Yin Yang Soul Searcher

That's right! How could I not have thought of that? Aren't life-saving medicine and harmful poison the same thing? Isn't the person in front of me a master of alchemy?

Bai Jueming showered Cheng Yanbing with flattery, praising his talent in alchemy, which really pleased him and made him feel a little smug. The three of them were now riding horses and heading towards the Yang residence.

Cheng Yanbing stated that he is not only proficient in pharmacology, but also quite knowledgeable about human anatomy, including the internal organs, tendons, and bones. He has mastered them all!

Bai Jueming played the straight man, putting him in a great mood. Sure enough, whenever pharmacology was involved, Cheng Yanbing couldn't help but try to show off, and he certainly had the ability to do so...

Han Xueshan, who was accompanying him, was utterly shocked. Seeing Cheng Yanbing so easily swayed by that scoundrel, agreeing to come with him to examine the body, she thought, "That scoundrel really knows how to pull this off..."

The three stopped their horses at the Yang residence, and Old Li activated the protective array. He led them to the courtyard, where most of the people dressed in mourning had already dispersed. After everyone entered the room, Yang Jiang, the eldest son of the Yang family, hurriedly arrived.

Yang Jiang had seen Cheng Yanbing visit his father and knew his identity.

Upon seeing Cheng Yanbing's arrival, Yang Jiang eagerly asked, "Lord Cheng, do you have any clues?"

He didn't doubt that someone of that status would poison his father. After all, the man was the top disciple of the Craftsmen's Hall, whose status was far more prestigious than his own old man's.

"There are no clues, but Brother Cheng was deeply saddened to hear of Lord Yang's tragic death. It just so happens that Brother Cheng has an amazing talent in pharmacology and wanted to help investigate what poison Lord Yang was poisoned with," Bai Jueming said casually.

Yang Jiang was taken aback, then quickly clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you for your trouble, sir."

Bai Jueming nodded, signaling him to be quiet and not disturb Cheng Yanbing.

Cheng Yanbing frowned, his sharp eyes sweeping over Yang Yongyuan lying on the bed. He knew exactly what was going on.

Yang Yongyuan's body remained motionless, dressed in white pajamas. He lay on the bed with his face turned to the left, his eyes wide open, his face purplish-blue. His left hand clutched a wad of sheets, while his right hand reached out as if to touch the bowl of chicken soup.

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Yanbing straightened the body and stripped it naked. Han Xueshan covered her face and went outside.

Cheng Yanbing first thoroughly examined the corpse, feeling for both bones and veins. After confirming there were no injuries, he kept muttering the word "poisoned."

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Yanbing took out a seven-inch-long silver needle from his sleeve and deeply inserted it into the corpse's stomach.

Standing to the side, Bai Jueming asked in a low voice, "Brother Cheng, what are you doing?"

Cheng Yanbing pinched the silver needle between two fingers and slowly pulled it out of the stomach. Looking at the gastric fluid that came out with the needle, Cheng Yanbing first put the needle to his nose and sniffed it, his brows furrowing even deeper.

Cheng Yanbing explained, "Since Lord Yang died of poisoning, there should logically be some toxins remaining in his stomach. However, I can't smell any poison on these gastric juices. That shouldn't be the case."

Cheng Yanbing then repeatedly stabbed the needle into his stomach and esophagus. He tasted no poison. Gritting his teeth, Cheng Yanbing steeled himself! He stuck out his tongue and licked the silver needle, then closed his mouth and slowly savored it...

"Agh!!" Bai Jueming's face twitched uncontrollably, and he instinctively covered his mouth with his hands, his knuckles turning white from the force, as if this could stop the contents of his stomach from rising up.

Dude, you're way too dedicated! Is this what people mean by "a doctor's heart is like a parent's"?

Yang Jiang, standing to the side, grinned, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. Even though the deceased was his father, this was just too much...

Cheng Yan finished tasting the ice cream with a pained expression, spat out two mouthfuls of saliva, and then analyzed, "There are no toxins in the esophagus or stomach. If there are no toxins in these two places..."

"Does that mean that Lord Yang ate something perfectly fine? How did the poison get into his body?" Bai Jueming wasn't an expert, and he couldn't understand how someone could die from poisoning if they hadn't eaten something wrong.

"What I'm about to do might be a bit nauseating. You guys go outside and wait for me. I'll look for it carefully." With that, Cheng Yanbing tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve and tied it over his mouth and nose.

It looks like something big is about to happen. Recalling the scene of Cheng Yan licking the needle, Bai Jueming still felt nauseous. He pulled Yang Jiang and quickly walked outside.

Han Xueshan, who had been waiting at the door, saw the two of them covering their mouths and noses, looking nauseous, and asked in confusion, "Why did you come out?"

"I don't know what Brother Cheng is going to do with the corpse. He told us to come out first. He just took out a silver needle..." Bai Jueming whispered a few words in Han Xue's ear.

Upon hearing this, Han Xue raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose, feeling a surge of acid reflux in her stomach. This Cheng brother is really going all out...

Qingyue Tower was a brothel built along the river.

Across the street from the brothel, Zhou Dahai, heavily pregnant, sat on horseback, followed by several black-clad warriors.

Wu Yuan and Wang Pang arrived late, each followed by five black-clad warriors.

"How's the investigation going? Any leads?" Zhou Dahai asked seriously.

