12: Chapter 12 Su Ye is poisoned

The moment that brownish-red medicinal liquid slid down his throat,

it didn't feel like medicine at all.

Instead, it felt like a mass of scalding magma pouring directly from a volcano's mouth, threatening to burn through Su Ye's internal organs.

Bitter.

That was the distinctive, fishy bitterness of red refining snake gallbladder bile, like swallowing a whole, still-pulsating snake gallbladder raw.

Sweet.

That was the cloying sweetness of purified huan flower pollen, sticky and clinging to the back of the throat, impossible to swallow cleanly.

And there was also an indescribable, strange fragrance.

A scent of rosemary mixed with heavenly star grass shot straight to the crown of his head.

"Boom!"

Su Ye only felt a buzzing in his head, as if something had exploded.

It's over.

This time, it's really over.

What kind of "Intoxicating Dream Soul-Dissolving Soup" was this?

This was clearly the Samadhi True Fire from the Great Supreme Elderly Lord's Pill Furnace!

Jiang Nian finally finished transferring the entire mouthful of medicinal liquid.

She slowly raised her head.

Their lips separated.

A glistening, translucent thread stretched between them, snapped, and finally landed silently on Su Ye's chin.

It was the epitome of ambiguity.

The height of intimacy.

Jiang Nian's little face was flushed red, as if she had just finished some strenuous exercise, and she was panting heavily.

Her eyes were dazed, carrying a hint of mischievous glee from doing something bad, mixed with a touch of shyness from her first attempt at something forbidden.

"Senior Brother..."

"You drank it all."

She extended her pink tongue, licking the corner of her mouth with lingering satisfaction.

She seemed to still be savoring the strange taste of the medicine and the warmth of Senior Brother's lips.

However,

the next second,

her expression froze.

On the bed,

Su Ye, who had only been slightly flushed before, was now undergoing a terrifying change.

Red.

An eerie red.

Starting from his neck, that crimson flush spread wildly across his entire body like a rising tide.

Cheeks, earlobes, chest...

Even the fingertips peeking from his sleeves were so red they seemed about to drip blood.

A visible wave of heat rose from the top of Su Ye's head.

Just like a kettle brought to a boil.

The temperature inside the Listening to Rain Pavilion seemed to rise several degrees in that instant.

Although Su Ye couldn't move, the spiritual energy within his body, like startled wild horses, began to run rampant through his Meridians.

Hot!

So hot!

Every inch of his skin felt as if it were being roasted on a red-hot iron plate.

Every pore was screaming, trying to expel this intense heat.

[Ding!]

[Warning! Warning!]

[High concentration aphrodisiac substance detected in host's body.]

[red refining snake gallbladder (extremely potent Yang) and huan flower pollen (extremely gentle Yin) are undergoing a violent reaction.]

[Medicinal potency amplification: 300%.]

[Current status: Consumed by Desire (Passive).]

The System's notifications flooded his mind, the red exclamation marks flashing so rapidly they dazzled Su Ye.

"System! You son of a...!"

"Didn't you just say it would slightly boost blood vitality?!"

"Is this what you call 'slight'?! I'm about to spontaneously combust!"

Su Ye roared inwardly.

That heat wasn't just on the surface of his skin; it had seeped into the very marrow of his bones.

It was humanity's most primitive instinct being forcibly awakened.

Even though he was a vegetative state person.

Even though his Meridians had just been repaired.

In the face of such potent medicine, the body's honesty far surpassed the control of his mind.

His heart pounded like thunder.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Each beat felt like it would burst through his chest.

His blood flow accelerated to its limit, producing a roaring sound like a raging river.

Jiang Nian was dumbfounded by this sight.

She sat dazedly by the bedside, still clutching that tattered copy of the incomplete scroll of the plain maiden classic.

Her large eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness.

"How... how could this be?"

"The book clearly said that after taking the medicine, the complexion would be slightly flushed, the breath long and steady..."

"But Senior Brother now..."

This was far from 'slightly flushed'.

He was practically as red as a boiled shrimp!

Moreover, Senior Brother's body temperature was frighteningly high. Even from a distance, she could feel the wave of heat radiating from him.

"Could it be the dosage was wrong?"

Panicked, Jiang Nian flipped open the book, her trembling finger pointing at the text.

"red refining snake gallbladder, three qian..."

