Poison Genius Consort

“You can choose to refuse,” Long Feiye replied coldly.

“Your Highness Duke of Qin means to say...there’s no way we can negotiate?” Gu Qishao grinned again.

Of these two men, one was a glib talker while the other hardly spoke at all; one laughed and fooled around like it was second nature while the other sported a face that was physically paralyzed for years. How were they supposed to talk? Long Feiye would rather leave right now, but he couldn’t do it; he wanted to kill Gu Qishao as well, but that was even more impossible. Gu Qishao’s threat just then might have been a ruse to threaten him, but he couldn’t afford to bet on those chances. Meanwhile, Gu Qishao was only too anxious to take advantage of Long Feiye, but he knew he couldn’t afford it. He couldn’t afford to gamble on the secret of his undying body, either.

Once the news broke, how many people in the world would come seeking trouble with him? He might become the public enemy of the entire Cloud Realm Continent, like a rat running across the streets with people yelling ‘Kill it!’ at him constantly. Hadn’t the very Poison Sect been driven to extinction just because the medical academy found the idea of Poison Gu humans too dangerous?

Thinking up to here, Gu Qishao’s usually cheery eyes flashed with a hint of grief. Death was a man’s greatest fear, but to never die was the greatest sorrow.

“Just state your terms,” Long Feiye couldn’t be bothered to verbally spar with him.

Gu Qishao got straight to the point as well. “There are only two conditions. One, protect the secret of my undying body. Two...” Gu Qishao’s expression turned wicked, “Two, help me destroy Medical City!”

“Medical City!” Long Feiye chuckled.

“What, you don’t have the guts?” Gu Qishao asked disdainfully.

Medical City was the most powerful force in Cloud Realm Continent. Leaving aside the authority of the medical academy, they were financially rich and physically strong as well. The entire city was capable of supporting itself as a separate country if it wished. Long Feiye had never lacked ‘guts’ in his life, but he was curious about Gu Qishao’s enmity against the place.

“Where did you acquire your undying body from? What relation does it have with the Poison Sect?” Long Feiye asked.

“Long Feiye, you only need to concern yourself with my terms. The rest of it has nothing to do with you,” Gu Qishao replied gloomily.

Upon hearing that, Long Feiye didn’t pursue the topic. Instead he asked, “What can you give this lordship?”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut about Mute Granny.” Gu Qishao’s lips curved into a mocking grin. “And I’ll take the blame for the missing antidote!”

“These two are part of the same thing,” Long Feiye said coldly.

Gu Qishao realized what he was getting at and exclaimed, “It was one event after the other, they can’t count as one thing!” He had given Long Feiye two terms, while Long Feiye only gave him one. If they counted the antidote issue as a separate term from Mute Granny, then both of them would have two for two terms. But Long Feiye was shrewd enough to outwit Ouyang Ninguo, much less Gu Qishao.

He said, “Gu Qishao, you plotted against this lordship with the antidote, yet I didn’t fuss over it. What else do you want from your lordship?”

Gu Qishao fell silent without any outward expression at his question, but Long Feiye then added scornfully, “You have dug your own grave!”

If not for the antidote, Long Feiye would never have connected Gu Qishao with the black robed man who stabbed him at Hidden Pavilion, much less had been able to realize that Gu Qishao had an undying body. In the face-off between them, Gu Qishao had utterly lost. He fell silent for a while before faintly replying, “You only relied on the fact that Han Yunxi liked you!”

With that lass’s brain, she would’ve found the truth if she wasn’t so mesmerized by Long Feiye!

“You keep your distance from her!” Long Feiye narrowed his eyes as a dangerous air rose about him.

Gu Qishao only scorned the sight. “Why should I?”

Without a doubt, his words provoked Long Feiye, who reached out a hand to grasp Gu Qishao by the throat. Gu Qishao ignored it completely and turned serious. “What gives you the right?” he asked.

“Han Yunxi is your lordship’s wife!” Long Feiye smiled coldly as he gave his declaration. “What gives you the right to question your lordship?”

Gu Qishao only laughed. “Long Feiye, did you ever marry her?”

On that wedding day neigh on two years ago, the Duke of Qin’s estate only had a single wedding nanny who had brought the bride to their gates. The wedding procession had been employed by Han Congan as well. Han Yunxi had originally been denied entry at the gates and made a laughingstock of the entire city when she was told to wait for the auspicious hour ‘tomorrow.’ If she hadn’t been smart enough to stay overnight in front of the gates, would she have entered the Duke of Qin’s gates at all? How did she get off the carriage? How did she walk through the doors?

Long Feiye, did you really marry Han Yunxi? Have you ever?

To marry...and to wed, that means to fetch the girl from her house to yours.

Faced with Gu Qishao’s question, Long Feiye suddenly fell silent. But, Gu Qishao wasn’t finished yet. He dropped his voice and asked, “Long Feiye, what did Mute Granny tell you?”

Without a doubt, Mute Granny knows the truth of Han Yunxi’s origins, which was why Long Feiye had locked her up, treated her poison and then killed her. What is he trying to hide from Han Yunxi?

Seeing Long Feiye’s silent, frigid face, Gu Qishao asked again, “It can’t be just matters related to the Poison Sect, right?” He always thought Han Yunxi had relations with the Poison Sect and had wondered if her father hailed from the group, or if he was actually Han Congan. But Long Feiye’s attitude towards Mute Granny, coupled with Third Elder Shen’s revelation about Lady Lianxin showed Gu Qishao that Long Feiye hadn’t hid the Poison Sect connections from Han Yunxi at all. If that was the case, he must be covering up something else instead.

