Chapter 221 Poison

Lu Yan directly drew his blade. With a flick of his wrist, the knife sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, mercilessly striking the bright red mandarin duck pillow!

“Shhh—”

The silk brocade pillowcase, under the sharpness of the Embroidered Spring Blade, tore as easily as thin paper.

The pillow exploded completely.

Countless white duck and goose feathers, like a blizzard in the dead of winter, instantly filled the entire new room, swirling everywhere.

The sudden turn of events left everyone present stunned.

Yu Qing screamed in fright, clutching her head with both hands and instinctively closing her eyes.

【Holy crap! Lu Da is going crazy! Fine, attacking people is one thing, but he can’t even leave a pillow intact!?】

Yet, amid the whirlwind of flying feathers, something extremely out of place fell from the torn pillow core.

A small, square package, only half the size of a palm, tightly wrapped in oiled paper.

Due to inertia, it traced a parabolic arc through the air.

Just as it was about to hit the ground, a red figure flashed like a phantom.

Shen Jue’s slender fingers reached out lightly midair, plucking the oiled-paper package as effortlessly as taking candy from a jar.

He lifted his head slightly. Through the drifting feathers, a faint, half-smile appeared as he looked at Lu Yan standing across from him.

“Thanks.”

There was unmistakable pride in Shen Jue’s tone, as if mocking Lu Yan for relying solely on brute force.

Lu Yan didn’t even bother sparing him a glance.

He let out a cold snort, flicked his wrist, and executed an exquisitely precise flourish.

The Embroidered Spring Blade slid smoothly back into its sheath.

His face remained stern, expressionless, yet it radiated the chilling aura of a man who conceals skill and fame, controlling everything with absolute mastery.

Yu Qing peeked through her fingers at the scene, her eyes nearly popping out.

【Wow! This is way too cool!】

Lu Yan heard the admiring exclamations in his mind, and the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Shen Jue immediately turned, handing the oiled-paper package to Su Hewan.

“Wanwan, see what this is.”

His voice instantly softened, and his long, narrow eyes shone with anticipation.

Su Hewan’s expression remained cold as she took the package.

She carefully tore a corner of the oiled paper, revealing a fine powder inside of a strange dark-red hue.

Bringing the package close to her nose, she inhaled lightly—and her previously composed expression changed instantly.

Her pupils constricted sharply, and a chilling glint flickered across her eyes.

Su Hewan drew a deep breath, holding the powder in her palm, and lifted her gaze to sweep coldly over everyone present.

“This is a variant of Hehuan Powder.”

The moment the words “Hehuan Powder” were spoken, Yu Qing’s face turned vividly pale.

Shen Jue and Lu Yan’s eyes deepened immediately as well.

Su Hewan stared intensely at the dark-red powder, her voice trembling slightly.

“But this is not just an ordinary aphrodisiac.”

“Inside, a highly poisonous and rare herb unique to the Southern Frontier—the Illusory Bloom—has been cunningly added.”

In her mind, Su Hewan recalled historical records of China’s most notorious poisons and miraculous medicines, flooding in like a storm.

“Illusory Bloom grows in the pestilent, poisonous lands of the Southern Frontier. Its sap is pungently sweet, and its pollen is extremely toxic.”

“Even inhaling a trace amount can induce extremely powerful hallucinations.”

Su Hewan handed the package to Shen Jue, her voice icy, as though emerging from the depths of hell.

“This poison is extremely domineering. If inhaled in small amounts, it can indeed act as a powerful aphrodisiac, driving a person to the brink of ecstasy.”

“But if taken in excess…”

Su Hewan paused for a moment.

“An overdose of the phantom-bloom powder will completely destroy a person’s reason, plunging them into terrifying hallucinations.”

“The poisoned will see, within these hallucinations, the things they fear most in their lives.”

“To escape this ultimate pain—which doesn’t even exist—those afflicted will lose all sense of physical sensation and begin to harm themselves frantically.”

Su Hewan’s gaze slowly fell on the bed beside her, now split in two.

“Some might even, driven by the hallucinations, take their own lives!”

At these words, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Only the feathers that hadn’t yet settled floated eerily in the air.

Everyone present understood.

The death of Crown Princess Lin Wan’er far exceeded their initial assumptions.

She was not murdered!

It was suicide!

【She herself, or perhaps guided in a state of extreme confusion, had taken up the deadly poison needle.】

【In pursuit of relief, she did not hesitate to pierce her own skull.】

Shen Jue’s fingers, gripping the packet of poison, turned slightly white. On his dangerously alluring face appeared a chilling, cruel smile.

“A clever trick—using a third party to kill without dirtying one’s own hands—a scheme to destroy the heart.”

Lu Yan coldly stared at the broken mandarin-duck pillow, a murderous intent rising deep in his black eyes.

“Hiding the poison inside the wedding pillow where newlyweds would rest their necks… as soon as they lie down, the weight of their bodies would squeeze the powder out, letting it enter their lungs with each breath.”

“This killer is truly vicious!”

The once-resolved locked-room murder mystery had not concluded; instead, it dragged everyone into an even more bewildering abyss.

The logic of the locked room was indeed complete.

Crown Princess Lin Wan’er, trapped in extreme hallucinations, used the weapon to pierce her own skull for relief and locked the room firmly before death.

Yet, the deeply disturbing question followed immediately:

Who silently placed this maddening poison inside the wedding pillow?

And where was the deadly weapon hidden?

Yu Qing shivered involuntarily, hugging her arms and rubbing the goosebumps that had risen on her skin.

She swallowed and her big eyes sparkled with naïve curiosity.

“But… this doesn’t make sense!”

Yu Qing raised her hand like an inquisitive child.

“If she inhaled so much of this… hallucinogenic pollen, why didn’t the coroner notice anything during the autopsy?”

“Is there not even the slightest trace of the substance left in the Crown Princess’s body?”

【Even if ancient times didn’t have machines for blood tests, a silver needle for detecting poison should have revealed something, right? This isn’t scientific!】

Lu Yan heard this peculiar comment in his mind. His cold expression twitched slightly but he said nothing, simply directing his deep gaze at Su Hewan.

Su Hewan remained calm.

She turned to Yu Qing and patiently explained.

“Qingqing, you’re falling into a thinking trap.”

“Strictly speaking, the phantom-bloom is not a poison in the traditional sense that kills upon blood exposure.”

“It is an extremely rare and highly volatile neuro-hallucinogen.”