Old Jii was a master brewer whom Xu Hanzhi had specially sought out. He was responsible for several crucial steps in the brewing process.
Only he could have placed a gu-bug in the wine without anyone noticing.
The key was,
"Old Jii has been acting strangely the last few days, his mind often wandering. He claimed he'd caught a cold, but how could an Innate Qi Refiner be so easily affected by the chill? I should have realized something was wrong sooner."
Xu Hanzhi muttered, full of regret:
"It's ruined!"
"Everything is ruined!"
"At least several thousand Spirit Stones' worth of raw materials are wasted. And who knows if anything else has been tampered with. We'll have to start over on so many things."
The Bright Void Sect had even mortgaged its shops in the Marketplace to support the brewing venture.
Their capital was already insufficient.
This was just salt in the wound.
"You should look on the bright side," Zhu Ju said, trying to console him.
