Chapter 548: Chapter 269: Glazed Pure Body (2)
"After all, Dad has been dead for twenty years."
"My childhood memories have faded. It’s funny, really. My impression of Dad is mostly built from other people’s boasts, the few brief lines in the history books, or the Storytellers in teahouses vividly recounting the tales of General Zheng Haoran."
Zheng Xiu looked down, clutching his chest, his brow furrowed.
He was speaking to Feng Bei in an unusually calm tone, as if he were just telling a story like any other day.
"Dad’s death changed my life. I should have been doted on by my parents, born with a silver spoon in my mouth. If Dad had returned victorious from the war twenty years ago, I’d be a second-generation noble right now. His merits would have been enough for me to run rampant throughout Daqian, content to be a playboy scion."
"Truthfully, back in the early years when I was suffering and being bullied, I often thought that if Dad hadn’t died, those bastards wouldn’t have dared to bully my sister and me."
"If Dad hadn’t died, I’d at least be a Junior General by now. ’When the Dragon King rages, three thousand soldiers will raid your home.’ That wouldn’t just be a joke. If I got arrogant, I’d really dare to pull something like that."
Feng Bei stroked Zheng Xiu’s head. She understood him. Though his words sounded a bit childish, she knew that if Zheng Xiu really were a Junior General, he was very likely capable of doing such a thing.
But what was a Dragon King?
Feng Bei wondered to herself.
She could sense the arrogance behind his words.
Zheng Xiu grinned. "But the moment I saw those Barbarians enter the city today, I suddenly realized I’ve been hiding something in my heart all this time."
"A lot of emotions, all tangled up."
"Along with the memories from two hundred years ago, when we lived in Richan Valley... their voices, them being taken by the Darkness... those wails, that blood... I can’t forget."
"Maybe none of it has a damn thing to do with me. Maybe it’s all fake. But when I saw those Barbarians with my own eyes, all those emotions just churned together."
Zheng Xiu smiled and cupped his hands, looking at Feng Bei helplessly. "Reason and emotion really are two different things. My mouth says I don’t care, but these feelings instantly fermented in my mind, becoming an emotion called... hatred."
Zheng Xiu opened his hands. "BOOM."
"It just exploded like that."
"I should be peacefully lying in a nest of money, counting my cash, not thinking about national grudges and family feuds," Zheng Xiu sighed. "But my brain started working on its own."
"This won’t do!"
After venting all the reasons for his strange restlessness tonight to Feng Bei, Zheng Xiu felt much better. It really was good to have someone to talk to, so you didn’t have to keep everything bottled up inside.
Once he finished speaking, Zheng Xiu sprang up from the bed, threw on an overcoat, and walked out.
Feng Bei, completely stunned, asked blankly, "Where are you going?"
"I’m going to offer a pillar of incense for Dad!"
Zheng Xiu hurried out, disappearing in a flash.
Left in the room, Feng Bei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
When Zheng Xiu returned, the room was empty but for a lingering fragrance. Feng Bei was thin-skinned and had already slipped away quietly.
...
After the Northern Barbarian Envoys entered the city, they entered the much-anticipated negotiation phase.
According to procedure, the negotiations would last anywhere from three to five days at the shortest, to ten days or even half a month at the longest.
Zheng Xiu didn’t pay it much mind. On the third day, just as he was about to head out for a stroll, he found Snake blocking the gate of the Red King Mansion.
Seeing a petite woman coiled like a snake, lying motionless atop the wall as if hunting, Zheng Xiu was exasperated. He put on a stern face and scolded, "In broad daylight, a young lady like you crouching on the wall of the Red King Mansion? What a disgrace! If anyone saw, wouldn’t it ruin my reputation as the Red King?"
Snake pouted, jumped down, her pupils contracting into vertical slits, and pressed, "Where’s my little brother?"
She was still looking for her little brother.
Snake stammered out an explanation, "Don’t get the wrong idea. I promised my little brother I’d help him cultivate!"
Ye had warned her not to trespass in the Red King Mansion. Snake was very obedient; she didn’t trespass, so she just crouched on the wall and waited.
’As long as I don’t cross over the wall, it doesn’t count as trespassing, right?’
On the rooftops, many Assassins holding fruit platters and melon seeds were secretly watching the drama unfold. They had actually spotted someone crouching on the wall long ago. They also recognized Snake as a member of the Disaster Prevention Bureau—she was currently wearing the Xiaobu Liuyun Uniform stitched by Xi’er, so she was recognizable at a glance.
If the person on the wall had been a man, the Brotherhood Assassins would have probably come out to shoo him away, telling him to find some other place to cool his heels. But the one on the wall was a woman... which made it difficult. What if she was someone connected to the Red King? Having been in the Red King Mansion for a long time, the Assassins had learned to handle matters with a bit more worldly wisdom. As long as it didn’t violate their principles, anything else was negotiable.
