Crimson Spider Poison

At that moment, Sikong Jing felt as if his whole body were about to burst into flames. Every drop of blood in him was boiling.

The pain on his face flashed away.

In its place came delight. His shattered meridians began to knit themselves back together in the boiling blood, like a dense spiderweb building a whole new network of pathways.

When that drop of Blood of Ten Thousand Beasts flowed into his dantian, a brand-new dantian began to take shape.

His dantian resembled the head of some unknown giant beast. It went from faint to vivid, from shapeless to solid, until at last it appeared in full!

The shrew still hadn't noticed Sikong Jing's transformation. She turned on Su Yuexi again and cursed, "If it wasn't you, who else could it be? Everyone in the Su Clan knows you've got a sickly husband to support. Keep denying it, and see if I don't kill you!"

She flung Su Yuexi to the ground, then planted a foot on her face and ground it against her.

"Ugly freak, second young miss of the Su Clan, hahahaha..."

As she rubbed her huge foot against Su Yuexi, the shrew laughed wildly. "I might let bygones be bygones—if you get down on your knees and beg me. I've never had the daughter of the household kneel and beg me before."

Pinned to the ground, Su Yuexi's face was hidden behind her veil, but her exposed eyes were unwavering.

She would never kneel!

Seeing this, the shrew laughed even harder. "Still got some fight in you, huh? But your old ma has plenty of ways to deal with you. I wonder what'll happen if I sit my fat ass on that sickly husband of yours?"

She lifted her foot and lumbered toward Sikong Jing, who lay on the straw bed.

Su Yuexi's face changed drastically. She scrambled to her feet and cried, "Please, don't hurt him! I'll kneel for you!"

The shrew froze, then gave a leering laugh. "The ugly freak's in heat?"

"No wonder. You finally found a man willing to take you, so of course you want to enjoy a bit of pleasure you've never known."

"But it's too late!"

By the time she finished speaking, the shrew had reached the straw bed and was about to come crashing down on Sikong Jing like Mount Tai.

If Sikong Jing had still been as weak as he was moments ago, that crushing weight might have taken half his life. But now, his dantian and meridians had fully recovered, and his injuries had healed.

He shot his eyes open. Flames seemed to flicker in them.

A large, calloused hand reached out and seized the shrew by the neck. Then her feet left the ground.

Sikong Jing asked coldly, "How would you like to die?"

Su Yuexi, who had been about to kneel in desperation, stopped short and stared at the scene before her in disbelief.

Somehow, her husband—whose name she didn't even know—had risen from the straw bed. He held the shrew high above him, his frame even more imposing than she could have imagined. His features were sharply defined, and not a trace of pallor remained.

Only coldness and dominance remained!

The shrew came to her senses, terror and rage mingling in her voice. "Sickly weakling, let go of me, or else—"

Before she could finish, Sikong Jing cut her off. "This is the hand you used to hit my wife, isn't it?"

He gripped the shrew's right arm and yanked hard.

He tore the entire arm off. As she screamed, Sikong Jing asked again, "And this is the foot you used to step on my wife, isn't it?"

With another chop of his hand, he severed her leg cleanly at the knee. Blood sprayed everywhere!

When he was done, Sikong Jing casually threw her out the door. He kicked her severed limbs after her, then turned his gaze to Su Yuexi, who was too shocked to speak. His voice softened. "Are you all right?"

"You, you..."

As if waking from a dream, Su Yuexi still couldn't manage a complete sentence.

"I'm fine. Thank you for taking care of me these past few days." Sikong Jing had seen his share of major events. Even though he'd only just recovered his dantian and meridians, punishing a shrew like this stirred no emotion in him.

The only thing in his eyes was the faint tenderness he felt when he looked at Su Yuexi.

Suddenly, Sikong Jing asked, "You wouldn't kneel even with her foot on you. So why were you willing to kneel for me?"

After suffering a betrayal written in blood, Sikong Jing couldn't help but be moved when someone suddenly stood up for him like this.

Su Yuexi's black veil shifted. She lowered her head and said, "You're my husband. Of course I can't let you be humiliated."

Those words stiffened Sikong Jing's expression, and emotions too complicated to put into words welled up inside him.

Yan Ruyu, who had once sworn eternal love with him, had taken everything from him. Yet Su Yuexi, whom he'd met by chance, was willing to endure humiliation for his sake.

What a cruel irony.

Sikong Jing sighed. "Heaven hasn't completely abandoned me after all."

With that, he stepped in front of Su Yuexi.

Without hesitation, he lifted the veil from her face. Beneath it was a face like a spiderweb, densely covered with black spider-shaped moles, enough to make anyone sick at the sight.

Blood still dripped down her face where the shrew had stepped on her.

"Ah? Don't look!" Su Yuexi came to her senses, frantically covered her face, and crouched down hard.

But Sikong Jing forcefully pulled her hands away.

He wanted to examine her face and see whether it could be healed, and what was wrong with it.

As he studied her, the name of a poison flashed through his mind. His voice turned cold. "Crimson Spider Poison."