Unknown poison

"What?!" Song Zhenxi smacked their hands on the table in disbelief. "You, a poisons master, can't identify it? Wasn't it just a poisoned arrow?"

Xian Wu sighed wearily.

"There was only viper venom coated on the arrow, so all it required was the antivenom to resolve. It was when I checked his pulse and ran a test on his blood that I noticed some other strange substance flowing in his veins. Not to mention he coughed up bile and blood for an entire day until I somehow managed to make a stabilizing agent...which took me another full day. So troubling! Those bastards at Lushang Sect must've done something involving the demonic arts."

With an air of calm, Song Zhenxi replied, "That's all the more reason why you've got to make him confess what he knows."

"Urgh..." Xian Wu hiccuped pitifully, taking another drink of liquor. "I tried once and almost got my head bitten off...I fear if I press the matter he won't speak to me anymore. Nah, he'll probably just run away! Besides, it's not for certain that he knows what they're planning, either."

"He should know something after being there so long, given he has half a brain."

"Poor kid, I just feel bad for him..."

"He's not really a 'kid'."

"Well he's gotta be around sixteen or seventeen, I think," Xian Wu slurred back. And he was twenty-four, so a seven year difference should be plenty to gain the privilege of calling the younger 'a kid'.

"That's not an age one defines as a 'kid'."

"So what?" Xian Wu had jut about enough of this hassling. Oh, and he was drunk. "You just keep arguing with your Sect Master, Song Zhenxi, and I'll teach you a good lesson later!"

Song Zhenxi huffed. "Whatever. But you won't find a way to cure him if you don't learn anything."

"I know...you don't have to rub it in..."

But this was the youth who, when Xian Wu offered to carry his luggage, claimed that he was about to be robbed! If anything, Lai Yiteng was like a clamped shellfish or turtle. Time and effort would go into prying open that hard exterior.

The atmosphere in room had at least been comfortable, but now had grown somewhat dull and depressed as Xian Wu sunk into his brooding about how he'd have to deal with a touchy teenager for the foreseeable future. All those bright banners and artwork about the room were almost too garish.

On the other hand, Song Zhenxi was lost deep in thought.

For one, Song Zhenxi wasn't invested in knowing about whatever arcane ritual or demonic practice Lushang Sect was experimenting with. Graceful Dragon Sect was still trying to rebuild itself after its major loss seven years ago. What time did they have for meddling in the evil affairs of another sect? Especially a powerful like Lushang.

First and foremost was recovering their stolen Jade Dragon-Swaying flute!

But it seemed that Sect Master Xian had made an excuse to take a trip away from the sect just to find this Lai Yiteng, and was now more interested in digging up the underbelly of Lushang than finding their sect's greatest treasure.

On that matter, Song Zhenxi did not have much sympathy for Lai Yiteng, either.

He had heard of the gruesome rumors detailing Gojun An's death. It was one thing to kill someone who has wronged you, perhaps even letting them suffer a bit before death was in fairness. But to mutilate the corpse long after they'd died, or even worse, to dismantle someone while they were still alive, then throw the body parts everywhere...that's the act of a psychopath.

There was no telling the true nature of Lai Yiteng, and who would want such an unpredictable person wandering through their sect grounds?

However...Xian Wu was the Sect Master, and he wouldn't even be around if not for this Lai Yiteng. Truly a difficult situation, and in the end Song Zhenxi could not press Xian Wu to abandon the youth, but just hoped that disaster would not come from it.

Xian Wu sat up from the table suddenly, making his back go straighter.

At least this way he looked a bit more respectable despite the heavy red on his cheeks and the odd crinkle of drunken confusion on his brow. Alas, he wasn't one to willingly take up more responsibilities than he already had, either, but this was an exception.

"Just give me a bit more time, Zhenxi. You go back and watch over the sect, don't let anybody who'll chase after me know where I am...m'kay? I'm sure that I can convince Yi'er at some point, and once he trusts me enough...yeah. I'll be back then!"

"Hm..." Song Zhenxi chuckled dryly in return. Their laugh was a bit high-toned and soft, exposing that they were, in fact, a woman. "Very well. I won't say more about it right now."

She stood up from the table, stretching her arms behind her back.

"I'm going back to the Sect for now. But you better keep in touch! My crow almost flew around for two days before it could find you two in the woods before."

"Yeah yeah, just go off an' take care of things for me a while."

Not bothering to reply to such drunken rambles, Song Zhenxi turned up her nose as she jumped onto the window sill and shadowed rooftops of Wen town. Her feet stepped soundlessly, and it was not long until her clothing obscured her into the darkness of the night.

She drank more than Xian Wu yet wasn't tipsy at all.

On the other hand, Xian Wu already couldn't see straight. He just laid back over the table and stared at a liquor jar, watching it waver in shape and grow fuzzy.

"Ah, fuck...what an ordeal."

He had no idea how to get Lai Yiteng to talk to him without the situation turning hostile, let alone get him to speak of the unknown horrors that occurred at Lushang Sect.

Perhaps he should just be upfront about it? But then Lai Yiteng would suspect that Xian Wu only hung around him because of his knowledge on Lushang Sect. At that point Xian Wu would naturally have to confess that Lai Yiteng was suffering from more than a mere poisoned arrow, but some other kind of persistent poison...

Xian Wu wasn't even sure what kind of effect this poison had. Lai Yiteng had seemed relatively healthy until he was injured, and then suddenly that other poison in his veins also started to act up, making him extremely sick.

Perhaps Lai Yiteng did not have much longer to live at this rate...

...which was kind of a crappy thing to tell someone.

He didn't want to tell him that!

C-Couldn't he just quietly find a cure for it before Lai Yiteng realized the truth?

Xian Wu was faced with a challenge. He was good up putting up false airs and smiles, good at playing with poisons, certainly good at throwing a punch when the situation called for it. He even thought that he was doing a pretty good job of managing Graceful Dragon Sect after his shifu passed on, too.

But by nature Xian Wu was the flaky type.

Never could quite be on time, never would quite tell a whole truth. That meant that he wasn't good at appearing trustworthy, either.

He'd been trying to act meek around Lai Yiteng so that the youth would let his guard fall, but the results it gave so far seemed very limited. He need to get back to his Graceful Dragon Sect, soon, though! He couldn't spend months coaxing Lai Yiteng; He had a shit ton of other stuff on his plate right now, too!

Xian Wu lifted another jar of Red Peony wine and poured his cup full of the translucent liquid. His messy hair and sharp eyes reflected onto the still surface before he downed the cup. That scorching sensation in his throat grew stronger and his head lighter as the drink made it down his throat.

Yes, that's better...

Just give it time. It hadn't been that long since he'd met Lai Yiteng. The kid'll come around sooner or later. Xian Wu helped himself to another several drinks before he decided to retire back to the inn for the night.

But instead of wobbling down the stairs like a normal person, it sounded way more fun to do acrobatics down the building of Red Peony to get to the ground.

Xian Wu wanted to show off.

Ahahaha the pretty ladies here would probably be so excited and impressed to see that...

Thus, he left what money he had left on the table as a tip and clambered out the window, his feet pattering out onto the tiled roof.