Xiao Yi Xian's Past

"Xiao Yan, what Dou Technique did you just use?"

Yao Lao questioned the young man urgently.

Sure enough, Xiao Yan explained with a broad smile, "It's a Dou Technique I created myself. What do you think? Impressive, right?"

Having further confirmed his guess, Yao Lao fell silent, unable to calm down for a long time.

"Ah-!"

The next moment, Xiao Yi Xian let out another startled cry and struggled frantically out of the young man's arms, her pretty face flushed scarlet.

Only now did she suddenly realize how close she was to Xiao Yan.

As a conservative girl, she had never been so close to a strange man before.

But now... he had embraced her twice.

The first time had been outside the cave abode, and the second time inside... especially the scorching heat of Xiao Yan's chest, which seemed hot enough to cook her.

Xiao Yan turned to look and saw her lose her balance and fall backward, crashing from the butt of the spear onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Xiao Yi Xian rubbed her aching backside and chided him, "Xiao Yan, you put so little thought into choosing a place to stand. How was anyone supposed to keep their balance?"

Xiao Yan gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, things were urgent just now, and I didn't think that far. I'll be sure to pay attention next time."

Xiao Yi Xian rolled her eyes at him, but she did not mean to blame him. After all, he really had protected her.

She staggered to her feet and brushed the dust from her knees and the hem of her skirt. Staring at the figures writhing all over the ground, she frowned and asked, "What should we do with these guys?"

Xiao Yan shrugged and said indifferently, "Decide however you like. Either way, I don't care."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded in agreement. "In that case, leave them to me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a ruthless glint flashed through her eyes. She picked up a longsword that had fallen nearby and silently walked toward Mu Li.

Meanwhile, Mu Li, who lay wailing on the ground some distance away, gradually grew accustomed to the pain and vaguely heard the two of them talking.

His vision had only just cleared when a pair of snow-white calves appeared before his eyes.

Mu Li looked up and met the girl's gaze. He was so frightened his soul nearly left his body.

He instinctively searched for a way out, crawling backward on his belly as he begged in a trembling voice:

"Xiao Yi Xian, don't kill me... you've misunderstood. There's more to this than meets the eye."

From the information he had stolen earlier, he had finally learned that the young man's name was Xiao Yan.

So Mu Li hurriedly protested his innocence. Pointing at Xiao Yan, he began trying to drive a wedge between them:

"Listen to me. Everything we just did against you was on Xiao Yan's orders. He wanted to play the hero and save the beauty, so he deliberately paid us to attack!"

At that point, he suddenly recalled the Mating Ape that had attacked her while he was following Xiao Yi Xian.

He struck while the iron was hot, continuing to pin the blame on Xiao Yan with a cold smile:

"Remember the Mating Ape's corpse outside the cave? Xiao Yan ordered us to lure that magical beast over, just to create a crisis and show what a hero he was."

"And the treasure in this cave abode was his payment to us!"

"I just didn't expect him to go back on his word and try to take the chance to kill us all and claim the treasure for himself..."

"That way, we couldn't leak his secret, he could have the treasure all to himself, and he could win the beauty's heart. Three gains in one stroke!"

Mu Li's analysis was orderly and his reasoning fit together so neatly that it was almost impossible to refute.

Let alone Xiao Yi Xian, even Xiao Yan could not help drawing a sharp breath when he heard this. "So that's how it is. I was the mastermind all along?"

But Mu Li still did not stop reasoning things out. He continued stirring up trouble in a torrent of words:

"Think about it carefully. You're just a stranger to him, so why would he treat you so well?!"

"And we've often benefited from your kindness, so how could we suddenly become ungrateful wolves who would hurt you!

"There's definitely something wrong here. There are clues to everything!"

When Xiao Yan heard this, he instantly could not keep it in anymore.

Mu Li really knows how to spin a tale!

Not only am I the real mastermind, I also want the beauty and the treasure, and to kill people to silence them-three birds with one stone. How come I didn't know that?

Xiao Yan complained inwardly, but his face betrayed nothing as he watched Mu Li put on his show, making no move to stop him.

He trusted Xiao Yi Xian. With her intelligence, she could tell truth from falsehood.

Things depended on human effort; man could conquer heaven.

Sure enough, Xiao Yi Xian snorted coldly and said with disdain, "Nonsense. You think I'd fall for that? What do you take me for, a stupid woman?!"

With that, the girl gritted her teeth, raised the sword, and decisively chopped off Mu Li's other, uninjured hand. She continued berating him:

"What you said sounds reasonable, but it's actually full of holes. If Xiao Yan really wanted to play the hero and save the beauty, why would he have gone ahead of me to search for treasure alone?"

