Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 317: Is This Your Home

Zhao Changhe ignored Yang Qianyuan and quickly entered the stone chamber.

The outer room had been emptied by Tian Lingzi, leaving the hidden passage, which should have been hidden behind a secret door, clearly visible. After going through the passage, he found himself in a larger space. In the center stood a pill furnace, the fire of which had been long extinguished. Surprisingly, however, even with the copper furnace being sealed with a lid, it still emitted a faint glow, suggesting the presence of a treasure within.

If the furnace contained any pills, they were definitely extraordinary pills.

Next to the furnace sat a skeleton sitting cross-legged. Its bones were a deep green, resembling black jade. It almost looked as if the skeleton had been sculpted from jade rather than being the remains of a person... It appeared that whoever the skeleton had once been had died from poison. It was also possible that they had died while refining some poison.

A pill refiner, on the brink of completing their work, suddenly dying from poison, leaving behind the pills in the furnace...

When the era collapsed, was it the power of the pill or pills in the furnace that preserved this isolated space? That would be a bit terrifying, wouldn’t it? Just what kind of pill can even achieve such an effect? Or could there be something else at play here?

Whether the skeleton had anything else on it was unclear, as the numerous members of the Jinqian Gang, including Gang Leader Qian, were writhing and wailing around it, obscuring the view.

None of them could get within a zhang of the skeleton and the pill furnace.

It seemed precisely calculated that the poison in the air would fully penetrate anyone’s body by the time they reached within a zhang of the furnace, its effects fully taking effect at that point.

Due to her knowledge and expertise in poison, Tarantula had been able to sense the danger upon entering the passage, allowing her to retreat right away in relative safety. She was then able to capture others to test the poison inside the secret realm. Unfortunately, Gang Leader Qian and those in his gang were nowhere near as adept at handling poison as Tarantula. By the time they realized they were poisoned, it was already too late.

In the short time that Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi had been observing, the members of the Jinqian Gang had gone from wailing in pain to rolling on the ground, and now most of them lacked even the strength to roll, only faintly groaning.

They’re all done for...

Even Xia Chichi, who had broken through to the Profound Mysteries, could not detect any poison in the air. The poison in the secret realm was colorless, odorless, and undetectable by any special means. It was only by continuously inspecting her internal condition that she was able to notice that poison had seeped through her skin, which Zhao Changhe immediately neutralized before it could do her any harm using the Rejuvenation Art.

Zhao Changhe was not an expert in poison either, but he was prepared, and the Rejuvenation Art made it easy for him to sense the poison. At the moment, the poison in the air had already been significantly weakened. Even if he did not use the Rejuvenation Art, he and Chichi could probably handle the poison for quite some time due to their high poison resistance.

He estimated that if a few more people came and absorbed the remaining poison, it would completely dissipate.

Just as he thought this, Yang Qianyuan exclaimed from outside, “Tian Lingzi! You... Ah!”

His voice was abruptly cut off.

Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi quickly pretended to be affected by the poison, curling up on the ground and lying still.

Moments later, screams echoed as, one by one, the members of the Jinqian Gang who stood guard outside were thrown into the stone chamber.

Tian Lingzi searched outside for Tarantula but could not find her. He was extremely puzzled by that. Without Tarantula, how could he judge whether the poison had dissipated? Was he supposed to go in and test it himself?

But then he suddenly thought, Isn’t it a good thing if Tarantula is gone? That’s one less person to share the spoils with. What would we have done if there was only a single pill left inside?

With a new plan, Tian Lingzi returned and threw those guarding the entrance inside to test the poison levels.

Sure enough, the people he threw in were taking longer and longer to show signs of poisoning. This indicated that the poison was nearly gone.

Elated, Tian Lingzi threw Yang Qianyuan in last.

Yang Qianyuan, seeing the people lying all over the place, felt his face turn ashen. He thought that his life was over. But after a few breaths, he was completely fine. He waited a few more breaths, and still nothing happened to him.

