Starting with photographic memory, I've worked my way up to become a martial arts immortal.

"Thump."

When Qian Ye kicked at empty air, he felt his supporting leg go numb and he fell to his knees.

Before his bewildered face could react, he was struck hard by a knee, the force of which flattened his face and made a strange cracking sound as his neck snapped.

He just knelt on the ground and stopped moving.

Hou An's smile hadn't faded when he realized that the situation had already undergone a complete transformation.

Before he could even think of a solution, he collapsed to the ground, tightly hugging Jiang Yuan's leg, sobbing and crying, "This guy forced me to do this! I only came to you for the antidote..."

"Click."

Jiang Yuan's toe touched Hou An's heart, and after a short cracking sound of his sternum breaking, the room finally fell silent.

Hou An was knocked backward by the force of the kick and crashed into the man named Qian Ye, both of them rolling on the ground.

A dagger gleaming with a dark light slipped from Hou An's hand.

Jiang Yuan walked over and picked up the two identical daggers.

"It was indeed poisoned."

He originally wanted to press for more information, but luckily he had sharp eyes and kicked the other person to death.

Jiang Yuan searched Hou An's body for a while and found only a little over an ounce of loose silver and a few copper coins. He couldn't help but complain, "So poor!"

This is nothing compared to what he gained from his previous killings.

When he touched Mr. Qian's body again, his brows finally relaxed. He took out a small cloth bag, opened it, and found only a few bottles and jars and a small booklet inside, without even a single copper coin.

Jiang Yuan searched the entire house speechlessly, but still found nothing. He could only turn his attention to the three different colored porcelain vases in the cloth bag.

I picked up one of the narrow-necked purple bottles, and a faint sound of powder gurgling came from inside.

Shake another white porcelain bottle; it contains liquid. The last red porcelain bottle appears to contain elixirs.

He uncorked the bottle and gently fanned it with his hand, only to be met with a sweet, cloying aroma that filled his nostrils.

"This smell seems familiar."

Jiang Yuan's memory instantly returned to a pharmacy, where the pills taken out by the middle-aged shopkeeper had this same smell.

He tore off a piece of cloth and placed it in his palm. A bright red pill rolled out of the porcelain bottle.

"It really is the Ecstasy Pill! The shopkeeper once said that this pill is more effective than the Blood-Nourishing Powder in increasing qi and blood, and can even make people feel like they're floating on air? I was scared away by the price and the effects back then. Where did this person get it? That pharmacy was shut down by the government a long time ago. Did he buy it before, or is this pill not exclusive to that pharmacy?"

Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment, then silently put the three porcelain bottles aside and opened a booklet the size of an instruction manual.

The booklet was made of four sheets of stiff paper bound together, and contained two recipes written in delicate small print.

One method is to use a dissolving liquid, pouring half a bottle into the heart area of ​​the corpse, which can dissolve the body.

The second is a strange poison called "Blood-Inducing Poison," whose main ingredient is extracted from venomous snakes. When applied to weapons, it will cause the person to faint upon contact with blood.

Seeing the characteristics of the poison written on it, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. If he were to be grazed by that dagger, the consequences would be unimaginable. So he couldn't help but kick the two men a few more times.

"However, the booklet only lists good things for murder and robbery. Let's try this corpse-dissolving water first and see if it's really as powerful as described."

Jiang Yuan carefully took the white porcelain bottle and, following the instructions, made an incision in the heart of each of the two corpses, pouring half a bottle into each.

After waiting quietly for a while, smoke began to rise from the two corpses. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, only a large puddle of turbid yellow liquid remained on the ground, and even the bones were gone.

"This effect is much stronger than sulfuric acid or similar substances."

Jiang Yuan stayed far away, and seeing this scene made his bones feel weak. After cleaning up the scene briefly, he turned around, locked the door, and left.

Under the moonlight, he returned to the restaurant, pressed against the shadow of the wall.

The lobby had become less crowded. As soon as the waiter saw him, he came up to him and said, "Sir, Master Dong has been looking for you for a long time and is still waiting upstairs."

Jiang Yuan nodded, went upstairs, opened the door, and sure enough, saw Dong Erbao sitting there drinking alone with a gloomy face.

"Senior Brother Dong, I'm so sorry, I just ran into an acquaintance and chatted with him for a bit longer." Jiang Yuan walked in apologetically.

Dong Erbao's face instantly softened like a spring breeze. "Where did you go, Junior Brother? Come sit down. The food is getting cold. Let's order two more dishes."

Jiang Yuan waved his hand, "Senior brother, you're too kind. I have a question that I'd like you to answer."

After saying that, he took out a red porcelain bottle and poured out a red pill into Dong Erbao's hand.

"The Ecstasy Pill?!" Dong Erbao's previously smiling face instantly changed, and he asked urgently, "Junior Brother, where did you obtain this?"

"Someone offered me this pill to join their faction, but I didn't know anything about them and didn't dare to agree," Jiang Yuan said solemnly.

Dong Erbao carefully opened the wooden door of the private room, peeked out and looked around, but didn't see anyone, before pulling back in and whispering, "This is called the Bliss Pill. It can accelerate the accumulation of qi and blood, and even increase the probability of a martial arts practitioner breaking through a cultivation stage!"

"It can even increase the probability of breaking through a level? How come such a good pill has been unknown before?" Jiang Yuan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"Isn't it tempting? To be honest, when I first heard about it, I wanted to buy it and take it every day. But this medicine isn't perfect; it also has a terrible drawback." Dong Erbao chuckled.

"Drawbacks?"

"Yes, but some people don't think that way." Dong Erbao chuckled. "Once a person takes this pill, they will fall into an illusion, where all their desires and needs can be fulfilled, making them feel as if they have ascended to paradise. This is also the origin of the name of this pill."

Jiang Yuan feigned ignorance and asked, "This is a benefit, why do you say that, Senior Brother?"

Dong Erbao stopped keeping him in suspense, "Junior brother, you don't know the dangers involved. Although this Bliss Pill has many benefits, once you take it, you can't stop. Otherwise, if you don't take it for a day, your whole body will feel like it's being bitten by insects, and your spirit will be weak. Not to mention continuing to practice martial arts, you'll find it hard to be interested in even daily affairs. You'll only think about taking that Bliss Pill every day. Don't you think that's terrible?"

"Indeed, in this way, wouldn't people become puppets of the pills, slaves of the people who refine them behind the scenes?" Jiang Yuanshen agreed.

Dong Erbao nodded and said, "Junior brother is intelligent and understands things immediately. This pill is expensive, and many people who are unaware of its dangers have taken it, and most of them have ended up losing their fortunes and their families. Fortunately, the government discovered it in time and listed it as a prohibited item. Junior brother, you should destroy the pill in this bottle as soon as possible. As for the person who gave you the pill, I have some guesses."

Jiang Yuan was taken aback, not expecting that his casually made-up excuse could lead to a secret. He quickly said, "I hope you can tell me, senior brother."

Dong Erbao swallowed hard and said in a low voice, "Human suffering is like a prison, and when a great calamity is about to befall us, we should ascend to the Pure Land as soon as possible. This is a folk song that has been circulating recently. The person you encountered, Junior Brother, must be related to this Pure Land Sect."