Chapter 5: The Poison Gift
The guild tavern was exactly as rowdy as Li Wei expected.
Cultivators filled every table, drinking cheap wine and exchanging exaggerated stories about their latest kills. The air smelled like alcohol and roasted meat.
Li Wei stood in the doorway, wondering why the System had sent him here.
QUEST: Visit Guild Tavern
Look for Sister Hong at the bar.
She has a "gift" for you! :)
Sister Hong? The receptionist?
Li Wei spotted her at the bar, nursing a cup of tea and looking deeply annoyed by everything around her.
He approached carefully. "Um, Sister Hong?"
She glanced up. "Li Wei. You actually survived the night. Congratulations."
"The System said you have... something for me?"
Sister Hong raised an eyebrow. "System?"
Damn it. Normal people didn't have systems.
"I mean, I heard you wanted to see me," Li Wei corrected quickly.
"Hmm." She reached under the counter and pulled out a small cup filled with amber liquid. "Someone left this for you. Said it was a congratulations gift for completing your first quest."
Li Wei stared at the cup. "Who?"
"Didn't give a name. Young woman, pretty face, cheerful smile." Sister Hong shrugged. "Paid me to hold it until you came in."
Every alarm bell in Li Wei's head went off at once.
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
ANALYZING LIQUID...
SOUL-FREEZING POISON DETECTED!
Concentration: 40%
Effect: Paralysis for 6-12 hours
Fatality Risk: Low (unless you're murdered while paralyzed)
Li Wei's blood ran cold.
"Young woman?" he asked weakly. "Black hair? Red highlights? Looked like she enjoyed danger?"
Sister Hong blinked. "Yeah, actually. You know her?"
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
Yue Mei. Wife number two. The yandere assassin.
She'd found him.
WIFE #2 DETECTED!
Yue Mei - The Phantom Assassin
Current Location: INSIDE TAVERN
Distance: 8 meters
Affection: 65/100 (Dangerously interested)
She's watching you right now! :)
Li Wei's eyes darted around the tavern.
There—in the corner booth. A young woman in dark leather, sipping wine, watching him with predatory amusement.
She waved.
Li Wei waved back automatically, mind racing.
Okay. Options.
Don't drink the poison = she knows he suspects her = fight
Drink the poison = wake up paralyzed and probably tied to a chair
Run = she's an assassin, she'll catch him
Play along?
Li Wei picked up the cup, met Yue Mei's eyes across the room, and raised it in a toast.
She smiled, delighted.
Then Li Wei performed the worst sleight-of-hand trick in history.
He pretended to drink, tilted the cup, let the liquid pour down his sleeve instead of his throat, and made exaggerated swallowing motions.
Yue Mei's smile widened.
Li Wei set down the empty cup and waited three seconds.
Then he collapsed.
The tavern erupted in noise.
"Someone poisoned him!"
"Call a healer!"
Sister Hong leaned over the bar. "Li Wei?! Li Wei!"
Li Wei kept his eyes closed, body limp, breathing steady. Playing dead—or in this case, playing paralyzed.
Footsteps approached.
A hand touched his shoulder. Gentle. Almost tender.
"Oh my," Yue Mei's voice purred. "Was that too much? I hope I didn't kill him. I just wanted him to stay still for a bit~"
"You poisoned him?!" Sister Hong sounded furious.
"It's just a love potion!" Yue Mei lied cheerfully. "Nothing permanently harmful! I'll take care of him. Don't worry~"
Before Sister Hong could protest, Yue Mei scooped Li Wei into her arms—she was stronger than she looked—and carried him out of the tavern.
Li Wei kept perfectly still, fighting the urge to panic.
Stay calm. Play along. Find an opening to escape.
Yue Mei hummed as she walked, cradling him like a princess carry.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, husband," she whispered. "I knew you survived that fall. You're too stubborn to die that easily."
Li Wei said nothing. Couldn't, if he was supposed to be paralyzed.
"I'm not mad about you running away," Yue Mei continued. "It's was fun! Like a game. Hide and seek."
She kicked open the door to what sounded like an inn room.
The door closed.
Lock clicked.
Li Wei was placed on a bed.
Soft mattress. Clean sheets. Better than his cheap room.
Yue Mei sat beside him, fingers trailing along his face.
"You're different," she murmured. "Something changed after the fall. You smell the same—soul signature never lies—but your eyes are different. Softer."
Li Wei's heart pounded.
Could she tell he wasn't the original Zhao Tian?
"The old you would've LAUGHED at poison," Yue Mei said thoughtfully. "Would've drunk it anyway just to prove you were immune. But you tried to trick me. Pretended to drink."
Damn it. She'd noticed.
"That means you're scared," Yue Mei whispered. "Which means you're WEAK now. Which means..."
Her hand moved to his throat.
Li Wei's survival instincts kicked in.
He grabbed her wrist, eyes snapping open. "Wait!"
Yue Mei blinked, surprised. "Oh! You're not paralyzed?"
"I didn't drink it," Li Wei admitted. "Poured it down my sleeve."
She looked at his soaked sleeve, then back at his face, then started laughing.
"You TRICKED me! That's amazing!" She clapped her hands together, genuinely delighted. "No one's ever tricked me before!"
Li Wei sat up slowly, still holding her wrist. "Please don't kill me."
"Kill you? Why would I kill you?" Yue Mei tilted her head. "You're my husband. I love you!"
"You just poisoned me!"
"That was a TEST!" She pouted. "I wanted to see if you'd gotten weaker. And you have! The old Zhao Tian would've sensed the poison from ten meters away."
Li Wei let go of her wrist. This was insane. She was insane.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I want to know what happened to you," Yue Mei said seriously. "The man who fell off that cliff wasn't weak. He was Core Realm Stage 9. But you're..." She poked his chest. "Mortal Realm Stage 3. Pathetic."
Li Wei winced. "I lost my cultivation. The fall damaged my meridians."
It was close enough to the truth.
Yue Mei's eyes narrowed. "And your personality?"
"Nearly dying changes people."
"Hmm." She studied him for a long moment. Then she smiled. "I like this version better."
"...What?"
"The old you was boring. Strong, yes. But boring. He never played games. Never ran. Never TRICKED me." She leaned closer, eyes sparkling. "This you is interesting."
AFFECTION UPDATE!
Yue Mei: 65 → 68
Status: Dangerously Curious
She's into you. This is good and bad at the same time.
Li Wei tried to process this. "So... you're not going to kill me?"
"Not today!" Yue Mei chirped. "But I AM going to follow you. Make sure you don't run away again."
"That's... stalking."
"It's ROMANTIC surveillance!"
"That's still stalking!"
Yue Mei laughed and stood, stretching. "I'm hungry. Let's get food. You're paying."
"I barely have any money—"
"Then we'll steal some!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door.
Li Wei had no choice but to follow.
This was his life now.
Running from one murderous wife while being stalked by an obsessed yandere.
Great.
Just great.
QUEST COMPLETE!
Survived Yue Mei's poison trap
Reward: +50 System Points
Bonus: Affection +3 (Yue Mei)
NEW QUEST: Keep Yue Mei Distracted While Avoiding Lin Xue
Good luck with THAT! :D
Li Wei sighed.
His hundred-wife survival story was off to a fantastic start.
Author Note
Hey everyone 👋
If you're enjoying the story so far, please drop a comment and let me know what you think — even a small review motivates me more than you can imagine.
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I've officially completed Arc 1, and to celebrate that, I'll be dropping 5 new chapters today.
Things are about to get more intense from here.