6.5

Although he was rather affected by the man's familiar magnetic tone, instead of pausing to answer the question, Chen Yu promptly wrinkled his brows and shot up, swinging his hand out to retrieve the medicine. Unfortunately, reality was cruel. From his inspection of this body, Ning He was quite tall for his age, but even on his tiptoes, he couldn't reach the packet that Moqi Lirong was dangling in the air. Thus, for the sake of recovering his dignity, he was forced to settle his weight back onto the ground and cross his arms as if he didn't care.

Once he'd at least demonstrated his irritation by puffing out his cheeks, Chen Yu tilted his chin up to glare arrogantly into the other's eyes and complained, "Master Moqi, what do you think you're doing?" While it wasn't as if he wanted to drink this unsavory thing, he would have to at some point in order to confirm his guesses, which meant that he'd have to deal with this man.

At the sight of the figure in front of him, Moqi Lirong's thin lips hooked imperceptibly. Perhaps the boy could look down his nose at most people, but in attempting to do so now, he'd tipped his head back as far as it could go and still had to open his eyes wide to glower at him. The angle was perfect for displaying the youth's clean jawline and the defined muscles leading to his sharp collarbones, as well as the cute Adam's apple sliding up and down in his throat. En, Ning He had by far the most flawless bone structure he'd ever seen...

Having noticed the man's fixation on his neck, Chen Yu filed the clue away then took advantage of his distraction to jump up and grab the packet, getting a mouthful of the bitter brew before Moqi Lirong reacted and struck his acupoints to stiffen his jaw. Unable to swallow or spit, Chen Yu was tearing up from the disgusting taste rolling around on his tongue when the man used his thumb to pry open his mouth, thereby causing the liquid to trail out of the corner of his mouth.

After swiping his fingers around the hot cavity to ensure that no trace of the tonic remained, Moqi Lirong at last undid his seal with his eyes glued to the mysteriously fascinating traces of the fluid that had leaked out from those sulky lips, only for the boy to sway and bend over, heaving rapidly.

As he scowled at the ground, Chen Yu furiously wiped his wet chin with his robe's sleeve, cursing the man out to his eighteenth generation. Did the fool really believe that he'd missed the way he'd slowed down to grope his teeth and tongue? Damn pervert, making him suffer that horrible flavor just to waste time fondling him!

Shoving aside his scorn for the moment, however, Chen Yu scanned the ground for his lifesaver, then his already reddened eyes became covered in a sheen of water. While it was dark, he could clearly discern that the sole sweet food which the original owner had kept in his storage space had been crushed under this stupid idiot's huge foot...

Since all his focus was on the gagging boy, Moqi Lirong had perceived every change in his expression, including how aggrieved the small face had turned in the end. Inquisitive, he followed the boy's stare, glancing down to find that, in his haste, he'd accidentally stepped on some treat.

Was Ning He that upset at losing his dessert? Truly a child, ah. Still, if he was sensitive enough to cry from such a small incident, how could he possibly be the cruel bully described by gossipmongers? While he was undeniably silly and unbridled, perhaps the rumors were exaggerated and he simply needed some strict guidance?

Observing the mirth in the other's eyes, Chen Yu gritted his teeth, enduring the lingering taste in his mouth, and repeated himself. "I said, what do you think you're doing?!"

But right as Moqi Lirong was preparing to respond by giving the boy his first lesson on propriety, his twin approached swiftly, his cultured air spoiled by his mussed hair and rushed pace. Moqi Baihui, who had grasped the gist of what had happened from the soaked spot on the ground and Ning He's scrunched up face, politely handed a handkerchief to the youth and confronted his brother. "Lirong, what's wrong?"

Despite being somewhat disappointed by the interruption, Moqi Lirong explained himself this time. "Something in that packet was dangerous." Then, as if realizing that he'd been too vague after having thrown down this broad statement, without hesitation the man spent some time licking the fingers that had swirled around in Ning He's mouth, then pronounced, "One of the ingredients is the Golden Honey Flower."

Actually, Chen Yu had understood what the man had been referring to from the first sentence alone—he had, after all, tried countless herbal concotions during his thousand lives, so that, with his experience and the aid of this body's particularly picky palate, he had immediately recognized from the brew's aftertaste a hint of what the people here called the Golden Honey Flower.

