Chapter 174: Three Poisons

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Fine rain scattered across the street; people occasionally passed on the road outside the carriage, yet their sounds seemed severed from the world beyond.

The page was filled with tiny fly-head characters; the words spoke of daily trifles, yet nowhere was the longing absent.

Seeing the familiar handwriting, Xie Jinhuan felt as if he had instantly returned to his teens when he was a young groom in Jingcheng, and a surge of tears welled in his eyes.

And the beautiful and kind-hearted Guo Ziyan filled him with even greater gratitude; if the affairs in Daqian had not been unfinished, he would have turned and left right then.

Outside, many high-ranking officials and nobles were passing by; Xie Jinhuan did not dare to look closely, so he tucked the letter safely into his chest. After slightly calming his emotions, he propped open his umbrella and returned to the carriage where the Princess waited, where he saw a young woman in white robes boarding.

The young woman wore a single white robe, without any red hairpin; her entire form bore not a speck of mixed color, save for her vivid red lips, which provided a stark contrast; paired with Guo Ziyan's round, peaceful face, she looked like a simple little princess of fifteen or sixteen.

Xie Jinhuan had encountered the Princess's convoy on the road earlier without looking closely, and now he almost failed to recognize her.

After all, the Landlady's face had always appeared youthful, yet her aura was very much that of a dominant senior sister, carefree and irreverent, brimming with the noble air of an Empress or Imperial Consort.

But this young woman, now dressed in mourning clothes, looked so tender, much like Zisu...

After such a glance, Princess Changning turned her gaze:

"You should board the carriage as well."

Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan followed into the spacious cabin and sat beside Linghu Qingmo, while Naiduo poured tea for both of them.

Seeing the Landlady's spirits low, Xie Jinhuan thought for a moment and offered comfort:

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences."

Princess Changning sat in the main seat, her hands folded at her waist; although clad in mourning clothes, her regal, queenly aura was even more imposing than in the past. Only after the convoy had moved a distance did she sigh softly:

"I grew up in the Wang Fu and rarely saw the late Emperor; there is no true grief. In the imperial family, there is not so much blood-kin affection."

Xie Jinhuan felt these words were somewhat taboo; after confirming no outsiders were present, he sat a little closer:

"Your Highness is worried that after the new monarch ascends, he will treat the Prince..."

Princess Changning paused briefly, then asked:

"Xie Jinhuan, if you were the Crown Prince, having just ascended the throne at a young age, and a hundred-plus li away there stood a direct uncle, though he held no troops, yet was virtuous and respected, appointed as Governor, with extraordinary connections, and had had little interaction with you since childhood, what would you do?"

What else could be done?

Xie Jinhuan replied:

"Change his fief to Lingnan?"

Princess Changning shook her head: "That would still be a relatively honorable outcome. If suspicion arises, he might be imprisoned in Jingcheng until death; or he might be repeatedly relocated, forcing him to wander endlessly; the safest method is to pin the charge of treason upon him and eliminate him swiftly."

"Father has likely already drafted a resignation edict; perhaps he feigns illness or indulges in pleasure. If the new monarch allows Father to spend his remaining years in Danzhou, that can only be credited to the favor of Xiao Dezi..."

Linghu Qingmo, being a cultivator, could offer no help with such imperial family matters, so she interjected:

"The Crown Prince has always been humble, and the Heir Prince is... I believe, for the sake of his reputation, he would not make a mistake."

Xie Jinhuan nodded:

"Indeed, to eliminate the Heir Prince as a hidden threat and cause a host of feudal lords to live in fear would be counterproductive. Meet force with force, water with earth; let us wait and see the situation first."

Princess Changning was indeed worried that the new monarch, upon ascending, would suspect her father of stirring trouble, but discussing it privately held little meaning, so she thought to change the subject:

"Your new residence was chosen by this Princess; later, Duoduo will take you to see it. The house has a bathhouse and a wine shop; I have also arranged a large round bed for you at the Academy, one zhang in diameter..."

One zhang?

Linghu Qingmo blinked, bewildered, and looked at Xie Jinhuan beside her:

"Why make such a huge bed? How tall is he?"

Xie Jinhuan felt the Landlady truly understood him, yet he could not speak plainly, so he merely expressed surprise:

"Why does the Academy even construct such things?"

