Poison of the Human Panacea

Chapter 8

"One is a horse and one is a person. How are they alike? You can"t even ride on a person!" Mi Sha said with a wide grin.

"Who says so?" Satisfied, Bai Tan went on to stroke Wu Yanfu"s long hair like he would stroke a horse"s mane. "He walks on all fours, just like a horse. Who says we cannot ride him?"

He pushed Wu Yanfu to all fours as he spoke and sat on his back. "Jia[1]" was said pretentiously as he patted Wu Yanfu on his face, "Hurry, Ah Chi, neigh like a horse for your Master to hear!"

Mi Sha could not resist and laughed with a pfft.

The corner of Wu Yanfu"s lips stiffened, his face was grey like cold ashes as he neighed like a horse. His pair of blue eyes grew increasingly sinister. I will see how much longer a little wolf cub like you can remain arrogant. Just wait and see……

Who, between us two, teacher and student, would be the one riding the other in the future?

The carriage wobbled to a stop in front of a waterfall.

This place had extremely nice scenery; it was surrounded by mountains and was covered in a sea of crisp, green pine trees. There was a Jade Girl[2] Pond in the west, a Black Dragon Pond to the east, and on the north side, there was a majestic looking stone gate to the Yao Chi[3], "Tie Men Guan[4]". It was extremely difficult for outsiders to enter this place. All the previous generations of the Fu Tu Sect Sect Leaders live at the source of the waterfall at the Jade Girl Pond, in the Li Quan Dong[5], where it was concealed extremely well.

If it was not because of its safety, Bai Tan would not really be willing to live here.

Stepping on a piece of floating ice, he gently used his inner energy to float over to the entrance of the cave with Mi Sha and the yao ren. The sky was already dark and a layer of cold fog was hovering over the water surface. In the pond, giant taimens[6] looked like pieces of silver clouds, floating beneath the layer of ice. Their eyes were shining like stars wrapped by clouds.

Mi Sha squatted down curiously to look but Bai Tan held his hand. "Don"t get too close, these taimens are very ferocious and they eat humans. The reason they were raised here was to fend against uninvited guests."

"I see." Fear showed on Mi Sha"s face and when he saw that one of the taimen was suddenly approaching, its eyes glowing covetously as it stared at him, he could not help taking a step back. However, he did not notice who was behind him and knocked into Wu Yanfu. Wu Yanfu was unprepared for the sudden situation and was knocked into the waters.

With a splash, water was splattered around and the taimens, which were swimming slowly, were instantly attracted by the sound. They gathered around like a pack of hungry wolves striving to reach first. In an instant, waves were created even though there was no wind and it was extremely scary.

Bai Tan was shocked and lost all colors. His only fear was that his life-saving medicine would be shared and finished by the shoal of fishes. He jumped towards the area where the yao ren had fallen in and entered the water. He drove his zhenqi[7] to attack the fishes and immediately the water was b.l.o.o.d.y and murky. How was he supposed to find the yao ren? For a moment, he panicked. He was not good at swimming and even though he had secretly learned superior martial arts, he did not learn how to swim. He was soon choking on a few mouthfuls of water and in the moment of lapse, a taimen took the opportunity to bite him on his foot. He immediately felt intense pain. It was hard to bear and he wondered if he had lost a piece of flesh.

At that moment, he heard Mi Sha shouting from above, "Tan Gege, he is over here!"

Bai Tan leaped onto a piece of floating ice and looked around to see that the yao ren had swum to another piece of floating ice a small distance away. The yao ren was dragging his body, trying to climb onto the ice, a taimen as big as a baby was biting his thigh and was refusing to loosen the bite. The situation was hilarious and tragic. He immediately leaped and flew over, dealing a fatal strike of his palm on the evil fish trying to s.n.a.t.c.h his medicine from him. He then realized that there was a wound as wide as the mouth of a bowl on the yao ren"s thigh. His skin was broken – his flesh split with blood gushing out.

He quickly put his hand over it and immediately, without caring about anything else, grabbed both the yao ren and Mi Sha before returning to the stone hall within the cave, his feet barely touching the ground.

……

Wu Yanfu laid on the ice bed used for healing and looked at the little wolf cub who was hugging his thigh and sucking ferociously with complicated feelings. His eyes narrowed as his eyelid twitched violently. Bai Tan bit him, "San Du" also bit him and it was fine, but now even the fishes in the lake would not let him off. Might as well, all the three types of beasts he raised had a turn biting him.

"Blergh." Bai Tan licked the last drop of blood before the wound started healing itself and let out a satisfied burp. He shook his head as though drunk, wiped his mouth, and lay on the ice bed – flipping him off in one go.

