Linyue tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at Shu Mingye. "You didn't know? I thought you came here looking for it too."
Shu Mingye frowned. "Looking for what?"
"Dream Star Leaf," Song Meiyu chimed in brightly. "The story says it grants youth and immortality!"
Shu Mingye blinked. Once. Twice. Slowly. "Youth and what?"
"Immortality," Song Meiyu repeated.
He stared at her. "Who in their right mind would believe that nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense," Song Meiyu shot back, puffing up with confidence. "The plant existed."
"Oh really?" Shu Mingye folded his arms, the faintest smirk tugging at his mouth. "And where is it then? This magical, life-extending vegetable?"
There was a pause. Slowly, Song Meiyu turned her head toward Linyue.
Linyue raised her hand. "I burned it," she said cheerfully. Then she pointed toward the middle of the blood pool. "It used to be there."
Shu Mingye stared at her. "…Why?"
"If it's real, wouldn't people fight over it?" he pressed. "People died for it, didn't they?"
Linyue gave a bright, unbothered smile. "Why not? I'm young and beautiful. Totally unnecessary."
Shu Mingye almost choked. Young? Sure, he'd allow that one. But beautiful? He turned his head slowly and gave her the longest side-eye in history. Her face was smeared with blood like a failed horror play, her hair stuck to her cheeks in clumps that looked like damp seaweed, and her robes were soaked to the point of dripping. Beautiful? Not even close. Where in the heavens did she get that kind of confidence? Did she eat it for breakfast?
Just then, Shen Zhenyu walked over, brushing off his shoulder. "I've got the stories," he said flatly. "More or less. And it's worse than we thought."
Song Meiyu perked up instantly, scrambling closer with wet sleeves flapping, while He Yuying trudged after her, his boots squelching with every step. Soon they were all gathered around Shen Zhenyu.
"The attackers are soldiers from Shenlin," Shen Zhenyu explained. "They were ordered to bring people here as sacrifices."
The air froze. No one spoke.
Linyue blinked. Ah, she thought. This cave was located between Shenlin and Shulin. That actually makes sense now.
Shen Zhenyu's tone dropped lower. "There was an ancient scroll that claimed the leaf of this plant grants youth and immortality."
Song Meiyu frowned, nose wrinkling. "But… there's no leaf. It's just seven petals. I counted."
"Right," Shen Zhenyu said with a short nod. "That's where the sacrifice comes in. According to the scroll, the leaf only grows after being fed enough blood. Human blood. A lot of it. So they kept tossing people in, draining them until…" He tipped his chin toward the large, unsettling pool of red liquid, "…this happened."
Everyone turned to stare at the pool.
The pool gurgled. Just once. As if proudly saying, "Yeah. That's me."
He Yuying let out a long, tired sigh. "So basically… they were gardening. With humans."
Linyue gave a small nod, completely calm. "Good thing I burned the gardening project."
Shu Mingye pressed two fingers against the bridge of his nose. This was too much. Even for him.
Song Meiyu still looked puzzled, her eyebrows pinched together. "But… after all this blood and death, there wasn't even a single leaf. Why did they keep going?"
Shen Zhenyu frowned, his voice dropping low and heavy. "Because Queen Shen ordered it. They kidnapped people from the streets. People with no family, no home. Even children. And tossed them in here."
He Yuying sighed again. "So not only were they gardening with blood, they were bad at it. No leaf. Not even a sprout. Honestly, if you're going to be evil, at least learn how to grow things properly."
Song Meiyu gave a quick nod, her voice trembling. "Exactly. Even my cabbages grow better than this."
The blood pool bubbled again, sounding vaguely offended.
Silence dropped heavy over the chamber. The blood pool sat quietly before them, whispering the truth without words.
Linyue's eyes drifted to the cave wall behind her. Now it made sense. The faint scratch marks. The bloody handprints smeared across stone. The deep grooves carved by fingernails. Of course they had been unwilling. They had tried to escape. Tried to climb back out. Tried and failed.
Song Meiyu's voice broke the silence, soft and trembling. "How many people did they sacrifice… to make this whole river of blood?" Her eyes shimmered as tears welled up. "And for what? No one even knows if the youth and immortality thing was real."
Shen Zhenyu turned toward her, his voice softened. "We saw the plant. It existed. Meiyu, myths persisted because people believe in them. Didn't you believe in it too?"
