Poison of the Human Panacea
Chapter 30
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Entering Zanglongdao means that one is already standing on a chessboard. One would have as many enemies as there are clouds in the sky, hidden dangers are waiting everywhere.
Originally, he had no fear of this at all, but now that he was alone and caught by someone else, he couldn"t help but start to feel a bit nervous.
However, Si You had no intention of moving forward towards the island in the center of the oasis. He drove the horse cart in the opposite direction of the island. As they traveled further and further away from the island in the middle of the lake, Bai Tan peeked out of the cart in confusion and gazed off in the direction the cart was facing.
At the other end of this large lake was a luxurious, beautiful and spectacular white city. The city was like a shiny night-pearl, overflowing with colors which had been placed into the great endless desert by the hand of Buddha, it"s what people called "the night pearl of the great ocean has tears[1]."
There"s no doubt, this place is indeed the Loulan Kingdom, Bai Tan thought.
Once he arrived at Loulan, he wouldn"t be far from his home kingdom, the Kingdom of Xi Ye. Who would now be living in the palace wherein he used to live? Would the palace still look the same as it had before he left the kingdom? Would the swing, in which his royal mother used to sit regularly while holding him in her arms, still be there?
He was only nine years old when he"d left the palace, and ten years had pa.s.sed since then, so they must"ve all been changed already. He felt bad for not being able to light a joss stick in front of his mother"s grave in the past ten years, fortunately, he could use this opportunity to pay his mother a visit since it"s along the way.
But, he needed to escape first.
Bai Tan gathered his drifting thoughts together, he focused his mind and tried to drive the stagnated zhen qi inside his body.
However, the acupuncture point sealing technique used by Si You was extremely special, it wasn"t the "Cui Hua Zhe Zhi Shou[2]" which was one of the highest tiers of acupuncture point sealing techniques of the Fu Tu Sect that he"d secretly learned in the Cang Jing Ge, which restricted him from unsealing it. So, he could only adjust his actions to changing circ.u.mstances.
Within a short period of time, the horse cart had already entered the Loulan Kingdom"s gate, and its speed gradually reduced. The kingdoms roads were quite wide, with stores on two sides laid out in a structured order, similar to the layout of a fish"s scales. Carts and horses were moving in and out like a flowing river, along with merchants and the many tourists from other kingdoms, making the place extremely lively and bustling.
However, at this point of time, Bai Tan wasn"t in the mood to enjoy the view, he knew that ever since Si You had taken him into the Loulan Kingdom as a hostage, Fu Lu"s underlings would have already received the news. As expected, straight away he saw about ten people with weapons in their hands that looked like martial artists walking towards them, all of them were dressed like the xiongnus. As if they were locusts invading the kingdom, wherever they walked past, pedestrians would all back off to avoid contact with them. One could see that Fu Lu was quite powerful within the Loulan Kingdom.
At this moment, the curtain was opened, Si You bent at the waist and snuck into the cart. He was holding a long, red silk robe sewn with golden threads in his hand, with an unknown motivation, he covered Bai Tan with it.
Bai Tan"s silent acupuncture point was sealed, so he couldn"t speak and could only stare at Si You in silence.
Si You"s eyes were filled with ill intentions as he smiled while staring at Bai Tan, he was humming a song in joy. Then he took out a box of rouge, and with his pinky finger pointing up, he applied the rouge onto the outline of the youngster"s elegant and beautiful lips. In the end, he even tied Bai Tan"s hair with a keyura embellished with a ta.s.sel. Bai Tan"s hair circled around his forehead and hung down from the youngster"s ears. This was exactly the dressing style of a Loulan bride waiting to be married.
"An evildoer should have the looks of an evildoer, that way, the rumors within Wu Lin won"t fade. Here, take a look at yourself…" he pinched Bai Tan"s chin, and held a bronze mirror about the size of a human"s palm before Bai Tan"s eyes, "Now, that"s how it should be."
