By the time I reached home, I was already in the mindset to kill her.

I landed softly on the green grass and spread my senses, confirming that Wu Yan was still inside the wooden house, cultivating. She didn’t need to see something like this.

Despite how she usually acted, Wu Yan was a soft girl. She liked Fu Yating. That kind of attachment was inevitable when someone cooked for you, took care of you and watched over you every day… feelings grew.

Fu Yating was sitting on the rocking chair in the yard, acting like everything was normal. Like nothing had changed. Like she wasn’t plotting anything.

She smiled at me.

I smiled back.

I walked closer. Fu Yating stood up, and it looked like she was going to hug me, rushing over with a broad smile.

Well, I suppose she had reason to be happy. She was finally going to kill the man responsible, directly or indirectly, for the massacre of her family. The same man she’d been stuck living with. Pretending with.

She reached arm’s length.

I decided on decapitation.

Simple. Clean.

But just as she was about to step in close, she stopped. Her smile widened.

“You’ll never guess what happened today,” she said.

I don’t know why I hesitated.

Maybe it was sentiment. Perhaps I wanted to hear her last words. Maybe a part of me still wanted to believe she wouldn’t betray me.

Either way, I hesitated.

And in that instant, she spoke.

“Well, some guy came around and gave me a vial of poison,” she said, almost too casually. “Said I should put it in your food.”

She pulled out a purple vial. It looked exactly like the one I’d seen earlier.

“I mean, the guy was an absolute dumbass. What did he think I was going to do? Get rid of the only shield I have from the ruthless bastards out there?” She sighed, and her smirk twisted into something sharp. “I like a soft monster more than a cold, ruthless one.”

She handed me the vial, and I stared at it.

Slowly, all the tension left my body.

“Also,” she added, “I trusted you to be smart enough to have some surveillance around here.”

“I actually didn’t,” I said with a grin. “I just decided to trust you.”

“Oh yeah? And that murderous look in your eyes when you walked in? That was just my imagination, huh?”

“You noticed that?”

“Of course,” she said. “You need to work on hiding that better. Even if I had wanted to kill you, the second I saw that look, I would’ve known something was up. I’d have spilled the beans anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she admitted. Then, she narrowed her eyes just slightly. “Though I did think for a moment that maybe the masked guy was you, trying to test me.”

I blinked.

“…That wasn’t the case, was it?” She asked.

“No,” I said, still staring at the vial. “That wasn’t me.”

“Then it seems like you’ve got a really mentally challenged enemy who wants a stab at you,” she said. “Still, better not to underestimate anyone.”

“Of course,” I agreed.

“So…” she tilted her head, eyes narrowing, “I get the feeling you already know who that guy was. Am I trustworthy enough to get an answer?”

“No, not really,” I said flatly.

“What?” she huffed. “I just chose not to betray you.”

“Or,” I replied, “you noticed my mood and decided to spill the beans.”

“True,” she nodded, gaze sharpening. “But that guy could totally be you, and you’re just trying to hide it.”

She could think what she wanted. I doubted even she believed that theory too much.

“Why didn’t you betray me?” I asked.

This time, I wanted the truth. No nonsense.

“Ah, yes. Let me betray my sole benefactor and the only person standing between me and the rest of the lunatic cultivators out there,” she said dryly.

Then she added, “Just to clarify, I think Wu Yan is a cute girl and deep down, a soft person. Kind of like you. She even acts annoyed when we have our little moments. But if you died? She wouldn’t lift a finger to protect me.”

She crossed her arms. “And that turtle of yours with the weird name, Speedy? He’s actually ruthless. Which, I mean, expected from an animal. But he’d crush my head between his jaws if he even suspected me.”

“Hey, no need to insult Speedy’s character,” I said. “Behind that shell is a very kind soul.”

“Are you actually offended or just messing with me?” Fu Yating frowned.

“A bit of both,” I admitted. “I don’t mind insults on my person. Honestly, I kind of enjoy them, especially when you get creative. But Speedy’s different. He’s my weak point.”

“Like a reverse scale?” she asked, smirking.

“Yes,” I said seriously. “He’s saved my life more than once. I still feel guilty about using him as a shield against that one attack that cracked his shell.”

I twirled the purple poison vial in my fingers, then finally slid it into my pocket.

I had a strong suspicion about who the masked man was.

Song San.

The whole setup screamed of him. Poison expertise. Advanced stealth technique. Cold detachment.

