Chapter Twenty-Four: The Violet Heart Herb

I was completely stunned, but fortunately Qin Feng hurried forward and caught him. The people nearby all turned around at this moment, gathering around us.

"Peanut," I approached to take a look, and my heart trembled. His face was ashen, and blue-purple bruises mottled his forehead and cheeks. "Second Uncle, could it be excessive blood loss?"

"Impossible," Second Uncle dismissed my guess, then placed his hand on Peanut's neck and examined his right hand.

Something felt off to me as well—Peanut’s complexion was too strange, not something caused by exhaustion or blood loss. Soon, his lips started turning black. I touched his hand; it was cold as ice.

"He’s been poisoned," Second Uncle suddenly declared.

"What? Poisoned?" I cried. "That can’t be! How could he get poisoned smashing the stone slab? He wasn’t—" My words faltered as I recalled Peanut had indeed been wounded by that shadowy spider earlier.

Since I had already told Second Uncle everything, as soon as he saw Peanut was poisoned, he laid him on the ground, lifted his shirt, and checked the wound on his back.

As soon as Second Uncle turned Peanut over, we all gasped. From the deep gash on his back oozed thick, dark purple liquid; the cotton cloth stuck to the wound had fallen away, and countless blood streaks, like water weeds, spread across the surrounding skin.

Looking at it, I began berating myself inwardly for not being more careful when treating him earlier.

"‘Purple Cyclamen’," Second Uncle muttered as he glanced at Er Lengzi with a puzzled look.

Er Lengzi stepped forward for a closer look. "This really is the reaction to ‘Purple Cyclamen’."

"What is Purple Cyclamen? What's happening to Peanut?" I hurriedly asked.

Second Uncle explained, "Purple Cyclamen is a poison concocted from snake venom and a toxic herb called Purple Heart Grass. Years ago, tomb raiders often smeared it on their weapons to deal with the giant insects inside ancient tombs. Its toxicity is extremely potent. If all this purple liquid from his wound enters his body, even a sneeze could poison everyone nearby. Purple Heart Grass is actually a contagion-like poison and, for that reason, people eventually stopped using it for fear of infecting themselves."

"So, the spider that wounded Peanut must have carried the poison, passing it to him?" I asked.

"Impossible," Er Lengzi replied. "Anything poisoned by Purple Heart Grass, except for mummies, can’t survive three days. If there’s no accident, someone must have deliberately poisoned him."

"What? Someone poisoned Peanut?" I thought, how could that be?

"The toxicity of Purple Heart Grass is peculiar. At first, there are no symptoms. After a day, the poison takes effect. Peanut smashing the stone slab just now may have accelerated his blood circulation, causing the poison to manifest earlier," Er Lengzi said.

"Is there any way to cure him?" I looked at Er Lengzi.

But as soon as I asked, everyone fell silent. Staring at Peanut’s terrifyingly bruised face, I was seized by a sense of doom. He had just shown us his extraordinary strength, and now he was teetering between life and death, beyond saving. It was simply unbearable.

Suddenly, Peanut’s hand twitched faintly.

"Peanut, are you alright?" I quickly took out my water flask, intending to give him a drink.

Peanut weakly shook his head, then opened his mouth, as if trying to speak. I immediately leaned in, listening for a long time before understanding his whisper: "Below... someone..."

I bowed my head heavily, thinking, now, facing death, why worry about that? Everyone here is motivated to save my father, except this man. Though I don’t know why, now, with death so close, everything seems meaningless.

Someone in the crowd said, "Young master, let it go. This man has been poisoned by Purple Heart Grass, there’s no saving him. The only thing we can do is send him off and burn his body so the poison doesn’t spread..."

"Shut up!" I suddenly turned and glared fiercely at the speaker.

Second Uncle signaled him to stay quiet, then patted me. "Yuanzi, let it go. It’s come to this—your compassion can’t change anything. Saving your father is the most important thing now; you must know what matters most."

Hearing Second Uncle’s words, I felt a suffocating pressure in my chest. I couldn't possibly not save my father, yet to do so, one brother had vanished and another companion was dying. The ancient tomb—just entering it, I was already engulfed by the dread of death.

...

Suddenly, a voice drifted into our ears. Qin Feng reacted first and immediately walked over to the opening Peanut had smashed.

"Help..." The voice came again, and I was stunned. It sounded like Tan Wei—but how could that be? How could his voice come from beneath our feet?

"Help! Help... Yuan, save me!"

The voice grew clearer, and I became certain—it really was that scoundrel Tan Wei. Carefully laying Peanut down, I walked to the opening and shouted inside, "Tan, is that you?"

As soon as I called, a loud wailing echoed from within, startling everyone. But I knew—it was Tan’s voice.

I heard him crying below, "Yuan, I finally hear you! My goodness, it’s so dark in here, I thought I’d die in this place. Oh, Yuan, ah..."

"Stop your howling! How did you end up down there?" I quickly asked.

Tan sniffled twice, "How should I know? Damn it, I was searching for traps, thought the place was spacious, so I tried to do a Michael Jackson move. Who knew after a few jumps, the floor suddenly opened up, and before I could react, I fell straight down on my butt."

"There really is a trap," Er Lengzi remarked.

"Yuan, hurry up and come save me. If you can’t, let Lord Peanut come down." Tan was so panicked that, hearing him mention Peanut, my anxiety only deepened.

Second Uncle patted me, then shouted into the opening, "Kid, where exactly did you fall from?"

"How should I know? Yuan, get Lord Peanut down here—"

Before he could finish, the anger that had been building in my chest erupted and I roared into the opening, "Lord Peanut? Lord Peanut my ass! Peanut’s dying! If you keep screaming, you’ll be next!"

"What? Lord Peanut’s dying... impossible." Those last words, Tan said with absolute certainty.

Once, I would have agreed. Someone so skilled, death should be far, far away from him.

"Tan, stop talking. Think carefully, where did you fall from?" I forced myself to calm down and asked in a gentle tone.

There was silence below, then after half a minute, Tan’s voice returned. "It seemed to be to the left facing the rock wall—yes, that left side, near where Second Uncle placed his things. I rolled a bit after I fell. It’s strange in here, sometimes there’s a wall, sometimes nothing at all, I..."

"Kid, stay put. We’ll figure out a way down soon," Second Uncle signaled, and everyone moved toward the spot Tan had described.

Hearing footsteps above, Tan asked, "What happened to Lord Peanut? With his skills, he shouldn’t be in trouble."

I sighed, "He’s been poisoned—by that wound on his back."

As soon as I finished, Tan fell silent. After a long while, I worried something had happened to him below and shouted, "Tan, are you alright? Why aren’t you answering?"

After a few seconds, his voice returned, "What’s there to say? Isn't it obvious I’m the one who got him into trouble? Damn it, it’s bad enough I’m useless, but I had to tag along and now I’m making things worse, even got Peanut killed."

"If you’re a brother, don’t say that," I closed my eyes, trying not to think about it anymore.

At that moment, I heard movement from Second Uncle’s side and quickly opened my eyes to look. But as soon as my eyelids lifted, a face appeared in my field of vision.

"Ah!" I screamed in fright and jumped up from the ground. But then I froze, for the person before me—smoking and wearing a sly grin—was Peanut.

"Pea...Pea..." Whether from excitement or something else, I actually choked on my own breath.