Chapter 28 Poison
At the end of the Lin Dynasty, a severe drought struck the Central Plains. The emperor was incompetent and incompetent, devoting himself to worshipping a perverse Buddha and exploiting the people in pursuit of immortality. He deviated from the orthodox teachings and led to the collapse of rituals and music.
Demons and evil spirits are rampant throughout the world, pagan cults are rising, killing to prove their faith, refining innocent people into puppets, making medicine men, or using their skin and bones to make weapons, and their flesh to make evil pills.
In this chaotic world, the reputable and upright sects stood by and watched, aiding and abetting the evildoers in their pursuit of power, and even colluding with pagans. On the path of cultivation, whether becoming a Buddha or a demon, one's legacy is a trail of bones.
Where the Southern Barbarians and the Central Plains meet lies a place called Qianyuan. Due to its unique topography, it has become a natural base for the insurgents who oppose the righteous ways of the Central Plains.
There is a "Cliff Valley" on the west side of Qianyuan. The terrain is steep and vines are entwined with towering ancient trees, blocking most of the sunlight. It is cold and gloomy all year round, and there is continuous poisonous fog.
What caused people's fear was the mysterious Gu Master living inside.
There is a saying circulating in Qianyuan: Those who offend the Gu Master will bleed from all seven orifices and die, which is the worst. The most terrifying thing is to be treated as a medicine man, and it is impossible to live or die.
When the Gu Master develops a new Gu, the medicine man has to try all kinds of strange and bizarre poisons. Their wails often echo in the valley for many days.
The executioner would be startled awake in the middle of the night by the sight of the medicine man's corpse thrown out of the valley.
In the huge bedroom in the cliff valley, there was only a cold-blooded man sitting on the couch, drinking alone, with a calm posture.
The half mask he wore covered the upper half of his face except for the eyes. The main body of the mask was ink-black, with a few dark gold lines outlined on it, revealing a mysterious magnificence.
The high nose bridge and slightly thin lips under the mask make people curious about his upper face and whether it is as perfect as the lower half.
This person was Wen Rensu, the guardian of the Cliff Valley, who happened to have returned from traveling the day before yesterday.
At this time, a pale medicine man who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old walked in with a wine pot in his hand. He lowered his eyebrows and said in a gentle manner, "Master Wenren, Xiao Wu has had an attack of the parasite in his body and has fainted. I am here to bring wine to Master Wenren on Xiao Wu's behalf."
After hearing this, Wen Rensu's eyes turned and he glanced at the other party coldly.
Wenren Su, that is, the AI, started its second journey through the book.
The book is titled "Poisonous World". It tells the story of a chaotic world where morality has collapsed. When the protagonist Ling Zheng was sixteen years old, his family was captured by people in the Cliff Valley, his parents were killed, and he was left in the valley to work as a medicine man.
Ling Zheng was valued by the Gu Master because of his extraordinary appearance, but was envied by other medicine men, who pushed him into the Gu pool and accidentally discovered his bloodline talent.
When encountering a high-grade Gu worm, Ling Zheng's blood would boil. After sucking his blood, any Gu worm would rapidly increase in strength and might even mutate into new abilities.
Two years later, Ling Zheng used his natural talent to escape the valley, infusing it with Gu to strengthen his bones and physique. Along the way, he slew gods and Buddhas, becoming the greatest Gu Master. He then slaughtered everyone in the Cliff Valley to avenge his parents.
The current progress is at the time when Ling Zheng is preparing to leave the valley.
The moment the medicine man walked in, Wen Rensu saw a faint yellow light suddenly fly out from the original energy from the previous world and go straight into the other person's chest.
Wenren complained: "..."
"Why should you stand for him?" Wen Rensu narrowed his narrow eyes, and a sense of overwhelming oppression came over the medicine man.
Although he didn't know what it was exactly, he realized that the strange ball of light must have been the work of Chen Yuanchuan in the previous world, so he tried it out first.
Ling Zheng's hair stood on end. Damn it, wasn't Wen Rensu a mindless warrior? He bit his lip unconsciously, a glaring crimson etched in his paleness. His appearance grew even more eerie, resembling a paper figurine.
