Magic, Mechanics, Shuraba Vol 2 Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Keep Calm and Drink Tea

Five minutes later, following Zhao Yuecheng’s request, Ouyang Tao installed an alarm system in his room and headed towards Zhao Yuecheng’s room which was above his. This was because Zhao Yuecheng had a way to ensure their conversation stayed secret.

Opening the door, Ouyang Tao’s first sentence was: “Are there any results?”

It wasn’t hard to tell that he was very nervous about this. No matter whether it was done on purpose or due to an accident, as long as it threatened Ouyang Xue, as a brother, he could not let it go so easily.

In comparison, Zhao Yuecheng was much more cautious. He kept silent for a while before saying: “No one followed you, please come in.”

After entering the room, he could only see the wine bottle that he had sent previously was floating in a light ball formed by numerous different magical arrays. Those were all magic specialised in a.n.a.lyzing and from the progress of it, it appeared to be nearing completion.

Soon, the bottle dropped onto the table below it, and the magical arrays spread apart, forming various lines of symbols —— This were the results of the a.n.a.lysis.

Although Zhao Yuecheng could not see, he was able to understand the message within the symbols using a special sensing ability. He nodded his head before concluding: “Big Brother, based on my a.n.a.lysis, the wine bottle did not store wine. Instead, it stored a very strong medicine or more accurately saying, a magical potion.”

“Magical potion? Could you explain more?” Ouyang Tao, who was not very familiar with the medical field, asked.

Zhao Yuecheng explained very a.s.suringly: “Alright. The term magical potions refer to medicine that has been modified using some unique magic or spell. The medicine itself is merely a medium and the magic or spell inside is the key. Does big bro understand if I explain it this way?”

“Is it something like…… A mutated poison?” Ouyang Tao suddenly had an ominous feeling.

“Haha, that, I think you shouldn’t cla.s.sify them all like that. We have to a.n.a.lyze the type of magic used in order to conclude.” As Zhao Yuecheng continued, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared. “For this bottle of potion, it is definitely poison —— Furthermore, it is somewhat a fatal poison.”

“WHAT ! ?” Ouyang Tao screamed in shock. “Then wouldn’t Ah Xue……”

“Please calm down.” Zhao Yuecheng pushed his palm down signalling Ouyang Tao to calm down. “Allow me to explain, this bottle of magical potion is unable to directly cause harm to a person.”

“Then…… What you just said, about this being somewhat a fatal poison?”

“Ahhhh, my apologies. I did not explain more clearly. What I meant was that harmful magical potion would have very serious effects but this particular one would not result in death.”

“Ehhh…… Zhao Yuecheng, could you go straight to the point. I don’t understand any medical terms so could you put it in simpler terms?” Ouyang Tao was now worried and anxious, unable to keep his head clear. He only hopes that Zhao Yuecheng would explain to him properly.

“Alright, for its effects, this magical potion would numb one’s mind, cause one to hallucinate, increase the rate of blood flow and also increase s.e.xual desire.”

“Ahhhh? What the h.e.l.l?”

“In simple terms, it could be understood to be opium mixed with an aphrodisiac.”

“What?!?! This…… What kind of prank is this!” Hearing this conclusion, Ouyang Tao flared up immediately! His sister actually drank something as scary as this. How could he as a brother tolerate it!

“Big bro, please calm down. I’m already in the process of creating the antidote. However, it would require some more time as some of the components of the potions and rare and more troublesome.” As Zhao Yuecheng spoke, the smile returned to his face, “Big bro…… Please sit down and drink something first.”

Hearing that there would be an antidote, Ouyang Tao calmed down somewhat. However, he was still a little worried: “Zhao Yuecheng, are you certain the antidote would work?”

“Of course.” Zhao Yuecheng replied confidently, “The reason big sis made me join you was to avoid such situations. Therefore, I’m fully prepared already.”

