The Only Way to Find the Antler Serpent

He turned to Shun and said, "You're up."

Shun shot Grace a regretful look, then picked up his pen and got ready to jot things down.

Sophie Sun and Lily Xu both grinned at each other.

"Hold up!" Grace called out.

"Got something else to add?" Elder Conrad asked.

Grace scrunched up her brows, thinking hard. "Elder Conrad, I think the person you just took the pulse of isn't the same person as this one."

"Huh? What are you getting at?" Elder Conrad blinked in surprise.

"I mean, if it's the same person, how could the pulse readings be so off?" Grace said. "Why not just check this person's pulse again?"

Grace wasn't just making wild guesses here.

She'd actually seen Lily Xu pull this stunt before in a Spirit Alliance competition back in her previous life.

She used a pair of twins to mess with the pulse readings and trip Grace up.

Grace suspected the same thing was happening now.

Otherwise, how do you explain the disagreement between her and Elder Conrad?

Lily Xu's eyes flashed, and she snapped, "How could that happen? Are you nuts?"

"Elder Conrad, please, could you check the pulse again?" Grace pleaded, her eyes full of hope.

"Grace, what are you talking about? It's obviously the same person! There are so many of us here, we're not blind! You're being ridiculous!" Lily Xu said.

Elder Conrad shook his head, thinking Grace was being absurd. "Grace, you're talented, but still young. Go work on your medical skills and come back in three years."

Grace wanted to say more, but Elder Conrad had already moved on to the next patient.

Sam Summers quietly wrote down "fail."

Grace gritted her teeth and had no choice but to leave the sickroom.

Before she could step out the door, the poisoned patient suddenly freaked out and called out, "Hey, my—"

"Don't worry!" Sophie Sun cut him off. "We're all Spiritual Alchemists here. If she can't cure you, we can! Relax, okay?"

Her tone was extra soothing.

So the patient just shut up.

Grace overheard and caught Sophie Sun exchanging a meaningful look with the poisoned patient, flashing him a reassuring glance.

Something's definitely fishy!

Maybe it's Lily Xu's old trick again.

Otherwise, how could her and Elder Conrad's pulse readings be so different?

If that's the case, then that person must still be in the Guild.

Because if Elder Conrad's diagnosis is right and he's got qi deviation, it'll take at least three days to fix him up.

If she could just find him, the truth would come out, plain as day.

Thinking about this, Grace naturally thought of her secret weapon for finding things: the Antler Serpent.

Her little cutie was the best at tracking stuff down. If it was around, it'd totally sniff out that guy!

Too bad, she had no clue where it had run off to these days.

If only she could figure out how to get it back.

Then suddenly, Grace realized—the only way to find the Antler Serpent was with the Dragon Scale hanging around her neck.

Should she give it a shot?

Grace pulled out the Dragon Scale and bit down on it a few times.

She and Evan Xiao had a deal—the fewer and harder the bites, the more urgent the situation.

If it wasn't a big emergency, she'd bite it more times and more gently...

...

Meanwhile, in the imperial court, Colin Gu was deep in discussion with the ministers about Windspire Kingdom's land issues.

The ministers all chimed in with their opinions, and honestly, they all sounded pretty reasonable.

Colin Gu asked, "General, what do you think?"

Evan Xiao was just about to answer when he suddenly sensed Grace biting the Dragon Scale.

She bit it several times, gently, which meant she had something important to discuss with him...