The three had agreed that each would visit an official's home in a dream to question them, and regardless of the outcome, they must ultimately meet at Qingyue Tower. Unlike the orderly residences of the officials, Qingyue Tower was a melting pot of all sorts of people. To prevent errors during the investigation, it was best to have the martial artists seal off the brothel; the more of their own people, the better.

His Majesty decreed that high-ranking officials could be questioned in their dreams if necessary, since they would remember the content of the questions upon waking. However, soul searches were forbidden, for fear that onmyoji might inadvertently uncover state secrets, leaving no evidence against the dead.

"The official I went to had nothing to do with Yang Yongyuan's death. He went to Yang Yongyuan to bribe him, hoping Yang Yongyuan would promote him again. Now that Yang Yongyuan is dead, all the money he gave away was wasted." Wu Yuan snorted, "That corrupt official took so much money, he deserves to die!"

"Don't offer your opinions on this kind of thing; the affairs of officials in the court are none of our business." Zhou Dahai looked at Wang Pang and asked, "How's your investigation going?"

"That family is innocent too. It seems he went to Yang Yongyuan to discuss impeaching his political enemy. He spent a lot of money to get Yang Yongyuan to speak on his behalf." Wang Pang sighed, "The Great Xia Dynasty has these kinds of officials, really..."

Zhou Dahai rubbed his temples, a slight headache forming. "Don't worry about these things. The family I went to isn't here; I might have to go back later. Now, let's see if there's anything wrong with this prostitute!"

"All martial artists, listen to my command: Seal off Qingyue Tower! No one is allowed to enter or leave!"

"You can come in now." Cheng Yanbing's voice came from inside the house, and the three people who had been waiting outside pushed open the door and entered.

Inside the room, Yang Yongyuan was already covered with a sheet on the bed. There were still some bloodstains on the sheet and on Cheng Yanbing's hands.

Bai Jueming was visibly stunned by the scene before him; he couldn't even imagine what Cheng Yanbing had just done to the deceased...

Han Xueshan looked past Bai Jueming into the room, then silently covered her mouth and nose.

"We've finally found out. They hid it quite well." Cheng Yanbing stretched as he spoke. "Lord Yang did indeed die from poisoning."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jiang asked excitedly, "May I ask, Young Master Cheng, what kind of poison has my father been afflicted with?"

"You might not believe it," Cheng Yanbing said, rubbing his chin, his brows furrowed with deep doubt and confusion. "Lord Yang inhaled too much miasma; he's poisoned by it!"

"Miasma poisoning? But where did miasma come from in the capital of Great Xia? How could my father be poisoned by miasma?" Yang Jiang spoke somewhat cryptically, suspecting that Cheng Yanbing might have made a mistake.

Cheng Yanbing seemed very unhappy that her expertise had been questioned. She was about to retort...

"Wait!" Bai Jueming raised his hand to interrupt the two. He suddenly remembered something: he had passed by "Chen's Pharmacy" a couple of days ago and encountered a group of people with mild miasma poisoning symptoms queuing to buy medicine. He had even reported this to Brother Shan.

According to Zhou Dahai, people making a living in the Tuyun Mountains northeast of Beijing often experienced these symptoms, and there were frequent instances of them scrambling to buy herbal medicine. At the time, he didn't think much of it...

"Where has Lord Yang been recently? Has he left the capital?" Bai Jueming asked Yang Jiang, who was standing beside him. He suspected that Yang Yongyuan might have gone to the Tuyun Mountains.

"My lord, you may not know this, but my father is a second-rank official who is busy with court affairs every day. He spends his days either at home or in the court. Unless he is meeting a first-rank official, he usually has his servants relay his messages." Yang Jiang was a little embarrassed to say the last part, and pointed to the bowl of chicken soup next to the low table.

Bai Jueming glanced at the bowl of chicken soup and instantly understood. Lord Yang lived a monotonous life, constantly busy with state affairs. He would never go to shady places; he would simply have shady people come to his door for services!

Han Xueshan looked at Bai Jueming with some suspicion, then at the bowl of chicken soup. She wondered what kind of riddle they were playing.

"The symptoms of Lord Yang's miasma poisoning are somewhat different from those of ordinary miasma poisoning," Cheng Yanbing added.

"Why did you say 'brother'?"

"Morphin poisoning in ordinary people occurs when they inhale toxic gases for a long time, which slowly invade the five internal organs, causing them to become infected with viruses and leading to death."

"After a careful examination, I found that Lord Yang's poisoning was more likely due to him unknowingly inhaling large amounts of miasma. Lord Yang was already quite old, and his physical functions were certainly not as good as those of a young person. In addition, the sudden inhalation of so much poisonous gas damaged the vitality of his internal organs, leading to his painful death."

How could someone inhale large amounts of miasma without being aware of it? Miasma has a smell, so the only way to inhale it unknowingly would be after Yang Yongyuan fell asleep!

But inhaling it in large gulps? Even if a normal person can't smell the miasma, wouldn't their first instinct upon smelling an odor be to close their mouth and nose? This behavior seems contradictory.

Bai Jueming shared his thoughts, but none of the three people in the room could answer the question.

Cheng Yanbing, however, was very confident in his autopsy results, certain that this was how his target had died! He had already carefully examined the body after opening it up.

Bai Jueming found a stool and sat down in front of the corpse, beginning a long period of mental contemplation. His gaze shifted, and he noticed the chicken soup on the low table. Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into his mind, and he slammed his hand heavily on the table.

"I see!"