The poison's gone!

Yang Qianyuan was surprised and overjoyed. He nearly laughed out loud at the sky.

I truly am favored by the heavens!

More delighted than him was Tian Lingzi, who burst into laughter as he entered, “After all that hard work, this day has finally come.”

His gaze fell on Gang Leader Qian, who was not yet dead but lay curled up among the others. His head was dripping with sweat, and he was in such extreme pain that he could not even speak.

Tian Lingzi walked up to him with a smile. He then stomped on Gang Leader Qian’s shoulder, shattering it viciously. “How does that feel?”

Gang Leader Qian could not even muster a scream, only managing to arduously say, “I was blinded by greed... Just give me a quick death. Torturing me does not make you a good man?”

Seeing that Tian Lingzi was ignoring him, Yang Qianyuan bolted.

Tian Lingzi was indeed too lazy to pay any attention to a small fry like Yang Qianyuan. Hearing Gang Leader Qian’s words, he sneered and stomped on Gang Leader Qian’s other arm, crushing it from his hand toward his shoulder one cun at a time. “I, Tian Lingzi, have never claimed to be a good man.”

Holding onto his last breath, Gang Leader Qian stared at the passage.

He had powerful allies, but none had shown up to help. He felt despair creeping in, thinking his allies must have been dealt with by Tarantula. Losing hope, he finally succumbed and died of anger.

Zhao Changhe suspected Gang Leader Qian’s so-called allies never cared about his survival. He believed they were likely waiting for Tian Lingzi to trigger any traps around the skeleton and the pill furnace before making their move.

Seeing Gang Leader Qian dead, Tian Lingzi did not bother torturing the other members of the Jinqian Gang. Instead, he looked at Zhao Changhe with a smile and said, “I feared you two might be the real hidden threats, but it turns out you’re just fools who ended up getting poisoned as well. Where is Tarantula?”

Zhao Changhe remained silent, and Xia Chichi simply pretended to be unconscious.

Tian Lingzi smiled and said, “If she died in your hands, the Tome of Troubled Times would have announced it. That means that she must be hiding somewhere after being heavily wounded by you. Well, that’s not a bad thing. With the poison mist gone, I have no need for her anymore. I can take everything for myself now.”

Zhao Changhe sighed. “Even if you take everything for yourself now, Tarantula will still come back to trouble you in the future.”

“That’s none of your concern.” Tian Lingzi bent down and sealed Zhao Changhe’s acupoints with a single finger. Then, he pushed him toward the jade skeleton. “Go get me the items on that guy’s body.”

No matter how one looked at it, the jade skeleton seemed to be covered in poison. There was a high likelihood that it was even the source of the poison in the space. Tian Lingzi did not dare touch it himself, so he simply picked Zhao Changhe as his test dummy.

When Zhao Changhe was pushed towards the jade skeleton, Xia Chichi, lying behind him, opened her eyes slightly. Opening her eyes, she saw Zhao Changhe discreetly gesturing for her to wait.

She had been ready to spring up and kill Tian Lingzi, but seeing that he was not interested in touching her or in torturing Zhao Changhe, only intending to use him to test the poison, she decided to bide her time and watch.

Zhao Changhe squatted beside the jade skeleton and carefully examined it.

There was a thin booklet titled Classic of Materia Toxica[1]. It looked like it had been kept on the skeleton’s chest but had fallen to its legs when the clothes rotted away. Scattered around were some other items, including gold, silver, jewels, and a small jade token, which was possibly an identity token.

Tian Lingzi urged, “Bring them all over!”

Zhao Changhe silently handed the poison manual and the token to Tian Lingzi, who wrapped his hand in true qi and received them with a laugh. “It looks like you know how to adapt to the situation, no wonder you’ve been able to thrive. Now, go open the pill furnace.”

