CHAPTER 12: Not a Poison but a Destructive Drug

LUO FAN

“It’s a failure,” Xu Dong told me.

I sighed and stroked my forehead. It was already late in the evening, but we were still working in the laboratory, experimenting on a piece of raw meat hoping that the potion that we had been refining for the last three days would succeed.

It did not.

“You should take a rest,” I said. “We’ll continue this tomorrow.”

Xu Dong nodded. “Goodnight, Priest Luo,” he replied in a quavering voice, a sign that he was already exhausted.

After he left, I decided to try it one last time.

Because of my injury, I had remained in bed for the last three days and had not accomplished anything.

I already owed Lord Lan, or Ruan Yanjun, a lot so failure was not an option for me, especially since the life of the crown prince was hanging by a thread.

After that failed attempt in my life, Ruan Yanjun no longer required me to return to the palace. He had told me to conduct all work within his residence instead, where I could be protected at all times.

Whatever I needed, I only had to tell him and he would provide for it. If I needed to check on the crown prince’s condition, a trusted imperial physician and the crown prince’s eunuch would come over to give me detailed information.

He also had granted me full access to his huge library, and should I need more books than what was already there, he would take them from the imperial library, and whatever herbs or things I needed, he had very reliant men to search for anything all over the empire.

That was how powerful Ruan Yanjun was, something that had really amazed me. He could order just anyone and no one batted an eye. They bowed down to him as if he were the emperor himself.

I was actually starting to question whether the emperor was just Ruan Yanjun’s puppet. It was even possible that the rumor was true, that Ruan Yanjun and Emperor Yin were in some kind of relationship.

The more I learned about the actual power Ruan Yanjun possessed, the more I felt pressured. I had never expected that I would ever get entangled with this powerful and infamous man. Even though he treated me well, his presence was so domineering it made me feel uneasy every time he was around.

I took a clean dish and in it, I placed another raw meat that I had soaked in a solution with a drop of the crown prince’s blood.

It was difficult fumbling for things, but I could not expect Xu Dong to come back to assist. The man needed rest.

I heard the door open. The faint sound of the approaching footsteps was enough to let me know who it was.

I turned around and bowed my head to greet him. “Lord Ruan.”

“Are you sure you’re well enough to work?” he asked.

“I’m well enough, my lord. Thanks to Physician Yang’s ingenuity, my spine is back to normal now.”

He nodded. “Continue what you’re doing then. Don’t mind me.”

In fact, I was actually glad he came because I had a hypothesis that I could only confirm with his help.

I kept my eyes in his direction, wondering how to tell him about it.

“Do you need something?” He recognized the look on my face.

I nodded. “My lord, do you mind lending me some of your energy?”

He slowly approached me. “My energy is not something you can just ask for.”

I lowered my head. I knew how precious his energy was. He would not just give it to anybody, not especially to a nobody like me.

“What will you use it for?” he asked.

“I was thinking of refining the specimen with dark energy.”

“Won’t an ordinary dark energy work?”

I shook my head. “One of your disciples tried earlier, but it didn’t work.”

“And you think mine will?”

“You have the most potent source of dark energy, my lord. I’m hoping that it might make a difference.”

He sighed. “How do I pass it to you?”

Surprised, my eyes widened. I could not believe I was able to persuade him so easily. “I cannot process your energy, my lord. If you don’t mind, I’ll guide your hand to the specimen and tell you when to release it.”

“Hold my hand, you say?” he said in a teasing voice. “You not only want to drain me of my precious energy but you also want to take advantage of me physically.”

I frowned.

What’s wrong with holding his hand? We’re both men…

I suddenly stiffened when I remembered the rumor about him and the emperor.

It looks like he really is…

I couldn’t even say it even in my thoughts.

“I don’t mean it that way, my lord,” I finally said.

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He sighed again. “Fine, then. I’m in a good mood today so I give you permission to use any parts of my body for whatever purpose you have in mind, but I’m going to demand compensation afterward.”

My ears turned so hot that it felt like a glowing ember. I had never expected that the world’s most notorious devil could shamelessly tease a man in such a way. “What kind of compensation would you want, my lord?” I tried to maintain the usual calm tone of my voice.

“I’ll tell you later. Here’s my hand. Do as you wish with it.” He grabbed my right hand and placed it over his left.

He had a large hand. Mine looked like a woman’s compared to his, like Jinjing’s hand compared to mine.

I quickly shook the silly thoughts off my head. I could not believe I was thinking in that direction in the middle of something.

I held his hand and guided his point finger over the specimen.

“Is that a piece of meat?” he asked when he recognized the cubed raw pork that I had obtained from the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, my lord. It’s clean.”

“Then how come it looks rotten?”

“I put a drop of the crown prince’s blood on it and it turned that way.”

He hummed and stared at the specimen. “Interesting.” Then he sighed and looked at me. “Alright… Continue.”

“Could you channel a small amount of energy to the specimen, my lord?” I asked. “But try not to touch it. It might contaminate you.”

“How small is small?”

“As much as the specimen can handle. Too much might destroy it.”

“Minute then,” he said and released the tiniest amount of energy from the tip of his finger.

To my surprise, the specimen swelled that I feared it would explode.

He immediately stopped but the specimen was already too bloated it looked like a meat ball.

This man’s energy, one that’s coming from the infamous Ancient Demonic Core, was more potent than I had expected. It was almost scary. “My lord, could you take away half of it?”

He did as I asked, and when the dark energy weakened and the specimen reverted to its cube shape, I heaved a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I released his hand but he did not pull it away. He looked at me instead. “You’re adept with swords, I’m certain.”

I wondered how he knew, but I could not think much about it. I was in a dilemma about how to tell him to get his hand off the specimen so I could check on it.

