Old Poison, Your Treatment Costs Extra

Dugu Bo stared at Ling Yun for a long time.

Especially after Ling Yun said someone thought he was leveling up too slowly and had personally delivered an opportunity to his doorstep, Dugu Bo suddenly felt the brat had been easier on the eyes while unconscious.

"Finished looking?"

Ling Yun gazed at the herb garden, his eyes shining. He answered without turning around. "More or less. It's just my first time seeing someone grow so many treasures like weeds. It hurts to watch."

Dugu Bo's eyelid twitched. "You'd better not touch a single plant here."

Only then did Ling Yun turn and look him up and down. "Old Poison, do you particularly hate rainy days?"

Dugu Bo's eyes instantly chilled.

Ling Yun carried on as if he hadn't noticed. "On damp, rainy days especially, both sides beneath your ribs go numb and itch. After a while, it turns into pain, like something boring into your bones. And it hits at two fairly fixed times every day, once at noon and once around midnight. When it starts, it feels like needles stabbing through the gaps in your bones."

The valley fell silent. Dugu Bo slowly lowered the hand behind his back. Ling Yun was delighted. That hit the mark. This should be easy.

"When it's bad, it must torment you for at least half an hour, right? And these past few years, it's gotten worse."

The next instant, a hand clamped around his throat.

Every trace of humor vanished from Dugu Bo's face. "Who told you?"

Dugu Bo lifted Ling Yun until his toes left the ground. Ling Yun didn't panic; he just raised a hand with difficulty and patted Dugu Bo's wrist.

"Loosen your grip first. An agitated patient makes it harder for the doctor to work."

Dugu Bo nearly crushed him to death on the spot.

But his grip eased all the same.

Ling Yun's feet touched the ground again. He rubbed his throat and coughed twice. "That's better. You nearly strangled the only person who knows what's wrong with you. That's like cutting off your own medicine."

"Cut the nonsense."

"It's hardly a secret." Ling Yun pointed at Dugu Bo's green hair. "You've cultivated poison your whole life. Other people get poisoned by accident; you've been dosing yourself for years. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison has long since mixed with your Soul Power. You're alive not because the poison can't kill you, but because you're using more than ninety levels of Soul Power to hold it off."

Dugu Bo's face grew darker and darker.

When he said nothing, Ling Yun added, "You beat it back for a day, and it stays with you for a day. The day you can't suppress it—"

"Enough."

Ling Yun shut up at once.

Three breaths passed.

Then Dugu Bo spoke again. "Go on."

Ling Yun almost laughed. A moment ago it had been "cut the nonsense"; now it was "go on."

Sometimes a Titled Douluo's change of heart was remarkably straightforward.

"Then I'll continue." Ling Yun cleared his throat. "The poison in your body isn't the worst part. The real trouble is that it can pass to your descendants."

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted.

Ling Yun said just one name. "Dugu Yan."

The Soul Power around them surged.

"If you dare speak nonsense about Yanyan, I'll silence you forever right now."

"You know better than I do whether it's nonsense." Ling Yun didn't back down. "She's young and her Soul Power is still low, so her symptoms aren't as severe as yours. But hasn't she already begun showing signs of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison entering her body? Can you guarantee she won't suffer twice a day when she reaches your level?"

Dugu Bo fell silent.

This time, the silence lasted even longer.

At last, he asked coldly, "Knowing the symptoms doesn't mean you can cure it."

Ling Yun tapped the ground with his foot. "That's why you spend so much time here."

Dugu Bo's gaze sharpened.

"The two opposing forces of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well help suppress some of the poison in your body. Your attacks are milder while you're here and worse when you've been away too long. Old Poison, you thought you'd found a cultivation paradise. Turns out you also found yourself an oversized pain-relief patch."

This time, Dugu Bo couldn't even muster a rebuttal.

After a moment, Dugu Bo finally asked the question. "Do you have a way?"

"Two approaches."

Ling Yun held up two fingers. "The first is simplest: abandon all your poison arts and spend the rest of your life as a healthy old man."

Dugu Bo's face went black.

"The second."

Ling Yun immediately continued, "Separate the poison from the Soul Power you need and give it somewhere to stay. You can still use it in battle. Just stop letting it treat your bones like an inn every day."

Dugu Bo's expression finally changed. "Where would you store it?"

Ling Yun blinked. "That's paid content."

Dugu Bo: "..."

He suddenly wanted to knock the brat unconscious again.

"You're bargaining with me?"

"Of course."

Ling Yun answered with perfect confidence. "You kidnapped me, and after I woke up, I didn't run. I even volunteered to treat you. Have you ever seen such a dedicated hostage? Besides, if word gets out that a Titled Douluo refused to pay for treatment, you might not be embarrassed, but I'd hate to ruin the going rate."

Dugu Bo laughed in exasperation. "What do you want?"

Finally, the heart of the matter. Ling Yun immediately turned toward the entire herb garden.

A terrible premonition rose in Dugu Bo's heart.

"First, you don't touch Tang San or me, and you let us leave when this is over. Second, I'll help you deal with the poison and tell you how Dugu Yan can avoid following in your footsteps."

Dugu Bo frowned.

"Your price."

Ling Yun pointed across the herb garden. "I get to choose some herbs from here."

Dugu Bo's face darkened on the spot. "You know what these things are?"

"Some of them."

"And you just said I was growing treasures like weeds?"

"I don't have to recognize every one of them to know you don't know how to use them." Ling Yun sounded utterly matter-of-fact. "If someone had a room full of gold bricks and insisted on using them to prop up tables, I wouldn't need to know each brick's name to call him wasteful."

A vein nearly bulged from Dugu Bo's temple. "How many do you want?"

"A few to start."

"How many is a few?"

"Depends on the condition."

"Brat."

"Yes?"

"Do you think I don't dare kill you now?"

Ling Yun changed his tune at once. "No more than five. I'll be civilized and honest. I won't strip the place bare. If I need to take one by the roots, I'll do my best to leave you seeds. If I can leave the roots, I won't wipe it out. See? I do have principles."

Dugu Bo stared at him for a long while, then gave a cold snort. "Five. If you can't cure me—"

"Return policy?" Ling Yun ventured.

"I'll plant you here like ginseng!"

"That counts as returning to nature."

Dugu Bo nearly struck him with his palm.

But Ling Yun was already hurrying into the herb garden.

As he passed the cave where Tang San lay asleep, he made a point of glancing inside.

"Little San, keep sleeping."

"When it comes to opportunities, first awake, first served."

Dugu Bo didn't understand. He only thought the brat was saying strange things again.

But soon he noticed Ling Yun had stopped.

Ahead, near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, grew two extraordinary plants. One radiated piercing cold, with what looked like white frost gathered at the center of its leaves.

The other was red as fire, and even the soil around it had been baked slightly black.

Dugu Bo's expression changed. "Stop."

Ling Yun didn't turn around. "What?"

"One of those plants is freezing cold, the other scorching hot. Even I don't dare approach them lightly. A single touch could kill you."

Ling Yun looked at the two plants, and at last he couldn't hold back his grin.

Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Infernal Delicate Apricot.

The two plants behind Tang San's most crucial chance at Ice and Fire Body Tempering were still growing quietly right here.

And Tang San was still asleep.

Ling Yun turned to Dugu Bo with a dazzling smile. "Old Poison, you said five plants, right?"

Dugu Bo's eyelid twitched violently. "What are you planning?"

Ling Yun pointed beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. "I'll put these two on my tab first. And borrow your hot spring for a bath while I'm at it."