"Your Name"

Xiao Yi Xian sat dazed on the ground. The blue robe draped over her shoulders still held the warmth of a stranger, a clear reminder that everything that had just happened was real.

She lowered her head and stared blankly at the colorful scroll in her hands, her mind utterly empty.

What... did he want? To scare me? Why? Does this scroll hold the answer to what's wrong with my body?

Countless questions tangled in her thoughts like a knot she couldn't undo.

Xiao Yi Xian hesitated for a moment, then bit her lower lip.

Whatever happened, even if it killed her, she had to find out what her body was—the body that had tormented her for so many years.

Her slender fingers trembled as she slowly unrolled the ancient scroll.

The first half was filled with all manner of complicated, even sinister, poison recipes. They made her heart pound with alarm.

But at last, Xiao Yi Xian reached the final section, which described the Woeful Poison Body.

The scroll detailed the Woeful Poison Body's traits, how to identify it, and the destruction it could cause. It also recorded the bloodshed wrought years ago by someone with a Woeful Poison Body, and that person's tragic end.

As the shocking lines of text came into view, Xiao Yi Xian's face grew paler and her breathing quickened.

Every word was like a poisoned ice needle stabbing into her heart.

This wasn't an illness. It was a curse she'd been born with, one that was destined to end in ruin!

"Must feed on poison to cultivate. Yet the poison's power erodes the body, drastically shortening one's lifespan, until no remedy remains... When this body appears in the world, it brings calamity and is often rejected by all..."

She understood now. She was like a walking source of poison. Those close to her would die because of her, and cultivation was like drinking poison to quench her thirst. The only possible endings were to destroy herself or be hunted down by the world.

Despair—deeper and more complete than when she'd thought she was about to be violated—rose like an endless, dark tide and swallowed her whole.

So, from the moment she was born, her fate had already been written: a most tragic ending.

Tears slipped silently down her cheeks again. This time, they weren't for the innocence she'd feared losing, but for a future doomed to be bleak, lonely, and cut short by death.

Just as Xiao Yi Xian trembled, nearly crushed by the weight of the truth, faint footsteps drew near.

Ning Chen had finished inspecting the medicinal ingredients and returned to the center of the stone chamber.

He casually dragged over the broad stone chair where the skeleton had been sitting, brushed off the dust that wasn't there, and settled into it across from Xiao Yi Xian, a few steps away.

"Finished reading?"

Ning Chen's voice was calm, devoid of any particular emotion, as though they'd returned to the moment they'd first met.

Xiao Yi Xian raised her tear-blurred eyes and looked at the mysterious man.

There was no teasing on his face now, nor the gentle smile he'd worn earlier. Only a near-indifferent calm remained.

Seeing that she only wept and said nothing, Ning Chen didn't mind. He spoke casually.

"If there's anything you want to ask, you can ask me now."

Xiao Yi Xian sniffed and wiped away her tears. Her voice still caught with sobs, but she tried to speak clearly.

"Who... who are you, really? What do you want to do to me?"

"Just a passerby who happened to meddle in someone else's business." Ning Chen replied lightly.

"As for what I want... Didn't I already tell you? I wanted you to see reality clearly."

"Why?"

Xiao Yi Xian pressed him. She couldn't understand.

"We don't even know each other. You're so powerful—why would you care whether someone as insignificant as me lives or dies? And... why did you scare me like that?"

Remembering what she'd just been through, she still felt shaken.

Ning Chen looked at her, at her pretty face marked with tear tracks.

"As for why... First, I'm... well, a kind-hearted person. I can't bear to see people suffer."

He paused. "Second, you have a good nature. Even with a body as sinister and dangerous as this, there's no malice in your eyes. That's rare on the Dou Qi Continent. As for scaring you..."

He leaned forward slightly.

"If I hadn't forced you with a despair that felt almost real, would you have found the resolve to take control of this curse in other people's eyes? Or would you, one day, let it run wild and hurt yourself and others—or let it drag you into the abyss?"