Princess Changning raised her eyebrows slightly:

"The Dan Hospital experiments with new medicines, burning through a mountain of silver every day; yet the market price of pills yields little profit. The scholars and talented women of the Chongwen Academy, how much money can they earn selling calligraphy and paintings?"

"The Weaponry Bureau's forging hall is simply there to rake in silver for the Academy; whatever men and women desire, they forge it. A single piece of ice-soul silk for a soft armor, with just a bit of fabric added, can be turned into three hundred Phoenix Immortal Thread Robes, and demand still outstrips supply; the less material used, the more valuable it becomes. This way of making money is faster than robbery..."

Xie Jinhuan suddenly understood; last night he had actually intended to buy a small gift for the Landlady, but she had always worn the 'Phoenix Immortal Thread Robe', lacked nothing else, and he had not known what to buy.

Seeing the Landlady's spirits low, he admired her stunning beauty in the style of 'a woman looks best in white mourning', then shifted his gaze to her white shoes:

"I actually have some slight knowledge of the art of forging; shall I design a pair of shoes for Your Highness?"

"Oh?"

Princess Changning showed a bit of interest: "What kind of shoes?"

"It's just..."

Xie Jinhuan wanted to describe it, but found it hard to express, so he took Linghu Qingmo's small booklet and used a hard pen to sketch on the paper...

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Linghu Qingmo looked slightly puzzled and leaned in to inspect; Princess Changning also rose and moved aside, leaving Duoduo with no space to lean in, so she could only peek over to observe.

Xie Jinhuan's technique was extremely steady; with just two or three lines, he outlined the shoe's streamline, and his skills in shading and perspective were flawless.

Princess Changning also knew how to paint, and her eyes showed considerable surprise:

"You truly master all eighteen martial arts; are you sure your place of study was Fengling Valley and not the Hall of Male Concubines?"

"Disciples of the Hidden Immortal Sect are all so learned and talented; otherwise, how could they be called 'strange men'?"

"Is that so?"

Linghu Qingmo was half-skeptical, thinking the fellow Daoists of the Hidden Immortal Sect were truly grinding hard enough...

No wonder they rarely left the mountain; without such skills, no one would believe them if they came out...

Xie Jinhuan carefully drew the sketch; after the high heels took their general shape, he used the vermilion brush in the carriage to add the most soulful detail:

A red sole!

The three young women waited for the drawing to finish, then held the sketch together to inspect it; they found the shoes very unique and beautiful, except for the heel...

"Do you think this Princess is too short?"

Princess Changning squinted slightly, rose to her feet, and tried to stand taller, a gesture that brought back a hint of her former liveliness.

Xie Jinhuan found it somewhat amusing: "How could that be? Your Highness's temperament would lose its charm if it were too high. These shoes are for wearing at home, and you don't even need to actually walk in them..."

"Ah?"

Linghu Qingmo was baffled, thinking to herself:

Don't need to walk?

Then what use are these shoes?

Red soles facing the sky, meant to be used as a unique weapon...

Although Princess Changning was a pure martial artist, she didn't understand the advantage of these shoes either; she thought for a moment and put away the sketch:

"Fine. I'll have skilled craftsmen make a pair for you to try later. If they wear well, I'll get a pair for Seeing Mo Mo and Wan Yi as well. You go back and measure their sizes."

——

Suburbs of the Capital, Poplar Forest.

The temple, abandoned for twenty years due to the He family massacre, stood solemnly amidst the dim wilderness. A cracked Buddha head lay in the Buddha hall, soaked by rainwater seeping through a hole in the dome.

He Shen knelt before the fallen Buddha statue, his eyes filled with sighs of how things change while people remain:

"It's been only a few days since we parted, yet the Second Master was executed along with his entire family! He Hai died without a whole corpse! Am I perhaps a star of calamity and loneliness, destined to kill everyone I'm close to?"

Zhang Chu knelt beside him; because he had been secretly poisoned by snake venom last time, his face was even colder now:

"It doesn't matter what you say. From now on, you are a dog of the Mingshen Sect in life, and a dead dog of the Mingshen Sect in death."

He Shen had run around in circles, seeing that he was about to enter the capital again to outwit and outfight a certain 'Xie surname calamity star'; his eyes were full of the helplessness of 'just let it all be destroyed':

"Blood Third, it's one thing that you're taking us two to the capital to die, but why do we have to shave our heads? Our bodies, hair, and skin are given by our parents. I'm not even a demon Daoist, yet you want me to pretend to be a Monk..."

