Jia Pangzi: 二

(before reading this, you might want to back read a little. Whether you do or not, idc. I forgot to mention, but Pangzi feels physically drained and weaker in the underground city. It was supposed to be in the first chapter, but I decided not to edit the prologue, even if it has grammatically incorrect sentences and or missing words, which happens a lot on inkstone)

To start things off, Pangzi started exploring his 1LDK apartment. Like literally all 1LDKs, it was pretty small, but it had everything he needed. It didn't have any extra rooms with no use, or a huge bathroom with a few dozen bathtubs, nor did it have unnecessarily high ceilings.

It was different from what Pangzi was used to, but overall, his satisfaction was the same as he was with the new Jia family mansion. Of course, there were some odd things he couldn't understand. Especially inside the bathroom.

There a sort of toilet, like all in places, but it didn't smell, nor go down a long pit. It was very small and had water in it. He wondered how anything could fit in there. After finding and pressing an odd button-like object near the toilet, all the water inside it went away and was replaced. Then, he understood what it was for.

Then, there was the odd design of the place. It reminded him a lot of the rooms in the palace — no annexes, detached rooms or storehouses. Everything was in one small place. And even if it wasn't that big, he didn't feel suffocated, either.

After having explored his room to his heart's content, he went out, into the narrow hallway, and encountered a really fat person. Rather than saying he was fat, it'd have been more accurate to say the hallway was too narrow. Somehow, he ended up climbing over the man, who didn't seem to mind. But he seemed to be in pain, seeing as all the broken bits of wood on the hallway's walls were piercing into him. Makes me wonder how much fifty Rin really is...

I went outside the southeast inn and went southeast to go to the center of the town. Unlike on the surface of the Shensheng Diguo, there were signs everywhere. It was as if the entire place was a huge tourist attraction, and the owners made all these signs so none of the tourists would get lost... of course, they did not seem to be luxurious enough to give everyone their own maps. However, paper was expensive, so Pangzi could not blame them.

So, as Pangzi was going to the 'town square', according to the dozen signs he walked by, he saw a sign pointing to a place called 'the great bazaar'. He immediately understood that it was a shop, and completely changed his path to the direction in which it was in.

When he arrived, he knew he was in a fish market¹. And not just because it was loud, but there really was some people selling fish and cutting its head off. He didn't know where the fish came from, but he honestly didn't care, nor did he even notice that there was something terribly wrong with fish in a cave, but he completely forgot that he was even in a cave in the first place. It looked like they were in an open field, at night, with an assortment of multi-coloured stars.

He honestly didn't feel that the place was as 'great' as it said it was, but it wasn't that bad. There were doctors, farmers, tailors, masons, street food vendors, aforementioned fishermen. There were all sorts of professions there, and everyone there seemed to be skilled at what they were doing.

He went around the place, looking through whatever junk he was allowed to touch. He was going through things he knew he couldn't afford, and ran into a black building. It wasn't eye catching, despite its clear difference from the other houses around it, but it still seemed very hidden. He felt that unless he was intentionally looking for it, he would have be unable to even find it. A true stroke of luck. He didn't take his eyes off of the place in fear of accidentally losing it.

As all intrigued rats do, he scurried into the shop, only to see the inside of any normal shop. Actually, it wasn't a normal shop at all. Sure, there were no body parts in jars, or bloodthirsty managers, or grime on the floor. Actually, grime on the floor is like a signature specialty of the shops there? Well, the cleanliness was definitely odd...

Anyways, the place was special because it was a bookshop. Books were very very valuable. Their value was high enough to even appear in auctions. Since not many people decide to write a book, most books are overpriced and don't have enough content. Even in the biggest sects and families, they only have a few hundred books in their library. The imperial library has ten thousand books. It may sound like a lot, but most of them can be read through in a matter of minutes. Put into two painful words, children's books.

The books in this shop were not only of high quality, but even the thickness was around a hundred or so pages per book. Simply manufacturing something like that would cost a small fortune! It was not a wonder no one came into the shop. No one would have been able to even buy one of the items in there!

"welcome to An Du shop, little child. Are you here to buy some books?" asked the cashier.

"no, I'm just browsing." I said, quickly.

"what are you looking for, if not books? It's all we sell here."

True... there really does seem to be nothing but books, but the way the cashier said it, as well as the colouring of the building itself is very suspicious. Especially the feeling of repulsion... there has to be more than just this to the bookshop. And the shop's name is also very odd. But if An Du is the owner, then it would make sense — the people here have odd names.

"hm... whatever is there, I guess. Preferably herbs of some sort?" I asked as a last attempt.

I do need herbs to make my poison. Without which, I cannot kill loverboy.

*pop*

Everything went dark. It was a very familiar feeling to him. It reminded him of the time the plague demon recruit warped him into the underground city. Except instead of him feeling weaker, he now felt stronger. Much much stronger. It may have been because he had gotten used to the weakness in the underground city, but now, he felt much stronger than he ever had been.

"welcome to the real An Du shop. 'An' as in dark, and used as hidden, and 'Du' as in poison. We at the An Du shop specialize in poisons and ingredients. The more lethal, the more expensive. Of course, the city doctors sometimes come here to get herbs at a cheaper price than in the city... if you have any questions, feel free to ask." he noticed the token on my waist: "I guess you're one of them? Whatever. Don't get mixed up with the wrong folk, kid."

"where are the ingredients and processing equipment."

"straight to business, eh? Ingredients are straight ahead, and processing equipment... you're going to have to get a mason for that. You can always trade for it, but it'll be much riskier than just getting scammed by a mason. And if you're here to get more than just tonics at a cheap price, I suggest you hide your token."

"will do." I said as I waved the man goodbye and stuffed the jade token into the sleeve of my Yichang.

I did as he said, and went forward. As I was going by, I saw a bunch of items I definitely could not afford, as right now, I don't have anything to my name. Just a huge unknown amount of debt to a mason.

I saw a lot of the ingredients used it my own poisons, as well as some ingredients used in the more lethal poisons. I even saw some poisonous scorpions in a cage. But they would have definitely cost a lot more than the average ingredient.

"excuse me, sir." I said while approaching a man running a stand. "how much for twenty apples?"

"you look a little young to be dabbing poison? You must be here to run errands for your master! I heard Mrs. Bai Du got a new disciple. Don't worry about the costs, I'll have it charged to Mrs. Bai." he said while giving me the apples.

"thanks."

"no problem, kid."

Well, Mrs. Bai... it looks like you will be running into some unexpected payments? Well, forgive this poor 'disciple' of yours. All these things were meant for you, after all.

I went around, buying a few more food to use in my own poisons, but I made sure not to get ingredients which I need in extremely large quantities, or ingredients which need processing I cannot do without the required machinery.

After buying all the food I needed, I decided it was high time I buy a burner, a pot, and a grinder. Then, I'll make a run for it and hope Mrs. Bai's new disciple won't mind me using their identity.

I went to the nearest blacksmith I could find and asked for a grinder and pot. He had a hard clay pot ready for sale, so I bought that (under Mrs. Bai Du's name, of course) and asked for the grinder. He said he would take around ten minutes to make a small grinder, and recommended a place where I could get a small burner.

I went to the shop, as the smith said, and asked for a small, portable burner. The guy said it would be expensive, but when I told him it was for Mrs. Bai, he immediately gave it to me, free of charge. He asked me to put in a good word for him with Mrs. Bai, if I can. I started feeling more and more conscious about her influence and the risk of using her name so casually, but it was eventually outweighed by the 30k Rin price tag on the burner.

The small burner was like a small stone pad, and when you pressed a sort of button on the side of it, a fire pops up. When you press it more, the fire gets ten units hotter. To adjust the scaling, you press another button, which moves the scaling from tens to units, to one decimal. It cannot go higher nor lower than that. After the temperature is at one hundred units, the next unit, no matter how small the change, will turn off the flame. Hundred units is the maximum, while one decimal point is the minimum adjustment. There is even a small light on the side showing the units of heat. It was very convenient and helpful. Especially its portability, which made things very easy.

I then returned to the blacksmith, who was nearly done with the grinder. I asked him to make it small, and portable. I also asked him to make sure it did not crush anything finer than 1mm.

When he was done, I took the grinder and left. The weight of everything was carrying me down a lot, but there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn't as if I had some non-existent magical storage device.

Eventually, I managed to get out of the real An Du shop, where I got into the bookshop.

The second I stepped out, there were around half a dozen people ready to help me carry my stuff. Not wanting to risk getting robbed, I brought the weakest looking guy with me, and we went to the southeast inn together.

He dropped the ingredients off at my room. Even if he stole the ingredients, I could not let him steal the processing equipment. The ingredients, after counting all of them, did not seem to be missing.

After sitting around for a while and concocting my plan to kill loverboy, I decided to give him the so called medicine. It will give him a bad stomach and diarrhea for a month, unless cured. I'll just say he used the medicine wrong, and her fate did not accept him because of that. It is not my first time dealing with a loverboy, so I'm pretty sure he'll fall for this...

Then, his family will ask me to cure him. He doesn't seem like the kind of person to tell why he is sick, but from what I can understand, even if he said he got sick because of my medicine, it would not change anything.

