A Chaotic World

"That's right," Lu Tianzi replied with a slightly tired expression. "Please drink it all."

"This..." the Piercing Wind Overlord looked at the bowl in his hands.

The dark green liquid within was not only thick and viscous, but also emitted a dark vapour that carried a foul stench.

No, that was not the main issue here. Most importantly, it was obviously poison!

"Master..." Qin'er said hesitantly. He wanted to stop his master from drinking it, but he also knew that would be a fruitless attempt.

He knew his master well, and it was impossible for the Piercing Wind Overlord to change his mind at this juncture.

As expected, the Piercing Wind Overlord immediately raised a hand towards him to stop him from saying more.

The Piercing Wind Overlord took one last glance at the bowl of poison and sighed internally.

Now that things had come to this, he had to give it a shot.

If fate allowed it, he would live to take his revenge. Otherwise, dying here could be considered a form of release as well.

Ignoring the looks of concern from his men, the Piercing Wind Overlord steeled his resolve and emptied the bowl of poison into his mouth in one go.

The following sensation instantly put a frown on his face.

It felt almost like he had just swallowed a bowl of flames.

As the dark green liquid entered his body, everywhere it touched felt like it was on fire. From the insides of the mouth to the esophagus, then from the esophagus to the stomach. The dark green liquid moved and was absorbed quickly within his body, but that only caused the pain to strike that much faster.

Still, the Piercing Wind Overlord was a character who had seen the world. Such a level of pain was still within his tolerance level.

It was only when the essence within the dark green liquid had diffused into his body and started entering his inner world that he finally lost control.

"Argh...!" the Piercing Wind Overlord groaned in agony as he bit down and tried to endure the pain.

"Master!" Qin'er was the first to react.

"Stop!" Lu Tianzi shouted just as Qin'er started moving towards the Piercing Wind Overlord. "If you try to help him now, you will only end up rendering his efforts meaningless. He has no choice but to endure the pain himself, and he knows it as well. Do you think that he can't expel the poison himself if he truly wanted to?"

"Poison? So you are admitting that you just gave my master poison?" Qin'er questioned with a snarl.

"That's right. Because that's the only way to heal him," Lu Tianzi did not cower. "What about it?"

"...Tch!" Qin'er wanted to curse at Lu Tianzi, but he knew that Lu Tianzi was right.

Despite the Piercing Wind Overlord's obvious suffering, he had shown no signs of trying to expel the poison. This could only mean that he was trying to gamble it all, banking on the slim chance that this unorthodox treatment would work.

If Qin'er went and forcibly tried to expel the poison, it would really be denying his master's effort.

Still, to stand by and watch the Piercing Wind Overlord suffer was really causing his heart to break!

"Arghhh!" the Piercing Wind Overlord yelled out once more, and his men clenched their fists in frustration.

Everyone watched him anxiously, feeling worried and helpless at the same time. They hated themselves for not being able to help their master in any way, not being able to share even the slightest part of the burden. Some of them even clenched their fists so tightly that their nails cut into their flesh and drew blood.

Thankfully, this mental torture did not last long.

After an agonising ten minutes, the Piercing Wind Overlord finally calmed down, though his face was now significantly paler than before.

"You did well to endure it," Lu Tianzi praised. "Now that wasn't too bad, was it?"

It was a strange sight, seeing someone as young as him complimenting the esteemed Piercing Wind Overlord. However, the latter did not mind.

Instead, the Piercing Wind Overlord was busy inspecting his inner world.

"I... don't feel anything different?" the Piercing Wind Overlord mentioned hesitantly.

"If Senior expects to be healed in one day, then I can only say that such a thing is beyond my capabilities," Lu Tianzi shook his head. "This is just the first of many dosages. You would have to go through a few doses before you can even start to feel any improvement."

"...I understand," the Piercing Wind Overlord answered weakly. "Pardon me, but I have to rest for a while. Qin'er, arrange a hut for our guests. Make sure not to be rude."

Qin'er shot an unhappy glance towards Lu Tianzi, then nodded towards the Piercing Wind. "Yes, Master."

With that, the exhausted Piercing Wind Overlord returned to his hut.

"Junior Apprentice Brother Hui, you heard what Master said. Arrange a hut for these people, and don't be rude," Qin'er said coldly before returning to his hut as well.

"All right, show is over everyone. Get back to your stuff," a familiar figure said out loud. He watched as the crowd reluctantly disperse before walking up to Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi recognised this person.

He was the first to have appeared when Old Qiao's group was dealing with the Pure Snow Serpent King. Back then, he had stood in front of the Pure Snow Serpent King with his white shield, completely blocking Old Qiao's dark arrow.

