Poison Cultivator

Three streets away from Red Sleeve Brothel, in Ankang Ward, stood a small street-front pharmacy called Fukuda Pharmacy.

The shopfront was not large, and it saw few customers. It had once been famous for an exclusive medicinal pill called the Sleeping Incense Pill, which worked wonders for insomnia. The lovely girls of Red Sleeve Brothel had their days and nights turned upside down and often suffered from sleep troubles, so they all came here for medicine. But last month, the shopkeeper had suddenly claimed that the ingredients for Sleeping Incense Pills were unavailable, and they had not been sold since. The shop gradually fell quiet.

That day, the pharmacy's shopkeeper was behind the counter doing the accounts while the young clerk watched the entrance when a chill wind suddenly blew in.

"Hm?" The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man dressed in brocade, with two splayed mustaches. As the wind scattered his account book, he raised his head and looked outside.

A young man with a broad forehead and cloudlike temples entered, asking gently, "Is the physician here?"

"Yes." The shopkeeper rose to his feet. "What symptoms does this guest have? Please, tell me."

"Thank you." The young man walked in and said, "I heard your shop has a famous medicine for insomnia. Do you still sell it?"

"We have not received the ingredients for the Sleeping Incense Pill, so we have not sold it for some time," the shopkeeper answered.

"I see..." The young man nodded, then took a porcelain bottle from his robes and set it on the counter. "Then was the medicine in this bottle sold here?"

"Sir, the bottle is empty. How could I tell?" the shopkeeper said with an apologetic smile.

"There is one more thing." The young man asked again, "Did you go to Mystic Sound Pavilion two days ago? I believe I saw you and this clerk there."

"Th-that..." The shopkeeper took two steps back and smiled. "That sort of thing is not easy to discuss..."

Before his smile had faded, a frigid killing intent burst from his eyes as he glanced behind the young man.

The young clerk waiting nearby suddenly sprang into action. At some point, a dagger had slipped from his sleeve, and he viciously stabbed through the air at the back of the young man's neck!

"Roar—"

This young man was none other than Shang Yunhai of the Evil Extermination Bureau!

When the clerk drove that vicious blade at him, Shang Yunhai did not even dodge. A beastly roar suddenly erupted from his throat, booming like thunder! With that roar, his upper body explosively swelled, transforming into a fierce beast form, like a vajra with a tiger's head and human body.

Clang.

The blade struck his neck and actually rang out with the sound of Gold Iron clashing, bending the dagger's edge!

At that moment, the pharmacy shopkeeper slapped one of the compartments in the medicine rack behind him. He casually grabbed something from the compartment that sprang open and scattered a cloud of white powder.

Shang Yunhai leaped aside, evading the white mist, while the young clerk who had attacked him from behind was instead exposed to it.

The clerk's hand touched the white mist first. It immediately began to sizzle and burn, and he screamed, "Ah—"

Shang Yunhai still seized his collar with a claw in midair and hurled him out the door.

That act undoubtedly saved his life.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper used that time to pull out another jar. He flung open its lid, and a buzzing rose as countless flying insects surged out. Each was the size of a fingernail, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a mass of Black Mist.

"Roar!" Shang Yunhai roared again. His sound waves were like an invisible tide, shaking swathes of black insects from the air. The insect cloud that had been sweeping toward him immediately turned and spread in all directions.

And behind the black cloud, the shopkeeper had already vanished!

Bzz—

Among the swarms of insects, one inconspicuous bug mixed into the larger mass and broke through the window to escape. It looked no different from the other insects in the cloud.

But the moment it flew out, a pretty young girl with twin buns was waiting on the roof. Holding a small bronze mirror, she suddenly shone its light over and cried, "Senior Sister Wen, here!"

The bronze mirror's light shone upon the flying insect, but what fell upon the ground was a human shadow!

This young girl was Xu Luzhi. At her cry, a snow-bright sword light tore through the evening sky and shot over like a meteor!

Ssh—

One sword split the air, and blood sprayed across the heavens.

The pharmacy shopkeeper revealed his true form. His chest had been pierced through, and he fell limply to the ground.

"Take him!"

"Watch for hidden poison! He is a Jiu Yang Poison Cultivator!"

"Restrain his Divine Soul first!"

"..."

Shouts rang out as passersby on both sides of the long street drew their weapons. They were all Knife Clerks from the Evil Extermination Bureau in disguise. The Knife Clerks closed in, iron chains and long hooks, talismanic restraints and sealing arts all pressing down together, firmly suppressing the shopkeeper.

Only then did the shopkeeper realize that everything around him was fake. The entire Ankang Ward was shrouded in divine arts, forming a world of its own. Yet trapped within it, he had not even noticed when the change had occurred.