Zhao Changhe tried lifting the lid of the furnace but failed. Surprised, he said, “It won’t open... It feels like it was cast as a single piece.”

“Where nonsense are you spouting?” Tian Lingzi did not believe him. “Are you just pretending and not using any strength?”

Zhao Changhe glanced at him speechlessly, then said, “Why don’t you just try hitting it from a distance and see for yourself?”

Tian Lingzi picked up Qian Gang Leader’s sword from the ground and threw it at the gap between the furnace and the lid.

Ding!

The sword bounced off, and the lid did not budge at all.

Tian Lingzi was also surprised. “Was that not strong enough?”

Zhao Changhe silently thought to himself: Mm-hm, you’d need the strength of a dragon elephant to open it.

With his “acupoints sealed,” Zhao Changhe had no strength. There was no way that Tian Lingzi was going to unlock Zhao Changhe’s acupoints, so he gathered his true qi, figuring that he had to try opening the furnace directly.

But when he gathered his true qi, a sharp pain surged through his meridians. The poison lurking in his body, which had been dormant until now, erupted violently, wreaking havoc in his body.

Tian Lingzi had no idea where the poison came from, and he let out a grunt of pain as he bent over.

At the same time, he felt a chilling sensation from behind him. Xia Chichi, who he thought was unconscious, suddenly thrust her sword at his back, while Zhao Changhe, whose acupoints he thought he had sealed, nonchalantly drew his Dragon Bird and slashed at his neck.

Despite the intense pain and disorder in his meridians caused by the poison, Tian Lingzi still managed to counter with a palm strike, deflecting Dragon Bird. He even managed to sidestep Xia Chichi’s attack, demonstrating extraordinary cultivation that surpassed even Tarantula’s!

However, Xia Chichi was no longer the same as she had been before. Although Tian Lingzi dodged, he could not avoid her attack completely. Iceheart followed him relentlessly, slicing through his ribs and leaving a long gash. The fierce white tiger sword qi burst forth, causing Tian Lingzi to scream in pain and retreat to the corner, clutching his wound as he gasped for air.

This couple advanced toward him, weapons at the ready, closing in on him from both sides.

“Your acupoints were never sealed!” Tian Lingzi exclaimed in disbelief. “Your acupoints were never sealed, and neither of you were poisoned! What the fuck, are we in your home or what?”

Zhao Changhe was stunned by what he said and chuckled. “Maybe.”

Tian Lingzi was exasperated, “Since neither of you were poisoned, why didn’t you strike me earlier? You even let me seal your acupoints, or well, I guess you let me think I sealed your acupoints. Wasn't that all pointless?”

“Old man...” Zhao Changhe smiled slightly. “Tarantula is ranked fifty-eighth on the Ranking of Man, and she possesses extraordinary poison techniques. Why would someone like her cooperate with you and listen to your arrangements to ambush Chichi, as if you were the one with greater authority?”

Tian Lingzi found himself speechless.

Zhao Changhe continued, “That only proved that you’re far more powerful than you appear. At the very least, you had to be stronger than Gang Leader Qian, and your real strength had to be at the same level as Tarantula. My wife and I weren’t confident in ambushing such a skilled expert, so we had to let you weaken yourself further.”

Tian Lingzi inspected the poison within him, utterly baffled. “But how did I get poisoned?”

Zhao Changhe pointed to the jade token that Tian Lingzi held in his left hand. “Now that you know we’re immune to the poison here, can’t you figure it out? Obviously, I can handle some things here, but you can’t. Hah, using me to test for poison, brainless.”

Tian Lingzi furiously threw the token to the ground. The jade token clattered, a crisp sound echoing in the room, but it remained completely intact, not even a corner having chipped off.

Zhao Changhe said calmly, “Chichi despises you quite a bit. We never did any of this to obtain anything. This was all just about killing you.”

1. This is not an actual book; I just switched out “medica” from “Classic of Materia Medica” for “toxica.” ☜