Borrowing a Knife to Kill, Poisoning as a Disguise

"Tang San, come out."

Zhu Zhuqing stood outside the dormitory door, holding the leaf that wrapped the piece of dead skin.

Xiao Wu was tidying her bedding by the bed. Her face darkened the moment she heard the voice.

"You really came?"

Zhu Zhuqing looked at her. "I'm looking for him, not you."

Xiao Wu threw her quilt onto the bed. "My brother isn't feeling well. Must you keep pestering him?"

Tang San put on his outer robe and stopped Xiao Wu. "I'll go say a few words and be back soon."

Xiao Wu grabbed his sleeve. "I'm going with you."

Zhu Zhuqing said, "He won't tell the truth if you're there."

Xiao Wu sneered, "As if you understand him so well."

Tang San gently pressed her hand. "Xiao Wu, it's fine. I'll be right outside the door."

Xiao Wu stared at Zhu Zhuqing for a moment before letting go. "If she tries anything, call me."

Ma Hongjun poked his head out from next door. "Who's trying anything? Are we fighting?"

Oscar also popped out. "Not sleeping at night? The Dean will make us run laps again tomorrow."

Dai Mubai walked out of the dormitory, frowning at Zhu Zhuqing. "Are you really going to keep making a scene?"

Zhu Zhuqing didn't look at him. "I just have a few questions."

Tang San walked into the courtyard.

Moonlight fell upon the ground, and the dirt path still bore the imprints from the day's training.

Zhu Zhuqing opened the leaf packet, revealing the charred, shriveled skin.

She handed it to Tang San. "See for yourself."

Tang San took it. His fingertips didn't touch the new sprout directly, observing it only through the leaf.

The skin was charred black, the dark red at the edges already crushed, with black sap dried onto the leaf surface.

"This doesn't look like ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

Zhu Zhuqing said, "I'm glad you know."

Tang San looked up. "What are you suspecting?"

Zhu Zhuqing stared at his left hand. "There is something on you."

Dai Mubai's expression changed. "Zhuqing!"

Zhu Zhuqing continued, "You've been weak lately, vomiting blood, your left hand feels heavy, and now this skin appears by your feet today. Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"

Tang San didn't answer immediately.

He did feel that something was wrong.

Ever since Notting Academy, the loss of internal energy, the loss of control over his body, the dreams, the heavy pain in his left hand—each incident weighed on his heart.

But his teacher had provided an explanation.

The rejection between Twin Martial Souls, the residual poison of the Datura Snake, the strain from breaking through with the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Every explanation made sense.

Ji Yuan waited coldly inside the sole of his shoe.

A little more.

Let the suspicion grow, then pluck it out by hand; only then would it take root deeper.

Tang San said in a low voice, "Grandmaster said this is Martial Soul rejection."

Zhu Zhuqing countered, "Has Grandmaster ever seen this kind of thing growing on the edge of your shoe?"

Tang San gripped the leaf packet tightly. "No."

Xiao Wu couldn't help but shout from the doorway, "Zhu Zhuqing, stop trying to scare people!"

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Tang San. "Take off your shoe."

The courtyard fell silent.

Ma Hongjun even forgot to chew the sunflower seeds in his mouth. "Huh?"

Oscar rubbed his nose. "Isn't that request a bit weird?"

Xiao Wu was so angry her face turned red. "Are you sick?"

Zhu Zhuqing didn't back down. "I checked the mud earlier today. The problem is near the sole of your shoe."

Tang San frowned.

Dai Mubai stepped forward. "Zhuqing, that's enough."

Zhu Zhuqing made her voice even colder. "If he really is being targeted by something, why not check now instead of regretting it when something happens?"

This statement pinned Tang San down.

He looked down at his shoe.

Ji Yuan had already cleaned the gaps in the sole, even absorbing the sap stains left by the broken skin.

Check it, then.

Tang San bent down to take off his shoe and flipped it over.

