Liu Yan seized the jade vial, his black horse barely brushing past Tang Lichen as he tilted his head back and drank the poison in one gulp.
With a clink , he hurled the empty vial far away, where it shattered into pieces upon the ground.
The black horse leaped into the air, flinging him off its back. Liu Yan flipped midair, bracing himself for a bloody fall—but Yu Tuan'er threw herself forward, catching him in her arms and lifting him in a bridal carry.
Gasping for breath, Liu Yan watched as Yu Tuan'er fled with him in her arms, a horde of the "Hudeng Order" poisoners turning their gaze toward them. As she ran, she burst into tears. "You... why did you drink that? What did you steal it for? You just promised me we'd go home together! You liar!"
"Wang Lingqiu can command so many people—there must be something to do with the Nine Hearts Pill," Liu Yan coughed, the poison already burning in his stomach. He didn't know how long he had left, his words coming out rushed. "I've created countless Nine Hearts Pills, harmed countless people... If this must end with someone offering their own body as bait, then of course it should be me! It should be me..."
Yu Tuan'er ran in circles around the flaming pit of Piaoling Meiyuan, utterly lost, her voice trembling. "Offering your body as bait? What are you talking about? Why must it be you? What in this world could possibly demand it be you?"
"Silly girl... I'm a bad person," Liu Yan sighed, feeling his blood grow hotter, his seven orifices bleeding. Yu Tuan'er's face blurred in his vision. Wiping his eyes, he could no longer hear her screams—the poor girl must have been terrified, not knowing what monstrous state he was in now. Taking advantage of her panic, he twisted free and plunged into the fiery pit of Piaoling Meiyuan.
"Liu Yan—!"
Tang Lichen had been knocked aside when Liu Yan snatched the poison from him. As he pushed himself up, he saw Yu Tuan'er carrying Liu Yan in her arms—only for Liu Yan to break free and throw himself into the pit filled with charred corpses.
For a moment.
Tang Lichen's eyes held neither sorrow nor joy, as if his entire being had gone hollow for an instant.
The poisoners surrounding him began to riot. They caught a scent far more potent and alluring than the Wang family's toxins, their hesitation turning to frenzy. Wang Lingqiu raised Wang Lingze's skull high, chanting and calling out, but the poisoners gradually abandoned him, turning instead toward the pit of Piaoling Meiyuan.
"This is..." The Red Maiden froze. "Could the 'Hudeng Order's' poison technique have an antidote?"
"Look at Wang Lingze's skull—blackened to a horrifying degree," Tang Lichen murmured in a barely audible voice. "The Wang family's poison arts may seem miraculous, but it's likely their patriarch was ruthless enough to ingest the venom of the Gu Spider himself. That way, paired with the Gu King, he could act as the mother spider, suppressing and controlling these offspring. Wang... Lingqiu used Wang Lingze's remains to issue commands, probably because this blackened skull still carries traces of the mother spider's essence."
"Revered Master Liu drank an even stronger dose of the Gu Spider's venom—a deadlier poison. But Wang Lingqiu lacks the Gu King, so the poisoners, drawn to the stronger toxin, abandoned him and rushed toward Revered Master Liu." The Red Maiden's eyes widened in realization. "No! These poisoners are out of control—they'll tear Revered Master Liu apart alive!"Tang Licheng gazed into the abyss, his lips trembling slightly as a crack split his parched lower lip. Watching countless poisoned souls leap into the pit, he suddenly closed his eyes. "Lord Liu... was always a kind man who let others take whatever they wanted from him."
"The Gu... the Gu King..." Someone staggered against the flow toward them—Pu Zhu clutched his chest. "Look... look at the ground... at those threads..."
Those with sharper vision—Cheng Yunpao, Meng Qinglei, Tie Jing, and He Yan'er—had already noticed. Tiny spiders were marching in formation across the earth and through the soil. Larger Gu spiders crawled backward along the silk threads stretching from Fu Zhumei's back.
It was as though all the venomous creatures between heaven and earth had found a new destination.
Even the Gu King within Pu Zhu's wound couldn't resist, finally emerging with a buzz as it spread its wings and flew toward the pit where Liu Yan lay.
Several grotesque venomous insects crawled out from Wang Lingqiu's body, drawn by the thick scent of blood in the air as they too made their way to the pit. He stared blankly at this bizarre transformation, as if the Wang family's poison arts had suddenly turned to witchcraft.
Not even Wang Lingze could have imagined someone daring to mix the world's deadliest poisons into a single vial and swallow it without a second thought.
From the ears and noses of Great Master Hui and the Shaolin monks—"The Lonely Monk," "The Wailing Monk," and "The Asura Monk"—multicolored thread-like worms wriggled free, all seeking Liu Yan. As the worms left their bodies, blood trickled from the monks' ears and noses, and moments later, they gradually regained consciousness.