Zheng Xiu looked at Snake with a strange expression.
’This is bad,’ he thought. ℯⅇ𝙡.
’Don’t tell me... this Snake has fallen for "Zheng Er," who’s about her Age?’
’This is going to be tricky.’
’Should I just lay my cards on the table with this young lady?’
’How should I put it?’
’Something about how a melon plucked too early isn’t sweet?’
’No, what if she just wants to quench her thirst?’
’Zheng Er is destined to be a breeze that passes without a trace, just passing through your life?’
’No, no, that totally stinks of Ximen Bei. Too cringey.’
’My cat at home doesn’t really like the smell of snakes?’
’Is it really okay to blame it on the kitty?’
After thinking it over, Zheng Xiu decided that was exactly how he’d pass the buck.
He headed back and entered the dungeon. Seeing it was empty, Zheng Xiu breathed a strange sigh of relief. Soon, his alt account was online. The young boy walked out of the dungeon and led Snake into the Red King Mansion.
On the roof, a group of brothers watched, wide-eyed, as the Red King used some kind of Miracle Technique to transform into a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy, then take the girl’s hand and lead her inside. They immediately exclaimed that he really knew how to live.
Some of the more gossipy ones even proactively offered to help, checking to see where Madam Feng Bei and the other family members were. They wondered if they’d run into them, if he’d be caught red-handed, and whether warning the young Red King now would count as a great service, and so on.
Snake’s cheeks were flushed red. She suddenly felt her face burning up and let out a muffled grunt.
Zheng Xiu suddenly felt that her hand felt different. He turned to look and saw that Snake’s body was now covered in a thin layer of silvery scales. Although she wore a veil, Zheng Xiu could still picture her face.
"Why are you transforming for no reason?"
Snake snorted coldly. "None of your business!"
The boy shrugged and led Snake to the study.
The study was where he usually handled his affairs. Without his orders, no one was to enter without permission. That was the rule.
Closing the door tightly, Zheng Xiu pulled down his clothes a bit, revealing his fair neck. He turned sideways to Snake and said, "Hurry up and take a bite."
Snake looked at that smooth, fair neck and unconsciously swallowed. For some reason, as she stared at the neck, her mouth began to produce a large amount of saliva—commonly called snake venom, which was highly poisonous.
"B-B-Bite what?" Snake stammered.
"Bite me! What are you standing there for?"
The Evil Child Incarnation’s [Constitution] had plateaued at "thirty-nine" after months of soaking in poison baths, and he couldn’t get it to budge. He had already developed a Resistance to Ji Hong’ou’s toxins. Since Snake had come to him, Zheng Xiu certainly wouldn’t let this rare opportunity slip by.
A GULP escaped Snake’s throat. With a cold expression, she slapped a small brocade box on the table and said, "I only have one dose of antidote for my venom, but I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know if it will completely neutralize the poison. Are you sure you want me to b-b-bite you?"
The boy said, "I’m Immune to Hundred Poisons. Don’t worry."
Snake walked forward and pressed one hand on Zheng Xiu’s hair. She snuck a peek at him, and when she saw that he had turned his head and couldn’t see her face, she breathed a sigh of relief. She removed her veil, her fangs extended, their sharp tips gleaming with a cold light, and moved closer.
Snake’s other hand gently caressed the skin of Zheng Xiu’s neck. The cool, chilling touch made Zheng Xiu feel that this bite had a strange sense of "ceremony" to it.
What he didn’t know was that there seemed to be an unwritten rule among snakes. When a male and female snake intertwined to express their love for each other, there was a stage of "exchanging venom." You poison me, I poison you. Only if the venom of the two snakes was compatible and they couldn’t kill each other, would they have a chance to become a snake couple.
Snake’s current ceremonial actions were clearly because she had thought of this. She felt the skin under her scales burning as if on fire. For a cold-blooded creature, this was a tremendous stimulus. She was burning up.
"Mmm~"
Her forked tongue first curled and pressed against Zheng Xiu’s neck. The instantly cool, slick sensation sent a shiver through Zheng Xiu’s entire body, his pores opening wide. He never would have imagined that being bitten by a snake could be such a pleasant experience.
His neck went numb. Zheng Xiu felt no pain at all; instead, he felt like he was ascending to Heaven.
THUD.
Zheng Xiu’s vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.
[You desperately resisted the snake venom, ignoring life and death. Your Constitution has been slightly trained.]
[You continue to resist the ’Intertwined Snake Venom.’ Your Constitution has been significantly trained.]
’Intertwined Snake Venom? What the hell? A mutation of snake venom?’
As his vision faded to black, a strange line of text suddenly flashed before Zheng Xiu’s eyes.
[Constitution +1.]
’It broke through!’
[Constitution] has been exceptionally promoted to [Resistance].
[You have successfully comprehended the ’Glazed Pure Body’!]