Chapter 53: The Secret of the Eternal Flower Part 2

Feng Yun’ai felt she was beginning to understand the woman’s nature. She drew her sword and sliced through the rough cloth.

The fabric fell away, revealing a squat clay pot and a tangle of stems that were inextricably intertwined. The stems were as thick as two fingers and covered in fine thorns. Perhaps to avoid being pricked, someone had packed a thick layer of mud over the stems.

However, after the bumpy journey, much of the mud had flaked off, piling at the base and exposing some of the thorns.

At first glance, no flowers were visible. In the dim light filtering through the door, all she saw was a mass of verdant green.

“Where is the flower?” Feng Yun’ai asked.

Sang Chencao reached out to part the tightly wound stems. She tilted her head, searching for a moment, then let out a cold, disdainful scoff.

Feng Yun’ai followed her gaze and suddenly saw a flower bud. It was barely wider than a fingernail, with a faint hint of red showing through.

“Don’t you think this flower looks familiar?” Sang Chencao held the bud in her palm and leaned forward to sniff it.

Feng Yun’ai’s brow furrowed. It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her heart, and a sudden realization made her limbs go cold.

This bud… it looked somewhat like the ones on Feng Rong… but this one had no scent, and its leaves and stems were much thicker and sturdier.

“The blooming period is quite similar too.” Sang Chencao couldn’t smell anything. Suspicious, she lifted the plant from the pot as if she were grabbing someone by the throat—a gesture that was chillingly indifferent.

She gave it a few hard shakes, causing the mud to fall from the roots and revealing long, web-like fibers.

After all that poking and prodding, they saw that the roots were already showing signs of decay, appearing withered and limp.

Feng Yun’ai found it hard to believe. Her voice trembled. “If this flower isn’t toxic, how did your eye-coloring drops turn black?”

“Unless what was put in the cup wasn’t just one thing,” Sang Chencao said smoothly.

“But that’s not right either.” Feng Yun’ai took a light sniff. “This flower has no scent at all. It’s not like my Master’s.”

“Could it be that when it grows on flesh and blood, even the scent changes?” Sang Chencao’s words were shocking, and her next action made Feng Yun’ai’s face go pale.

She rolled up her sleeve and sliced a deep gash into her own arm. Without a hint of pain or hesitation, she allowed her blood to drip onto the roots of the flower.

An overpowering, strange fragrance nearly made Feng Yun’ai faint.

It smelled like a chaotic blend of various medicinal herbs—sweet yet bitter, making one’s mouth water.

The scent didn’t come from the flower itself. The moment the blood hit the roots, that familiar fragrance exploded outward like a clap of thunder, shaking her to her core.

This was the scent on Feng Rong.

In that very instant, new buds began to sprout on the stems!

“It feeds on blood and flesh? Truly a rarity.” Sang Chencao looked up and took a light breath, appearing quite pleased. She laughed. “It seems whoever first discovered the secret of the Golden-Wanderer Eternal Flower likely buried a corpse beneath it.”

“You really…” Feng Yun’ai’s eyes widened.

“Hmm?” Sang Chencao pinched a section of the leaves and suddenly snapped it off.

If the plant was damaged, their plan would surely be discovered.

Feng Yun’ai froze. “What are you doing?”

The words had barely left her mouth when she saw Sang Chencao bring the broken stem to her lips and take it into her mouth.

In an instant, Feng Yun’ai’s heart went still. She thought of Feng Rong, whose mouth and throat had been filled with those stems. Terror surged through her. “Do you have a death wish?” she stammered.

Sang Chencao spat out the stem, completely unconcerned. “It’s fine. I just wanted to see if it was poisonous. It seems the rumors were true; it can’t be used as medicine, nor can it be made into poison.”

“Is that how you test for poison?” Feng Yun’ai’s fingertips were still cold with fear. “The ancients tasted a hundred herbs, but have you tasted a hundred poisons to know their potency at a single touch?”

Sang Chencao looked at Feng Yun’ai and leaned in with a low laugh, her tone teasing. “To be honest, I even took a sip of that poison in the vial earlier.”

Feng Yun’ai thought the woman was talking nonsense, but remembering that medicinal fragrance, she wasn’t so sure. Could this woman truly be extraordinary, someone immune to all poisons?

But did a person who carried a strange fragrance and was immune to all poisons truly exist in this world?

Sang Chencao was still smiling. She lightly licked the wound on her arm and pulled down her sleeve. “I’ve heard that the Golden-Wanderer Eternal Flower is extremely rare. It grows in frozen lands and must be nourished by cold moisture, yet it only blooms when it isn’t quite at the peak of freezing. So, even if I ate the whole plant, I’d be fine.”

A flower that was supposed to bloom in the winter of the Northern Regions was sprouting from a person’s orifices.

Feng Yun’ai hadn’t understood before, but now a shiver ran down her spine.

Sang Chencao said softly, “Feng Rong’s martial arts are of the cold attribute. The inner qi circulating through her body is often bone-chilling. I suspect you didn’t know this, but the Solitary Gall was originally meant for Feng Rong. It’s just that the swordsmith underestimated the cold nature of the Falling Heaven Meteorite Iron. They treated Feng Rong as a dead woman and didn’t expect that when the temperatures met, the iron’s cold was not something Feng Rong could endure for long.”

“How do you know all this?” Feng Yun’ai asked, her mind reeling.

Sang Chencao smirked, perfectly composed. “Half a guess, half a hunch. After all, Wen Lanxin mentioned that her sword wasn’t originally meant for her. Because of that, she was filled with regret and was incredibly reluctant to part with it.”

Feng Yun’ai closed her eyes and remained silent.

“However, even in the Northern Regions, the Golden-Wanderer Eternal Flower doesn’t bloom often.” Sang Chencao looked down in thought. “I’ve heard it only has a single seed. The moment the flower withers, the seed bursts forth. It has to land in just the right spot to take root. Cutting stems or planting them in soil… any other method only ends in failure.”

“Are you saying my Master… swallowed a seed of the Golden-Wanderer Eternal Flower?” Feng Yun’ai asked hoarsely. “But how could a seed be hidden in water? How could she not notice it?”

“Some say the seed of this flower is nearly invisible once the shell is removed, though I haven’t seen it with my own eyes to know for sure,” Sang Chencao scoffed. “However, I imagine one would have to coat the seed in something to allow it to cling to the internal organs for a long time without being digested, so it could feast on flesh and blood to sprout.”

“That coating… that is the real poison,” Feng Yun’ai realized.