubbling all night. Following system instructions, Lin Dahe dried and powdered the Belladonna and mixed it with Sophora juice to create the mung bean licorice soup. Cui Xiaoman lay unconscious on the straw mat; mold spots had spread to her neck.
When the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, the medicine was finally ready. The dark brown liquid emitted a peculiar spicy aroma just as Lin Dahe helped Cui Xiaoman sit up and heard noisy voices outside.
Aunt Wang led a dozen villagers blocking the doorway, each face marked by unnatural red rashes—symptoms of consuming moldy grain. The most severely affected, Old Zhao, was delirious, grasping at thin air and shouting about "ghosts."
"Lin Family Boy!" Aunt Wang fell to her knees. "Please save everyone!"
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