Chapter 387 Took the risk together like destined lovers

Three unforeseen events happened. First, a glossy cinnabar mole showed between He Danggui’s eyebrows just after the Virginity Mark on her forearm disappeared again.

Second, Xue Xiao, the Nihon man, seemed to have been severely injured. Tottering into the icehouse, he shouted in a hoarse voice for help and asked Duan Xiaolou to run at the same time.

The third one was the worst.

Happily finishing the Laba Congee made by He Danggui, Duan Xiaolou squinted at the slim figure behind the corner and couldn’t help smiling. Suddenly, Xue Xiao rushed in with his blue robe covered in blood. Duan Xiaolou was frightened and immediately got out of the bed to hold him while he knelt on the ground. Then, Duan Xiaolou asked, “Are you all right? What happened? Tell me in detail!”

He Danggui didn’t notice the man at first. She was still looking into the blade of the dagger to confirm she got a mole between her eyebrows. “Thud!” She heard something falling abruptly so she turned her head to check in shock. Then, she saw Duan Xiaolou lying still on the ground while Xue Xiao was smiling weirdly beside him. Judging from his countenance, he wasn’t like an injured man at all.

Therefore, He Danggui realized something instantly so she screamed, “Stop! Don’t kill him! We can talk this over!” After catching the man’s attention, she asked seriously, “Sir, which sect are you from? Tell me who your boss is. Maybe I know him or her. Don’t hurt Duan Xiaolou. I will save him. I have enough chips.” While saying this, she still hid half of her body behind the ice sculpture. Duan Xiaolou had torn her robe apart before and she only found a long cloak to wear after that. Behind the cloak, she only wore a plain silk shirt that was thinner than middle clothes. She could meet Lu Jiangbei while dressing like this but not anyone other than him.

Thus, when Xue Xiao stood up and walked to her, she shouted in an instant, “Stop! Please just stand there while you’re talking to me. I… I haven’t changed my clothes because I just got up.” Feeling slightly fluttered, she clenched the dagger and looked at Xue Xiao in timidity who had a purple complexion. She couldn’t figure out how powerful he was or what he wanted to do.

Actually, He Danggui’s internal force and kungfu skills were already slightly more brilliant than those of Xue Xiao. She had been a martial arts expert. After all, she got all the internal force of Du Yao before unfortunately. However, first, she still didn’t recover yet. Not only her limbs were weak, she also felt disconcerted as well. Second, she didn’t dress decently now. If an expert like her had to fight with a hooligan while she was nearly nude, she might still be defeated because women were always thin-skinned and cared much about their virginity. What was the most important was that He Danggui only got the skills but not the strong mental quality an expert should have. Because she had been weak in her previous life, she couldn’t stop feeling self-abased or being afraid of fighting with others now.

Although he was vicious and used some unknown trick to make Duan Xiaolou pass out before, Xue Xiao turned into a gentleman suddenly and stood there as He Danggui said. He said with a smile, “Don’t be afraid, Miss He. I will never dare to do that if you don’t allow me to come closer. Aside from what you did to Du Yao that day, no man dares to even just look at you since Mr. Duan cares about you so much.” Saying this, he, however, craned his neck to the left to peek at her behind the ice sculpture. Instead of paying attention to her strange clothes, he noticed the shining blade of the dagger in her hand. He put on an anxious look and exclaimed in a low voice while shaking his hands, “I won’t hurt you. Please put down that dagger now! How could a lady use that? You may hurt yourself instead of killing anyone else!”

Seeing him being so polite and worried instead of vigilant after noticing the dagger, He Danggui felt it was weird. Just a moment later, she asked, “Sir, could you tell me who you work for? We’re already at your mercy and you can kill us whenever you want so you don’t have to hide it from me.”