Scrape~

Blood Third, wearing a cloak, rubbed the razor twice on his sleeve, then pressed down on He Shen's head:

"Joining the sect requires a ritual. Your father and mother died before this Buddha statue; your grandfather and your brother are meeting you here for the last time. From now on..."

"From now on, I will shave my head to declare my resolve and sever ties with them. Whoever wants to avenge this, let them do it!"

Blood Third nodded slightly:

"Put down the butcher's knife, and you become a Buddha instantly. You are a good seedling for cultivating the Buddha..."

?

He Shen's expression froze; he turned his head:

"If you say that, I'll remember this blood-deep grudge. If I don't avenge it in this life, I swear I won't be human!"

"The desire for revenge can make one fear neither life nor death and feel no pity. With this heart, you will surely achieve something in the Demon Dao in the future..."

He Shen spread his hands and said, "So whether I avenge it or not, in your eyes I'm still a good seedling, right?"

"Cultivating both Buddha and Demon is like this. Whether one has desire or not, whether one has emotion or not, the Dao heart is open..."

"You're just scraping dry, aren't you? At least put some soap foam on..."

Blood Third shaved off the three thousand strands of troubled hair; with every stroke, snake scales faintly appeared on the scalp:

"Do you know what the 'Three Poisons' are?"

He Shen bared his teeth: "You, a demon monk, talking about Buddhist principles? Meeting you bunch of bastards is truly a bloody misfortune..."

Blood Third explained methodically:

"The Three Poisons are 'Greed, Anger, and Ignorance'. The Snake represents Anger, signifying resentment, rage, and hostility. All your close relatives and teachers died unnatural deaths, bearing a blood-deep grudge. Once you awaken, this power can make you a generation of Demon Generals..."

"What is a Demon General?"

"It is the superior of the Ghost Envoys; above that is the Sect Master."

"Oh..."

He Shen pondered: "Then He Man's childhood name 'Flying Servant' is Greed among the Three Poisons? No wonder the Blood Demon Core was needed to stimulate greed."

Blood Third said, "You are simpler to awaken than him. As long as you accept this blood-deep grudge, you can transform from a snake to a flood dragon right here and now."

"Is that so?"

He Shen took a deep breath, secretly brewing his emotions, then spread his hands:

"I feel my master's death was not at all undeserved, and the He family's death was even more unworthy of pity. I can't bring myself to hate."

"That's why you are a waste, and were discarded back then."

"Then why did you drag me here?"

"To make use of a waste."

He Shen was left speechless by the demon monk's retort; after holding it in for a long time, he asked:

"If you want to use me, you at least have to tell me what to do next, right?"

Blood Third shaved off all the hair, then pressed down on Zhang Chu's head:

"Try to see if we can dig open the Corpse Ancestor's Tomb. Before that, capture some Yin-aligned Five Elements sorcerers."

Zhang Chu was somewhat puzzled: "The location of the Corpse Ancestor's Tomb should only be known by Lu Wu Zhen, the Great Qian Emperor, and a few others. Has the sect found the location of the Corpse Ancestor's Tomb?"

Blood Third shook his head: "Not yet, but we will know in a few days. We must prepare in advance."

He Shen's gaze shifted slightly; he thought for a moment and said:

"Wait, before, when Third Master and the others spoke, they were always vague. Regarding this kind of inside information, aren't you avoiding me at all?"

"Your grandfather won't silence you, so he couldn't let you know too much. I have no such concern."

"..."

He Shen nodded thoughtfully, but immediately realized something:

"Capture Yin-aligned Five Elements sorcerers? You don't intend to make me the Corpse Ancestor's vessel, do you? Am I even worthy?"

"You are not worthy. Your pure yin body was meant to be raised as a vessel from birth, but your bone structure was too worthless, so you were abandoned. Yet even so, you are a natural ghost shaman, regarded as a supreme treasure by Tai Shu Dan."

"Then what use am I?"

"Keep you as a spare. In case the Corpse Ancestor emerges and has nowhere to settle, we can make do temporarily."

"You bastards are truly devoid of all conscience!"

"Yes! Hate, resent—hate me just the same. As long as you can awaken your innate nature, you will be an excellent vessel for a demonic fiend!"

Damn it...

He Can raised a finger to point at Blood Third, calm and composed, and said no more...

———

Begging for monthly tickets or2

(End of this chapter)