“Oh, I forgot to tell you, he just found out that His Excellency killed that…”
“Second Brother, what’s wrong with your mouth? Why is it swollen?”
Chi Xian looked at Xu Baizhou’s red, swollen lips and asked with concern.
“I got poisoned,” Xu Baizhou replied, his tone unfriendly.
Just thinking about it made him furious. After Jia Wujie ate those failed, poisonous demonic potions Xu Baizhou had brewed, the man had actually kissed him. And with that one kiss Jia Wujie himself didn’t get poisoned; instead, he’d poisoned Xu Baizhou.
As for what happened after that day, Xu Baizhou had no idea. By the time he woke up again, it was already the next day, and Jia Wujie had vanished without a trace.
He’s probably gone to see the Holy Mother, Xu Baizhou thought. That’s what he’d said yesterday, there in the potion chamber.
Thinking about what had happened last night, Xu Baizhou’s heart sank.
Although Xu Baizhou could tell that the relationship between Jia Wujie and the Holy Mother was somewhat delicate, he still couldn’t understand Jia Wujie’s behavior last night. Knowing full well that someone was coming, he still put on that act. The two of them clearly weren’t that kind of relationship, yet he deliberately let people misunderstand. Aside from embarrassing him, Xu Baizhou couldn’t think of any other reason.
And besides…
Xu Baizhou still remembered what Jia Wujie had said, and the utterly unchanging heartbeat when he said it.
Jia Wujie was right, he was nothing more than a plaything, a passing amusement for when Jia Wujie got bored.
That was what Jia Wujie had made clear from the very beginning, and Xu Baizhou had always known his place. But for some reason, when he heard those words yesterday, he still felt a trace of disappointment.
Could it be because Jia Wujie had been going mad less often lately?
Xu Baizhou shook his head. It must be his worthless pride acting up.
“Second Brother, what’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood? Feeling unwell?” Chi Xian was the first to notice something off about Xu Baizhou and asked with some concern.
Xu Baizhou finally snapped out of it. Setting down the flower pot with a nethergrass plant in it, he said, “It’s nothing. I’m feeling a bit cooped up, I’m going out for a walk.”
After instructing Chi Xian not to pull up the nethergrass he was growing, Xu Baizhou walked out of the potion chamber. Right now he was eating Jia Wujie’s food and drinking Jia Wujie’s drink, so providing him with a bit of emotional value counted as paying his board. Thinking of it that way, Xu Baizhou felt much better.
Xu Baizhou was strolling casually around the potion chamber when a figure suddenly came rushing toward him at high speed.
Once he saw who it was, Xu Baizhou greeted him warmly.
“Lord Dang, what are you busy with?”
The moment Dang Ji saw Xu Baizhou, his steps abruptly stopped. He walked straight up to Xu Baizhou, grabbed his arm, and said, “Busy looking for you.”
Xu Baizhou was dragged forward without understanding why. “Huh? What do you need me for?” He thought for a moment there seemed to be only one reason Dang Ji would be in such a hurry to find him, and he said crossly, “Is it Jia Wujie looking for me? Has he lost his mind again?”
At Xu Baizhou’s words, Dang Ji suddenly stopped. He turned around and said to Xu Baizhou earnestly, “Yes. His Excellency just had mushroom soup at the Holy Mother’s place, and he told me to bring you over.”
Hearing this, Xu Baizhou immediately turned to run, but Dang Ji grabbed him back.
“Chi Xian! Cang Gui! Save me!” Xu Baizhou shouted toward the potion chamber.
But by this point they were too far apart Xu Baizhou shouted himself hoarse without getting any response from Chi Xian Cang Gui.
Dang Ji dragged Xu Baizhou toward the main hall, saying as he went, “What are you running for? Come with me to see the Venerable!”
“I’m not going! He drank that mushroom soup and went completely mad, he wanted to tear my arm off, wanted to kill me! If I go, I’m dead. I’m not going!” Xu Baizhou yelled.
“If you don’t go, that’s when you’ll die. Where do you think you can hide?” Dang Ji said.
“I don’t care! Anyone who wants to go can go, but I’m not going!”
Seeing how worked up Xu Baizhou was, Dang Ji realized this approach wasn’t going anywhere. He stopped, turned around, and said to Xu Baizhou, “Listen. When the Venerable drinks the mushroom soup, he really does become a different person. He may be raving mad, but he’s not impossible to talk to. As long as you go along with him and do what he says, you’ll be fine. He’s specifically asked to see you now, and I have no choice in the matter. If you don’t go, you’ll die without even knowing how you died.”
After hearing Dang Ji out, Xu Baizhou calmed down a little. Dang Ji was right, if he went, there might still be a sliver of hope; if he refused, he would surely enrage Jia Wujie, and that would truly mean dying without a burial place. All he could do was grit his teeth and face it.
With that thought, Xu Baizhou said, “Fine, I’ll go. But you have to explain clearly what happens to Jia Wujie after he drinks that mushroom soup. If he suddenly turns on me, I need to be prepared.”
……
Xu Baizhou followed Dang Ji down the corridor toward the main hall, turning over what Dang Ji had just told him.
Just as he’d suspected, every time Jia Wujie’s True Qi fell into disorder, he used the mushroom soup to calm it. That so-called mushroom soup was brewed from highly poisonous fungi like the poisonous herbs Chi Xian had mentioned before, a single touch could kill an ordinary person, let alone eating it.
