Chapter 955: Terrifying reality
Something terrifying was occurring at the bottom of the canyon.
Bai Yanqing was clearly dead. His heart had been stabbed through, then his body had suffered a fall from tremendous heights. Moreover, Long Feiye had even determined that he wasn’t breathing anymore. Yet somehow, he’d gotten to his feet with shaking legs.
That’s right!
He didn’t die!
He would never die!
Unless Long Feiye cultivated past the full three limits of the Lustbite Seal and merged its Lustbite energy with his own Nirvana Heart Arts internal qi to control the strongest force in the world, nothing else could kill him.
Only time…and the deterioration of age were his enemies in this world!
The truth was that he’d deciphered the legendary accounts of Poison Gu humans left behind by the Poison Sect. After suffering heartbreak in the past, he’d nurtured himself into a Poison Gu in a fit of rage! Thus, Long Feiye’s Lustbite energy was his only weak spot. Even if he gave up on sowing discord between East and West Qin, he still wanted Baili Mingxiang dead!
Naturally, he would never tell the world that he was a Poison Gu. He didn’t want to be public enemy number one! Moreover, one of the ingredients to mastering the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion was blood of a Poison Gu. Once his secret was exposed, his troubles would begin.
Five elemental poisons were required to break through the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion: Water, Earth, First, Metal and Wood of Ten-Thousand Poisons. Four more toxic blood types were also needed from the poison beast, poison corpse, Beauty’s Blood, and Poison Gu.
He was the sole host of Poison Gu blood in the world. The poison beast’s blood could replenish itself, the poison corpse’s blood from the Ten-Thousand Year Old Blood Jade could be found elsewhere, and the Beauty’s Blood could be cultivated from scratch. But Poison Gu blood was one of a kind! Even those with the secret formula for creating more Poison Gu would never be able to create a second one of his kind again, because the poison plants needed for the prescription were one of a kind. When he’d tried the formula on himself, he’d already used the last of them.
Back at Medical City, he had heard of Gu Qishao’s past and wondered if he too, had been transformed into a Poison Gu in secret to develop immunity to so many diseases. In the end, he carefully analyzed the information and rejected that idea. He didn’t know what kind of body Gu Qishao possessed, but he wasn’t interested, either. Right now, his main enemies were Long Feiye and Han Yunxi as well as their East and West Qin factions. He was curious to know whether Han Yunxi couldn’t accept the truth or knew some other facts that made her so adamant to deny him.
He didn’t mind taking his time to find out slowly and play a higher-stakes game. Who knew which of them would regret it more by the end!
Bai Yanqing looked up at the cliffs, which were so tall that the tops were shrouded by white mists. He wiped away the blood from his lips and turned to leave. Soon enough, his skinny form had vanished into the woods. Meanwhile, Lil Thing recovered from its daze.
Heavens! Just then it’d sense Mama Yunxi nearby! Very close!
Had the Darkspace’s master gone to find Mama Yunxi? What did this villain want to do? Did Mama Yunxi know it was trapped inside? What was going on now? It’d lost sense of Mama Yunxi again. Lil Thing grew agitated and dashed forward in the darkness, but was soon repelled by a formless energy. Thanks to the terms of its contract, it could sense everything outside from Mama Yunxi’s poison storage space and enter and exit at will. But this Darkspace made it ignorant to anything happening outside. It could only sense Mama Yunxi if she was close enough.
Had Mama Yunxi left?
Lil Thing grew uneasy. As it fell into thought, it recalled the gentleman once more. It abruptly raised its head to give a mournful cry that echoed in the large, black space.
Gentleman, don’t die, alright?
Mama Yunxi, where are you?
Lil Thing misses you both…
Currently, Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were still on top of the cliff. Long Feiye had given her enough time to recover, so she didn’t delay. Of course she remembered Lil Thing. She and Gu Beiyue suspected that it was still trapped in Bai Yanqing’s poison storage space, but she didn’t know whether the space would vanish once its owner died. She could only put more important matters first and find Lil Thing later. Killing Bai Yanqing was only a method to their final goals! That was why she’d steeled her resolve in the first place. No matter how uneasy she felt, she had to hide and endure those feelings!
There was no point in wasting their previous efforts now. Only by striding forward could she know that her choice hadn’t let anyone down or failed them. She wanted to be together with Long Feiye fair and square and dissolve the hatred between East and West Qin. She wanted to join hands with him and create a new nation filled with eternal peace!
Han Yunxi stood up and said coldly, “Shi Jiuxia, tell me how this princess should silence your mouth!”
Shi Jiuxia had killed his way through the poison guards and mercenaries to their location. He had heard everything Bai Yanqing just said, including the fact that Han Yunxi was Bai Yanqing’s daughter. He was stunned by the revelations!
“Han Yunxi, you committed patricide!” Shi Jiuxia rebuked.
“It was this crown prince who killed Bai Yanqing! He smeared the name of my East Qin and provoke enmity between East and West Qin. He deserved death!” Long Feiye raged.
“It was your East Qin that started the war! Long Feiye, your East Qin was the scourge that destroyed the Great Qin Empire!” Shi Jiuxia accused him.