As soon as Bai Tan saw his appearance within the mirror, he immediately averted his eyes and clenched his teeth.
"What a waste, you"re only wearing earrings on one side." Si You noticed the earring that looked like a drop of blood on Bai Tan"s right ear, he reached out his hand to touch it, but Bai Tan immediately avoided it by turning his head away. Suddenly, ferocious emotions rose within his heart. He took off Bai Tan"s earring without any hesitation, "Seeing you treasuring this so much, could this be a gift from your lover?" He ridiculed.
"Argh!" Witnessing his mother"s relic being stolen, Bai Tan could no longer hold back his anger, his eyes landed on Si You"s hand, then his movements froze.
He saw the back of Si You"s hand, covered with blood vessels, his ten fingers had all turned black and blood was seeping out of the nail-beds. This was clearly a sign of qi deviation[3], once a person had reached this stage, it would be impossible to heal the person. Under the control of the inner demonic spirit, sometimes, one would be able to remain clear-minded and, at other times, they would act like a crazy lunatic.
It was obvious that the person standing in front of him was going to die soon, yet he was still thinking about obtaining the Rengu Nian Beads to save that old demon.
His loyalty never changed. An idea suddenly popped into Bai Tan"s head, if he were to tell him that the flesh and bones of the old demon had already been turned to dust by him, no longer resurrectable, who knew if this man"s blood flow would be reversed due to sudden rage and he"d die straight away?
As he was thinking about this, he heard Si You"s low, deep hum, his willow-like eyes were emitting chilling waves, "Oh, that"s not right, I almost forgot, you don"t have a heart. If you had a heart, then you wouldn"t have killed the sect leader."
As he finished, he lifted up his hand and slapped Bai Tan fiercely, blood dripped from the corner of Bai Tan"s mouth.
"This slap is for the Sect Leader. But worry not, the pain you"ll have to suffer from me will never be as easy as this one slap. I"ll definitely let you have a good taste of what people call "dying is better off than living"."
As he finished, he grabbed the metal chain with one hand and suddenly pushed Bai Tan out of the horse cart and then jumped onto the horses back.
As Bai Tan fell onto the ground, he heard a whipping sound next to his ear that made his ear ring, the horse cart began moving at a high speed, while dragging him. He couldn"t use qinggong at this moment, and his legs were entangled by the chain made from refined iron mixed with the heavenly silkworm"s silk threads. He was dragged along the ground, his clothing was ripped apart in an instant and his legs and arms were wounded by the collision, to the point that his skin was ripped away, exposing the meat underneath.
Si You"s actions caused a great commotion, and with the other dressed up like a bride, he was extremely eye-catching. Many people who were unaware of what was going on, came from both the big streets and small alleys as if they were tourists who were sightseeing. Bai Tan was greatly shamed and he forced his neili to break through the locked points, but the zhen qi within him had become a chaotic mess and there were signs of his blood flow reversing.
He then took a deep breath and didn"t dare to be so reckless anymore.
The horse cart rode through the city and stopped in front of an arched gateway. Buildings behind the gate were rich and elegant, on both side of the street, many Buddha statues were seen. This seemed like the inner city where the royal family and aristocrats lived. Bai Tan raised himself up and looked around, breathing heavily, to see about a dozen xiongnu people already in front of them, then another group of xiongnu came out of the city and surrounded them.
Si You jumped down from his horse and dragged the other to his side, then pushed him towards the group of people.
"The person that Fu Tang Zhu wants, I"ve brought him here."
Dozens of eyes landed on the expressionless little beauty, making them lose their standing ground for a bit. One of them was more stable, and yet, he was still a bit stunned before returning to his senses, then he fist bowed to Si You, saying, "Tang zhu is inside the palace teaching the new king martial skills, we"ll have to trouble you to walk a few more steps and take the person there yourself."
Si You smiled, "Without the Rengu Nian Beads in my hand, of course, I would not leave so simply."
