The Wen family probably knew that they wouldn't let this matter slide so easily.
Even as night fell, Wen Meijue was still detoxifying Zhu Zhao, likely to buy time.
Worried that pushing too hard might drive the Wen family to desperation and put Zhu Zhao in danger, they could only temporarily set aside their demands for justice. Instead, they stationed people outside the rooms of Zhu Zhao, Hall Master Ming, and Daoist Huachao to prevent the Wen family from silencing them.
Ji Duchuan could not easily show his face at this time, so he had to return to the town to stay.
The Wen family residence was gloomy and pitch-black at night, with nowhere to buy food or wine.
Song Yao considerately followed him. “Senior Ji, how about I go with you? You're a medical cultivator, so it would be convenient for me to protect you.”
The Third Elder dragged her back. “A pill cultivator protecting a medical cultivator? If Old Seven finds out, he'll fight me to the death. Stay in your room. Nine Saints Hall will send someone to accompany Young Master Ji.”
Song Yao protested, struggling, “Aren't I a sword cultivator?”
The Third Elder: “...Then when we get back, you can learn swordplay from the Second Elder and the Ninth Elder.”
Song Yao turned on her heel and went back to her room. “No, thank you.”
By now, the night was deep. Outside Song Yao's quarters, Wen Wumian and another Wen family cultivator were still standing in silence.
They claimed they were worried about neglecting their guests, but in reality, they were monitoring them.
Having slept for quite a while during the day, Song Yao wasn't very sleepy. She wandered outside the courtyard, climbed onto the wall in two quick bounds, and sat down with her legs propped up. She then kindly asked Wen Wumian and the other cultivator below, “Are you two sleepy? How about I keep watch out here while you go inside to sleep?”
The two of them gave her a blank look and ignored her.
Song Yao didn't feel ignored at all. She even scooted a bit closer to them and asked, “Your name is Wen Wumian, right? Haven't you already joined Taiqing Pavilion? Why do you still have to come back to the Wen family to work as a doorman on night watch? This is simply outrageous. If I were you, I wouldn't be able to swallow this insult.”
Wen Wumian: “...”
His eyelids twitched. He subtly turned his body, trying to face away from Song Yao, as if this would stop her from talking.
Seeing this, the cultivator beside him turned along with him.
Song Yao took a pear out of her spatial pouch, wiped it on her clothes, took a bite, and criticized them. “Didn't Wen Yu tell you to take good care of me? If you keep ignoring me, I'll tell Wen Yu to replace the two of you.”
Wen Yu was Wen Meijue's remaining daughter, and the cousin of Wen Tang, Wen Wushuang, and Wen Wumian.
She seemed much more normal than the rest of the Wen family, and she was the one who arranged the lodging and food for the Nine Saints Hall group.
Now that Wen Tang had been sent away, judging by the situation, Wen Yu was likely the current young mistress of the Wen family.
Upon hearing Wen Yu's name, Wen Wumian indeed wavered. He turned back around and spoke reluctantly, “Is there anything else you require, Senior Sister Lin?”
Song Yao held out her hand to him. “Give me some poison to play with.”
Wen Wumian: “?”
Suspecting he had misheard, he looked up at her.
For the first time, Song Yao saw a look of utter bewilderment in the eyes of a member of the Wen family. She blinked and repeated, “Just to play with. Nothing will happen, I know what I'm doing.”
Wen Wumian: “...”
Was this a matter of knowing what she was doing?
Asking him for poison like this was the definition of having no sense of propriety.
He exchanged a look with the cultivator beside him. After a moment, he pulled two porcelain vials from his spatial pouch and said coldly, “The one on the left will corrode the stomach and spleen within fifteen minutes of ingestion, making survival impossible. The one on the right is a powder; if it touches the skin, it will cause a burning pain that leads to death.”
As Song Yao leaned over to grab them, he suddenly pulled his hand back, his dark, cold eyes staring straight at her. “You'd better be careful when playing with them, Senior Sister Lin. If you die, don't blame it on us again.”
“Of course, of course.”
Song Yao took the poison and threw two porcelain vials back to him. Her eyes curved into crescents as she said, “I won't take yours for nothing. These are Qi-Replenishing Pills I refined myself. They're a gift for you; they can detoxify.”
Wen Wumian didn't even spare them a glance and stuffed them into his spatial pouch.
What kind of poison could a Qi-Replenishing Pill possibly cure?
Utter nonsense.
He would just treat it as using his poison to buy some peace and quiet.
Yet, after playing with the poison for a bit, Song Yao began to torment them again. “This Wen family estate of yours is out in the middle of nowhere, so boring. Since we're all free anyway, why don't we go buy some wine to drink together?”
“The mountain paths are rugged and dangerous. If the three of us go together, we can look out for each other.”
“How about it?”
Wen Wumian: “...”
The Wen family cultivator: “...”
Who was looking out for whom?
The three of them?
Did this person have any idea what the current situation was?
Nine Saints Hall and the Wen family were just one spark away from an all-out fight, and the two of them were specifically ordered to monitor her here.
Yet she was asking them to go buy wine together in the middle of the night?
Both of them opened their mouths, but not a single word came out. They were so exasperated they almost wanted to laugh.
Song Yao: “Is that a no? We went through the Myriad Bones Forest rift together, so doesn't that make us classmates? Isn't it perfectly normal for classmates to go drink wine together...”
Midway through her sentence, she suddenly turned her head and looked deep into the Wen family estate.
Strange.
Did someone just pass by?
Why did that aura feel... a bit familiar?
Wen Wumian endured and endured, but he was clearly losing his patience much faster than before. “It is late at night, and there may be wild beasts and demons about. It would be best for Senior Sister Lin to stay inside the residence.”
Song Yao narrowed her eyes. Unable to detect exactly whose aura it was, she withdrew her gaze. “Alright, I won't go then.”
...
In the inner yard of the Wen family, inside Wen Meijue's room, the light filtered through the heavy window lattices, casting a gloomy shadow.
Elder Huaisang sat upright by the table. A thin stream of hot water poured from a white porcelain teapot into a cup, the rising steam dispersing into a faint mist in the dim light.
The sound of a bone staff tapping against the ground drew closer.
With a dark expression, Wen Meijue hurried through the door. She bowed to the figure at the table, her voice laced with uncontrollable urgency. “What on earth is going on? What is the deal with the poison on those two from the Ming family?”
Elder Huaisang looked up at her. “You're here.”
He unhurriedly pushed the teacup in front of her, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Family Head Wen, there is no need to worry. Everything is under my control.”
How could Wen Meijue possibly be in the mood to drink tea?
She didn't take the cup. Her wrinkled face grew even gloomier, as if shrouded in thick, unresolvable ink. “Others might not see it, but how could I fail to recognize it? The poison in their bodies is clearly dark poison, yet its toxicity is far more potent and vicious than the Wen family's secret teachings.”
“Who else but Wen Tang could possess such means? Where on earth did you have Yong'an Tower send Wen Tang? And what do you want to do with her?”
Seeing her refuse the tea, the smile on Elder Huaisang's face faded slightly, though he still maintained a gentle expression.
He reached out and gently set the teacup back on the table. The porcelain cup clicked sharply against the wooden surface. “Family Head Wen, surely you haven't forgotten our original agreement?”
Wen Meijue frowned.
He sighed and continued, “I helped you get rid of Wen Tang, overthrow the former family head, and secure your position as the head of the Wen family. The condition was that you and the Wen family would pledge allegiance to Taiqing Pavilion.”
“As for Wen Tang's whereabouts, that is not for you to ask.”
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