Let the games begin

"R-red Cyst leaves?"

Captain held back the urge to tilt his head in confusion as he spoke. When Ying asserted that the Captain had involuntarily turned compliant, he beamed.

"Yeah! It is a very special herb that remains poisonous in all its states of matter. And I'm not kidding. Doesn't matter what you do to this thing. As long as its essence is preserved then it remains effective." Ying explained while smiling brightly.

His explanation caused something within Captain to stir. His heart skipped a beat. A premonition of a very.... very harrowing future washing over him, simultaneously sending chills down his spine. However, that didn't mean he fully understood any of what Ying was saying.

The latter, noticing this, frowned slightly.

His expression showcased a hint of contempt, directed at Captain's inability to piece together the puzzle. But soon afterwards, it reverted to normal. It was because he knew…

...He knew that as a result of what he had done, the Captain could never help himself enough to understand.

"You don't know what that means, do you...?" Ying asked, then sighed, "Well then, here's a hint. What do you reckon would happen if somebody suddenly incensed these leaves that remain deadly no matter what, huh? What sort of effect due you think its ashes are going to have on the human body?" Ying gave a trivia.

At that moment, something suddenly clicked in Captain's head. He unknowingly answered:

"…Poison." His voice was dark, and his tone was full of dread.

"Ding ding. Burn this guy right up, and the gases it produces are enough to knock an adult elephant right out! You are surprisingly a lot smarter than you look aren't you." Ying affirmed the statement. At this, Captain's already crumbling composure experienced a momentary breach.

"Y-you... you son of a bitch! What have you done to me—?!!" Captain roared, but Ying didn't even let him finish.

"Easy there, easy. We can't have too much fun now can we?" He put a finger on his lips, "Remember, if we make too much noise, then we might end up attracting some unwanted guests. You haven't forgotten, right... that this is an assassination~"

Ying's lips curled upwards into a twisted smile as he spoke. The very visage of his mischief-filled face caused Captain to tremble.

There was a silence.

And after a short moment of suspense, Ying spoke again. His tone was still as upbeat as ever.

"Hmm, you asked what I did right. Well, it's nothing much, really. I simply drugged the air you are currently breathing in... no biggie. Oh, and you can hold your breath all you want, but that won't have much of an effect. As long as you have even the tiniest opening in your body, like your skin pores for example, then it'd still find its way in. It's just that amazing!!"

" Nevertheless, I must commend your resilience. Your senses are supposed to have been overwhelmed by the sedative effects by now, but even the lackey over there is doing quite fine. Could it be? Don't tell me, are you two actually at a higher stage?"

Contrary to Ying's words, his jovial voice and nonchalant expression gave off an indescribable feeling of being in absolute control of the situation. Underneath the smiling gaze of Ying's black eyes, Captsin felt like a shallow plastic doll—vulnerable, and ripe for the killing...

The very reality of his helplessness annoyed him to no end!

He, the proud leader of such an elite squad. A prodigy whose genius was exalted by everyone he'd ever met, was being humiliated like this? He wouldn't stand for it!

Captain grit his teeth.

'Dammit! He must have set up that stuff in hidden places in the room… Ugh. But he is not wearing a mask, so isn't he still under the same eff—ugh.' Captain gave his best attempt at a straightforward thought process, but his body was uncooperative.

It felt as though a mysterious noise of unknown origins was continuously ringing in his head. His mind shook, and all of his senses protested fiercely. Granted, Captain had some resistance to poison. But the debilitating effects of this particular one were simply unprecedented.

He wondered how Ying seemed alright, being that he did not show any signs of discomfort. Unfortunately, his brain simply couldn't endure long enough for him to even formulate a hypothesis.

He could never know—

[You have received 1 Qi!]

[You have received 1 Qi!]

Much to the dismay of Captain and his comrade, Ying was far from finished,

"You are finally starting to figure it out, huh? Well, don't count your chickens before they hatch, there is a lot more to your misfortunate than meets the eye. You see, unlike most other poisonous plants, this special little guy displays an intense reaction to pure water, nearly doubling its already destructive properties. Truly a magical herb, don't you think so? Kukuku..."

Ying's maniacal laughter reverberated across the sealed room.

'H-how, how can this…ugh…be? Where did…ugh…he even get that? Our…informants told us that he…ugh….didn't leave the mansion all da-uack!' Captain coughed up blood.

He turned to his partner—the only living one—she was retching too. His face distorted and his eyes locked themselves on Ying's frame. Bloodshot. Tremendous pains, akin to that of his nerves bursting all at once, as well as nausea, were starting to take over his being.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, silly me… I forgot to mention that prolonged inhalation of the herb can result in severe internal bleeding. How is it though? It feels like someone is brutally strangling all of your nerves, doesn't it? That must hurt…" Ying feigned forgetfulness as he asked the question. He didn't wait for Captain to answer, however, as he added:

"Hehe! You are probably wondering how I got a hold of this little guy since I'd reckon you set up spies to watch me. Well, what if I told you that I found this baby in the kitchen? Yup, a certain someone tried to poison me, to make the entire kidnapping process easier I reckon, but they failed (Ying blew a raspberry). Can you even believe my luck? Hahahaha!" Ying waved the bag around whilst his hysterical laughter. He seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit.

Honestly, Ying's misfortune came with its fair share of advantages.

Who knew that his physique would reward him with more Qi when he devoured 'Bad' substances? And by accessing the Substance list, he discovered the existence of a very useful herb.

So he went ahead and stole some from the kitchen. It was quite easy; you'd think they'd try to hide these better, but the chef must have grown complacent. He Cultivated, using all his Monster Cores, and even the plant, allowing him to advance to the Third real of Body Tempering.

In doing so, he ended up increasing the Mastery of his skill. His stats had almost doubled, and that of his opponents had been weakened by quite a bit. He had the advantage now, and it was all thanks to his meticulous planning....

He put forward his two blades, 'First, I'll deal with these idiots in from of me, then I'll go find that b*tch. I already have an idea of where she's hiding...'

"Do you get it now? The moment you stepped into this room, you already lost."

'This—ack—bastard…. I….need….air…'

Captain thwacked his head to the right, where the only window was located. As he did, his eyes shone with ravenous greed for the most basic privilege of them all – Oxygen.

When Ying noticed this, his smile did the impossible and grew even wider. At this point, it was mere inches away from reaching his eyes. He had a thought,

'You wanted to play games eh, Lady Shan. Fine then, let the games begin.'

Captain's eyes quickly glanced between the window and Ying, he seemed to be deliberating. Eventually, he chose life….. not like that would do him any good.

With a frenzied desperation, Captain dashed towards the sole window— about ten meters away. But of course, Ying had already anticipated this, chasing behind the young mercenary.

Whoosh!

Swoosh!

Due to his amplified stats, and as a result of Captain's overall physical capabilities being greatly reduced, Ying easily overtook his opponent and stationed himself directly in front of the window. With a grin that never left his face, he brought down his long sword.

As he did, he could feel his passive skill [Basic Sword Proficiency] take effect, granting him a much better grasp of his sword.

Clang!

"Agh! You.... I'll kill you!!!"