Poison of the Human Panacea
Chapter 6
Smoke filled the spacious carriage with a haze as the warm fragrance thickened.
Bai Tan lay lazily on the bed[1] with a pipe[2] in his mouth, inhaling and exhaling wisps of smoke – he was carefree. He resolved a huge, tricky issue. Even though the days to come could not be referred to as free of worries and troubles, at least the fire that would have burned him was no longer a threat.
That issue was, more specifically, regarding the painting on human skin which Wu Yanfu had hidden in the handle of ShiYue.
The painting was a portrait of Vishnu, but its mysteries were not only hidden on the surface.
If the painting was closely inspected, held up to the light with a magnifying glass after submerging it in water, one would realize that the lotus seat under Vishnu hid a Heavenly Hall. Imitating the heaven that he dreamt of, the Heavenly Hall was built hundreds of years ago by a Tian Zhu King on his deathbed. It was a pity the hall was destroyed by an avalanche not long after its completion and was never seen again.
According to the craftsman who managed to escape, there were countless treasures buried within the hall. It seemed like among the treasures, a golden Chakra with an embedded "Eye of Vishnu" was the most precious. It was rumored that the Chakra was able to absorb and use the powers of the sun and moon.
With the Chakra in possession, one would become undefeated in the world, be able to mess with the flow of life, controlling life and death.
Ever since his cruel father[3] passed the treasure map to Wu Yanfu, ordering him to find the hall, it caused endless conflicts within Wu Lin[4]. He had lost count of the number of people who had come for the map, but who was capable of defeating Wu Yanfu, the strongest in the Western Regions[5]? Those people either died a terrible death on the spot or left empty-handed.
He was not stupid and of course, was not willing to let himself be a common target of the public.
It was the reason he took the treasure map out from the handle of ShiYue and burnt it in front of everyone. Those who saw were shocked; their eyes widened and were at a loss for words – even Li Wuzhang's jaw dropped in shock.
Looking at their reactions, Bai Tan could not help but feel like laughing.
That was because the treasure map now only existed in his brain.
To see and not forget was his greatest ability.
Only by relying on this ability was he able to secretly learn martial arts from the scrolls in Cang Jing Ge[6]. It allowed him to open up the two meridian channels of Ren and Du[7] by himself and after ten years of hard work, learning in secret[8], he was able to gain a glimmer of hope.
Wu Yanfu, Wu Yanfu, you must have never expected me to benefit from the secrets of the map that you took years to uncover. If you were to find out in the underworld, your soul would probably scatter in anger, would it not?
Bai Tan mumbled to himself as he thought. However, after the feeling of joy, there was a pang of unhappiness, as though he had lost something as well as an inexplicable sadness. His feelings were very conflicting and complicated. He blamed it as, "his enemy unable to see him bask in his success". After which, he drew a puff from the pipe and spat it all out, deciding to not think further.
Wu Yanfu stared at the stretch of neck peeking out from the collar of Bai Tan's robes and felt his palm itch.
The youth's neck was whiter than snow; its curvature elegant and beautiful. It was also so slender that it seemed as though it could break at the lightest touch. He wanted to grab it and, with his teeth scrapping the frail blood vessel, he would whisper into the boy's ear his identity.
How afraid would this mischievous[9] kid be?
Just thinking about it, Wu Yanfu's icy cold and dead silent blood was about to boil.
Of course, it was not time yet. He needed to take it slow, one step at a time.
Bai Tan felt a sudden uneasiness, as though there was a blade behind him, and felt very uncomfortable.
He turned his head and saw the shaman, who was kneeling by the bed, staring at him intensely.
He was shocked and a little angry, "You, what are you looking at?"
Wu Yanfu lowered his head, "I heard the Sect Leader speaking and thought that it was to call me."
Bai Tan frowned, not completely pleased with the answer. However, despite being heavily suspicious, he felt that it was nothing worth looking into since it was just the crippled shaman. He drew a mouth of smoke as his eyes fell on the shaman's pale face. The more he looked at the dazed and obedient look, the more he found it interesting.
Would a person under the Huo Xin Curse[10] really become loyal to the point of giving oneself up?