Mud, grass clippings, worn-out patterns.

No dark red.

No roots.

No living things at all.

Xiao Wu immediately snatched the shoe to look it over, then threw it back into Tang San's arms. "See? There's nothing!"

Zhu Zhuqing's brows tightened.

She took the shoe back. Not minding the dirt, she ran her fingertips slowly along the seams of the sole.

Ji Yuan pulled his entire body into a state of deathly stillness.

When Zhu Zhuqing reached the deepest crevice, there was only a small, dry, hard wood splinter mixed in with the wear of the sole.

She returned the shoe to Tang San.

"Did you change your shoes today?"

Tang San shook his head. "No."

Zhu Zhuqing asked again, "Then where did that piece of skin come from?"

Tang San looked at the leaf packet without answering.

Ji Yuan began to act.

He didn't touch the sole of the shoe.

He went to touch the poison already buried near Tang San's heart meridian.

The residual poison of the Datura Snake, the corrosive toxin of the Man-eating Flower, the stench in the blood of the Netherworld Wolf—he had pressed them all into the corners of the meridians. Usually, he only revealed a tiny bit, enough to make Yu Xiaogang misjudge the situation without taking Tang San's life.

Now, it was time for it to erupt.

Just as Tang San was about to speak, his chest suddenly felt stifled, and the leaf packet in his hand fell to the ground.

Xiao Wu's face changed drastically. "Brother!"

Tang San pressed his chest, his lips turning white as his knees slammed into the mud.

Dai Mubai caught him. "Tang San, what's wrong?"

Tang San tried to speak, but the taste of blood surged into his throat first.

He bent over and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

The black blood hit the ground, and a foul, fishy stench spread. Ma Hongjun covered his nose and backed away.

Oscar's face turned pale. "The color of this blood is wrong!"

Zhu Zhuqing's movements stopped.

She had wanted to keep questioning the shoe, but the scene before her pushed all suspicion in a different direction.

Tang San wasn't hiding anything.

He was truly poisoned.

Xiao Wu's eyes turned red instantly. "Brother, don't scare me!"

Tang San heard her voice, but he couldn't see her face clearly.

The courtyard before him twisted. Dark red poisonous vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around his hands and feet. The tips of the vines burrowed into his chest, squeezing his heart until it ached.

He tried to use his Mysterious Heaven Skill to break through, only to find his internal energy was largely empty.

His left hand felt even heavier.

The Clear Sky Hammer felt like it had fallen into a deep well, impossible to lift.

Taking advantage of Tang San vomiting blood, Ji Yuan sucked the energy and blood from the toxic discharge back into the sole of the shoe.

Waste blood was still blood.

To him, as long as it was squeezed dry, not a single drop should be wasted.

Xiao Wu shouted toward the dormitory in a panic, "Oscar, sausage!"

Oscar snapped out of it and hurriedly raised his hand. "I have a big sausage!"

He had just finished making it when his face turned another shade of pale.

Ji Yuan didn't snatch too much, only intercepting the restorative power at the edges of the sausage, leaving the majority for Tang San to use for surface-level repair.

Tang San ate the sausage, but the tearing pain in his chest didn't subside much; instead, he spat out another mouthful of black blood.

Zhu Zhuqing knelt beside him, her voice carrying a sense of urgency for the first time. "Is it the poison from that piece of skin?"

Tang San gritted his teeth. "No, I didn't touch the skin."

Dai Mubai said, "Then it's the old poison!"

Xiao Wu turned and shouted at Zhu Zhuqing, "It's all your fault! You had to force him!"

Zhu Zhuqing's face turned pale, but she didn't dodge. "I just wanted to find out the truth."

Xiao Wu was about to say more when Tang San grabbed her wrist.

His hand was deathly cold.

"Stop arguing."

Xiao Wu's tears fell. "You're like this and you're still worried about that?"

