Night had fallen.
Zhai Yi and Lin Langyi arrived at Jiuchang County.
Lin Langyi got off the carriage early. Zhai Yi drove the carriage into the backyard of Changning Inn in the county town, asked the innkeeper for two upper rooms, paid the deposit, and immediately left Changning Inn.
Zhai Yi sensed someone tailing her from behind. She turned into a nearby alley. The trackers realized Zhai Yi had vanished and rushed over to check for traces.
As soon as they entered the alley, they found no way out, and Zhai Yi seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Just as the three were at a complete loss, Zhai Yi’s cold voice came from behind them.
“Are you looking for me?”
The three turned around in horror. “You… how did you…”
Zhai Yi drew the soft sword from her waist. Sword light gleamed coldly under the moonlight. “Do you really want to know where Xuanji Young Master is?”
Seeing her draw her sword, the three pulled out their poisoned daggers. “Since you know, spit it out obediently. Otherwise, you’re in for it.”
Zhai Yi gripped her sword. “I’ll count to three. Then come at me together.”
The three knew that Xuanji Young Master had seven guardians by her side, ranked by martial prowess. Number One—the woman before them—had unfathomable skill. No one who clashed with her ever came out ahead. Moreover, she had stolen the snow toad from Ksitigarbha Palace amid a siege and escaped unscathed.
The three looked grim as they listened to Zhai Yi count down.
“Three…”
The three tightened their grips on their daggers. Suddenly, their vision blurred, and a chill touched their necks. Eyes wide in disbelief, they knelt to the ground as blood spurted from the wounds on their throats.
Zhai Yi looked at the three with eyes still open in death and snorted with a laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen dead men so obedient.”
Tuantuan: 【They never expected First Sister to not play by the rules.】
Zhai Yi said innocently, “I follow the rules perfectly. I said I’d strike on three, and I really counted all the way to three before striking.”
Tuantuan: 【….】
Zhai Yi wiped the blood from her soft sword and headed for Charm Kiln in Jiuchang County.
Charm Kiln was Xuanji Pavilion’s outpost in Jiuchang County—a pleasure house just like Jiangzhou City Brocade Embroidered Tower. The “kiln sisters” there made their living entertaining guests on the surface, but in secret, they gathered intelligence from the jianghu.
There were many such Charm Kilns throughout Great Sheng, all under Xuanji Pavilion and managed from behind the scenes by No. 4.
As soon as Zhai Yi entered Charm Kiln, a crowd of women surrounded her.
“Oh my, this handsome young master looks unfamiliar. First time at Charm Kiln?”
“Little brother, which kiln sister catches your eye? Tell your sister here~”
…
Zhai Yi raised her hands in front of her chest and smiled at No. 4, who was watching the show from the railing on the second floor. “Her.”
The kiln sisters looked over and saw the jade token at No. 4’s waist. Their expressions changed, and they scattered in an instant.
Zhai Yi went upstairs.
No. 4 swayed her slim waist as she approached. Her silk handkerchief brushed across Zhai Yi’s face as she said in a coquettish tone, “Oh my, this young master actually chose your slave girl. Your slave girl will serve you well, young master~”
Zhai Yi pushed No. 4 away. “Where’s Young Master?”
No. 4 twirled her fingers around the handkerchief and complained, “How can you be so clueless about pitying the fairer sex? No idea why Young Master likes you.”
Zhai Yi tilted her head. “Jealous?”
No. 4 froze, then spat, “Jealous of what? I just think Young Master’s blind to fall for you.”
“You’re insulting Young Master. You’re done for.”
No. 4: “….”
Jerk!
No. 4 led Zhai Yi into a bedroom with a sour look on her face. She twisted the droplet vase on the antique rack, which slid aside to reveal a hidden door.
The door opened. The two went in, and it closed silently behind them.
Beyond the door was a short stone passage. They hadn’t gone far before it opened into a spacious chamber.
Zhai Yi spotted Lin Langyi compounding medicine at the desk at once. No. 2 and Number Three waited nearby. Seeing No. 4 bring Zhai Yi in, No. 6 raised a hand in greeting. “You’re here.”
He noticed the blood on Zhai Yi’s clothes. “You’re hurt?”
“What?” Lin Langyi set down the porcelain vial in her hand and came over to check Zhai Yi’s body worriedly. “Where are you hurt? What happened?”
No. 2 and Number Three looked over too.
Zhai Yi said, “I’m not hurt. This is someone else’s blood.”
“Someone else’s?” Lin Langyi frowned. “Jing Prince’s people?”
Zhai Yi nodded. “Probably. They’ve been tailing me since I left Changning Inn. I took care of them on the way.”