So, I'll be giving him lots and lots of delicious 'medication'. In three or so days, he should die. After that, I'll drug the owners and leave the southeast inn. It will be as if I never came here.

And if I remember correctly, the pretty looking white flower was in the An Du shop? Even the pink one was there. They will be expensive, but I have to try to buy them. I'll have to go there again, sooner or later. But I cannot use Mrs. Bai again. There is no doubt in my mind that this Bai person has already figured out they have been scammed. Hopefully, they won't find me until I am inside the plague demon cult. That way, I'll be safe.

But now, there is a bigger problem. Even if the mason said didn't want the guy dead, I want him dead. Actually, I need him dead. As long as he is alive, there will be proof of my crimes, and I cannot have that. I'll convince the mason, somehow. Or maybe I could convince the mason's wife? She seemed especially against the southeast owners' child.

Ok, so to make lover boyask me, and only me for help, I will need to give him one of my own poisons. That way, unless an expert comes, there will be no cure. For a while, I'll give him the real medicine, and then, he will miraculously die, just as he is making a recovery. I'll report it as a natural death. The newbie doctors and quacks will be too prideful to say they don't know what happened, so they will no doubt agree with me, who seems to know what happened to him.

Over the course of four days, his plans were put action and completed. On the first day, he started crushing certain parts of the food he bought from the An Du shop.

When he first learnt poisoning, he was shocked by the sheer number of things he had eaten which could have killed him, if he ate it in a certain way and or eaten too much of it. At first, it scared him — the amount of food you could die from. After getting over the initial trauma, he started using them as substitutes to lethal plants, which cannot be obtained easily.

Of course, large amounts of any ordinary food were required to create enough poison to make someone even cough a little. when he started crushing the food, he found out some parts were more poisonous than others, and also contained the actual killing agent.

Over the course of those four days, many people went to him for cuts and scrapes. Everyday, there would be at least one person needing immediate surgery. They always end up losing a limb or two, but never had Pangzi ever lost a patient. His reputation throughout the underground was growing quickly because of it.

On the second day, he invited loverboy to eat out with him. The two went the restaurant where the mason's daughter worked at. Normally, a mason's daughter would be dressing up herself to find a rich partner, but he assumed that it was only a thing on the surface.

The two passed around some food and drink until loverboy went to secretly stalk the mason's daughter under the pretense of going to the bathroom. Sure, it was disgusting, but it was also the perfect chance to slip a little poison into his food and drink.

The discoloration of the drink was apparent, but apart from that, there was nothing else too noticeable.

Some people saw him slip the poison in and started gossiping, so he stood up and said loudly: "I am sorry for the inconvenience, my friends! I put some medicine into my friend's food and drink, because he refuses to accept he is sick. If I do not take drastic measures, he might die in a few days time!"

"oh, thank god!" exclaimed a nearby gossiper. "I thought the Xian Sheng⁴ was trying to kill someone!"

"hahaha! The doctor has cured hundreds of people without fail. Why would he do something as obvious as poisoning in broad daylight? In a tavern, too!"

As soon as the man said that, Pangzi started to blush a little. Everyone thought it was because he was being modest and shy, but it was really because that man struck a really sharp arrow into his pride. It was true. He cured so many people, and yet, he is poisoning someone in broad daylight, in a tavern with dozens of witnesses. Even in the Jia's city, he was never that obvious! If he was, he would have been killed long ago, despite being the high commander's first-born son.

After everything settled down, loverboy came back. His timing could not have been better. He did not keep Pangzi waiting too long, nor did he stop his stalking spree too early and saw Pangzi doing the act.

"cheers, friend!"

"hahaha! Sometimes, I think you do not know my name, because you always call me 'friend', but I heard you call these people friends as well, so I feel better now."

"haha..."

He wanted to ask if heard anything else, but it would have been too suspicious. If Pangzi messed up his acting, then the plan would not work, and he would have to kill loverboy with a more lethal poison, since he only had three days remaining.

On the third day, nothing happened. More accurately, in the day. At night, however, loverboy and his parents came screeching into Pangzi's room.

Even Pangzi was genuinely shocked. He did not expect the poison to get that bad, and that soon as well. At most, a bad cough and pain. Maybe diarrhea and vomiting, but nothing so intense.

He had loverboy get on his bed, and examined him. The only thing odd he could see about loverboy was the abnormal amount of pain he was in. Everything else was a result of his 'medicine' — the rapid breathing, twitching, nausea, seizures. The only thing was that it activated too fast.

Soon, his next-door neighbour got tired of the screams and barged into the room to get Pangzi to shut up. After seeing the state of loverboy, the man fell silent. Of course, that did not stop Pangzi from pumping loverboy full of paralyzing agents, while claiming they were anesthetics.

The paralyzing agents did their job, in the eyes of the three non-doctors present at the scene. Of course, Pangzi knew what it was really doing. He knew especially well the lethality of such a large dose.

Sure, it silenced him, but the only reason he is quiet was because could not move a single muscle in his body. Much less, make a little grunt. Sooner or later, even his heart would stop beating, which would be when he would die. Of course, the pain would lessen, but it would not decrease his suffering.

This is when it all clicked. Those plans he thought of — all of them had a different ending. One, he would wipe the memories of the people in the inn, ending with no one knowing his existence. Erasing their memory woulf be very costly and time consuming. Two, he would fake loverboy's natural death, and complete the mason's request with no suspicion of murder on him. Unfortunately, the mason might back out of the deal saying he did not fulfill it, and killed loverboy. And now, this was three. The most optimum path. Pretend loverboy died due to a mysterious disease, which he could not cure. It is essentially the same as option two, but significantly easier to pull off, since it was tailored for this situation, and the mason cannot back out of the deal, as long as the majority of the population believe Pangzi did not kill loverboy.

My reputation might be damaged, but it is a very small price for my 'perfect end'.

I had the parents leave the room. It took a lot of convincing, but with the help of the other guy, who was still in the room, they were sent off to their own room quickly.

I pretended to care for loverboy, but I didn't have to pretend too much, seeing as there were no onlookers and or potential witnesses in the room. I left him to die. I did not have to do anything more, either. He was dying, even without my help. Even if I did not know any better, it would not have mattered, because I would still think and say it was a terminal disease.

Come to think of it, I planned on using the amputated flesh I obtained from the daily patients to poison loverboy. Well, at least I'll have more poisoned flesh at my disposal.

He calmly took out a bone saw — something he got from one of the butchers he helped — and cut off loverboy's arms. Now, he was just a little flesh puppet with no arms. Truly a gruesome sight.

Pangzi had the urge to ruin his body more, but he could not do that without significant backlash from the parents and the city residents. Even if taking both arms was still a big deal, he could say most of the disease was concentrated on the arms, which was a lie. The poison, or as he preferred to call it, the 'disease' was spread evenly throughout the entire body. It even had an entire day to settle itself into his body.

There was definitely something wrong with loverboy's body, and his poison was only one side of the story, and even he knew it. It could be a terminal disease, or the work of another assassin.

By the next day, loverboy was dead. He told everyone that there was something wrong with loverboy's body, and the medicine he gave yesterday somehow acted as a trigger for the disease in his body. He claimed to be lost, which he was, and said he cut off the arms, which was where most of the disease was lurking in. The arms he cut were rotting by morning, which served as enough proof for the majority of the citizens.

The multiple other doctors that came to check up on loverboy's condition gave the same analysis as Pangzi. It soon escalated to the point where doctors who had never even heard of Pangzi nor his analysis were brought in to check on loverboy's body. Even then, they gave the exact same result as Pangzi. Some even gave it word for word.

However, the doctors were surprised by the fact Pangzi could neutralize the pain. Little did they know, it was a paralyzing agent, which helped in the process of creating loverboy's no longer beating heart.

A day or so after the incident, Pangzi went to the mason to tell him the job was done. The mason started yelling at him for killing loverboy.

Pangzi told him that his analysis was actually the truth. Although he did give him poison, it only started the reaction which was ultimately too lethal.

In the end, the mason compromised and cleared Pangzi's debt and told Pangzi never to approach his family ever again. Pangzi agreed immediately, since he had no intentions of ever going back to that mason ever again.

A day passed, and it was the 5th day of him being in the underground city. Despite staying there for nearly a week, he only knew the locations of the An Du shop; the town square; the market; the southeast inn; the tavern near the mason's. Basically, the only places he ever went to, or had to go to.

He did not want to ask where the plague demon cult was located, in case they executed him for heresy. Because of that, he decided better and went to the town square, where a sign pointing to literally anywhere in the underground city could be seen.

"slums, north administrative building, Bai family mansion, Bai family villa, northern tavern, east wing, An Du hospital, great bazaar, cave-side, great light, plague demon sect."

I guess this place really does have a sign for everything... but the Bai family seem very influential. It might have been a mistake to use Mrs. Bai's name to get free stuff, that day.

He followed the sign pointing towards the southern-most end of the underground city. Before arriving at the venue, he made sure to hide his token, just in case. After walking through the outskirts of the town for a bit, he saw a lot of people gathered in one place. He assumed it to be the venue for the entrance exam.

But then, a thought came to him. The recruit only told him to report to the plague demon cult, or as they call it here, sect. Meaning he never had to take the test? If the recruit did not mess up his/her words, that is.

