Poison Wounds and Breakthrough

Darkness weighed heavily on Xiang Yi's eyelids. Every breath tugged at his temples with needle-like pain, a sign that his mental power had been completely drained. The warehouse's dim emergency lights cast twisted shadows across the oil-stained concrete floor. The air reeked so strongly of blood that it choked him, mixed with a sickly sweet stench of rust and rot—it was poison, lethal poison.

Lanling King lay on a makeshift metal table, his body taut like a recurved bow as spasms wracked him intermittently. A diamond-shaped poisoned dart was embedded deep beneath his shoulder blade, dangerously close to his heart. The flesh around the wound had turned an eerie blue-purple, spreading rapidly as though alive, like a greedy spiderweb devouring his life. Beneath the discolored skin, his veins writhed and bulged like worms, oozing cold, foul-smelling fluid. Every convulsion brought up more blackened bloody foam, accompanied by faint but teeth-grinding "clicking" sounds, as if something inside were gnawing on his bones. Blood dripped onto the concrete with soft "drip... drip..." sounds, infinitely amplified in the dead-silent warehouse. Like the last grains of sand in an hourglass, every drop struck Xiang Yi's taut nerves.

"Urgh... cough..." Lanling King suddenly doubled over, his throat making a harsh wheezing sound like a broken bellows. His teeth were clenched tight, veins bulging at his temples, and cold sweat had soaked through the black cloth over his face, sticking it to his ashen skin.

Xiang Yi clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms. The pain seemed to crawl over through his gaze and explode within his own body. The pitiful sense of security he had only just managed to build was torn to pieces by the scene before him. "My lord"? He couldn't even protect his sharpest blade, and he still dreamed of moving pieces from behind the scenes? Cold reality slapped him brutally across the face. One mistake, one ambush, was enough to break his greatest support.

"My... my lord..." Lanling King's unfocused eyes struggled to meet Xiang Yi's face. His voice was as weak as a dying candle flame. "This subordinate... failed... and has become... a burden..."

Before he could finish, an even more violent convulsion cut him off. His body jerked upward, nearly rolling off the table.

"Don't talk!" Xiang Yi's voice was terribly hoarse, trembling in a way he did not even notice himself. He reached out sharply and almost roughly pressed down on Lanling King's convulsing shoulder. The muscle beneath his palm was scorching hot, yet rigid with the stiffness of death. The sensation churned his stomach.

"Antidote! System! Give me an antidote!" Xiang Yi roared inwardly, his thoughts frantically slamming against that cold interface.

[Warning: Lanling King's life is in critical danger! Toxin: Compound neuroparalytic agent (The Hand's specially formulated "Ghost-Faced Spider" variant). Toxicity: B-rank. Estimated time until death: 1 hour 23 minutes.]

[Recommended solution: Exchange for "Broad-Spectrum Potent Antivenom Serum (Hero-Exclusive)".]

[Exchange cost: 50 Mental Power points (current: 5/250), or 500 Energy Points (current: 80).]

[Warning: Requirements not met! Death countdown: 01:22:59...]

The scarlet prompts branded themselves into Xiang Yi's eyes like red-hot irons. That ticking countdown was Death's stopwatch, coldly mocking him. Relocating the base, dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D., the lingering impact of the Ancient One's fleeting glance... he was already at the end of his tether. Those 5 points of mental power were merely the final spark keeping him conscious. Eighty Energy Points? Worthless!

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Xiang Yi slammed a fist hard against the cold edge of the metal table. The agony in his knuckles could not suppress the burning anxiety and crushing helplessness inside him. He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot, trapped-beast eyes sweeping across the warehouse.

In the corner, Ming Shiyin sat cross-legged, his complexion barely any better than Lanling King's. The divination disk before him had gone dim, with fine cracks spreading along its edges. To conceal their traces, disrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. and Su Rui's surveillance, and endure the mental shock brought on by the Ancient One's glance, he had exhausted every ounce of his strength. His eyes were tightly shut now, his body swaying slightly, his breathing heavy, dried blood still staining the corner of his mouth.