Tsk, this little kid.

Wu Yanfu looked around and discovered that this place that once belonged to him had undergone a major transformation which can be described as flipping the skies and overturning the grounds[8]. All the murals on the stone walls were scratched to the point where they were unrecognizable and all the statues of Vajrapani[9] were also destroyed – especially the Concubine Ming on the Vajrapani. Their arms and legs were all broken making it was impossible to see their original form.

Just how much did he hate him that he would destroy these as well?

His heart was so cold that it was like ice. He looked back at Bai Tan and noticed that the soft deerskin boot on his foot was dyed red by blood. He pulled the boot off and a hideous wound was revealed. It was exceptionally lurid on the foot that was clear like a jade. Yet, it was also alluring in a different manner.

Wu Yanfu"s eye darkened. In the past, he was at the top and was the person others would look up to. This eccentric preference of his was not meant to be known. Now that he was just a lowly yao ren, he was actually able to get a chance to ease the itch and this was perhaps the one and only advantage. He could not help lowering his head as he thought.

An unbearable itch surging from his foot woke Bai Tan up with a start.

He looked down sleepily and saw the yao ren holding his ankle. His mouth was very close to it and he could be licking it or biting it. When he saw that the area was covered in blood, he got a big shock and sharply retracted the leg and, with his other foot, roughly kicked him to the ground.

"What, what are you doing?" Bai Tan yelled angrily. Taking a closer look at his foot, he realized that there was a shallow wound there. It was arc-shaped and it took him a while to remember that he was bitten by a taimen. Wu Yanfu lowered his eyelid very innocently, "I saw that Master was hurt, soꟷꟷ"

Bai Tan suddenly realized that not only did the yao ren"s blood have almost magical effects, even his saliva was comparable to the best Jin Chuang Yao[10]. Come to think of it, maybe his sweat, tears, and even……

Just what kind of treasure had he found?!

In that instant, he was appeased and stretched his foot over to poke the man"s cool, stern, and pale face. "Forget it, you may continue liking. My* wound has yet to recover completely."

"Yes." Wu Yanfu obeyed and lowered his head.

Bai Tan shivered when his toe was in his mouth, and the bells on the human bone anklets rang gently. Wu Yanfu gripped his delicate ankles, tightly clenching them in his palms, very much wanting to add another cuff. Bai Tan thought that he did this in the past to restrict his feet, but he only knew of the first reason. His fingers inadvertently touched the human bone anklet and could not refrain himself from caressing it, poking the bells as though teasing.

His toe was tingly and numb and Bai Tan trembled as he let out a soft groan. His eyes moved from his toe to the yao ren who was half kneeling and realized that the chest and abdomen wrapped in vines were well-defined and firm like a rock. That thing, too, was shockingly enormous and he was suddenly frightened. When he retracted his leg, there was already a thin layer of sweat on his back. Wu Yanfu looked up and saw him pressing a fist to his lower abdomen. It did not take much to know what happened. The little evildoer had spent a few years learning the Arts of Enchantment and so his sense of touch was more sensitive than average. How was he supposed to withstand such teasing?

"What do you think you are looking at?" Bai Tan stood up irritably and with a kick, kicked him to the side. He took a deep breath, sat on the ice bed, and started to meditate.

Wu Yanfu"s chest was hurting from the kick and did not continue teasing him. He was dragging his crippled body into a sitting position when his back brushed against an object. He turned to see a Persian rug covering said object. A rough outline was shown faintly and he was shocked. Lifting the rug, there was a pure white Konghou[11] with a phoenix head under it. It was as he had thought. The body of it had blood colored patterns and its strings were black – all made from the hair of the deceased. It was his belonging, "Gui Ge[12]".

He did not burn this musical instrument. Was the little kid not afraid of "missing" a person after looking at it? He thought cynically. He raised a hand and gently ran his hand over each of the fourteen strings. However, he only had the fingering but not the ability to make a sound.

He had forgotten he was now a useless crippled person and not the "Mara[13]", Wu Yanfu.

As he ran his hand over the instrument"s body, a blurry image of a slender person appeared in front of his eyes. Hair was snaking down the person"s pale and bare back. The person was kneeling on the floor, hugging the instrument in his arms. His legs were tangled around the bow of the instrument, sliding slowly, as though entangling intimately with a lover.

That person seemed to be Bai Tan.

Wu Yanfu furrowed his brows and was absent-minded. His finger trembled, plucking a string and a note rang instantly.