"Chen Su..." he mumbled indistinctly. "The Mystic Sect Yin-Yang Vein—what formidable methods!"

Inside the Evil Extermination Division, Liang Yue had been waiting all along. When Wen Yifan returned with the good news, the stone hanging over his heart finally dropped.

"That pharmacy was indeed run by Jiu Yang spies. We captured two spies," Wen Yifan said.

Liang Yue smiled in satisfaction.

This proved that his deduction had been entirely correct. Yu Wenlong had long prepared to be captured, which was why he had swallowed the Heart-Destroying Gu beforehand.

And Phoenix Butterfly had been harmed by other Jiu Yang spies. They had set their sights on her long ago. The moment something happened to Yu Wenlong, they would silently eliminate her without anyone noticing.

Why?

Phoenix Butterfly must have known some secret about Yu Wenlong.

Or might have known one.

The Jiu Yang conspirators felt no affection for his lover, so naturally they had removed her early to cut off future trouble.

As for the exact reason, the Evil Extermination Division would need to interrogate them further.

The two men from the pharmacy had gone to Mystic Sound Pavilion that day perhaps because they had calculated that it would be the day Phoenix Butterfly died and wanted to confirm it. Unexpectedly, they encountered people from the Evil Extermination Bureau. Their covert surveillance was discovered, so they hurried away.

When the Evil Extermination Division went to arrest them, the trip had indeed not been in vain.

The Jade Mirror Divine Official and the Divine Blade Coroner had both left. The Evil Extermination Division had made a great fuss in inviting the two of them, only for them to achieve less than a single subordinate guard. Both felt rather ashamed.

"This time, the arrest was secret, and the trial will be secret as well, so we cannot publicly commend you. I am sorry about that, but it is also a form of protection for you." Wen Yifan added, "Privately, we will compensate you for your merits."

"I understand," Liang Yue said.

With his current strength, if they loudly proclaimed his successive contributions in helping capture Jiu Yang spies, they might as well have been asking for his death.

The Evil Extermination Bureau had always been generous. They certainly would not truly shortchange him when it came to rewards.

After thinking it over, he asked, "Then regarding the reward, may I make a request?"

Wen Yifan said, "Tell me whatever you want."

Liang Yue replied, "I would like a movement technique manual of a higher grade."

"No problem." Wen Yifan agreed readily. "I will help you look for one when I return and deliver it to you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Miss Wen," Liang Yue said.

Wen Yifan said, "We should be the ones thanking you. Chief Xie also said he wanted to recruit you into the Evil Extermination Division, but I do not think that would suit you. If your strength were a few realms higher, I might invite you to join us. But the Evil Extermination Division is still too dangerous for you right now."

Liang Yue nodded. He knew she was telling the truth.

The struggle between Jiu Yang and the Yin Dynasty was the most dangerous vortex in the world today.

Ordinary people who got involved would be crushed to pieces at the slightest misstep, not even leaving scraps behind.

Leaving aside the hidden dangers of dealing with Jiu Yang spies, even the wrangling with the various government bureaus would see someone die without ever knowing why if they lacked sufficient backing.

The people of the Evil Extermination Division dared to do such things because they were all otherworldly immortal officials. They were here to finish the job and leave.

Moreover, though they all appeared young, each had elders from the finest sects in the martial world behind them. Few people dared strike at them ruthlessly. If they suffered even the slightest loss, the ones who acted next would be great powers.

No matter how powerful the enemy was, could they be stronger than Master Chen Yandao of the Xuan Palm?

An ordinary man like himself, burdened with a family and without a master or sect, was ultimately not one of their kind. While his own strength remained weak, it was more suitable for him to serve dutifully as an Imperial Capital Guard.

After leaving the Evil Extermination Bureau, Liang Yue returned to Fukang Ward feeling refreshed.

At the station, faced with Chen Ju and Pang Chun's puzzled gazes, he shrugged after having disappeared for most of the day and explained, "I saw the sky getting a little overcast just now and remembered that I had clothes hanging at home that I had not brought in."

Chen Ju looked up at the bright midday sky, where the sun was still somewhat glaring, and muttered, "That overcast?"

"And does it take several hours to go home?" Pang Chun scratched his head.

Liang Yue said with complete seriousness, "I took the water route."

"Huh?" That one sentence utterly confused Da Chun. He and Liang Yue both lived in Peaceful Lane, yet after all these years, he had never heard that there was a water route home.

"By the way, have you heard?" Chen Ju could not be bothered to dwell on it. He often skipped work to have fun at Red Sleeve Brothel anyway, so whether Liang Yue traveled by water or land was nothing remarkable.

He eagerly pulled Liang Yue over and said, "Something happened to Zou Huainan!"

Thanks to "Li Dakang, Legal Scholar," thanks to Dakang, for becoming this book's eleventh Alliance Leader.