Should I just pat it away?

That might be a little too rude.

Before I could utter a word, he turned his hand around and held mine. With his other hand, he glided his fingers over my palm.

“Is there something wrong with my hand, my lord?” I asked. I did not want to think that he was doing such a weird thing for no reason.

“You have a very beautiful face and although you’re a bit too thin, you possess the bearing of a noble, however, the callous on your hand ruins that perfection.”

I flushed. My ears had just cooled down and it was hot again. “What you said earlier is true, my lord. I’ve been wielding a sword all my life, and that is why my hands are calloused.”

He groaned and continued fondling my calloused hand. “You’re an accomplished alchemist. Why not treat yourself?”

“I don’t consider a callous a disease.”

“Isn’t it true that anything that discomforts, disfigures, and restricts the use of the body is an illness?”

“It’s true.”

“Then look at this. It feels rather uncomfortable at times, don’t you agree? And look how ugly it looks in the hand of a beautiful man. Isn’t that a form of disfigurement? And it’s gotten too hard it hinders you from handling delicate objects, am I correct?”

I could not answer. What he said was true, however, it wasn’t something that anyone should be worried about.

“You can’t speak because I am right,” he concluded. “And since you cannot even take care of yourself, let me take care of this hand instead.”

Hearing his wicked smirk and given his despicable reputation, I immediately suspected that he might cut my hand off.

“Lord Lan, if you find my hand repulsive, I’ll do something about it.”

“A good quality cream is all that your hand needs,” he replied.

Cream?

I sighed in relief. At least he was not thinking about mutilating me.

“I know someone who can procure one for you.” He continued to stroke my palm with his fingers.

Unable to handle the way he treated me like I was a volatile woman, I pulled my hand off his grip. “I appreciate your concern, Lord Ruan, but I cannot possibly accept your solution. I know I look a bit too soft for a man, but I am still a man and I wish to keep my dignity as a man. So I have to decline your suggestion of using a cream.”

“Ah, so you equate using a cream to being a woman?” He chortled. “I do use creams. Do you see me any less of a man?”

Although I could not see him, I still turned to look at his outline.

This towering gargantuan piece of a beast with large hands uses a cream? No wonder his hands feel softer and smoother than Jinjing’s.

He must be very vain, and too much vanity is a sin according to my upbringing.

He chortled again as if he knew what I was thinking. “You’ll get the cream tomorrow. Use it. In your line of work, it helps if your hands are in good condition to handle delicate objects.”

I sighed. He was right. “As you wish, my lord,” I said as I returned my attention to the specimen. But no matter how hard I tried to focus, I still could not get it out of my head that Ruan Yanjun used cream for his hands.

With Ruan Yanjun’s hand gone out of the way, I reached over to poke the specimen with the tip of my finger. To my surprise, it bounced.

“It worked,” I whispered.

He rested his elbow on the table. “Indeed, it looks like a fresh piece of meat now. What does that imply?”

“It means… it’s not a poison. It’s a drug, a destructive one.”

“And what’s the difference?”

“Poisons are usually made with dark energy, but in this case, the substance inside the crown prince’s body is refined with light energy. That is why it is unrecognizable to light cultivators. But to a high-level dark cultivator like his lordship, it’s easy to see. That was why you’ve easily concluded before that what ailed the crown prince is a poison. I did not believe that before because there’s no poison that I cannot detect. But now I understand. You were right.”

He smirked. “You did well. And now that you’ve identified how it was made, can you identify the poison used?”

“They’re not poison. They’re actually medicinal herbs that when combined cause damage inside the body.”

“Then it is poison.”

I did not know how to answer. In the language of alchemy, poisons were refined using dark energy. Anything refined with light energy is called a medicine or a drug. Even if the drug was considered destructive, it would not be referred to as poison. If I told him that, he might get offended.

“Or you do not agree that light energy can also create poisons?” he asked.

This man was really cunning. He could easily read my mind.

“Poison is a technical term we use in alchemy to identify an object as something created with dark energy.”

“And if it’s created by light energy, you call it medicine? Even if it’s made for the sole purpose of killing a person?”

I could not answer.

He sighed. “That’s why I don’t get along with the light sects. They’re too self-righteous. Don’t you think?”

Instead of answering his question, I decided to shift the subject in another direction. “Lord Lan and I seem to get along pretty well, in my opinion.”

He smiled. “That’s right, we do get along.” He paused and sighed. “So can you identify the ingredients used?”

“I’ll just wait for the dark energy to neutralize the process until the real attributes of the ingredients used come out.”

“Do you need me to stay here then?”

“If you don’t mind, my lord,” I replied. “I need more of your dark energy a little later. I promise I won’t keep you here for so long.”

“I don’t mind. I can stay here all night if needed. You might be bored staying here all by yourself, so I’ll keep you company.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“I told you. It’s not for free.”

“Then do tell me how to compensate you so I’d know if I can provide it.”

He sighed. “Have you dined?”

I shook my head.

“Then stop what you’re doing for now. Let’s go have dinner first.”

“I suddenly remember I already had my dinner, my lord.”

“I’m demanding my compensation for lending you my energy. Let’s go have dinner together. Is that too hard?”

“B-but, Lord Lan—”

“And stop calling me Lord Lan. That’s just a name I use for formality sake.”

“So how must I address his lordship then?”

“You already know my name. Now, come.” He suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me away. “You can’t work with an empty stomach. You are sick yourself and you are getting thinner by the day. You need to eat more than just those steamed vegetables and rice.”

“Alright, my lord. I’m coming. Let go of my hand.”

“No. We will hold hands from now on.”

I was stupefied, unable to utter a word.

Of course, that’s a joke. That has to be a joke, otherwise, I’d be convinced that he indeed has a serious mental problem.