Guiguzi floated in midair, the faint golden mist around him so thin it was nearly invisible. He was using every bit of his strength to control the tiny Xuan Weizi, maintaining the last fragile barrier—the "Cognitive Interference Field"—to isolate the warehouse's energy fluctuations and signs of life, preventing S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Hand from finding them. Every wrinkle on his face was carved with the exhaustion of overexertion. He could not spare his attention elsewhere.

The only hope was on the other side of the table—A Ke.

She wore dark-purple leather armor stained with dust and dark-red blood, leaning against a cold storage rack with her arms crossed like a lifeless statue. Only the eyes beneath her hood's shadow remained sharp as ice picks, fixed firmly on Xiang Yi's face, twisted by anxiety and exhaustion.

"The price." She spoke, her voice as cold as frozen iron, echoing through the empty warehouse like an icy verdict. "I told you. Every swing of the blade is stained with blood. His, or the enemy's. This time, it's his."

There was no accusation in her tone, only a cruel statement of fact. Her gaze judged Xiang Yi, silently demanding: Is this the "behind the scenes" you wanted? Is this the price of moving the pieces? Can you afford it?

Her words were like a poisonous ice spike driven viciously into Xiang Yi's heart. The price! The warning from when the system activated rang in his ears: "Mental power = life." Watching a loyal companion struggle on the brink of death because of his orders while he could do nothing, he finally understood the taste of that price—bitter, bloody, salty, carrying the rusty flavor of despair.

"Shut up!" Xiang Yi whipped his head around and roared, madness blazing in his trapped-beast eyes. "He can't die! He... he's my blade! My shield!" The reason was pale and feeble, but it was the only thought he could cling to. Lanling King was not merely combat power. He was the first person to answer the summons. The words "Shadow Blade, at your command" had ignited his first hope!

He forced himself to calm down and swallowed the metallic sweetness in his throat. Mental power... he needed mental power!

"Returning to the Hidden Formula!" Xiang Yi practically threw himself to the ground, sat cross-legged, and formed a meditation seal. This was his last chance!

He closed his eyes, trying to sink into his mental space. But this time, what greeted him was not darkness—

His dried-up spiritual world shattered like countless cracked mirrors exploding at once! The fragments reflected his dying companion, A Ke's cold stare, the system's scarlet warnings! The piercing ringing in his ears was not a hum, but countless voices screaming Give up! inside his mind. Excruciating pain, like red-hot iron spikes, drilled into his skull from every direction! His consciousness was torn apart, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"Urghh—!" A suppressed groan squeezed through his clenched teeth. His body swayed violently, and his forehead slammed heavily into the cold concrete floor, instantly bruising purple-blue as sweat streamed down like a creek.

"Forcing yourself past your limit? Do you want to die with him?" A Ke's icy voice sounded again, carrying a nearly imperceptible hint of... perhaps mockery.

Xiang Yi did not answer. He no longer had the strength even to lift his head. The pain was nearly destroying his will. Thoughts of giving up slithered through him like seductive venomous snakes... It hurts too much... maybe...

Just then, Lanling King convulsed violently again, coughing as if his heart were being torn apart, his voice full of pain and unwillingness.

"Partner... don't... hold me back..." A weak murmur from his unconsciousness, faint as a sigh.

"Partner"... The word was like a weak electric current, suddenly piercing the fog of pain in Xiang Yi's consciousness.

He saw the figure kneeling on one knee in the shadows during the first summoning; the unwavering stance outside the Kunlun Mountains cave, still guarding him despite being shot in the shoulder; the pure loyalty in his eyes when he offered up the Energy Crystal; and A Ke drawing out the poison blood as she awkwardly said, "Partner, don't hold me back"...

"I just got a damn cheat... I can't die!"

The unwilling roar he had made when lightning struck him and he was on the brink of death, when he bound with the system, exploded through time and space within the depths of his soul! It was no longer just for his own survival, but for those who had placed their lives in his hands!

He could not give up!

A nearly tyrannical will to survive and protect, born from the deepest part of his soul, surged like magma beneath a volcano and violently shattered the shackles of pain!

"Break... for me—!!!"