But Jia Wujie was the Demon Venerable, and his constitution was naturally different from an ordinary person’s. The fungi’s toxicity was fierce, yet not enough to take his life. When brewed with demonic potion, its poison exactly counterbalanced the True Qi within his body.
Still, it was a poison after all. Its hallucinogenic effects took a certain toll on Jia Wujie’s mind.
For a period after drinking the mushroom soup, Jia Wujie’s temperament changed drastically, he even became an entirely different person.
Split personality, isn’t it? Xu Baizhou grumbled inwardly.
According to Dang Ji, this mentally deranged Jia Wujie only appeared after he drank the mushroom soup, and he had no memory of what happened while Jia Wujie was in his normal state.
Standing at the entrance of the main hall, Xu Baizhou could already see Jia Wujie half-reclining on the couch.
“Oh, right,” Dang Ji suddenly said. “I forgot to tell you, he just found out the Venerable killed that dog, and he’s fuming.”
“What?” Xu Baizhou stared in shock at the expressionless Dang Ji beside him. The next second, he was shoved in front of Jia Wujie.
Dang Ji, you bastard, you didn’t think to tell me something this important? This time I’m really done for… Xu Baizhou thought.
As if hearing the sound, Jia Wujie slowly opened his eyes.
Xu Baizhou immediately fell silent and knelt, awaiting his judgment.
“Well, well. Looks like he’s been keeping you well fed these days, hasn’t he?” Jia Wujie’s voice carried a trace of mockery, a trace of coldness, sending a chill down Xu Baizhou’s spine.
Xu Baizhou dared not say anything, only lowering his head and kneeling there, terrified that a single wrong word would bring death upon him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jia Wujie walk down from the platform, then crouch down in front of him.
A chain clicked shut onto Xu Baizhou’s collar. Jia Wujie gave it a hard yank, forcing Xu Baizhou to raise his head and meet that face full of hatred.
Gritting his teeth, Jia Wujie said, “He killed my dog. Tell me, what should I do to his dog to quench the hatred in my heart?”
The collar was pulled so tight around his neck that Xu Baizhou could barely breathe. Forcing himself to endure the pain in his neck, he said, “Your Excellency, have you forgotten? I was presented to you by Chi Xian Cang Gui, I am your man!”
With disaster looming, Xu Baizhou could only say this to steady the maddened Jia Wujie.
At these words, Jia Wujie seemed to remember something, and he finally relented, letting the chain out and giving Xu Baizhou a chance to breathe.
“Right had you not reminded me, I would have forgotten.”
As he spoke, Jia Wujie paced around the hall. One of his hands still held the chain attached to Xu Baizhou’s neck, and under Jia Wujie’s lead, Xu Baizhou could only crawl along after him across the hall.
“You are the little Medicine Guide that Chi Xian Cang Gui presented to me…” Jia Wujie said, glancing back at Xu Baizhou sprawled on the ground.
Then, without warning, he gave the chain in his hand a violent tug. Under the tremendous pull, Xu Baizhou instantly lost control of his body, toppling over backward and being dragged to Jia Wujie’s feet.
The cold, hard floor sent a wave of pain through Xu Baizhou’s back, his bones grinding against the ground through a thin layer of flesh. Combined with the immense force on his collar, Xu Baizhou felt as though his neck was about to snap, his back burning with pain.
The next second, a foot pressed down hard on one of Xu Baizhou’s shoulders.
“Ugh! It hurts!” Xu Baizhou couldn’t help crying out. Instinctively, he pushed at it with his other hand, trying to ease the pain in his shoulder.
But instead of moving away, Jia Wujie’s foot only ground down harder.
Even more pained sounds escaped Xu Baizhou’s mouth. Watching Xu Baizhou’s face grow paler and paler, Jia Wujie laughed. “Come to think of it, you’ve reminded me this arm of yours should have been broken long ago.”
Xu Baizhou heard the “crack, crack” sounds coming from his own shoulder. If Jia Wujie kept this up, his shoulder would be crushed.
“Your Excellency… of divine might and extraordinary bearing, capable of ordering heaven and earth, swallowing mountains and rivers, revered by tens of thousands, unmatched by any… This humble one prostrates himself in utmost admiration, and begs Your Excellency to spare this arm, so that this humble one may serve at Your Excellency’s side, toil like an ox and a horse, wash dishes and mop floors, attend to your every need…”
What nonsense was he even saying?
The pain had made Xu Baizhou’s consciousness blur. In this moment of crisis, he suddenly remembered how Chi Xian Cang Gui’s flattery of Jia Wujie that day had seemed to please him greatly, so he imitated their tone, hoping this method would get Jia Wujie to spare him.
Xu Baizhou was just grasping at straws, a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, trying it on a whim yet to his surprise, the pressure on his shoulder really did ease considerably.
Striking while the iron was hot, Xu Baizhou rattled off plenty more flattering words, and sure enough, he coaxed Jia Wujie into lifting the foot that had been pressing down on his shoulder.
Xu Baizhou hurriedly got up, sitting on the ground and rubbing his aching shoulder.
Jia Wujie’s mood seemed to have improved considerably because of Xu Baizhou’s words. “A dog that has already bonded with a master, I don’t want. But you, You rather like you.”
He looked at Xu Baizhou, a hint of amusement appearing on that handsome yet slightly deranged face.
“This Sovereign just remembered, outside the Demonic Palace, there is a kennel. Come with me at once; this Sovereign is going there to pick out the best one to bring back!”
What? What kennel? There was such a place in the Demonic Realm?