"Did I put in three liang?"

"Heavenly star grass, two stalks..."

"I think I threw in the whole bundle..."

Jiang Nian's face instantly turned deathly pale.

It was true she was an Alchemy Genius, and her control over herbs was usually extremely precise.

But this was medicine for her beloved Senior Brother!

As the saying goes, anxiety leads to mistakes.

Coupled with her obsession to help Senior Brother "regain his vigor," it was inevitable that her hand shook... just a tiny bit when adding ingredients.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother, are you alright?"

Jiang Nian threw down the book, flustered as she reached out to touch Su Ye.

The moment her hand made contact with Su Ye's arm,

"Hiss!"

As if burned, she instantly pulled it back.

So hot!

At this temperature, a Mortal would have been cooked long ago!

Even a cultivator, without spiritual energy to protect them, would likely have their brain fried.

She blinked.

And blinked again.

As an innocent maiden untouched by worldly affairs, who spent her days among herbs and flowers (though with a slightly yandere subconscious),

her entire understanding of relations between men and women came from that tattered book with only text and crude illustrations.

She was baffled.

Utterly baffled.

"This... this is..."

"The book said... 'standing firm like a golden spear'..."

"So... this is what it looks like?"

Jiang Nian muttered to herself, half-understanding.

But her intuition told her the current situation was dangerous.

Extremely dangerous.

Senior Brother's current state didn't look like recovery; instead, he resembled a Vicious Beast trapped in a cage, on the verge of going berserk.

Under those tightly shut eyelids, his eyeballs were rolling violently.

On his forehead, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down.

Sweat soaked his temples, sliding down his cheeks, mixing with the medicinal residue from before.

Emitting a kind of...

flustering hormonal scent.

"Hot..."

"So hot..."

A stifled groan was squeezed from Su Ye's throat.

His voice was hoarse, magnetic.

Like a hook, it instantly snagged Jiang Nian's heart and soul.

"Senior Brother is saying he's hot..."

Jiang Nian panicked.

Seeing Su Ye's agonized appearance, her heart ached so much she was about to cry.

"It's all Nian Nian's fault."

"Nian Nian shouldn't have added so much snake gallbladder."

"Nian Nian will help you cool down right now."

Flustered, she pulled out a few Cooling Talismans from her bosom, intending to stick them on Su Ye.

But the moment the Talismans touched Su Ye's scorching skin,

"Pfft!"

They instantly ignited without fire, turning into a pile of ash.

Completely useless!

That Yang fire from the red refining snake gallbladder was a substance of utmost Yang and rigidity. Ordinary low-grade Talismans couldn't suppress it.

"How could this be..."

"Even the Cooling Talismans are useless..."

Jiang Nian was so anxious she was spinning in circles.

Looking at Su Ye's increasingly reddened face, she even felt like smoke was about to start pouring from his seven orifices.

If this fire wasn't vented soon,

Senior Brother would definitely suffer severed Meridians and explode to death!

"What to do... what to do..."

Jiang Nian's gaze fell once again on the incomplete scroll of the plain maiden classic.

As if grasping her last straw, she frantically flipped through the pages.

"Antidote... where's the antidote..."

"Side effects... how to handle them..."

The pages rustled as she turned them.

Suddenly,

her finger stopped.

Her eyes fixed on an extremely conspicuous line of small text.

[If medicinal potency is too fierce, Yang fire consumes the body, absolutely do not suppress with ice, otherwise Yin and Yang will clash, damaging the Foundation.]

[Only one method can resolve this calamity.]

Jiang Nian swallowed hard.

In a trembling voice, she read out the line below.

Each word struck the crown of her head like a thunderbolt.

Leaving her utterly stunned.

Even if she was naive, even if she didn't understand matters,

seeing these eight characters, she understood their meaning.

What kind of medical book was this?!

This was a book that forced people to do bad things!

Jiang Nian's face flushed so red it seemed about to bleed.

She looked at Senior Brother, writhing in agony on the bed.

Then she looked at herself.

For a moment, her mind was a complete muddle.

Do it?

Really do that?

If she didn't, Senior Brother would burn to death.

But if she did...

Wouldn't that be taking advantage of him?

"No... this isn't taking advantage."

"This is saving him."

"I'm doing this to save Senior Brother."