But Pu Zhu had no time for reunions. He and Fu Zhumei stumbled to their feet, supporting Tang Licheng between them as the Bihua Palace disciples steadied them, all moving toward the pit at the heart of Floating Eyebrow Manor.
Countless poisoned souls gathered at the pit's edge. Contrary to expectations, not all of them threw themselves recklessly into the abyss to feast on the poisoned blood. Most crouched at the rim, spiders or thread-worms emerging from their ears and noses. These bizarre creatures crawled downward along the pit's edge, abandoning their hosts to converge upon Liu Yan.
The sight chilled everyone to the bone—even if Liu Yan deserved his crimes, this death was too horrifying, with hordes of demonic creatures burrowing into his flesh.
Yet by drawing these venomous creatures away, Liu Yan had effectively cured thousands of innocents trapped by the "Summoning Lantern Decree" poison arts.
Tang Licheng reached the pit's edge.
The bottom was deep, the earlier underground stream now drained through the collapsed opening, revealing only mud and charred corpses. The poisoned souls who'd jumped lay moaning among the scorched remains.
Liu Yan had fallen among them, his blood mingling with the others'.
Faintly visible in the vast pool of blood were countless venomous creatures squirming.
More grotesque things still hurled themselves at the poisoned blood from the earthen walls.
Tang Licheng stood motionless, staring fixedly at this torture.
Yu Tuan'er knelt at the pit's edge. When Liu Yan had rolled over the side, she'd wanted to follow.
But she hadn't jumped.
She'd held back.
Perhaps Liu Yan, lying below, would take some comfort in knowing she'd been so brave, so sensible.She knew he had never intended to live long, never been happy, never wanted to be close to her or anyone else. Perhaps his greatest joy had been snatching the poison from Young Master Tang’s hands and drinking it himself, finally feeling he could die as he deserved.
Not once had she ever crossed his mind, not even for a moment.
He truly was a terrible person.
Fu Zhumei’s face was deathly pale as he asked Cheng Yunpao, who was supporting him, “A-Yan might not be dead yet, can’t we… can’t we save him? We… we can’t just leave him like this…”
Cheng Yunpao gripped Fu Zhumei’s arms tightly, afraid he might lunge forward. He didn’t know what to say. Tang Lici often said Liu Yan was unworthy of being called a hero, yet also claimed he had once been a good man.
But Liu Yan was the master of Fengliudian, the creator of the Nine Hearts Pill poison. Countless naive young women of the martial world had fallen for his beauty and talent, only to be ensnared by his mind-controlling poison, refined into Red and White Maiden Envoys, their lives ruined. He had loved A-Shui, yet forced his affections upon her, his private morals flawed. He despised the world and had once treated human life as worthless, believing everyone in this world had nothing to do with him.
In the end, he seized the poison from Tang Lici’s hands, drank it, and fell, lying amidst the ruins of Fengliudian, consumed by countless toxins.
We cannot save him.
Because he is saving others.
The poisons of heaven and earth surged toward him.
Red lotuses and bleached bones bloomed in succession.
After a long pause, Pu Zhu slowly uttered, “Amitabha.”
Tang Lici and Yu Tuan’er stared blankly as countless poisonous creatures crawled out from the bodies of the poisoned and into the pit. They fought over Liu Yan’s toxic blood until the vast expanse of crimson was utterly consumed.
Liu Yan never moved again.
The others who had fallen with him were severely injured, poisoned beyond recovery, their bodies too infested with toxins. Even after being rescued by Biluo Palace, they did not survive.
Tang Lici gazed down at the pit, his face as pale as paper.
The charred corpses piled at the bottom, the writhing poisons, and the motionless Liu Yan slowly magnified before his eyes. He couldn’t distinguish which skeleton belonged to Bai Suche, nor the Red and White Maiden Envoys who had always followed her, nor even Liu Yan’s face. But he seemed to see countless grotesque spiders moving, strange insects with many legs crawling back and forth…
Those black and red monstrosities never stopped moving, as if they would never cease…
“Young Master Tang!” Tie Jing suddenly reached out and pulled Tang Lici back as he abruptly collapsed.
Even in fainting, this lord did so without warning. Before losing consciousness, his posture remained impeccable, as if nothing in this world had ever escaped his grasp, as if he had always been above the clouds, never having fallen.
Had he not been covered in blood, had he not cut out the heart he had placed his hopes in, spent all his wealth and favors, exhausted his martial skills, and given everything he possibly could—perhaps others would still believe him to be lofty and scheming.
But Young Master Tang had truly given all he could.
Perhaps even before he himself had realized it, he had already given this world everything he had to offer.
And this world had never been as he wished.
With a whoosh, Liu Yan’s “corpse” beneath the Drifting Eyebrow Pavilion suddenly burst into flames, a towering inferno rising to the sky.
Whether it was Bai Suche’s fire rekindling from the ashes, or Liu Yan clinging to life until the very end before setting himself ablaze—no one could say.
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