Chapter 3 — When the Green Tea Meets a Dark Lotus

Upon seeing me, her eyes filled with absolute terror.

Clear Bamboo Branch! How on earth did you manage to track me down to this desolate place!

I covered my nose, a look of profound disgust crossing my features as I stared down at her.

Willow Tender Willow, your so-called secret poisons have finally backfired, harming others while ultimately destroying yourself.

You... what do you want from me? Are you going to kill me? she stammered, her voice trembling violently.

I shook my head, gesturing for So Fragrant to administer a pill that would temporarily suppress the creeping venomous insects within her body.

Kill you? That would be far too merciful. Your beloved Master Xie is currently waiting impatiently for you to save his life. He specifically said that as long as you return to cure him, he will forgive all your past transgressions, and perhaps... even take you as a concubine.

Willow Tender Willow clearly found the notion impossible to believe, but having fallen into my grasp, she possessed no further choices. Swift Wind hoisted her up effortlessly as if she were a mere barnyard fowl, tossing her unceremoniously into an iron cage mounted upon a carriage. The carriage whipped forward like a loosed arrow, barreling straight toward the Xie ancestral estate. At this very moment, the mansion's heavy gates were bolted shut, while torn red lanterns fluttered desolately in the wind, swaying in a manner that felt deeply ominous and thoroughly offensive to the eye.

With a thunderous crash, Swift Wind lashed out with his foot, instantly shattering the main entrance.

The estate guards attempted to interpose themselves, but the terrifying black iron broadsword in Swift Wind's grip frightened them into fleeing in absolute panic. We carved a path directly through to the bedchambers of Xie Heng. Before we even crossed the threshold, a sickening wave of rotting flesh washed over us, so potent it struck the senses like a physical blow.

In the dim, suffocating bedchamber, the heavy windows remained tightly barred, shutting out every last shred of illumination. Xie Heng lay sprawled across the mattress, his limbs securely bound with thick hemp ropes to prevent him from tearing his own decomposing features apart in his agony. Madam Xie sat slumped nearby, tracks of tears carving down her cheeks, her posture slumped to the extent that she appeared to have aged a decade in a matter of days. Xie Wan cowered miserably in a dark corner, a look of utter loathing contorting her features as she frantically waved aromatic incense, desperately trying to mask the overwhelming stench of decay permeating the room. As Swift Wind flung Willow Tender Willow unceremoniously onto the floor, Xie Heng seemed to sense her presence, forcing open eyelids that were swollen nearly shut, and howling like a wounded beast.

Tender Willow... is that truly you... Tender Willow!

Willow Tender Willow curled into a pathetic ball, utterly lacking the courage to gaze upon that horrifying visage. The moment Madam Xie caught sight of the girl, she lunged forward with the frantic fury of a deranged creature, clawing and tearing at her garments.

Vile wretch! Demonic sorceress! Hand over the antidote immediately! If you refuse, I will strip the living skin from your bones!

I raised a hand in an imperious gesture of cold indifference, signaling the guards to drag the hysterical woman away.

Esteemed Madame, why such unseemly haste? If you beat her to death now, who shall cure your precious son?

I settled back leisurely, lifting a delicate porcelain teacup to savor a sip of tea, observing the ruined household before me as though I were watching a farcical theatrical performance.

Dear Willow, tell us. Exactly how does one... cure this affliction?

Willow Tender Willow cast a sidelong glance at Xie Heng’s festering visage, where the flesh had rotted away to reveal white bone. Her entire frame quivered violently, tears and mucus streaming down her face as she whimpered.

There... there is no antidote...

What did you say?! Xie Heng threshed wildly against his bindings, the ropes biting deeply into his flesh. Did you not claim this was a supreme poison from the southern borderlands? How can there be no cure? You deceived me!

There truly is none... Willow Tender Willow wailed aloud. The Scarlet Vermilion venom was nurtured using my own heart's blood; once it enters a host's body, it merges inextricably with flesh and blood, making separation utterly impossible...

Upon hearing this pronouncement, Madam Xie collapsed heavily to the floor, whispering in a voice hollow with despair.

It is over... The Xie family line is truly finished...

I delicately skimmed the tea foam with the lid of my cup, speaking in a flat, unbothered tone.

Willow, do not be so hasty to pronounce a death sentence. While a traditional antidote may not exist, I happen to have heard that the southern regions possess a forbidden secret art capable of transferring such venom into another living vessel. Am I incorrect?

Willow Tender Willow jolted in fright, raising her head in sheer disbelief that I possessed knowledge of such obscure lore. Beneath Xie Heng’s murderous, bloodshot glare, she nodded with a shivering reluctance.

There is... there is a method... However... it requires a blood transfusion. One must find a person of closely related bloodlines and entirely replace the victim's tainted blood... A life for a life, passing the venomous blood onward—that is the only way to purge the poison...

A life for a life—the moment those four syllables dropped into the air, the entire chamber seemed to freeze solid.

Within Xie Heng’s eyes, a flicker of desperate hope ignited, instantly transforming into a feral, consuming greed. Madam Xie stiffened as the Buddhist prayer beads clutched in her hand snapped with a sharp crack, the wooden spheres scattering wildly across the floorboards with sounds resembling tiny death knells. Xie Wan stumbled backward in sheer panic until her spine pressed hard against the wall, her complexion drained to the whiteness of blank parchment. I sat in silence, a cold, mocking smile lingering in the depths of my heart. This was the true nature of humanity. In our past life, when they sacrificed me, not a single one hesitated; indeed, they actively drove me toward destruction. And now? The choice had fallen upon their own shoulders. Xie Heng slowly swiveled his neck, his gaze as frigid and venomous as a striking viper as it flicked back and forth between his mother and his sister. That look possessed no trace of familial warmth; instead, it measured them merely as two living sacks of blood.

Mother... Wan... he stretched forth arms that had withered into branch-like bones, his voice rattling like dry leaves. Save me... I am the only continuation of the Xie family lineage... The Xie house cannot survive without me...

Madam Xie shuddered, her instincts screaming at her to evade her son's burning stare. Did she love her child? Undoubtedly. But did she love him to the extent of willingly laying down her life? I thought not. In a previous existence, she might have courted death for the sake of the Xie family's elevated status and glory. But now? Their reputation lay in ruins, their wealth had evaporated, and as a noble matron of high standing who had yet to fully exhaust the luxuries of this world, how could she ever reconcile herself to perishing in such a manner? Xie Wan's reaction proved even more violent, bursting into a shrill, piercing shriek.

Brother! Do not look at me! I have yet to be wed! I am destined to cross the threshold of a prestigious noble household! I cannot die! I refuse to be transformed into a wretched monster resembling you!

A vicious glint of resentment flared within Xie Heng's eyes.

Wan... I have always cared for you the most among all others... Yet now that calamity has overtaken me, you display such utter ruthlessness?

That is your own concern! You were the one foolish enough to entangle yourself with this demonic creature! Xie Wan shrieked like a madwoman, pointing a trembling finger directly at Willow Tender Willow. Let her perform the blood exchange! Let her drain her own blood for you!