Humming, Chen Yu considered this name. At first glance, it wasn't very apt, since this plant was colored a bright red and the flavor of its juice was also astringent. In contrast, the flower's effect matched its title rather well; the constitution of anyone who ingested a small amount of the extract for more than a month would begin to change, his blood would start to gradually become a golden color and the taste would turn sweet.

More importantly, if the person was a martial arts practitioner, the qi he gathered would be funneled from his dantian into his blood, slowing his cultivation significantly. As a side effect, since demonic animals also pursued cultivation, someone like Ning He's blood would be a very attractive lure, which was probably why Moqi Lirong had characterized the flower as 'dangerous.' If this body happened to be injured during the battle with the beasts, he would almost certainly be torn apart on the spot, and the frenzied animals might temporarily gain the strength to harm the sect's other disciples.

So it could be concluded that Ning Taio had been feeding Ning He a tonic which, under its superficially beneficial components, hid this dangerous ingredient for some yet unknown reason. This would then indicate that the man had been plotting against his son, and even his concern before Chen Yu set out on this trip wouldn't have been over his safety but rather over whether he would consistently take this drug on time, whether his scheme would be discovered, so on and so forth.

But, Chen Yu curled his lips, that was such a boring explanation. Besides, Ning Taio and his motives really didn't arouse any excitement in him. Instead, the detail he was interested in was one that contradicted this narrative, and that was, whereas the original owner hadn't witnessed any difference in his blood due to his aversion to pain, Chen Yu had, out of curiosity, pulled open the freshest of the cuts on his back. The blood that had beaded up had been a healthy red. Recalling that fact, Chen Yu's eyes shone eagerly.

Nonetheless, aware that this wasn't an appropriate setting to muse on anything, Chen Yu focused on the present. As he pondered the last part of the conversation, however, he realized that while Moqi Lirong had required a taste to accurately identify the Golden Honey Flower's presence, in order to have dashed here the instant he'd opened the packet, he must have sensed something from the faint smell alone. Sneering inwardly, he shot a glare at the man, truly a beast ah.

On the other hand, Moqi Baihui, who had swiveled in surprise to ask Ning He why he was ingesting such a thing, noticed that the youth hadn't used the handkerchief he'd passed him and took it back to dab at the boy's glistening lips himself. Once every part of Ning He's face, which was obediently lifted up throughout as befitted the young master who was accustomed to being served, had been dried, he inquired in a deliberately casual tone, "Oh, who gave this to you, shizhi?"

While Moqi Lirong flashed his eyes briefly toward his twin at this inappropriate behavior, he also forced himself to concentrate fully on the answer. Who could be feeding one of Heavenly Saber Sect's disciples such a thing?

A short calculation later, Chen Yu snorted, "Hng, why does that matter? I've been taking this medicine for so long, naturally I've been informed of what's in it! There's no problem, so don't interfere!" Although his words were confident, when he sensed that the two wouldn't stop their interrogation, he shifted anxiously from one foot to the other like he wished to run away.

The brothers exchanged a meaningful look, then stepped closer, stifling the boy's smaller body. In contrast to their aggressive movements, Moqi Baihui gentled his voice even more and, soothingly stroking Ning He's back, he asked, "Has anyone else received something like this?"

Pretending not to have detected the hand that was sneaking down to his hips, Chen Yu rolled his eyes. "Of course not, this is a reward just for the top disciple of Jade Sword Mountain!"

Upon hearing the youth cry out that declaration in a wronged tone, both of the twins' eyes filled with pity and admiration. Moqi Baihui continued to rub Ning He's slightly quivering back, while Moqi Lirong also uncharacteristically touched someone else outside of training, smoothing Ning He's hair that had become disheveled from his reflexive retching earlier.

Obviously the boy, who had known about the hazard posed by this tonic which was reserved for whoever was ranked number one on his peak, had suppressed everyone else in order to take on this poison himself. And in return, he'd had to endure the terrible rumors about him, spread by those ignorant, ungrateful people around him. Moreover, he'd been stoically bearing the reputation of having an average talent when, in reality, to have managed to maintain an 'average' level despite his qi being diverted to his blood indicated that he would have been an outstanding cultivator under normal circumstances. With these thoughts spiraling around in their minds, even as they scolded him for being a foolish child in their hearts, their faces overflowed with regret-tinged tenderness.

At this result, Chen Yu swept his lashes down to hide his surprise. He'd expected whichever twin was his lover to fall for the trap, but from what he'd seen, their expressions were perfectly similar, implying that...they both had his lover's brain hole?