Song Meiyu's lip wobbled. A tear slid down her cheek, leaving a faint line on her still blood-splattered face. "I was just curious," she whispered. "And Master Yin Xue… she only wanted to research it. If she knew what happened here, she'd do exactly what Sister Linyue did."
The blood pool gurgled again. This time, it sounded like a sulk.
Linyue blinked, a little surprised to suddenly be dragged into the spotlight.
Shen Zhenyu's eyes slid toward her too, unreadable. Honestly, burning the plant was probably the only sane decision anyone had made since they had fallen into this cursed hole. If the blood-soaked walls could talk, they might have thanked her. Or at least politely asked for a mop.
Then Shu Mingye looked at her.
She stood there quietly, arms crossed, hair still stuck to her blood-smeared face like seaweed. He couldn't read her expression. She had burned the plant without even knowing the full story. Just—poof—vanished. What if the plant really did grant youth and immortality? Would she regret it later?
…Nah. Probably not.
Song Meiyu suddenly snapped, voice filled with fire. "Then what about Queen Shen? She should be punished, right? After doing all these horrible, inhuman things… how could she still be living like nothing happened?"
The words echoed in the chamber. Everyone turned to look at her.
Shen Zhenyu's expression darkened. His mouth pressed into a hard line, and for a heartbeat, something flickered in his eyes. Grief? Rage? A bad memory?
Linyue answered before he could. "It's not that simple. She's the Queen of Shenlin, who possibly has secret relationship with the emperor."
She gestured around the blood-soaked cave. "Judging by the condition and number of skeletons in here, this has been going on for a long time. Maybe decades. Maybe even centuries. Queen Shen might not be the first one doing this. There's also a chance the emperor also knew. Or worse, he let it happen."
Song Meiyu's mouth fell open. "Then what? Are we just going to leave it like this? Pretend we don't know anything? The soldiers who attacked us are still alive. They can be witnesses, right?"
Shu Mingye let out a dry chuckle. "And who would believe them?"
Song Meiyu scowled. "Why not? You can come forward. You're a King. You have the power to make people listen!"
Shen Zhenyu scoffed. "With his reputation?" He shot Shu Mingye a side glance. "People would probably think he's the one who built the blood pool. And that he's just blaming Queen Shen to cover his crime."
Shu Mingye crossed his arms, clearly unbothered by the accusation, and not exactly denying it either. In fact, he looked like he might take credit for the pool just to mess with people.
Linyue raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, voice light with amusement. "Besides… what makes you think he even wants to do anything about it?"
Shu Mingye tilted his head at her. Hmm. Fair point. He glanced around at the mess. The blood. The bones. The bodies. The lingering smell of rotten soup and ancient evil. Definitely not Shulin's problem. Queen Shen could throw tea parties in blood for all he cared. He'd rather go back to hunting demons. At least demons didn't talk back or demand reports. He didn't come here for justice. He came because, yet again, they stirred up trouble.
Linyue clapped her hands together. "Alright. Let's go back. Someone will eventually notice their murder squad didn't check in."
Song Meiyu huffed, clearly not satisfied, but her feet started moving. As she reached the cave's mouth, she turned for one last glance at the dark, wet walls and the pool of red behind them.
He Yuying followed, boots making wet squelch noises the whole way.
Let someone else deal with immortal gardening queen and blood fountains, Shu Mingye thought.
Just before stepping into the light of the cave's mouth, Shu Mingye gave a small flick of his fingers, barely noticeable. In the shadows, his guards moved like ghosts. Silent and efficient. The attackers would be handled. No witnesses. No evidence. Just silence.
As for Queen Shen… her ambition ran deeper than he thought. Sending assassins to Shulin were one thing. But this? Secret blood sacrifices for a fantasy plant? That was a new level of crazy. At least the plant was gone. Years of effort, burned into nothing. That should give her a few sleepless nights or more. Let her deal with that headache.
Outside the cave, fresh air. Cool wind. Birds chirping. No dead bodies in sight. Beautiful.
"Finally," Song Meiyu groaned, stretching her arms toward the sky. "Fresh air."
Linyue risked sniffing her sleeve and immediately regretted it. "Still smells like rotten fish," she muttered, scrunching her nose.
Shen Zhenyu, as usual, stood like a statue, silently scanning the surroundings.
Behind them, He Yuying dragged his feet, voice flat and miserable. "I need a bath. A real one. With soap. And snacks. Preferably snacks while I'm in the bath."
Shu Mingye stepped closer, took Linyue's hand, and started walking. No announcement. No speech. Just quiet, steady grip.