Seeing that the medicine man didn't say anything, Wen Rensu sat up straighter and said sternly: "Are you feeling guilty? Raise your head!" The last words echoed throughout the bedroom.
Ling Zheng had no choice but to slowly raise his head, but his eyes were still wandering on the ground.
After Wen Rensu saw Ling Zheng's facial features clearly, a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes. If he had not known in advance that this was the male protagonist, he would probably have been hesitant about the gender of the person in front of him.
Ling Zheng's beauty was androgynous, feminine yet tinged with stubbornness, and there was a barely noticeable scarlet teardrop mole at the end of his right eye. However, the medicine man's stiff complexion added a touch of strangeness to his appearance.
But don't be fooled by his appearance. From the original book, you can know that he is selfish and cruel by nature, and is a cannibal.
As he grew up, his methods of revenge were even more terrifying. He would pay back all those who had bullied him with interest, leaving no one spared.
"Come here." Wen Ren Su hooked his index finger.
Ling Zheng walked forward slowly, with countless coping strategies flashing through his mind.
Wen Rensu picked up the wine jug from Ling Zheng's tray and poured the wine into another cup. The surface of the cup rippled and was filled with the refreshing aroma of wine.
"drink."
Ling Zheng was stunned for a moment, then he knelt down with his knees bent and knocked his head to the ground: "Master Wenren, I can't bear it."
Wen Rensu only saw the back of the other person's head. His body was trembling slightly, and he seemed very scared. It seemed that there was nothing unusual?
"Drink when I tell you to."
Seeing Wen Rensu's firm attitude, Ling Zheng raised his body tremblingly, knelt down, picked up the wine glass and took a sip.
As the strong liquor entered his throat, Ling Zheng coughed a few times due to the spicy smell. Tears welled up in his dark eyes. After a moment's pause, he said, "Thank you, Master Wenren, for the reward."
Wen Rensu said with a half-smile, "You're welcome." He then poured the wine into his own cup, swirled it gently, and drank it all in one gulp. As if unaware, the medicine man's unnatural expression flashed across his face.
Ling Zheng thought to himself: Wen Rensu is indeed not a Gu Master. He knows nothing about the common sense of Gu insects. In the Cliff Valley, anyone you ask will know that the Gu poison will not affect the Gu Master himself.
Wen Rensu's eyelids felt heavy, and he pressed the cold mask with an uneasy look. His body became unsteady, and soon he fell on the table and fell into a coma.
Ling Zheng sneered silently, gently brushed off the non-existent dust on his knees, sat on the other side of the couch, and waited patiently for Wen Rensu to wake up again.
Half a cup of tea later, Wen Rensu took a breath, propped up his upper body on his elbows, looked up and saw Ling Zheng's expressionless face.
Wen Rensu was momentarily bewildered, but quickly remembered the other person's identity. He put on a gentle smile and said, "Madam."
Ling Zheng: “???”
His indifferent expression instantly broke. Did I hear correctly? He called me husband?
Shocked by his words, Ling Zheng licked his dry lips and asked for confirmation: "...What did you call me?"
Wen Rensu's eyes were filled with smiles, and his tone was rippling: "Madam~"
Ling Zheng's eyes went dark, and he almost understood. It must be the black market vendors outside the valley who had ripped him off! This wasn't a control Gu at all, but a love Gu!
Although the love poison can also achieve the purpose indirectly, it still requires currying favor with a man, and he is from the Cliff Valley whom he hates to the core. It is really disgusting.
Of course, in the original novel, Ling Zheng must have successfully cast a control Gu on Wen Ren Su, which was a key step in his successful escape. But now that Wen Ren Su has slightly utilized the original energy from the previous world, the control Gu has become ineffective.
Seeing Ling Zheng's face turn pale, Wen Rensu sneered inwardly, but pretended to be suddenly startled.
"Madam, why can't I remember your name all of a sudden?"
After hearing this, Ling Zheng didn't want to use the name "Xiao Qi" given by the Cliff Valley, nor did he want to reveal his real name, so he casually made up a pseudonym: "My name is Jiang Ling." Jiang is his mother's surname.
