The fog in the depths of the bamboo forest was as thick as ink, and Lin Xiaoman's fingers were slightly trembling as he clutched the Spatio-Temporal Medical Dictionary. The silver pot on the Persian old man's waist was glowing with an ethereal light, and the double helix pattern on the pot actually fit tightly with the pattern on the silver ring, as if it was telling of a hidden connection across time and space. Li Chengqian's intermittent sound of the carving knife is becoming clearer and clearer, but mixed with the shouts of the Golden Guard, stirring up a weird echo in the bamboo forest.
"Quickly! Go this way!" The Persian old man suddenly tugged on her wrist and turned into a moss-covered path. Only then did Lin Xiaoman realize that the bamboo along the path was carved with tiny symbols, like some kind of code. When she looked closer, the symbols were automatically arranged into simplified Chinese characters - "Beware of Li Tai". Memory instantly flashed back to the side hall of the Imperial Hospital, the shady look in Li Tai's eyes when he snatched the clay pot, and his covetousness for the Time and Space Medical Dictionary, sending chills down Lin Xiaoman's spine.
"Old sir, who exactly are you? Why do you know the Prince's secret code?" Lin Xiaoman stopped in his tracks, his gaze locked onto the old man. The Persian old man smiled as he stroked his beard and lifted the hem of his robe, revealing densely engraved marks on the inside -- all in Li Chengqian's handwriting, recording modern medical knowledge and even the first aid mnemonics she had taught him. "The old slave was originally a physician for the Persian caravan, and thanks to the trust of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he engraved these whimsical ideas on camel bones and silverware, in the hope that they would come in handy someday."
Before the words fell, a shower of arrows broke through the air. The old man's eyes were quick, pulling Lin Xiaoman to roll into an earthen pit on the side. The arrow was nailed to a bamboo tree, and on the cloth strip tied to the end of the arrow were the words "Demoness Awarded Head" written in blood. Lin Xiaoman gritted his teeth and felt out the silver needle, suddenly remembering what Li Chengqian had said, "The crack is in the microscopic image of the dysentery bacillus", could it be that all these arrows and carvings were related to the secret of the time and space rift?
Right at this moment, the Spatio-Temporal Medical Codex suddenly flipped open on its own, and a few dried cornelian leaves floated out from between the pages, and the engravings on the veins of the leaves shimmered under the moonlight: "Mirror Abyss backfired, quickly seek out the Seven Orifices Pottery Jar." Lin Xiaoman's heart was shaken, the pottery jar engraved with "2025" in the emergency room, and the "Xiao Man Tang" pottery found by the archaeological team, could it be the so-called "Seven Orifices Pottery Jar"? And at this moment, on the cover of the canonical book in her hand, the writing had faded most of the way, as if it would disappear at any time.
"Miss Lin, follow me!" The Persian old man pointed to a broken temple deep in the bamboo forest, "His Highness the Crown Prince often comes here, saying that this place hides the 'Eye of Heaven' that can connect the ancient and modern worlds." The two had just rushed through the temple door when they heard the sound of tiles shattering. Li Tai descended from the sky with his Golden Guard, and the clay pot in his hand was emitting a weird blue light that resonated with the Time and Space Medical Codex in Lin Xiaoman's arms.
"Hand over the Codex!" Li Tai's eyes showed a fierce light, "Crown Prince's brother is obsessed with you and these demonic creatures, he even went so far as to use the secret technique of the Imperial Hospital to travel through time and space, now that he's trapped in the Mirror Abyss, it's just right for me to unveil the secrets of the Space-Time Medical Canon!" Lin Xiaoman then realized that Li Chengqian's travel was not by chance, but to stop Li Tai from getting his hands on the power of time and space.
In the nick of time, the floor tiles of the broken temple suddenly flipped over, revealing a deep, ancient well. The walls of the well are engraved with patterns similar to the microscopic images of dysentery bacilli, and in the center hangs a rustic earthenware pot -- one of the "Seven Tricks of the Pottery". Lin Xiaoman recklessly pounced on the clay pot, but was stopped by Li Tai's guards. In the confusion, she threw her silver needle at the clay pot in Li Tai's hand, and the blue light suddenly exploded in a sharp collision.
Space and time distorted at this moment, and the power of the Mirror Abyss came from all directions. Lin Xiaoman saw that in the modern laboratory, Xiao Chen was aiming a sample of dysentery bacillus at the crack in the outline of the Daming Palace; and on the Tang side, the sound of Li Chengqian's carving knife suddenly became clear, he was drenched in blood, but he was still guarding a certain glowing object to the death. The Persian old man took the opportunity to sprinkle the liquid in the silver pot to the ancient well, and the liquid was transformed into countless tiny silver needles, piercing into the grain of the well wall.
"Quickly! Put the Time and Space Medical Codex into the clay pot!" The old man shouted. Lin Xiaoman did as he was told, and just as the canon touched the clay pot, the entire broken temple shook violently. Li Tai's clay pot shattered in response, and he watched in horror as his hands gradually became transparent -- this was the sign of the Mirror Abyss backfiring. And the silver ring in Lin Xiaoman's bosom resonated with the clay pot, and a golden pillar of light shot up to the sky.
In the pillar of light, Li Chengqian's figure slowly emerged. His carving knife was still stained with dirt, but he smiled and extended his hand to Lin Xiaoman, "I knew that you could find this place." The moment their fingertips touched, the time-space rift opened completely, and the images of modern times and the Tang Dynasty overlapped: the instruments of the emergency room intersected with the medicine mortar of the Imperial Hospital, and the germs under the microscope resonated with the words of the medical codex on the bamboo slips.
"It turns out that the seven-knuckle clay pot is the key to stabilizing time and space, and the Time and Space Medical Dictionary is the codebook." Li Chengqian held Lin Xiaoman's hand tightly, "Li Tai wants to li