Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Have You Ever Thought How Much It Hurt Her
Cui Jue tossed a jade vial to Fang Cheng Lang: “First Senior Brother, this is for you. Take one pill every day.”

Fang Cheng Lang raised his hand and caught the jade vial.

He pulled out the stopper and sniffed it lightly.

A cool and refreshing scent slipped into his nose.

Mm, it was the smell of a Spirit Focusing Pill.

Its effect was to calm the mind and steady one’s core.

A trace of mockery flashed in Fang Cheng Lang’s eyes.

He sat cross-legged in a tree, looking down at Cui Jue from above.

“A’Jue, even now you still think what traps me is a Heart Devil?”

“Isn’t it?” Cui Jue tilted his head back and asked in return.

Because Yu Zhao had still not arrived even after they waited for a long time, a month ago they had already moved to the city closest to the Marsh Forest.

Only Fang Cheng Lang clung to his own opinion and refused to leave. No matter how his fellow disciples took turns trying to persuade him, he remained unmoved, and in the end he even made their Junior Sister cry from anger.

Cui Jue looked at Fang Cheng Lang, his eyes full of pain and pity.

His First Senior Brother was the famed Gentleman Sword of the cultivation world, gentle and refined, upright and righteous.

But the First Senior Brother in front of him looked haggard, with dark shadows under his eyes. There was not a trace left of the Gentleman Sword’s bearing.

[If this wasn’t falling into madness, then what was it?]

Fang Cheng Lang toyed with the jade vial in his hand, then suddenly asked: “A’Jue, you are skilled in alchemy. Have you ever heard of a pill called the Bone-Eroding Pill?”

Cui Jue froze for a moment, then nodded, but doubt rose in his heart.

He had found the recipe for the Bone-Eroding Pill in an ancient book their master had gifted him. It was extremely hard to find. How did First Senior Brother know about the Bone-Eroding Pill?

“A’Jue, have you ever refined it?”

“Never.”

“Why?”

Cui Jue’s brows knit ever so slightly: “The Bone-Eroding Pill is not a deadly poison, but after taking it, every bone in the body feels as if it is being eaten away by insects. The pain is unbearable, and the whole process lasts a full day and night. I feel the pill’s effect is too cruel, so I have never refined it.”

After hearing this, Fang Cheng Lang actually smiled and clapped his hands.

“Good. I never thought my Fourth Junior Brother would have such a bodhisattva’s heart. Your First Senior Brother is truly proud of you.”

“First Senior Brother, if you have something to say, just say it.” Cui Jue could clearly hear the strange, mocking tone in his voice, and became even more certain that First Senior Brother had lost his mind.

The smile vanished from Fang Cheng Lang’s face.

The next moment, he leaped down, grabbed Cui Jue by the neck, and slammed him against the tree. Cold killing intent burst out from his ink-black eyes.

He spoke word by word, his voice like blood-soaked tears: “Then how did you dare feed Little Six the Bone-Eroding Pill? Have you ever thought how much it hurt her?”

Cui Jue was still stunned by the sudden grip on his throat. When he heard Fang Cheng Lang’s words, his struggling suddenly stopped. His eyes widened, as if he had fallen into an ice cavern.

[He fed Little Zhao the Bone-Eroding Pill?]

[Impossible! Absolutely impossible!]

He had never even had the thought of refining the Bone-Eroding Pill. How could he possibly have fed something like that to Little Zhao?

[First Senior Brother must have had Qi Deviation!]

[Yes, Qi Deviation!]

Fang Cheng Lang’s voice was hoarse with rage: “Cui Jue, even now you are still lying to yourself. Other than you, who else knows about the Bone-Eroding Pill? Who else knows that you and Little Six once quarreled in the Herb Garden?

You know very well that Little Six has the softest heart and never tells others about her troubles. How long are you going to keep cheating yourself?”

His grip on Cui Jue’s neck tightened. The corners of his eyes were so red it was as if blood was about to drip out.

Lately his dreams had become more and more frequent. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, scenes of Little Six in the Five Elements Dao Sect would appear in his mind.

At first, the scenes showed only him and Little Six. Gradually, Cui Jue, Lan Zi Yu, and the others began to appear as well.