Bai Tan started to secretly make his qi move around, thinking he could escape before falling into the tiger"s cave. Unexpectedly, a person in front walked up at this time, grabbed his chin and swung some kind of item in front of his nose for a bit. Immediately, an odd fragrance dug into his lungs and Bai Tan felt his body becoming soft all over, before falling down. Si You caught him and threw him onto the horse"s back.
Not knowing how much time had pa.s.sed, he woke up.
Opening his eyes, everywhere he looked was stained black. He couldn"t move his body and his hands were cuffed by chains. He tried to struggle a bit and heard the clear and bright sound of chains clanking against each other. He blinked his eyes a few times and once his eyes were used to the darkness, he observed his surroundings and terror grew in his heart, he was locked down in an underground prison.
This situation and scene were just like his nightmare.
Bai Tan bit down on his tongue harshly, forcing himself to calm down.
This isn"t the Yue Yin Palace, and he wasn"t the kid who could be abused easily by anyone from years ago anymore.
All the pain he had suffered through before, wasn"t for nothing.
Bai Tan released his clenched fist to make signs with his hands, he took a deep breath and started regulating the air inside of him. He tried to break through the few points that were dead locked, but nothing worked, his heart couldn"t help but sink down a bit, then a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
His neili was blocked but…he could still use the Arts of Enchantment.
This must"ve been the heavens messing with him. He"d thought that once he"d become a sect leader, he could escape the t.i.tle of a boy toy and wouldn"t have to touch the Arts of Enchantments again. But now, not only does he have to use Arts of Enchantments to be able to train the Sky of Six Desires, but he also needed to use the Arts of Enchantment to save himself.
Then, footsteps neared and he lifted his head to see fire lights shining through the metal bars, a few figures were shown. The one in the front wore purple clothing and, along with his gorgeous pale face, he seemed like a demon.
With a "ka" sound, the lock on the door opened. Si You came through and two prison guards followed behind him with hungry eyes, staring at the constrained beauty in front of them, they checked him from top to bottom and wished they could just swallow him down in one bite.
Bai Tan furrowed his brows in disgust, then the person closest to him grabbed onto his chin. The bleeding red and black fingertip slid across the lines of his bright red lips and opened up a bleeding wound, that person lowered his head and licked them softly with his tongue.
Bai Tan was disgusted and twisted his head to the side, making the two prison guards laugh out dirtily.
Si You swallowed his blood and closed his eyes, it seemed like he needed some time to enjoy it before speaking, "Within the last ten years, since you"ve been so close to the sect leader, your little cherry lips must have been kissed by him, right?"
"Pitiful." Bai Tan snickered coldly, "How sorrowful and pitiful, you envy me?"
"No. It"s the exact opposite, I pity you." The water in the pair of willow-like eyes shone, Si You rubbed his own temple, "You didn"t know, but the concubine the sect leader chose to do dual cultivation with originally wasn"t you, but me. But since I raised him with all my heart, he cared for my life and didn"t want me to die for him, so he went down the mountain to search for you. Me and him, we"ve been by each other"s side for dozens of years and we stick together in both life and death. How would you understand?"
The corner of Bai Tan"s lips twitched a bit and he forced it to rise up, "To be jealous and fight over a dead person, it surely is very interesting. If you and him stick together in both life and death, now that he"s dead, why don"t you die with him?"
A harsh slap came with a "pa" sound and was hard enough to turn his face to the side, droplets of blood followed the path of his neck and down, it was so beautiful that it was scary to the eyes. The man"s thin, long finger slid down from the top of his neck and peeled open the wedding clothes, exposing his white jade-like chest.
"Since you didn"t help the sect leader finish training, you"re still a virgin, right?" His eyes landed on a hickey near his left nipple and Si You"s face changed color, "You…you found someone for dual cultivation or did you serve?"
Bai Tan forced himself to withstand the shame and raised a brow, "Of course it was dual cultivation. I"ve* already finish training the Sky of Six Desires. Concubine…? What if I was once a concubine? Wu Yanfu trained the Sky of Six Desires for all his life but in the end, didn"t he still fall under my* hands?"
