Classic Red and Blue Pills

Ye Lingling reached out and tugged at Jiang Li's sleeve.

"Hm?" Jiang Li turned back and looked at Ye Lingling in confusion.

Ye Lingling said, "Why don't you agree to his terms? I wasn't hurt anyway, was I?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Miss Ye is right."

Xue Beng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly nodded in agreement with Ye Lingling.

"Did I allow you to speak?"

Jiang Li glared at Xue Beng and slapped him across the head.

After being struck, Xue Beng quickly shut his mouth and lowered his head, not daring to say another word. However, the sidelong glance he cast at Jiang Li was filled with venomous resentment.

"Is that really what you think?" Jiang Li stared into Ye Lingling's eyes. "Do you know what would have happened to you if I hadn't been here?"

Ye Lingling choked up. "I..."

Everyone in Heaven Dou City knew Xue Beng's reputation as a spoiled imperial prince. If she had fallen into his hands, how could she possibly have met a good end?

If she could, she naturally did not want to let him off so easily.

But Xue Beng was, after all, the fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Imperial House. She truly did not want Jiang Li to offend him because of her.

Since Xue Beng had said he was willing to compensate Jiang Li, it would be better to stop while they were ahead.

Seeing the changing emotions on Ye Lingling's face, Jiang Li understood what she was thinking.

What a foolish girl.

Good people were bullied, and gentle horses were ridden.

Some people were just like that. The more you yielded, the more they pressed their advantage. Only when you drew your blade and pointed it at them would they know they had done wrong.

Jiang Li could not help reaching out to pat Ye Lingling on the head, wanting to comfort her.

"Mm..."

Like a startled rabbit, Ye Lingling instinctively took a step back.

"I..."

Realizing what she had done, Ye Lingling raised her head and was about to explain when Jiang Li said, "Don't worry, I understand what you mean. Just watch from the side. Leave everything to me!"

Then Jiang Li looked at Xue Beng. "Don't say I'm not giving you a chance. I have one red pill and one blue pill here. As long as you take one of them, this matter will be over."

As he spoke, Jiang Li took out two pills of different colors, one red and one blue, from the Summoning Space and displayed them in his palm for Xue Beng to see.

"May I ask what effects these two pills have?" Xue Beng's eye twitched as he looked at the pills in Jiang Li's hand, an uneasy feeling rising in his heart.

His instincts told him that if he really swallowed one of Jiang Li's pills, he would most likely be truly screwed.

"Of course. Even if you hadn't asked, I would have told you."

As he spoke, Jiang Li released Xue Beng. However, to stop him from running, he drove a vicious punch into Xue Beng's stomach as he let go.

"Urgh!"

Xue Beng clutched his stomach and dropped to his knees, dry-heaving uncontrollably as though he were about to vomit up even his stomach acid.

"Listen carefully. I'll only say this once."

Hearing that, Xue Beng ignored the pain in his body and hurriedly pricked up his ears, afraid of missing even a single word.

Jiang Li picked up the red pill and continued, "This red pill is poison containing a slow-acting toxin. After taking it, your whole body will feel as though it is being bitten by ants, itching unbearably."

"If you do not find an expert in poisons to detoxify you within a month, the person who takes this pill will eventually die a violent death."

"That is, if you can endure the endless itching for that entire month."

Xue Beng could not help swallowing. Just hearing Jiang Li describe its effects already made him feel itchy all over.

If he really took that red pill, would that not be worse than death?

Xue Beng hurriedly looked at the other blue pill in Jiang Li's hand, hoping its effects would not be even worse than the red pill's.

Seeing this, Jiang Li merely smiled. He placed the red pill back in his palm, picked up the other blue pill, and explained, "This blue pill is not fatal. In fact, it is immensely beneficial to the human body."

"As long as you take this blue pill, all worldly desires will have nothing to do with you from then on. You will devote yourself wholeheartedly to cultivation and become someone useful to the Heaven Dou Empire."

"So? Isn't that a wonderful effect? Tempted?"

As he spoke, Jiang Li glanced at Xue Beng's expression.