Xue Xiao was slightly amazed and had a short laugh similar to the squeak of an owl. He replied while shaking his head, “I was about to tell you that but after you asked me like this, I began to wonder if you still have any trick up your sleeve so…” He drew out the last syllable as if he was pulling a dough before he made his decision and continued, “I will take you away and leave Mr. Duan here but I don’t know how long the anesthetic smoke will keep him asleep. Thus, I will nail him at his scapula and lock him on the ice.” While saying this, he took a chain out of his sleeve.

“No!” He Danggui stopped him with her eyes wide open. Regardless of her wearing, she ran out from behind the ice sculpture and threw herself on Duan Xiaolou while shouting at Xue Xiao, “You’re from Nihon. How dare you hurt a marquis in our country? Once people knew it, it would be hard for you to stay no matter who your boss was!”

Her words made sense so Xue Xiao was convinced and shaken instantly but he still said stubbornly, “There’s something you don’t know, Miss He. I plan to nail and lock Mr. Duan just because I revere him and don’t want him to get hurt, or he will make a scene after he wakes up, won’t he? Then, he will be injured more severely.” With the chain in his hands, he took several steps closer spitefully and continued while smiling, “Miss He, if you want to become his destined lover and die with him, I will feel pleased for Mr. Duan and won’t force you to break up. Instead, I will lock the two of you together and take you out of this place. After people see you, you will have to marry Mr. Duan. After the head of our tower sees you and becomes angry, maybe Mr. Duan will be implicated and executed as well.”

The head of their tower? Which tower was he talking about and who was the head?

He Danggui lay on the chest of Duan Xiaolou and held him so tightly that he frowned even though he was in a coma. She paused to calm herself down and said, “Judging from what you said, does that head know me? But I don’t think I’ve made friends with any head of any tower. Could you tell me the name so I could pay my respect to him or her?”

Xue Xiao touched his chin and fixed his dark brown eyes on her fair face for a while. Then, he praised her while smiling, “Miss He, the flower decoration between your eyebrows indeed adds the finishing touch. It makes you look more beautiful than you used to be. Mr. Liao praised you as ‘the eleventh most beautiful lady in the Ming Dynasty. From my perspective, with the red flower decoration, you can rank higher.” After saying this, he already made up his mind so he continued, “I’ll give you three names. If you can recognize one of them, I won’t lock Mr. Duan and you.”

He Danggui nodded and replied, “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

Xue Xiao began to list the names, “Sima Mingyue, Shangguan Mingri, and Guan Yuanbei, the Master of Tea.” He asked slowly while observing He Danggui, “Do you know anyone of them?”

He Danggui put on a smile that became brighter as the water in a lake rippled in circles. It made her look more friendly. She sighed and replied while shaking her head, “It turns out that you’re a member of Unit Three & Seven of the Wuying Tower. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? I was scared for nothing just now. It’s indeed a conflict arising among friends. We failed to recognize each other.”

Hearing this, Xue Xiao looked up and down at her in shock as well as confusion and said, “Sure enough, you know Wuying Tower. Is anyone of your friends working there or are you a member…” He paused and stared at her warily, “You’re wily. Are you cheating me?”

He Danggui smiled and before she could reply, Duan Xiaolou who lay on the ground suddenly woke up. He saw a fair face with a cinnabar mole between the eyebrows above his nose as soon as he opened his eyes so he felt pleased and smiled. However, he immediately thought of what happened before he passed out so he roared and sat up. He Danggui was pushed away by him and Xue Xiao took several steps backward in shock. Otherwise, before he made a fuss, Duan Xiaolou fell again and couldn’t sit up even though he supported himself with his elbows.

“Are you all right, Duan Xiaolou? Stay still, please!” He Danggui held his head and let him lie on her legs. She asked anxiously, “Are you okay?” Meanwhile, she reached out to take his pulse.

Xue Xiao felt relieved and explained to them, “The anesthetic smoke I used is called ‘Three-day Anesthetic Herb’ which is miraculous and always used to sedate kungfu masters. The more brilliant the victim is, the stronger its effect will be. Moreover, there’s no antidote for it. Victims will have to wait for its effect to wear off. I stuffed lots of Three-day Anesthetic Herbs into the bamboo tube and burn them just now. Then, I blew the smoke to Mr. Duan to sedate him when he was off guard.”

