Sichuan Journey - Deepening (9)
Sichuan Journey - Deepening (9)
"But why did you strike this attendant? I don't recognize him either, so he does look suspicious, but..."
"......"
I was agonizing. I'd acted first and thought later, but now I had nothing to explain to Hong Ye. Did I hit him just because he looked suspicious? Because he put poison in the tea? But had I actually seen him poison the tea? I'd struck before assessing, and for all I knew he might not have added anything yet.
He could have spiked the snacks instead of the tea, or coated the teapot. The moment I explained my suspicion to Hong Ye, I'd have to prove where the poison was—and where the hell had the bastard hidden it?
"Husband?"
I'd struck first because there was a chance they'd use a poison dangerous just to smell, but now I was stuck. I rubbed my chin, pretending to think, stalling for time. What should I say? How could I prove to Hong Ye that the elders were the villains?
It was then. Footsteps echoed somewhere—the rapid tap of someone fleeing down the corridor floor. Only as the sound grew louder did we realize they were coming toward us. In the moment we turned our heads, exchanged wide-eyed looks, and glanced at the attendant—
Suddenly the door burst open, and the junior martial sister, Hong Ye's junior sister, appeared, bound with rope and gasping for breath.
"T-The tea, you mustn't drink it!"
Thanks to her, it looked like explaining things would be much easier.
******
Inside the reception room, with the door shut, the three of us were now talking quietly. The attendant, who had collapsed foaming at the mouth, was tied up with the rope the junior martial sister had brought and his acupoints were sealed.
"...So you're saying you saw this man, on the elders' orders, putting something suspicious into the tea?"
"Yes! The elders have never been fond of Senior Sister Hong Ye, so they kept scheming. I witnessed them ordering a servant to do their dirty work while Senior Sister was out with her husband."
It was a story hard to believe by word alone, but her bound body and exhausted face, as if she'd suffered hardship, proved her sincerity. Hong Ye, who had been gazing uneasily at the floor, gave an awkward smile and spoke.
"M-Maybe it's not poison but a tonic..."
"......"
As the junior martial sister's expression quickly soured, Hong Ye lowered her head and continued.
"...Probably not."
There was no way they'd have beaten a fellow disciple and tied her up just for witnessing someone adding a tonic. The junior martial sister let out a relieved sigh and said to me,
"Anyway, that could have been a disaster; you are truly amazing. How did you notice the poison?"
Hong Ye was also looking at me with admiration. I nodded and, calm and humble, replied.
"Luck was on my side."
"As expected of the man Senior Sister chose."
The junior martial sister looked at me admiringly once more. But we couldn't just stand around exchanging compliments here. There were still many questions and many things to resolve. I sat down and examined the teacup the bastard had been about to pour. Both cups held the same tea leaves, but on closer inspection, only Hong Ye's cup had a powdery substance mixed in.
"But what were they planning after adding the poison?"
That was the problem. Just what had the elder and servant intended to do with this poison? After Hong Ye collapsed from it in front of me, were they going to kill me too? That didn't make sense. The Zhuge Family was backing me, and no matter how much influence the Taiji Sect held in Sichuan, the poisoning of two masters couldn't be easily covered up.
So maybe what had been added wasn't poison after all? But if that were the case, why had they beaten the junior martial sister and tied her up?
"...It might really be a tonic or a restorative..."
When Hong Ye ventured that quietly, we just stared at her, and she lowered her head again. The junior martial sister frowned and pondered, but seemed to know nothing, and I had no guesses either. So there was only one thing to do.
"Eo-ppu-ppup! Eu-ppu-ppup! Eo-ak!"
When I brewed the tea with the powder and forced it into his mouth, the attendant erupted with a violent cough, as if he'd never fainted. His mouth was wet, his eyes darting wildly, unable to focus. He looked around, unable to grasp the situation, then flinched when our eyes met and said,
"N-No, great hero... what is the meaning of this? I-I'm just an ordinary attendant."
There was no reason to believe his excuse. I pulled my chair closer to him and spoke.
"You, let's make a deal."
The attendant started to make a baffled face, as if asking what I meant, then his gaze met the junior martial sister's. He clicked his tongue in dismay, his expression shifting, and spoke to me in a low voice.
"...What do you want?"
"What poison did you put in the tea?"
The attendant hesitated for a moment, then said,
"...If I reveal this, I'll die too."
"You've already failed your mission—do you have any path left but death? Even if we haul you in and say the attendant poisoned it, no one will protect you."
"Hmph...."
The attendant scowled. His loyalty was shallower than I'd thought. Poisoning a direct disciple of the sect wouldn't end with just death. No matter how merciful the Taiji Sect was, they wouldn't let him die peacefully. Martial artists understand pain better than anyone.
"We need to know what the poison is so we can fake being poisoned and buy time. That's why I'm proposing a deal. You get to run as far as you can before you're beaten to death for failing, and we get revenge on those heaven-cursed beasts trying to kill a direct disciple. If luck's on our side, everything will fall into place and you might even keep your life."
The attendant's face looked complicated, but his deliberation didn't last long. His self-preservation outweighed his loyalty to the sect. He bit his lip, looked around cautiously, and said,
"San Gong Poison."
"San Gong Poison? The poison that scatters inner energy? What were you planning to do with that?"
That was unexpected. When the poison's identity was revealed, both the junior martial sister and Hong Ye tilted their heads, not seeming to grasp its danger. I asked again with a puzzled look, and the attendant narrowed his brow and said,
"...It's not just any San Gong Poison. It was specially manufactured by the Tang Clan and modified for assassinating martial artists. This one doesn't take effect the moment you consume it. When you first ingest it, the poison qi spreads to the meridian points, circulates together with your inner energy, and accumulates in the dantian."
"Then what? Does it disable the dantian?"
"When you begin energy circulation, the moment your inner energy condenses, the poison reacts and scatters the energy in the dantian. Masters who have experienced San Gong Poison before or have reached a high realm can handle it with time, but inexperienced young masters can't cope. They try to forcibly gather their inner energy again, and the poison qi rebels inside, blocking the meridians and triggering forced qi deviation."
Hong Ye's face had somehow gone pale. The junior martial sister was covering her mouth, staring at the attendant. I bit my nails and scowled. Those Tang Clan bastards—pretending to be upstanding while concocting something this vile.
"It's not rare for a young master to fall into qi deviation and lose their inner energy. The rampaging inner energy in the dantian burns away the poison qi, leaving no evidence. The elders' aim was to use this to cripple the direct disciple."
It was terrifying. And the elders' scheme was utterly despicable. They clearly didn't want to dirty their own hands, so they'd cripple her and comfort themselves by saying they hadn't killed her.
"...What will you do if we let you go? Will you report failure?"
"...I'll run as far as possible. What good would reporting failure do me?"
Even if we killed the servant here, we had no way to dispose of the body. And since he had no one to turn to for justice, it seemed better to just let him go.
"...Go and report to the elder that the mission was carried out properly."
The attendant nodded. I untied his ropes. He dusted himself off, stood up, looked at me for a moment, then walked toward the elder's quarters. I looked at the junior martial sister and said,
"The junior martial sister, please follow that attendant and confirm that he does the job properly."
The junior martial sister nodded and followed the attendant. Hong Ye was still staring at me, dazed. The events that had just occurred were so shocking that she couldn't decide what to do. She hadn't processed it all, so she was waiting for my lead.
I scratched my head and sighed. My thoughts were a mess, but I had a rough idea of what needed to be done. First, there was one thing to do.
"Husband, what should I...."
To the restless Hong Ye, I said this.
"...Madam, you'll have to suffer a qi deviation."