Chapter 44: Killing with a Borrowed Blade

Bai Huan presented a fragrant box, within which lay several palace-made incense pellets and cakes. “In my inspection of Yu Lu’s chambers and the incense room, I discovered traces of toad venom and other substances that should not have been there.”

Both the Noble Consort and the Emperor started in surprise, speaking in unison, “What are those?”

They had come to trust Bai Huan’s sense of smell beyond question.

“To answer Your Majesty and Your Grace,” Bai Huan replied, “toad venom is often used to treat ulcers and sores for its pain-relieving properties. However, if misused or applied over a long period, it can lead to numbness and dizziness, even more severe consequences.”

He fixed his gaze on Kali, the deep blue in his eyes no longer calm, but now roiling like a tempestuous ocean whipped into a frenzy.

In the next instant, Guan Zhongliu had already reached a massive toad. The creature, sensing his approach, shot its tongue out in a flash, striking straight at him.

They were tasked to travel to an island to uncover the truth—Busai Island, situated between Southeast Asia and Thailand, a place with highly developed transport links.

If a warrior possesses even a single Force Crystal, that alone presents an overwhelming advantage over ordinary fighters, a gap that sheer numbers cannot bridge. And as for the legendary warriors who have already condensed a Force Star within their psychic space, they hold a similarly insurmountable edge over those who possess nothing but Force Crystals.

Liang Shan pondered for a moment, then could only shake his head with a wry smile. He had not expected that after all his maneuverings, he would have to face Xiong Qi once more. Yet now, with resentment festering between them, their meeting was unlikely to be agreeable.

Recalling how Demos’s boundless affection had turned to cold indifference and cruel neglect, the bitter contrast overwhelmed her. Forgetting her station, she wept openly before her servants.

At the level of Ding Fire and the Six Paths, the nine Force Crystals within the body provided a ceaseless flow of power, stimulating life energy, ensuring that no matter how grievous their wounds, so long as they were not beheaded, recovery was always possible.

This place was unnervingly eerie—silent, shadowy, and pervaded by a sense of lurking danger.

“My good gentlemen, my wife and I are merely passing through. I beseech you, let us be on our way.” Though his words were humble, Huyue showed no trace of fear. His hand fumbled inside his pouch, but he did not draw it out; instead, he looked at them with a face full of righteous resolve.

As the fifth young master, he could live out his days in idle comfort, doing nothing at all. Yet before a certain year arrived, he had to find himself an escape. Otherwise, in that era where class struggle was paramount, his family background would have doomed him to a life as nothing more than an old campaigner.

Ye Qi stood frozen for a moment, and when he finally regained his senses, he couldn’t help but shiver on behalf of the other eleven guards, only then belatedly giving chase.

After much turmoil, Nie Wanluo finally lay in the examination room. When the doctor frowned and picked up the phone to summon an elderly chief physician for a joint reading of the images, Nie Wanluo’s heart, following their grave expressions, sank bit by bit into a bottomless frozen abyss.

At times, Zeng Guofan felt utterly disheartened. Yet he knew all too well that if Hong the Heavenly King were left to his own devices, even if he drove the Manchus beyond the Great Wall and the land passed to the Hong clan, this vast country would only sink deeper into chaos. The people would live in perpetual darkness, and the nation would cease to exist in all but name.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know…” Qin Zhixing was in utter despair, her thoughts a tangled mess. In truth, even if she were clear-headed, she could not imagine whose child it could be if not Qiao Neng’s. Yet the fact remained—Qiao Neng wanted the child gone.

“Good! Keep it up, both of you!” Xu Changqing nodded and, for the first time, offered Chen Qiulian a word of praise.

The cooking hearth stood about a meter from the house—merely three large stones arranged in a triangle. When cooking or boiling water, the pot would rest on top; afterwards, it would be carried inside. Even if thieves came, all they could steal would be the stones themselves.

Then, clutching the ice puck, he soared swiftly through the air, racing toward Su City more than two hundred kilometers away.