“Three-day Anesthetic Herb?” He Danggui withdrew her hand from Duan Xiaolou’s wrist. Her expression was very “weird”. She frowned hard and the corner of her mouth twitched. It couldn’t be figured out if she intended to cry or smile. It seemed she was implying “Are you kidding me? I invented Three-day Anesthetic Herb in my previous life when I was 25. How could anyone fabricate it and use it to trick and hurt people when I’m only 15 now? And I became its victim as well! Who produced and spread it? Didn’t he or she know the original inventor should be respected?”

Seeing her being interested in it, Xue Xiao nodded and explained to her, the inventor of Three-day Anesthetic Herb, in detail the effect of such herb, “Three-day Anesthetic Herb is used especially on kungfu experts. After people inhale the smoke of it, they will feel half of their bodies or their whole bodies are numb when they try to circulate zhenqi and exert skills if they have the powerful internal energy that only people having practiced kungfu for 60 years will have. The effect of the herb won’t be mitigated until three days pass so it’s called ‘Three-day Anesthetic Herb’. It’s a secret drug invented by our Wuying Tower. I was afraid that I couldn’t sedate Mr. Duan with it at once so I added some other high-quality anesthetic onto the top of the bamboo tube. Then, he passed out immediately. When he tried to fight back, he circulated his zhenqi so the smoke of the herb also circulated faster in his blood vessels. Although I inhaled some smoke as well, I didn’t have the internal energy as powerful as his so I wouldn’t be sedated.”

After teaching her the knowledge about Three-day Anesthetic Herb, he smiled at He Danggui and continued, “Miss He, do you get it now? Mr. Duan can’t reverse the situation or protect you anymore. What’s more, I saw through you. You won’t be a member of the Wuying Tower because you even don’t know Three-day Anesthetic Herb which everyone in the Tower has been given this year. You’re a liar.”

He Danggui wanted to laugh loud after hearing this. She didn’t know Three-day Anesthetic Herb? She was an outsider? What was going on? Why would she, the inventor of the herb, be misunderstood? Why would he confuse right and wrong? Three years ago, she produced Three-day Anesthetic Herb with some cheap medicinal materials bought in Tu’er Town. She planned to use it on Ning Yuan who was unidentified, lived in Luo’s Mansion, and had a grudge against her. However, when she attended the banquet held in Xin Rong Hall later, an assassin wearing a mask intruded into the hall. She thought of the Three-day Anesthetic Herb she brought so she made everyone smell the smoke of it while she was brewing tea and burning incense. At last two kungfu masters had been sedated and they were Meng Xuan and the assassin. How would she not know Three-day Anesthetic Herb?

Why was there Three-day Anesthetic Herb from another time in the Wuying Tower? It could be explained easily. In Lord Ning’s Mansion now, there was a man carrying a piece of the soul of Lord Ning from another time. It must’ve been Lord Ning who thought of the formula of producing Three-day Anesthetic Herb and he imparted it to people in the Wuying Tower so they could be equipped with such a secret weapon that could kill kungfu masters easily ten years in advance. How hateful! They even used what she invented on her!

However, what Xue Xiao said was right. There was no antidote for Three-day Anesthetic Herb. The more powerful the victim was, the more difficult it would be to mitigate the effect of the herb in his body. This was also the most valuable point of the herb because Wuying Tower’s enemies were always tough. He Danggui took a deep breath and began to think while looking down at the ground. What should she do? How could she escape? How could she trick this man from Nihon? How could she rescue Duan Xiaolou and others? But then again Lu Jiangbei and Duan Xiaolou had already known her secret. If they could shut up forever, it would be better for her.

After taking two deep breaths, she suddenly got a good idea.