"Is Xuantian Hongling Temple a place where you juniors can come and go as you please?"
"Zhi'er, step back!" Shangguan Tou took a step forward, blocking Xue Zhi.
Sure enough, the next moment, a dark mass hurtled towards them. Shangguan Tou drew his Cold Soul Staff, spun it halfway through the air to block the object, and then dodged forward a short distance. Taking advantage of her height, Man Feiyue lunged to the ground, flicking out a cross-shaped dart at the torch. Xue Zhi twisted her wrist, causing the torch to spin. The flame flickered in and out of view, and the figures of Man Feiyue and Shangguan Tou appeared and disappeared, sometimes blurry and sometimes clear.
During the lulls in Man Feiyue's fight with Shangguan Tou, she would always throw cross-shaped darts at Xuezhi. Xuezhi was very agile and dodged them in a few moves, but because of her speed and the rapid palm strikes of the two men, the torches were quickly extinguished.
Dark and without light.
In the pitch-black abyss, only the sounds of clothes rubbing together and fists clashing could be heard.
The tinderbox was outside the iron gate, blocked by Shangguan Tou and Manyiyue. Xuezhi couldn't get out, so she had to climb over the uneven parts of the wall to the outer edge.
After going through countless hardships, just as she finally found the tinderbox and went back, the iron gate suddenly became quiet.
For a moment, the surroundings were so quiet that even breathing could be clearly heard.
There was a rustling sound of boot soles rubbing against dry grass.
Xuezhi dared not take any action, or even ask any questions.
After a long while, Man Feiyue's alluring voice rang out from the darkness:
"ignition."
Xuezhi remained motionless.
"Light the fire, Zhi'er."
The torches were then lit in the endless darkness.
The light gradually spread, illuminating the two people before them: Shangguan Tou's left hand was clenched into a fist, his right hand holding a staff, the tip of which was pointed at Man Feiyue's throat. Although Man Feiyue had been hit in a vital spot, she looked completely at ease.
"Hand over the antidote." Shangguan Tou pressed down on her throat.
There is no antidote. You will only die.
"If I die, you won't live either."
Man Feiyue pointed at Xuezhi: "If you kill me, see how she dies."
"I can kill you, and then I can take her out."
"You'd be poisoned even from a single bite from a copper coin flower, how can you possibly lead her out of this den of ten thousand poisons?"
Shangguan Tou clenched his teeth, a thin layer of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Xuezhi stared at them in astonishment: "What... happened?"
"Shangguan Tou, Shangguan Tou, do you really think you're immune to all poisons? Your weakness is in your fingertips, I discovered it a long time ago. I've been letting you off the hook all this time, do you really think I'm afraid of you? This 'Ten Days Soul Devouring' is enough to make you suffer, just wait to die."
"Man Feiyue, what good will it do you to kill him? I'm your enemy!"
"Oh, feeling sorry for him?" Man Feiyue looked Xue Zhi up and down, then suddenly laughed. "You want me to save him? Fine, but if you saw off your long legs and give them to me, I'll consider letting him live for three more days."
"Go to hell!!"
Shangguan Tou waved his hand at Xuezhi, then turned to Man Feiyue and asked, "What do you want?"
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Man Feiyue glanced at the cane in his hand. “You’d better behave yourself now, or you won’t be the only one who loses your life.”
Shangguan's hands trembled as he tried to catch his breath, but he held back and put the cane down.
Then, Man Feiyue walked over, grabbed Xuezhi's hand, and dragged her outside. Xuezhi initially resisted, but seeing Shangguan Tou's signal, she had no choice but to reluctantly follow Man Feiyue out.
"I'm sorry," Shangguan Tou whispered from behind.
Xuezhi turned her head slightly and laughed, "Don't say that, it wasn't your fault in the first place."
Man Feiyue locked the iron gate and left.
Shangguan Tou touched his fingertips; there was a viscous liquid. Looking closer under the light, he saw that the blood was black.
He slammed his fist against the wall and sat down on the ground.
Two hours passed, and the place, devoid of sunlight, remained pitch black. The poison hadn't taken effect yet, and the feeling of waiting to die only intensified the despair.
Suddenly, a woman's voice came from afar: "Let me go back!! Damn it!!"
Shangguan Tou suddenly looked up.
The iron gate opened.
In the dim firelight, a person was pushed in and fell into his arms.
Looking down, I saw Xuezhi wearing only a bellyband.
100 101 102
100
Man Feiyue's figure was swallowed by darkness, a deep shadow cast on the ground, swaying with the movement of the light.
"The reason it's called Ten-Day Soul Devourer is because it's a truly deadly poison, yet it won't cause you any pain. If no one warns you, you'll only see a change in your appearance. You'll soon find out what that feels like." She chuckled softly, brushing her hair aside in the darkness. "Anyway, you won't live much longer. Let that girl surnamed Chong keep you company. I've put something on her, so perhaps she'll have a little...hehe."
Man Feiyue's figure disappeared from Shangguan Tou's sight.
Someone brought in a candlestick and placed it on the partition.
