Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Gu Qing Yuan Poisoned!
The Sect Master’s cheeks had gone rosy again, and he shot Song Wan Ning a look as if it could scrub away the humiliation from earlier.

This time, Song Wan Ning had finally kicked her own stone, hadn’t she?

“Master, how are you feeling?”

Ye Chu Xue’s eyes shone as she looked at Gu Qing Yuan, hope bright and trembling.

Gu Qing Yuan shook his head gently, lips parting as if to reassure her—

And then the spiritual power inside him suddenly surged out of control.

A cold, violent force tore through his meridians. Countless strands of black toxin burst forth, flooding every acupoint in an instant.

“Pfft—”

The sound was wet and sharp.

Black blood sprayed from Gu Qing Yuan’s mouth.

It splattered hot across Ye Chu Xue’s face, burning her skin. Her vision blurred, the world going red and sticky. She froze, staring as Gu Qing Yuan’s body pitched forward and collapsed right in front of her.

Wounded again and again… and now poisoned.

In the end, he still couldn’t hold on.

“Junior Brother Gu!”

The Sect Master’s face went white.

The elders were just as shocked, rushing forward in a crush of robes and flying dust.

“Master!”

Ye Chu Xue snapped back a heartbeat too late. She dropped to her knees, arms locking around Gu Qing Yuan as if she could hold him together by force alone.

“Master! Master—wake up!”

“Master, don’t scare me… Master!”

Her voice broke. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she called him again and again, shaking him, pressing her forehead against his shoulder like it could bring him back.

There was no response.

The crowd erupted. Panic rippled outward, and with it—blame.

“Damn it! It really was poisonous!”

“If the pill was poisonous, doesn’t that mean Wu Dan was harmed because of Ye Chu Xue?”

“What if the earlier pills were tainted too? I took one!”

“If you can’t refine pills, why pretend you’re some master? The pills you made are toxic!”

“If she kills us, can she take responsibility?”

“This is terrifying… thank heavens I didn’t get one.”

“Wu Dan is too miserable. What a disaster out of nowhere!”

The disciples who’d been swaggering just moments ago—those who’d managed to snatch pills—now looked like they’d been dropped into ice water. If it could poison even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, how vicious was it?

If they’d swallowed it…

No one dared finish the thought.

More and more eyes turned to Ye Chu Xue, sharp as knives. If she didn’t know what she was doing, why refine at all? And to hand them out as gifts—

Wasn’t that basically trying to kill people?

“Lan Le!” the Sect Master barked, voice strained. “Get over here and take a look!”

Lan Le was still standing off to the side, expression indifferent, as if this had nothing to do with him. The Sect Master’s chest burned with rage at the sight.

Gu Qing Yuan was a pillar of the Heaven-Questioning Sect. If anything happened to him, it would be a devastating blow.

Lan Le’s gaze flicked over the scene. He didn’t move any closer.

“I told you the pill was poisonous,” he said flatly. “He insisted on eating it anyway. Now look—he’s poisoned.”

He turned his face slightly, cold and unbothered.

“I can’t cure this. Figure it out yourselves.”

His temper had never been good, and after Ye Chu Xue’s pointed insinuations earlier, why would he waste kindness on her mess? Better to stay out of it entirely than get dragged under.

“You—are you really saying there’s no way?” the Sect Master demanded, anger shaking his voice.

“No.” Lan Le didn’t hesitate. He turned to leave.

The Sect Master’s mouth opened, then shut.

“Master… please don’t scare me…”

Ye Chu Xue was fully unraveling now. She’d only just started learning alchemy. Detoxifying wasn’t even within what she’d studied, and she didn’t have the ingredients for the Myriad Poison Pill—how was she supposed to pull poison out of someone like this?

“Master… this is all my fault…” she sobbed. “I should’ve tested the medicine on myself. I’m worthless anyway… I shouldn’t have dragged you down…”

Then, as if remembering a lifeline, she lifted her head desperately.

“Ancestor! Ancestor, please save Master!”

Liu Lan Yi’s brows drew together. Her voice was calm—and colder than frost. “I know nothing about the Dao of pills.”

If Ye Chu Xue wanted someone saved, she was begging the wrong person.

Besides, Liu Lan Yi had watched everything from start to finish. She had no patience left for Ye Chu Xue’s performance.

“Martial Uncle Lan!” Ye Chu Xue whirled back to Lan Le, choking on her tears. “Martial Uncle Lan, please save Master! It’s my fault—I shouldn’t have ignored your warning. Please—”

Even now, she still refused to lower her head to Song Wan Ning.

Lan Le’s face remained hard. “This poison is complex and bizarre. Forgive me—I’m incapable. I’ve found no way to remove it.”

He paused, eyes shifting toward Song Wan Ning.

“Maybe you can ask Junior Sister Song.”

From the beginning, Junior Sister Song had seen the problem in Ye Chu Xue’s technique. Everything that happened after had unfolded exactly as she expected.

Making an enemy of someone like that was stupidity. Lan Le wanted no part of it anymore.

Nearby, Bai Yang seemed to read what Ye Chu Xue couldn’t bring herself to say. He stepped forward, posture straight, and bowed to Song Wan Ning.

“Master, please save Martial Uncle Gu.”

An Ze rushed up too, resentment sharp in his voice. “Master, if you hadn’t suggested Martial Uncle Gu take the pill, he wouldn’t be poisoned. Hurry up and detox him!”

The Sect Master’s face darkened as well. “Junior Sister Song, no matter what, you and Junior Brother Gu are fellow disciples. You can’t just stand by and watch him die.”

As if the moment Song Wan Ning refused, she would become the greatest sinner alive.

Song Wan Ning had lived through scenes like this too many times to count.

She smiled faintly, the expression carrying no warmth at all, and her gaze slid to An Ze.

Ever since he’d gotten tangled up with Ye Chu Xue, not a shred of respect remained in him. In her past life, she had always told herself they were all her “children.” She’d blamed herself for spoiling Wu Fang, for neglecting An Ze’s upbringing.

Now she understood it clearly.

Some people were wolves. You could feed them until your bones showed, and they would still bare their teeth.

There was no need to blame herself.

Song Wan Ning’s lips curled, and her aura pressed down without restraint.

Thud.

An Ze’s knees slammed into the ground. His whole body was forced into a full kowtow, forehead striking hard.

He jerked and struggled, face flushing with humiliation. “Master, what are you doing? Let go of me!”

“I only said the truth! Why do you get to control me?”

He fought to lift his head. His eyes were bloodshot, rage and a flash of killing intent flickering through them.

Master had injured him again and again—and now she was humiliating him in front of everyone. She didn’t deserve to be anyone’s teacher.

“Why do I get to?” Song Wan Ning’s voice was cool.

She raised her foot lazily and stepped onto the crown of An Ze’s head.

The dark patterns on the sole of her spirit boots ground into his scalp. A numb shock shot through his body as his strength snapped. He was pressed flat to the ground, cheek stuck to the icy stone, breath knocked thin.

His eyes widened, humiliation and disbelief trembling inside them.

“Master, what are you doing?” Bai Yang blurted, startled, moving as if to intervene.

Song Wan Ning lifted her gaze.

One look froze him where he stood.

“Master…” Bai Yang swallowed.

“If you still want to be my disciple,” Song Wan Ning said evenly, “then stand to the side and behave.”

“If you want to end up like him… kneel down with him and take it.”

Her foot didn’t move.

An Ze’s body shook under the pressure, and the entire peak fell into a stunned, brittle silence.