CH 52

Do you want to? (A choice between life and death)

As Ming Qin climbed onto the windowsill, she witnessed a distressing sight: someone was strangling Murong Yan.

Her entire body shuddered as if struck by a bolt of lightning. Without wasting any time, she swiftly entered the room through the window and, using just one hand, overpowered the assailant. She then lifted Murong Yan, who was gasping for air.

Murong Yan was unconscious, her body convulsing involuntarily, and drool was dribbling from the corners of her mouth, likely due to medication that had been forced upon her.

Ming Qin called out anxiously, “Yan Yan! Yan Yan!” She scanned the pills that were scattered on the ground, and then picked up the gourd that had fallen nearby and sniffed it.

It’s poison.

Ming Qin concluded, despite having no expertise in toxicology or knowledge of poison techniques.

Ming Qin gently turned Murong Yan around, cradling her in her arms with her back against her chest. With one hand, she applied pressure to Murong Yan’s stomach, while with the other, she inserted two fingers into her mouth and pressed down on the base of her tongue.

“Yan Yan, please be a good girl and vomit it out, please. Vomit it out.”

Ming Qin whispered softly into the unconscious woman’s ear, but her movements were firm. Murong Yan involuntarily retched, her face contorting in pain.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Yan Yan, but you have to vomit it out, please,” Ming Qin pleaded, her eyes burning with intensity.

Saliva dribbled from Murong Yan’s mouth, coating the fingers of the shadow guard and falling to the ground drop by drop.

Ming Qin adjusted her wrist and pressed her fingers deeper, feeling the uneven muscles of Murong Yan’s throat. She exerted more pressure, urging her, “Yan Yan, I beg you, please don’t die, please…”

Tears streamed down Ming Qin’s face.

As Murong Yan’s stomach involuntarily contracted, her body trembled and she began to cough and vomit up small fragments of pills mixed with transparent, viscous gastric juice.

Murong Yan’s hands and sleeves became wet, but Ming Qin continued to whisper soothingly, “Yes, that’s it, good girl, Yan Yan.”

Ming Qin leaned over and placed her hand on Murong Yan’s abdomen, rubbing it with increasing force to help empty her stomach of its contents.

Ming Qin had no idea how much poison had been forced into Murong Yan’s body, nor how much remained inside her. The powerful shadow guard continued to pray and console the unconscious woman, hoping she would survive.

As she gasped for breath, Song Shu Qing crawled up the stairs and saw the disordered room, her junior sister crying and pleading while holding the Princess.

Upon seeing her, Ming Qin acted like a helpless child, her vision blurred and her body trembling as she cried out, “Senior sister! Senior sister, she… she…”

Song Shu Qing, who was knowledgeable in pharmacology, knelt down to check Murong Yan’s pulse. Although her expression was grave, she comforted Ming Qin by saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Qin Qin did a great job.”

Song Shu Qing swiftly placed Murong Yan on the ground and extracted a few extremely fine silver needles from her waist pouch to needle the unconscious woman.

Ming Qin’s mind was in disarray as she stood there helplessly, watching the person in front of her turn pale and blue. She felt as though she was suffocating herself.

In the corner of her vision, she noticed the venomous snake that Murong Yan had always despised wriggling.

It was all his fault…

Ming Qin turned to the side and walked towards Murong Xiao.

It was all because of him… that Yan Yan ended up in this state.

Ming Qin picked up a two-foot-long candlestick from the ground, dragging it with a piercing sound.

It was all because of him… that Yan Yan suffered, that Yan Yan was afraid.

Ming Qin approached Murong Xiao, who was leaning against the wall, recovering from the pain of being thrown down, and raised the candlestick high.

She pounded the blunt object heavily on the man’s right leg, with an expressionless face, as if she didn’t feel the bones cracking beneath her.

Despite the candlestick having no sharp edges, it was smashed into a bloody mess under the astonishing strength of the shadow guard.

Blood and flesh splattered on Ming Qin’s face, but she remained indifferent, feeling as if she could only see red in her field of vision.

『Crack!』

The copper candlestick shattered with a loud noise. Ming Qin gazed at the broken half of the candlestick holder in a daze, then dropped it and balled her fist, landing a forceful blow on the man’s face.

It was as though her nerves had given in to an overwhelming surge of emotions.

She continued to lash out with her fists, striking repeatedly without any awareness of the force behind her blows.

The only sensation she felt was the throbbing pain in her hand.

“Qin Qin!”

“Qin Qin!”

“Ming Qin!”

After several forceful pats on the back of her head, Ming Qin finally stopped.

She looked up at Song Shu Qing with empty eyes.

“Don’t kill him. He may have the antidote,” Song Shu Qing said calmly to the man with a bruised and swollen face, and only a little flesh connecting his right leg, who remained silent.

Antidote?

“Hmm, the antidote.”

Yes…

We can’t kill him…

“The Princess’s condition needs to be checked by the hospital or Master,” Song Shu Qing stated, picking up the unconscious Murong Yan.

She didn’t want to deny Ming Qin the chance to carry her, but she didn’t want to touch the bloody man who had been beaten up.

“Let’s go,” Song Shu Qing turned around and hurried down the stairs, leading the way.

Ming Qin gazed at her senior sister’s retreating figure, gradually regaining her composure.