No. 4 asked, “Anyone tailing you on the way here to Charm Kiln?”
Zhai Yi said, “No.”
With her martial arts and inner force, no one in all of Great Sheng could mask their presence to tail her without catching her notice.
No. 2 said, “No. 4, you’re overthinking it. With Number One’s skills, who could tail her without a sound?”
Number Three agreed. “Right.”
No. 4 pursed her lips. “I’m just worried about Young Master’s safety, okay? Young Master’s compounding medicine right now—no room for error. If someone sneaks in after Young Master takes the antidote, it could ruin everything.”
Lin Langyi looked at Zhai Yi. “I’m fine. It’ll take Jing Prince some effort to find this outpost at Charm Kiln.”
“Even if he does, I’ll have detoxed and left Jiuchang County long before then.”
She turned to No. 2. “Preparations?”
No. 2 replied, “Seven fast horses are ready. Once Young Master detoxes, we can head straight back to Wuzhou.”
Lin Langyi nodded. “Good.”
Concern in her eyes, she asked again, “You’re really okay? Speak up if you’re hurt.”
Zhai Yi smiled faintly. “Your subordinate is truly fine.”
Lin Langyi inclined her head. “Alright then.”
No. 4 said, “I’ll go keep watch. Knock the copper bell if anything happens.”
No. 6 followed. “I’ll go with you.”
Zhai Yi sat on a stool, watching Lin Langyi compound the medicine.
No. 2 and Number Three came over to sit. No. 2 glanced at Lin Langyi, then at Zhai Yi.
“Out with it.”
No. 2 choked. “No. 2 and Number Three do have a tiny question?”
Number Three said coldly, “Don’t drag me into it. I have no questions.”
No. 2: “….”
“Then don’t listen. Get out!”
Number Three hugged his sword and closed his eyes, ignoring No. 2’s protests.
No. 2: “….”
If Young Master weren’t compounding medicine right now—a critical moment—he’d pick a fight with Number Three for sure.
Zhai Yi poured a cup of hot tea. “Ask away.”
No. 2 whispered, “Now that all three herbs are gathered, why not wait until we’re back in Wuzhou to compound it?”
Zhai Yi said, “Two reasons.”
“First, Shanggongqiu’s potency fades every day after harvest. It’s been half a month since Xuanji Pavilion learned it was picked and ended up at Prince Jing’s Mansion. If we don’t use it now, it’ll lose all effect and become useless.”
“Second, the gu poison in Young Master’s body won’t hold out until after her twentieth birthday.”
Lin Shuyue knew how stubborn the gu poison in Lin Langyi’s body was. For years, he had sought out all sorts of rare herbs to suppress its outbreaks. He knew each flare-up shortened Lin Langyi’s lifespan.
Later, Lin Langyi relied on the original body’s blood to suppress it, but that only had a minor effect. To fully detox, it had to be done before Lin Langyi turned twenty. Otherwise, once the gu poison fully invaded her heart and meridians, it would be too late.
Lin Langyi’s twentieth birthday was two days away. Even riding hard, it would take two days and nights to reach Wuzhou—not to mention if she had another outbreak en route, further shortening her life.
Even if they made it back to Xuanji Pavilion in Wuzhou in two days, Lin Langyi likely wouldn’t have time left to compound and take the antidote.
No. 2 said with concern, “I see.”
Number Three frowned. “Young Master has suffered.”
As guardians, they all knew Lin Langyi had an intractable gu poison in her body. This trip from Xuanji Pavilion into the jianghu to seek medicine was for detoxing it. They just hadn’t realized it was already this urgent.
No. 2 asked, “How do you know all this? Did Young Master tell you?”
Zhai Yi nodded. “Yeah.”
No. 2 looked suspicious. “Why tell you and not us?”
Zhai Yi pressed her lips together.
No. 2’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me it’s because you…”
Zhai Yi’s gaze flashed with a hint of panic.
“…flattered Young Master so well last time that she tells you everything and not us.” No. 2 finished.
Zhai Yi smiled. “…You’re so clever.”
She’d worried for nothing that No. 2’s brain might actually be useful.
No. 2 said proudly, “Of course.”
“I see right through your little tricks for pleasing Young Master.”
He glanced at Number Three and raised a brow. “Take notes. I’m No. 2 Guardian not just ’cause my martial arts are top-notch, but thanks to this brilliant mind of mine.”
Number Three’s mouth twitched.
No. 2 pointed at Number Three, smug as could be. “See, Number One? Number Three’s so impressed he’s smiling.”
Number Three stood. “Come on, outside.”
No. 2 froze. “Huh?”
