Chapter 83: Poison!  

Luo Cheng gulped. He hesitated for a moment, but he managed to muster his courage, "No. Xie Tian is still being treated. I'm already back to my courtyard."

It was a lie. The dwarf knew that Xu Xiuying might ask him to abduct Xie Tian or kill him.

[Is that so? Well, can you join us at Wei Clan's outer disciple courtyard? We're rallying our people there within a few minutes. We'll launch our attack within an hour.]

"What!? I thought our sect and our clan will stay out of this!?"

[Change of plans. We'll kill Jia Shan and his followers.]

"…"

Luo Cheng sighed. He didn't want to do this since Jia Shan was also his good friend, but he didn't have a choice. The dwarf had to faithfully work for Xu Xiuying.

"Before I betray my best friend, can you tell me something?"

[What?]

"Can I contact my daughter at the main branch?"

[Your daughter is already a legacy disciple of the sect master. She's busy.]

"Can't I even hear her voice? Just once?"

[… I know how you feel. How about this? I'll give you my authority token to you after this job, and I'll give you a year of vacation. You can visit her at the main branch.]

Luo Cheng was delighted, "Really?"

[I never lie.]

"Okay! I'll be there soon!"

The dwarf elder left Xie Tian's side and rushed toward the meeting place. Even though he cared for the protagonist, his daughter took priority. He didn't know that he made the biggest mistake as a mentor.

…

A few minutes after Luo Cheng departed.

*Knock* *Knock*

A young maiden knocked on the infirmary door. Jiang Lan peeked inside if there was anybody.

Inside the infirmary, only a frail old physician, who was only a 4th stage cultivator presented. Despite his low cultivation base, he had a lot of knowledge in acupuncture, anatomy, and medicines. Thus, he was in charge of watching over outer disciples.

The physician gazed at the girl, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I-uh-hello. My name is Jiang Lan. I'm a guest disciple that just got transferred here a few days ago. I would like to check if he's okay."

The physician snorted, "Pfft. Aren't you one of the Wei goons? You're not welcomed here. Be gone before I kill you!"

"Senior. You've misunderstood. I'm a part of the silver phoenix sect. I'm not from the Wei Clan!"

"Oh?"

The physician elder scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He only learned that Wei Huang started a revolt, but he didn't know the detail. He was on edge, and he got impulsive.

"I'm sorry, child. I didn't mean to threaten you. Say, what are you doing here? Are you injured?"

"No, senior. I'm here to visit my childhood friend."

"Aha!" The physician nodded. He thought that Jiang Lan was Xie Tian's girlfriend, "I see. I see! So, you're here to visit your man, I assume."

"…"

Jiang Lan didn't answer. Though she was angry that the elder misunderstood, she pretended not to hear it.

The elder mistook Jiang Lan's action as being shy. He laughed, "Alright. Actually, I have a business that I need to attend to. Can I ask you to stay here in my stead for … like … 20 incense sticks?"

Jiang Lan's face twitched as the elder misunderstood her again. He might have thought that she and Xie Tian wanted some time alone for something lewd.

Yet, the girl accepted it, "Thank you, elder. You can count on me."

"Don't dirty the place, okay? When you're done, make sure to clean your things and open the window. I don't want to smell to linger."

"… Yes, senior."

The physician left the infirmary, leaving Xie Tian and Jiang Lan alone.

Jiang Lan sat on Xie Tian's bed and waited until the physician elder left for five minutes. Then, she resumed her task that Xu Miao had ordered her.

.

[Girl, you have many things to do after you get to the mountain goose sect.]

[I want you to investigate Xie Tian's whereabouts. I saw Jia Shan and Luo Cheng taking that guy somewhere. Search for the clues first. If you can't find his whereabouts or you can't reach him for any reason, do not panic. Contact me and tell me your circumstances.]

[However, if you can locate him and reach him, I want you to pay him a visit.]

[Here is the complicated part. I want you to listen carefully. By any chance that Xie Tian has recovered, be there with him and pretend to be a caring girlfriend. Don't try to harm him no matter what. Then, report back to me at night after I summon you.]

[In the case if Xie Tian is critically injured or in a comatose, steal his spatial ring! Once you stole the ring, feed him the poison that I gave you. However, be careful of his sentient weapon. Do not touch it or try to kill Xie Tian! It will wake up and protect its master. Then, our plan will fail!]

.

Jiang Lan didn't understand why Xu Miao wanted to take a roundabout way to kill Xie Tian when she could just slice his neck and be done with it. Yet, she followed his instructions word by word.

Looking around, Jiang Lan found Xie Tian's sentient saber next to his body. It gave off intimidating air even though it was sheathed.

The girl got terrified just by sensing the saber's energy. She gulped as she recalled Xu Miao's warning.

'Yup! I shouldn't do something that can wake up this shit. If I try to kill him, I might accidentally release my killing intent, and this stupid thing will kill me!'

Jiang Lan might be Xu Miao's yin slave, but she was capable of thinking on her own. She stopped thinking about killing Xie Tian.

