บท 112: Silent Night

Xia Lian played with the wooden box in her hands while waiting for the person to appear. Xia Ming continued to observe his surroundings. Everything around him was new and the little bunny soaked all the impressions like a swamp. The duo of loyal followers simply sat behind her because she didn't allow them to stand.

The little girl lifted her head as soon as she heard the sound of faint footsteps coming towards their direction.

" Fan Ling, take Ming outside or sit in the adjacent room." Xia Lian instructed her and then looked at the little bunny, " Go with brother Fan and I will come back to get you later. Be a good boy and listen to your elders."

Xia Ming nodded and Fan Ling carried him in her hands. She understood that her master didn't want him to experience the things that were going to happen next. It's really not good to spoil a little child's innocence, at least not yet.

Xia Lian stood up and did a 90 degree bow when she saw an old man, about 50 years old, entering the room. He calmly nodded his head in approval ," Young lad, I heard that you are here to sell a poison."

In response, he received a decisive conformation, so he continued " Let me have a look at it." The wooden box was slowly opened and the old man came into contact with an exquisite jade bottle.

The appraiser stared at the bottle with amazement, because he simply never witnessed such a beautiful poison. He carefully opened the lid and a strong smell assaulted his nose. He immediately recognised the herbs which were used in this poison's preparation and compilation, " Midnight grass and poison ivy. Truly excellent."

Receiving such an accurate appraisal this fast, Xia Lian raised her brows slightly. Well, this old man was indeed quite good. She didn't expect that he would recognise the herbs contained in the poison just based on smell and in such a small amount of time. It seems like she had to pay more respect to the important people in the Dark City and she scrutinised him from head to toe again. If even the appraiser of the auction house was this skilled, she had to be more careful in the future.

He might recognise the herbs but she was sure that he could not possibly guess the effects of this poison. It was her own creation of poison and she was quite proud about it. Anyways, it would be unfair to expect any positive response from the old man. Sure enough, he looked at her with curious eyes, " Young lad, what exactly is this poison?"

" It can be considered an instant death poison. The person who takes it will experience a serious organ failure, and most vital organs will stop working within a few seconds. First, the victim will find trouble with breathing and after his breathing stopped, everything else will follow very quickly. You could say, he will die quickly and the process will be very smooth and efficient."

" Oh!" The old man was pleasantly surprised. He did not think he would see such a single hit-kill and less insidious poison. " To summarise, the victim won't feel any pain." It was more like a statement rather than a question.

Xia Lian nodded as she created her first simple poison with only a single thought in her mind. She should created a poison which would be useful for the army. It could replace executions and gory scenes in the military barracks and camps. Criminals or captives could be executed in a humane and efficient way.

" So, could you tell me the name of this poison? I never heard about anything remotely close to it."

"The Silent Night."

The old man chuckled after listening to the name. A truly beautiful name to describe the effects. It nearly inflicted melancholy, even as a poison.

" Old sir, I have a request." Xia Lian spoke seriously attracting his attention " I want you to sell this poison only to the army and royalty. I don't want to sell my poisons to the other nobles. It is not meant to be a tool for silent assassination."

" Why?" the old man was confused. Why would you decrease the market for such a interesting and useful poison. The loss of profit would be immense.

" I don't want to have any innocent's lives on my hands. It is only about my clear conscience." Xia Lian shrugged her shoulders. She really didn't want to become an indirect murderer. The use of poisons in this era was quite common and the success of many schemes depended on them. As a result, no one thought twice when they were selling them. Even though she created poison herself, that did not imply that she would support this idea.

The little girl simply did not want to take the lives of innocent. The only measure left, was limiting her poisons only to army and royalty. The royalty including the king and princes.

" Again, don't sell these to women. It's a strict rule." The old man had an incredulous expression on his face. Xia Lian cleared her throat " Poison is a woman's weapon. They will use it to kill someone out of their jealousy or on a sudden whim. I don't approve of this, it's a big no."

" Well, at the beginning of the auction, announce that only those having army tokens and those having the token of a prince can buy them." Xia Lian had an evil smile on her face.

"If any one from the Qilin army or Qilin royalty comes, bring them to me. They need not participate in the auction. Nevertheless, make sure to squeeze as much money as possible from the royalty of other nations. Let's see how much our poison is valued by them."