Yao Dai: “Oh (chew, chew, chew), poison... Huh?! Wasn't this medicine for an illness?!!”
“Cough!! Blargh!”
Yao Dai tried to spit it out, but it had already been chewed up and swallowed, stuck in her throat. She could only resort to sticking her fingers down her throat to induce vomiting. She did have her own self-developed Universal Antidote, but she didn’t dare take it!
That stuff was meant for medicine humans; besides, taking that antidote would only double the toxicity. Since she didn't dare take her own toxic concoctions, she could only rely on this primitive detoxification method.
Xin Jiuxian didn’t understand her. Yao Dai was the one who asked for the pills, yet here she was, frantically trying to save herself from being poisoned.
How strange.
Xin Jiuxian poured out a few more pills and continued standing to the side, chewing away.
The scene was both bizarre and comical.
Meanwhile, Zongzheng Huangyue and Xie Tinglan stood by, watching. Both had their arms crossed in the same posture, their gazes helpless as they stared at Yao Dai’s frantic gagging. They looked exceptionally normal in comparison.
Several Tingyin Pavilion disciples coming out of the cafeteria looked on with strange expressions, as if the others had fed Yao Dai some kind of poison and were watching her struggle.
Zongzheng Huangyue silently retreated ten meters.
Xie Tinglan simply turned around, ignoring everyone’s stares.
When Wen Li arrived with Hua Cishu, she saw from a distance that Yao Dai was alone, sticking her fingers down her throat and vomiting up everything she’d eaten. Her expression darkened.
“Who, who stuffed my disciple to death?!”
To die in such an unrefined manner—it was truly a malicious scheme.
She grabbed Hua Cishu and flew over in an instant.
She immediately stepped forward and pried Yao Dai’s mouth open to look. “What happened? Who forced you to eat until you were like this?”
Although the girl was gluttonous, she wasn't so lacking in self-awareness.
Hua Cishu consciously stepped aside. His gaze toward Xie Tinglan was cold, but he didn't strike again.
Xie Tinglan also felt his hostility but merely lowered his eyes and ignored him.
Why should he care about a useless waste with no cultivation?
Yao Dai had just finished vomiting up the remaining poison fragments.
“Blargh!”
Luckily, they hadn't been digested yet, so they didn't taste like much.
“Here, here, rinse your mouth.”
Wen Li waved her hand to draw water from the nearby pond and handed it to her in a cupped lotus leaf. Yao Dai drank it without a second thought.
As a result.
“Pfft!” She spat out a small fish.
It was exactly like the scene on the day Wen Li had first taken her as a disciple.
Wen Li looked embarrassed. “I was so focused on getting you water that I didn’t notice.”
“...Master, it’s fine.” Yao Dai’s eyes were watery; the induced vomiting had forced out physiological tears.
Wen Li supported her. “Didn't you just eat too much?”
Yao Dai raised a hand and pointed at Xin Jiuxian. “She, she...”
“?”
Something wrong?
Xin Jiuxian, who was chewing poison pills with a frail and obedient look, widened her eyes slightly. An innocent expression appeared on her poker face.
Wen Li sighed helplessly and asked Xin Jiuxian, “What did you give her to eat?”
Xin Jiuxian pulled out a medicine bottle, her expression oblivious.
“The pills you gave me.”
“...” Those were the poison pills she had given Xin Jiuxian to regulate her body.
Wen Li frowned with a strange expression. It was impossible for Yao Dai to take poison intentionally, but there was one possibility: she didn't know it was poison, and Xin Jiuxian didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to eat poison, so she gave it to her.
She understood the whole story in an instant. Case closed.
Yao Dai was just too gluttonous.
Wen Li patted Yao Dai’s back, using her spiritual energy to smooth her breathing. “Are you feeling better?”
Yao Dai coughed for a while and finally caught her breath.
“Yeah...”
Yao Dai lunged into her arms, crying and acting spoiled. She blinked her physiological tears from the gagging and said, “Master, she gave me poison to eat~ Wuuu, I almost died.”
Xin Jiuxian might be a bit slow to react, but she wasn't stupid. She understood that Yao Dai was framing her and raised her hand, her spiritual energy surging.
