Chapter 525 - An Accidental Situation
Chapter 525 An Accidental Situation
Lin Mengya focused her attention as she tried to find her bearings in the room, and then she smiled a grim smile.
The room was covered with very thin threads that had been laced with mild poison.
Fortunately, the Shen Nung system was extremely sensitive in terms of its alarm system.
Although Lin Mengya could not tell exactly how many threads there were hidden in the pharmacy, the Shen Nung system had pinpointed the locations where the herbs were most concentrated.
It was no wonder that no one was allowed to enter this place.
The poison covering the threads would not cause much harm to the human body.
However, once it came into contact with exposed skin, it would cause rashes to break out, swelling, and unbearable discomfort.
Moreover, these thin threads were definitely connected to some kind of alarm system. Even if it failed to capture the intruder, he would be easily traceable.
The Pavilion of Herbs truly lived up to its name. Even the precautions taken against theft were unique and novel.
“Help me look around for some kind of powder. If there is not flour, herb powder will do too.”
Seeing how composed Lin Mengya was, Zuo Qiuyu and Yu An immediately went into the rooms at the back and started searching.
Only Long Tianyu remained behind to protect Lin Mengya.
Nevertheless, Long Tianyu’s eyes that narrowed suspiciously were scanning the room. Though given his powerful eyesight, he was only able to roughly make out the situation in the room.
How on earth did Lin Mengya discover the secret in the room?
In the past, Long Tianyu merely felt that Lin Mengya was smart and observant. She always managed to pick up the little details that people missed.
She, however, was able to comb through details systematically and get to the bottom of things.
From his observation at this moment, however, Lin Mengya seemed to have other talents on top of this.
He could not help feeling surprised. It appeared that his wife still had secrets he had yet to discover.
“Mengya, I’ve been wanting to ask you about something.”
Lin Mengya turned her head and gazed at Long Tianyu with her blinking, large bright eyes.
Long Tianyu, on the other hand, moved towards her and fixed his gaze on her without blinking.
“I’ve always thought that my wife is just very skillful at making a medical diagnosis, but little did I expect that on top of that, your eyesight is also many times sharper than a normal person. I’m pleasantly surprised.”
Long Tianyu’s casual remark made Lin Mengya raise her brows.
She quickly suppressed the rising panic in her and said with a calm voice, “It’s just because my nose is rather sensitive so I managed to detect that there is poison on the threads. Moreover, how could they commit such negligence if the Pavilion of Herbs esteemed this matter highly? It should be noted that apart from us, there are many others who are also eyeing the position.”
All of them knew that Lin Mengya had a very sensitive sense of smell. It was not difficult to give an excuse for that.
In fact, Long Tianyu was merely making a casual remark, but Lin Mengya was beginning to have mixed emotions.
Sometimes, she indeed relied too much on the Shen Nung system.
Therefore, no matter where and when, she would instinctively utilize the Shen Nung system to solve all her problems.
She was not aware that her abnormal abilities had been detected by others.
What Long Tianyu said today was a reminder to her. If she continued to act in this way, sooner or later, she would risk exposing her secret to others.
In that instant, a wave of emotions flooded her.
By then, her secret would be even more shocking to people than the music score for the green stringed instrument.
Yu An and Zuo Qiuyu were very efficient. Soon, they found some herbs in powder form.
The powder would normally be mixed with flour or some sort that would normally be made into pills.
There was no lack of such powder in the pharmacy.
Therefore, Zuo Qiuyu had obtained an earthen jar full of it and placed it before Lin Mengya.
“Step back. Let me do this.”
Lin Mengya took over the earthen jar and reached in to grab a handful of the powder.
“Phew—”
She blew gently on the powder, and like a mist, the powder flew up from her palm into the room.
Instantly, the threads hidden in the dark became visible when covered with the powder.
They would have touched the thin thread and be detected by now if not for Lin Mengya’s vigilance.
It would be almost impossible to detect and keep away from those closely spaced thin threads that had been laid in a random manner.
“Phew! Fortunately, we did not act impulsively just now.”
Zuo Qiuyu beat his chest as he said, sounding relieved.
They had come to mess up the plan and would suffer consequences if they had been discovered.
“But how are we going to get in there?”
Yu An appeared to be at a loss of what to do as he stared at the thin threads. Not to mention that they could not crawl over that space. Unless he turned into a snake, their traces would still be detected.
Concerning this point, Lin Mengya did not have any solution either. All she did was shrug her shoulders.
Thereafter, the three of them simultaneously looked towards Long Tianyu, who seemed to be deep in thoughts.
Furrowing his brows, Long Tianyu looked up towards the ceiling for a long time before he finally spoke.
“Perhaps we could go by the roof.”
Lin Mengya shot a look of disdain at the supposedly talented and bold Long Tianyu.