He pushed his way through the crowd and arrived at a little receptionist-like place, where he assumed he had to register for the test.

"are you here to enter the test? Just remember, any loss incurred has nothing to do with the plague demon sect, nor any involved parties. The responsibility lies purely on you."

"oh, I am not here to register. I am here to report to the plague demon cul— sect."

"ah... you must be Jia Pangzi, the 7th rank target. Yeah, Jiu Shi Jiu said you were going to be reporting five days after he came back. Anyways, there is a special test for you, thanks to Jiu Shi Jiu. You will be participating with the outer court disciples to get into the inner court. If you fail the test, you will be sent to the outer court. Not a bad deal, eh? But the inner court and outer court are worlds apart. Do not mess this up. It might be your only chance."

"so, what do I do from here on?"

"go into the building. Walk straight, and you'll see a group of people. If they ask, you are there by the invitation of Jiu Shi jiu, and your name is Jiu Pangzi. Here's the outer court robe. Try blending in." she said before throwing him a gray and ugly rag-like 'robe'.

"understood." he said after catching the ugly rag.

Luckily, I was meant to report, and not register. Otherwise, I might have accidentally tried too hard, never to get the chance to get into the inner court. And if the receptionist was right, the inner court might be my best bet for formulae.

He snuck in to the sect's outer court and quietly slipped on the dirty rag. If anyone else saw him changing, he would have no doubt been labeled a pervert.

After changing, he neatly folded up his clothes and hid them somewhere around the entrance.

After he finished with everything there, he started running forward. After a while, he saw a huge gate in front of another crowd in the direction he was heading in. He slowed into jog after getting closer and slowly blended into the crowd of people; no one seemed noticed a thing. He found it convenient, though. After a few minutes, the huge gate opened, and the person who appeared behind the door screamed at them.

"welcome to the annual inner court entrance exam! One hundred followers are eligible for this year's exam, and all hundred and two participants are here, today! Only five of you can get in."

One hundred eligible followers, and two eligible outsiders. The other person might also be from the surface. It would be very bad if they realize it is me, and identify me as Jia Pangzi. Luckily, I am Jiu Pangzi, from this day forth. Sorry, ancestors², but I like living more than family and pride.

The man who yelled at them when the door opened led the group into the inner court; it really was worlds apart from the outer court. The buildings looked like the ones you would see in a rich town. There were not that many of them, though; it was understandable why the acceptance rate for the inner court was so low.

They had everyone line up in the order they got there in. Pangzi arrived last, so he was naturally at the back of the line. The person at the front was brought into a room. A few minutes later, he came out. His eyes were bleeding, and he was trying to rip his heart out. He already tore his clothes and his flesh.

The next person's condition after leaving was pretty similar. Instead of trying to rip his heart out, he was trying to rip his brain out. But after seeing this person's condition more carefully, Pangzi realized they were not trying to rip their heart/brain out. They were trying to scratch them.

It was crossed it off as poisoning. He assumed they either poisoned you and had you make the cure, or they poison you and see how long you last.

He was leaning towards the former, since there were some people who made it out sane, but took a short amount of time. These lucky survivors came after every ten or so people.

No one dared to talk. Not even the people who knew each other very well. Everyone coveted the inner court, and no one wanted to give it up. Not even for theirs loved ones.

After three hours, it was finally Pangzi's turn. Luckily for him, most people did not take too long to die off. The latest person only taking as long as ten minutes.

Like all the others, Pangzi pushed the door open, and went in. There were all sorts of herbs, medicines and poisons arranged neatly for him.

The room itself was not too big, but there was a person on a balcony, which he assumed to be the examiner. The room had six pillars, supporting the balcony, with no staircase leading up. The room was closed off. The only exits was the place Pangzi came in from, and the door behind the examiner. There were also a lot of candles on the floor, and in stands. Luckily, they were in metal trays, or else they might burn the place, even after extinguishing.

While Pangzi was still wondering what to do, the examiner spoke: "you have been poisoned. The symptoms are pain, itching and your eyes bleeding when you look at bright objects. You have three minutes before dying."

Ah, so I was right. They really do want us to cure ourselves. I mean, it's not like you'll be immune to whatever poison you make. I imagine many people died because they didn't know how to cure themselves.

There were quite a few medicinal herbs. Most of them were painkillers. There were three poisons prepared: paralysis, pain inducing, and blindness. They were all labeled, so it was not hard knowing which was which. There were also another three medicines. One was a painkiller, another was a medicine for blood clotting and finally, there was a sort of cream.

He understood that the cream was most likely for the itching, but the itching, as seen from the others, is on the inside. There is no guarantee of the cream being safe to eat, so he did not risk eating it. As for the painkillers and herbs, he decided not to touch them.

Most tests are hard. And if the difference between the inner and outer courts is like heaven and earth, then it would not make sense for the test to ascend be so easy. It was a huge risk, but he would rather take it than die like the others.

Instead of using herbs to cure himself, he drank the concoction labeled 'paralysis'. He did not drink more than a few milligrams, in fear of accidentally becoming the new loverboy. The pain and itching died down, but his eyes were still bleeding. Even though his eyes did not hurt too much, it was sickening to see his blood dye his eyes red. The worst part was his declining vision, which refused to look at anything beyond five feet. He was unable to see the entire room anymore.

The candles in the room contributed a lot to his eyes bleeding. They most likely put it there do that the candidates eyes would bleed quicker, disrupting the entrant's vision and making them mess up their cures.

In a frenzy, he reached out to where the blindness poison was, and drank nearly half the bottle. Only when the effects kicked in, did he realize the mistake he made. He could roughly estimate how much more paralysis poison he could take, but now, he just gulped down half blindness poison.

Luckily, only his vision dimmed. Still, there was blood in his eyes, and the pain was growing. He drank some more of the paralysis potion. There was approximately seven eighths of it left.

He saw some stars across the ground. That was when he realized that the candles were not there because the people here were crazed cultists. The candles were placed there purposefully to lessen the survivability of the participants.

He was unable to see anything further than a foot away from his face, but the candles were still very clearly visible. Even after closing his eyes, the brightness from the candles did not get any dimmer. The examiner probably put something into the flame to make it stronger.

Just like how it clicked for the candles, something else in his mind clicked. The herbs — they were left untouched. Pangzi used the blindness poison to deal with the bleeding, and then the paralysis for the pain. He assumed the medicine was a trap, so then the medicine is not an option, in which case, the herbs must have some use.

But if he was wrong, and the herbs did nothing, it would be a waste of time, energy, and his life. Despite all that, he still decided to take a gamble. His first gamble was spot on, but he ruined it by impulse. Luckily, he recovered enough to continue with the rest of the exam.

As he tried knocking off the candles, to no avail, he accidentally spilled some herbs onto the floor. Whatever it was, it was a fine powder. Almost like spores — millions of them. Still, it seemed to extinguish the area on which it fell.

So if the flame can't be put out when I stomp on it, the herbs must be the only way to extinguish it.

Thinking that, he started throwing the herbs each at places that had the most 'stars'. Eventually, all the herbs ran out, but the stars were still there, albeit mostly gone.

He then started feeling pain again. The paralysis had done its job and went out of his system. As if his body gained a tolerance for it.

He somehow managed to find to the poison section where he could barely see the piss-coloured paralyzing poison. It was evaporating. So was the blindness poison.

Without a second thought, he chugged down both poisons as quickly as he could. The second the two lethal doses went into his system, he collapsed.

He did not die, but he was definitely dying; not at a slow pace either.

There was no pain, nor sight. He could not do anything at all. Was it karma? An act of justice? God's wrath? Heavenly tribulations..?

Karma for killing loverboy — a seemingly innocent perverted stalker.

For murdering those three children for his selfishness.

Disregarding Ruan Gao's existence.

Making himself look pitiful.

Trying to attract the love of father...

Leaving behind humanity and trying to join their worst enemy.

I really am trash, aren't I? Makes me wonder how things are going on the surface.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"candidate 102, referred to as Mr. Jiu is confirmed to be alive. Give him the half-god's blood and send him to the second stage. If he complains, you have permission to subdue. Do not kill, he is an 8th rank priority."

"yes, invigilator Hao."

I opened my eyes; no longer bled. I assumed I passed the test. There was a person next to me; was very ugly. I stood up; I wanted to leave the room. He stopped me.

"report to the second half of the exam. I will lead you there."

I nodded; he led the way there; and I followed him. The room was nice; so was the corridor. I didn't want to take the test. I don't like being poisoned. It hurts. I like poisoning better. It's... fun?

"here we are, Mr. Jiu."

There were ten others waiting for him on top of a stage. The place the 'ugly man' led him to seemed like the kind of place a roman king would have gladiators beat each other's faces in. There was even an audience — a few hundred, if you looked carefully.

After observing the situation for a while, he went up the five foot high stage with the help of some stairs. At his pathetic height, he couldn't even see up the stage properly.

After he got stage, a strange looking boy, around three years older than Pangzi came up to him. Now, you should remember: Pangzi is only ten.

"hey, you must be elder Jiu's grandson. Glad to have you with us!" said a blonde male.

I nodded in agreement.

