Chapter 101: The Poison Cult

Outer City, Xiaoyao Cave.

Lin Wanyi wore a black wide-sleeved dress and a black gauze veil, completely covered from head to toe; only after confirming no one on the street was paying attention did she enter a fur shop and ascend the stairs to the second floor.

Compared to the cluttered ground floor, the second floor was much tidier, with a painting hanging on the wall—stars scattered across the sky, the moon reduced to a slender crescent, representing the image of “New Moon.”

And the New Moon was precisely the emblem of Queyue Mountain Villa.

Bu Hanying, the incense master operating in Luojing, wore a pair of reading glasses and was flipping through books at his desk; upon noticing Lin Wanyi’s arrival, he immediately rose:

“Wanyi, you’ve finally come.”

Lin Wanyi removed her veil, revealing a face of peerless beauty:

“Uncle Bu, you’ve been waiting for me?”

“I’ve been waiting two days!”

Bu Hanying gestured for Lin Wanyi to sit, his eyes still filled with lingering dread:

“You didn’t reveal your Witch Cult affiliation to Xie Jin, did you?”

Lin Wanyi had not intended to reveal it—Xie Jin had figured it out himself—and she hadn’t yet had the chance to report this to her sect; upon hearing this, she blinked:

“Not yet. Why?”

Thwack~

Bu Hanying slapped his thigh, his face flushed with the relief of narrowly escaping death:

“Last night, after I finished discussing matters with the leaders of all major sects, Xie Jin blocked me as I stepped outside!

“He’s hunting down demonic cults with ruthless efficiency—he’d barely finished questioning me when, within an hour, he killed that rogue cultivator on Antiquities Street!

“Luckily, your uncle is a seasoned schemer; I appealed to his emotions and reason, and convinced him to leave. Otherwise, if we’d fought, it would’ve damaged our mutual harmony…”

“….”

Lin Wanyi took a quiet breath, thinking Xie Jin was being unscrupulous—using her uncle as bait!

But given Xie Jin’s methods, if he’d truly wanted to make trouble, Uncle Bu would’ve been reduced to scattered pieces by now…

So he did give me some face…

Lin Wanyi didn’t dwell on it, and asked curiously:

“What were you discussing with the major sects?”

“Sigh—it’s about rehabilitating the Poison Cult.”

Bu Hanying poured her tea, sighing heavily:

“After Tai Shu Dan caused that uproar, the imperial court has intensified its crackdown on poison masters. The common folk, terrified of being implicated, now report anyone selling fake medicine to the government office—this hinders our missionary work in the Central Plains.

“I’ve spent these past days studying the founding histories of all major sects, and I think the problem lies in our ‘name.’

“Look at the Daoist sects: Hidden Immortals, Elixir Cauldrons, Divination—they sound divine. Even names like ‘Taiyin Palace’ or ‘Zihui Mountain’ sound like orthodox lineages.

“But us? We’re ‘poison’ and ‘curses’—we look like villains from the start. Places like ‘Chilong Cave’ or ‘San Shi Cave’ sound like ragtag bandits of the demonic path…”

Lin Wanyi deeply agreed:

“So you’re planning to change the name? How?”

Bu Hanying adjusted his glasses and spoke with solemn analysis:

“‘Queyue’ carries too much yin energy—it naturally radiates three parts of malevolence. Unsuitable. But the sect’s name must retain its essence!

“So I suggest reversing it: ‘Que’ means ‘deficit,’ ‘Yue’ means ‘moon’—so swap them: ‘Qian’ for ‘deficit,’ ‘Ri’ for ‘sun.’ It stays true to the root, yet loses the overtly demonic tone…”

Qianri Mountain Villa…

Lin Wanyi sat up straighter, thinking the name sounded absurd:

“Uh… what about ‘Chilong Cave’ and ‘San Shi Cave’?”

“Follow the same logic.”

Bu Hanying beamed enthusiastically:

“A dragon without horns is called ‘chi’—no horns means a bald, bald-headed dragon. So ‘Chilong Cave’ becomes ‘Baldy’s Den.’

“‘San Shi’ refers to the three dantians—‘dantian’ means ‘field,’ so ‘San Shi Cave’ becomes ‘San Mu Tun’…”

Oh my god…

Lin Wanyi thought if they unveiled these names, the Poison Cult would instantly evacuate the entire compound.

“And what about the Poison Cult itself?”

“‘Gu’ means insect, ‘du’ means herb—so we’re the ‘Witch Cult Insect-Herb Sect.’ Sounds like decent folk!”

“Hey?! That actually works!”

“Right? I’ll write to the villa master right away…”

…

At the mention of “insect-herb,” Lin Wanyi remembered her real purpose and withdrew a list from her sleeve:

“I came today to ask the villa to collect some herbs for me—must be delivered within ten days…”

Bu Hanying glanced at the paper briefly:

“Hmm… no problem. We’ll handle this later. The villa has something more urgent for you to do.”

Lin Wanyi frowned:

“What is it?”

Bu Hanying stroked his beard: “Last autumn, the villa master clashed with the Zihui Mountain Sect Master in the Fire Phoenix Valley in the Southern Frontier…”

“I know—Nan Gong Yan was cursed with a love poison by my master.”

“What love poison? That’s just gossip from the martial world.”

Bu Hanying whispered:

“Both were seeking the Phoenix Feather Herb, but there was only one. Nan Gong Ye had already claimed it.

“Heaven’s treasures belong to the worthy—the villa master couldn’t yield. They fought. Though the villa master cultivates both witchcraft and martial arts, her direct combat power still pales before Daoist yang thunder arts. Desperate, she used the ‘Burn Immortal Gu ’…”

“What?!”