“Wait, wait, put your zither away first.”
Wen Li knew at a glance that this child was about to shoulder her zither and smash someone with it.
Another reason for Xin Jiuxian's fiery temper was that she’d had almost no interaction with others since childhood. When faced with danger or conflict and unable to speak immediately, she would resolve it with force.
It was just like a toddler in a kindergarten; when they get frustrated and can't speak, they hit or bite.
Xin Jiuxian was still quite obedient toward her. She dissipated her spiritual energy and imitated Yao Dai, hugging Wen Li’s arm. Though she wanted to act spoiled, her poker face made her tone a bit stiff.
“I didn't. She wanted to eat it herself. I shared it with her.”
Wen Li felt her head ache, feeling like a kindergarten principal who was either breaking up fights or playing judge.
“Alright, alright, I'll find out the truth. I didn't say you wanted to poison her. Calm down.”
“Did you ask her for the medicine yourself?” She looked at Yao Dai.
Yao Dai looked away guiltily. “Yeah.”
“...I didn't want to eat it at first; I was just curious about the ingredients. Master, you know I'm a pill cultivator. I want to study every pill I see.” She added an embarrassing explanation.
“But I couldn't smell the ingredients, so I thought I'd be like Shennong tasting the hundred herbs and ate it. Only after I'd chewed it up did Xin Jiuxian say it was poison...”
Her head bowed lower and her voice grew smaller as she felt more humiliated. Fine, she couldn't blame Old Six.
Wen Li was so annoyed she laughed. “So, do you still blame her?”
Yao Dai pursed her lips awkwardly. “No. It was my own fault.”
“See? She says it has nothing to do with you. She should even thank you for your generosity in giving her the medicine.” Wen Li looked at Xin Jiuxian.
Xin Jiuxian’s dark eyes looked at Yao Dai.
Yao Dai pursed her lips. Knowing what Wen Li meant, she honestly thanked her.
“Thank you.”
Xin Jiuxian’s expressionless features softened. “You’re welcome.”
The two of them were at peace for now.
Wen Li looked at the four of them. “Have you all eaten?”
Xie Tinglan and the others knew immediately that Master was bringing Hua Cishu to eat.
The four of them spoke almost in unison with perfect synchronization.
“No.”
They wouldn't give Master a chance to be alone with any other disciple, especially that sycophant.
Wen Li nodded. “Alright then, let's all go eat together.”
“Okay.”
The four of them immediately nodded and followed behind her.
Xie Tinglan was fine; he was a demon with a huge appetite. Yao Dai had just vomited, clearing her stomach. Xin Jiuxian was a zither spirit; her body wasn't entirely physical, so she could eat whenever.
Only Zongzheng Huangyue, who always had a regular diet and possessed a human body, felt a bit stiff. Still, she didn't want the others to be by Master’s side while she wasn't.
She simply swallowed a pill meant for dispelling toxic gas, figuring it would help with digestion.
The cafeteria Auntie was surprised to see the four familiar faces back to eat again in less than half a shichen.
“Eh? Didn't you all just eat?”
Xie Tinglan said calmly, “You must be misremembering. We haven't.”
Yao Dai nodded. “Mhm.”
Zongzheng Huangyue: “Mhm.”
Xin Jiuxian followed the team. “Mhm.”
“That's impossible. I remember you eating sixty dishes from the menu! The cook’s spatula was practically smoking from all the tossing. Look, I’m using the spatula with the broken handle to scoop rice right now,” the Auntie said, confused.
Wen Li knew what was going on the moment she heard that. She stepped forward and pulled out a hundred spirit stones. “Auntie, then I’ll have to trouble you to serve us twice more. My disciples are all growing; they can’t handle the hunger.”
“Oh, I see. Then I'll scoop more rice for you.”
“Thank you.”
The four of them calmly followed Wen Li to sit down. Hua Cishu wanted to sit by Wen Li’s side, but Yao Dai and Xie Tinglan had already plopped down on her left and right.
Seeing this, Hua Cishu’s eyes turned cold, but he endured it.
He couldn't beat them right now. He would wait for the day he had his cultivation back...
...
Rate on N.U.