Number Three closed his eyes briefly. “Can’t stand you anymore. Let’s fight outside.”
No. 2 was baffled. “What can’t you stand?”
“Can’t stand how excellent I am? Makes you feel inferior?”
“Hey, we’re brothers. No need for that.”
Number Three glared. “Outside. We’re fighting!”
As Number Three dragged him out, No. 2 helplessly said to Zhai Yi, “See? See? Told you Number Three’s totally won over by me.”
Zhai Yi: “…”
Honestly, turn around and look—No. 2. The killing intent in Number Three’s eyes is plain as day.
“Done.”
Zhai Yi looked over to see a black pill in Lin Langyi’s hand.
Lin Langyi walked over to Zhai Yi with the pill. “Once I swallow this, then let the snow toad drink my blood—when the blood turns bright red, the poison will be gone.”
Zhai Yi asked, “What can I do?”
Lin Langyi held up one finger and blinked. “There is one thing… you can do for me… it’s just…”
Zhai Yi saw the mischievous look in her eyes. “Young Master, just say it.”
“If your subordinate can’t do it, she’ll refuse outright.”
Lin Langyi: “….”
Her posture slumped like a heavy weight had crushed her. She mumbled, “If I say it, you’ll definitely refuse.”
Zhai Yi said helplessly, “Is Young Master planning to ask your subordinate to do something she’ll definitely refuse?”
Lin Langyi smiled guiltily. “Not necessarily~”
“Then say it, and let your subordinate consider,” Zhai Yi paused slightly. “Besides, with Young Master’s order, your subordinate wouldn’t dare disobey.”
Lin Langyi shot Zhai Yi a resentful look. “You know I wouldn’t force you, so you’re just teasing me.”
Zhai Yi couldn’t help chuckling. “If Young Master keeps beating around the bush, your subordinate will go guard the door and protect you.”
Seeing Zhai Yi about to leave, Lin Langyi threw caution to the wind. “During the bloodletting, the snow toad brings unbearable agony—not like a poison flare-up, which your blood can suppress. So…”
Zhai Yi heard her voice grow quieter and quieter, the last words barely leaving her lips.
“So what?”
Lin Langyi bit her lip, face red. “So… I want you to…”
“For your subordinate to do what?”
“Forget it, forget it.” Lin Langyi still couldn’t bring herself to say it. Zhai Yi would refuse anyway. Better to just swallow the pill and detox without wasting time. “I’m detoxing now. You keep watch.”
Zhai Yi watched her swallow the pill. After a moment, she opened the snow toad’s box. Her throat bobbed with difficulty, a flash of fear in her eyes, but in the end, she fearlessly reached in.
The snow toad bit down on Lin Langyi’s finger.
Lin Langyi’s expression twisted in agony. She cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Once the snow toad tasted blood, it wouldn’t let go. It drank until sated, all the while injecting its own toxin into its victim.
Lin Langyi was using the Snow Toad’s poison and its tireless blood-sucking to draw out the toxins. But every time the Snow Toad sucked blood, it inflicted a double torment—one moment like being scorched by blazing fire, the next like freezing solid in ice—leaving the victim in agony beyond endurance, desperate enough to end their own life.
Zhai Yi watched Lin Langyi writhing on the ground, her face flushed bright red and slick with cold sweat, her features twisted in pain.
She squatted down in front of Lin Langyi, gazing into her dazed eyes as she panted raggedly. “What did Young Master want from this subordinate just now?”
Lin Langyi looked utterly aggrieved and turned her head away.
Zhai Yi pinched her chin and turned her face back. “This subordinate asks again—what did Young Master want from this subordinate just now?”
“If Young Master won’t answer, this subordinate will leave.”
“I want…” Lin Langyi clutched at the hem of Zhai Yi’s clothes like it was a lifeline, pleading desperately, “…I want you… to hug me.”
“Zhai Yi, I… I’m in so much pain… Can you hug me?”
Her eyes shimmered like they were filled with water—dark, bright, full of pitiful helplessness.
Zhai Yi sighed.
Hearing the sigh, Lin Langyi assumed Zhai Yi was unwilling. She slowly released her grip, tears splattering to the ground.
Suddenly, a strange yet familiar twinge came from the spot between her brows.
Lin Langyi saw Zhai Yi sit down on the ground and pull her into her arms, gently stroking her trembling, ice-cold limbs.
She basked in Zhai Yi’s warmth and breath, her helpless, indulgent voice murmuring in her ear.
Zhai Yi looked at Lin Langyi’s pitiful expression—half like she wanted to cry, half like she wanted to laugh—and let out a short chuckle. “This subordinate obeys.”
