Chapter 21 – Poisons and Puppets

Lin Yue flipped through the pages scattered across her desk. Wu Lan’s promised assistance wouldn’t materialize for days, which left plenty of time to dive into research.

The pages crinkled under her fingertips as she scanned the text. Making this business idea work demanded understanding her potential customers. Normal food alone wouldn’t attract her new peers—they’d lost that basic human desire somewhere between meditation and qi absorption.

She snorted. Only Xue and herself seemed to retain any scrap of normal humanity when it came to enjoying meals. The other disciples had developed a ridiculous blind spot by abandoning such a fundamental pleasure.

Maybe decent food would make them less sulky. Lin Yue smirked at the thought. An exaggeration, but who knew? The constant diet of spiritual energy probably contributed to their perpetual bad moods. Or maybe that was from the endless requirement to watch one’s back and trust no one.

The real challenge lay in making food desirable to beings who’d forgotten how to want it.

That’s why she was studying poison.

Cultivator poison.

She carefully read through the text, absorbing the details about how poison affected cultivators differently than mortals.

For cultivators, entering the first stage of body refining made their organs capable of processing ordinary poisons at an almost unnatural speed. It explained how they could drink mortal alcohol and, at most, experience a fleeting buzz before their bodies cleared it within minutes. Their qi-infused organs simply operated on an entirely different level.

Then there was the concept of unconscious acceptance . If a cultivator willingly consumed something, their spirit would allow it in without resistance. This slowed the body’s natural purging response. If resistance did occur, their qi would cleanse the substance even faster, scouring it from their system.

The text also mentioned active resistance , where cultivators could actively ignite their qi to burn away toxins directly. But that was an advanced technique, requiring control over all their meridians—something she wasn’t even close to achieving.

It was also irrelevant. She wanted her new customers to enjoy the meal, not be forced to commit to spiritual cleansing.

The first two effects were very relevant, though. The text focused on alcohol as an example, but Yue’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.

There were other substances. Drugs.

Back when she’d worked with the Tiger Gang, she’d sometimes helped sell those drugs to the desperate souls of the Endless City—people who sought even a brief escape from their unrelenting misery. And now, Yue realized, those same principles might not apply just to mortals.

A small head popped up from beneath the desk, wedging between Lin Yue and her book. “What are you reading?”

“Brat.” Lin Yue lifted Xue onto her lap. “I’m studying how poison affects cultivators.”

“Are you going to kill someone?” Xue squirmed to get comfortable.

“Actually, the opposite. I want to make them feel really good.”

“How can poison help with that?”

“It’s about dosage and type. Most medicines are just poisons if you take too much.” Lin Yue traced a line of text with her finger. “But cultivators work differently. Their bodies purge toxins unless the poison contains qi and special spiritual disruptions. Those block their natural purging ability.”

“Oh...” Xue leaned forward, squinting at the complex characters. “The... body... requires...”

Lin Yue pointed to each word as Xue sounded them out. The text contained far more advanced characters than her usual learning materials, but after just a few days of practice, Xue already showed remarkable progress with reading.

Lin Yue drummed her fingers on the desk, considering the requirements. The drug needed to enhance her food’s appeal to these qi-drunk cultivators. But should it energize or calm?

The Endless City offered far more varieties of substances than Earth ever had, though the basic categories remained identical. Stimulants. Depressants. Psychedelics. The source didn’t matter—whether synthesized in a lab or harvested from exotic portal-worlds.

She needed something accessible in bulk quantities, relatively harmless, and—most importantly—sustainable within the city’s unchanging temperate climate. The eternal spring-like weather meant certain plants thrived year-round while others needed heat or cold applied. She’d not have the resources for temperature control. As it was, lighting was a problem. The district Blackspire was in was cloaked in permanent twilight, and she didn’t exactly have a garden space assigned to her, anyway.

She’d need to make a deal and contact with some mortals. That was already a given, and she had some ideas from her Tiger Gang days, but that would all have to hinge on whatever Wu Lan was planning.

Lin Yue tapped her chin. Several options met one or two criteria, but only three or four satisfied all requirements.

