"Stop!" In the instant he laughed, the Pope reached out with lightning speed, grabbed his chin, and struck him hard in the stomach.
A mouthful of blood spurted from Tong's mouth, mixed with a black pill. A throat-seal?
That heavy blow finally made him lose consciousness.
"Want to commit suicide?" The Pope smiled with satisfaction, seemingly having finally broken his will. He twirled his golden cane. "But that would be too easy on you... You should at least get to enjoy the poison of the Seven Star Begonia."
The corpses of mastiffs lay scattered on the ground beside him, with only one remaining, lying in a distance in a wary posture. The King frowned, his long, white eyebrows furrowing, and nudged the unconscious man with his golden staff, muttering, "Tong, you killed so many of my precious mastiffs and even took Mingli's life... So, until the poison takes effect, you will temporarily serve as my dog!"
The golden staff lifted the unconscious man's chin: "Although, after losing these eyes, you're not even as good as a dog."
"Should we imprison him in the Snow Prison?" Miao Shui asked in a sweet voice.
"Snow Prison? That's too easy on him..." A venomous glint flashed in the Pope's eyes as he slammed his golden staff into the crown of Tong's head. "I only have one of my precious mastiffs left—since the cage is empty, let him fill it!"
"Yes...yes." Miao Shui trembled slightly, quickly bowed respectfully, gave the King a seductive smile, and turned to take her leave. Grabbing the unconscious Tong, she effortlessly glided down the glacier, her waist as supple as a willow swaying in the wind, and vanished in an instant.
“That little bitch…” Watching the woman walk away, a certain heat suddenly rose in the Pope’s eyes. “She really knows how to seduce people.”
However, before he could decide when to summon him again to practice the secret art of lovemaking, the surge of heat to his dantian suddenly triggered a sharp pain. The white-haired, youthful-looking old man abruptly bent over, coughing, leaning on his golden cane, and could no longer maintain the facade he had been putting on.
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the blood-stained ice surface.
"Miaofeng..." the King of Pop gasped, his eyes dim, and murmured, "Why haven't you come back yet!"
Snowflakes fell softly in the distance, and a pair of eyes beneath the snow vanished in an instant.
Snow Escape.
Miao Kong, one of the Five Bright Ones, remained hidden and witnessed the entire thrilling rebellion.
He didn't show up, nor did he participate; he seemed to be just an outsider.
It seems... the current pace of events has exceeded his initial expectations. Hopefully, the people from the Central Plains Dingjian Pavilion will act quickly as well—otherwise, things will become much more complicated once the King of the Sect has stabilized the situation.
The dark prison, located at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains, is perpetually shrouded in darkness, cold and damp.
Chains forged from black iron hung down one by one, binding the black-clad youth's limbs and firmly pinning the unconscious man to the cage. Miao Shui lowered her head and carefully fastened the last collar to the other's pale, slender neck—a soft "click" sounded, and it was perfectly sealed. The unconscious man had not yet woken up, but as if he knew it was an extreme humiliation, he subconsciously struggled slightly.
"Ha," the charming woman lowered her head and stroked the person who had been fitted with a mastiff collar, "Tong, you still lost."
Her breath gently touched the bleeding skin, and the unconscious person gradually awoke.
However, those open eyes were devoid of any light, filled with a blood-red mist that completely obscured the pupils! The person who had awakened clearly understood their current situation immediately, and with a sharp expression, looked around in the darkness, hoarsely asking, "Miao Shui?"
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Chapter Ten: Assassination (Part Two)
He tried to stand up, but the chains on his limbs suddenly tightened, holding him firmly and fixing him to the ground in a prone position.
"Tong, what a pity. I wanted to help you too... You're much younger and more handsome than that old man." Miao Shui covered her mouth and laughed, her voice sweet and clear. She raised her hand to stroke his head. "But why didn't you and Miao Huo inform me when you launched the final operation? You excluded me."
She suddenly tightened her grip on his hair and said fiercely, "Since you don't trust me, why should I stand on your side?"
Tong's neck was fastened with a black iron collar, and her pull almost broke his throat, yet he remained silent.
"What a pity... I originally wanted to destroy the King of the Church with you, and then come back to deal with you." Miao Shui stroked her eyes, which had lost their luster, and chuckled. "After all, when you first entered the Great Bright Realm of the Asura Field and were sent to Paradise to enjoy the blissful state of heaven for the first time, I was the one who spent the night with you... I was your first woman, after all, and I really couldn't bear to see you die like this."
"Hmph," Tong closed her eyes and sneered, "bitch."
“Even a bitch is better than a dog.” Miao Shui sneered as she released his hair, mocking him maliciously.
Tong, however, did not become angry. An indifferent expression flashed across his pale face, and he closed his eyes slightly. In an instant, all the anger and murderous intent in his body vanished, like ashes that had been burned out. He no longer cared about all the torment and humiliation inflicted upon him, but simply waited quietly for the deadly poison to take away his life bit by bit.
There is no antidote for the Seven Star Begonia.
It is an extremely cruel poison that slowly erodes the brain. The poisoned person loses a portion of their memory every day, and after seven days, they become an infantile idiot. And even then, the suffering does not end; the deadly poison will further erode the body through the brain and spine, causing the muscles throughout the body to gradually rot and peel away piece by piece.
It will only breathe its last breath when it becomes a stark white skeleton.
“Want to die? Not so easy,” Miao Shui sneered, stroking his shoulders and back that were twitching from the poison. “This is only the first day. The King said that before the poison of the Seven Star Begonia takes effect, you have to be a dog that can never raise its head, until you die.”
After a pause, the woman laughed sweetly again, whispering in his ear in a seductive tone:
"However, after I kill the Pope... I might show mercy and let you die sooner."
"So, you should actually help me, right?"
A white bird flew over the Forbidden City, letting out a sharp whistle in the wind, with a purple handkerchief tied to its leg.
"The Valley Master has gone to the Great Bright Palace in Kunlun."
Frosty red handwriting was delicate and fresh, written on Xue Ziye's old handkerchief, fluttering in the cold wind of early spring.
Heading south, we flew towards that city of water, clouds, and willows.
In Lin'an City, it was only early spring, and the winter plum blossoms at the foot of Jiuyou Mountain were still in full bloom, pure and cold as snow. Liao Qingran had just given Qiu Shuiyin her medicine, and the woman who had cried hysterically all night finally fell into a deep sleep, exhausted.
The room was filled with the aroma of ambrosia. Huo Zhanbai sat by the window, his hands covered in bloodstains, his face revealing undisguised exhaustion.
"Your hand needs to be bandaged too." Liao Qingran looked at him silently for a long time, with some pity in her eyes.
Those bloodstains were from Qiu Shuiyin's attack last night—ever since she fell into a semi-mad state, she would scream irrationally whenever she became emotionally agitated, scratching and hitting anyone who came to calm her down. After several days, almost all the maids in the mansion were terrified of her beatings and scoldings, and no one dared to step forward to serve her anymore.
In the end, it was Huo Zhanbai who took on the responsibility of caring for her.
Aside from Wei Fengxing, this was the first time Liao Qingran had ever seen a man with such patience and tolerance. No matter how much this crazy woman caused trouble, Huo Zhanbai always spoke softly and gently, never showing the slightest impatience.