Cauliflower

This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard.

Leng Tianjiao was momentarily stunned, then a cold, non-icy smirk tugged at her lips. "Oh? Then I won't hold back." She struck with full force, showing no mercy. The slap left Yan Shubing's cheek red and swollen.

"You... you hit me?!" Yan Shubing covered her face, utterly incredulous.

"Wasn't it your own words? As long as it makes me feel better, a few slaps don't matter." Leng Tianjiao's expression was flat. Yan Shubing's clumsy framing tactic disgusted her.

"You!!!" Yan Shubing was about to flare up, but remembering Zhu Ping'an was watching, she instantly switched back to her pitiful, innocent act. "It's fine. As long as Sister Tianjiao is happy, that's what matters." Then she turned to Zhu Ping'an, walked over, and took his hand. "Ping'an Ge, you mustn't blame Sister Tianjiao, and don't start a conflict with her because of me. I'd feel so guilty!"

Zhu Ping'an was secretly reveling in the scene. He had no intention of defending Yan Shubing anyway, so he seized the chance to back down gracefully, patting her hand gently. "Bingbing! Don't worry, I'll listen to you. I was actually going to hit her back for you, but since you say not to blame her, let's just drop it."

"I..." Yan Shubing nearly had a heart attack. Gritting her silver teeth, she couldn't help but say, "Ping'an Ge, you could actually argue with her a little."

"No can do, Bingbing." Zhu Ping'an gave a bitter smile and shrugged helplessly. "I'm just a live-in son-in-law of the Leng Family. If I fall out with Leng Tianjiao, they'll kick me out for sure. For the sake of our future, bear with it, okay?"

Yan Shubing nearly ground her teeth to dust. She knew she had no choice but to swallow this loss. She shot Leng Tianjiao a vicious glare, then sulkily fell silent.

After a while, Ye Qingxian slowly woke up under Zhu Ping'an's treatment. The first thing he saw was Zhu Ping'an's grinning face. "Brother Ye, you're finally awake?"

Ye Qingxian scrambled backward on all fours with lightning speed, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Zhu Ping'an, his face still etched with terror. "Zhu Ping'an, what did you do to me?"

"Ah, Brother Ye, that's a bit hurtful. I did my best to save you. Look, there are the empty medicine bottles I used." Zhu Ping'an sighed in mock sorrow.

Ye Qingxian followed his gaze and saw over a dozen empty porcelain bottles on the ground nearby. He patted himself down and found his injuries were mostly healed. He fell silent, feeling that Zhu Ping'an couldn't possibly be this kind-hearted, yet he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

"Brother Ye, come eat some grilled wings. My chicken wings are amazing. Let's fill up before we continue exploring the secret realm." Zhu Ping'an's smile was radiant. Just now, besides feeding Ye Qingxian healing pills, he had also slipped in some of Leng Tianyan's homemade medicines.

These included, but were not limited to, Cauliflower Pill, Super Strong Laxative, Psoriasis Pill, Scalp Ringworm Pill, Urticaria Pill...

After noticing Ye Qingxian's athlete's foot on his face was gone, Zhu Ping'an thoughtfully sprinkled some more on him—but this time, not on his face. After all, constantly scratching one's face wasn't very dignified, so he chose to sprinkle it on Ye Qingxian's kun kun.

Even though there were pants in the way, some powder was bound to get inside, since Ye Qingxian wasn't wearing leather trousers. If it were anyone else, Zhu Ping'an might have worried about accidentally overdosing and killing them, but this was Ye Qingxian—the Child of Destiny, the original protagonist. He wouldn't die even if everyone else did. Still, this cocktail of bizarre poisons would surely give Ye Qingxian a rough time.

Thinking this, Zhu Ping'an's smile grew even brighter as he handed Ye Qingxian a freshly grilled chicken wing. "Brother Ye, come on, come on, eat the wing."

"Zhu Ping'an, I'm warning you, don't try anything, or else—"

Before Ye Qingxian could finish, Zhu Ping'an shoved a thick, large chicken drumette straight into his mouth. "Don't talk, just eat."

Ye Qingxian glared at Zhu Ping'an, then viciously tore a strip of meat off the wing, chewing with savage force, as if he were gnawing on Zhu Ping'an's flesh. But as he chewed, he began to feel something off—strange granular bumps had appeared on his tongue.

Ye Qingxian frowned, unsure what was happening. After a moment, the foreign sensation on his tongue grew stronger. He couldn't help but find a mirror, only to discover that his tongue had sprouted cauliflower-like growths. Panicked, he reached out to touch them, which only made things worse—his tongue really had grown something!

"Zhu Ping'an! What did you do to me?" Ye Qingxian was both shocked and furious.

Zhu Ping'an glanced over and nearly burst out laughing. Leng Tianyan was a real genius—his medicine worked this fast. He'd thought it would take a few days to take effect. "Ah!" Zhu Ping'an feigned surprise, drawing everyone's attention. "Brother Ye, those on your tongue... they look like cauliflower!"

"What's cauliflower?" Ye Qingxian pressed.

"Star Disease."

The moment Zhu Ping'an said this, everyone's expressions toward Ye Qingxian turned subtle. You never really know a person—who would have thought that Ye Qingxian, who usually seemed so upright, was actually into such wild things behind the scenes?

"You're full of crap! How could I possibly have Star Disease?! Even if I did, it wouldn't grow in my mouth! Stop slandering me!" Ye Qingxian roared.

"Brother Ye..." Zhu Ping'an said earnestly. "Star Disease doesn't only grow in certain places. If you eat dumpling skins oozing green water, there's a chance it can appear in your mouth too."

"Zhu Ping'an!" Ye Qingxian's eyes were bloodshot, his breath ragged. "Stop spreading lies here! You were the only one who fed me medicine, and right after that, this appeared. You clearly poisoned me!"

At Ye Qingxian's accusation, everyone else finally caught on.

Even Leng Tianjiao and the eight Leng Family martial artists were now looking at Zhu Ping'an with somewhat strange expressions—clearly, they too thought he was seizing the opportunity to cause trouble.

"Ping'an Ge! How could you do this? I thought you were sincerely treating Qingxian Ge's injuries, but you actually secretly did something like this? I'm so disappointed in you! Hurry up and take out the antidote!" Yan Shubing condemned him with righteous indignation.

"It really wasn't me. Why won't any of you believe me?" Zhu Ping'an said helplessly.

Just then, the athlete's foot on Ye Qingxian flared up. He suddenly felt an unbearable itch in his crotch. He held back and didn't move, but the sensation of itching was hard to endure.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, he couldn't help reaching down to scratch. But once he started, he couldn't stop. Ye Qingxian felt the more he scratched, the itchier it got, and his handsome face began to twist in discomfort.

The commotion Ye Qingxian caused quickly drew everyone's attention...