"do not bother with him. Commoners like us will not be seen in his eyes."

I like him. I like his face and hair. It is very unique. His tongue is sharp. I nodded again.

"so, why don't you talk, Pangzi?"

Disgusting. I showed her a disgusted face. She seemed to understand that I did not like her.

"do not be so conceited, Jiu Pangzi. You may be the 9th elder's grandson, but you are still far from our level. Do not say I did not warn!"

I smiled at her. I like her as well. She seems like the kind of person I could get along with. She reminds me of Ryu An Hao.

I wait on the stage like everyone else. None of us say anything after that. The sun dial is moving; none of us did anything.

The invigilator appeared yet again, on top of another balcony.

"you have to make a poison or a cure to complete this test. Move to the left side of the stage to create a poison, and the right to create a cure. Jiu Pangzi will be on the left by default. Qianzai Zhujiao will be on the right side by default. The remaining nine, please choose your side."

As the invigilator said so, everyone split into two groups. Pangzi's group had six people, including himself, while Qianzai Zhujiao — the person telling him not to get conceited — had four others in her team.

Her having fewer people was to be expected. After all, they were in a poison 'sect'. Curing is most likely a side hustle done by everyone there. Everyone except Qianzai Zhujiao, who seemed to have significant medical achievements, seeing as she was placed there by default, similar to Pangzi, who was placed in the poisoning section by default, due to his achievements in that field.

"materials will be provided to both sides. The poisoning side administers poison onto nine villagers. The curing side cures the villagers. The poisoning side may poison whatever given time. The curing side can do the same. Before administering the poison, the symptoms of their poison must be told. If the poisoning side cannot tell, I will tell in their place. Each of the nine villagers must be poisoned by a poison of at least three different symptoms. In the case of multiple dying from one poison, we have three hundred backups. The curing side must make a cure which works against at least five different symptoms of any poison made by the curing side. If the poisoning side has multiple of the same symptoms on one poison, at least three new symptoms must be there for it to be acceptable. your ranking in this test is determined completely by individual contribution. Even if your team wins, it only reduces the likelihood of anyone in said winning team from being eliminated. The ones placed in poisoning and curing by default will be limited to three poisons/cures each. To win, you must meet the prerequisites mentioned before and save/kill more villagers than the other team, depending on which team you are on. You cannot administer another poison in any way whatsoever to a villager that was cured from another poison. If the villager is naturally immune to said administered poison, it is a win for the curing side. Whether the villagers die or not, as long as it is not within the time allotted for the test, the poisoning team does not get a point"

As soon as he finished his introduction into the second test, a bunch of materials were carried in by some slaves. The nine villagers were also brought onto stage with the three hundred replacements waiting for their fate. As it turned out, the audience was just meat on the cutting block.

On Pangzi's team was the blonde male and some red headed girl. She seemed to be close with the person who said no one would appear in Pangzi's eyes. There was also another girl in the team. She was really pretty, but did not seem to possess the mental nor physical prowess to finish the first exam. There was also another male, who seemed infatuated with said beauty.

In Qianzai Zhujiao's team, there were three skinny and weak looking men. They seemed to be very close with her. The fourth person on their team was the 'other' girl. There did not seem to be anything noteworthy about her, but since she passed the first test, there should be something interesting about her. Of course, the current Pangzi was unable to see anything deeper in his teammates and enemies. Only those he liked; hated; their looks.

When the materials arrive, Pangzi immediately took the 'pretty pink flower', which he saw before in the An Du shop. Of course, he made sure not to touch it directly and used gloves to pick it up, instead. After picking it up, he crushed it and threw it into a bottle.

He raised his hand to declare the first poison as finished. The invigilator came up to him and looked at his 'poison'.

"Jiu Pangzi, poison No. 1, complete. Symptoms: burning sensation in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, headache, serious heart problems. Tip: create poisons with less symptoms. It will be easier for the curing side to meet their prerequisite, despite being unable to save the victim."

He did not care for what the invigilator had to say. After all, it had nothing to do with him.

Before he could force the flower down a villager's mouth, something caught his eye. From the corner of his eye, he saw some oil as well as a bigger version of those burners he saw in the An Du shop. This burner reached up to 1,000 units of heat, and could be calibrated from hundreds to the second decimal. Of course, it went far beyond the point of being 'light and portable'. Just not in a good way.

He poured some oil into the bottle with the flower in it. Honestly, he did not know nor care for the type of oil. He did not put more than a few drops in it, though. Just enough it burn the flower, and not burn whatever it touches. He then used a knife to scrape some wood off of the table that the materials were on, and lit the wood on fire. He quickly threw the burning wood into the bottle, and just as quickly, he threw the bottle at the villagers.

The bottle burst open, as all glass bottles would have, and spread a sort of mist which was barely visible. Just as the had invigilator said, all of the villagers suffered from many symptoms. The problem was, no one was able to know which symptoms were being displayed. It was not as easy as 'clutching the head means they have a headache'.

It was much worse than that. All nine villagers were screaming for God, their mother, their father, sister, brother, grandma, grandpa; the list just goes on. All writhing pathetically on the floor, the nine villagers died.

The slaves who carried in the workbenches, ingredients and villagers stared in shock. That was, until the invigilator snapped them back into reality.

"clean up the residue. He burnt the flower, so do not get too close. The toxic air might kill you. Get some ice and make the area around the poisoning colder. When it is done, bring in eight more villagers and one extra for the curing group to see if one of their cures can deal with any symptoms of Jiu Pangzi's poison."

Even the poisoning side was left aghast. Everyone felt like he was rubbing salt into their wounds when he acted so blasé and went back to making more poisons as if nothing happened. Everyone was glad he was limited to only three poisons. Especially the villagers in the waiting line. Some of which were crying due to a fallen family member, or being in front of the waiting line. Some were even begging others to swap places with them.

Of course, the villager's misery and his peer's shock simply fell on deaf ears and blind eyes.

The next choice of Pangzi's was the 'pretty white flower', which he saw and wanted to use to erase the innkeeper's memories. He put slightly more effort into this poison, though. He made sure not to touch it directly, either.

And although he called it a flower, it was actually a short tree. He took multiple flowers off the little tree and crushed them into paste. He put the mushy paste onto a piece of paper, and squeezed it, as if he were squeezing water out of a sponge. While doing this, he made sure he was wearing his gloves.

The other five on his team were doing their jobs, but none of them recognized even half the ingredients on the tables. The same could be said for Pangzi, who only recognized the most deadly and efficient plants in certain categories and certain situations. For example, lethal, fast acting, high infection rate, and so on. He simply chose the ones he was most familiar with.

After squeezing the liquid out of the mush, he threw away the scraps and poured the liquid into a bottle. He then uprooted the little plant and cut off a large portion of its roots and threw it into the bottle along with the liquid mush.

Before Pangzi could raise his hand, the invigilator came up to him to appraise his poison.

"Jiu Pangzi, poison No. 2, complete. Symptoms: central nervous system depression, respiratory failure, permanent disability, acute renal failure and potentially death. Tip: create a poison with fewer symptoms. Otherwise, the curing side will have an easier time meeting their prerequisite, while your team will have a harder time meeting their winning conditions."

As he had done before, he ignored the invigilator, who acted as if he did not care.

Seeing as Pangzi was so indifferent, the invigilator chose better and went back to the sidelines before Pangzi threw that bottle at him.

Seeing the invigilator retreat, Pangzi went up to the nearest villager and forced her mouth open. She was a young woman, probably six years older than him. She was bawling her eyes out and trying to close her mouth. Pangzi being ten years old and physically weak, could do nothing but open her mouth wide enough, and throw the bottle in.

He would have only given her the poison under ordinary circumstances, but since he could not open her mouth long enough, he settled for the most efficient way possible.

As soon as he threw the bottle in, he let go of her mouth, and all the force she was applying to prevent Pangzi from giving her the poison backfired on her. When he let go, her teeth came biting down directly onto the bottle. It was not the poison that got to her, but instead, the pain of the glass shattering in her mouth, as well as the shards eating away at the flesh on the sides of her cheek.

She tried spitting out the poison, but the slaves would not let her do that. By the time the slaves left her side, she was already dead. Glass peeking through her fragile cheeks, a mouth that drooled rivers of blood, and eyes that cried seas of tears.

Most of the villagers, as well as the weaker entrants started to throw up. Especially they ones closest to the corpse. The ones who saw the horror unfold. The ones who saw the details — the grotesque and horrifying reality that was theirs.

As much as the invigilator wanted to cut off Pangzi's third chance, he did not want to change the rules, just for a single anomaly. 'if an anomaly ever appeared, give them the highest allowed difficulty. Even if they can breeze right through.'. That was the plague demon sect's code of conduct whenever it came to tests and assessments. That, and 'the former will never decide the latter's grades, and vice versa.'. It was a meritocratic and independence-based system caring only for individual results.

Just as he did the last two times, he took a slightly fuzzy leaf and put it into a bottle. A very simple poison, but just as potent as the others, though, to be fair, Pangzi was just lucky enough to find poisonous plants that he knew the effects of and recognized.

Just as he did before, he raised his hand, and the invigilator walked over, yet again. He was visibly tired, from what anyone could see.

