Chapter 382: The Great Panacea for All Illnesses

Chapter 382: The Omni-Cure Supreme Pill

The *Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture* was fake.

But not completely fake.

The additional herbs in the formulas concealed a secret.

The herb names and quantities were the key to unraveling this secret.

Among the forty prescriptions, a total of forty characters were hidden.

When pieced together, they revealed... the following instructions:

"On a foggy day, north of Gupiao Island, face east at noon and travel until late afternoon."

"Before dusk, sail west for two hours. Wait until deep night, the clouds part, and the fog clears—then Longmu Island shall reveal itself!"

By arranging the forty prescriptions in the order they appeared in the alchemy scripture, Su Mo and Little Situ uncovered these instructions.

The pair exchanged startled glances.

"Longmu Island?"

"Where is that?"

Su Mo pondered for a moment:

"Do you remember your nautical chart?"

"Of course I do."

Little Situ nodded, then suddenly recalled, "Oh, that's right! Before we set out, Eldest Brother Su, you mentioned that the location marked on that chart was near Gupiao Island. There was also something called... Stellar Shoal?"

"Broken Star Bay."

Su Mo chuckled:

"The elder from Xuanhu Ting said your destiny may await there.

"Now, this fake *Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture* also directs us to a location near Gupiao Island. Do you think there might be some connection between the two?"

"That may be so..."

Little Situ furrowed her brows as she examined the words Su Mo had extracted, but she couldn't help remarking:

"Still, the description here is rather strange.

"The ocean stretches clear to the horizon—even magic arrays would falter out here.

"Whether an island exists or not, we should spot it immediately.

"How could it possibly appear only when there's fog and vanish when the fog clears?"

She had a point.

Hearing this, Su Mo was at a loss to explain and could only sigh in the end:

"Things at sea are always veiled in mystery: there are far too many unknowns."

“Perhaps the island is actually on the back of some deep-sea leviathan. On foggy days, the creature surfaces to draw in the sea mist?

“Thus revealing the island?”

“...Eldest Brother Su, are you telling me a legend?”

Little Situ pouted, feeling as though Su Mo were treating her like a child.

Su Mo chuckled, “Alright then, we'll know the truth when we arrive. Don't overanalyze—when the time comes, everything will be clear enough…”

“Mm.”

Little Situ nodded. “Then I’ll go rest first.”

“You do that.”

Su Mo acknowledged her and called in the four attendants—East, West, South, and North—who had been waiting outside, to accompany Little Situ away.

As she glanced back, she saw Su Mo still deep in thought, staring intently at the paper in his hands.

She felt a quiet tenderness, but upon returning to her room and seeing the half-prepared herbs spread across the table, she covered her face in embarrassment.

“I’ll never live this down…”

Her face flushed bright red. She had stubbornly believed that Su Mo suffered from a hidden physical ailment—perhaps impotence, weak erection, lack of endurance—only to discover today, upon checking his pulse, that it was all a misunderstanding on her part.

Now that the medicine was halfway prepared, there was truly no need to continue.

Yet throwing it away seemed too wasteful.

The four attendants, noticing her expression and hearing her words, exchanged glances before asking,

“Miss, what’s the matter?”

“I completely misunderstood the situation…”

Little Situ looked up sheepishly and recounted the events of the day.

The four women nearly burst into laughter.

“Stop laughing! I can’t even show my face anymore…”

Little Situ sighed deeply. “Jumping to conclusions always backfires. Eldest Brother Su is a martial cultivation powerhouse—how could I have made such absurd assumptions?”

Dong Qing couldn’t help but giggle.

“Then, Miss, what should we do now?

“If Chief Escort Su is perfectly healthy, finishing this medicine would be pointless.”

“But we can’t just throw it away either, right? Many of these ingredients are extremely expensive…”

The girls exchanged another glance before Little Situ patted her cheeks and muttered,

“Forget about it for now. Just because it's useless at the moment doesn’t mean it won’t come in handy later.

“And even if it never does…”

"Ah, whatever!"

Young Mistress Situ waved her hand. "Help me out, I'm going to keep making medicine for him."

