Linyue closed her eyes and took a slow, steady breath. Time to focus. She gathered her lightning spiritual energy, compressing it tight. Thinner than a strand of hair. As gentle as lightning could be. Which was… not very, but she was trying. Carefully, she guided the thread of energy toward the angry cabbage's back. Starting from there, she would examine the meridian paths.
The moment her energy slipped in—wham. That same icy, bone-deep chill struck her again. Followed immediately by a sudden, violent lurch. Black thorns burst out from the man's body and lashed at her spiritual thread. It crackled under the sudden attack. Then something worse happened. The black energy didn't just resist her. It grabbed her. It coiled around her spiritual thread, twisting, pulling, slithering like living vines. Her head spun dizzily, as if her whole mind had been dunked into a cold, spinning well.
Linyue's brow furrowed. Her jaw tightened. She bit her tongue hard enough to sting, forcing herself to stay grounded. She shoved more spiritual energy forward. The thorny curse was wrapped around the man's meridians already, eating through them and clogging his mind. Then it happened.
The scream. A piercing, earsplitting sound ripped from the angry cabbage. Every person in the room flinched instinctively. One of the guards dropped his sword with a loud clang. Song Meiyu yelped and ducked behind Master Tian Mo. Master Tian Mo, completely unbothered, raised one hand to keep his tea from spilling.
Linyue didn't move. She was locked in now. The black thorn fought her viciously, coiling tighter and tighter around her spiritual thread. It bit into her energy like it had teeth. This no longer felt like an array. It felt alive. Hungry. Writhing with intent. It wanted her next. And Linyue had no intention of being next.
Her head spun dangerously. The dizziness was no longer just in her spiritual sense. It was real. Heavy. But she didn't let go. If the black thorn wanted to trap her, then fine. She'd trap it first. She spread her energy wider. Thin threads, dozens of them, shot through the man's meridians like lightning webs. They wrapped around the thorn in a tight coil. Crackling with sharp power, she pushed more current through.
Snap.
Crackle.
The black thorn let out an angry sizzle and finally dispersed. The angry cabbage let out another scream, high-pitched and very offended.
Linyue's eyes opened. Her breathing was heavy but steady.
The man convulsed violently, his body jerking against the ropes. Black smoke curled from his skin like steam. His veins darkened and stood out sharply. But he was still breathing. Still tied to the pillar. Still alive. The room now smelled disturbingly like someone had roasted a haunted cabbage.
Song Meiyu cautiously poked her head out from behind Master Tian Mo and scooted over. "Did it work? What happened? Sister Linyue, are you okay? You didn't get possessed, right? Your eyes aren't glowing weird?"
Linyue let out a long breath and nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little… crispy. It's indeed the same thing as in the books."
Master Tian Mo immediately set down his teacup and pointed a lazy but urgent finger at Prince Lu. "Then go. Confiscate those books. All of them. Before more people start chewing on guards."
Prince Lu straightened up. "Right. Books. Chewing. Yes, yes. I'm going."
Linyue's brows furrowed. "A lot of people must've read it already. Especially since they stayed home."
Song Meiyu gasped loudly. "That's right! What a vile and genius plan! That person must have calculated everything! If people panic and stay inside with nothing to do, of course they'll reach for a book out of boredom! And what book do they find? The recent popular ones. Those cursed books!"
Prince Lu sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "And we still have no idea who this person is."
Linyue sipped her tea, unbothered. "Shouldn't you be taking care of that right now?"
Prince Lu pointed at the now floppy cabbage man tied to the pillar. "Yes, yes, I know. I'll leave this guy here. He's not biting anymore anyway."
True enough, the angry cabbage had stopped growling. He was just hanging there, arms limp, expression blank.
Prince Lu left in a hurry, guards following after him.
Linyue watched them go, then poured herself another cup of tea like nothing just tried to eat her spiritual sense few minutes ago.
Song Meiyu scooted closer, whispering like the cabbage might still be listening. "So… the angry cabbage can actually be cured?"
Linyue leaned back and answered calmly, "Physically? Maybe. Mentally? That depends on them. The array occupied him. Even though it's gone, his mind still tangled up in a long nightmare."
They all turned to look at the cabbage man, who was now trying to scratch his nose on the pillar.
Linyue let out a soft sigh. "Remind me never to read anything again."
Master Tian Mo raised his cup. "Cheers to that."
Clink.
Song Meiyu squinted at the pillar, then leaned in and whispered loudly, "So, who actually did all this? And why?"
Master Tian Mo's expression turned serious. Or as serious as a man could look while holding a delicate floral teacup. "This kind of array is evil. It eats people's minds slowly. Like invisible termites."
Song Meiyu gasped. "Mind termites!"
Linyue rubbed her forehead. "The problem now is… how do we destroy that termites in the other angry cabbages?"
Song Meiyu grabbed her hands. "Sister Linyue, now only you can do this!"
Master Tian Mo nodded in agreement. "She's right. Your lightning spiritual energy is the most effective. And you have better control than most of us. I can help with the underground patients using my fire spiritual energy. Zhenyu can help destroy the array inside the books—"
"No," Linyue interrupted quickly. "That array is advanced and dangerous. Brother Zhenyu shouldn't risk it. What if he turns into a serious, brooding cabbage? We'd never notice."
Master Tian Mo chuckled. "At this rate, you could be a master yourself. Honestly, your cultivation level might already be higher than mine."
Linyue stared at him, scandalized. "Master, don't say that. How can I be a master when my specialty is chaos and destruction? I still need your guidance."
"Destruction is guidance sometimes," Master Tian Mo said with a shrug, swirling his tea. "Especially when the books try to eat you."
Song Meiyu nodded seriously. "Sister Linyue, you're not just a cultivator. You're a… a lightning librarian of justice."
Linyue opened her mouth, fully prepared to shut that down immediately and permanently, but then—Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in," Master Tian Mo said without looking up.
The door creaked open. Shu Mingye stepped in. Behind him were several guards. Each one struggled slightly under the weight of large wooden boxes stacked in their arms.
Shu Mingye casually said, "I already ordered my men to collect those cursed books from the bookstores last night. Most of them were closed, so I only managed to buy a few."
The guards marched in and began setting down the boxes in the middle of the room. One. Then another. And another. When the lids were lifted, books spilled out like an avalanche of knowledge no one had asked for. Neatly stacked. Carefully preserved. Evil in hardcover.
Song Meiyu gasped. "This is a cursed library!"
Linyue stared at the growing pile of boxes as more books threatened to take over the room. "A few, he says," she muttered under her breath.
Her eyes went back to Shu Mingye. He didn't usually bother with these kinds of things. This wasn't even Shulin. These weren't his people. And she hadn't asked him to do it. Yet he still did it. Her chest felt a little warm.
Master Tian Mo sipped his tea with a knowing smile. "Not bad. You're trying to collect merit, huh?"
Shu Mingye waved a hand dismissively. "This is nothing."
Song Meiyu leaned toward Linyue, her whisper loud enough to qualify as a normal speaking voice. "He's collecting husband points."
Linyue immediately coughed into her sleeve. "He is not—"
Shu Mingye glanced at her with the faintest smirk. "Well. Maybe just a little."
Linyue: Cough intensifies.