Just as he had expected, Xue Beng's face was filled with disbelief.

"What? You don't believe me?" Jiang Li narrowed his eyes, a smile lingering at the corner of his lips. "Perhaps you did not understand the effect I described. That's fine. I'll summarize it for you."

"In two words, the effect of this blue pill is impotence!"

Xue Beng's eyelid twitched violently. This was even worse than the red pill; at least the red pill could still be cured.

If he really became impotent, how could he compete with Xue Qinghe for the throne in the future?

After all, no one in a country would be willing to support an impotent man as king.

He might as well die.

"So, Your Highness the Fourth Prince? Which one will you choose?" Jiang Li asked teasingly.

One would itch so badly that life became worse than death, while the other would strip him of desire and leave him without descendants.

Neither was a good choice.

If possible, Xue Beng naturally did not want to choose either one.

"What? Can't make up your mind? How about I choose for you?" Jiang Li continued. "Why not take both pills together?"

Looking at Jiang Li's sunny smile, Xue Beng felt as though the man before him was simply a demon.

Jiang Li's words sounded like a demon's whisper in his ears.

But he did not dare gamble that Jiang Li was merely trying to scare him. Afraid Jiang Li would force both pills into his mouth, he hurriedly pointed at the red pill and said, "The red one! I choose the red one!"

If he took the red pill, he could still ask his uncle, Prince Xue Xing, to find the Poison Douluo to detoxify him.

But if he took the blue pill, his life would truly be over.

"Fine, then this one it is!" Jiang Li handed the red pill to Xue Beng.

Jiang Li had not lied. The effects of both pills were real. He knew Xue Beng would choose the red pill, and he also knew that Xue Beng would definitely seek out the Poison Douluo afterward to remove the poison.

And the Poison Douluo would certainly be able to cure this poison, which was helplessly beyond the reach of ordinary people. That was precisely what Jiang Li wanted.

Because the Poison Douluo owed Prince Xue Xing a favor, Xue Beng's greatest backing was actually the Poison Douluo.

It was also because the Poison Douluo stood behind him that Xue Beng dared to act so recklessly as a spoiled prince in Heaven Dou City.

That was why he had waited until Dugu Yan was not by Ye Lingling's side before choosing to make a move against her.

As long as Xue Beng swallowed this pill, then Ye Lingling told Dugu Yan about what had happened, considering how much the Poison Douluo doted on Dugu Yan, his only granddaughter—

Even if the Poison Douluo was willing to detoxify Xue Beng, the favor he owed Prince Xue Xing would probably be nearly used up.

And without the Poison Douluo's help, what difference was there between Xue Beng and a stray dog by the roadside?

Unfortunately, Xue Beng was too deeply involved to see that.

As for if Xue Beng had not chosen the red pill and had instead chosen the impotency-inducing blue pill?

Jiang Li would not have made things difficult for him. He would only have silently given him a thumbs-up and sighed:

Xue Beng, what a man.

Xue Beng took the red pill, glanced at Jiang Li, gritted his teeth, and tossed it into his mouth.

"Ah..."

He had originally intended to secretly hide the pill beneath his tongue while Jiang Li was not paying attention. Yet the pill melted the instant it entered his mouth and slid straight down his throat into his stomach.

The exposed skin on his body soon broke out in red spots as though he had suffered an allergic reaction, and he began frantically rubbing himself against the ground like a caterpillar.

Seeing Xue Beng swallow the pill, Jiang Li raised his foot and kicked several of the subordinates lying on the ground, waking the men Xue Beng had brought with him.

"Take this prince back with you!"

Jiang Li's unyielding tone made the awakened subordinates shudder. They then obediently took Xue Beng away.

"Thank you. My name is Ye Lingling. Can you tell me your name?" Only after the group had left did Ye Lingling gather her courage and speak to Jiang Li.

"Jiang Li!!!"

At that moment, a resentful voice rang out from behind them.

Jiang Li's hair stood on end when he heard the voice.

Oh no!

He had forgotten Xiao Wu!