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墨書 Inktalez
In an instant, a herd of Alpacas galloped through my mind. No way! Even at my most mischievous, I had never provoked such half-human, half-beast creatures.
Seeing me dazed, my senior sister reminded me, "When you were four and a half, on the back mountain, Master asked you to fetch a Centipede Gallbladder. You were scared and randomly grabbed something to pass off as one. At that time, that Millipede was about to burrow into a snake's belly, and you were startled. Have you forgotten?"
With her reminder, I recalled the incident and couldn't help but shiver. Memories surged back; I was young and thought I was clever, but such shoddy trickery could never escape the eyes of Master Yue. When I returned, Master saw the "Centipede Gallbladder" I submitted and found nothing of value. He simply ordered me to sleep in a Drug Vat that night.
Because of my mischief, this kind of punishment was common, so I didn't think much of it. However, when I arrived at Master's vat and saw what was inside, I was immediately petrified. The vat was filled to the brim with venomous centipedes. Master remained unfazed; these centipedes had just died, their toxins still lingering within. Sleeping here would help us practitioners of poison hone our skills. But I clearly saw some that weren’t quite dead yet; their legs still moved. My face turned pale with terror, and my body trembled uncontrollably.
In the end, I steeled myself and jumped in because I knew Master Yue too well. If I showed any sign of cowardice or disobeyed his orders this time, he would unhesitatingly toss me into a pit of live centipedes while he played chess on the other side.
However, I didn't have much memory of saving some snake due to a twist of fate; perhaps it was my fear of snakes that made me reluctant to pay attention. Even when startled at the time, my self-preservation instincts would automatically try to forget those unpleasant memories. Moreover, given how young I was then, the chances of forgetting were even greater.
My senior sister waved at me enthusiastically while Old Laitou kept grinning foolishly at me. There was no helping it; I had to shuffle over slowly, trying not to look at its tail that twisted like a dancing ribbon. Xu Xian wasn't much different back then.
My senior sister petted Old Laitou's back as if it were a well-behaved dog and pointed at an irregular scar on its back the size of a one-yuan coin. "Look, this scar is from when you killed that Millipede years ago. At that time, it was so small; its armor hadn’t fully developed yet, making it easy prey for the Millipede. If it weren't for you, it would have been devoured long ago."
Old Laitou seemed to understand and gratefully rubbed its head against me. Honestly, its head was not cute at all; it was covered in dry skin with a few hairs sticking up awkwardly on top—goodness! It looked even more appetizing than before. I really didn’t know how my senior sister could bear to touch it.
I instinctively tried to pull away when my senior sister saw right through my thoughts. Just as Old Laitou leaned in closer, she gave me a hard shove from behind, causing Old Laitou to crash into my arms. Oh no! Just as I was about to scream, that snake tail twisted without care and crawled up onto my shoulder, leisurely wrapping around my neck twice.
My heart had never raced so fast before; my breath caught in my throat and stopped completely. The cold-blooded creature's presence seemed to infect me; I felt icy all over as if all the blood in my body had suddenly frozen. Despite my strong reluctance to look, right beneath my eyelids was that thick Python Snake tail—covered in dense green scales with brown spots—still writhing vividly against my retina while my mind went numb. All I could do was stand there frozen without being able to issue any commands.
Time seemed to stretch indefinitely, though it might have only been a few seconds. A Li, risking the wrath of Old Laitou, managed to rescue me from my senior sister's grasp. I heard her say, "You can't do this; Brother Qian Yi is afraid of snakes!"
"Hmph, is that so?" Thanks to my senior sister holding down Old Laitou's head, A Li was spared from harm. She chuckled lightly, but there was no trace of amusement in her voice. "When did you pick up such a bad habit?"
I had just regained my composure, thinking she was referring to my weakness, but upon reflection, it was she who had first discovered this about me. She often used it to tease me.
My senior sister stood up, glaring at me with anger in her eyes, continuing from where she left off: "Can't you speak for yourself? Do you need a megaphone?"
I was taken aback; she was directing her words at A Li. Instinctively, I glanced at A Li. Our eyes met, and I could see her anger rising. Yet, under my senior sister's imposing presence, she dared not speak out and could only sulk in silence, her expression darkening.
In dealing with people, my senior sister had thoroughly inherited the legacy of Yue Master. Individuals like them seemed to possess an innate aura of authority that commanded respect without the need for anger. When they did get angry, it could be deadly. Just a single glare could feel like it could pierce through someone.
Looking back now, this might explain why Yue Master favored my senior sister over me; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent me away all those years ago.
I subtly squeezed A Li's hand to comfort her and urged her not to take it to heart. But when my senior sister shot a glance at me, I quickly released her hand in fear. A Li's face fell further; she seemed even angrier.
The matter with Shui Lai Tou came to a close as Old Laitou led his disciples back to the waterfall. We continued on our original plan toward Poison King Palace.
This led to two rather awkward situations. First was A Li's identity; my senior sister's tacit approval undoubtedly acknowledged A Li as an Errand Runner. Strangely enough, Third Granduncle Master and the others didn’t inquire further. It seemed they had seen through A Li’s identity long ago and had merely been playing along with us all this time. Hmph, that old fox! Even if I were to be ten times more cautious, I would still be no match for him.
Later on, I had the chance to ask A Chen when they figured out A Li’s true identity. He explained that it was because of the Nine-Tailed Whip—an item made from the tails of a thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox, something not easily afforded by ordinary people. A Li wielded her Nine-Tailed Whip with such flair that it was obvious she had trained extensively with it. Coupled with her skills and the fact that she was always with me made it easy to guess her background.
A Chen added that Third Granduncle Master chose not to expose us for two reasons: first, he felt there was no need since we were all on the same side; second, he thought our little act was quite entertaining and provided some amusement during the dull journey.
I didn't believe a word of it and seriously suspected that these were all fabrications by A Chen, aimed at putting in a good word for his master and trying to mend our relationship.
Setting that aside, the second awkward issue was the fate of Cold Bench and Old Qiao. Of course, I wholeheartedly supported their going together, but considering that Wan Poison Palace was indeed an extraordinary place, the dangers there could surpass even the most thrilling tomb raiding activities that Old Qiao had described. For safety reasons, I couldn't let them take that risk, which left me feeling extremely conflicted.
At that moment, my senior sister suddenly walked up to Cold Bench and asked him a question I wouldn't even dare to think about: "Who are you, and why are you stealing from our Shimen?"
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