Chapter 170
Chapter 170
In that moment, Shen Lang was truly astonished. It was rare to see a woman so utterly arrogant and presumptuous. Xue Li looked down on Shen Lang and continued.
“I’ve heard your name mentioned several times from afar, and I wondered what sort of remarkable person you might be. But seeing you in person today, I am greatly disappointed. You’re unsightly, useless, and frail. Your complexion, your breathing… you’re nothing but a worthless fool. Jin Mulan has truly fallen. Even if she couldn’t find a prodigy like Zhong Lang, she shouldn’t have chosen a good-for-nothing like you.”
Damn, this woman’s tongue was sharp. Sharper than Shen Lang’s, even. Seeing this, it seemed she had been on her best behavior at the Count of Xuanwu’s estate. When Shen Lang had met Princess Ningluo of Yue, she, despite her lofty status that made him feel unworthy to even look at her, had been magnanimous and polite. But this Xue Li, a mere count’s daughter, was acting with such audacity. Just how much had the Zhong Clan and Concubine Zhong spoiled her?
“Get out. Get… out. Take your dog and get out.”
Xue Li waved her hand as if shooing a fly. At those words, the Sword King, Li Qianqiu, lifted his head.
‘The dog you speak of… is me?’
A murderous glint flashed in his eyes. Not because she had called him a dog, but because the girl’s face was familiar, bearing a slight resemblance to Xue Xue. Of course they resembled each other; they were cousins.
Having reached the realm of a Grandmaster, Li Qianqiu didn't really care what insults others threw at him. But the grudge he held against Xue Xue for poisoning his wife was one he could never let go. That heartless girl had trifled with his and his wife’s feelings; he could never forgive her. They had treated her like their own child, cherished her like a treasure, but in return, she had not only stolen their martial arts manual but had also viciously poisoned his wife. Li Qianqiu would never be free of that deep, bitter resentment.
Shen Lang said to him.
“Driver, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The Sword King played along, bowing his waist and following behind him. He adopted such a subservient attitude, just like a real driver. Before leaving, Shen Lang used his X-ray vision to glance at the area below Xue Li’s waist. It wasn't to be a pervert; he was looking at the design of the silk drawers she wore. Ever since entering the courtyard, Xue Li had been covering her nose, as if the very air Shen Lang breathed was toxic.
“Where is the room that lowly live-in son-in-law stayed in? Seal it off and replace everything inside. Change the blankets, the bedsheets, the mosquito net—all of it. And lay down a new carpet. I’m used to walking on camel hair carpets from the Zhong Clan, so get one of those. Drape all the chairs in silk, and place camel hair cushions on top of them. Replace every bathtub and washbasin in the room, and throw out all the old ones.”
The official at the post station had been about to curry favor with Concubine Zhong’s adopted daughter, but upon hearing her words, he hastily retreated.
‘Better not!’
Trying to flatter a woman who looked down on everyone as if her eyes were on top of her head would not please her. Instead, she would likely say he was too lowly to even have the right to flatter her. She would probably even fault him for breathing the same air in the same courtyard. He had never heard of decorating a room so extravagantly. Not even the Governor-General had demanded such luxury when he visited.
* * *
Dejected, Shen Lang found an inn to stay in. Compared to Shen Lang, Li Qianqiu seemed more at ease. He could finally sleep in a comfortable bed. He found a sense of stability in a simple, weathered room. At that moment, in another room, Shen Lang took out dozens of porcelain bottles from his bundle. One by one, he lined them up on the table. Whenever Shen Lang traveled far from home, he always went fully prepared. Gold coins, clothes, masks, soap—all were necessities. But the most important things were the dozens of treasured bottles he had prepared.