Long Feiye replied, “Your lordship will guard the secret of your undying body. You can forget about Mute Granny, we will just set it at that.” With those terms, Long Feiye was also rejecting the proposal to help Gu Qishao destroy Medical City.

Instead of pushing the matter, Gu Qishao simply held Long Feiye back. “Long Feiye, don’t you have any qualms about lying to Han Yunxi like this?” Although Gu Qishao didn’t want to admit it, he knew better than anyone else how much that foolish Han Yunxi liked the ice cube, Long Feiye. It was the very reason why he couldn’t really fight all out against the man.

Now Long Feiye had grown utterly still. His quiet form looked even lonelier than before, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he just sidestepped Gu Qishao and walked past him. Gu Qishao followed him like a stubborn child and asked, “Long Feiye, what gives you the right to lie to her?”

You’re the one lying to her and keeping her from her due. Why are you still demanding me to keep my distance?

Gu Qishao continued coldly, “Long Feiye, what are you afraid of? Scared that the lass will really leave with me one day? Let this young master tell you right now, there’ll come a day when she really goes with me!”

Is he afraid because he has a guilty conscience?

“We had an agreement today, so you just keep your mouth shut!” Long Feiye didn’t explain a thing beyond pushing Gu Qishao aside and leaving. But it wasn’t long before he turned back and shouted, “Gu Qishao, she won’t! She never will!”

Gu Qishao snorted contemptuously before stroking his jaw. He began to consider the issue with Mute Granny and then recalled the events at Poison Sect’s Skypit. That poison beast had ended up recognizing Han Yunxi as its master, so it was 90 to 100 percent possible that her father hailed from the sect. But as to his rank, that’s probably something only Long Feiye or Mu Yingdong would know. Of course, he was only curious about the facts. He had already given up on marking Han Yunxi as a poisons woman that night they talked at the Han Estate.

As Gu Qishao thought and thought, he suddenly remembered the white-robed man from the Shadow Clan. In a flash, a frightening possibility had appeared in his mind, but he quickly rejected the idea.

“How could that even be possible?” he muttered to himself. The very thought was laughable, especially since the Shadow Clan man had just shown up to get the poison beast.

—

Meanwhile, Long Feiye was thinking on other matters on his trip back to the city. Gu Qishao kept insisting that he killed Mute Granny, but the truth was that Mute Granny had committed suicide by hanging herself. Her corpse was buried near the Hidden Pavilion. Did Gu Qishao find Mute Granny’s body? Or was he just spewing lies to try to trap me again?

After reaching town, Long Feiye found Chu Xifeng first thing and asked him to check on Mute Granny’s corpse. Then he went to look for Han Yunxi, only to find that she’d already gone back to the Duke of Qin’s estate. By the time he got home, Han Yunxi was already asleep....

This woman, she’s this carefree? I wonder just how she’ll interrogate me tomorrow.

Long Feiye stood in front of Leisurely Cloud Pavilion in an unhappy mood. In the end, he didn’t go upstairs, but prepared to leave when he saw Baili Mingxiang walking over instead. She had just returned from Pill Fiend Pharmacy and her eyes were red and swollen. As soon as she saw Long Feiye and Zhao mama, she grew flustered and bowed. “Your Highness Duke of Qin.”

Long Feiye didn’t pay her any mind, but only left in silence. Zhao mama’s sharp eyes picked up on the finer details and exclaimed, “Mingxiang, you were crying? Who bullied you?”

Baili Mingxiang had purposely chosen to return late so she wouldn’t run into Zhao mama, but it seemed like she ran into her worst fear anyways. “Today is my mother’s birthday, so I remembered my childhood....and felt a little sad,” Baili Mingxiang replied.

Zhao mama didn’t know many details regarding Baili Mingxiang, so she accepted the explanation as truth. She hastily comforted the girl and let her sleep in her room tonight. As for Su Xiaoyu, she’d gotten into the habit of spending her nights at Pill Fiend Pharmacy after it was built. Oftentimes she’d study the ingredients there until dawn so it was common for her to never come home. Currently, she was staying by herself in one of the rooms, looking through the chests as she searched for medicine. She could hold a single ingredient in her hand and study it for ages.

Despite being a young girl, she was extremely talented and diligent. Her only flaw was her intolerant nature; most likely, she wouldn’t help people easily in the future even if she did learn all the medical arts in the world. Next to her was Lil Thing, who’d started out disliking the girl but then grew used to her presence over time. Lil Thing frequently snacked on the ingredients in the middle of the night, so it’d always run into Su Xiaoyu. Now both squirrel and girl were old companions. Of course, it had no idea that Su Xiaoyu had pushed Baili Mingxiang to chase after his gentleman, Gu Beiyue.

Late at night, both Pill Fiend Pharmacy and the Duke of Qin’s estate were shrouded in darkness and silence. All of South Ning City seemed to be asleep as well. Everyone had assumed that Mu Linger had already left the city, but she and Head Elder Xie were both staying at an inn. Currently she was lying unconscious on the bed while Head Elder Xie spoke with a black robed man wearing a face mask as they drank tea. It wasn’t clear what they talked about, but they chuckled frequently.

The masked man only left when the skies were growing light. But as soon as he was gone, another man arrived. He lightly knocked on the door and said, “Head Elder Xie, this is Ouyang Ningnuo. I don’t know if it’s convenient to ask you to tea?”