Grace opened the white bottle. Inside was a brown powder that gave off a foul smell.
This really is the antidote.
If you have someone in your estate take it, they'll show symptoms similar to Spirit Plague. Then, the Imperial Advisor and I will come to your estate, isolate the patient, and collect blood samples under the guise of checking for contagion. Once that's done, I'll immediately remove the talisman curse from your aunt. How about it?
Grace glanced at her, thinking: Wow! You really went all out just to get my family's blood...
But I can still expose you in no time!
Because, honestly, divination is the shadiest lie of all!
Grace curled her lips and said, "To be honest, I know a bit about divination myself. Even General Xiao knows that."
Bianca Whitefan looked at Evan Xiao, who nodded.
"It's exactly because I know a bit that I realize how deep and mysterious it is. If you want me to believe your intentions are pure, then prove your divination skills to me!"
"What?" Bianca stared at her, dumbfounded.
Grace reached out and took five coins. "Make a prediction for me: when I toss these five coins, how many will land heads up and how many tails? If you can guess correctly three times in a row, I'll consider your offer. Deal?"
Bianca stared at the coins in her hand and rubbed her forehead. "Miss Zhu—"
"You can call me Grace," Grace said with a wide grin. "And I'll call you Yunshan, how's that?"
Bianca frowned. "I suppose that's fine. But prediction spells are the most energy-draining of all Rune Master arts. The spiritual energy in Blue Moon Kingdom is thin—I can only manage two attempts at most."
"Fine! Two attempts it is," Grace replied cheerfully.
She didn't believe Bianca could really predict it!
"Wait a moment, I need to prepare."
Grace nodded.
Bianca stood up and left, with Leon Zane following her.
Grace turned to Evan Xiao. "General, where is Miss Bianca from?"
"She's from the Vermilion Kingdom," Evan Xiao replied.
"And you? Where are you from?" Grace looked at him suspiciously. "Why have I never met your parents or family?"
"I'm also from the Vermilion Kingdom," Evan Xiao said. "My parents and family are all there."
"People from lower kingdoms fight to get into the High Kingdom, but I've rarely heard of High Kingdom folks coming to a vassal state... Why did you come here?" Grace pressed.
Evan Xiao wrapped his arm around her waist. "For you."
"Be serious."
"Seriously, it's for you." Evan Xiao stuffed a Spirit Peach into her mouth, and before she could swallow, he suddenly kissed her, tasting the fruit together...
After that, Grace forgot what she was asking him about...
...
When Bianca sat down in front of Grace again, she'd changed clothes.
She'd bathed, changed into gray robes, and wore her hair in a high topknot—no ornaments, nothing fancy.
She looked just like a Daoist priestess.
She really knows how to put on a mystical show!
"Let's begin!" Grace juggled the coins in her hand.
Bianca nodded and took out five Oracle Crescents, crescent-shaped divination tokens made from some kind of bone. She closed her eyes and muttered something Grace couldn't understand, and suddenly Grace felt the flow of spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy drifted through the air. Practitioners could absorb it for cultivation, but because it was so rare, most of the time you couldn't even feel it.