Biting her lip, Jiang Nian frantically made excuses for herself in her heart.

Moreover...

Her gaze secretly drifted towards Su Ye's extraordinarily handsome face.

Though it was a bit frighteningly red now,

those sharp, defined features, that tightly furrowed brow, that sexy Adam's apple...

each emitted a fatal attraction.

Deep in her heart,

that long-suppressed little demon named "possessiveness" was screaming wildly.

"He is yours."

"Now, no one can stop you."

"Second Senior Sister isn't here, Revered Master isn't here."

"Once you do it, he'll be yours alone."

Jiang Nian's breathing became ragged.

She felt as if she herself were poisoned.

Her whole body went weak.

Her mouth went dry.

The air in the room seemed to grow thick and sticky, pulling at her reason.

[Ding!]

[Critical plot node detected!]

[Third Junior Sister Jiang Nian's emotional fluctuations have exceeded the threshold.]

[Corruption Progress: 40%... 50%...]

[System Notification: Host, due to your current 'alluring' state, you are significantly stimulating Jiang Nian's criminal psychology.]

[Suggestion: If you don't want to be truly 'devoured,' you'd better think of a way quickly.]

Listening to the System's prompts, Su Ye felt like crying but had no tears.

Think of a way?

Think of a way, my foot!

I can't even move a finger right now!

Apart from this disobedient 'golden spear,' my whole body is limp!

How do you expect me to resist?

By glaring her to death?

Su Ye was truly in a predicament.

The heat inside him was driving him almost mad.

Reason told him he absolutely must not have relations with Third Junior Sister.

This girl might seem soft and cute, but deep down she was obsessive.

Once entangled with her, she would definitely be a ticking time bomb in a future battlefield of love.

And Liu Ruyan was still watching like a tiger eyeing its prey.

Revered Master Nangong Li was an even bigger jealous pot.

If they found out he'd been "forced" by Third Junior Sister...

The scene was too beautiful; Su Ye didn't dare imagine it.

"Water..."

Relying on his last shred of willpower, Su Ye tried to send a distress signal.

Though his voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum,

in this room so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Jiang Nian still caught it.

"Water?"

"Senior Brother, you want water?"

Jiang Nian snapped out of her daze.

She quickly stood up and ran to the table to pour a cup of tea.

But when she returned with the teacup,

she found Su Ye's lips severely parched and cracked, his teeth still tightly clenched.

It was impossible to feed him.

And how could ordinary tea possibly neutralize the poisonous fire of the red refining snake gallbladder?

Jiang Nian's hand holding the teacup froze mid-air.

She looked at her own reflection in the cup.

That face

had, at some point, shed its youthful innocence and timidity.

Replaced by

a kind of resolve.

A fanaticism of being about to sacrifice everything.

"Senior Brother..."

"Ordinary water cannot quench this thirst."

Jiang Nian set down the teacup.

Her voice became unusually calm.

So calm it was frightening.

"Only Nian Nian..."

"is your antidote."

She slowly raised her hand and undid the first button of her collar.

"Rip——"

That was the sound of fabric rubbing.

In this quiet afternoon, it sounded especially jarring.

Although his eyes were closed, Su Ye's Divine Sense keenly perceived Jiang Nian's movements.

Holy crap!

Don't take it off!

Junior Sister, calm down!

This is Purple Bamboo Peak! A sacred cultivation ground!

Not some pleasure house of the Joy Union Sect!

Su Ye screamed wildly in his heart.

But the more agitated he became, the faster the medicinal effects surged within him.

His Qi and blood churned.

That scorching heat assaulted the defenses of his reason even more ferociously.

Jiang Nian's hands trembled slightly.

But her movements didn't pause in the slightest.

Her outer robe slipped off.

Revealing a light green undergarment beneath, embroidered with a few budding lotus flowers.

The maiden's jade-like skin, under the sunlight filtering through the window lattice, glowed with a moist luster.

Though not as voluptuous and alluring as Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan,

nor as cool and lofty as Fourth Senior Sister Ji Wanshuang,

it possessed a unique, youthful beauty.

Like a green plum not yet fully ripe.

Making one unable to resist wanting a taste of that sweet aftertaste following the initial tartness.

Carrying a pleasant maiden's fragrance, she inched closer to Su Ye.

Her eyes held no lewdness.

Only a kind of near-devout obsession.