Inside the porcelain bottles were the most potent hallucinogens, sulfuric acid, toxins, and more. He couldn't help it. One always had to be wary of others, and these things were essential for dealing with people. So, every time Shen Lang left home, he always brought them all. One never knew when they might suddenly be needed; in life, one could never predict what kind of enemies they might encounter. However, the contents of these porcelain bottles were too vicious. That girl, Xue Li, was extremely rude, but she hadn't committed a crime worthy of death. Shen Lang pondered for a long time before finally selecting one porcelain bottle.
‘This is it. This should be good!’
It was a liquid Shen Lang had extracted from an unknown plant. The plant’s rhizomes and leaves were covered in thick, toad-like bumps. The leaves were so poisonous that accidentally touching them was a major problem. Countless small blisters would continuously form where the skin had made contact, and the itching was beyond compare—so intense that peeling off a layer of skin would feel better. Moreover, no medicine worked; the ordeal only ended when the poison had run its full course, a cycle that lasted a full ten days. And even after the cycle ended, the aftermath was chilling. The affected skin would bleed or ooze pus before scabbing over.
Fortunately, once that layer of skin peeled off, new, soft skin would be revealed underneath, leaving no scars and posing no threat to one's life. But the process itself was excruciatingly painful.
Next, Shen Lang took out a brush and, recalling from memory, drew the shape of the silk drawers on a piece of paper. It was an exact replica of the ones Xue Li wore. He even duplicated the mandarin duck pattern embroidered on the silk. These were the kind of close-fitting undergarments worn in ancient times.
Shen Lang left the inn, went to the largest silk shop to find the exact same silk, and then paid a hefty sum to have a master seamstress at the shop quickly make a pair of silk drawers. In less than an hour, a pair identical to the one Xue Li wore was complete.
After returning to the inn, Shen Lang applied the poison from the unknown plant to the drawers. He wore gloves throughout the entire process. If even a drop of the liquid touched his hands, it would be a disaster. His hands would be covered in rash-like blisters that would take at least ten days to subside, so he was extremely careful.
After applying the liquid to the drawers, Shen Lang washed them with clean water again, though he only rinsed the surface. The poison from the plant’s liquid was incredibly effective with just the slightest skin contact. Next, Shen Lang used a fan to dry the drawers, and finally, he took out some rose oil and sprinkled it evenly over them. Once everything was done, Shen Lang knocked on the door of the room where the Sword King, Li Qianqiu, was staying.
“Senior Sword King, you owe me a favor, don’t you? Would you mind repaying it now?”
Hearing Shen Lang’s request, the Sword King, Li Qianqiu, was dumbfounded.
‘Is the debt owed by me, the Sword King, so worthless? That was a promise as heavy as a thousand pieces of gold. You could send me a thousand miles away to kill someone or save someone, and I would agree. My promise could be used to save your life in a critical moment. And now you’re using such a precious promise to have me deliver a woman’s silk drawers? You’re asking the esteemed Sword King to do such a thing?’
“I’m truly sorry. I don’t know any martial arts. If I did, I would have gone myself. Xue Li is surrounded by masters. Over a hundred warriors are protecting her, so to handle this without anyone knowing, it requires someone of a Grandmaster’s caliber to accomplish it secretly.”
Li Qianqiu was stunned.
‘Are Grandmasters really so cheap? A Grandmaster has to go and secretly swap a woman’s undergarments?’
“Of course, you don’t have to agree. I followed you all the way south, over a thousand miles, out of the sincerity of my heart. You don’t need to feel indebted to me. In the future, I will still do my utmost to save your wife. Please, don’t feel the slightest burden in your heart.”
Li Qianqiu was rendered even more speechless.
‘After you’ve said all that, how could I possibly refuse your request?’
Shen Lang had traveled a great distance to help him without a second thought and had even promised to cure his wife of her poison in the future. Initially, Li Qianqiu hadn’t held out much hope when Shen Lang made the offer, but now, he was beginning to feel a glimmer of it. He thought that perhaps only someone as wicked as Shen Lang could cure such a wicked poison.