Would that not also mean that the seven emotions and six desires, resentments and anger, would all be erased as well?
If that was so, would that not mean that a person who was under the curse would be most unwavering and best suited to practice the Sky of Six Desires?
He sat up and lifted the shaman's head with his foot. With the intention of teasing, he poked the shaman's Adam's apple with his toes. "Ai[11], do you know what your name is?"
The shaman looked at him dazed, "I don't know."
It was as expected: asking him was pointless. Bai Tan reached his hand over to feel the back of the shaman's head; a small protrusion was indeed there. When made into a shaman, a person would have a Feng Shen nail[12] inserted into the skull. It was to seal the person's memories and once removed, the person's soul would leak out from the tiny hole and the person would lose his life.
He pulled his hand back and felt that it was by a stroke of luck.
A stroke of luck that Wu Yanfu did not treat him this cruelly. He smiled, "Even though you have lost your memories, you are still human and a human will need a name."
As he thought of a name, a special joy bloomed in his heart. It was as though… as though he had gotten a toy that belonged only to him. He never would have thought that he would have the same fetish as Wu Yanfu.
He crooked his head to the side and thought for a long time, "Since you are so dazed, you will be Ah Chi[13] from now on!"
The corner of Wu Yanfu's lips twitched slightly and an itch crawled from his palm to his teeth before coming out as a few hoarse, broken syllables.
"I understand. Thank you, Master, for bestowing a name, Ah Chi remembers it."
Bai Tan saw that he was like an echo bug[14] and spurted a laugh but choked on his saliva. He coughed a few times as his body was starting to feel feverish and his throat parched again.
"Master?" Wu Yanfu crawled over while calling out softly as though tempting him. The blood of a shaman cultivated with demonic vines was not meant to drink in the casual manner that he was doing.
Even he had only ever drank a cup when severely injured and that was with the snow lotus from Tian Shan as well as the spring water from the Bing Chuan to balance the medical properties before drinking it. Drinking it in this manner, as though drinking wine can strengthen the body, clear toxins and cure poison, as well as increase one's internal energy but in the long term, it would be like consuming Five Minerals Powder[15] – highly addictive. Once the blood addiction acts up, it would be as though he had lost his soul and he would be vulnerable. Moreover, the kid was about to reach his twenties, it was time for his alluring bone[16] to mature.
When his addiction acts up while being highly aroused and lustful…
He only needed to wait. Wait for the kid to fall into the trap by himself.
Bai Tan gulped. He hooked his arms around the shaman's neck and with his sharp canine tooth, punctured a blood vessel.
As a piercing pain coursed from the side of his neck, Wu Yanfu's back stiffened and he stilled like a wooden plank.
The young boy's lean body was really close, his arms were wrapped around him gently and, like a seductive little fox demon, buried his head in Wu Yanfu's neck, drinking as though enjoying a good wine. Drinking was insufficient and the boy licked the cut, moaning softly as though under a spell, "Nnn…… your blood, why is it so delicious that it is sweet?"
Wu Yanfu's face remained indifferent but his throat moved.
As the blood, which felt like ice water, trickled past his organs, he felt an inexplicable refreshing feeling. Bai Tan felt increasingly thirsty as he drank. He felt that the shaman smelled nice down to his bones and that the shaman's skin must have been made of rock sugar. He could not help but pounce on him, like a hungry beast, biting wildly, only stopping when it was hard to look at the shaman's chest and neck because they were in very bad shape.
Having had his fill of blood, Bai Tan threw the shaman to the side and lay back down on the bed comfortably. Like a dead, drunk alcoholic, he wiped his mouth, had his leg propped up with his other leg, and he closed his eyes to take a rest.
It took a while before Wu Yanfu moved his blood covered body, lower his head and look down.
With a look, his face darkened and he narrowed his eyes.
Did he lose his will from the years of cultivation just because his body changed?
No, should he feel fortunate that the shaman's body was not totally crippled?
His thin lips tugged upwards as he mocked himself silently.
Tan'er…… your teacher is in this current state all thanks to you.
Wu Yanfu took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but at that moment, he felt the demonic vines on his arm wriggle like worms. His heart skipped a beat and he looked down to see that the demonic vines which were around his elbow had crawled to his wrist, some even probed towards the area between his legs.