The four girls exchanged glances, equal parts amused and exasperated, knowing their young mistress was now in over her head and half-heartedly giving up.

But it didn’t matter anyway. Since Su Mo was unaware of this whole fiasco, they figured they might as well let her do as she pleased.

Young Mistress Situ sat down at the table and dove into her work.

She mixed herbs and rolled pills.

Originally, she had planned to secretly slip the medicine into Su Mo’s food, so he’d ingest it without realizing, while she stayed out of sight.

Now… she settled for rolling them into pills.

During the process, she even grabbed a small porcelain bottle and wrestled with what to call it. In the end, she simply wrote: "Miracle Cure-All Pill."

Su Mo wasn’t sick, so he didn’t need treatment, but the pill was still precious.

It wasn’t a completely ridiculous name.

She couldn’t very well write "Supercharged Virility Booster," could she?

……

……

Young Mistress Situ ran wild in her room, and naturally, no one could stop her.

The following days settled back into calm.

Though there were a few hiccups along the way.

First up were the Laughing Daoist and Shu Jing.

These two had attempted to escape but ended up as tiger bait. However, the white tiger, under Su Mo’s orders not to eat humans, didn’t lay a claw on them.

But with a wave of Su Mo’s hand, from that day onward, the two were made to share a room with the white tiger.

This instantly snuffed out any funny ideas they had.

At first, they were terrified, fearing the tiger would devour them.

Later, realizing the tiger wouldn’t eat them, they edged nervously toward the door.

Just as they reached the doorway, the white tiger’s massive head loomed over them, jaws wide enough to bite them clean in half—literally.

Two people, each missing half—do the math.

Both thought they were doomed, but the tiger didn’t eat them—it just stared.

Whenever their hands moved even slightly toward the door, the tiger’s jaws would snap closer. If they retreated from the door, the tiger would sulkily retreat.

It hit them like a ton of bricks—the white tiger wouldn’t let them leave. If they tried, it would eat them.

So they huddled meekly in a corner of the storeroom.

Unlike humans, tigers—especially white tigers—are unpredictable creatures, and even their slightest movements put the tiger on edge.

As a result, there was absolutely no chance.

Since they couldn't escape, the two began to consider how to survive.

Because the white tiger had a mean streak—it would idly paw at them for no reason.

Or swat them with its tail.

Once or twice might have been accidental, but after multiple occurrences, it became clear the tiger was messing with them on purpose.

Especially when, on one occasion, the tiger swept them into a pile of feces and urine, and its face actually seemed to smirk.

The intention was unmistakable.

The two seethed but kept their mouths shut. Eventually, the ship's crew noticed Shu Jing reeking of filth and realized what had happened.

The matter even reached Su Mo, who then ordered two buckets of water to be brought for Shu Jing to clean herself.

At that time, The Taoist priest was asked to leave, leaving Shu Jing to take an awkward bath while the tiger stared.

After this incident, the two began scheming ways to butter up the tiger.

Because from then on, the white tiger developed a nasty habit of trying to fling them into filth.

If they didn’t appease it, they figured Su Mo and the crew might bring wash water at first, but eventually they’d stop bothering—leaving their lives unbearable.

Eventually, the two decided to rub the tiger’s paws, brush its fur, and scratch its itches...

After working up the nerve to try a few times, they discovered the tiger quite enjoyed it.

Gradually, they got the hang of it and became increasingly adept at pleasing it.

The tiger was smart enough—from then on, it stopped tossing them into waste piles.

That issue was resolved, but another problem remained.

The tiger ate and did its business right where it slept. Normally, someone would clean it daily.

But this was done at fixed times.

Outside those hours, they were stuck with the stench.

Out of options, the two began figuring out how to clean up after the tiger.

They tidied up leftover bones and promptly called for cleanup whenever the tiger defecated or urinated.

The ship’s crew were busy with other tasks and got sick of them always hollering for waste removal outside scheduled times. So, they handed the tools over, telling them to clean up their own damn mess.

With no alternative, they agreed. Here they were, two martial arts masters, stuck playing housemaid to a tiger.