"Jiu Pangzi, poison No. 3, complete. Symptoms: pain. Comment: turns out, you do have ears.

Ignoring the tired invigilator and his snarky remark, Pangzi went to his third victim and forced his mouth open. This villager, unlike the last one, did not try to close his mouth. Instead, he decided to swallow it and get it over with.

"this won't hurt too much, will it?" asked the man.

Obviously, Pangzi did not respond and continued to calmly open the bottle. After putting the leaf into the man's mouth, he held the man's nose, so that he would have to swallow the leaf in order to breath.

The man — realizing Pangzi's intentions — swallowed the leaf. He felt that it stung a little, but nowhere near as much as he expected it to hurt. He went over to the cure side, looking for cure to the stinging, which now became a burn.

Soon enough, the man fell down and started screaming his lungs out. He bashed his head against the floor over and over and over and over and over, until he died.

The invigilator had the corpse dragged away, and the traces of blood washed away.

After understanding the three poisons were done and over with, Pangzi hopped off the stage and sat down among the three hundred or so villagers that were sitting where an audience would, in the case of a gladiator match being held in the colosseum. The villagers that were sitting near Pangzi immediately retreated to the other side of the colosseum.

After Pangzi finished stuffing plants down his victim's throats, the real poisoning began. The poisoning team tried using the plants that Pangzi stuffed down the villager's throats, but no matter what they did, it was impossible for them to incorporate it into their poisons with three or more new symptoms.

The curing side, on the other hand, did not have a self-destructive ally such as Pangzi. Because of that, they easily met their prerequisite, making a cure that worked against weakness, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and pain. It may have been the easiest to cure, but to make one cure against all of that was still a feat worth mentioning.

The curing side also decided to do nothing against Pangzi's poisons, since they seemed pretty impossible to cure, just by looking at the effects. The symptoms they used to meet the prerequisite was from Pangzi's first poison, but according to the rules, the prerequisite being completed was not limited to Pangzi's first poison.

For example, they cured two symptoms of Pangzi's second poison and one from his first poison. Then, they use it to cure one of the other poisoning side's poisons which happen to have those three effects. In that case, their cure meets the conditions to meet the prerequisite, as it is not limited to the poison from which it cured. For example, a cure for headaches cures pain in one poison and respiratory problems in another poison. That same headache cure becomes a respiratory, pain and headache cure as well, even if it only works on certain poisons. Rather than being a loophole, it is to make things easier for the curing side, since the poisoning side can poison at anytime, whereas the curing side needs know which cures to make and for what symptoms. But it would be useless if all poisons killed like Pangzi's did.

At the end of the day, the curing side lost with a score of 4-5. Pangzi and Qianzai Zhujiao being the MVPs of their team.

"after you get your test results, report to the inner court's elder hall if your average for both tests exceed seventy. To find the average, add your scores for both tests and divide by two. If you cannot do it yourself, find someone to help you."

As usual, the invigilator said the absolute bare minimum and disappeared off to God knows where. Pangzi followed behind the others. They seemed to know where to go, seeing as none of them got lost or anything.

After reaching a notice board, the eleven entrants looked for their names.

There were three papers on the board. One for the first test, and another for the second test; the final one was a rank 3 mission. Anyone with scores lower than sixty were under a red line, with those over sixty being over the red line.

In the first test, Pangzi came third place, just bellow Neixin Wennuan and Qianzai Zhujiao. Qianzai Zhujiao scored 99 points, with Pangzi scoring 85 points. Next to his name, there was an eight and a black brain. Next to her name was a seven and a blueish yellow heart. Neixin Wennuan — the cold and gloomy looking person — ranked second and was just over Pangzi with 90 points. He had a five next to his name and a dark green heart. The others did not anything like that near their names.

The second paper was halved into two parts — poisoning and curing sides. Each side had three columns: name, saved/killed and score. Pangzi was on the top of the poisoning section with 99 points, 5 killed, and a nine next to his name, with a dark green skull. Bellow him was Neixin Wennuan with 81 points and the red headed girl with 76 points. Pangzi did not bother looking at the curing side's score, but it was obvious that most of them left the premises.

Another thing he noticed was that some people with a passing score had 'eliminated' next to their names, meaning only a few would be accepted, even if many passed.

Since the elder hall was right next to the notice board, Pangzi quickly skimmed over the 3rd rank request and went off to the elder hall.

The exterior of the elder hall was very grand. Rather than a hall, it was more of a tower. There was also a beautifully written sign on top of the door leading in. The sign read 'elder hall' and was written in a gold coloured ink.

When he went into the elder hall, he saw only the invigilator, and nothing else. There were also many balconies in the hall. The balconies reached as high as the tower reached. Each balcony had a number from one to hundred inscribed on it.

The invigilator was waiting on a small platform. He assumed that he would eventually go on the platform, so he went onto it.

When he got onto it, everything went dark. He was still able to see the platform beneath his feet, as well as the invigilator in front of him. All the balconies, however, had completely disappeared.

"Jiu Pangzi, first test, seventh rank priority. After finishing, eighth rank priority. Rotated between blinding and paralysis poisons, did not touch medicine, used herbs to extinguish specialized flame, currently behind multiple mental defenses, 85 points."

After pausing for a while, the invigilator continued again.

"Jiu Pangzi, second test, eighth rank priority. After finishing, ninth rank priority. Placed in poisoning side by default, minimal effort in poison, eleven kills, five being registered, seven being possible if administered multiple times. Recognizes and understands the uses and dangers of An Du plants, 99 points."

"he is recommended for grand elders 1-5, elders 10-55, and great venerables Hao and Er."

After the invigilator finished his assessment of Pangzi, the area around which the balconies were began to glow. Only the number of certain balconies started to glow, of course. Despite being too far to see properly, he was able to discern the number of each balcony. At least the ones that started to glow.

Though Pangzi was, as the invigilator said, behind multiple mental defenses, he was able to understand that this was his chance to get a teacher. Maybe even his only chance to get one. Undoubtedly, he would get numerous techniques from his teacher.

To put it simply, the higher the ranking of the teacher, the more techniques he would receive. He set his eyes on grand elder Hao. Fortunately, the grand elder also wanted Pangzi as his disciple. He knew from the glowing characters which signified their position. The glowing characters meant they wanted him, while the ones he could not see did not want him.

Before he could choose grand elder Hao as his master, another 'Hao' character appeared. It was bigger, and had the same colour as the skull near Pangzi's name in the first test.

He immediately understood that his 'Hao' character was much more powerful than the grand elder's, so without a second thought, he chose the dark green Hao.

After he choose it, light came flooding into his eyes, and a man with silver hair was standing in front of him. Even though Pangzi was ten, the man was still an entire chi taller than him. It reminded him of someone he hated very much? He decided not to think about it.

He kneeled down to the man three times.

"I accept. Now let us go to the An Du mountain. I have a... surprise to show you?" he said while snickering.

After he left the Qianzai Zhujiao went past him.

"Qianzai Zhujiao, first test, fifth rank priority. After completion, sixth rank priority. Used poison to extinguish flames, came out in best condition, 99 points."

Not long after, Pangzi was only able to hear tidbits of what the invigilator said.

"kid, you should never fall in love with another sect member. Of course, if it is mutual and you decide to elope, I cannot help but turn a blind eye. How sweet, polar opposites, poison and medicine. I'd like to see your child in a few years... haha. Oh, wait. I forgot, you have a ###### ########## right now. Well, no worries, kid. I don't think you got any dumber. You just cannot express emotion that you normally could, and cannot speak. Well, I can cure you... ## ##### #####. Try getting along with your friends, okay? You will definitely regret it if you don't — once you get back #### #### ###### #######, that is."

Over the course of three years, I got along really well with everyone. At first, they were distant with me. I think it was because of ### ###### ####, but I can't really remember what happened then, so I don't think it's really important.

Anyways, after a few months, all of us became eligible for rank 3 missions. They weren't really that hard, but I'm sure it would've nearly impossible, if I was doing it alone. Luckily, everyone was there with me.

The strong guy, or brother blonde, as I like to call him, is very nice. He acts as the bridge between all of us and resolves any conflicts I have with Selan Bu Biyao — the girl I don't like. Because of this, everyone calls him team leader. And he's also abnormally strong. According to master, he has resistance to 5th grade poisons and bellow.

Poisons are ranked from one to nine. It represents the level toxicity and lethality. A first grade poison would be like a stomachache or diarrhea from food poisoning. Grade five is worlds apart from that. It is comparable to diluted and doses of the poison I #### ## ### ###### ####, which was an 8th grade poisons. Still, it would have been enough to kill most humans. Ordinary humans can only survive against grade three poisons, and even then, they'd be at death's doorstep. The scaling is not linear, but exponential, so the gap between three and five is more accurate to 15x, instead of 2x more lethal.

Even if Pangzi's resistance was not as good as grade five, he was completely immune to grade four and bellow, as well as some lethal grade eight poisons. The immunity for those lethal poisons came from his ##### #### ####### ##### ## ### #######, when he needed immunity to lethal poisons which might have killed him otherwise.