She then seized the man’s collar and dragged him down the stairs alongside her.

In the half-underground black cell, the only sounds that could be heard were the occasional clanging of iron chains dragging on the floor, the squeaking of rats scurrying around, and the crisp sound of water dripping along the iron bars.

Three days had passed since Song Shu Qing and Ming Qin entered the capital and found themselves in this iron prison one after the other.

As the jailer opened the rusty door, Murong Xiao, who had been leaning against the stone wall, looked up. A few wine cups were placed beside him.

His hair was messy and he looked disheveled. Except for the remnants of his thigh, there was nothing left of his leg, and the wound had been carefully bandaged. His right eye was covered with gauze and his cheek was swollen and purple.

Despite being a prisoner, he still maintained a proud expression.

“Take it,” Song Shu Qing said, placing the wooden box heavily in front of him. She then leaned lazily against the wall and impatiently asked, “We have done as you instructed, healed you, given you wine, and brought you everything you asked for. Don’t drag your feet, where is the antidote?”

Murong Yan had been poisoned and remained unconscious despite being forced to vomit and receive injections. No matter how much she was treated, her condition continued to worsen, and as time passed, her life force gradually faded away. Finally, Song Shu Qing had to turn to the person who was imprisoned in the dungeon for help.

Murong Xiao slowly and painfully made his way to the wooden box, his lips curling up as he opened it, revealing numerous bottles and jars of various sizes. He let his fingertips brush over them, causing the clinking sound of the bottles to echo in the small cell.

After a while, the pale-faced man spoke in a nonchalant tone, “I don’t have the antidote.”

His gaze seemed fixated on the bottles as if they were some sort of interesting toy.

“Who do you think you are?” The usually laid-back Song Shu Qing stepped forward, lifting her foot with the intention of kicking the disgusting man in front of her. She couldn’t help but curse in frustration.

“However…”

Murong Xiao tilted his head and smiled mischievously, “I do have a prescription that can alleviate the effects of the poison on Sister, and it can prolong her life for more than a month.”

“What’s the use of that?” Song Shu Qing kicked him to the ground and stepped on his head. She couldn’t wait for Ming Qin to beat him to death tonight. “Can’t you say something more useful?”

“I have limited abilities, and I haven’t yet developed an antidote,” Murong Xiao said, lying on the ground with a slightly bleeding leg. However, he showed a falsely innocent expression. “But an extra month should be enough time for the pharmacology experts at the Imperial Medical Institute to completely remove the poison from Sister’s body.”

Song Shu Qing scowled at Murong Xiao, who was clearly displaying malicious intent towards Ming Qin. She thought about Murong Yan’s condition and felt a headache coming on. She lifted her foot and reached out, “Something is better than nothing. Give me the prescription, hurry up!”

“I can give you the prescription. But…her.” The man slowly stood up, dusted off his body, pointed to Ming Qin leaning against the doorframe, and said with a face full of malice, “We must make a deal.”

Song Shu Qing rolled her eyes. As a negotiation genius in the Shadow Guard Camp, she felt like she was losing her patience with this lunatic. “Stop beating around the bush. You’re still a man after all…”

The irritated woman pulled out a long needle used as a hairpin from her hair and was about to attack the sinister man in front of her. However, Ming Qin, who had been silent all along, calmly walked forward and sat down in front of Murong Xiao.

“Okay,”

Ming Qin replied calmly, despite the exhaustion etched on her face and the bruises under her eyes. She gazed steadily at Murong Xiao and asked, “What kind of deal are you proposing?”

Murong Xiao’s smile widened as he rolled up his sleeves and took his time considering the offer. Eventually, he produced a glass container from the box, revealing a bright red pill inside. “If you take this, I’ll give you the prescription to save Sister.”

Song Shu Qing jumped to her feet, brandishing her weapon in alarm. “What’s wrong with you? That pill looks suspicious. Qin Qin, don’t listen to him!”

“What is this?” Ming Qin remained calm despite her haggard face and bruised eyes. She took the glass bottle and shook it gently, producing a clear clanging sound from the egg-sized pill inside.

“I don’t understand how someone as lowly as you could win my sister’s favor… so I want you to prove your worth,” Murong Xiao said with bloodshot eyes.

He continued slowly, “I personally concocted this poison. After taking it, you will lose each of your five senses, one by one, within a month.”

His sinister smile revealed his dark intentions as he added, “Your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin will all feel as if you are alone in the dark, unable to feel anything, abandoned by the world, and unable to seek life or death.”

The man licked his lips and gestured excitedly. “When the one-month deadline is up, you will experience pain worse than wrist cramps. It will feel like a thousand needles piercing your heart. After three days and three nights, you will use up all your strength and die alone.”

He looked at the mediocre woman in front of him, whose blood stained the ground.

He hated her.

Why did his sister take pleasure in her?

The person who loves his sister the most in this world is him.

If the person in front of him agrees to his conditions, his sister will have to watch her die in front of her own eyes, and she will realize that only he will never abandon her in this world.

If the person in front of him refuses his conditions, it will only prove that she is not worthy of his sister’s love, and they will go to hell together, keeping each other company.

So, choose.

His voice was cold and eerie, like a devil’s whisper.

“Do you want to?”

TL. F*ck! If Ming Qin decided to take the trash’s pill then I hope her poison resistance will withstand it!