"Oh, your name is Jiang Ling. How could I forget it? It's so strange." Wen Rensu rubbed his head and then stared at Ling Zheng seriously.
"What, what happened?" Ling Zheng was a little worried that Wen Rensu had broken free from the control of the love Gu.
Unexpectedly, Wen Rensu said seriously: "Jiang Ling, your face is so red."
...You forced me to drink it. Ling Zheng chuckled and decided not to respond to Wen Rensu's words.
After struggling for a long time, Ling Zheng finally remembered the purpose of putting the poison on Wenrensu.
"Wen Ren Su, I want to escape from the Cliff Valley." Ling Zheng locked his eyes, carefully observing the subtle changes in the other party's expression, but found that Wen Ren Su was unmoved, and thought to himself that it was bad.
The effect of the love Gu is only to make the person who is infected fall in love with the Gu Master, it does not mean that he will obey the Gu Master's orders. It seems that Wen Rensu talks nicely but treats his partner just for fun.
Damn it, the money I saved for two years was wasted on him. Ling Zheng lowered his eyelids slightly, and a hidden murderous intent was hidden under his long and thick eyelashes.
On this side, Wen Rensu considered everything and spoke slowly.
"Five days from now, we'll be counting the number of medicine practitioners. I'll work with you from the inside out. You can cause a commotion in the meeting hall to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Then I'll steal the spotted silkworm mother Gu for you. How do you do that?"
Every medicine man has a spotted silkworm larvae Gu placed on him by the Valley Master. Every new moon, it attacks, and without an antidote, he will explode and die. However, with the spotted silkworm mother Gu to draw out the larvae, the medicine man will be completely free.
The elders all had some antidote pills, but the spotted silkworm mother Gu was hidden deep in the Valley Master's bedroom, unknown to outsiders. Therefore, Ling Zheng only planned to steal a batch of antidote pills and didn't dare to even think about the spotted silkworm mother Gu.
Some people may say that the antidote pills only treat the symptoms and not the root cause, and that there is no point in Ling Zheng escaping. But the fact is that although the medicine men in the valley have antidote pills every month, they cannot survive for more than three to five years due to poison testing.
Since you're going to die eventually, you might as well give it your all. Many herbalists understand this principle, but few dare to overstep their bounds. If caught red-handed, the poison master's malicious torture is unbearable for ordinary people.
Ling Zheng was slightly surprised to know that he had misunderstood Wen Rensu, and immediately discussed the details with the other party.
Anyway, he just used Wenren Su to escape. Since the other party took the initiative to propose a plan that was more beneficial to him, why not accept it?
Five days later, Wen Rensu stood on the observation deck, looking out at the meeting place in the center of the Cliff Valley. The strange-looking medicine men were pushing and shoving each other. He smiled slightly, then immediately turned around and went to the largest bedroom to report to the reclusive valley master.
"Valley Master, the medicine men in the meeting room started fighting." Wen Rensu bowed slightly.
On the surface, it might seem that Cliff Valley doesn't take medicine men seriously, but in reality, that's not the case. Medicine men take care of the Gu Master's food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and they also need medicine men to refine Gu.
If only a few medicine men died at the same time, they could still be replaced, but today almost all the medicine men are in the meeting room and no mistakes can be made.
The Valley Master looked like an octogenarian in his seventies or eighties, with a kind and amiable demeanor, but when he spoke, his voice was that of a middle-aged man. This strange and disorienting feeling was so eerie that it made people's hair stand on end.
After listening to Wenren's report, the Valley Master stood up without hesitation and took a few steps. Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he turned back with a fake smile and said, "Wenren Protector, come with me to take a look."
Wen Rensu's expression could not be seen clearly because he was wearing a mask. He responded nonchalantly and walked forward to follow the Valley Master to the side and back.
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The author has something to say: When I first started writing, some readers said that the male characters I wrote about were too old-fashioned. I said that I would write about recent times. Now this dark style without a female protagonist is considered a recent one, haha
Also, I want to emphasize that Zheng Zheng is 18 years old, but he is malnourished and looks like 16 or 17. After feeding him for a while, Zheng Zheng will grow again and become taller. Then it will be clear that he is not androgynous.
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