Yu'er's words made Hua Rou feel strange.

  "What does it mean? I... don't understand."

  Yu'er turned her head and smiled softly at Hua Rou: "Don't be sad, getting what you want isn't always a good thing."

  "I'm not sad, Master gives me what to learn, I'll study it with all my heart, I don't pick and choose." Hua Rou's face had a faint smile: "Besides, Master must be clearer than us about when it's suitable to learn what."

  "It's great that you can think this way, I was worried for nothing. Anyway, take it easy, after all, skills won't be wasted."

  "Uh, oh dear, you'd better drink some water and lie back down on the bed! Although your bones aren't hurt, you still need to nourish your blood and flesh with plenty of rest."

  "Good."

  Yu'er drank water and Hua Rou supported her to lie down on the bed. Then she sat beside Yu'er, unrolled a scroll and read quietly.

  Poison and medicine can counteract each other, medicine dispels poison and brings peace to all living things; Poison and medicine can give birth to each other, medicine is the guide of poison and poison is the guide of medicine; Poison and medicine can be the same thing, a change in quantity and environment makes a difference, a thought of good or evil...

  Hua Rou studied diligently, while Yu'er lay on the bed watching her profile, with a look of admiration in her eyes.

  There was a time when she had such an honor, but in the end she lost to the endless darkness in her heart.

  ……

  Half an hour later, Ziqi arrived at the backyard, and Tang Jiuer was already waiting there.

  "Master!" The two of them hastily stepped forward and paid their respects, and then noticed that beside her on the stone table, there were two porcelain bottles and two scrolls.

  "The Six Laws, namely the six abilities, use the 'Three Clear Spirit Scripture' as the foundation for enlightenment, absorbing toxins into one's body, and controlling them with bodily energy." Tang Jiu'er didn't waste any words, pointing to the porcelain bottle on the stone table: "Every five days, I will bring you all to drink a poison, relying on the Six Abilities Toxic Skill to extract its toxicity hidden within your bodies!"

  Zi Qi and Zi Hua's faces turned white with fright upon hearing this!

  Drink poison? Poison in the body? What a joke!

  "Master, you mean we have to eat the poison?" Zi Hua thought she must have misheard.

  "Yes, venomous skills require using poison as a guide; if you don't do it this way, you basically can't practice venomous skills!"

  "But..."

  "Master!" Zi Qi took a step forward excitedly: "Will our bodies be poisoned because of this?"

  "It all depends on your level of enlightenment from the 'Three Pure Spirit Scripture' and your grasp of the Six Abilities Toxic Arts."

  Tang Jiuer's answer made Zi Qi and Zi Hua exchange a glance, both falling silent.

  Awakening high and low, grasping poisonous skills.

  Eight words, sounding so ordinary and unremarkable, yet a matter of life and death.

  They yearned to become strong, yearned to learn the poisonous skills, but with just a slight carelessness, they would lose their lives forever, which left the two of them at a loss for what to do.

  "It seems... you still need to think about it, so be that way, give me an answer at this time tomorrow." Tang Jiuer said with a wave of her hand, and the two maids exchanged a glance before immediately lowering their heads and backing out of the backyard.

  "Sister, what should we do? Are we going to drink poison?" As soon as they returned to the front yard, Zi Hua anxiously pulled at Zi Qi and asked.

  Zi Qi's eyebrows furrowed into a knot: "I'm not sure either, I'll ask when I get back tonight."

  The child nodded in agreement at once.

  ……

  After washing up, Hua Rou lit an incense stick and put it in the incense burner.

  Yu'er looked at Hua Rou in confusion: "What's going on..."

  "I sleep lightly, this fragrance can calm my mind."

  Yu'er was somewhat surprised: "You're so young, how can you sleep poorly? Is it because you miss your parents and home?"

  Hua Rou pressed her lips together and climbed onto the bed, lying down with her clothes still on: "There isn't a single day that I don't think of them."