Xiang Yi let out a silent roar in his heart! He no longer tried to "gather" his mental power. Instead, with the resolve to perish together, he rammed viciously into that crumbling barrier within his consciousness!

"Crack!"

A shattering sound that only he could hear exploded from the core of his mind!

It was like the birth of chaos! A torrent of surging mental power erupted, carrying the burning pain of rebirth as it brutally scoured and reshaped his dried, fractured sea of consciousness!

The pain receded like the tide, replaced by an indescribable sense of fullness and clarity. New strength flooded the depths of his head, washing away every trace of exhaustion and murkiness. His senses had never been clearer.

[Warning lifted! Host's mental power has broken through its limit!]

[Mental power cap increased: 250 → 300!]

[Current mental power: 60/300 (partially restored at the moment of breakthrough)!]

The cold system prompts sounded like heavenly music now! He abruptly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, amidst the bloodshot whites, two icy sparks seemed to flare to life. Though his forehead was bruised and his face deathly pale, his slightly hunched back unconsciously straightened a little, like resilient bamboo bent beneath wind and snow before snapping upright again.

Without the slightest hesitation, his thoughts connected to the system like lightning.

"Exchange! Broad-Spectrum Potent Antivenom Serum! Immediately!" His voice was hoarse but extraordinarily steady, no longer a desperate scream, but an absolute command.

[Exchange confirmed. Mental power consumed: 50 points.]

[Current mental power: 10/300.]

A flash of faint light appeared, and a metal injector emitting a soft blue glow materialized in Xiang Yi's palm.

"Hold him down!" Xiang Yi's voice was steady and forceful.

A Ke moved. Fast as a violet bolt of lightning. Before Xiang Yi's words had even faded, she was already beside the table. Her hands clamped down like iron pincers, firmly pinning Lanling King's wildly convulsing arms and shoulders.

Xiang Yi drew a deep breath and removed the safety cap, revealing the needle tip's cold gleam. He held the injector in his right hand while his left accurately found the spot where Lanling King's carotid artery pulsed violently. The skin beneath his fingertips was scorching hot, his blood vessels swollen. Xiang Yi's eyes were sharp as an eagle's.

"Thud."

The needle pierced the blood vessel with perfect precision. His thumb pressed down, pushing the plunger. The icy-blue medicine flowed into the scorching blood.

"Urgh—hah!" Lanling King's unconscious body suddenly arched! As though struck by high-voltage electricity! Every bone in his body seemed to groan, and the blood vessels beneath his skin twisted and bulged like furious purple snakes. His eyeballs rolled wildly beneath his tightly closed lids! The force was so immense that even A Ke gave a muffled grunt, veins standing out on her arms as she used all her strength to pin him firmly to the table!

Sweat instantly beaded across Xiang Yi's forehead. Without hesitation, he carefully sent his remaining 10 points of mental power through the syringe and into Lanling King's body!

In his mind's eye, he "saw" it: a torrent of icy-blue starlight and a filthy tide of purple-black poison violently battling along every neural pathway! Every collision made Lanling King's fragile flame of life flicker wildly. The poison's backlash was like billions of venomous needles traveling backward along the threads of mental power and stabbing toward his consciousness core!

The process was immensely draining. Sweat soaked through Xiang Yi's back, his face turned as white as paper, his lips lost all color, and his body trembled slightly from the strain and concentration. Yet the hand holding the syringe remained as steady as stone.

Time passed amid the suffocating struggle.

Finally, just as Xiang Yi felt his consciousness was about to be drained again, Lanling King's bowstring-taut body suddenly went slack! The terrifying wheezing in his throat stopped.

The vicious blue-purple spiderweb patterns across his skin began to fade like a receding tide! The deathly grayness vanished. The pulse in his carotid artery became steady once more.

Xiang Yi let out a long breath, and it felt as though the exhale had drained every bone from his body. He released the syringe, his fingers trembling uncontrollably as his body swayed.

A hand wearing a black leather fingerless glove firmly caught his arm. The grip was stiff, but strong enough to support him.

It was A Ke. At some point, she had released her hold on Lanling King.

Xiang Yi looked up and met A Ke's gaze beneath her hood. Her eyes were still cold and sharp, but Xiang Yi seemed to catch a faint ripple within them, gone in an instant.