Along with Little Six, he personally experienced how she had been ignored by them on Lone Moon Peak, and how she had suffered one grievance after another.

Fang Cheng Lang had already felt that the way they, as fellow disciples, had treated her was bad enough. But it was not until he personally saw Cui Jue coax Yu Zhao into swallowing the Bone-Eroding Pill that he had almost rushed forward to strangle Cui Jue on the spot.

How could he? How could he dare?

That was Little Six!

She was their Junior Sister!

Why did he use such a method to torment her?

The happier Little Six was when she accepted the pill, the more painful it was when the poison took effect.

What was most hateful was that when Little Six cried and begged Cui Jue for the antidote, Cui Jue and Ye Cong Xin only stood to the side, completely unmoved.

Fang Cheng Lang had watched as the light in Yu Zhao’s eyes went out. She lay on the cold ground like a corpse, not moving at all, and his heart felt as if it were being cut by knives.

“Cui Jue, you should be grateful you only showed up now. Otherwise I really would not have been able to stop myself from digging out your heart to see whether it is red or black!”

Fang Cheng Lang let go and flung Cui Jue to the ground like he was throwing out trash.

“Do you know why I won’t let you all stay? Because you are not worthy to stand here. You are not worthy to atone for Little Six! Get lost. Take your Spirit Focusing Pill and keep lying to yourself!”

Cui Jue did not know how much time had passed before he slowly got up from the ground and started walking forward, his face expressionless.

He walked very slowly, as if every step used up all the strength in his body.

As the sun set in the west, his shadow stretched longer and longer, until it was completely swallowed by the darkness.

“Fourth Senior Brother? Fourth Senior Brother! Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, look, Fourth Senior Brother is here!”

Lan Zi Yu and Su Ming heard Ye Cong Xin’s voice and hurried over. Sure enough, they saw Cui Jue walking forward alone with his head lowered.

Ye Cong Xin was clearly standing right beside him, yet he seemed not to see her at all and brushed past her without a glance.

Lan Zi Yu and Su Ming exchanged a look.

[What is wrong with Fourth Junior Brother?]

He was headed in the complete opposite direction from where they were staying. No wonder they had waited all night and he still had not come back.

Lan Zi Yu stepped forward, grabbed Cui Jue’s arm, and gave it a hard tug: “Cui Jue! Cui Jue!”

Cui Jue lifted his head in a daze, his voice hoarse: “Second Senior Brother?”

“It’s me. What happened to you? Did someone beat you? Or were you poisoned?” Lan Zi Yu asked in a rush.

The Marsh Forest was filled with miasma and crawling with poisonous insects. If one was not careful, it was easy to inhale toxic fumes.

Lan Zi Yu’s worries were not without reason.

“Second Senior Brother, did I do something wrong? Did I do something wrong? That wasn’t me, that definitely wasn’t me!” Cui Jue grabbed Lan Zi Yu’s hand in return, his emotions surging, and hot tears rolled down his face.

Lan Zi Yu, Su Ming, and Ye Cong Xin were all shocked.

Su Ming said anxiously: “This is bad! Fourth Brother has been poisoned. Hurry and see if he has any antidote pills on him!”

Ye Cong Xin also quickly lowered her head and started rummaging through her own storage space.

Cui Jue was the target she was most confident she could win over. Nothing could be allowed to happen to him.

Cui Jue, however, did not hear a word they were saying. His thoughts were still drowning in First Senior Brother’s repeated questions.

He did not want to believe what First Senior Brother had said.

But First Senior Brother’s expression was too real, his tone too firm, and even the details were described with crystal clarity. [Could scenes like that really be something a Heart Devil made up?]

Cui Jue was no longer sure.

Just thinking that he might one day really refine a furnace of poisonous pills and coax Yu Zhao into taking them made his hands tremble uncontrollably.

If something like that would truly happen in the future, then he would rather never touch an alchemy furnace again for the rest of his life.

Ye Cong Xin had always been pampered, and her storage space never lacked pills. Very soon she found an antidote pill and was about to feed it to Cui Jue herself.

Cui Jue’s gaze fell on her face. His expression suddenly changed, and he slapped her hand away in disgust: “Don’t touch me!”

Ye Cong Xin stood there in shock.