Borrow You for a Moment

[You tried to speak.]

[The Flattery Trait attempted to activate.]

[Activation failed.]

What?

Lu Ping's heart sank.

This was the first time "Flattery" had failed.

Or rather, it was the first time Lu Ping had realized that traits weren't all-powerful.

Something was clearly wrong with the woman in front of him. She wasn't in any state to communicate normally.

That was terrible.

In the workplace, the worst time to kiss up to your boss was when they were furious and wouldn't listen to reason.

The cultivation world was more straightforward.

If they wouldn't listen, they'd take action.

[The target's condition was abnormal.]

[The woman raised her hand.]

[You didn't see how she moved.]

[The next instant, you found yourself off the ground.]

[Her hand closed around your throat.]

[Your strength at the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm was useless against her.]

[Your short blade was still at your waist.]

[But you didn't even have time to fully form the thought of drawing it.]

[The pads of her fingers were burning hot, and her breathing was ragged.]

[The smell of blood, the fragrance of medicine, and a faint, cool scent mingled on her body and entered your nose.]

[She moved close to you.]

[Options appeared.]

[A: Stop resisting and give up completely.]

[B: Struggle immediately and force your blade free, trying to cut her wrist open.]

[C: Submit your resignation on the spot and apply to withdraw from this side quest.]

Lu Ping looked at B.

Well, well, this young fellow's got some backbone.

How did that saying go again? If a young man isn't hot-blooded, can he even be called young?

So Lu Ping chose A.

[You chose A.]

[You stopped resisting.]

[Lying-Flat Trait activated.]

[Your state of mind was as steady as a rock.]

[Heavy Tomato User continued operating.]

[The residual medicinal effects of Hehuan Powder, Soul-Confusing Incense, and the like could not enter your body.]

[She moved another half inch closer and spoke, her voice hoarse.]

["Let me borrow you for a moment."]

[You couldn't judge her cultivation realm.]

[When she gripped your throat, you couldn't move so much as a finger.]

[Lying Flat activated.]

[Your Dao heart did not waver in the slightest.]

[Your body was panicking, but your heart was calm.]

[She carried you and sped straight into the depths of the valley.]

[A little later, you arrived before a mountainside.]

[There was a hidden cave at the foot of the rock face.]

[Vines covered the entrance.]

[She raised a hand and waved, and the vines parted of their own accord.]

[You couldn't understand what method she had used.]

[But the Qi and Blood in your body shrank straight back into your Dantian when she raised her hand.]

[The cave was very dry.]

[She threw you down in front of a stone wall.]

[Your back struck the rock, and your chest tightened.]

[She turned and sealed the cave entrance.]

[A faint layer of spiritual light settled against the cave walls, then vanished.]

[You couldn't understand the restriction.]

[But you knew there was no way you could escape now.]

[Options appeared.]

[A: Continue pretending to be weak, stall for as long as possible, and observe what exactly she had been afflicted with.]

[B: Launch a surprise attack while she was setting the restriction, betting that her injuries had left her weak.]

[C: Solemnly declare that you sold your skills, not your body, and express the hope that both parties would sign a temporary outsourcing agreement.]

Lu Ping looked at B and sighed.

The female cultivator was gravely injured, suffering from a drug's effects, and had a palm print on her abdomen.

If this were a normal wish-fulfillment novel, he'd be leaping up now to turn the tables and kill her, search her corpse, loot her belongings, and pick up a remnant-soul ring while he was at it.

It was a tempting option.

So Lu Ping chose A.

[You chose A.]

[You did not struggle.]

[You sat down against the stone wall, your hands hanging at your sides, putting on the appearance of someone who had given up resisting.]

[The female cultivator turned around.]

[She stood at the cave entrance with one hand braced against the stone wall, her shoulders rising and falling gently.]

[She did not act immediately. She stared at you for a few breaths, then spoke.]

["Are you a member of a mortal gang?"]

[You nodded immediately.]

["I'm just a Black Tiger Gang member who escaped and wandered into the valley by mistake. I wouldn't dare offend you, Senior."]

[Flattery activated.]

[Her disgust toward you lessened slightly.]

[But the next instant, the drug's effects erupted within her.]

[She pressed a hand against the stone wall, leaving five shallow indentations. Broken bits of rock fell to the ground.]