“Really…… Alright. Then, I’ll depend on you to help Ah Xue.” Now, Ouyang Tao had no choice but to trust him, as he hesitantly sat on the sofa.

In the time of the short conversation, Zhao Yuecheng had already finished making a cup of tea and he placed it beside Ouyang Tao’s hand: “This is san bao tai that I had brought myself, it calms nerves and has soothing effects.”

“Alright, let me try it.” Although he was not in the mood to drink tea, Ouyang Tao decided to accept his kind intentions. As he removed the lid, the fragrant smell of tea caused his mind to be refreshed immediately. Upon his first sip, the bitterness of the tea and the slight sweetness of the red dates soothed Ouyang Tao quickly calming him down.

“Looks like big bro had calmed down.”

“Ahh, yeah…… This feels so much better.”

After calming down, he could finally think clear again.

“Then big bro, let’s get back to topic. What do you think is the pressing matter at hand?”

“That’s right. That’s this most important matter now. Could it be brought by the young lady?”

“Impossible, Ah Xue would never touch such things.” His sister had never touched alcohol before and definitely would not have dabbled with drugs. Ouyang Tao was very certain about this.

“Then, could it be that she had taken it by mistake?”

“Possibly. However, she’s usually very cautious. Such a thing would not normally happen. Furthermore, if she had taken it by mistake, her first reaction wouldn’t be to finish drinking the bottle.”

“Then, could it have been given to her?”

“Yes! That must be it!” That was what Ouyang Tao thought all along. “Someone must have given it to Ah Xue.”

However, Zhao Yuecheng shook his head while smiling: “Big bro, drink some tea.”

“What do you mean?

“If the young lady was as cautious as you have mentioned, would she readily accepted something of unknown origin?”

“Ugh…… That’s true……” Ouyang Tao felt that what Zhao Yuecheng said made sense and he was thinking to rash. He sat properly and sipped the tea again, recollecting his train of thought. “Which means that this must have been given to her by someone close to her. Someone she trusts.”

“That’s right. Incidentally……” Zhao Yuecheng suddenly stopped talking as something came out of the opening of the ventilation fan and landed on his palm. “Big Bro, do you know what this is?”

Ouyang Tao who was well versed with machines recognised it at a glance: “It’s a…… Pinhole camera?! Where did you get it?”

“The wind pixie found it in your room.”

“Ahhh!!!” Ouyang Tao instantly broke out in cold sweat. Luckily nothing big had happened. Otherwise, someone would have seen it all! Thinking about it, rage swelled within him once again. “Who would do such a thing?”

Zhao Yuecheng was still nonchalant as he urged him to drink more tea.

“Hufff……” Ouyang Tao took in a deep breath and calmed himself down again. It was at such time that he needed to be relaxed and collected.

“Now, big bro. We have arrived at the main problem.”

“That’s right.” The calm Ouyang Tao soon obtained the same conclusion as Zhao Yuecheng: “The main point is who would do such a thing and for what reason?”

“Therefore, big bro must have some clue who is the most suspicious right?”

“Yes.” The answer was actually so simple and it was something that he was already prepared for before leaving the city. This time, he had to thank Zhao Yuecheng for guiding him.

Ouyang Tao found it rather unbelievable that such a young boy was so calm and experienced. It was really exceptional and he felt a little ashamed: “Thank you Zhao Yuecheng. I have learnt a lot.”

“No problem. Because this is big sis’s order, I’m glad to do it.” Zhao Yuecheng replied humbly. “However, I have to remind big bro that the troublesome components of the magical potion are the two powers of the original sin.”

“Ehh?! Powers of the original sin?” When he mentioned “Power of the original sin”, Ouyang Tao could not help but be reminded of the poisoned Edward.

“It’s jealousy and l.u.s.t.”

“So it’s like that……” Jealousy was poison and l.u.s.t was aphrodisiac. This made everything clear.

“I believe big brother knows what he has to do next?”

“Yes.”

What Ouyang Tao needed to do next was to remain silent……