Poison Genius Consort

The needle was aimed for none other than Long Feiye, which was why Tang Li was feeling uneasy! The Pear Blossom Teardrop Rain needles were quite vicious, but still wouldn’t escape the notice of high-level experts. Long Feiye and Ning Cheng both sensed the weapon flying towards them. Because it came from the direction of Han Yunxi and Tang Li, Ning Cheng was convinced that he was their target. He didn’t move, but his eyes flashed with disdain and disgust.

He almost thought that Han Yunxi was different from Chu Qingge, but it looks like she wasn’t anyone remarkable. Stupid beyond belief, he decided.

No, she’s even more of an imbecile than Chu Qingge! She actually attacked first in a place like this, and even with a hidden weapon. Not only that, she was found out with her first blow.

What a joke!

As the needle drew closer, Ning Cheng’s scorn shone stronger from his eyes. As if a mere needle could hurt me. He cradled his wine cup in his hand as he continued to compete in drinking against Long Feiye. His other rested against the table, preparing to block the weapon as soon as it came close and humiliate Long Feiye.

Of all the women you could find, you picked this idiot to be by your side.

Ning Cheng waited, but as time passed, he realized something wasn’t right. The strength and direction of the needle wasn’t aiming for him, but Long Feiye instead.

Is Han Yunxi insane? She wanted to sneak attack Long Feiye?

Once again, Ning Cheng’s perceptions of Han Yunxi changed completely. Was she even stupider than he imagined to completely miss her mark? Or was she a crafty, treacherous woman set on betraying Long Feiye? Besides those options, Ning Cheng couldn’t think of any other reason to puzzle her out. 

Long Feiye was far more familiar with assassination weapons than Ning Cheng, especially if they came from the Tang Clan. He could tell that the needle was aiming for him as soon as it flew towards them from their backs. Moreover, the strength and speed of the needle showed that it came from within Han Yunxi’s hidden bracelet in her sleeve.

What is this woman doing?

Truthfully speaking, Long Feiye had no idea, but he didn’t doubt a minute. He sat still and made no move to defend against the attack at all. The needle sank smoothly into Long Feiye’s back---not very deep, but firm enough to stay put. Long Feiye could remove it just by shifting his posture slightly, but he didn’t. The position of the needle wouldn’t take his life, but only Han Yunxi knew what kind poison she had smeared on its tip. Long Feiye simply acted as if nothing had happened and continued his drinking contest with Ning Cheng. He rarely drank, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hold his liquor. He didn’t even touch the wine cup to his lips, but dumped its contents into his throat with every swig and drained it dry. 

Even his drinking motions were so handsome! While he paid no mind to the needle in his back, Ning Cheng grew more preoccupied by the object. Long Feiye cast him a cold glance before setting a row of cups on the table and slowly pouring wine into them again. Once all the cups were full, he looked up at Ning Cheng again and said, “How about 10 cups?”

The two of them had no rules when it came to their contest, but simply competed in terms of quantity. Ning Cheng was full of doubts, but agreed all the same. He wouldn’t be drunk even after 100 cups, to say nothing of 10. But Long Feiye would definitely turn tipsy. No matter how well Long Feiye drank (even if he drank better than Ning Cheng), he would still lose! Because the wine here was filled with a special drug called Distiller’s Grain #7. A single jug of wine only needed one drop to double its alcohol content. They were drinking hard liquor to begin with, which was enough to turn any ordinary man drunk after one cup. Even the best of them couldn’t stand more than 10. But he and Long Feiye had already polished off 15 cups each. Ning Cheng had taken an antidote beforehand and was simply waiting for Long Feiye to turn drunk out of his mind.

“10 cups?” Ning Cheng was a little incredulous. “It looks like Your Highness Duke of Qin has a great capacity for liquor.”

Long Feiye stopped wasting words and got straight to the point. He picked up the first cup and downed its contents. If Ning Cheng didn’t hurry up, he was going to lose. But if he matched Long Feiye, then whoever turned drunk first would be the loser. Ning Cheng naturally followed suit, pouring himself 10 cups and downing the contents in one gulp just like his rival.

Both Chu Yunyi and General Chu were gobsmacked by the sight. Meanwhile, Tang Li was still stroking his chin and trying to figure out what the needle in Long Feiye’s back meant. He wasn’t worried about Long Feiye’s alcohol tolerance, because even 10 tankards of wine like this was normally nothing to Long Feiye. Han Yunxi hadn’t witnessed Long Feiye drinking much before, so she didn’t know about his tolerance. But she wasn’t worried either. Right now, her focus was on changing the needles in Gu Beiyue’s back, her eyes hooded with concentration. 

Very soon, both Ning Cheng and Long Feiye downed ten cups of wine. Long Feiye sat sitting without a change in his expression, looking cold and noble. He didn’t seem like someone who had drank at all. Ning Cheng was calm and unruffled as well, making the victor between them unclear.