[Looking at the five shallow indentations, you gained a clearer understanding of the female cultivator's strength.]

[When she seized you and brought you into the cave, the power she used was too advanced. You only knew she was formidable, but not how formidable.]

[When she pressed her fingers into the stone wall and left indentations, you understood: this "gravely injured and weakened" woman could slap you into the wall with one palm, and no one would be able to pry you out.]

[Your back instinctively pressed a little tighter against the stone wall.]

[Without waiting for her to speak, you hurriedly spoke first.]

["Senior... have you been afflicted by some deadly poison?"]

[You kept your voice very low and tentatively added another sentence.]

["I know my way around the nearby mountains and forests fairly well. If there are any herbs that might help... would you like me to go out and find them for you?"]

[She gave you another look and slowly spoke five words.]

["Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder."]

["This is no ordinary aphrodisiac poison. It's designed to ruin the Dao foundations of female cultivators."]

["If I can't suppress it, my Dao foundation will collapse."]

["At best, I'll lose all my cultivation. At worst, I'll die and my Dao will vanish."]

[You hurriedly followed up.]

["Senior, is there a way to cure it?"]

[She didn't answer, but took a step closer to you.]

[The temperature in the cave began to rise.]

[She stopped in front of you, no more than half a foot away.]

[Once again, you clearly smelled her scent, the cool fragrance unique to her, separate from the smells of blood and medicine.]

[She lowered her eyes and stared at you, her chest rising and falling more and more rapidly. At last, she uttered one word.]

["Yes."]

[She paused.]

["There's only one way."]

["The poison must be transferred from my body into yours."]

[Only the sound of their intermingled breaths remained in the stone cave.]

[She looked at you and, concealing nothing, spoke each word distinctly.]

["Then the man will surely die."]

Lu Ping looked at the words "the man will surely die" and fell completely silent for a second.

Then the barrage of comments in his head exploded.

Was that reasonable?

Was this freaking reasonable?

He had only just escaped the Black Tiger Gang.

He had only just omitted fifty thousand words with Qian Cuihua.

And now this again?

Had he transmigrated into the world of immortal cultivation, or into some kind of absurd workplace-unspoken-rules drama series?

In his previous life, he had drunk with clients until his stomach bled.

In this life, he was helping a female cultivator detoxify, and he'd have to pay with his life afterward.

Sure enough, no matter where a beast of burden went, bodily damage was never reimbursed.

[Jiang Mutian looked at you.]

[Her name appeared for the first time.]

["I won't kill you."]

["I'll give you silver and pills."]

["If you survive the night, you can count yourself lucky."]

Lu Ping looked at the lines of text, with nothing but a silent retort in his heart.

Actually, Jiang Mutian's approach was very much in a cultivator's style.

When it came to a low-level cultivator, who cared whether he was willing or not? They'd just make the arrangements.

When his boss in his previous life had made him work overtime on weekends, he'd also said, "Thanks for the extra effort. I'll buy you a meal sometime."

Sometime when?

That damned capitalist owed him who knew how many meals. The richer they were, the stingier they got.

[You wanted to say something else.]

[She had already raised a hand and pressed it against your shoulder.]

[Your words were pushed back down your throat.]

[The drug's effects completely overwhelmed her reason.]

[Her lips pressed against yours...]

[As for what happened next, fifty thousand words omitted...]

[Your dignity shattered all over the floor once again.]

[The Lying-Flat Trait deftly swept the fragments into a corner.]

[And attached a label: not dealing with this for now.]

[Your Dao heart did not waver in the slightest.]

[The Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder began to transfer.]

[An immense amount of poison surged into your meridians.]

[A normal middle-stage Body Tempering Realm cultivator's meridians would burn to ruin over the next few hours, and their Qi and Blood would flow backward, killing them.]

[The Heavy Tomato User Trait activated.]

[Analyzing toxin...]

[Breaking down toxin...]

[Converting toxin...]

[Conversion successful.]

[The corrupting medicinal effects of the Severed-Fate Hehuan Powder were completely stripped away.]

[The remaining yin and yang spiritual power began to sink into your meridians.]

[Your meridians were forcibly widened.]

[Your Qi and Blood began to surge.]

[The bottleneck at the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm began to loosen.]