-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Sichuan Tang Clan (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sichuan Tang Clan (4)
The person I found was a young man with blue hair who looked to be in his late teens. Contrary to his somewhat dazed appearance, his traits were anything but ordinary.
[Name: Peru]
[Traits: Poisoning lv1, Swift Movement lv1]
[Affinity: 0 (Neutral)]
That Poisoning trait was exactly what I was looking for. Poisoning meant administering poison, whether in food, tea, alcohol, or directly to a target.
Moreover, Swift Movement wasn't just about being fast. This guy, Peru, was a poison master (毒術士) who could administer poison so quickly that no one would notice.
"Heh heh..."
As I laughed while looking down at the man below, the servants, who were already uncomfortable with my presence, shivered as if a chill ran down their spines.
"Well, I should get some sleep now."
I said it loud enough for everyone to hear before entering my room, where I immediately went to the window to watch the servants leaving.
"Peru looked young, so he'll probably stay behind to clean up and come out later."
A short while later, when I heard the lights in the hallway being turned off, I opened my window and carefully climbed down.
Perhaps because I now had internal energy, I could easily support my own weight with just one arm and lower myself down.
After reaching the ground, I hid behind a leafy tree and watched the servants head to their quarters. Just when I thought most of them had left, I heard two men's voices.
"Man, I'm exhausted."
"Still, isn't it easier now that the Grand Prince has been quiet?"
"Just because that guy is quiet doesn't mean we have less work. Did you see him watching us from the second floor earlier? It was creepy. Genuinely scary."
"I saw him too, but he didn't say anything, did he?"
"True, but it's still unsettling."
"Haha."
"Oh, right! Peru, I have to go first. I'm on washroom duty today."
The red-haired young man talking to Peru ran off toward the servants' quarters, while Peru closed the back gate and started walking slowly.
Now's my chance.
I moved behind him stealthily and thought about using a weak paralysis poison. A warm internal energy rose from my dantian and gathered in my hand.
That wasn't all. An arrow had appeared in my vision.
The arrow moved with my gaze. And when I looked at Peru, the arrow hovered above his head, pointing down at him.
It seemed the poison was a targeting skill that used the arrow to lock onto a target.
When I willed the paralysis poison toward Peru, I felt the internal energy in my hand dissipate like smoke. A moment later, Peru, who had been walking, froze.
Thud.
His entire body trembled violently before he collapsed to the ground.
Looks like the poison took full effect.
I immediately ran over, grabbed him, and dragged him into the bushes.
Shing!
I drew a dagger and held it to Peru's throat. Though paralyzed, he could still move his eyes, and he blinked them frantically—his only means of communication.
But unlike before, a small window was now floating next to Peru.
Weak Paralysis Poison – 59:38
The poison's duration was visible to me. It seemed the paralysis poison applied to Peru would last for exactly one hour.
A timer? What a convenient ability.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions. Blink once for yes, twice for no. Understand?"
*Blink.*
As if he understood immediately, Peru blinked once.
"You're the one who put poison in my soup, aren't you?"
*Blink.*
Peru trembled before blinking once.
"The poison you used was Hanyangcho, right?"
*Blink.*
This question was actually unnecessary. But it was a trap I was setting to ensnare him later.
"Was it the Marquise who ordered you to poison me?"
Peru's eyes didn't move; he seemed to be hesitating. I lightly cut his neck with the dagger.
*Drip.*
A trickle of bright red blood ran down his neck. Even through the paralysis, I could feel a slight twitch, a product of his survival instincts.
"Was it the Marquise, Kaina?"
*Blink, blink.*
Not the Marquise? My assumption was completely wrong. But that's strange. If it wasn't her, he should have just blinked twice immediately. I don't know why he hesitated.
Kaina was the woman the Marquis remarried after Yuren's mother died.
It would be natural for Kaina to want her own sons to become the heir rather than Yuren, so I had assumed she was the one who ordered the poisoning. For it not to be her... something was off.
Since it had come to this, I decided to move on to Plan B.
I took a round object from my pocket, shoved it into the man's mouth, and forced him to swallow.
*Gulp.*
"What I just fed you is something called Chodok. From this moment on, you have exactly one month to live. If you don't take the antidote I give you on the day that month is up, your internal organs will melt into a pool of bloody water and disappear."
Hearing my words, the man's body trembled uncontrollably. I had deliberately mentioned the poison earlier to make him think I was knowledgeable about poisons, all to control him.
"Come to my room tomorrow after your duties are finished. Understood?"
*Blink.*
"Oh, and keep putting the poison in my food. No, add even more. A poison like that has no effect on me anyway."