A Ke quickly looked away, her gaze dropping to the poisoned dart beneath Lanling King's shoulder blade, loosened by the medicine's effects. After several seconds of silence, she reached out, moving so quickly that her hand left an afterimage.

"Rip!" She tore open the clothing around Lanling King's wound.

Without the slightest hesitation, she bent down sharply. Her warm lips, carrying a resolve that was almost profane, pressed hard against that blue-purple, festering wound that exuded the sweet, bloody stench of death! She sucked forcefully, making a scalp-numbing "sizzle"...

Xiang Yi's pupils contracted sharply.

A Ke quickly turned her head and spat out a large mouthful of purple-black blood with a "Pah." The thick stench instantly spread through the air. She did not pause. She bent down again, sucked, spat... Her movements were precise, swift, savage, without the slightest hesitation or disgust.

Under the dim yellow light, the bloody, savage sight carried an eerie tension—the cold assassin was using the most primitive and filthy method to carry out the purest protection. Every mouthful of purple-black blood she spat out splashed across the floor like a grotesque flower of death.

After several mouthfuls, the blood flowing from the wound finally turned bright red. A Ke stopped. She straightened up and casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Without even looking at Xiang Yi, she walked straight to an oil barrel in the warehouse corner, picked up a half-full bottle of mineral water, took several gulps to rinse her mouth, then spat it out.

Xiang Yi keenly noticed that the fingers of her left hand, which rested on the edge of the oil barrel as she rinsed, had gone slightly white at the knuckles from excessive force. There was even a nearly imperceptible tremor.

Only after finishing all that did she return to the metal table. Her eyes fell upon Lanling King's gradually steady breathing, as if the harrowing scene moments ago had never happened.

Only Lanling King's steady breathing and the faint hum of the Xuan Weizi remained in the warehouse. Ming Shiyin was still meditating in the corner.

Oppressive silence spread through the room.

After a long while, A Ke finally spoke blandly, her voice still without much inflection. "He won't die."

She paused, then turned her gaze toward Xiang Yi, taking in his pale face, the cold sweat streaming down him, and his fingers that would not stop trembling. She added in a tone as flat as discussing the weather:

"Next time, you owe me."

After saying that, she ignored Xiang Yi. Her figure flickered, disappearing into the depths of the warehouse as though melting into the shadows.

Xiang Yi stood where he was, the strength of A Ke's grip seemingly still lingering on his arm. He looked in the direction where she had vanished, then lowered his head to Lanling King, whose breathing was steadily stabilizing on the table. Finally, his gaze fell upon his own faintly trembling fingertips, slick with sweat and a trace of dark-red poisoned blood.

The brief feeling of strength brought by his breakthrough faded, leaving behind even deeper exhaustion and the hollow sensation of his soul being emptied. A dull ache faintly returned to his temples.

Yet within that extreme weakness, a faint but incomparably tenacious warmth rippled through his cold, exhausted heart, like a tender sprout beneath frozen soil forcing apart the boulder of despair. It was Lanling King's unconscious protection. It was the weight behind A Ke's "Next time, you owe me," expressed beneath her cold exterior in the most savage way possible.

The price was as heavy as a mountain, pressing down until he could barely breathe. Yet beneath that suffocating weight, among the shattered fragments of the barrier deep in his soul, what shone through was not only power... but also a faint glimmer. A glimmer called "bond," guarded together by cold blades and loyalty in the shadows.

He slowly raised his hand and looked at his pale fingertips, stained with sweat and poisoned blood. Was that tiny glimmer worth it?

He did not wipe them clean. Instead, with the slightest movement of his fingertips, as though confirming something, he touched Lanling King's steadily rising and falling chest. Beneath his cold fingertips was a weak but unwavering heartbeat.

A beam of cold starlight leaking through a hole in the ceiling happened to cast the shadow of his tightly clenched fist beside Lanling King's face, which was gradually regaining color—like a silent brand, a heavy promise.

No one answered. Only the sleeping Lanling King let out a vague murmur, his brows knitted tight as though he were still fighting a nightmare.