Thinking back on their former glory, they could’ve cried.

But they rolled with the punches. After this period, Su Mo observed that they and the tiger had actually started getting along.

When the tiger went out for strolls, it let them tag along.

Strutting around behind the tiger, they even started feeling kinda important.

Su Mo couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement at the sight...

As for the second matter, it turned out that Su Mo's Ziyang Escort Agency's large ship had genuinely encountered pirates.

This time, these pirates weren't corpses.

They weren't after some random merchant ship either.

They had come specifically for the Ziyang Escort Agency.

They announced themselves as members of the Youyun League, demanding Su Mo and his crew jump overboard to spare themselves the trouble of killing them. Those who refused would be slaughtered and tossed into the sea.

Their few words made one thing clear—this was a fight to the death.

At this, Yang Xiaoyun was practically giddy with excitement.

She charged onto the enemy ship with her Dragon Abyss Spear, giving the pirates quite a scare.

Wait, who's robbing who here?

But seeing how beautiful Yang Xiaoyun was, the pirates grew excited, eager to capture the pretty young woman.

Instead, they were nearly beaten senseless by her, nearly pissing themselves in fear.

Her "Canglong Bahuang Dianyun Spear" technique unfolded across the deck—cutting through everything in its path.

The pirate leader, though his martial arts were formidable, barely survived three exchanges before Yang Xiaoyun's "Canglong Tanzhao" thrust ran him straight through the heart.

This left Su Mo a bit disappointed.

He had hoped to take the man alive for questioning.

But dead was dead—no loss really, they were all scum anyway.

Yang Xiaoyun was allowed to cut down every pirate aboard.

Afterward, they stripped the pirate ship of all valuables, and in the ship's hold, discovered numerous terrified women and children captured by the raiders.

All were brought aboard Su Mo's vessel and later dropped safely at the next island before they resumed their journey.

This fight showed Su Mo one thing clearly:

Sea pirates were different from land bandits.

Pirates showed absolutely no mercy.

They had no qualms about killing the goose that laid golden eggs.

The South Sea was vast—they could vanish anywhere in its vastness.

So when they targeted a merchant convoy or any ship worth plundering, they showed no mercy to anyone.

They took not only valuables but also young, beautiful women and small children—all just goods to be sold off.

So Su Mo decided that pirates should be slain on sight. These weren't honorable bandits of the rivers and lakes, but mere cutthroat brigands.

Among them, there were indeed those willing to follow rules and value relationships, but the majority were just rabid bandits hellbent on looting.

Encountering such people, letting them live just endangers others, making it truly difficult to show mercy.

This incident was the second minor episode during the journey, while the third came when Su Mo's carrier eagle circled back.

At the time, the sea snake Ceng Chou swore vengeance for his fallen crew.

Thus, he asked Su Mo to feed him poison before parting ways to search for clues.

Su Mo, however, wasn't buying it.

As the saying goes, one should harbor no ill intentions but keep your guard up.

Even with the Bo Hai Association's Ou Yangqing and his group, Su Mo remained wary and had Yang Xiaoyun shadow them just in case—let alone someone like the treacherous sea snake Ceng Chou.

This man was infamous for playing dirty and ruthless methods.

Therefore, Su Mo tricked him into taking the 'Yellow Spring Pill,' deliberately calling it the 'Three-Day Pain.'

Even its claimed effects were pure fiction.

After Ceng Chou left, Su Mo sent his carrier eagle to tail him, hoping to uncover any clues.

When the eagle returned, it indeed retrieved some leads.

It carried back a token...

Seeing it, Su Mo felt a headache coming on.

Yet, after the initial annoyance, he just gaped at the token.

The token was plain—neither gold nor jade, just a piece of lightweight iron, perhaps cheaped out on materials.

But the inscription on it threw Su Mo for a loop.

It read: 'Heaven's Secret.'

Mentioning 'Heaven's Secret' inevitably made Su Mo think of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

Wei Ziyi had once mentioned that there was once a Heaven's Secret Pavilion in the jianghu, specializing in peddling secrets for a price.