  Yu'er let out a sigh, staring at the beam of the roof and murmuring to herself: "I really envy you, having family to think about. Unlike me, even if I want to think about my parents, think about home, I don't know what they look like in my mind."

  "Why?" Hua Rou turned over and looked at Yu Er: "Is it because you left home too early, so you don't remember anything?"

  "Since I can remember, everyone has been calling me... a wild child."

  Yu'er's voice was filled with a desolate chill: "I wandered in the alleys and courtyards, relying on others' charity to survive, until I was picked up by someone from the Tang family and brought into the outer gate for cultivation. Father, mother, even home... never had any of those."

  "Unexpectedly, you and Liu Er and Tang Ji Shixiong are all people who have suffered hardships since childhood."

  Hua Ruo's heart ached as she listened, thinking that her own family's tragic death and forced exile was already miserable enough, but every time she learned about someone in the Tang Gate, she found herself to be very fortunate compared to them.

  Hua Rou's words caused Yu Er's eyebrows to rise: "Could it be that Tang Ji Shixiong is also..."

  "According to Liu Er's account, they also had days of begging in the past."

  Yu'er's face suddenly flushed with a hint of redness, her expression became somewhat distracted, as if she was thinking about something, looking a bit dazed.

  Hua Rou looked at Yu Er's expression and curiously asked: "What are you thinking about? Your face is all red."

  "Huh?" Yu'er reached out and touched her face: "No, nothing."

  Hua Rou looked at Yu'er and smiled: "You shouldn't be..."

  Jade pulled down the quilt with a hint of embarrassment: "Go, don't talk nonsense!"

  Hua Rou smiled even more happily: "I didn't say anything at all!"

  "Oh my, you... This morning I saw you talking to Mu Shidi and I thought you two were a thing!"

  Yu'er finished speaking and covered her head with the quilt, but Hua Rou smiled and hesitated for a moment before whispering shyly: "Nothing's going on, Mu Ge is just... Ah, why am I telling you this? Go to sleep!"

  Hua Rou crawled out of bed in one breath and blew out the candle, then lay back down, blinking her eyes, feeling the heat on her face.

  Night, gradually quiet, the scorching heat on Hua Rou's face slowly dissipated, and the fragrance brought by the burning incense in the house became increasingly thick.

  "Yu'er." Hearing Yu'er's gentle breathing, Hua Rou called out softly.

  There was no response at all.

  "Yu'er? Yu'er!" Hua Rou not only raised her voice to call out to her, but also shook her arm, yet Yu'er slept very soundly, completely unaware of what was happening.

  Hua Rou confirmed that there was no problem, then quietly got out of bed and put on her shoes, preparing to slip out of the room.

  Just as she reached the door, she pulled it open a crack and saw that at the door of the east wing house across from her, Ziqi slipped out like a thief, then turned around and jumped over the wall to slip away.

  Hua Rou blinked her eyes and slipped out of the west wing, heading towards the main hall.

  "Master, I just saw Ziqi..." Huarou reported what she had seen in the hall, but Tang Jiuer raised her hand to interrupt: "It's none of your business, don't bother with it."

  Tang Jiuer said as he turned the hole position map hanging on the wall inside the house, and immediately that wall retreated backwards, revealing a hidden door.

  "Come on in!"

  Tang Jiuer stepped into the dark door, and Hua Rou hurriedly followed him in.

  She had seen the mechanisms here and knew there were some secret places, but she really didn't expect that there was still a hidden room.

  As soon as she entered the secret room, a chill ran down her spine, and Hua Rou couldn't help but shiver, hugging her shoulders and looking around.

  This secret room is not large, only about half the size of a hall.

  One wall had recesses in it, filled with jars and jugs, while the other wall had a wooden bathtub and a stone bed. At this moment, a crystal-clear ice block on the stone bed was releasing wisps of cold misty air.

  Tang Jiuer walked up to the stone bed and turned around to face Hua Rou: "Kneel down!"