Ma Hongjun turned and ran. "I'll go find the Dean and Teacher Zhao!"

Oscar said anxiously, "We also need to find Grandmaster. My sausage can't suppress this poison in Tang San!"

Dai Mubai immediately said, "I'll go!"

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stood up. "I'm faster."

Before her words had even faded, she had already rushed out of the courtyard gate.

Xiao Wu looked at her retreating back and gritted her teeth. "Now she knows how to be in a hurry."

Tang San knelt halfway on the ground, the hallucinations before his eyes still lingering.

That faceless, dark red plant appeared again.

It didn't speak, only coiled around his left hand, burrowing deep into the bone.

Tang San bit his teeth shut, his Mysterious Heaven Skill struggling to circulate.

Ji Yuan took the opportunity to push the toxins toward the outside of the meridians, creating the illusion of detoxification.

Black blood spilled from the corners of Tang San's mouth again.

Xiao Wu used her sleeve to wipe it, becoming more panicked the more she wiped. "Brother, stop circulating your energy, please, stop."

Tang San said hoarsely, "If I don't circulate my energy, the poison will spread faster."

Oscar paced back and forth in a panic. "My sausage is still edible, but he's vomiting blood now, so eating more won't help."

Zhao Wuji arrived wearing his outer robe. Upon seeing the black blood on the ground, his expression changed too.

"What's going on?"

Dai Mubai followed behind. "Zhuqing said Tang San might be affected by something, so she had him check his shoe sole. He started vomiting blood right after checking it."

Zhao Wuji looked at the leaf packet on the ground. "What is that?"

Oscar hurriedly said, "A rotten vine we picked up this morning."

Zhao Wuji cursed, "A piece of rotten vine caused all this?"

Flender arrived as well. He reached out to press Tang San's shoulder, but the moment his Soul Power tried to probe, the poison inside Tang San surged even more violently.

Tang San vomited blood again.

Flender immediately withdrew his hand. "We can't probe blindly; his internal Soul Power is in turmoil."

Xiao Wu cried, "Dean, save him."

Flender said in a deep voice, "Where is Grandmaster?"

Zhu Zhuqing's voice came from outside the courtyard. "He's here!"

Yu Xiaogang, wearing his outer robe, was supported by Zhu Zhuqing as he walked in quickly, his face showing no signs of sleepiness.

The moment he saw the black blood Tang San had spat out, his entire body tensed up.

"San!"

Tang San heard his teacher's voice and managed to look up. "Teacher, I..."

Yu Xiaogang knelt down and grabbed his wrist. The moment his Soul Power probed in, his brows furrowed even deeper.

Ji Yuan immediately pushed the residual Datura Snake poison to the most prominent position.

At the same time, he tugged at the origin of the Clear Sky Hammer in the left hand, letting that heavy sensation leak out along the meridians.

Yu Xiaogang's fingers pressed down harder.

Tang San groaned in pain.

Xiao Wu said anxiously, "Grandmaster, be gentle!"

Yu Xiaogang ignored her, his gaze falling on the piece of dead skin.

Zhu Zhuqing briefly explained what had happened.

After listening, Yu Xiaogang's expression grew increasingly heavy.

He didn't rush to a conclusion, only telling Tang San to put his shoe back on and asking Oscar for another sausage.

Ji Yuan hid inside the sole of the shoe, suppressing all his vitality to the absolute minimum.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the black blood at the corner of Tang San's mouth and suddenly asked, "Did you see the Red Vine just now?"

Tang San's pupils constricted.

"How did you know, teacher?"

Yu Xiaogang let out a long breath, as if he had finally grasped the answer.

Zhu Zhuqing looked up. "Red Vine?"

Yu Xiaogang picked up the scrap of skin and looked at the group.

"It is not a parasitic organism."

Ji Yuan silently spread his feeding orifice.

It was time.

This tool had finally delivered the most suitable outer shell right to him.