Before Long Feiye could speak, Han Yunxi only insisted, “No! That wasn’t what Bai Yanqing said! Shi Jiuxia, you misheard. Bai Yanqing said that the Wind Clan was wholly responsible for stirring up enmity between East and West Qin. The hatred between the two sides was nothing more than a misunderstanding! As the main offender, the Wind Clan’s Bai Yanqing admitted it all in person!”
Han Yunxi was simply lying with a straight face! In truth, she had long prepared these lines. As long as Bai Yanqing was dead, what she and Long Feiye claimed would be the truth! Even if this was lying to the world, she’d risk it all. Seeing her cold, glittering eyes, the fuming Shi Jiuxia suddenly felt afraid and took a step back. He understood what she meant, this was a warning. Either he’d cooperate with her lie or die.
Shi Jiuxia had always lived in seclusion and dedicated himself to looking after Hundred Poisons Sect for Jun Yixie. He wasn’t clear on the true enmity between East and West Qin and only heard rumors that Han Yunxi was a vicious woman, but never thought she’d be so extremist! She not only murdered her father, but wanted to lie to the East and West Qin factions as well as the rest of the world. Most frightening of all, she didn’t have a speck of fear or hesitation. She was so certain in her beliefs that it was almost decisively magnificent.
Just what kind of woman was she?
Shi Jiuxia was too shocked to speak. By now, Long Feiye had already raised his sword to his throat.
“You don’t have much time,” Long Feiye reminded coldly. “Choose for yourself: die here or keep leading Hundred Poisons Sect!”
This was imperial might granting him a favor.
“Elder Shi, do you believe it when I say Bai Yanqing was long prepared to sacrifice Hundred Poisons Sect? What’s the point of yearning after a master like that?” Han Yunxi laughed frostily. “If Long Feiye hadn’t set up this trap, I would have destroyed Poison Corpse Lake. I can also tell you that even with the lake destroyed or Hundred Poisons Sect burned to the ground, Bai Yanqing wouldn’t come up this mountain.”
Shi Jiuxia didn’t know of worldly affairs, nor why Bai Yanqing had chosen to set up a stage down the mountain. Actually, he was surprised the man had shown up at all. He had been panicking himself into a fit atop the peak because he thought Bai Yanqing wasn’t coming and that Hundred Poisons Sect would lose all face. He was already dissatisfied with Bai Yanqing’s actions, so Han Yunxi’s words only moved him further.
Seeing him hesitate, Han Yunxi pressed on. “Shi Jiuxia, do you think Hundred Poisons Sect can survive after you’re dead?” She suddenly stepped closer and narrowed her eyes at him. “I promise I’ll raze this mountain to the ground. I’ll make my words reality!”
Long Feiye disliked Han Yunxi getting close to any other man, but he hadn’t pulled her back before Shi Jiuxia staggered backwards in fear. He stared at Han Yunxi in disbelief. Although he wasn’t the sect leader, he had dedicated his entire life’s blood to Hundred Poisons Sect. How could he bear to see it destroyed?
Long Feiye silently dropped his arm as he watched Han Yunxi convince Shi Jiuxia. With Bai Yanqing dead, it’d be hard to convince the crowd below that he and Han Yunxi were telling the truth. But if Shi Jiuxia stepped out with them, things would be easier.
“Shi Jiuxia, I’m the direct descendant to the Poison Sect and its sect leader. Medical City has already acknowledged my status and cleared the Poison Sect’s name. If you submit to me, how could I mistreat you? I promise you’ll get the position of Hundred Poisons Sect sect leader. Moreover, both Medical and Medicine City will stop rejecting you,” Han Yunxi added.
She offered Shi Jiuxia two paths: either die or aim for brilliant future prospects!
Shi Jiuxia’s loyalty laid with Hundred Poisons Sect, not Bai Yanqing or Jun Yixie. How could he not be moved? But he was still hesitant. How could something so wonderful just fall from the skies? Would Han Yunxi really trust him? Didn’t she fear him exposing the truth one day?
Shi Jiuxia was about to probe when she said coldly, “If you don’t want to die, then drink this poison. I’ll only give you enough time to brew a cup of tea.”
Shi Jiuxia looked at the poison in his hands and seemed relieved of a great burden on his shoulders. He wanted Hundred Poisons Sect to live well so that it too could one day become one of Cloud Realm Continent’s open powers. He also wanted a good life for himself. Without hesitation, he downed the poison in one gulp. As a poisons expert, he couldn’t tell what kind of toxin Han Yunxi had given him, but knew that it was a time-sensitive poison.
Han Yunxi felt relieved at the sight as well. She said, “I’ll have someone deliver you antidote once every ten days. If you’re curious about the poison, you can wait to see how it reacts, but I promise you’ll regret it!”
Shi Jiuxia was truly curious, but Han Yunxi’s tone warned him not to try. Anyone who used poisons to fight poisons knew the terrifying consequences if one was left to run unchecked. The experience was worse than death.
Next, Han Yunxi whistled for a poison guard to take the unconscious Xu Donglin down the mountain. Meanwhile, Baili Mingxiang had recovered her strength after taking an antidote. She clutched the Raging Flame Lotus hidden in her sleeve and stepped forward despite her unease.
“Princess, Your Highness, this servant…”