Tune of Chaos (1)

Qiaolian purposely left Elder Xia and Wang Aija to have a swift inspection of the resources within the entire Si Apothecary Building, merely out of curiosity.

Her shadow flashed like a mirage within the hallway and made rounds to places. She slightly slowed down after noticing the Chuangjian Pill Hall where a huge cauldron was placed in the center of the hall. There were a few servants cleaning inside the hall too. Yet, none of them had detected her.

Qiaolian continued exploring the building until she reached the Huayuan Herbs Garden. For a moment, she look around and was amazed by the arrangement of the herbs. "Great Herbalist Wang Aija is really organized in her plants! It looks like a valley of green treasures!"

In this Huayuan Herbs Garden, rare herbs were planted on the left side while exotic flowering buds were put on the right side. The common herbs were just scattered according to their sizes and colors.

For some reason, there was a magical touch in this arrangement that Qiaolian guessed, such orders could be a hidden formation array that aids the herbs' growth.

Moments later, she stood outside the ward of Zui Qingxing, who was telling the events that transpired last night before they docked their boat.

"Who's there?" Wang Si's stern voice resounded after sensing someone outside the ward. He raised his hand and signaled the old wine merchant to stop talking.

Qiaolian immediately took a step forward and entered the ward with a formal expression on her face.

Unlike Wang Aija, Wang Si instantly recognized the force of primal yang within Qiaolian's body. He opened his mouth to speak and greet her but, before he could say a word, Zui Qingxing had already called Qiaolian.

"Ohh!!! It's you!"

Qiaolian gave a bow to Wang Si before she switched her attention to the old wine merchant.

"Old Zui, how's it going? I came to check the condition of your boatman. But why are you in the ward? Where is he?"

Hearing Qiaolian's worried tone, Zui Qingxing suddenly burst into a sob. "Aiyaa... L-Lady... Huhuhuhu--- We are doomed! What a disaster! Look at this!" He extended his arm and showed the deep wounds carved on his skin.

"E-Esteemed guest... please put down your arm. Don't let the lady see such w-wounds!" Wang Si anxiously spoke and quickly moved his body to block Qiaolian's line of vision. "Miss--- I apologize... T-The marks---"

"I am Xue Qiaolian. The wounds... I coincidentally read information about Hex formation on his skin. But, Elder Xia may have more knowledge about it than I do. No need to worry, Mister---."

"Ohh... Miss Xue... Hehe... Well, I am the old physician in this apothecary. You can call me physician Wang."

After they exchanged names, Elder Xia and Wang Aija finally caught up and appeared behind Qiaolian.

"Physician Wang?" Elder Xia repeated with a playful tone in his voice. "Hahaha Lady Xue, don't be deceived... this old man is the owner of this Si Apothecary building. He is the Grand Physician Wang Si! Hehehe... Why are you trying to be modest... Old Wang?"

Wang Si pursed his lips and shook his head twice. "Since Elder Xia is here, then, let's start discussing how to handle the situation. We have two Hex Mile of Tears' formations here. One of the carriers is severely affected and had an erratic pulse. The other is this esteemed guest. You must find out if the locals that they bumped in the street were infected by the illness!"

"Huan Xue's uncle... he attacked last night. The Hex formations must have been placed secretly in the merchant and boatman. We were careless and did not think of it. Only after I've noticed the sudden fluctuation of energy this morning that I realized something was wrong."

"Ohh... it's caused by the Harem King Huan Hougong of the open sea," Wang Si muttered and glanced at Wang Aija, "Maybe we can find a cure for this illness in the herbs that grow on the ocean floor?"

"Huan Hougong is not a harem king! Grand Physician, don't speak nonsense!" Elder Xia glared at the side. Yet, they seemed to have ignored his correction.

On the other hand, Wang Aija nodded her head and clenched her hands into a fist. "The last King Huan Hougong had really turned his side of those sea monsters. He even wants the people in the Scarlet Islands to have death by crying! Should we endure his schemes every time he causes troubles?"

"Huan Xue... Let's just wait for him to finish his closed-door cultivation and see what's his decision. He still have deep sentiments for his uncle. For now, let's try to control this illness and find a cure for it," Elder Xia released a long sigh and peered closely at the markings on Zui Qingxing's arm.

"Elder... This illness... it's the Tune of Chaos," Qiaolian suddenly muttered as she remembered how the strings in the ribcage skeleton were producing various invisible vibrations before she burnt the weapon. At that time, she thought that the vibrations were solely targeting her.

However, given their situation, she realized that it was also aimed at the merchant and the boatman.

Because Qiaolian's body could not be easily harmed, she only fell into a deep sleep instead of receiving the Hex Mile of Tears formation. If she was an ordinary person, there should be three of them who had these formations on their skins!

"Tune of Chaos? Miss Xue... You mean... the other part of Twin Songs of Harmonious Sea?" Wang Si spoke softly, but his worried expression was written all over his face.

"Tune of C-Chaos..." Wang Aija also whispered and stared at Qiaolian.

However, Elder Xia was rendered speechless. In fact, he had assumed too early that the Hex formation was caused by Huan Xue's uncle. Yet, he could not also find a logic of how the man had learned such a vicious formation.

Only those who have practiced dark paths of cultivation were capable of executing this formation. And Huan Xue may have caused them trouble, but, he was not a dark cultivation practitioner!

On the other hand, Qiaolian used a Nightmare of Dreams that actually belonged to the dark path of cultivation!

These thoughts had really made Elder Xia unable to find appropriate words to speak!

"It's Tune of Chaos but the method is called the Declination of Suffering. And, it's not from the Harem King Huan Hougong. I think it's from the deceased being whose body was used as a weapon. Last night, I've seen a floating ribcage skeleton with several strings attached to it. I've already destroyed it but... the tunes were already released and caught them." Qiaolian narrated after sensing that everyone's eyes were directed at her.