Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

Exhausted, the three finally escaped the heavily guarded Imperial Archives.

Yan Zhao and Ling Ye initially ran wildly, each thinking the other was holding Yi Canglan's hand. However, after running quite a distance, they realized that Yi Canglan had fallen behind and was now slowing down, looking down at a book.

It was an old blue book with some creases in the pages and red marks remaining in the corners.

"Didn't you find the book?" Yan Zhao looked at Ling Ye in disbelief. "When did she...?"

"I don't know." Ling Ye touched his clothes and sighed helplessly. "It would have been easy for her to get whatever she wanted."

Whether it was fifteen years ago or fifteen years later, a top thief is always a top thief.

The two walked up to Yi Zanglan and instinctively wanted to check if she was injured, but they were instantly stunned.

"Lanlan?"

Just now, Yi Canglan caught an arrow with her bare hands to protect Yan Zhao, while another arrow grazed her face, leaving a scar.

And now, the wound is still bleeding, and...

The blood that seeped out was pale green.

Yi Zanglan slowly shifted her gaze from the pages of the book. She glanced at the expressions of the two people, then silently touched her face, only then realizing what had happened.

Not only that, she also had other wounds, both deep and shallow, inflicted by hidden weapons during her escape. However, because she was wearing dark clothes, no one noticed that the blood had turned green.

Just like the minister who crashed into the Fengtian Hall and died.

Yan Zhao suddenly seemed to remember something. She looked down at her injured arm, wiped it hard, and saw that her palm was also covered in green blood.

Ling Ye pulled out a cross-shaped dart embedded in his shoulder bone with his backhand and examined it against the light. Sure enough, green liquid was dripping down the dart's blade.

When I rolled up my sleeves again, I found that the gauze I had used before was also stained green. It was perfectly normal when I entered the Imperial History Pavilion.

"It seems that the new mechanism was activated as soon as we entered the Imperial History Pavilion, or even as soon as we found this book." Yan Zhao suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable irritation. She sighed deeply. "Let's go back as soon as possible and see how the others are doing."

After she finished speaking, seeing that Yi Zanglan had no reaction and was staring blankly at a certain point in the void, she raised her hand and waved it in front of him in confusion.

"Lanlan?"

"...What?"

"I suggest we go back to Hongde Hall first and discuss a plan with the other members?"

"OK."

Yi Zanglan nodded, her expression returning to normal. She stuffed the blue-covered ancient book into her bosom, turned around, and walked away with the two into the distance.

* * * * * *

One hour later.

Tang Yunxi and the Jiang siblings, who had gone out to search the market, also returned to Hongde Hall. They gathered together and shared clues with heavy hearts.

"It's terrible, I just had to cut my hand on the street," Jiang Ling whispered. "But thankfully, that's how we discovered that we've all turned into green-blooded monsters."

Not only her, but Jiang Yao and Tang Yunxi also pricked their fingers to confirm on the spot. After returning, they also confirmed the identities of others, including Shen Yubai, who was recuperating, and Du Songzi, who was taking care of him.

Without exception, everyone was infected.

"We didn't find any clues about breaking the curse, but we did find an old doctor who was over eighty years old," Jiang Yao said. "This old doctor traveled all over the country in his younger days and knew a bit about the old stories of the Feng Kingdom, so we asked him about the Green Blood Disease."

Wu Ying stared at the wound on her finger, frowned, and asked, "Is green blood disease actually called green blood disease?"

"No, according to the doctor, this disease originates from a kind of poison in Lei Kingdom called Emerald Erosion Syndrome. Those poisoned do not feel pain or itching, but their blood will slowly turn from light to dark green, and then large patches of blue bruises will appear all over their bodies, eventually leading to ulceration and death."

Yan Zhao astutely grasped the key phrase: "Gu poison originating from the Lei Kingdom?"

"Yes," Tang Yunxi added. "Legend has it that when Lei Kingdom was no match for Feng Kingdom, it pretended to submit. However, when they sent envoys to pay homage, they added poison to the tribute wine, causing all the officials to suffer. They even released these poisonous insects, which spread throughout the entire imperial city, and many palace staff and commoners were not spared."

"...How was such a huge disaster resolved in the end?"

"It couldn't be resolved."

"What?"

Tang Yunxi stared into Yan Zhao's eyes, shook his head after a long while, and repeated slowly, "It couldn't be resolved. Emerald Erosion Syndrome is an incurable disease. The patient's lifespan is at most six hours."

Jiang Ling's expression was complicated, and she seemed hesitant, as if she didn't know how to explain the problem.

"At that time, the old doctor was muttering something to himself. He suddenly got up and left. We went out and chased after him for a few steps, but we couldn't see him anymore. When we turned back, we found that the clinic had turned into a brick wall, as if it had never existed at all."

"..."

Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent.

By this point, everyone could more or less guess that this raging epidemic had likely become a catastrophe for the Feng Kingdom.

Everything seems to be running normally now, but it is actually an overly realistic illusion that allows them, as victims of emerald erosion, to relive this tragedy.

The sun would never rise again; the imperial city had long been plunged into eternal night.

Qin Shaoyu hesitated, then said, "Six hours... which means we can only live for a maximum of twelve more hours, right?"

However, there are still one day and two nights left before the game ends, which is at least eighteen hours. If everyone dies before that, it means the mission has failed and the game cannot be completed.

Even though the rules state that deaths are not counted, everyone has tried their best to get to this point, and it would be unacceptable for it to end so abruptly.

Moreover, the young Yi Zanglan is still here. Everyone promised her that they would win this round at all costs, and if they won, she would regain her memories.

How could you go back on your word?

In this subtle atmosphere, everyone's gaze turned to Yi Zanglan, who was sitting not far away.

Yi Zanglan was fiddling with a string of tassels at her waist when she noticed their gazes and calmly looked up.

"Want to read a book?" She pulled the old blue book from her bosom and casually tossed it onto the table. "But the last few pages are torn out, so the content is incomplete."

Yan Zhao picked it up and began to read it. The other members also gathered around. They saw that the ancient book indeed contained royal secrets, namely the tumultuous and early-dying lives of each Feng Kingdom emperor due to a curse.

Indeed, there are all sorts of ways to die, and they are not all the same.

Judging from the order, the previous text just recorded Emperor Yunxian's desire for immortality, which led him to become obsessed with cultivation. The missing pages should be the stories of Emperor Yunxian's descendants.

But why was it torn up, and where can they get new clues from?

Wu Ying turned to look out the window, and after a long while, spoke in a deep voice.

"It's getting foggy."

A thick fog enveloped the imperial city, perhaps foreshadowing an even more violent storm.

Until then, we can only wait.

"Why don't we rest for a bit?" Yan Zhao suggested. "Something big is likely to happen tonight, so let's all get some rest—just stay in the nearby palace, don't stray too far."

That being said, whether she can survive tonight while suffering from the emerald corrosion disease is still unknown.

Yi Zanglan got up without saying a word and was about to go to the inner hall when she suddenly saw Tang Yunxi catch up and put something in her hand with a smile.

"Lanlan, we saw a hairpin on the street just now. Lingling and I both thought it was very pretty and would suit you, so we bought it for you as a gift."

It was a jade hairpin with a swallow carved on the head. The carving was exquisite and it was adorned with pearl tassels, which shimmered with a warm glow from different angles.

Yi Zanglan examined it for a long time before finally holding it in his palm, nodding and turning away.

"Thanks."