“Senior Sword King, Xue Li is Xue Xue’s cousin. She just visited my Count of Xuanwu’s Estate to announce the breaking of her engagement to my brother-in-law. Her insulting me is a small matter, but trampling on the dignity of my father-in-law’s family is unforgivable.”
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, still said nothing.
“I know. It’s beneath the dignity of an esteemed Grandmaster to do such a thing. But… no one will know you did it, will they?”
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, finally spoke.
“A man of my humble origins, what dignity do I have?”
“The women of the Xue Clan are all venomous. They need to learn that the world is a fearsome place.”
Having personally witnessed Shen Lang pour sulfuric acid into Viscount Zhu Nanting’s mouth, Li Qianqiu was worried about Xue Li and said to him.
“Xue Li, that girl, hasn’t committed a crime worthy of death.”
“She won’t die, nor will her life be in danger. She will simply learn a small lesson. She won’t be able to act so dismissively of others in the future.”
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, still didn’t agree. Shen Lang sighed and said.
“Fine. I won’t trouble someone who is unwilling. I’ll go myself!”
And with that, Shen Lang started to head outside.
‘You’ll go alone? You’ll be beaten to death before you even get inside the post station.’
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, sighed. He put on the gloves Shen Lang had brought, picked up the silk drawers, and with a tap of his foot, he flew out the door like a swallow. A moment later, his figure vanished without a trace. Seeing this, Shen Lang was filled with envy.
‘Huh, there are even more benefits to learning martial arts. If I learned such movement techniques, I could slip into any woman’s window. Then there’d be no woman I couldn’t have.’
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, returned in less than an hour. He had completed the task with ease. Xue Li had just finished bathing and had hung her clothes outside to dry, making it easy to switch the silk drawers. The Sword King had silently replaced her drawers with the ones laced with the plant’s poison. Upon his return, the Sword King pushed Xue Li’s silk drawers into Shen Lang’s hands. They were, of course, the ones she had just taken off and washed.
Without a word, the Sword King returned to his room. He resolved to take Shen Lang back to the Count of Xuanwu’s estate the next day and then leave without a moment’s delay. He felt it would be best to reduce his interactions with Shen Lang in the future. Otherwise, he was likely to do things that would cause him to lose sleep at night. In fact, that night, Li Qianqiu truly couldn't sleep. He was startled awake by a nightmare in which a certain scene played over and over. He dreamt he was being fiercely slapped across the face by his wife repeatedly.
“Li Qianqiu, you lowly cur! To think you would do such a thing! I’m divorcing you!”
In his dream, the Sword King was terrified. Whether the Sword King was suffering from nightmares or not, Shen Lang took the damp, freshly washed silk drawers, dried them by the fire, and then carefully folded them. He planned to give them to Jin Mucong as a gift.
* * *
The next morning.
Xu Qianqian was woken early by others and soon joined the group for washing up and breakfast. After finishing her routine, she quickly returned to her post: sweeping the courtyard. The moment a single leaf fell to the ground, ten beautiful women would rush forward, fighting to sweep it up with their brooms. Xu Qianqian’s back ached as if it would break. She had never slept on a large communal bed in her life, nor had she ever slept under such coarse blankets.
‘I came to Raging Tide City to be a spy. I came to infiltrate Qiu Yao'er's inner circle as a confidante, not to sweep floors. And I can’t even do that properly.’
She couldn't get an opportunity at all. Since being relegated to sweeping floors, she hadn't even been able to see Qiu Yao'er’s face. To meet Qiu Yao'er, she would have to climb three ranks.
There was a head maid in charge of the courtyards, a head maid in charge of the castle towers, and the personal maids who attended to Qiu Yao'er. As a floor sweeper, Xu Qianqian didn't even have the chance to meet the maids who served Qiu Yao'er personally, so meeting Qiu Yao'er herself was completely out of the question. It seemed there were too many mountains to climb. If Shen Lang knew she was sweeping floors, he would surely die of laughter.