I said this for two reasons. One, to consume more Hanyangcho to increase my internal energy and the proficiency of my paralysis poison. Two, to make my presence so overwhelmingly large in his mind that he wouldn't dare look at me.
*Blink.*
Peru blinked his eyes as if to say he understood.
Thanks. This paralysis poison that has you immobilized? You gave it to me.
In truth, Peru was someone I should be very grateful for. He unlocked the Sichuan Tang Clan, enabled me to use paralysis poison, and was even helping me raise the proficiency of my Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi.
On top of that, his affinity was strangely neutral, so it seemed I could make use of him. Though his affinity would probably drop after today.
Peru still had 30 minutes of paralysis left. I thought about curing him and extended my hand. The timer on his body disappeared.
"Try moving."
"Huh?"
Hearing my words, Peru slowly started to move his body. He couldn't look at me, instead staring at my feet while his whole body trembled.
"H-How..."
"Bring all the poisons you have with you tomorrow."
"Wh-Why the poisons...?"
"Did I give you permission to ask questions?"
"Ah, I understand!"
Without looking back, I struck a cool pose and walked back into the mansion.
"Whoa! This is so OP!"
I had been holding back my laughter, but the moment I got back to my room, I did a joyful leap.
I never thought the weak paralysis poison would last a whole hour. In that case, the regular paralysis poison might last for half a day.
No, it could also be because Peru was weak. Aside from his Poisoning ability, he was no different from a normal person. Still, it was undoubtedly an incredible power.
"I'll sleep well tonight."
Having resolved one issue, my mind felt at ease.
"By the way, to think he fell for the Chodok trick! Hahaha!"
Anyone who's read wuxia novels would have seen it.
The scene where a villain controls people by feeding them a poison that doesn't act immediately, but instead causes a seizure months or even a year later, forcing them to obey the villain's commands.
I just used that trope. In most wuxia novels, it's usually a Gu poison (蠱毒), but what I fed Peru was just some leaves rolled up to look like a green pill.
"Ah, this is fun. The Sichuan Tang Clan is the best!"
After a good laugh, I calmed myself and circulated the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi.
The story has changed, even if only slightly. Just like the butterfly effect, I don't know what kind of storm this change will brew in the future. I need to get stronger as fast as possible.
**
I circulated my technique until morning dawned. Strangely, despite not sleeping for two days, I didn't feel tired at all.
In wuxia novels, they often say you can relieve fatigue by circulating internal energy instead of sleeping. It seems that was actually true.
*Knock, knock.*
At the same time as yesterday, Arin, with her knife-sharp sense of time, entered the room.
"Don't tell me you didn't sleep again today?"
"Ah..."
I should have messed up the bed a little before Arin came in. I didn't think of it.
"I slept. In the chair."
"Hmm..."
Arin gave me a suspicious look. But since lying is practically a passive skill for me, I met her gaze confidently without looking away.
She tilted her head, then set down the washbasin and went to get my meal.
"Come to think of it... the novels didn't really recommend it either."
The novels always said to get at least a little sleep except in unavoidable circumstances. Since this world is also a novel, I figured it wouldn't be any different.
I should probably start getting at least a little sleep from tonight on.
Feeling like it was a waste of something, I was rolling around on my bed when Arin brought my meal.
"Please have your meal first."
"Yeah. Thanks."
I had definitely told Peru to add a generous amount of poison. I wondered if he actually did it.
"Let's see..."
[You have ingested poison (Hanyangcho).]
[Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi is absorbing the poison (Hanyangcho).]
[The proficiency of Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi has increased.]
[The proficiency of Weak Paralysis Poison has increased.]
Thanks to the generous dose of poison, the soup's flavor felt even richer than yesterday. The proficiency of both my internal energy and the paralysis poison was also increasing more than it had before.
"You're not complaining anymore."
"Eating this makes me stronger."
"That's right. It will certainly be of help."
"Right. Right."
Arin nodded emphatically at my words. The meaning behind what she said and what I said were completely different, but there was no way for her to know.
"Well then, let's go."
"Grand Prince, is something troubling you?"
"Troubling me?"
"You haven't slept for two days."
To think Arin would worry about me like this. What a surprise.
"Are you worried about me?"
"Uh, no, that's not it."
Slightly flustered, Arin shook her head and her expression returned to its usual impassiveness.
"It's not like I didn't sleep at all, so let's go to the training grounds. I'll get proper sleep tonight."
"Understood."
Arin said no more and went outside to get the training gear. Once she was gone, I opened the Sichuan Tang Clan trait.
"Today is important."
It's time to unlock a new ability of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
"If I want to live, I need to run well."