Sure, it was a bit of a stretch. Because if true, that meant he had broken through to Core Formation before his sister, Song Song. But he fit every criteria otherwise.

How he managed that? No idea.

But it had happened. And reaching Core Formation isn’t something you just do with a few pills and good lighting. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a Sky Grade technique that accelerated cultivation. Those were absurdly rare, the kind people would murder for.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Next time, don’t play around so much,” I said, eyeing her. “I was this close to killing you.”

“Wait, really?” Fu Yating blinked.

“Yep,” I said without missing a beat.

“Not even a little hesitation? I thought you were a reasonable person!”

“Do I look like a reasonable person?” I asked.

She tilted her head and gave me a long, considering look.

“I mean… yeah?”

“Well,” I said, grinning, “you just learned not to judge a book by its cover.”

I tapped my chest.

“I’m super unreasonable.”

That seemed to hit her in the face. Her smirk faltered into a frown, and for a moment she looked genuinely bummed out.

But then… a mischievous grin slowly crept across her face again.

“Wait, why were you so angry again?” she asked.

“It seems like your intelligence has been decreasing quite a bit lately,” I muttered under my breath but still loud enough for her to hear.

Then I raised my voice, more clearly this time. “I mean, who wouldn’t be angry when they were betrayed?”

“Well,” she shrugged casually, “if you didn’t care about me, or if some part of you didn’t trust me to begin with, then there’d be no reason to be angry.”

She said it like it made perfect sense.

What did that even mean? That betrayal is only upsetting when it comes from someone you trust? That’s a stupid way to think. Maybe I’d overestimated her intelligence.

“So that means,” she continued, mockingly laughing, “that you cared enough about me to actually be hurt by the idea of betrayal.”

I stared at her.

She wasn’t wrong, not entirely. But I wasn’t about to admit that. Not to her. She’d never let me hear the end of it.

“Despite that,” I said flatly, “I wouldn’t have had any problem killing you. I did warn you when you agreed to all this that I’d kill you at the first hint of betrayal.”

Her smile only grew.

“Oh? Then was it just my imagination, or did you hesitate there at the end?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“You were testing me," I said.

“Well, kind of,” she said. “Mostly to make sure you weren’t the masked guy. But still, my heart melted. I see the kind, soft, loving person behind that cold exterior.”

Judging by the smug expression on her face, I knew this was an argument I’d already lost. She’d claimed victory, and nothing I said would change her mind. Whether or not she believed her theory didn’t matter; she liked it enough to mention it as if it were the absolute truth.

“I’m going to have a professional look at this,” I said, tapping the pocket where I’d stashed the poison vial.

She nodded, still smiling like she’d won some private war.

I wrapped myself in jade armor and levitated off the ground, flying toward Zun Gon’s home.

A part of me still didn’t fully trust Fu Yating. But we’d both revealed almost all our cards. If either of us wanted to, we could destroy the other.

She knew things I’d done in the shadows, things that would cause serious problems if exposed.

And me? I could also ruin her reputation. She wasn’t an angel either. After her clan was massacred, she made deals with me, with self-serving and morally gray deals. No one liked someone who didn’t grieve their family. Especially not a family that raised her well and paid to send her to one of the great sects.

By the time I arrived, Zun Gon was meditating outside his small stone hut.

He might be preparing for a breakthrough, likely waiting until after winter.

As I landed, I walked straight up to Zun Gon.

“Do you know anyone well-versed in poisons?” I asked.

“Judging by the fact that’s the first thing out of your mouth, I’m going to assume this is an emergency,” he said, rising to his full height, casting a shadow over me. “Are you poisoned?”

“No. But I need someone to look at this.” I pulled out the vial.

“Hmmm…” He rubbed his chin, all business now. “I don’t know as much about poisons as I should. But I’ve had to deal with them before. Got help from some pros back in the day. Follow me.”

His Qi flared to life suddenly, like an inferno released all at once. The ground beneath him cracked, scorched by the sheer heat pouring off his body. In the next instant, he launched upward, a blazing streak against the sky, tearing through the air like a reverse meteor, not falling but rising.

I didn't hesitate.

In a single breath, I wrapped myself in my jade armor. The translucent layers shimmered to life around me, forming a tight, radiant shell that hugged my body and hummed with protective energy. Then I kicked off the ground and shot upward, the wind roaring past as I chased his trail through the clouds, the sky splitting around us.

