"Aah-!"
Amid his piercing screams, Cheng Shilu sprinted toward the cliff.
Ye Jingtang wanted to stop Cheng Shilu, but after only a few steps, he abruptly froze.
"Jingtang!"
Luo Ning had been about to kick the crazed Cheng Shilu away. Frightened into a scream at the sight, she threw herself forward, sealed Ye Jingtang's acupoints, then looped a rope around his legs and pulled hard, throwing him straight to the ground. She straddled his legs and began tying him up.
"You little rogue! Don't go mad. Keep your mind steady..."
"I... I do feel something's wrong, but..."
Ye Jingtang felt the drug's potency spread into every inch of his flesh. The sensation of being caught between ice and fire disappeared, replaced by a scorching heat radiating from within. The internal force inside him gradually surged, and his muscles and bones reacted, as though a three-hundred-pound girl were giving him an essential-oil back massage...
"Jingtang?"
Pei Xiangjun had kept her distance, watching from the top of the ridge. When she saw Luo Ning rush over, she initially stayed put, but Ye Jingtang's sudden swaying alerted her that something was wrong. She flew down from the ridge.
Hearing the female employer's voice, Luo Ning was too desperate to feel surprised. Like someone clutching a lifesaving straw, she said urgently:
"Quick, hold him down! Don't let him kill himself."
Pei Xiangjun had watched Xue Shilu leap off the hundred-zhang cliff, howling as he plunged headfirst toward the rocks below. Her face had gone white with fright. After landing in the courtyard, she rushed over, straddled Ye Jingtang's chest, and pinned his hands down hard.
"What poison was he hit with?"
"Bone-burning paralysis."
"What?"
Pei Xiangjun had heard of this rare, potent drug native to Northern Liang. She immediately clamped her thighs around Ye