But Ning Cheng didn’t understand: why isn’t Long Feiye drunk yet? Hard liquor spiked with Distiller’s Grain #7 should be enough to turn anyone unconscious within 20 cups. Long Feiye had already drank 25, so why didn’t he react at all?

Why?

While Ning Cheng was puzzling over this, Long Feiye refilled the ten cups in front of him again. A complicated look flashed past Ning Cheng’s eyes. He didn’t follow suit immediately, but the servant by his side lightly coughed a few times. This was to remind Ning Cheng that his antidote was only good for 25 cups of wine at most. If he kept going, there wouldn’t be any left in his body to deal with the alcohol in this wine. According to his calculations, he could last five more cups before turning utterly drunk.

“Not following suit?” Long Feiye asking provokingly.

Ning Cheng’s cold face was the only answer he gave, but he still began to fill his cups. Once they were all full, the two started drinking again, but Ning Cheng was starting to suspect the needle in Long Feiye’s back. 

By now, Han Yunxi had finished her acupuncture treatment on Gu Beiyue. She cleaned up all her needles and was about to get up when Lil Thing suddenly jumped on Gu Beiyue’s leg and tore at his clothes, revealing his injured knee. Seeing this, Han Yunxi was stunned and quickly went to inspect the wound. She carefully enlarged the cut and sucked in a cold breath at the sight. This was a wound from a Chu Clan arrow that had pierced past the tendons and sinews. Han Yunxi carefully looked over the wound and discovered that it had been there for a long time. Its current healing prospects were bad. For one thing, it hadn’t been treated in time after the injury occurred. For another, someone had stopping applying the medicine before the cut fully healed up. Moreover, Gu Beiyue’s body had a terrible healing factor that couldn’t deal with such a severe injury on its own at all.

The more Han Yunxi looked, the angrier and more impatient she felt. Gu Beiyue’s treatment couldn’t be delayed! Although his tendons hadn’t been severed, they were still torn. A regular arrow wouldn’t do this, but whoever shot him had been cunning enough to aim for a specific spot so that removing the arrow would harm the sinew. Unless someone supported him, it would be impossible for Gu Beiyue to stand, much less walk! In other words, his leg was completely crippled now! She wasn’t even sure if this could be cured, but she had to strive for time. The earlier they could treat him, the better. There would be less side effects as well!

At this moment, Lil Thing pointed at Gu Beiyue’s right shoulder and began to cheep. Han Yunxi’s heart gave a jolt as she realized it must have discovered another injury. She threw all conventions of male-female relationships outside the window and quickly took out a tiny pair of scissors to cut away the cloth over his shoulder. As it turned out, this wound was even worse than his leg! The offending weapon had pierced straight into his shoulder and gone out the other side. Like his leg, the recovery prospects for this shoulder looked low. Heaven knows how much he had bled from the wound? Now the bleeding had stopped and the sound seemed half-healed, but the damage to his bone was long-lasting and impossible to cure. Even if the skin closed up, he would always feel pain from his shoulder in his coming days.

Injured bones couldn’t heal that easily.

Besides the Tang Li’s assassination weapons, it was only the Chu Clan’s Driving Arrow Arts that could pierce a body with such strength! What a Chu Clan!

Han Yunxi’s entire aura grew sinisters as she emanated killing intent. She suddenly strode into the pavilion and glared at Chu Yunyi and General Chu before telling Long Feiye, “We must return immediately. Gu Beiyue was severely injured by the Chu Clan’s arrows, we can’t afford to delay!”

Gu Beiyue wasn’t bleeding as much as Gu Qishao when he was injured, nor in any urgent need of blood transfusions. His shoulder could also afford to wait a couple of hours when it was already like that. 

But!

Gu Beiyue’s leg injury had been neglected for too long and needed immediate care. Han Yunxi wasn’t even sure if he could walk normally again, but she only had the thought to save him as much as she could as soon as possible. They wouldn’t be able to find instantaneous treatment even after leaving Fenglin City because she didn’t know how to treat him herself. She had to get in contact with Medical City’s Third Elder Shen ASAP because this went beyond the skills of ordinary doctors. Only Sage Level physicians like the elder had a chance to give Gu Beiyue a full recovery.

Thus, her most important task now was to buy Gu Beiyue time and get him medicine as soon as she could. But Long Feiye didn’t even get to reply before Ning Cheng said with a cold laugh, “Men are drinking, so women should just wait on the side.”

Unfortunately, Han Yunxi simple chose to ignore his existence. Finding the situation awkward, Ning Cheng tried to speak again but was cut off by Long Feiye standing up. “We’ll stop here for now and compete another day.”

He moved to leave with Han Yunxi, but Ning Cheng set down his cup and stood up as well. “Duke of Qin, you can’t afford the loss?”

“Are you sure your lordship will lose if we kept competing?” Long Feiye retorted.

Without hesitation, Ning Cheng declared, “Certain!”

At that, Han Yunxi picked up the wine from the table and splashed it in Ning Cheng’s face! Absolute silence fell on the crowd as Ning Cheng stood there with droplets dripping off his chin...