Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 467 My Master is the Antidote to Cold Poison (11,000 words)

"Senior Sister...your cold poison..."

Chu Menglan's face was full of worry.

The "Extreme Yin Su Nu Jing" is the highest martial arts manual of the Su Nu Pavilion. Its cultivation progresses at an extremely fast pace, far exceeding that of ordinary manuals. However, there are few things in this world that are perfect. While progressing rapidly, one must also bear some side effects brought about by the "Extreme Yin Su Nu Jing".

That is the cold poison.

Women are inherently yin in nature, and the "Extreme Yin Classic of the Plain Woman" is an extremely yin and cold secret text. After years of practice, coldness will accumulate in the practitioner's body. At first, people will only feel that the person has a cold temperament, like a fairy in the sky who is not related to the world.

As one's strength increases and the cold energy accumulates, it gradually forms a cold poison. When one's cultivation level is low, the cold poison has little impact and will only erupt once every few years. When it erupts, most cultivators can suppress it by relying on their internal energy. However, as one's cultivation level breaks through to the eighth rank and enters the ninth rank, the cold poison becomes unprecedentedly strong, and the frequency of its eruptions increases dramatically, with each eruption being stronger than the last.

At this point, ordinary methods, such as medicine or internal energy, are no longer sufficient to suppress it.

Then came the chilling poison seeping into the body.

At this moment, the woman's entire body was as cold as ice, and her heart and internal organs were almost frozen, which was an unbearable torment.

When choosing a cultivation manual, Hua Lianyue would tell every woman who joined the Su Nu Pavilion about the advantages and disadvantages of all the manuals without any concealment. However, when Lin Xue began her cultivation, it was also the time when she learned that her younger brother and mother had both been murdered in the Duke's Mansion. At that time, Lin Xue was only focused on destroying the Song family and becoming stronger. She chose the "Extreme Yin Su Nu Scripture" without any hesitation.

Lin Xue's physique was also extremely suitable for this secret manual, and her cultivation speed was no less than that of Hua Lian Yue. However, now that Lin Xue's realm had reached the ninth rank, the torment of the cold poison had become even more severe.

Originally, with Lin Xue's strength, the cold poison should have flared up once every three months, four times a year. Although each time was extremely difficult to endure, the frequency was relatively low, so she could withstand it. However, now, perhaps due to the fatigue from more than a month of travel, her body was exhausted and her internal energy was unstable, which caused the cold poison to appear prematurely.

Is this considered a disorder?
Feeling the chilling aura emanating from Lin Xue's fingers, Chu Menglan panicked for a moment, her face turning pale, unsure of what to do.

"Phew, I'm fine. Take me to the carriage first." Lin Xue pursed her lips, forcibly suppressing her trembling voice, and said softly.

The sound was faint, like the buzzing of mosquitoes.

Although it was already May, Lin Xue's breath still turned into thick white mist when she spoke, which showed just how dangerous the cold poison in her body was. Chu Menglan didn't dare to delay and quickly helped Lin Xue into the carriage. She then instructed the driver to drive the carriage away from the city gate and stop it in a secluded place.

Upon arrival, Lin Xue asked Chu Menglan to leave temporarily, leaving herself alone in the carriage.

The coachman was sent away by Chu Menglan.

The chill is getting stronger.

Even the warm summer breeze seemed to be tinged with a layer of icy cold, and in a daze, Chu Menglan even felt as if she had returned to the freezing cold of last year.

Chirp, chirp.

Faintly, one could hear some different sounds.

Looking up, one could see that a layer of white frost had faintly formed outside the carriage. The frost gradually spread along the carriage to the ground and began to slowly spread in all directions. The glistening white frost froze the tender green grass leaves, and within a radius of several meters, a frozen area was faintly formed.

"what……"

"Um……"

Intermittently, one could hear Lin Xue's muffled groans of pain coming from inside the carriage.

Chu Menglan knew her senior sister's personality all too well. She was stronger than any man. Even if she was shot in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt, she would pull the bolt off without uttering a sound. But now she was making such a painful groan. One could imagine how painful it was for the cold poison to seep into her body.

Looking at the motionless carriage, Chu Menglan felt anxious but helpless.

The "Extreme Yin Su Nu Jing" is one of the two major secret texts of the Hehuan Sect. It was naturally created to complement the "Hundred Flowers Treasure Mirror". To cure the cold poison, there is no other way but to cultivate with a man who practices the "Hundred Flowers Treasure Mirror". Otherwise, one can only choose to endure it. As the cold poison gets stronger, until the woman can no longer resist it, then she will perish.

However, ever since the mysterious disappearance of the Grandmaster of the Hundred Flowers Sect, the "Hundred Flowers Treasure Mirror" has also vanished.

Chu Menglan couldn't help but think of her master again... Over the years, her master had tried countless methods to resolve the cold poison... such as practicing other extremely yang and strong techniques in an attempt to neutralize the cold poison, but in the end, he almost went into qi deviation.

Alternatively, searching for various positive drugs may only provide slight relief and have little effect.

This time, Master entered Ningguo alone, and it is said that he discovered the man who cultivates the "Hundred Flowers Treasure Mirror" in Ningguo... When they heard this news, many of the junior sisters in Su Nu Pavilion were extremely happy. If they could find this man, the cold poison of so many sisters in Su Nu Pavilion would have an antidote.

Who would have thought that the next message I received from my master was that he was preparing to get married.

Could it be...