"Ah-! My hand..."

Mu Li screamed. He only felt a chill pierce through his body, and when he caught sight of blood spraying beside his shoulder, he finally saw the severed limb on the ground.

At that moment, he broke down completely.

But Xiao Yi Xian showed no sympathy and continued explaining coldly:

"Even if Xiao Yan came up with the plan, so what? Your acceptance of it would still mean you intended to hurt me, so you still deserve to die!"

With that, Xiao Yi Xian thrust her sword down again, piercing Mu Li's chest. She did not strike his heart, however, deliberately leaving him a sliver of life so he would linger on with his crippled, broken body.

Rather than give him a quick death, it was better to make him suffer torment for the rest of his life. That was the cruelest punishment.

After doing all this, Xiao Yi Xian turned away and went to the others to finish dealing with the remaining enemies, letting them too have a taste of a fate worse than death.

"Hah... hah..."

The sound of heavy panting rang out. Mu Li lay in a pool of blood, his eyes full of unwillingness.

Then his gaze shifted to Xiao Yan. Thoughts raced through his mind, and he suddenly burst into wild laughter, shouting madly:

"Hahaha, Xiao Yan, you don't know, do you? Xiao Yi Xian is actually a jinx!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yi Xian immediately stopped.

Things had come to this, and Mu Li had given up hope of living. He decided to let the cracked pot shatter and ruin Xiao Yi Xian's reputation as well. He went on:

"She has a special constitution and was born to bring misfortune to others. Wherever she goes, disaster strikes, and deadly poison spreads!"

Mu Li desperately spilled everything he had learned at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

He simply wanted to keep disgusting Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian and ruin their relationship, hoping only for a swift death. He continued:

"Although Xiao Yi Xian has always disguised it well, the people at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion discovered long ago that she falls into a deep sleep and releases poison."

"I hear that's how her hometown was destroyed. Otherwise, why would she have come to a tiny place like Qingshan Town..."

Mu Li was still babbling on, but the girl's blade had silently reached him. She pierced his chest a second time and said, "Shut up!"

Xiao Yi Xian's eyes were icy. Without a trace of mercy, she pulled out the longsword and swept it through the air, severing Mu Li's head.

Seeing his head roll to the ground, Xiao Yi Xian trembled with anger. Tears burst from her eyes, and her whole body twitched hysterically as she murmured through sobs:

"Why..."

"I didn't want to kill anyone, so why is this world so unkind to me?"

"My parents died, and the villagers died too... why does my body have to contain deadly poison?!"

"I finally managed to wander my way to Qingshan Town and settle down, so why do people keep making things difficult for me?"

With her most deeply hidden secret exposed before Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi Xian could finally hold back no longer and burst into tears.

"Woo... woo..."

Because of her constitution, Xiao Yi Xian had often secretly swallowed deadly poisons since childhood. As they accumulated over time, they finally brought about a terrible disaster and destroyed her hometown.

The eruption of deadly poison had not only killed her parents but also claimed the innocent people of the entire village. In a single night, she had been driven from her home and reduced to an orphan.

Later, she forgot her own name and was taken in by the Myriad Medicine Pavilion. Thus she stayed in Qingshan Town and became the Xiao Yi Xian respected by everyone.

She had always kept her desire firmly in check, not daring to eat or touch poison for fear of repeating the same mistake. Yet she had still lost control. What was she supposed to do?

Xiao Yi Xian flung the longsword away, covered her face, and crouched on the ground, sobbing too hard to speak.

"Xiao Yi Xian..."

Seeing this, Xiao Yan felt a pang in his heart. He hurried forward and embraced her, trying to soothe her emotions, which had completely spiraled out of control.

Sensing the young man approaching, Xiao Yi Xian resisted and tried to break free, but just then she caught sight of the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture lying open on the ground.

And there, in the very last line of the Poison Scripture, was an introduction to the "Woeful Poison Body."

"Woeful Poison Body: it harms others and oneself. One is destined to live a lonely life, and after death, one will become a patch of poisoned earth, contaminating a thousand li without dispersing."

Seeing this, Xiao Yi Xian's red lips moved in a murmur for a moment. Then she instantly clutched her head and sobbed, crying out even more fiercely.

Xiao Yan followed the girl's gaze and also spotted the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture. He was immediately filled with resentment.

Damn it, showing up at a time like this!

Cursing inwardly, Xiao Yan raised his left hand. An apple-sized fireball immediately blasted from his palm and blew the scroll to pieces.