Before those people had even left, the person in his arms began to squirm restlessly. Shangguan Tou glanced down at her body—she was indeed wearing only a bodice. She pulled her legs back, then spread them apart on either side of his body, hooking them around his waist, and with a forceful pull, wrapped herself tightly around him without leaving any gaps.
Shangguan Tou shook his head, trying to push her away, but his strength was very weak.
Pale golden light, dark golden hay. One wrong spark could ignite a raging fire, unstoppable once it begins.
"Brother Tou, Brother Tou..." Xuezhi had never spoken to him in such a soft and crisp voice before. As she spoke, she rubbed her soft breasts against his chest. "Zhi'er misses you, Zhi'er wants you."
Shangguan Tou's body temperature was rising. Perhaps it was due to the lighting, but his cheeks were flushed.
"Ugh! Uh-huh! Ugh ugh ugh!!" A mournful groan came from outside the iron gate. Unfortunately, the person inside seemed to be deaf and couldn't hear it at all.
The upper body's swaying gradually shifted to the lower body, and the gentle murmurs turned into irregular panting. The face of the person in Shangguan Tou's arms also began to flush, as his hand slowly slipped inside her bodice. The thrill of being spied on made her almost suffocate with excitement.
"Is it okay?" Shangguan Tou asked breathlessly into her ear, "Right here?"
"Uh-huh."
"Good Zhi'er..."
"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!" Halfway through his groan, the person outside the iron gate suddenly slammed his head against the iron bars, then cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face, "Ugh ugh!"
However, not only did the people inside ignore her, but Man Feiyue beside her also ignored her.
This is the second time.
She didn't want to see Shangguan Tou intimate with any woman anymore. If he insisted, she would choose not to watch. But at this moment, the idiot inside, after being poisoned by this strange toxin, was mistaking the swallow flower for himself!
Shangguan Tou was dumbfounded; there was no swallow flower.
She's just a little crazy.
Man Feiyue was completely absorbed in watching, as if she had never seen anything like it before, yet she didn't understand what shyness was at all.
Yan Zihua groaned intermittently—as if suppressed for too long, finally letting out from her throat. Looking from the outside in, it was crystal clear: the shape of the bodice… Shangguan Tou had already begun to gently rub it.
Xuezhi simply closed her eyes.
But not long after, Yanzihua's sweet voice came out: "Brother Tou, what's wrong?"
“…Let’s talk about it after we get out.” Shangguan Tou’s voice was low, the passion from before vanishing instantly. “It’s cold here, put this on first.” He then took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Man Feiyue was extremely surprised. Xuezhi also looked puzzled.
Not long after, Yanzihua and Xuezhi were both taken away. Then, the next day, Yanzihua's bodice became thinner; the third day, the bodice became smaller; the fourth day, a huge tear appeared in the bodice; the fifth day, even Shangguan Tou was drugged. The fifth day was the most painful and unbearable day; Shangguan Tou, leaning against the corner of the wall, looked as if he could spontaneously combust.
Man Feiyue was furious and extremely disappointed. She ordered someone to take Yanzihua away and went inside to talk to Shangguan Tou for about half an hour. When she came out, her already pale face was almost green. Then, she got serious, shoving the real Xuezhi inside and saying viciously:
"Shangguan Tou, you decide what to do!"
Man Feiyue had been observing Shangguan Tou for several days and was already exhausted, so she went back upstairs to sleep.
As soon as Xuezhi fell down, she grabbed Shangguan Tou's hand and spread his fingers to look: sure enough, all ten fingertips and knuckles were bluish, as if they had been hit by a huge boulder.
"No, we have to think of something quickly." Xuezhi grasped Shangguan Tou's hand. "If her request isn't too unreasonable and doesn't involve anyone's life, we can agree to it. Why are you so stubborn?"
The candlelight shone on Xuezhi's delicate nose and thick eyelashes, outlining several faint halos.
Shangguan Tou looked up at her: "Zhi'er?"
“I know you see me in everyone.” Xuezhi squeezed his hand, looking into his unfocused pupils as if she were looking into a pair of blind eyes, and felt inexplicably sad. So she teased, “Sister Zhaojun is becoming more and more gentlemanly. She hasn’t done anything reckless anymore.”
“No. The one before, although it looked like you, I knew it wasn’t,” Shangguan Tou said with a smile. “If it were you, I wouldn’t be able to act like a gentleman.”
Xuezhi wanted to appear angry, but couldn't suppress the smile on her lips, so she awkwardly turned her head away.
How do you know it's not?
"I touched her breasts."
"Then?"
"It doesn't look like it."
Seeing that he was poisoned, Xuezhi dared not use excessive force, so she could only pound the wall a few times.
Shangguan Tou said, "Man Feiyue's initial plan was probably to let you see what she arranged, to make you angry at me, and then, under pressure to explain myself, I would agree to her demands."
What did she say?
"Let me win you and Uncle Lin over, and then steal the 'Samadhi Flame Phoenix Blade' for her. I'll get my share of the benefits."
"...How would you answer?"
"I told her to get out of here."
101
Xuezhi couldn't find any more topics to discuss, and Shangguan Tou seemed lost in thought as well. The two remained silent for several hours before Xuezhi spoke again:
"In your opinion, is the 'Snow Lotus Sword of the Vast Ocean' still here?"
"Not here."