Neixin Wennuan, or brother Wen as Pangzi liked to say, completely betrays his cold exterior with his unbelievably warm heart. His soft-heartedness was probably reason he transferred to the curing department. Whenever someone gets injured while doing a mission, he's always the first to take care of them, which is the reason Selan Bu Biyao likes him. If anything, it'd be weird if she didn't like him, since she's the one getting hurt the most. Well, at least she'll get most of his attention.

Then there's Qianzai Zhujiao. I heard her talking with her master one day. Apparently, great venerable Si calls her Jiao'er. After that day, I started calling her Jiao'er as well. At first, she seemed troubled, but later, she accepted it — just like how team leader and Neixin accepted their nicknames.

As for Selan Bu Biyao? Well, to put things short, I never liked her. Sometimes, I try poisoning her, but then brother Wen caters for her, so then it becomes a reward for her instead, so I stopped poisoning and hurting her. Otherwise, she might one day thank me and elope with brother Wen.

Huh? When did I think such things? I never thought I was such a romantic. It almost reminds me of teacher's hopeless romanticism. Whatever, best not dwell on useless topics.

"##l#-##d ###o#. ##a#t ## y#u k##w #b#u# #t?"

"what?"

"hey, kid. Did you even listen to anything I just said?"

"no..?"

"where are your ears?"

"if you want me to listen so badly, then say something I won't zone off while listening to!"

"I liked you better when you were a doll!"

"a doll? What do you mean? Wait... master... didn't know you were so perverse! No wonder you shipped me with Jiao'er! To think my master was a perverse bastard in search of a pure innocent boy in a relationship! You gay pedophile! I'll scream if you come near me."

"how did you even come to such a conclusion? And I am an idealist! An incurable hard-core shipper of opposites! Being the shipper of opposites, I am also the lover of opposites. Thus, it is impossible for me to like a non-opposite like you."

"gross. Makes me wonder how you became a great venerable."

"oh, I was doing this tenth rank mission when I realized the #hr#n# I was using to get home could be linked to an unknown world. Being curious and all, I linked the s##i#es and went to the new world. That w#r##'s J##nb###c#i was in ruins. I could actually see the void. There were also creatures living inside the void, attacking the #o#ld. I like to call them void creatures, but everyone there called them demons. Anyways, I destroyed that w#rl# and brought a few dozen void creatures here. It was an arduous task, but apparently, a single drop of blood from a void creature can immediately recharge a sh##n#. Anyways, after I got home, my master, as well as your grandmaster, former great venerable Hao decided he was old and promoted me to the position of great venerable Hao."

"and... why didn't you just say you ascended your master?"

"because then, you wouldn't have listened to my story. I said it like three times, but you never listened."

"whatever. There's a lecture held by grand elder Jiu. If I remember correctly, he's brother Wen's master."

"tell the geezer to fuck off for me!"

"I will."

"your skin is too thick!"

"that is because I look after you."

As usual, Pangzi went in a beeline path to the lecture hall and sat down with his friends — the four passing entrants. They were in the very back of the lecture hall.

Put short, it was your average university lecture hall with the lecturer's podium being dug into the ground, since it is cheaper to dig than to elevate a building.

"so, how are you guys today?" asked Pangzi.

"fine..?" said Selan.

"Selan... I know I tell this to you a lot, but did you ever rape brother Wen in his sleep?"

"wh-what?" said brother Wen, in a somewhat screaming tone.

An awkward silence followed.

"you never tell me that! And why are you talking to us?! After three years, did you finally get lonely enough to reduce yourself to our level?!"

"what are you talking about? I mean, sure, I was kind of weird at the..? But... uh... yeah? I'll ask master for some more of his medicine, I guess? He did say I'll have trouble remembering somethings? Though I'm not sure when he..?"

"best not ask your master — ask mine instead." said Jiao'er. "your master is the greatest poisoner in this sect. If you're going to ask anyone for medicine, an outer court disciple might be more helpful than him."

"true. Thanks, Jiao'er. I'll be sure to visit her after the lecture."

"Jiao'er?"

"isn't that what your master calls you?" I asked, confused.

"it is, but how did you know that?""

"well, I visited your master once, and I heard her call you Jiao'er?"

"you never visited her... I'd know if you did..."

"do you guys really not remember anything?"

"rather than us remembering, it might be a little more... nevermind. The lecture is starting. Don't doze off in the middle of it." she said quietly.

After she turned around, I gave a slight poke at brother blonde's arm.

"brother blonde, you have to distract Jiao'er with your handsome looks, ok? When she's blinded by your brightness, I'll sleep."

"you got it, brother Pangzi."

"why so distant? Call me fatty like everyone else."

"everyone else?"

"yeah? Godfather, soft cake, uncle, Shuaiqi... father..?"

"well then, fatty. Let's blind sister Jiao and let you sleep."

"yeah~"

It was evident to everyone that Pangzi had changed. Some found his behavior suspicious, like the Selan Bu Biyao and Neixin Wennuan, whereas others found his behavior funny, like brother blonde. As for 'Jiao'er', she was just left confused.

After the lecture, Pangzi went over to great venerable Si's residence. It was directly in front of his master's residence, which was where he lived as well. Great venerable Si was surprised by Pangzi's visit, but let him in, anyways.

"so, little fatty, what do you want from me?" she asked, once he was inside.

"oh, my master gave me this something, and now, I cannot seem to remember much? Even my friends think my behavior is weird. Can you see if something is wrong with me?"

"ah, if your master did something to your memories, then I probably should not tell you, but... whatever. Your memories were most likely sealed. It's probably for your own good, but if you want, I can give you a cure? Besides, after your master accepted you as his disciple, he increased your priority level to 12, so even I don't know your origins, but... I do know you pretended to be my disciple and went to the An Du shop. Don't worry, everything is forgiven and forgotten."

"so you are Mrs. Bai? No wonder the people in the An Du shop seemed so respectful. But I thought doctors were looked down upon in the An Du shop."

"well, they are. But I'm not a doctor. Even if my main role in the sect is as a doctor, I still know poisons better than all the elders and grand elders combined. The reason I took Qianzai Zhujiao in was because she pursued medicines, and not poisons. Our sect never had someone like that before — intentionally seeking medical education. Most masters end up transferring to the medical department because of trauma... anyways, don't try curing the memories without me. You might end up with a fate worse than death. Whatever memories you had for the past three years is most likely tampered with or erased. I'd say the former, looking at your condition. Well, if you really want to know what actually happened for the past three years, you ask your 'friends'. Of course, the memories you have with your friends are most likely faked as well..."

"o-okay..."

It was a huge bomb that was dropped on Pangzi, but he knew it himself — somethings were missing. But he liked his life, his friends, his... family? He was satisfied with everything, but he knew something was missing.

"at this point, I might as well be a doll." muttered Pangzi with a loud sigh.

"what do you mean by that?" asked Jiao'er.

Oh, I forgot she lived in great venerable Si's residence. Might as well use this chance to ask her.

"your master told me the last three years of my life was a lie. Well, even if my memories of Jiao'er and brother blonde and brother Wen are fake..."

"you missed Selan Yiban." pointed out Jiao'er.

Yi Ban? I've never heard of 'Yiban'? If I remember correctly, it is 'Selan Bu Biyao'.

"no, I have no memories of a Selan Yiban... but I have memories of someone else. Her name is Selan... Yiban? I guess I was pretty close with Selan Yiban as well? Anyways, even if my memories with you guys are fake, I hope you'll still treat me well? We can go on missions and stuff like always."

"we never... never mind. Even if me and 'brother blonde' as you say, don't mind your company, I'm not too sure about Selan Yiban and Neixin Wennuan. But I'm sure they'll accept you? We took up a rank 4 mission yesterday. If you want, you can join us. It's a bodyguard mission. We are protecting a caravan traveling from the underground city to the cave-sides. It will take a few days at most. We aren't too far from the edge."

"I see. Well, see you tomorrow." he said as he left his new old friend.

As promised, Pangzi went to meet up with the four. Although Jiao'er said he would be going, they did not think he would actually go. When they were heading to the underground city, Jiao'er explained his situation to them. At first, they were shocked, but then took what they saw as the real Pangzi, and the other one they saw before as a product of Pangzi's so-called 'half-god blood'.

When they were nearing the city, brother blonde got close him and whispered: "I know the others don't believe your half-god blood story, but I do!"

"why would you?"

"well, it's kinda embarrassing to say this myself, but... uhh... I'm actually a huge fan of immortals and gods! Now, when I hear someone talking half-god blood, of course I have to know!"

"ah... well, the half-god blood thing... I really don't remember anything. Just that the invigilator told someone to give it to me. If you really want to know more, it'd be best to ask the invigilator, instead. According to master, he is the 54th elder, and Selan's master."

"the 54th elder? What a coincidence! He happens to be my master as well."

"what are the chances? Give me 10,000 luck and I can't even get half as lucky!"

"haha, true! Let's go to the exit of the underground city. The others must be waiting for us."

When I looked around, I saw that we were just barely past the city square. I looked around for everyone else, but I only saw their silhouettes at the northern exit of the underground city. I didn't think my conversation with brother blonde took that long, though?

After three minutes, I caught up to them. Even brother blonde seemed to somehow appear with them, despite being with me for most of the trip?

"you guys ran, didn't you?"

