Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 112 Loop
Yan Mingzhang had the character "Pa" carved on his wrist, but the wound was both old and new, as if it had been carved in the same place several times over.

“This handwriting is indeed mine, but I have absolutely no recollection of the engraving.” Yan Mingzhang looked around at everyone.

"Paper? What does that mean?" Su Zhan was a little confused. Before he could ask, he saw Yan Mingzhang take out another white handkerchief. He often carried several white cotton handkerchiefs with him when he went out.

"Isn't this just a handkerchief? What's so interesting about it?" Su Zhan was puzzled, but still leaned closer. "Wait a minute, there are words on it!"

Several lines of writing were densely covered on the white handkerchief. Su Zhan recognized it; it was Yan Mingzhang's handwriting!
"Hey, when did you write this?" Su Zhan asked, quite surprised.

Yan Mingzhang shook his head blankly; he had no recollection of when he had written those words.

Everyone crowded around, craning their necks to get a better look.

Yan Mingzhang held the handkerchief up to the light, examined it carefully, and his expression instantly changed. He slowly read the text aloud: "Ju Gu Di..."

“One, two, three…” Yan Mingzhang’s face grew increasingly grim. There was a line of tally marks. After reading it, he gasped. “Seventh day in the valley! We’ve been in Medicine King Valley for seven days! And General Rong has been here for ten days!… No, it should be said that only seven days have been recorded… As for whether there are any omissions, we have no idea.”

No wonder there are so many scratch marks on Yan Mingzhang's hand; he must have scratched the wounds every day to prevent them from healing!
Everyone's faces turned deathly pale, and their hair stood on end. Yan Mingzhang meant that every time they woke up, their memories would return to the moment they arrived at Medicine King Valley? And their memories would be wiped clean every day? But Mo Yun and Chang Feng, because they had taken an antidote, would have one more day's worth of memories than them?

Rong Wanyin suddenly hugged her brother, leaning against his chest, her eyes slightly red: "Brother..."

Rong Junye put his arm around Rong Wanyin and patted her head.

Yan Mingzhang unfolded the handkerchief and continued, "As for how to obtain the antidote, we've tried many things before. Like Jing Jun just said, we've tried not eating anything here. Not only that, we've also tried not drinking water, not staying in this room, trying to reason with Miss Rui'er, negotiating, and even trying to steal it... but... all of them failed..."

"What should we do?" Rong Wanyin asked with a worried expression. "It seems we're trapped here... Is there any other way?"

Yan Mingzhang pondered for a long time: "If it really was poison that caused our amnesia, how was the poison administered? Or was it administered repeatedly?"

"Little Six, let's go pick Dream Eater flowers today, okay? Can you make me a grasshopper out of grass? And a butterfly too!" A girl's voice rang out from outside the door. It must be that girl, Rui'er! She was holding the arm of a boy. The boy had his head down, so his face was not visible. His sleeves were covered in stains, so it seemed that he hadn't changed his clothes in a long time.

The boy also smiled and nodded in agreement, but he looked very tired, and his eyes had lost their sparkle. Who else could that boy be but the Sixth Prince!

The sixth prince, with a sallow complexion, a blank expression, and somewhat unfocused eyes, stared at Yan Mingzhang and the others for a long time before seemingly remembering something: "Young master, haven't we met somewhere before? Why do we seem so familiar?"

"Sixth Prince... what's wrong with you..." Rong Junye was somewhat shocked. The Sixth Prince no longer remembered who he was. It seemed this poison would make people forget more and more things, even themselves. Time was of the essence; who knew what would happen if it dragged on any longer!

"Sixth Prince? You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not the Sixth Prince, I'm Xiao Liu..." The boy still looked confused. "But who is Xiao Liu?" "Sixth Prince, please wait." Yan Mingzhang stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Highness, please come with us! There's something fishy about Medicine King Valley."

Rui'er pulled the Sixth Prince behind her: "You can't take Xiao Liu away! He promised to play with me!"

Yan Mingzhang knew that even if they forcibly took him, the Sixth Prince wouldn't agree to go back with them. He could only patiently ask, "Miss Rui'er? May I ask if the Medicine King is here? We've come to bother you because..."

Rui'er interrupted Yan Mingzhang, tilting her head and revealing a cryptic smile: "Don't you get bored asking the same questions every day? Are you going to try and steal someone today? Aren't you done playing? That's so boring!"

Rui'er, hands behind her back, was eager and even expectant: "And who's coming today? Come on! Play with me!"

It turns out that Rui'er's daily routine of bringing the Sixth Prince "on the way" was a deliberate ploy to lure them in so she could play with them!

Yan Mingzhang pondered for a moment and realized that if all else failed, he could forcibly take the person back and then make other plans. However, judging from Rui'er's reaction, it would not be easy to snatch her away. In addition, the record mentioned a medicine powder that caused unbearable itching, as well as various other medicine powders with unknown effects. He really couldn't act rashly.

"If you're not going to play, then we're leaving!" Rui'er deliberately pulled Xiao Liu up as if to leave.

"Changfeng, Moyun, stop her! Be careful of her poison, stay away from her!" Yan Mingzhang warned. "Okay, okay, stop me quickly! If you succeed, I'll give Xiao Liu back to you!" Rui'er was a little excited, jumping and clapping her hands happily.

Changfeng and Moyun drew their swords and knives, and were about to step forward when Rong Wanyin stopped them.

Rong Wanyin's eyes darted around, and she whispered a few words in Yan Mingzhang's ear. Yan Mingzhang looked at Rong Wanyin in doubt: "This... will it work?"

"Trust me, what I feared most was my senior brother using this move." Rong Wanyin nodded firmly, then turned to Rui'er and said, "Rui'er, we're going to play by ourselves today, we're not including you! Go back!"

Rui'er seemed caught off guard and froze. Taking advantage of her momentary daze, the others understood and quickly went back inside and closed the door. Suddenly, the entire Medicine King Valley seemed to fall silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Ruier suddenly felt a panic in her heart, and hurriedly ran forward, banging on the door: "Hey, play with me! Why won't you play with me anymore! Come out! Come out!"

"Hey, what do you mean!" Rui'er was furious, both angry and aggrieved. Although Rui'er knew poison, she didn't know martial arts and wasn't very strong, so apart from banging on the door loudly, she had no effect whatsoever.

Ruier's eyes were red, and her voice even sounded a little like she was crying.

The people in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. This girl was still immature, and it seemed a little pitiful.

“Rui’er looks like she only has the mind of a seven or eight-year-old, and she can’t distinguish between good and evil. I guess it’s because she’s lived in this valley for a long time and no one has taught her,” Rong Wanyin explained, while fiddling with something in her hands. “So we have to treat her with children’s methods!”