To be able to block an attack from Old Qiao, this person was naturally also at the Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Nanlian Hui, and I will be bringing you two to your hut," the man said with an amiable smile. "Also, please pardon Senior Apprentice Brother Qin. He is just worried about Master."

Nanlian Hui started walking along, and the duo started following behind him.

"You are not the first to tell me that. Don't worry, I don't care about small things like that," Lu Tianzi shook his head. "But it must be difficult to have such a bad-tempered senior."

Nanlian Hui let out a wry smile. "You might not believe it, but Senior Apprentice Brother Qin is not always like this. In fact, since you have already heard of Master's name as well as that of the Frost Guards, perhaps you have also heard of the name Nanshen Qin?"

"Nanshen Qin? Have you heard of that na... never mind, " Lu Tianzi looked at Nanlan Qianxue for a moment before turning back to Nanlian Hui. "Is that his name? Am I supposed to know him?"

Nanlan Qianxue: "..."

"It's surprising that you know of the Frost Guards but not of Senior Apprentice Brother Qin. After all, he is almost always mentioned along with Master," Nanlian Hui said. "Perhaps you will recall it if I say his full title. The Son of Lightning, Nanshen Qin – pride of the Frost Guards and twelfth on the Heaven's Warrior List."

Lu Tianzi revealed a look of surprise.

Twelfth on the Heaven's Warrior List. This meant that he was widely regarded as the twelfth strongest member of the younger generation.

No wonder he was so arrogant earlier, even declaring that he could beat Old Qiao's group all by himself!

"I know what you are thinking – he is being arrogant just because he is strong. But I can vouch for the fact that he was not like this in the past," Nanlian Hui let out a helpless sigh. "He only became the way he is after what happened to us. With Master injured and the rest of us in such a state, he probably felt overwhelmed by the pressure to step up and lead us out of this situation."

"This is really making me curious. The Frost Guards have been the guardians of Frostguard Mountain for generations. What exactly happened for you to end up as bandits?" Lu Tianzi asked. "I asked the Piercing Wind Overlord earlier, but he did not answer."

"It is not something to be proud of, so it is no wonder that Master did not want to talk about it. However, I can tell you this in hopes that it will help you understand Senior Apprentice Brother Qin's feelings," Nanlian Hui lowered his voice. "In fact, things were just as you said not too long ago. Half a year ago, we were still staying atop Frostguard Mountain as proud members of the Frost Guards. However, a few ungrateful elders who were unhappy with Master's style of governance suddenly decided to stage a coup to seize power."

Nanlian Hui's voice trembled a little, and anger could be felt from his tone despite his attempt to conceal it.

"Those cowards poisoned Master and wanted to assassinate him while he was weakened. Fortunately, Senior Apprentice Brother Qin got wind of the matter and fought to rescue Master. This quickly escalated into an all-out battle between two factions in the Frost Guards, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. As you have probably already guessed, we lost the battle and were forced to escape from Frostguard Mountain. Right now, those traitors still live atop Frostguard Mountain, acting as though they are the rightful inheritors of the Frost Guards!"

Lu Tianzi let out a faint sigh.

The Frost Guards were known to be the indomitable guardians of Frostguard Mountain. No external enemy could defeat them on their home turf. But in the end, they still could not guard against people on the inside.

"I suppose the greatest priority now is to treat your master. Why didn't you visit a proper physician?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"We would have if we could," Nanlian Hui shook his head. "We might have escaped from Frostguard Mountain, but those traitors still did not give up. Under their pursuit, we were forced to hide behind the concealment of the Shimmering Plains' snow storms. When we finally lost their tail and tried leaving to find a physician, we realised that they have already planted men along the perimeters of the Shimmering Plains. If we tried to leave, it is highly likely that they will find out and pursue us once again. With the elders on our side having sacrificed themselves to let us get away, there is no longer any way for us to fight them in a frontal battle, at least not until Master has recovered. I know it is wrong of us to do so, but robbing travellers is truly our last resort. We really have no choice in order to obtain the necessary medicinal herbs to heal Master. Believe it or not, we never intended to hurt anyone."

Lu Tianzi nodded grimly. "I understand."

If they tried to trade for medicinal herbs with the travellers instead, it was likely that they would have to reveal their identity, and that would lead to the other faction finding clues about their location.

Of course, that was only if what Nanlian Hui said was true.

The current Lu Tianzi knew better than to simply take someone's word as the truth.

"This hut is empty, so you two can stay here for now" Nanlian Hui stopped in front of a small ice hut. "I apologise for the poor living conditions, but this is all we have got right now."

"Don't worry, I have seen worse," Lu Tianzi replied.

"One last thing," Nanlian Hui said just as Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue were about to enter their assigned ice hut. "...Can you really cure Master?"

Lu Tianzi smirked. "Don't worry about that. I have seen worse."