Si You held onto his meridian in disbelief, mockery showing upon his face, "All nonsense. Your meridian is in such chaos, you haven"t only not broken through, but you"re now stuck in a muddy swamp. When Fu Lu asks you for the treasure map later, who knows what tactics he will use. Just in case you can"t handle it, I"ll help you, and take your virginity away first."
As he finished, the two prison guards laughed even more openly.
Bai Tan"s breath tightened and he stared at Si You"s eyes, wanting to use "An Song Qiu Bo[4]" but who knew Si You would only laugh, without changing expression. He spoke as if he wasn"t affected by it at all, "I"ve said that I was once a concubine before, so naturally I"ve learned the Arts of Enchantment. You think those skills of yours could be used on me? Give it a rest! When you created huge chaos within the sect that day, I avoided you; not because my skills weren"t above yours, nor was I scared of you. I just didn"t want to waste time in finding a solution to revive the sect leader!"
As he finished, he reached out a hand to grab a hold of the youth"s waist belt and backed off one step, pulling the other"s clothing wide open.
"With me here, don"t you dare play any tricks."
As his voice traveled into his ear, it shook him enough to make his head and eyes go dizzy, he couldn"t even use any Arts of Enchantments then.
The prison guards have never seen such a gorgeous one, so both of their eyes lit up instantly, they surrounded him with rubbing fists and palms; ready to swallow their food like a hungry tiger. An immense amount of fear and panic were now like dark clouds covering him, this situation and scene, it was so similar to the one from Yue Yin Palace years ago. That time he was in deep despair and bit his own tongue in a suicide attempt to avoid the shame, yet today, he didn"t want to die.
But if he didn"t, then he"d have to bear the shame. He hated that the G.o.ds above just had to force him into the corner over and over.
Bai Tan curled up a fist and felt the smelly mouth and hands coming to stain his body, he immediately urged his neili and the zhen qi all over his body surged. It broke through a few of the locked points, but the taste of blood also surged up into his throat, though he couldn"t care less if his actions reversed his blood flow or not at this time. He built up neili within his hands and was about to release the killing move.
In this tense situation, suddenly, footsteps sound was heard.
"Death Demon Lord, Fu Tang Zhu welcomes you two into the palace."
The person"s voice was pressed extremely deep and Bai Tan felt like it sounded quite familiar.
Lifting his eyes to see, he saw a xiongnu standing behind the metal bars. His figure was thin and long with a straight back, he had a white tiger hat on his head with a face covered carefully with a ferocious beast mask and only two thin lines were opened at the eye area.
"Boring." Si You softly humphed and waved his hand, ordering the prison guards to uncuff Bai Tan"s hands and take him out of the cell.
Before they"d even made it to the prison door, the two prison guards felt a short, sharp pain. Their bodies became instantly stiff, with blood flowing out of their ears, but they couldn"t release any noise. When Wu Yanfu pa.s.sed by the two"s shoulders, he didn"t avert his eyes at all as he reached out a hand to lift Bai Tan up in a princess hug. He used one hand to close the other"s opened clothes and used his sleeve to wipe away the fresh blood beside his lips. Wu Yanfu stared at him for a while and the sight of a weak male with blood all over him, lying in his arms looking sorrowful and close to death appeared in front of his eyes. He felt like there were countless sharp claws scratching harshly at his chest, the pain was unbearable. (My man Wu Yanfu!!!)
Even though he"d had high power and control his whole life, he couldn"t reverse time and relive his life.
If he could relive it, then he would rather that they"d never met each other. But now, no matter what, he couldn"t let go.
Today, it"s a good thing he"d arrived in time, unlike that year. Unlike that year.