Any secret under heaven, as long as one could pay the price, could be bought from them.

Eventually, they unknowingly offended many.

Over thirty years ago, the pavilion was burned to the ground.

The old master of Heaven's Secret Pavilion even broke down sobbing before hiding the organization into the shadows...

Now, the carrier eagle had retrieved this token.

Did this mean Ceng Chou sought out Heaven's Secret Pavilion for information?

Wouldn’t that imply the pavilion... was in the South Sea?

After mulling it over, Su Mo decided to keep the token—it might come in handy down the road.

Ahead, their next port of call was 'Chiyan Island.'

According to the original itinerary, if one intended to cross the South Sea, this was the real starting point.

From this place, heading due west would lead to Xizhou.

However, this trip was different.

South of Chiyan Island, they’d first stop at Gupiao Island, followed by the Qis’ territory.

This was only the first leg of the journey.

Thus, they’d only make a quick stop at Chiyan Island.

Yet, as Su Mo and the others got ready to go ashore again, Zhen Xiaoxiao couldn’t hold back any longer. She whined, pleading with Su Mo to take her along for a stroll.

"Boss, I’m practically dying of boredom here!

"We don’t even have to hit up a tavern for a feast…

"Even if we just walk around a bit?

"Please, let me go ashore."

The giant woman’s bawling was truly enough to shake the docks.

Su Mo glanced at her and could only sigh and agree, allowing Zhen Xiaoxiao to disembark as well.

But the moment they stepped onto the dock, Su Mo’s brow furrowed.

Something felt wrong at the docks.

Merchant ships and vessels flying savage beast banners faced off like rival gangs.

Crew members lined the rails of each ship, eyeing one another warily.

You could cut the tension with a knife, as if violence could erupt at any moment.

Longshoremen scurried about, their expressions grim, like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

Yang Xiaoyun whispered,

"Are those traders squaring off against pirates?"

"Pirates rarely dock at ordinary ports. They have their own black islands to anchor at—why would they be here?"

Wei Ziyi was just as confused.

Having spent time at sea, she wasn’t some greenhorn anymore about maritime affairs.

Pirates visiting ordinary islands were usually given the cold shoulder by the locals.

Thus, they had their own ports—what sailors call "black islands."

"Black island" was a blanket term.

It didn’t refer to a single island by that name.

Rather, many places where pirates could drop anchor were called as such.

Some of these locations were out-of-the-way, while others went by innocent-sounding names as cover.

Only true sea bandits would know the tricks of the trade.

But this Chiyan Island clearly belongs to the Southern Sea Alliance.

It absolutely cannot be a Black Island.

Su Mo glanced at both sides and sent a mental message to Song Yuanlong, warning him to be cautious. If anything went wrong, he could call forth the White Tiger to intimidate the bandits.

Then, he took a few others into the city.

For all Zhen Xiaoxiao's talk earlier about just wanting to stroll around or not needing to feast at a restaurant...

Once they stepped onto the streets and saw all kinds of food, her nose twitched, and she immediately headed straight for a restaurant.

Su Mo was momentarily speechless. Since they were already here, not trying the local fare would be a wasted trip.

So he led Yang Xiaoyun, Wei Ziyi, Little Situ Taoist, Zhen Xiaoxiao, Fu Hanyuan, and the others to the largest restaurant in the city.

Zhen Xiaoxiao cheered excitedly. When the waiter came to ask what they wanted to eat, the girl barreled through dishes rapid-fire for a tea-time's length—without even pausing for breath.

Su Mo was left dumbfounded. With such skill, it was a waste of talent not to become a comic storyteller.

He waved his hand, cutting off Zhen Xiaoxiao, who seemed ready to recite the entire menu for an hour.

Just as he was about to let Yang Xiaoyun order, a sudden uproar broke out outside the restaurant.

Then, a voice thundered:

"Xi Menye, hand over the Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture, and I’ll spare your life today!"

Su Mo and the others exchanged knowing glances.

They all wore strange expressions.

Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture...

Why was it that damned Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture again?