With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

"Ah Xuan..."

Lin Ci slowly opened her eyes. A faint halo of light floated before her, drifting and lingering. A few wisps of her soul remained in her dream, never to return.

"I am here."

Pei Jinxuan's voice rang in her ears, followed by a pair of warm, large hands that grasped her cold hands, steady and strong.

"You're finally awake." He breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile, his hoarse voice unable to conceal the exhaustion of the night.

Lin Ci frowned and involuntarily touched her aching neck. Her fingers were just raised in mid-air when Pei Jinxuan grabbed them again.

"Don't touch it. Dr. Xu just finished bandaging it, and the bleeding has stopped."

Lin Ci obediently put her hand down and then turned to look at Pei Jinxuan.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Not long, about seven or eight hours."

"Seven or eight hours..." Lin Ci murmured, her brows furrowing even more deeply. "Wouldn't that mean it'll be dawn by then?"

"That's right, it's dawn now, and you're safe."

As soon as she finished speaking, a hint of fear flashed in Lin Ci's eyes. She suddenly reached out and grabbed Pei Jinxuan's arm.

Pei Jinxuan was taken aback. He gently patted Lin Ci's hand and said in the gentlest tone, "Don't be afraid. This is Cheng'an Hall. No one dares to go in."

"Is it raining today? Why is the sky so gloomy?"

"Gloomy?" Pei Jinxuan was startled and turned to look out the window. The sun was shining brightly, and it was already broad daylight.

Lin Ci suddenly sat up and kept moving the hand that was holding Pei Jinxuan upwards. With each inch she moved it, she increased her strength. Finally, her hand touched his face. Her hand crawled around like a spider's legs and finally stopped in front of his eyebrows and eyes.

"I can't see you... I can't see you!"

Pei Jinxuan was slightly taken aback. He raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes. Her eyes were open, the pupils were empty, and her gaze was unfocused, much like Xuan Jing's.

"Judge Xu!" he called out, his urgent voice carrying through the hall. A short while later, Judge Xu arrived in haste, his robes not even properly dressed.

"Your Highness, has Lady Lin awakened?!"

"Her eyes..." Pei Jinxuan didn't finish her sentence.

Upon hearing his words, Lin Ci blinked. When she closed her eyes, they were dark; when she opened them, she could only see a blurry halo, as if a thick fog was firmly covering her pupils.

She raised her hand to rub her eyes, trying to remove the fog, but after a few rubs, the fog remained, and her eyes stung.

Lin Ci kept rubbing her eyes frantically, almost gouging out her eyeballs.

"I can't see... I can't see!" she cried out, her voice rising higher and higher, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Pei Jinxuan grabbed her hand and twisted it behind her back. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here."

As he spoke, Pei Jinxuan couldn't help but pull her into his arms. At this moment, he had long lost his usual composure, and his mind was equally blank. He didn't know what to do, so he could only hold her tightly, hoping to give her strength with his own body.

Lin Ci was completely disoriented, and she kept twisting her body, trying to push Pei Jinxuan away.

Pei Jinxuan had no choice but to look to Judge Xu for help.

Judge Xu quickly stepped forward and said gently, "Madam Lin, don't panic. Let me take a good look at you first."

Lin Ci's breathing quickened, and her body suddenly tensed like a string. Pei Jinxuan and Imperial Physician Xu worked together to help her down onto the bed. As she lay down, her hands were still tightly gripping Pei Jinxuan's sleeve.

Judge Xu placed three fingers on her wrist to check her pulse, then closed his eyes and focused intently. Lin Ci's breathing was too rapid, her heart was pounding wildly, and her pulse was also erratic. He examined her for a long time, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper, but he still couldn't come up with a clear diagnosis.

Pei Jinxuan stood by the bed, silent, afraid that speaking would disrupt the pulse diagnosis. But after waiting for a while and seeing no response from Physician Xu, he had no choice but to control his emotions and try to remain calm.

"Can Judge Xu find out the truth?"

Judge Xu was also in a dilemma. He stroked his beard again and again, and frowned repeatedly. After a long while, he carefully spoke: "This pulse is no different from before."

"Can't you figure it out?" Pei Jinxuan's voice suddenly rose, and the anxiety he had suppressed all night finally overflowed.

"I have done my best," said Imperial Physician Xu, bowing solemnly. "If I am not mistaken, Lady Lin is likely afflicted by a Gu poison. I have seen this kind of lost art in Miao medical books. The practitioner first stores the Gu poison within themselves, and once it is complete, they bite open the victim's skin to implant the poison." He paused, then looked at Lin Ci. "Lady Lin, as a fellow physician, have you ever heard of this technique?"

Lin Ci's eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but something seemed to be tightly choking her throat. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out, "Gu poison?"

She gripped the bedding tightly, the veins on her hands bulging. She heard what Dr. Xu said clearly, but it sounded muffled and unreal, as if separated by a layer of water.

My master once mentioned Gu poison.

That year, she was in the prime of her youth. In the bamboo hut, her master sat by the window grinding medicine. Suddenly, he stopped what he was doing and said out of the blue, "If you ever encounter someone afflicted by Gu poison in the future, don't bother trying to save them. Gu poison has no cure, and it's beyond the reach of medicine. And you're not allowed to learn it either!"

She didn't understand then and kept asking why there was no answer.

Her master didn't answer, but continued grinding the medicine. Later, she learned from Song Xuan that Gu poison was an evil technique that involved exchanging bodies, and there was no cure except for the person who cast the Gu.

At the time, she just thought it was quite interesting, like the supernatural tales told by storytellers, something that would never happen to her. But now, the Gu was planted in her body, and she could even feel it surging restlessly in her blood.

Lin Ci blinked involuntarily, the image of Xuan Jing's eyes when he bit her flashing through her mind. The burning light in his eyes wasn't hatred, but martyrdom. He had used himself to rob her of her light.

Fear, like a cold snake, crawled up her spine. She wanted nothing more than to gouge the worm out of her eye, but as soon as she raised her hand, she lowered it again.

The art of bringing the dead back to life has not yet been perfected.

Her Song Xuan has not been resurrected yet.

She must not lose her composure and fall into Xuanjing's trap; his so-called hell cannot imprison her.

Lin Ci closed her eyes, took a slow, deep breath, and when she opened them again, there was no trace of struggle in her empty eyes, as if she had taken back her fate in an instant.

"My master once mentioned Gu poison. If it really is this technique... there is no cure."

No solution?!

These two words struck Pei Jinxuan like a bolt from the blue. He refused to believe it and turned to Judge Xu, asking, "Is there truly no solution?!"

Judge Xu looked distressed and very troubled. "I have only seen scattered records of it in ancient books. Whether I can decipher it, I... do not know."

"Amo!"

A dark figure darted in through the window like a ghost, silently landing in the hall. Judge Xu was startled and patted his chest repeatedly.

"Pass down my order: dig three feet into the ground and find that evil monk, dead or alive."

Amo bowed and accepted the order.

Pei Jinxuan raised his hand and made a series of quick sign language gestures: "Afterwards, proceed as planned to the northern frontier and find Zhang Niang's two sons. Tell them I want the eyeballs of the Prince of Liang's son."

Amo solemnly accepted the order once more, and with a swift movement, he flashed out of the window again.

Judge Xu was startled again.