Zun Gon might not have been the best leader. He was too direct and practical, but he was easy to like. No politics, no games, no offense taken over every little thing.

He led me to the far edge of the outer sect, where the wall around the mountain rose like a jagged curtain. A low, stone building was tucked into its base, almost invisible if you didn’t know what you were looking for. A place meant to be overlooked.

We landed just outside its entrance. Without a word, Zun Gon stepped forward and knocked on the heavy door. Three firm, deliberate raps.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the door creaked open.

An old man stood behind it, the light from inside casting deep shadows across his lined face. A coiled snake tattoo curled along his left cheek, its tail disappearing behind his ear, its fanged mouth resting just below his eye. The ink shimmered faintly with residual Qi.

He looked at us both with calm, patient eyes as if he’d been expecting the knock long before it came.

“Liu Feng, this is Du Yanzhi. He’s an outer elder who handles poisons and minor injuries,” Zun Gon said. “One of the best poison experts in the region. If he had a bit more talent, I’m sure he’d be an inner elder by now.”

I nodded. “It’s an honor to meet you, Elder Yanzhi.”

Usually, I’d bow my head. But I was an elder too now. Bowing would come off as self-deprecating, not respectful.

Du Yanzhi nodded, bowing his head slightly in return. “The honor’s all mine, Elder Feng.”

“Liu Feng here has a poison he wants analyzed,” Zun Gon said. “Do you have a moment?”

“Come in,” Du Yanzhi said, stepping aside.

Inside was… creepy.

The moment I stepped through the threshold, the air changed. It became thicker, heavier, and saturated with the scent of old things. The walls were lined with dark wooden shelves, each one crowded with strange and unsettling contents. Jars of murky green liquid held coiled, preserved snakes. Some of the serpents were small and delicate, others disturbingly large, their pale eyes staring through the glass as if still aware.

Bundles of dried herbs hung from the ceiling in clusters, crackling softly with every stir of air. I recognized some bloodroot and spiritvine, while others gave off sharp, unfamiliar smells that made my nose twitch and my skin prickle. Serpent eyes, actual eyes, sat in shallow trays staring blankly at the ceiling. Meanwhile, fangs, some as long as fingers, were arranged in ritualistic rows like offerings to something ancient.

The entire room reeked of rot, and the bitterness of alchemy pushed past the point of comfort.

“What poison am I looking at?” he asked, bringing me back from my thoughts about his home.

I handed him the vial without a word.

He took it with practiced fingers, his expression unreadable as he held it up to the dim light. The thick liquid inside caught the glow faintly, swirling in slow, viscous motions. He examined it for a few silent seconds, then turned and walked over to a squat black pot nestled into a bed of glowing coals.

The pot was filled with a thick, brown stew-like mixture that smelled of burned herbs and metallic bitterness. He uncorked the vial without ceremony and let a single drop fall in.

It struck the surface with a soft plink.

At first, nothing. No flash, no sizzle, not even a change in color. The surface rippled once, then stilled.

But the old man’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t blink. Just stared into the pot for another second before slowly turning to face me, his expression darkening.

“This is very dangerous,” he said quietly, his voice low and firm. “I’d ask where you got it.”

I met his gaze evenly. “That’s… private information,” I replied carefully. “Saying too much could endanger lives. Including yours.”

He didn’t argue. Just nodded slowly. “Fair enough.”

Then he gestured toward the pot again. “I can’t tell you much with total certainty, but I ran it through every poison-detection and detoxification technique I know. This stuff is not normal. It’s extremely dangerous, but not in the usual way.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It’s got something like… a mental component. Almost like a mind-control agent,” he said. “It reminds me of a rare rodent poison, a strain that causes rats to attack cats. Some strange brain-altering compound. But this version is much more sophisticated.”

“So… someone could be controlled just by ingesting this?” I asked, frowning.

“Exactly,” he nodded. “It doesn’t work by killing. It works like a plague. A command waiting for a trigger. A specific scent, maybe. You inhale it, and your will isn’t your own.”

I stared at the vial in silence.

This was way beyond normal poison. Mind control? Scent triggers? That wasn’t simple poison or alchemy. That was calculated, crafted malice.

This had to be Song San.

The stealth technique, the poison knowledge, the audacity? It all fit. Even if he had broken through to Core Formation ahead of his sister, I wouldn’t be surprised. Not if he had access to something like a Sky Grade technique.

And he’d lied to Fu Yating, too. That was… expected.

Now the question was, what the hell was I going to do about it?