Yet, the girl's eyes locked on for Xie Tian's spatial ring on his middle finger. She took out a bar of soap and rubbed the sleeping guy's ring and finger as she slowly pulled it.

Jiang Lan kept looking at the heavenly saber. It didn't react to her thievery.

'Yay!'

She managed to take the ring away from Xie Tian's finger. She hid it in her clothes.

Then, the hard part. Jiang Lan had to feed Xie Tian a poison pill without releasing her killing intent, which was challenging.

Jiang Lan put the poison pill into her mouth. Then, she leaned down to kiss Xie Tian. She pried his mouth open and slip the pill down his throat with her tongue.

Xie Tian didn't react or resist. The pill went down without a problem.

Jiang Lan raised her head and spat a mouthful of saliva in disgust. After confirming that she had finished her job, she grinned.

'Don't blame me, little Tian. You're too annoying for your own good. For my master, you have to die! Bye, little Tian. You shouldn't have come for me. Hahahaha!'

Satisfied by her deed, Jiang Lan stood and walked away from the bed. All tasks had been completed. Now, she only needed to report back to Xu Miao and receive her rewards. Her panties and thighs got wet as she imagined what her master would do to her in the space.

Jiang Lan forgot that she was supposed to hide her killing intent and emotion.

Sensing a tinge of ill intent, the flame saber unsheathed itself. It screeched in anger and flew toward her!

Sensing the sudden increase of temperature, Jiang Lan turned around. She found that the sentient sword was coming after her!

"Shit!"

Without hesitation, she kicked the ground and ran away from the infirmary.

A flame saber didn't chase after Jiang Lan. It rushed back floated around its master as if it was checking Xie Tian's condition.

Despite eating a low-grade poison pill, Xie Tian's face was calm. He was still in a deep sleep.

Seeing that Xie Tian was fine, the saber sheathed itself and went to sleep. The sentient weapon was also low on qi and essence after the fight with Xu Miao, so it needed rest.

The heavenly saber didn't know. The poison slowly spread through Xie Tian's bloodstream. His yang qi was fighting back against them, but the system pill effect overwhelmed the weakened protagonist. Regardless of how strong his bloodline and constitution, he could not resist the poison during his comatose state.

…

= An hour later =

*COUGH* *COUGH*

Xie Tian had a seizure. He coughed and choked his saliva.

Hearing the suffocating voice of Xie Tian, the flame saber woke up and examined his master.

The protagonist's skin color changed to purple. His black veins and arteries were visible through the purple skins.

Xie Tian vomited several mouthfuls of black blood. The mysterious system poison had spread through his veins, muscle, heart, and bones. Yet, Xie Tian's dragon yang essence was fighting against the poison effect even though it was a losing battle.

*SCREECH!*

The flame saber screamed in anger as it suspected that Jiang Lan had done something to Xie Tian. It wanted to chase and kill her, but it needed to protect its master.

The living weapon hesitated at first, but it decided to cut Xie Tian's clothes. Then, it stabbed into his abdomen where his dantian was located.

Yang Essence from the saber entered Xie Tian's dantian directly through the blade. Black blood gushed out from the wound that the saber created.The heat energy ran through his veins and meridians, flooding out the poison.

Another long torturous hour passed. The saber managed to save Xie Tian's life by a hairbreadth. However, it also depleted a lot of energy. It would take months before the weapon could recover all energy again.

The red saber dimmed, and it fell to the ground.

*COUGH*

Xie Tian woke up after his weapon sacrificed all its energy to save him. He felt a sharp pain inside his abdomen.

When the protagonist opened his eyes and gazed at a deep wound in his stomach, he was shocked. By reflex, Xie Tian circulated a strand of qi to his right middle finger to operate his spatial ring.

Unfortunately, the ring had already been already stolen by Jiang Lan. Xie Tian couldn't find it or summon a healing pill.

'What happened!? How!?'

Black blood and red blood still continuously gushed out from the wound. At this rate, Xie Tian would soon die from the blood loss.

'No!! Where's my spatial ring!? I need a healing pill!'

Xie Tian's eyes were bloodshot. He felt dizzy and light-headed. Every part of his body was in pain, but his dantian was mysteriously filled to the brim.

Sensing the yang essence in his dantian, Xie Tian decided to break these essences into qi strands. Then, he mended the wounds with the new qi.

Xie Tian managed to stop the bleeding, but he lost all his stamina. His rough panting was the only thing he could hear, and his eyesight blurred. He passed out again.

…

A few minutes after Xie Tian fell unconscious, the elder physician returned.

As soon as the elder entered his infirmary, he covered his nose. An iron-like smell and fishy odor lingered in the building.

"DAMN THOSE KIDS! I TOLD THEM TO KEEP IT CLEAN, BUT THEY MESSED THIS PLACE!!"

The old physician stomped into the patient ward area, planning to scold Xie Tian and the visiting girl.

When the elder saw the messes and the condition of Xie Tian, he discovered a shocking scene.

"Black blood and this smell… wait, isn't this poison!?"