Chapter 116: Breaking Jade

~~~

“You still will not speak? Why must you torment me with this vagueness? Is this revenge for what I did?”

“I do not appreciate being associated with such pettiness.”

“I…of course. My apologies.”

“Good. I do not tell you more because all I have is a theory. To be absolutely certain, I need you to do something.”

“… What is it that you require of me?”

~~~

Pan Qiu walks into the Medical Pavilion.

He has been doing so since his punishment for the incident in the Summer Forest was decided. Day after day. Always having to drink those damned poisons. Always having to suffer through their effects. Any rage he may have felt at his situation has long since faded into resignation.

Today, Pan Qiu walks through the white halls more nervous than usual. His steps are too loud on his ears, his clothes too tight, and the weight of everyone’s stares too heavy. If only he were healthy to face this stress! That villain Qing Jin has “restored” his body to its former condition: pale, sweaty, and feverish.

“Someone may notice if you were to show up healthy twice in a row. I’ll do my best to mimic the effects of the poison. Unpleasant though it may be, please bear with it.”

Qing Jin had not given him any chance to object, not that Pan Qiu would have done so. Trying to challenge someone like that beast is a fool’s errand. The way he so easily wielded Poison Qi further confirmed it. To be able to attune your Qi to poison to that degree denoted extreme familiarity with them. No doubt, Qing Jin is someone who has poisoned multiple people to get where he is.

Pan Qiu has no intention of joining their number.

That is why, even though he feels uncomfortable, even though he is nervous, even though he is scared, Pan Qiu does as Qing Jin asked.

The price of failure is not one he is willing to entertain.

“Disciple Pan Qiu is here for his punishment,” he announces upon arriving at his destination.

It is the same room as always, white with several beds and large windows. Some of the beds are already occupied by those who are being punished alongside him. They lay there, groaning and shivering under the effects of the poison.

“Follow me,” an older disciple with pale eyes tells him. Bu Jing, he believes his name is. He leads Pan Qiu to one of the beds and brings him a small cup of poison. “This is today’s dose.”

Pan Qiu looks at the cup with apprehension. “It looks smaller than usual.”

“This poison is far more potent than the usual ones.” The pale-eyed disciple raises an eyebrow. “However, if Brother Pan wishes to drink more, that could be arranged.”

“No!” Pan Qiu cringes as he raises his voice and quickly adds, “That is it to say… this disciple submits himself to the wisdom of the Medical Pavilion, Senior Brother.”

“Understandable,” the disciple says without any inflection on his voice. He does not move at all. He keeps staring at Pan Qiu until the latter takes the cup from his hands.

The dark liquid swirls ominously inside it. Pan Qiu’s instincts scream at him not to drink it.

Nevertheless, he does what he must. He brings the cup to his lips and empties it in one gulp.

“The effects should manifest soon,” the pale-eyed disciple tells him. “You are free to use the bed.”

Pan Qiu does not hear him. His body is already collapsing into the bed, his legs suddenly weak. His vision sways, and his body chills as he seeks the comfort of warm blankets. The beating of his heart speeds up until it becomes a hammer against his ears.

The pain hits next.

~~~

Liu Jin calmly examines the poison that had been used on Pan Qiu.

He had needed fresh samples, so he had placed special hollow needles inside Pan Qiu’s body that would take in some of the poison once he drank it. Pan Qiu had protested their use quite vehemently at first, claiming that if Liu Jin needed samples, he could just save some poison inside his mouth. Liu Jin had rejected that idea. Such a ploy would be too easily seen through.

Pan Qiu hadn’t felt a thing. Liu Jin had made sure of it. He may have felt all the effects of the poison—It would have called too much attention if he had not shown any symptoms—but he had barely been aware of the needles. Indeed, no one had noticed anything, and Liu Jin had removed the needles from Pan Qiu without issue, all of them full of poison.

That had been well over five hours ago.

It is not that the poison has proven particularly challenging. Quite the opposite, Liu Jin has already broken it down to its base components and identified each of them. He has thoroughly observed the way the poison interacts with Pan Qiu’s body. There is already more than enough information for him to make an educated guess, especially if he takes the state of Pan Qiu’s dantian into consideration.

No, not just an educated guess. Even though he’s relying on a bit of guesswork, Liu Jin’s mind is largely made up already.

Yet, Liu Jin keeps going over his findings. He keeps going back to the poison, his Qi resonating with it as he seeks to break it down further. The more he does it, the more convinced he becomes of his theory.

Only once another hour has passed does Liu Jin take a break, leaning back into his chair, his face set on a frown. Almost against his will, his eyes go to the stack of papers resting on his desk.

Doctor Wu’s notes.

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It almost seems like a memory from another life. Back in Eastern Port City, Doctor Wu had used a Soul Draining Parasite on Patriarch Xiao Zheng. Years later, Doctor Wu’s son, working with the traitorous Elder Hui, had used another Soul Draining Parasite, this time on Xiao Fang. Both attacks had been stopped. The first one by Liu Jin’s father, the second one through the combined efforts of Liu Jin, Xiao Fang, and Xiao Nan.

However, even after Doctor Wu had been killed, the Xiao Sect was left with one very important question.

How had Doctor Wu obtained so many Soul Draining Parasites?

Soul Draining Parasites were supposed to be quite rare, yet Xiao Nan had found a jar full of their eggs. To understand this mystery, Patriarch Xiao Zheng had placed Liu Jin in charge of decoding Doctor Wu’s notes. However, though Liu Jin had made several strides in that endeavor, Eastern Port City fell before he could reach an answer. Doctor Wu’s notes had faded from his mind after that. Compared to everything else that happened, they seemed wholly unimportant.

At least, that was the case until he saw the state of Pan Qiu’s dantian. Examining him had been the trigger necessary for Liu Jin to piece everything together.

If you could turn a cultivator’s dantian into an incubator, obtaining more Soul Draining Parasites became easy.