Huan Xue tucked the blanket and slipped a crimson vine underneath the bed. He momentarily stared at Qiaolian's face before they left the ward.
"Master Huan Xue, I don't really know what's happening to Grand Physician Wang Si. He told me that he was tired from scanning manuals and that he would just take a rest. But, when I open the door of his room... the place had somehow turned into a dark dungeon!" Wang Aija prompted on the side as they hastily walked towards the hallway.
"Dark dungeon..." Huan Xue muttered in deep thought. "Perhaps, he created a pill inside his room and it produced black smoke? Grand Physician Wang Si owned various cauldrons in his room. Perhaps, one of them just exploded."
Huan Xue's expression remained calm. He could not sense any fluctuation of energy around the apothecary, else, his crimson vine would definitely alert him.
On the other hand, Wang Aija shook her head several times. Her forehead had been trickling with beads of cold sweat as she felt there was something serious that happened to Wang Si.
By the time they arrived at the door of Wang Si's room, Huan Xue observed the outside energy on it. "Nothing is unusual in the air." He then extended his hand and carefully pushed the door.
When the wooden door parted, a burst of black fog indeed flared towards his direction. Huan Xue immediately pulled the door and shut it tightly.
"T-That! Oh no! The dark smoke has already filled the entire room! Grand Physician is in trouble!" Wang Aija spoke nervously. She pointed her index finger at the door and glanced at Huan Xue's face.
"H-How is there an Imprint of Ritual appeared in this room!? Did Grand Physician perform a forbidden cultivation method to cure the patients in this apothecary before? Great Herbalist, do you have knowledge?" asked Huan Xue without looking in Wang Aija's direction. His eyes were glued to the door while his mind kept replaying the scene of the dark fog that almost caught him.
"I---Hmm... No. Master Huan Xue, Grand Physician had never used forbidden methods of healing people! His ability surpassed mine. There is no need for him to use such malicious practice in the medical field," said Wang Aija with a firm and confident tone. She was sure that Wang Si had never used any forbidden art. "But... If that dark smoke is an Imprint of Ritual, then, I think... I remember, once, G-Grand Herbalist mentioned to me an incident with h-his cultivation partner. But, he said it was a long time ago. And he was not entangled by her."
"Hm? Grand Physician Wang Si's cultivation partner?"
Wang Aija hesitated for a while. She took a deep breath and pursed her lips. In fact, there was nothing more information that she could supply. She suddenly felt embarrassed giving an incomplete report. "Grand Physician just mentioned it once and he never talked about it anymore. It was vague. I'm sorry, Master Huan Xue."
"There is no need to apologize, Great Herbalist. I have read a few manuals about various imprints. The beast imprints... The plant imprints... The cosmic imprints, The Martial imprints... even some weapons have imprints as long as it is manifested by a spiritual essence. The imprint of rituals is the same... But, it is only passed down by the creator of the ritual. Perhaps, Grand Physician Wang Si's cultivation partner passed her ritual to him," Huan Xue explained and slightly pushed the door once more. He just took a quick peek and throw a crimson vine inside before he immediately closed it again.
After a minute, Huan Xue lowered his gaze as the scene inside the room flashed on the floor. To say that it was a dark dungeon was but a mild observation. What was on the floor revealed that Wang Si's room looked like a black hole!
In this exceptionally dark room, the crimson vine slowly emitted a lush green aura and started floating around, searching from one corner to another for Wang Si's figure inside.
Huan Xue intently observed the room until it revealed the hand of Wang Si holding a book. The old physician was sitting in his bed and his hand was suspended just on the level of his chest. The index finger was completely tied by something that he could not identify.
"That is the source of the dark fog," Wang Aija trembled when she realized that Wang Si's index finger was emitting the dark smoke inside the room.
"It's rebounded imprint. That object in his hand must be a Book of Ritual... and instead of being acknowledged by Grand Physician, it was the book that initiated for him to recognize the ritual," said Huan Xue as he studied the movement of dark energy from the index finger of Wang Si to the book he was firmly holding.
The crimson vine flickered and moved to the face of Wang Si, illuminating his expression. He actually looked calm as if he was just in a deep sleep.
"Master Huan Xue, does it mean that Grand Physician is resting when the book of ritual initiated his recognition?" Wang Aija questioned. "He is an upright man. He would never recognize that kind of cultivation."
Huan Xue nodded his head. Just as he was about to speak again, another figure suddenly emerged in the vision of the crimson vine.
This time, it was a blurry figure of a lady wearing an ordinary white robe. Her garments looked similar to the clothing that Wang Si was wearing. Although the dress looked ordinary, there was an air of nobility around her.
"What? What is this?" Huan Xue's eyes instantly constricted. "I've seen this face when I was a little. This is the image that Master Xia had shown me before!"
"Master Huan Xue, who is she? Isn't this lady..." Wang Aija paused for a while. "Could it be that she is the cultivation partner of Grand Physician Wang Si?"
Huan Xue took a deep breath and his face looked extremely surprised. "White Noble Pearl of the Open Sea... A garment made of pure white pearl looked ordinary but it is worn by one powerful divine bloodline. T-That lady... that is the figure of the Empress of the Open Sea!"