"Youꟷꟷ know how to play the konghou?" A cold voice came from behind him. Wu Yanfu retracted his hand and turned his head around. He did not know when it happened, but Bai Tan was already standing silently behind him, his eyes were lowered and were observing him.

In the sharp and intense black phoenix eyes[14], it could not be told if there was hatred or if there was shock.

Wu Yanfu shook his head, "Ah Chi does not know, was only curious."

Bai Tan kicked him away with a leg and squatted down to check the Konghou in detail as though he treated it like a precious treasure and seeming afraid that the yao ren had spoiled it. Picking up the goose feather duster by the side, he took some time to dust the entire musical instrument before letting it rest.

When he was killing, he was firm but he seemed to treat this musical instrument very dearly. Wu Yanfu stared at the teen"s cold, beautiful side profile and raised a dashing eyebrow[15].

Bai Tan looked to his side and suddenly grabbed his wrist, which was like cold iron, placing it on the strings. "I saw your fingering a while back and it looked like you knew what you were doing? Since you are curious, why not play a little for me* to hear?"

Wu Yanfu clenched his teeth tightly, curled his fingers and was finally able to hook a few strands of strings. The veins on the back of his hands were bulging and the joints of his fingers became even more apparent as he barely managed to pluck a few trembling and broken notes.

Bai Tan hmphed displeased, "Trash is trash."

Wu Yanfu ground his teeth while keeping the look of a modest att.i.tude and said with a low voice, "Ah Chi"s fingers are not listening. Master, please do not get angry."

After hearing him being so tame, Bai Tan"s anger dissipated but it made him feel even more irritated. He reached out and sweep out a chain of rapid and rushed music. It was sharp and dominating like the eagle"s call and the phoenix"s cry. However, in Wu Yanfu"s ears, it was extremely grating. Such poor playing made it really hard for him to continue listening. This, however, was not Bai Tan"s fault. He did not teach him much about how to play this instrument; he must have learned in secret.

Had he known this day would come, he would have taught him meticulously and saved himself from this pain.

Tsk. it was horrible. However, this little kid had always been arrogant and prideful and very compet.i.tive. If he knew that he was listening right now, who knows how he would react. Thinking about it, Wu Yanfu could not stop a "pfft" from escaping his lips.

Hearing the mocking laughter that seemed to have been hallucinatory, Bai Tan"s hand trembled and a finger was cut by the string. Like a fox whose claw was injured by a trap, he quickly retracted his hand and put it into his mouth to suck. At the same time, he turned his head to the side, extremely angry and violence gleamed in his eye. "You dare mock me*?"

This was bad, he stepped on the tail. Wu Yanfu lowered his body hurriedly but was even more amused. He tried very hard to hold back his laughter and said, "Ah Chi does not dare to. Ah Chi only felt like coughing." After which, he pretended to cough a few times.

Bai Tan stood up, saw him looking like a poor thing and could not get angry at him. With a cold harrumph, he flicked his sleeve and left.

Xiao"s Comments:

Bai Tan, ah Bai Tan, for someone who claims to hate Wu Yanfu so much, you sure do value his Gui Ge. Even hugging it like a lost child desperately seeking comfort. Seems to me like someone"s in denial~

Also, poor Wu Yanfu…from being on top of the world to being on all four with Bai Tan riding him like a horse (and not even the way he or I wanted). He must be seething, and I"m surprised by his patience. At least he can still poke fun at Bai Tan"s expenses, lol.

[1] The sound made when trying to get a horse to move. It also means to drive.

[2] Usually used to refer to a beautiful woman or a fairy.

[3] Might be referring to the mythical place, a pool/pond, where the Heavenly mother/G.o.ddess visited.

[4] Literally means the metal door close lol. But it can also be understood as just metal door or the metal entryway.

[5] Dong means cave and Li is sweet wine while Quan means spring. Li Quan together means the a water from spring which tastes like sweet wine.

[6]

[7] It is one of the energy flows that can be gathered to protect your body or attack.

[8] A Chinese phrase used to describe a very big and ma.s.sive change.

[9]

[10] It is a medical powder, to be applied on wounds externally and used to heal the wounds, said to be very effective. The direct translation would be gold trauma medicine.

[11] and for image:

[12] Gui Ge translates to ghost song

[13] Master of the Sky of Six Desires.

[14] Phoenix eye is used to describe when the corners of the eye point upwards but also highlights the charisma and sharpness one exudes through their eyes.

[15] Kill me, the actual translation would be sword eyebrow but it just means eyebrows that are sloping upwards giving the person a charismatic and dashing look. Just for the image:

*The “I” or "me" makes a reference to his position or suggests a high rank

                                                                                                                                     Chapter 9