Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Mu Yun forcefully turned his face, gesturing for him to look at the figure floating on the other side.

Xu Lingguang caught sight of a figure, his heart tightened, and the fragments of his previous unconsciousness quickly flooded back—

It was that dark figure.

Liuzhu noticed the rustling behind him and returned with a winnowing basket filled with medicine to check on the man and the rat: "Awake? How are you feeling now?"

Both the human and the rat stared at her warily, their eyes wide open.

Liu Zhu studied it for a moment, smiled, and said, "They look quite alike."

Xu Lingguang: ?

He then noticed that although the dark figure was floating in the air, it was not a ghost, but a tall woman dressed in black.

Judging by appearance, he is at least 1.75 meters tall, with the agility of a martial artist. His face is exquisite, with a three-dimensional contour and finely sculpted features, giving him a mixed-race look. This makes him appear very aggressive and gives people a feeling of not being able to approach him.

For some reason, Xu Lingguang saw some of Chong Xue's shadow in her.

It's not that they look alike, but rather that their temperament, or the feeling they give off, is somewhat similar.

Perhaps it was this subtle sense of familiarity that made Xu Lingguang less nervous. His mind started working again, and he immediately had a guess. He cautiously probed, "Are you... Danhuang Liuzhu?"

This time, it was Ryu-soo who was somewhat surprised: "You know me?"

After a moment's thought, she made a guess: "You know Lan Jian?"

The baby treasure-hunting rat clearly didn't recognize her, so her identity wasn't revealed to it by the treasure-hunting rat clan. Currently, the only people who know of her existence, besides the treasure-hunting rat clan, the Qin family who serve her, are Cheng Huang from Ailao Mountain.

The Qin family has caused such a huge mess that they would never dare to approach her at this time. After much consideration, only Lan Jian might tell the young man in front of her about her existence.

Before Xu Lingguang could figure out how to answer, she guessed the answer herself, so Xu Lingguang could only nod: "I know her."

He then tentatively asked, "Do you know what's going on outside?"

Liu Zhu frowned slightly, clearly aware of the situation. However, she didn't say much, only glancing at Xu Lingguang and asking, "Are you an alchemist?"

Xu Lingguang, unable to get any information out of him, nodded with a hint of disappointment: "Well, I guess so."

"It's either yes or no. What does 'consider' even mean?"

"I learned it by myself, just figuring it out haphazardly, and I haven't been learning for very long," Xu Lingguang said slowly as he sat up.

Liu Zhu raised an eyebrow slightly: "You have dozens of kinds of medicinal fragrance on you, and the fragrance is very pure. You actually taught yourself to do that?"

Xu Lingguang was a little surprised. He looked down and smelled his sleeves. Why couldn't he smell any medicinal fragrance on his body?

Seeing him lower his head to sniff, Mu Yun leaned over and sniffed as well.

Xu Lingguang quietly asked him, "Can you smell anything on me?"

Mu Yun quietly shook her head.

The subtle movements of the man and the mouse did not escape Liu Zhu's notice. She explained with a smile, "Young alchemists do not yet know how to conceal the fragrance of their pills. Experienced alchemists can smell this fragrance, but those who do not understand alchemy cannot."

Xu Lingguang found it strange and hesitated before saying, "But I can smell the fragrance of your pills..."

Previously, the strange fragrance of the pills in the distance was only faint, but now, inside the stone chamber, Xu Lingguang found that the entire chamber was filled with this strange fragrance. Although it was not pungent, it was actually a bit too strong.

Liu-soo said, "That's because I can no longer conceal the fragrance emanating from my body."

She didn't elaborate on why she couldn't control herself.

Instead, he carried the selected medicinal herbs to the opposite side of Xu Lingguang and sat down. Then he put all the herbs into the cauldron, lit the spiritual fire, and began to refine the pills.

This was the first time Xu Lingguang had ever seen someone refine pills so crudely and simply.

The medicinal properties of different herbs inevitably clash, requiring pre-treatment or addition at different times to minimize the conflict and allow their properties to blend together better.

But Liuzhu skipped this step entirely; she directly poured all the spiritual herbs into the alchemy furnace and began refining immediately.

Xu Lingguang stared intently at her technique. Liu Zhu glanced at him, slowed her movements, and asked casually, "How long has your body been dead?"

Xu Lingguang, who had been focused on observing her alchemy techniques, suddenly snapped back to reality and looked up at her.

Liu Zhu bluntly said, "Your body was already rotting, rotting from the inside out, but now it is gradually recovering. The Rejuvenation Pill does not have this miraculous effect, nor does the Jade Unicorn on your body."

Xu Lingguang pursed his lips, his relaxed body tensed, and his fingers subconsciously pinched the Sumeru Ring at his waist—which contained his life-saving pills and magical artifacts.

Liu Zhu seemed oblivious to his tension, and turned his gaze back to the alchemy furnace: "If one's soul is strong enough, it is possible to force a fusion and reverse the decline of the body... but you are clearly not in that situation at present."

She had already said everything, and Xu Lingguang had no more excuses to make up. Moreover, Liuzhu was the Pill Emperor, an expert among experts. Xu Lingguang had no confidence in fooling her at all, so he could only give up and mutter under his breath, "You've already seen through it, so why are you asking me?"

Liu-soo said, "I'm just curious, how did you manage to succeed?"

She dropped a bombshell: "I've tried this method too, but it all failed."

Xu Lingguang: ? ? ? ?

What have you tried?

Liu Zhu's words were so shocking that Xu Lingguang was stunned: "You've tried possession?"

Liu Zhu shook his head: "It's not possession, it's changing bodies."

Xu Lingguang processed the information for a moment and realized that Liu Zhu's mention of "changing bodies" probably didn't refer to herself, so he boldly guessed, "You want to give Si Yuan a new body?"

"You and Lan Jian are quite close; he even told you about Si Yuan?"

Xu Lingguang didn't understand why she kept mentioning Lanjian, but his mind was stunned by the information Liuzhu had thrown out, and he continued to ask, "You didn't succeed, so Siyuan's body lost its mind and became like this?"

"You seem to know everything."

Liu Zhu said, "But you've got it backwards. Si Yuan died long ago. His body was corrupted by the turbid air, so he didn't decay. The Qilin that's causing trouble in Fengling City now is just a puppet that's been polluted by the turbid air."

Xu Lingguang was confused: "But isn't Si Yuan's soul still there?"

Liu Zhu suddenly looked at him, her eyes sharp: "You've seen Si Yuan? Where is he?"