Venom in the Veins

The moon hung low, half-shrouded in clouds, casting pale light over the quiet Tang Clan grounds. The news of the duel had spread before dawn.

Tang Yun had defeated an elder.

Alone.

Without drawing a blade.

Without mercy.

The outer sect was no longer in balance.

In the inner halls, the atmosphere thickened. Elders spoke in hushed voices, their every word laced with caution. Even those once dismissive now uttered Tang Yun's name with careful tongues—as if the very syllables might bring venom to their throats.

But Tang Yun?

He was calmly feeding a rabbit.

Outer Courtyard – Tang Yun's Residence

Tang Xiaomei knelt on a woven mat, crushing moon lily petals and powdering greenroot spores. Her small hands moved with increasing familiarity. Though her qi was faint, her focus was razor-sharp.

"You have talent," Tang Yun said, inspecting her latest concoction. "But more importantly, you have the right instincts. Never fear blood, but never be too eager to spill it."

She glanced up, puzzled. "But… didn't you kill many people already?"

Tang Yun smiled faintly, dipping a brush into the venom ink.

"Yes. And each time, I made sure it meant something. Poison is not just for killing, Xiaomei it's for sending messages."

He gestured toward the scroll he was painting. A single symbol bloomed in black: 毒 – Poison.

It would be sealed and nailed to the gate of the outer sect compound.

A warning.

A banner.

A name.

Tang Clan Council Pavilion – Morning

"I will not allow this child to disgrace us further!" Elder Tang Baifen slammed his cane against the floor.

Tang Liansu sat in silence, face pale and body trembling with residual qi corrosion. He couldn't even meet the others' eyes. He had been patched up by several alchemists, but the poison lingered in his blood like a curse.

"We raised him as a backup heir, nothing more," Baifen continued. "Now he parades his power in public? Defeats an elder? Spreads toxins through the sect's sacred grounds? We are the Tang Clan not a den of rogue assassins!"

A deeper voice interrupted from the back of the hall.

"You forget what the Tang Clan was founded on."

Tang Mo stepped forward from the shadows, his white robes untouched by dust, eyes glowing like embers beneath his brows.

"Before alchemy, before poisons were measured and named, we were monsters in the night. If the boy is bringing fear back into our name, perhaps we should thank him."

"You support this chaos?" Baifen hissed.

Tang Mo chuckled, low and cold. "I support results. Unlike you, I don't cling to the rotting branch of a dead tree. Tang Yun is growing. You'd do better learning from him… before he grows beyond you."

Tang Yun's Courtyard – Night

A letter arrived.

No messenger. No signature.

Just a scrap of cloth with the scent of dried mandrake and blue-howl pine.

Tang Yun opened it with gloved fingers.

"If you truly seek the old poisons… come to the Grave Garden."

"Tonight. Bring only what you're willing to lose."

– The Silent Root

Tang Yun's eyes narrowed.

The Grave Garden was a sealed portion of the Tang Clan's original poison fields, forbidden even to inner disciples. It was said to be where the Thousand Venoms Veil was first conceived where experimental poisons warped beasts and men alike.

It was also where Tang Wu, the last master of forbidden poison arts, had vanished decades ago.

And now someone wanted him to come there?

Tang Yun stood slowly and turned to Xiaomei.

"Tonight, you stay here."

She frowned. "But–"

He placed a vial in her hand. It was silver, cold, and sealed tight.

"If I don't return by dawn, release this into the outer sect's well. Then run."

"…Understood."

He left without another word.

The Grave Garden – Midnight

The iron gates stood rusted shut. Ancient talismans fluttered in the wind, marked with the Tang Clan's old sigils—runes of containment, corrosion resistance, and spiritual sealing. Tang Yun unrolled a strip of jade-inked paper and pressed it against the gate.

A soft hiss.

The gate creaked open.

Rot hit him like a wall. Not decay of flesh, but of time, of forgotten things that still breathed poison in the dark. The plants here were bloated, purple, alive in unnatural ways. Twisted roots reached like fingers across the gravel path.

Then came a voice.

"You came."

A figure emerged from the mist.

It was a woman—tall, draped in robes too fine for an outer disciple. Her face was covered by a porcelain mask, cracked around the mouth.

"Who are you?" Tang Yun asked.

"I was once like you," she said. "An heir. A mistake. Then I drank from the black lotus and found my path."

She held out her hand. Between her fingers coiled a venomous serpent with golden eyes.

"I can show you the truth behind poison. Not the polished techniques your elders fear—but the original venom, the kind that sings to the bones."

Tang Yun's gaze didn't waver.

"And the cost?"

"Your fear. Your limits. Your name."

A pause.

Tang Yun stepped forward.

"Then let's begin."

[End of Chapter 30]

[Tags]: Reincarnation, Martial Arts, Poison, Scheming Protagonist, Cultivation, Weak to Strong, Anti-Hero, Cold Protagonist, Clan Wars, Hidden Identity, Revenge