He was probably the only person among who was possess the skill to do just what he suggested.
However, Long Tianyu was no expert in herbs. It would be useless to have him go.
At that moment, there was an unmistakable look of disappointment in the eyes of the remaining three.
“Cough, cough… Actually, there is a mechanism here.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Long Tianyu coughed and stopped joking as he sized up the dark surrounding of the pharmacy.
Lin Mengya immediately cheered up at Long Tianyu’s reminder.
The people in the Pavilion of Herbs might not all be physically weak physicians. In fact, they did possess some martial art skills.
Otherwise, would they have to carry a pair of large scissors to cut loose all these thin threads every day?
It would be so troublesome. In fact, it would be so impractical.
“Mengya, you have the most sensitive sense of smell. Could you tell me if it’s true that there is completely no poison at the spot an arm’s length from the door?”
Long Tianyu looked into the room with focused attention and Lin Mengya nodded. Thereafter, she secretly mobilized the Shen Nung system while pretending to sniff hard for a scent in the air.
Finally, she was able to pinpoint two locations.
On seeing where Lin Mengya pointed, Long Tianyu did not spring into action straight away.
“What happened? Is there a problem?”
Lin Mengya gazed at Long Tianyu, thinking it was impossible for her to make a mistake in her analysis.
Long Tianyu hesitated because he envisioned some other possibilities.
“One of these two places is the truly safe spot. Otherwise, someone a little smarter would know that these thin threads are controlled by some form of mechanism. If we make a mistake, we will be in unexpected trouble.”
Long Tianyu moaned for a while but finally reached out his hand slowly.
He finally chose the mechanism on the left.
Slowly, he fumbled along the wall and suddenly his finger felt a small bump.
He pressed the little bump without any hesitation while the other three felt as if their heart missed a beat. They opened their eyes wide in anticipation as they fixed their gazes on the pharmacy.
Time seemed to have frozen for three seconds.
Lin Mengya felt as if a long time had passed.
She stared at the pharmacy without blinking but there was no movement whatsoever.
Could they have made a mistake?
“Hide quickly!”
A sense of danger suddenly arose from Long Tianyu’s heart.
Before the four of them could react, they heard a ‘roar’ coming from the floor.
Lin Mengya felt as if the heavens and the earth were shaking. A moment later, she felt as if she was experiencing weightlessness and falling down from the sky.
With a “bam”, Lin Mengya felt as if her backside was going to split open.
The pain was so intense that tears almost welled up in her eyes.
However, she also heard noises around her. She supposed her companions had suffered the same ordeal as her.
Ignoring the pain in her backside, she began calling out for her companions with a low voice.
“Are all of you alright?”
It was pitch dark so that they could not even see their hand in front of them.
On top of them, the hole which had suddenly opened up had closed, just like before.
Lin Mengya’s first thought was that she had been trapped in a dungeon.
“It’s alright. Don’t move but stand still. I’ll come to you.”
In the dark, Long Tianyu’s deep voice was especially reassuring.
Lin Mengya obeyed and stood still. Soon, a familiar pair of warm hands grabbed on to her and they pulled her into his arms without any hesitation.
“Fear not. I’m here.”
The anxiety in Lin Mengya faded away as Long Tianyu embraced her.
In Long Tianyu’s presence, Lin Mengya always felt a strong sense of security.
With a “boom”, a fire was lit amidst the darkness.
Finally, the flame stabilized and they managed to have some light while surrounded by darkness.
At the same time, the fire lit up the four faces with different expressions.
Zuo Qiuyu and Yu An also moved closer to Lin Mengya.
“It looks like this is the dungeon of the Pavilion of Herbs.”
At Zuo Qiuyu’s words, Lin Mengya nodded, looking displeased.
They did not expect such great trouble when they activated the wrong mechanism.
If they had known that this was the consequence, they would rather alarm the people outside. At the very least, they would have a chance at fleeing.
“What shall we do now? It looks like there’s no way out.”
Yu An’s face fell as he swallowed hard.
As Lin Mengya leaned into Long Tianyu’s arms, she could not help feeling disconcerted.
“What’s that smell?”
The air was suddenly filled with a strange scent that was neither aromatic nor pungent. The smell was difficult to describe.
Lin Mengya looked at the fire started by Yu An. Although it was burning bright, they had yet to feel suffocated.
This meant that there was ventilation in here.
At Lin Mengya’s words, Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu became aware of the strange scent in the air which was difficult to describe. However, they thought the scent smelt familiar.
“This must be — the oil from lantern grass!”
Suddenly, Yu An cried out in excitement.
Lantern grass? It took a while before Lin Mengya recalled that this was a special plant in the world.
Like oilseed rape, the seed from this plant could be pressed for oil and the oil could be used as fuel for a flame that brought forth light.