Vol. 2 - Ch. 74 - The Poison Scripture

Chen Ye walked calmly up to Hua Xiyue.

He reached out his hand.

Realizing his intent, Hua Xiyue passed Xiaofu over to him.

Xiaofu clung to Chen Ye’s shoulder and broke into loud sobs.

“Daddy…”

“Daddy, that…”

“That old grandpa, he… he killed Sister Sidu!”

She choked on her words, her little face full of grief as she cried so hard she could barely breathe.

Chen Ye gently patted Xiaofu’s shoulder, letting his innate internal force flow into her body, soothing her spirit.

“Alright, alright… It’s over now.”

After crying a little longer, Xiaofu began to recover from the shock.

Nestled in Chen Ye’s arms, she continued to sniffle, her eyes red from weeping.

Hua Xiyue studied Chen Ye, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes.

When had this man arrived?

She had chased Xue Ming all the way here, and had never seen him.

When had he taken up position in the shade of that tree?

It made no sense—she was a peak First Rank expert, yet she hadn’t sensed him at all.

Nearby, Xue Ming—still locked in place by the grass leaf strikes—felt Chen Ye’s gaze on him.

A shock ran through him, the hairs on his neck standing on end.

That suffocating sense of death returned, curling coldly in his chest.

“You! You—!”

Cold sweat broke out all over his body, and fear filled his eyes.

Now he understood.

If not for this sudden appearance of the young woman—

He might already be dead.

He had just brushed against the edge of death.

His robes clung damp to his skin, his lips pale.

A sudden thought struck him—he might not survive this day at all…

Chen Ye kept comforting Xiaofu.

From a distance came the faint sounds of footsteps.

A black-clad Qin Yi stepped into the grove, the green sharkskin scabbard in her left hand.

She saw Chen Ye holding Xiaofu, rushed forward, and dropped to one knee.

Her breathing was slightly uneven as she spoke coolly: “Your subordinate is late.”

Chen Ye glanced at her, noting that her aura was fuller and more stable than before.

She had broken through to First Rank.

A faint smile curved his lips. “Stand. Congratulations.”

Qin Yi rose, her head slightly bowed. “I sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough and seized it. That is why I failed to watch over Xiaofu…”

Chen Ye waved it off without concern.

Breaking through from Second to First Rank was rare, and such opportunities were not to be wasted.

Among the Orphanage children with “entries,” Xiaofu was the one he worried least about:

[Blessed Fate]: Will live a life free of illness or disaster, safe and sound; more likely to encounter fortunate events.

[Righteous Spirit]: Protected by upright qi, all evil repelled, fortune improved; sense of justice greatly strengthened.

With those two combined, Xiaofu was unlikely to come to harm.

Even without him, the chivalrous young woman would have intervened.

As he thought this, Chen Ye’s gaze shifted briefly to Hua Xiyue.

She was dressed as a man, youthful in appearance, her features refined and pretty.

No older than twenty, yet already First Rank.

Chen Ye’s trained eyes—sharpened by more than two years of cultivating the Innate One Qi Skill and the Hundredfold Wave Art—saw her cultivation level at a glance.

After a brief look, he withdrew his gaze.

Hua Xiyue, however, stared at Chen Ye and Qin Yi in shock.

She could clearly sense Qin Yi’s strength.

Though a little unstable, Qin Yi had stepped into First Rank—

And by her instincts, Qin Yi was likely an assassin.

A First Rank assassin? There couldn’t be more than a handful in the entire world!

In that instant, Hua Xiyue’s curiosity about Chen Ye grew even stronger.

What exactly was this man’s identity—

“What happened?” Chen Ye asked softly, holding Xiaofu.

Between sniffles, Xiaofu recounted the events.

“That little icy bug jumped into my mouth. Then that bad grandpa killed Sister Sidu… killed her…”

At the memory of her fallen maidservant sister, tears streamed down her cheeks once more.

Listening, Chen Ye studied Xiaofu for a moment.

So the “entry” had activated?

A fortunate encounter?

He turned to Xue Ming, still immobilized.

“What was that insect?”

His tone was calm.

Xue Ming shivered under his gaze.

“That… was the Gu King I cultivated,” he rasped, his voice hoarse.

Tears welled in his eyes, and with a wail, he broke down completely—crying even harder than Xiaofu.

“I… I scoured deep mountains for over a decade, collecting poisonous herbs and insects…”

“Countless effort and resources—gone into raising that Gu King!”

“And now… now it’s been eaten by this brat!”

The grey-haired, stooped Xue Ming sobbed with genuine grief.

Hearing him, Xiaofu paused her own crying, brows knitting with a hint of sympathy.

But remembering that he had killed Sister Sidu, she puffed out her cheeks and wailed even louder.

In the clearing, old and young cried together, each sounding more miserable than the other.

Chen Ye was left speechless.

He could understand the sentiment, though.

Channeling his internal energy into Xiaofu, he examined her.

There was no sign of the Gu King in her stomach—

It seemed it had already been digested.

“What happens when someone eats a Gu King?” he asked.

Poison lore wasn’t his specialty—he was concerned about lingering effects on Xiaofu.

Still weeping, Xue Ming gave her a resentful glance.

“Whoever eats the Gu King will never be harmed by poison again. Their constitution is strengthened, their blood has detoxifying properties, and their cultivation will progress faster…”

The more he spoke, the more bitter his tone became, until he was crying once more.

Over a decade of preparation—gone in a day.

No one could accept that.

A dark thought took hold in him. Life no longer held meaning.

“You may as well kill me,” he said hoarsely, eyes dull.

“In my robes is the Poison Scripture—the sum of my life’s work in the Dao of Poison. The only copy in the world.”

“If you ever find a worthy heir, pass it on, and my life will not have been in vain.”

Closing his eyes, he seemed to age decades in an instant, his face lined with weariness.

Chen Ye listened quietly, still holding Xiaofu.

Then he turned to Qin Yi. “Hand him over to the magistrate.”

From Xiaofu’s perspective, this encounter had been to her benefit.

But from the viewpoint of the dead maidservant, it was a crime.

Kill, and you must pay with your life.

Under Great Wu law, a martial artist who wantonly killed the innocent faced an even heavier sentence.

Chen Ye was not unreasonable.

Xue Ming had taken a life—this was for the law to judge.

“Yes!”

Qin Yi bowed respectfully.

Swish, swish, swish—

More footsteps approached from the distance.

A moment later, several of the Yuye Hall assassins charged into the grove, those tasked with protecting the children.

Chen Ye glanced at them and said to Qin Yi: “You handle it.”

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