Bai Tan"s body was held by the other so tightly that he almost couldn"t breathe, he struggled a bit and felt a hand going down the path of his nape. It pressed softly on the "shendao," "lingtai," and "zhiyang[5]." Instantly he felt relief all over his body and the reversed blood flow was also back on the right track, he was shocked then. Not only was this person here to save him, but he also used "Cui Hua Zhe Zhi Shou," it was perfect and one could tell he was extremely used to doing it too.
This person is someone from the Fu Tu Sect, who is it?
He looked up to carefully examine the person"s appearance, but that frightful beast mask was so big that it even covered the person"s nape, he really couldn"t see anything. Suspicious questions grew within Bai Tan. Walking down the empty middle hall of the Loulan Royal Palace and there were only a few people, he wanted to take the chance to remove the other"s mask. But then a slap suddenly landed on his b.u.t.t and he was thrown down the long hall and into the lake below.
Si You looked back and was immediately shocked, he chased after him instantly. Now that Bai Tan"s points had been released, his reaction was extremely fast and he quickly used qinggong to fly over the water surface. With a few jumps, he landed on the top of a palace dome across from the other. He looked over to see the mysterious beast masked person lean his body and leap to land on the surface of the water so that he could stop Si You. A full moon was reflected on the lake"s surface as if it was a clear mirror now, the beast masked person"s figure flitted across the water and yet no ripples resulted from it. His steps were actually the "Wu Feng Nong Yue" technique and yet it looked even smoother than Si You"s, who was one of the Fu Tu Sect"s hu fa. The two had exchanged dozens of hits with each other in the blink of an eye. The "Zhu Tian Hua Mo Zhang[6]" from the Sky of Six Desires was used and Si You"s aura was fierce as each of his attacks was life-threatening, but the beast masked guy only dodged and didn"t attack. He had broken down each hit as well and all of his techniques were perfect to the extreme and at the highest point it could reach, it was just like a Grand Masters style.
Bai Tan was stunned and he stared at the person, somehow, he saw shadows of Wu Yanfu in him.
The year when he was fifteen, he had seen Wu Yanfu using "Wu Feng Nong Yue" for the first time on a frozen lake. It was as gorgeous and elegant as the heaven"s G.o.d walking down to the mortals on clouds, his memories of it were still just as fresh as now. But even with the scene playing clearly in front of him, he could still never learn it, nor could he forget it.
His widened eyes stared and he was so into it he had forgotten that he had to leave quickly. The beast masked guy felt that he hadn"t left yet, so he turned his head towards him, Si You took advantage of his posture change and landed a hit on his chest, making him fall into the water. Bai Tan was shocked, but saw that within the circle of water waves, a few whip and rope-like shadows suddenly leaped out and dragged Si You down into the water.
In an instant, chaotic ripples and waves appeared upon the surface of the lake, the bright moon was broken into pieces. Many fire lights have also lit up around them.
Bai Tan returned to his senses, leaned down and jumped into the window in the center of the dome below his feet.
Translator: Crispyfry
Proofreader: Grumpykit
QC: Xiao
Xiao"s Comments: Yeah, Wu Yanfu coming to the rescue~
Translator"s Comments: Dat b.u.t.t slap, he had to eat some tofus before letting him go huh
Proofreader Comments: Fufu
Translator"s Notes:
[1] "the night pearl of the great ocean has tears" – ("沧海夜明珠有泪" literal translation
[2] "Cui Hua Zhe Zhi Shou" – "催花折枝手" literally means "urge / flower / bend / branch / hand"
[3] qi deviation – 走火入魔, A state wherein the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage to the body and symptoms of psychosis.
[4] "An Song Qiu Bo" – 暗送秋波, literally means "dark / send / autumn / ripple"
[5] "shendao," "lingtai," and "zhiyang." – "神道"，"灵台"，"至阳" points located on the spine; → Open "governing vessel" and see from "du-9" to "du-11"
[6] "Zhu Tian Hua Mo Zhang" – 诛天化魔掌, literally means "punish / sky / transform / demon / palm"
Chapter 30