Psychedelics were out of the question.

They’d all end up dead in a massacre or something.

That left two options.

The first was Deadgrass—a lot like weed, except it had a nasty habit of leaving people comatose for hours. And in the Endless City, that kind of vulnerability usually meant waking up robbed, murdered, or suffering something even worse.

Yue frowned. She’d have to be extremely careful with the dosage, especially for cultivators. Their bodies might process it better, and the book’s information gave her a sliver of hope on that front.

The second was Flamespout. Some kind of upper. She hadn’t tried any hard drugs back on Earth—just the occasional weed before the truck had killed her—but she had tried Flamespout once during her time with the Tiger Gang.

It had been a terrible idea. She remembered tweaking out of her mind, running around for two sleepless days like a lunatic. She hadn’t even felt human by the end of it. After that, Yue swore she’d never touch the stuff again.

She really hated drugs. At least when it came to taking them herself. The streets had no such thing as quality control, so every hit was a roll of the dice.

Worse than anything, it left you vulnerable . Vulnerable was stupid. Or dead.

Lin Yue stared at the text, considering the possibilities. Performance enhancers might prove useful, especially if she could find overlap between the house’s alchemy classes and drug production. The curriculum probably focused entirely on cultivation pills rather than mundane substances. A poison class might serve her needs better.

“Are you going to ignore me or tell me the word?” Xue poked Lin Yue’s arm.

Lin Yue blinked, pulled from her thoughts. “Sorry, I was thinking.”

“You do that a lot now.” Xue shifted on her lap.

“Haha, show me which word, brat.” Lin Yue leaned forward.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Xue’s small finger jabbed at the complex character on the page.

“That says ‘cultivation.’” Lin Yue traced the strokes with her fingertip.

* * *

Lin Yue glanced over her shoulder.

Nothing. No footsteps, no flicker of movement. The path was deserted.

Three days of waiting, and finally, Wu Lan had come through with the plan.

Tonight.

Everything she needed was in place: a small backpack slung tight, spirit stones secure, explosive talismans nestled carefully. The shadow talismans—Wu Lan’s parting gift—were the last pieces of the puzzle.

The Iron House guard at this gate had bad eyes, or maybe his qi sense was garbage. Either way, Wu Lan promised the talismans would get her through past him.

As long as she stayed quiet.

She pulled one of the shadow talismans from her jacket, its edges crisp beneath her fingers. A small pause. First time for everything…

Focusing, she gathered a thread of qi and pushed it through her palm. The paper erupted instantly, consumed by a sudden burst of purple flame that left no trace behind.

She froze, then looked down.

Her body was a black outline, her edges faint and transparent. Even her backpack and robe had vanished into the same ghostly haze.

Weird as fuck.

Exhaling softly, she turned toward the gate. The guard’s post was just ahead, silent and unmoving in the pale moonlight.

This was it. Her one chance.

Moving carefully, she crept forward. Each step was deliberate, each breath steady and shallow.

No mistakes.

The Iron House guard stood motionless at his post, the same leather plated armor and glaive as Sister Luhua’s catching moonlight. She crept forward, keeping her steps light.

“This is so boring,” Shadow whined loudly. “Can’t we—”

Her fingers twitched with the urge to strangle him, but she kept her focus locked on not giving herself away.

The guard’s eyes swept past her without pause. It’s working.

Each successful step past him built her confidence higher.

She slipped out into the street, maintaining her careful pace and silence until she rounded the corner. Only then did she release her held breath.

The streets grew darker as she pressed deeper into the demonic market district. The area around Blackspire Pavilion remained eerily empty—apparently no one wanted to set up shop next door to her sect. Smart of them.

“Excellent work! We should celebrate with a fresh soul or two.” Shadow spiraled around her gleefully.

“Go back to sleep. You’re better company when you’re quiet.”

“Don’t be like that! We’re out and about—how about a quick hunt?”