"I..." Xiao Yi Xian opened her mouth to argue, but found herself at a loss for words.

"You mean... I can control it? It doesn't have to hurt people, and I don't necessarily have to die so soon?"

Xiao Yi Xian quickly caught the implication hidden in Ning Chen's words.

"That depends on what you do."

Ning Chen gave her no definite answer.

"The Woeful Poison Body is a curse, but it's also a talent."

"Whether you become a calamity bringing poison and disaster, or take your fate into your own hands, depends on every choice you make from now on."

"At least, in the eyes of some powerful people in the Central Plains, the Woeful Poison Body isn't a curse at all. It's a treasure they'd give anything to obtain."

"A treasure? Who would consider this kind of curse a treasure? A lunatic?" Xiao Yi Xian found the idea absurd.

"What would a little doctor from Qingshan Town know?" Ning Chen gave a soft scoff.

"If you don't cultivate, seeing me is like a frog at the bottom of a well looking up at the moon. If you do cultivate, seeing me is like a mayfly looking up at the blue sky."

"The Dou Qi Continent is far vaster and more complicated than you can imagine."

Xiao Yi Xian wanted to retort, "You're only a Dou Wang yourself. How would you know anything about the Central Plains?" But she swallowed the words.

For now, at least, what he said seemed far more likely to be true.

Xiao Yi Xian raised her swollen, red eyes and looked at Ning Chen again.

His eyes were bright and clear. There was no lust, no scheming, no false sympathy—only the calm depth of a still pool.

He really didn't seem to be lying.

At least, for now, he didn't seem to mean her any harm. If anything... it really did seem like he was just "meddling" to pull me out of trouble...

At the thought, the taut string inside Xiao Yi Xian loosened a little.

Seeing that she'd calmed down somewhat, Ning Chen spoke again, his voice gentler than before.

"Feeling a little better?"

Xiao Yi Xian nodded lightly, a little embarrassed. She turned her face away and wiped her tears.

Ning Chen stood and looked at the girl still sitting on the ground, wearing his outer robe. He asked casually,

"You probably don't have much left to hold on to in Qingshan Town, do you? After what happened today, those mercenaries probably won't be able to treat you as they did before."

Xiao Yi Xian fell silent. She knew it was true.

After today, her peaceful life as "Xiao Yi Xian" in Qingshan Town was bound to end.

"If you don't have anywhere to go for now, and don't know what to do next..."

Ning Chen paused, then held out his right hand to her.

"Then come with me. At least you'll have a place to stay until you figure out how to live with your constitution, or find the path you want to take."

"Of course, following me doesn't guarantee you'll be safe. You might run into more things you can't imagine. But it's still better than wandering around alone with that Poison Scripture, fumbling about in the Magic Beast Mountain Range or some other corner, only to die from a poison flare-up one day or get eaten by a magical beast."

It was a casual invitation. There were no solemn promises or comforting reassurances, only the stark, practical pros and cons.

Xiao Yi Xian stared at the hand held out before her, then lowered her gaze to the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture in her hands and felt the blue robe on her shoulders—someone else's garment, yet one that had unexpectedly warmed her.

The tragedy etched into her childhood, the loneliness of struggling alone for years, the terror of facing death just now, and her helpless uncertainty about the future...

It seemed that after this mysterious powerhouse appeared, a new possibility had opened up.

Xiao Yi Xian slowly took Ning Chen's hand and stood.

She met his gaze. Though tears still glimmered in her eyes, she tried to keep her voice steady.

"I still can't truly trust you, but at least, you seem to be telling the truth."

"My name is Ye Qingxian. You can call me Xiao Yi Xian, too."

Potato, Potato... What kind of important heroine doesn't even get a proper name? I had to come up with one myself...

Ning Chen silently grumbled to himself, then smiled warmly.

"Ning Chen."