Could the demonic vines… sense something?
After calming himself down, he saw that the demonic vines were slowly retracting back to its original position before they stopped moving.
He had a sudden realization and a glint flashed across his light-colored pupils.
So that was it…… He knew that the demonic vines were special but did not know that it was such a strange thing.
It was like god's aid.
Suddenly, a soft, strange cry came from his side, sounding like a child's cry.
He turned to look and the skink who had just mistaken its owner poked its head out from the robes that Bai Tan had removed. Evidently, it had just woken up and was looking at him curiously with a pair of sharp eyes.
Did the creature, by some chance, recognize him?
Wu Yanfu reached out to touch San Du's pointed head with his finger.
It stuck its forked tongue out and licked the demonic vines on his finger……
Then, like Bai Tan, it bit down mercilessly.
Immediately, blood spilled out like a fountain.
Bai Tan heard the movements and opened his eyes to see the shocking view of the shaman holding onto his finger, face twisted, blood covering the area between his legs and on his stomach. The culprit, San Du, dived into his arms in a dash, making noises as he bit Bai Tan's robes, as though he was excited about something.
As he patted and calmed San Du, he hurriedly moved closer to the shaman.
Grabbing his hand to look, he saw a large cut, so deep that the bone could be seen, and felt a pang of pity, "You… why did you disturb it? Look at this, all this blood wasted!"
He got on his arms and knees and started licking, the charisma he had when he was in the hall was gone and was now like a little starved beast without humanity.
Had his years of meticulous raising created such a wolf cub[17]?
Wu Yanfu narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the white and tender face which was dyed with some color[18] and felt as though the fire in his lower regions that was just put out was coming back to life.
At that moment, Bai Tan was done licking and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, satisfied. Carrying San Du, he returned to the bed and the moment his head came in contact with the bed, he was asleep. However, his eyes were only shut for a short period of time before a piercing scream came from outside the carriage.
Translator: Yeong
Proofreader: CSChick911
QC: Xiao
Xiao’s Comments: What’s Wu Yanfu’s plan for Bai Tan??? And what’s this thing about a alluring bone? Also, Wu Yanfu’s demonic vines can move by itself…do I smell tentacle sex in upcoming chapters?!
Translator's Notes:[1] The actual term used is used to describe narrow and long bed-like seats that are on the shorter side and has padding or bedding so that it is softer but can also be generally use to mean bed in olden time.
[2] A pipe used for smoking opium.
[3] The term(父王) is used by the princes and princesses to address the King as father.
[4] The martial arts community. The term directly translates to martial arts forest.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Regions
[6] Room of Hidden Scriptures
[7] Means that the flow of energy and blood in the person's body would no longer be blocked and it will allow the person to better master/start practicing martial arts.
[8] This is supposed to be an idiom that came from the tale of a poor person piercing a hole in the wall to "steal" the light from the rich person next door in order to study at night. It is usually used to describe person who persists on studying despite the harsh conditions.
[9] Mischievous might be an understatement, it is usually use to describe a person who does bad things with no regards for anything; the law, logic or care.
[10] Directly translates to "Heart Bewitching Curse"; first mentioned in chapter 2 as a curse placed on all shamans.
[11] A way of calling out to another person in a very informal, borderline rude way.
[12] Literally the spirit/consciousness sealing nail
[13] The character he uses for Chi is the same as dazed but it can also be used to describe someone as stupid, an idiot, silly, naïve.
[14] A mythical creature that resides in a person's stomach and when the host says something, the bug will repeat the same thing softly but the sound would grow louder. It can also be used to describe someone with no opinions of their own and would always agree with others.
[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold-Food_Powder
[16] This was also translated as seductive body in previous chapters and will be corrected as alluring bone from this chapter.
[17] Wolf is used to describe someone as ungrateful or without humanity. And in this case because Wu Yanfu saw Bai Tan as a kid he used wolf cub instead.
[18] Meaning that Bai Tan's face does not look as pale anymore; that there is some blood flowing under/ a flush. Or that blood was smudged on his face.
Chapter 7