Chapter 142 — The Drug That Felled the Grand Academy Hall

"Someone in the Hall of Imperial Physicians has been poisoned!"

The few scholars passing outside the hall discovered the strange state of things within at once. One of them, in a fluster, rushed outward, crying at the top of his voice, "I'll go fetch the Directorate of Education—the rest of you get in there and save them!"

The other two scholars hurried into the hall, and had no sooner caught a whiff of a fragrance than they toppled stiff as boards.

Before long Chan Master Faqing of Qingyang Hall came charging over with several monks, swept roaring into the hall, and bellowed, "Quickly, save—"

Thud. Thud.

The monks dropped one after another and did not rise. Chan Master Faqing, his cultivation being mighty after all, turned and made for the door; but just as he reached the threshold, his strength failed him at last, and he pitched forward outside the hall.

"Chan Master Faqing has been poisoned too!"

Several scholars outside rushed up to rescue him, caught a sudden whiff of that fragrance, and fell in turn. Seeing this, the scholars all around began shouting for help even as they ran toward the spot—and before they arrived, they too dropped with a thud, thud, without the slightest warning.

The scholars of the Scholars' Lodge, the Divine Power Lodge, and the Princes' Garden got word as well and came hurrying over in alarm, while the men of the Directorate in the other halls turned out one after another, meaning to save them. At the mountain gate, some scholars who heard of the disaster, having no time to contend with the Buddha's Son, rushed up the mountain in panic to rescue their fellows.

Libationer Bashan got word too, and came galloping to the front of the Hall of Imperial Physicians, only to find several hundred scholars and men of the Directorate already lying before it.

—The fragrance of the Bewildering Incense had spread out from the Hall of Imperial Physicians into the open air.

Daoist Lingyun and the other men of the Directorate stood not far off, their faces changing drastically, when suddenly Daoist Shuofeng of Zhenyuan Hall stepped forward, gathered the wind in both sleeves, and said in a low voice, "This poison is formidable indeed. Best to blow the poisoned air apart before we can save anyone!"

Whoosh—

Two gales burst from his sleeves and blew toward the Hall of Imperial Physicians. Libationer Bashan's face changed drastically, and he cried sternly, "Don't blow!"

Before Daoist Shuofeng of Zhenyuan Hall could recover his wits, the thick fragrance in the hall was driven out of it and spread everywhere. Libationer Bashan shouted, "Hold your breath!"

But it was already too late. The fragrance of the Bewildering Incense dispersed in all directions, and scholar after scholar dropped with a thud, thud, their bodies stiff; while the men of the Directorate, whose cultivation ran deep, felt only their limbs go numb, their legs and feet weak, their vital essence turning sluggish, so that they could not move.

Libationer Bashan had seen it early and his cultivation was exceedingly high; he had breathed in only a trace of the fragrance, and at once forced it out of his body with his mighty true essence. Looking around, he saw scholars falling in whole swathes.

"Wretched—is this to be the extinction of a whole house?"

A desolation filled his heart. This fragrance would soon spread through the entire Grand Academy, and those who could keep from being numbed, he feared, numbered only a dozen or twenty. These were men of the Heaven-Man realm and above, able to force the strange fragrance from their bodies.

The Grand Academy was the foremost holy ground in the world today, and now it was to be laid low wholesale by this strange fragrance—if not the extinction of a house, then something very near it.

"What poison are those old scoundrels of the Hall of Imperial Physicians brewing?"

He did not know that the Bewildering Incense was no poison at all, but only a numbing drug; after an hour or two its potency would fade and it would do a man no harm whatever.

Just then, before the Grand Academy Hall, a gourd rose slowly into the air, its mouth turned downward, and a dreadful suction came from it, drawing upward from the mountaintop, pulling the slowly spreading fragrance, air and all, into the gourd.

A wild wind rose over the mountain, above and below; before long the strange fragrance was gone, and Libationer Bashan let out a breath. "Thank goodness the Grand Libationer is here, or it would have swept the whole mountain. But these people, I fear..."

His tiger eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at the countless "corpses" before the Hall of Imperial Physicians. Suddenly a voice came to his ear, laughing: "Bashan, they're not dead. What are you crying for?"

Libationer Bashan started slightly, hurried forward, and tested the breath of one "corpse"—sure enough, full and strong.

The young Patriarch came to his side and looked around, then frowned and said, "This looks like the work of the Poison King. Yes—I know who's behind it. That little wretch, there's no law he won't defy!"

Libationer Bashan said hesitantly, "Grand Libationer, I heard it was several imperial physicians refining medicine, and something went wrong..."

The young Patriarch sneered. "Those imperial physicians of the Hall of Imperial Physicians couldn't refine a numbing drug this strong. It must be that little devil refining medicine in the hall, and it went wrong—he numbed himself, and numbed every scholar in the academy besides..."

He had barely spoken when his eyes went straight, fixed on something not far away.

Libationer Bashan, puzzled, followed his gaze, and his own eyes went straight as well.

A young scholar was coming around the Grand Academy Hall from the back mountain, both hands holding up an enormous great blue ox. The ox had been numbed too, its four hooves bound together, feet to the sky, and the youth bore it along as he walked.

And on the ox's hooves sat a little fox, pure white without a trace of any other color.

Seeing the "corpses" all over the ground, the young scholar started slightly; then he saw Libationer Bashan and the young Patriarch, and his face changed drastically. He flung down the blue ox, snatched up the fox, and ran for all he was worth.

"My little ox!"

Libationer Bashan dashed over and caught the numbed blue ox, his face full of anguish, and roared, "You brat! You've laid low my mount—I'll never let you off!"

Shen Mu had not run far when his collar went tight and he was lifted up by the young Patriarch; then the scenery before his eyes shifted at flying speed, and the next moment he stood before the Hall of Imperial Physicians, amid the "corpses" all over the ground.

Shen Mu stood meek as could be, head down, looking at the white fox beside him; the white fox was meek as could be too, head down, looking at its own furry forepaws.

The young Patriarch laughed in his fury, pointed at the "corpses" all over the ground, and for a long while could not speak.

"Stand in the corner!" he finally managed, and shouted.

Shen Mu and Snow Fox went to the corner of the Hall of Imperial Physicians and stood there, heads down.

The young Patriarch, black-faced, hands behind his back, paced back and forth before the one man and one fox, then suddenly shouted, "Who laid the poison?"

Shen Mu said hurriedly, "I numbed the ox, but as for these scholars and Libationers, I know nothing about it."

The young Patriarch said darkly, "How is it cured?"

Shen Mu answered honestly, "No cure needed. Just wait a little while, and they'll come round."