Lin Wanyi realized the situation was dire.

A love poison only tormented—it didn’t kill.

But the ‘Burn Immortal Gu ’ was different—it was extreme yang poison, developed exclusively by Queyue Mountain Villa to target Daoist and Buddhist cultivators. When activated, it burned the vital essence; if the victim’s internal qi was pure yang, suppressing it was like pouring oil on fire—nearly incurable.

“What happened after?”

“Nan Gong Ye lost and fled. The villa master secured the Phoenix Feather Herb. We assumed she’d come begging for forgiveness afterward—but Nan Gong Ye is stubborn as stone. She didn’t bow. Instead, she chased the villa master…”

Lin Wanyi frowned: “I thought the Burn Immortal Gu only gave a year to live?”

“Exactly—that’s the problem.”

Bu Hanying slapped his palm, his brow furrowed with distress:

“The villa master never cared whether she lived or died.

“But Nan Gong Ye is a disciple of Zixia True Person, famous throughout Daqian, with countless admirers.

“Even ignoring our plans to re-enter the Central Plains, if she dies at our hands, every cultivator in Daqian will hate Queyue Mountain Villa. And the Daoist sects will demand blood for blood…”

Lin Wanyi understood now.

Nan Gong Ye was hailed as the “Daoist First Beauty.” Her cultivation wasn’t the highest among sect masters, but her influence was top-tier.

A dream woman to every martial hero—if Queyue Mountain Villa killed her, even Xie Jin would be heartbroken.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

Ninety percent of Daqian’s Daoists belonged to the Danding Sect, all tracing back to one ancestral master.

Nan Gong Ye, as a disciple of Zixia True Person, was a core figure of the Danding Sect. If she was robbed of her treasure and poisoned to death by Queyue Mountain Villa, if Lu Wu didn’t avenge her, how could he ever become Danding Sect Master?

And her master certainly couldn’t defeat Lu Wu. To make such a deadly enemy over a heavenly treasure? Clearly irrational.

“So what do we do? He who wins the treasure claims it—Nan Gong Yan lost. Should the villa master beg her not to die?”

Bu Hanying was speechless, but nodded:

“Essentially, yes.

“Nan Gong Ye can die by anyone’s hand—but not ours. Otherwise, when Sikong the Ancestor finally cleanses our name, we’ll still be stuck in the Southern Frontier watching demons snarl.

“According to the villa master, Nan Gong Ye recently heard of demonic energy appearing at Zihui Mountain and returned to Daqian.

“You have connections in Danyang. The villa master wants you to find a way to persuade her.”

“Me?”

Lin Wanyi sat up straighter: “My cultivation is negligible—how can I persuade Nan Gong Yan? I don’t even know Linghu Qingmo well. And how do I even bring this up?”

Bu Hanying sighed: “The villa master knows it’s difficult. But what choice do we have? Nan Gong Ye is as stubborn as an ox. Last month, the villa master lowered her pride, ready to make peace privately—only for Nan Gong Ye to snap: ‘Return the Phoenix Feather Herb, then bow and apologize properly—or we remain sworn enemies.’

“Isn’t that cheating? I’ve never seen someone so brazen after losing. Is secretly poisoning someone not a low trick? If the villa master hadn’t considered the bigger picture, she’d have killed her on the spot…”

Lin Wanyi blinked. She thought it wasn’t Nan Gong Ye who was brazen—it was the entire Danding Sect.

Her master wasn’t thinking of the bigger picture—he’d stolen the treasure, then poisoned her in the dark, and poisoned the Daoist First Beauty. Too much hatred. He feared becoming Daqian’s public enemy.

“How much time does Nan Gong Yan have left?”

“Two or three months. But she won’t dare provoke her qi for now.”

Bu Hanying spoke with gravity:

“Right now, the villa master and Nan Gong Ye are in a contest of willpower—waiting to see who cracks first.

“The villa master is second-in-command of the Witch Alliance. If she bows to the Daoists, how can she maintain authority in the Southern Frontier? So we must make Nan Gong Ye yield.”

Lin Wanyi blinked: “What if Nan Gong Yan refuses to yield, even at the cost of her life?”

Bu Hanying glanced around, leaned close, and whispered:

“Let’s say this only between us—if Nan Gong Ye refuses to yield, the villa master will have no choice but to swallow her pride, come personally to apologize. We can’t let this feud split the Danding Sect and the Poison Cult into a bloody war.”

Lin Wanyi clicked her tongue: “The Nangong Sect Master won’t bow her head—we clearly dare not kill her, so if she bows, isn’t she just inviting trouble?”

“That’s why I’m asking you to think of a way.”

Bu Hanying sighed: “If you can persuade Nangong Ye to yield, the sect will credit you with the foremost merit, and from now on, you’ll be the ‘Holy Maiden’ of Queyue Mountain Villa.”

The Holy Maiden of the Witch Cult means the heir.

Lin Wanyi is currently a direct disciple of the inner sect; neither her status nor her cultivation base qualifies her to become Villa Master, and she never imagined she could inherit Queyue Mountain Villa as an Ancestor.

But the sect has suddenly offered this opportunity—of course she must seize it.

If Queyue Mountain Villa cleanses its reputation, her lineage won’t be inferior to Linghu Qingmo’s…

“Hmm… I’ll think of a way.”

“Good, hurry up. The Villa Master hasn’t said anything aloud, but he’s surely anxious inside…”

…

(End of Chapter)