"of course we did! You two lovebirds were chatting, so we wanted to give you two some alone time. See if you break in any doors." replied Jiao'er.

"what dirty jokes, Jiao'er! But must remember, my master likes opposites! And I — being the one looking after him — also like opposites. Unfortunately, brother blonde is male, so I cannot ever love him! Jiao'er on the other hand,"

"ooh! Little fatty learnt to flirt? Just remember, you're only thirteen! We're still your superiors by two to three years!" said Selan.

"brother blonde! Protect me from this beast! She's too powerful!"

"ok, little fatty, I'll save you!"

"what happened to your fucking morals, 'brother blonde'?!" screamed Selan.

"stop making a fuss — both of you. The employer is here." he said while pointing behind himself.

The employer was a short little fat man. He seemed rich, looking at the rings, etc he was wearing. All sorts of priceless jewels and adornments. Of course, if you look up to the roof of the cave, millions of 'priceless' jewels were evidently seen.

"Xian Sheng³! What are you doing here?"

Xian Sheng... I haven't heard anyone call me that in quite a long time? If I remember correctly, it was three years ago. When I first came here, I needed a place to stay, and people went to me for cures. He might be one of my patients.

"it's been a long time since I've been called Xian Sheng." he said while showing his empty waistline. "as you can see, I've long since retired. You can call me Pangzi, now. Besides, you are the employer."

"ah! Xian Sheng must have joined the plague demon sect? I don't understand why someone of your caliber would be there! If you want, I can offer you a place in my company. I am the owner of a large and successful business, and right now, I'm on my way to start a huge trading campaign in the cave-sides."

"yes, I have already been informed by my team. I am part of bodyguards you requested for? Since you know my abilities, you should have no problem with me coming along?"

"of course not! After all, Xian Sheng is my benefactor! Let us depart now. I cannot afford to be late."

After the stubby fat man hopped onto the carriage, we all got onto a wagon which was around the middle of the caravan. There was a lot of hired help other than the five of us there. Mercenaries, bodyguards and freelancers. They were all split into three groups, or rather four, if you include the us as well. Neither party talked with each other, and kept to themselves. This was especially true for the bodyguards and mercenaries.

In terms of loyalty, it was obvious that the freelancers were the worst. The mercenaries might run in the face of a significantly stronger opponent, but in such a case, abandoning the goods would be best. The bodyguards were obviously the most loyal, and our team would sit somewhere in the middle of everything.

The mercenaries took the front, the freelancers at the back, and us in the middle. The bodyguards were spread out evenly throughout the caravan.

It may have looked like the man put the freelancers at the back because he doubted their skills, but Pangzi understood it as them being meat shields, if an enemy attacks. Our team was in the middle for two reasons: one, I am there, and two, the sect is behind us. Hence, the safest position next to the man's carriage was given to us.

"hey fatty, how do you know him?" asked brother Wen.

"let me think?" I replied.

He said I was his benefactor, so there is no way I only cured a little disease. He did not seem to be missing any limbs, so it is highly unlikely that he was one of my daily patients. Unless, one of his family members, blood or not, was cured by me. Since he is very rich, he must have paid a lot of cash, and if I were to look at the highest commission I received, it would be... ten Rin?

Well, I did cure everyone for free? Well, than ten Rin guy was one of my weekly patients, and if I remembered right, I have his one of his family member's arms in ice. The invigilator said all my stuff in the inn was brought over, so my limb collection should still be there?

"well, I'm not sure his name, but I do have one of his family member's limbs."

"did you kill his family member?" asked brother Wen in a very odd tone.

"of course not! Someone from his families came to me three years ago. I think he punctured his hand with a rusty metal rod. I don't ask my patients how anything happened to them, so don't ask me how he did it. Anyways, I cut his arm off and stitched the opening. I should have that arm somewhere or the other..."

"ah... if you've lost your limbs, your should check the inner court's delivery. I remember five limbs came in three years ago. Could they possibly be yours?" asked Selan.

Oh, I forgot the 54th elder was in charge of internal relations.

"not mine, but someone else's. They must be for me, though."

"that's... dark?" muttered Jiao'er. "but why does he call you Xian Sheng? Were you a doctor before going to the plague demon sect?"

"yeah, I was. Believe it or not, I was considered the best doctor in the underground city, at the time. After joining the sect, I retired. Now that I think about it, the jade token should be with my stuff from the southeast inn which I never collected?"

After a day of traveling, the caravan arrived at the cave-side, and it wasn't just a ripoff countryside. It was literally a cave-side⁴. The cave's side — the edge of the cave.

After spending around half a month in the cave-side, the caravan left with around fifteen thousand Rin under the belt. Half of which would be used to pay off taxes, freelancers, mercenaries, bodyguards and transportation fees.

When they were going back, they were attacked by bandits (?). The bandits didn't really have the terrain advantage of a forest or any high ground like a mountain, since, if you still remember, they're in a cave. The area was pretty flat, and there wasn't a single stalagmite nor stalagtite which could be used against them. At least, not within a few hundred Chi.

Because of their lack of terrain advantage, the only thing the bandits could do was rush in as fast as possible, but even then, the caravan was easily able to prepare for their attack, while the bandits were wasting time and energy running. Surprisingly, they even set people underground. The bandits which were underground were pretty much buried alive. When the caravan got close enough, they sprung out and attacked.

Even though the underground bandits did a lot more damage than the other bandits, they still did not do much. Still, some freelancers and mercenaries were offset by the initial attack of the underground bandits and lost a few limbs.

Luckily, there were no deaths, as Pangzi was very familiar in the art of stitching joints. He, as usual, refused commission and instead asked for their severed limbs. Everyone, even his teammates, were stunned by his little negotiation. Even he was surprised by the fact that he asked for their limbs. The mercenaries were more than willing give, since they knew how expensive a doctor of Pangzi's caliber would be. The freelancers were somewhat reluctant, but after the mercenaries told them the amount of zeros on the commission, they immediately gave their arms and legs. It literally cost them an arm and a leg.

After Pangzi hopped into the wagon, his four teammates were staring at the limbs he had with him. This was when they understood where Pangzi's body part collection came from.

"I swear, fatty. One day, teacher Er will be like, 'oye fatso! What do you do for a hobby?', and then you'll be like, 'I collect body parts!'." said Selan.

"why would I say that? My hobby is medicines."

"little fatty," said brother blonde. "I know you like opposites, but you don't have to like medicine, you know?"

"ah, don't get me wrong. I only got into poison in the first place because of medicines. I don't remember why I was into medicines or anything like that, nor do I know where I learnt medication, but I know I am able to cure grade six poisons, some grade seven poisons, and very specific grade eight poisons."

"isn't that at the same level as Jiao'er's master?" asked Selan.

"no," corrected Jiao'er. "my master can cure grade seven poisons, some grade eight poisons, and she nullifies all grade nine poisons."

"wow... the great venerables really are strong..." muttered Pangzi in amazement.

"what do you mean by that?"

"it's just that after three years of cohabitation with my master, I thought great venerables only had talk behind them..."

"yeah... one would think that, seeing your master..." interjected brother Wen.

Before anyone asked him why he said that, he quickly clarified and cleverly avoided misunderstandings.

"my grandfather is grand elder Jiu. Your master visits every month or so, and whenever he does, he gets drunk as hell and curses out my master who kicks him out..."

"oh..? But how can a great venerable get drunk? As they say, alcohol is a poison?" asked Pangzi.

"I also don't know... maybe it is a 100% alcohol drink? It would definitely kill normal people."

"still, I don't think so... whatever. Leave it."

After they came back from their prolonged trip, they redeemed the mission for three hundred contribution points, which was split evenly into five parts. As the recruit, or rather, elder Jiu Shi Jiu said, after one of the great venerables called the plague tokens contribution points, it got much popular. Especially with that venerable's devout followers.

~a few months later~

"Jia Pangzi, I think it is time you tell me why you came to the plague demon sect?" asked the great venerable Hao.

"I would, if I could. Unfortunately, you sealed over half of my memories, so even I don't know why I came here."

"in that case, I will tell you." he continued: "you came here for formulae and technique, to improve your own poison. You also came here in exchange for the life of your childhood sweetheart. Romantic, no?"

"yeah... thing is, I don't remember having a childhood sweetheart. But I do seem to have vague memories of wanting the techniques in the sect."

"there's a good boy. Now let me tell you something: it doesn't matter whether your master is the plague demon, or the hundredth elder. As long as you want techniques, you can only get promoted to the elder position. Sad, no? Your efforts were all in vain."

"how do you become elder?" I asked quickly.

"four ways: buy it, ascend your master, complete an 8th rank mission, kill an elder."

"how much does it cost?"

"a hundred thousand."

"if I ascend you, can I get it?"

"your master is not an elder, is he?"

"where can I find an 8th rank mission?"

"completing the 8th rank mission is only a prerequisite. Since 99 elders are there, you and your friends will be fighting for that spot."

"why would we fight for it?"

"since you cannot do an 8th rank mission alone, you'll bring them with you. Since they completed the prerequisite, they'll be eligible to be an elder. If they are eligible, you either kill four elders so you can all be elders, or fight each other for that position. By the way, all eligible candidates MUST fight for the elder position. It is mandatory."

