The Bubble Floated Away

Ms. Rachel Zhang smiled faintly and said, "I always thought you two were pretty close!"

"Oh, please!" Grace waved her hand. "It's complicated!"

As they chatted, the fire was lit.

After about fifteen minutes, Ms. Rachel Zhang and the firewood assistant both collapsed to the ground.

Grace looked at them and flashed a wicked, triumphant grin.

There was a sedative hidden in the wood, but Ms. Rachel Zhang didn't even bother to check. The distraction worked perfectly.

Why knock her out... Of course, to kill her.

Now that the grudge is set, it's either her or me—no mercy.

Grace decided to seal her acupoints, drag her into her sanctum, and finish the job there.

That way, the Spirit Alliance would have another bizarre missing person case—just like Byron White. No body, no trace, just gone...

She reached out to tap Rachel Young.

But the moment her finger touched, she nearly broke it.

A surge of powerful energy bounced right back from Rachel Young's body.

Was that... a Protective Talisman?

Last time she attacked, Rachel Young didn't have a Protective Talisman, did she?

Grace tried again, just to be sure—yep, there was definitely a Protective Talisman.

Maybe... after last time, she went and got herself a Protective Talisman...

But against a Spirit Alchemist, even a Protective Talisman is useless.

Grace pulled out a deadly poison pill and tried to shove it into her mouth.

But just then, Rachel Young's eyes snapped open. She spat out a shimmering, sweetly metallic stream right at Grace.

A poison needle!

Grace thought, 'Uh-oh.'

At this distance, dodging was nearly impossible!

Suddenly, a bubble popped up, caught the poison needle, and floated away...

Grace hadn't expected Ray's bubble could do that...

Quick as lightning, Grace took the chance to spray Rachel Young with a mist refined from the Soul Lock Pill.

Rachel Young was caught off guard and inhaled a mouthful... Her spiritual power couldn't gather anymore!

"Grace Zhu!" Rachel Young snarled through gritted teeth. "What do you think you're doing?"

Grace held up a Poison Gas Bomb and said, "To kill you!"

"I've always treated you well. Why would you repay kindness with betrayal?"

"You deliberately took me to feed me the Corpsewine Hex—was that supposed to be kindness?" Grace raised an eyebrow. "Stop pretending! Lily, her mother!"

Rachel Young's face changed dramatically. "You actually know? How did you find out?"

"Want to know? Then first tell me—how did you know about the sedative?"

The sedative in the wood burned up colorless and odorless—how did she notice?

"I didn't know," Ms. Rachel Zhang said. "But I once ate an Ancient Crimson Rose Root that's over a thousand years old. No sedative works on me!"

Grace couldn't help but marvel—Spirit Alchemists in the Alliance really are full of surprises.

"And how did you know Lily is my daughter?" Rachel Young asked.

Back then, the only ones who knew were herself and Lily's mother—everyone else was dead!

Grace shook her head. "Your secrecy skills aren't that great. I just spent two taels of silver and found out!"

"Did you kill Lily?"

"Whether I did or not, you wouldn't let me go, right? So—"

At that, her expression changed, and she couldn't continue.

Because... Rachel Young pulled out a Poison Gas Bomb too.

"Today, either we both die here, or you let me go!" Rachel Young said coldly.

Grace had a sword, Rachel Young had a Protective Talisman.

Grace had a Poison Gas Bomb, so did Rachel Young.

Besides, the poison in these bombs was made from their own secret recipes. Unless you were immune to all poisons, neither of them could counter the other's!