Lin Yue ignored his pestering and ducked into a shadowed corner. Wu Lan had said the talisman would only last five minutes, and walking through the streets while cloaked would draw more attention than being visible. The guard’s blindness was apparently rare—most weren’t so easily fooled.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Lin Yue’s muscles locked. That voice—Master Ruixian. Shit.

She turned with deliberate slowness. A shadowy form of Master Ruixian stood in the darkness, edges bleeding into the night air.

Shadow spiraled through the air above her head. “Ohoho! Caught, caught, caught! Master’s going to cook you up nice and crispy!”

Master Ruixian extended a hand. Shadow slammed into the ground with a wet thud, gurgling as if invisible hands squeezed his spectral throat.

The shadow-form’s attention snapped back to Lin Yue. “Well? Running away, girl?”

“No! I mean—” Lin Yue shook her head frantically. “I need spirit stones. And souls. I’m researching drugs—for food! For the business. With cultivation-enhanced meals.” The words tumbled out in a rush.

Something pressed against her fear, as if she didn’t convince him this second she was going to die. Damn it, why can’t I shut up?

The shadow figure froze mid-step. “Wait. This... this isn’t right.”

“Something wrong?” Lin Yue kept her stance loose, ready to move.

“Master only wanted me to find out why you were running away. Then kill you.” The shadow’s edges wavered uncertainly.

Lin Yue’s muscles tensed. A clone? Some kind of shadow construct—not Master Ruixian himself?

She swallowed hard. “Well, I’m not running away, so that changes things, right? No need for step two.”

“But I want to kill you.” The shadow’s form rippled with eagerness.

“That’s... unfortunate.” Lin Yue took a careful step back. “Master Ruixian must have reasons for keeping me alive. Killing me when I’m not even running would be problematic.”

“I only follow what was commanded.” The shadow’s form darkened. “I don’t care what Ruixian wants.”

Shadow gurgled against the ground, still pinned by invisible force.

The air grew thick with gathering energy. Lin Yue’s skin prickled from the building pressure.

Ah, fuck.

Lin Yue slipped her hand into her robe and pulled out the explosive talisman she had prepared way back at the inn before she had joined the pavilion proper.

The paper felt stiff as a playing card between her fingers. She threaded qi through it and tossed it at the shadow construct, releasing a burst of energy.

Nothing happened other than a puff of smoke as it sunk into the shadow form’s body and adhered there.

Was my calligraphy really that terrible? She stared at her failed first attempt at talisman murder. Of course it was. God hates me.

A shadow spear materialized and lurched toward her chest. Lin Yue pivoted sideways, the deadly point missing her by inches.

She dove and grabbed Shadow, yanking him out of the phantom chokehold. She carried him along as she sprinted away.

“Run! Get out of here!” Shadow screamed.

“Do something useful instead of yelling! Blow its head off or something!”

“I can’t! I’m bound—Master Ruixian’s shadows are off limits!”

More shadow spikes slammed into the ground behind them as they ran, forcing Lin Yue to zigzag through the street.

The shadow talisman’s effects still clung to her as she darted around the corner. A massive bull demon blocked her path—but the translucent state let her slip past him.

A shadow spike punched through the demon’s chest before he could bellow. Shadow popped free from Lin Yue’s grip and slurped up the demon’s soul before the body could hit the ground.

“Delicious!” Shadow gulped down the fresh soul.

“Damn it!” Lin Yue sprinted faster.

Shadow swirled through the air excitedly. “This is perfect! Head toward the crowded areas—more souls for me!”

“Like hell.” Lin Yue ducked into a side alley and pressed against the wall.

A quick glance revealed the shadow construct of Master Ruixian advancing with measured steps, a spear of pure darkness gripped in its hands.

The failed explosive talisman still clung to its chest, pulsing an angry red that shifted to brilliant yellow.

The night erupted in searing light and the shadow construct disintegrated in the blast, leaving nothing but scorched cobblestones.

Lin Yue stared at the destruction. Holy shit.

“We should leave before someone investigates that lovely explosion.” Shadow drifted lazily overhead.

“For once, you’re right.” Lin Yue pushed off from the wall and slipped deeper into the shadows.