"I understand. What are my chances of killing an elder?"

"abysmal. Maybe 1/1024?"

"understood... where can I get an 8th rank mission? We only found 7th rank as the highest on the notice boards."

"if that is the case, how about I make an 8th rank commission? Check the notice boards with your friends after lunch... and visit great venerable Si as well. Ask for the cure to your memory... ki ki ki."

"gross. Don't laugh like a bug. Still, thanks."

"oh, you won't be thanking me after seeing the mission."

After we completed bodyguard mission, we started taking harder and harder missions. The gap between four and seven wasn't that big, if I was being honest. Thanks to brother blonde's insane resistance against poison, we easily cleared those 'be a test subject for me' missions. After around a dozen of those, brother blonde's poison resistance turned to the 6th rank! Now, he would only die from 8th rank poisons and above. 7th ranks would only put him death's doorstep. Of course, he would still be alive.

After going out of the 'Hao' residence, Pangzi went straight forward into the 'Si' residence. There was no one in the courtyards of the great venerables, so it was relatively easy to go in and out of those places. Of course, the great venerables will know someone is there, but 10/10 times, they don't care.

After barging into great venerable Si's room, Pangzi started shouting a little loudly.

"great venerable Si~! Are you there? The love of my master's life? The opposite of opposites? Master's fetish incarnate?"

"stop it, little fatty! Your titles get more and more shameless by the day! If one day you elope with Jiao'er, I will make sure to visit you on your honeymoon when the act is done."

"gross~ your fetishes are just as bad as master's!"

"so what do you want, little fatty."

"the medicine to cure my memory. Master told me to ask you for it."

"ah, no wonder he posted an 8th rank mission. Just remember, only drink it when you doubt your life."

"but I already do?"

"much more than you already do. Trust us."

Us... she must mean master and her. I guess they are in on the plan together, seeing as she already knew he posted an 8th rank mission? But could he have really done it in the few minutes I left the residence? Whatever... no good thinking about it."

After receiving a concentrated piece of... red medicine (?), left the Si residence and went to the inner court canteen, where free food as well as his teammates are found.

Before going to the canteen, he took the 8th rank mission that his master published. After taking it off the notice board, he went off to the canteen to show it to his friends.

He went to their usual table, which was in the corner of the canteen, far from doors and windows. He sat in the chair which was adjacent to the wall.

He showed them the 8th rank mission.

"let's do it." he declared.

"calm down." replied brother Wen. "neither sister Qian nor Selan are here. Wait for them, and then we can discuss the mission details."

"it doesn't matter whether they're here or not." interjected brother blonde. "little fatty clearly wants this mission, and if you look at the commissioner, you can see 'great venerable Hao' right there." he said, pointing at the bottom of the paper.

"fine then. We can discuss without them." compromised brother Wen.

"discuss what without us? I thought we were from the same team?" confronted Jiao'er.

"nothing important? Little fatty brought us an 8th rank mission. His master is the commissioner, so I assume great venerable Hao wants him to do it with us..."

"I see... what are the mission details?" asked Jiao'er, suddenly adopting a serious look on her face.

"it says here, 'kill the former emperor'." read Pangzi.

"emperor..." repeated brother Wen. "as in the ruler of the surface?"

"no. The father of the ruler." corrected Jiao'er. "but I meant the details. Not the objective."

"oh, yeah! Lemme check... okay, it says here, 'the former emperor, with his family and friends, will be making a trip to the newly built Caodi Realm's city. They will also be mourning the death anniversary of the high commander's eldest son, on the full moon of the current month. After killing the former emperor, use the Caodi Realm's ancestral shrine to escape to the underground city. In case of the shrine being on cooldown, drop of void creature blood will be sent with along.', is what it says."

"void creature... I thought those were just legends?" muttered Selan.

"of course not! They must definitely be real!" screamed brother blonde.

"brother team leader," Selan said with fake concern, "I know you love superstitions and such, but you're not a kid anymore! Grow up!"

"Selan! If fatty's master says that void creatures are real, it is real." said brother Wen.

Immediately, Selan sighed loudly, and brother blonde took that as her resignation.

"I've never heard of the Caodi Realm? Does leader know about it?" asked brother Wen.

"yeah, I've heard of the Caodi Realm before. It was on an ancient scripture, and according to it, the Caodi Realm is on the surface." said brother blonde.

"so basically, the Caodi Realm is a nonexistent Realm?" ended Jiao'er.

"impossible." this time, it was Selan who interjected. "since great venerable Hao wants us to go to this 'Caodi Realm', it must exist."

"actually, I think the Caodi Realm exists as well." said Pangzi, before Jiao'er could interrupt again. "master told me he was doing a 10th rank mission one day, and encountered another world. Apparently, it had something to do with shrines and linking them. He also mentioned something about void creatures and a 'Jianbukecui'."

"I still do not believe this. Let's go to your master and ask him. If he can't answer, we can ask mine."

"okay. Let me eat lunch, and then we'll confront him."

After eating lunch, the party of five went to the Hao residence and barged into Pangzi's master's room.

"hello, little piggies. What are you doing here?"

"the Caodi Realm and void creatures. Prove they exist." demanded Jiao'er.

"how rude. Just so you know, I won't have to prove it to you. Anyways, fatty, do you have the medicine with you?"

"yeah, I do."

"good. Now go to the court's kitchen and raid it for food. After you finished raiding, I'll send you guys to the surface. And remember, the void creature blood will be given, only if you qualify. The qualifications will be in the new grass city."

"come on, guys." Pangzi called out to the others. "he said to raid their kitchens, so let's go raid them."

Special bonuses while doing a quest was not uncommon. It was rare, but not uncommon. It was especially true for harder quests where the takers will need extra help, which cannot be provided by their teammates. Some missions, like this one, require you to do something before getting said special item. It was mostly because it would be too expensive to give to everyone who takes the quest.

After leaving the Hao residence, Pangzi looked back at the four venerable's residence. He had a feeling he wouldn't be going there again. At least, not for a long time.

When they got to the kitchens, there was a little boy and three senior chefs. The chefs were bullying the boy, and Selan being Selan, did her usual 'must be good in front of brother Wen' act, and kicked the chefs where it really really hurts.

They did not dare take revenge after seeing the colour of her belt, and instead opted to crawl, since it was not only their manliness which was stripped of them.

The outer court disciples wear gray robes with black belts, while the inner court wears white robes with black belts. The disciples of elders have blue belts, and the disciples of grand elders have dark blue belts. The disciples of the great venerables can wear whatever wanted to. The number of their teacher would be written on their belt as well. It was an ugly uniform that no one liked, but Pangzi and Zhujiao were unaffected by this, as they were the disciples of the great venerables.

After they hoarded what seemed to be enough food for a week, they waved at the little boy and wrapped their supplies in cloth. Not long after, they were blinded by an unimaginably bright light.

Pangzi felt that the light was very familiar. As if it was something he knew for so long, but somehow forgot. He put it under one of the multitudes of things he ruled off as sealed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fish market: a dhivehi saying (މަސް މާރުކޭޓު, right to left), literally translating to fish market. So, when the students are loud, the dhivehi teacher will be like, "is this a fish market?", but in dhivehi "މީ މަސް މާރުކޭޓެއްތަ؟".

Sorry, ancestors: he apologized to his ancestors, because he is changing his surname to 'Jiu'. Not gonna explain it to you, but if you're reading this, you should have a wealth of chinese manhua knowledge that is big enough to understand what happened there. As said before, ancestors = god in this.

Xian Sheng: meaning master, can be used to refer to doctors with.

Cave-side: when I first made this up in "Jia Pangzi: 一", I was thinking about the side of the cave, and then after writing it down, I realized it sounded like ripoff countryside, but that was what I was going for, so I left it as cave-side.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
CatHam

So... by the time I realized it, I had 15k words, but I only finished 2/3 main arcs in this chapter... that was when I realized, I would make this four instead of three parts. The third part will most likely be 10k~15k long, so it'll take around two weeks, and then the fourth chapter will most likely be 5k~10k words long. Off topic, but I don't like those 'I've reincarnated as a villainess.' tropes. Sure, there are some good ones, but the main aim of those authors is to make a different type of story, but it's gotten so cliché and used up that there's really no point in making them for the sake of 'originality'. Even the very good ones have very overused tropes and arcs. Like how in Japanese rom-coms, ml is in love w/ fml, but fml is a dunce and doesn't know anything. Then, they get together after a bazillion chapters, but even then, those chapters are filled w/ love and whatnot, but no actual confessing and more concerned on the secondary character's love, since the best is for last. Then, after they get together, love interest! After that's solved, love interest for the other partner! After that is solved, future problems which drag on and on and on and on. Even though I'm saying they suck, I still read them on a daily to weekly basis. Anyways, what I'm saying is, since reincarnating as a heroine was 'cliché', it became a villainess. Now that reincarnation as a villainess is cliché, why doesn't anyone make it about the heroine? And I don't mean them being the heroine and finding out that the mls are shit. So, even if I diss those tropes, I like them. After editing, this became a 16k word chapter (15976, to be precise). 24 off, but close enough to be rounded off to 100s.

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Jia Pangzi: 二

CREATORS' THOUGHTS CatHam

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CatHam