My master's husband is the man who cultivated the "Hundred Flowers Precious Mirror"?

Suddenly, a thought popped into Chu Menglan's mind, and her big, dark eyes grew brighter and brighter... If that were the case, it wouldn't be hard to understand why her master, who always looked down on ordinary men, would be preparing to get married.

Moreover, since he is the master, he should not refuse to help the eldest sister resolve the cold poison.

The generational order is a bit messed up, but as long as we can survive, that's fine.

Even the other junior sisters who had practiced the "Extreme Yin Plain Girl Scripture" could see some hope.

Yes, she's the same way.

After all, Master achieved the Grandmaster realm by cultivating the "Extreme Yin Su Nu Scripture". The sisters in Su Nu Pavilion all admire Master very much and most of them choose to cultivate the same secret scripture as Master.

Ultimately, Su Nu Pavilion still originated from the Hehuan Sect. Although it is not as unrestrained as the Hehuan Sect, some of its concepts and worldly views are quite different.

Thinking this, Chu Menglan let out a heavy breath. She couldn't help but feel more curious about this master she had never met before. As she was thinking, she noticed that her pretty little face was flushed slightly.

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, an hour had gone by.

The rosy clouds on the horizon have dispersed.

Night fills the air.

The surroundings turned into a hazy, indistinct expanse.

The chill seeping into the carriage gradually subsided.

Another hour passed, and the moon was already hanging in the sky.

As the carriage curtain was lifted, Lin Xue finally stepped out of the carriage. However, suppressing the cold poison with her internal energy was quite exhausting, and even with Lin Xue's strength, it was very difficult. As soon as she landed, she felt her legs go weak and she almost fell. Chu Menglan quickly stepped forward and supported Lin Xue's arm. Only then did she see that Lin Xue's face was as white as snow, without a trace of color.

His eyes were also filled with fatigue.

He looked as if he had just gone through a life-or-death battle, and his internal energy was completely depleted.

Without the support of the constantly released cold toxins, the frozen frost quickly melted under the high temperature of the summer night, turning into drops of dew that hung on the grass leaves.

"Senior Sister, let's go into the city first and find an inn to rest properly," Chu Menglan said softly, pursing her lips.

Lin Xue let out a heavy sigh, then shook her head: "It's alright, let's go check out the Jingguan first." She had finally come across something related to her younger brother, and even though it was just some human heads, she still wanted to go and see it.

Chu Menglan had no choice but to accompany Lin Xue towards the city gate again, knowing that once her senior sister made a decision, nothing could change it.

Speaking of which, the builder of the Jingguan was Marquis Song Yan.

The master who married the master was also the champion marquis, Song Yan.

It should be the same person.

For some reason, Chu Menglan felt a surge of curiosity about this master she had never met before.

Lin Xue recovered well. Although her limbs were sore when she got out of the car, she was able to walk normally again after only a few breaths.

As for the carriage, the driver was instructed to go ahead and wait at the city gate.

In Yu Chumenglan's imagination, a Jingguan (a mound of corpses) was a rather terrifying thing. She thought that not many people would be willing to see what a Jingguan looked like in person. At most, it would be out-of-town merchants who would go and take a look out of curiosity. At night, not many people would go to see a Jingguan, because they would have nightmares.

But who would have thought that the closer they got to the location of the mound of skulls, the more people there were. Even at night, this place was not affected in the slightest. Getting closer, they could hear the noisy voices coming from not far away. The two women looked at each other and could see the strange look in each other's eyes. They quickened their pace in unison.

After passing several large trees, the view suddenly opened up before me.

The first thing that caught my eye wasn't the Jingguan (a mound of fallen trees), but the lanterns hanging from the surrounding trees... Even though it was already late at night, the dozens or even hundreds of lanterns bathed the surrounding area in a warm orange glow, making it seem like daytime.

Under the candlelight, wisps of smoke rose.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that not far ahead stood dozens of small temples, Taoist monasteries, and shrines.

Yes, that's right, it's this kind of thing.

I glanced at it and saw that the Jade Emperor, the Buddha, the God of the Land and the God of Grain who were worshipped alongside Yu the Great, the Xuan Yuan Dao Jun, the statue of Confucius, the Four Heavenly Emperors, the Queen Mother of the West, Guanyin and Ksitigarbha, the Lord of Mount Tai... basically every deity whose name I could name was worshipped here.

Even the Zoroastrian gods worshipped by foreign tribes, such as Mani, the Holy Father of Nestorianism, and the Dragon God of Yanqi, all have altars, though the altars are placed slightly to the side and there isn't as much incense burning.

Its main feature is that it is all-encompassing.

Some people wearing python robes burned incense and made offerings before the Supreme God of Heaven, the God of Earth, and the God of Grain.

There were traveling merchants who knelt devoutly before the God of Wealth.

Some students dressed as scholars were chanting incantations in front of the statue of Confucius.

Occasionally, you can see people from foreign lands speaking incomprehensible prayers in front of those strangely shaped statues of gods.

The smoke rising from the burning incense and paper money filled the forest with a strange smell.

Looking up, Lin Xue and Chu Menglan then noticed two towering... Jingguan (a type of mound of corpses) behind the numerous temples and Taoist monasteries. Both Jingguan were triangular in shape, and the side facing them was filled with a dense mass of heads.

A row of human heads, a row of yellow mud, were neatly arranged. The flesh on the heads had long since rotted away, leaving only white bones.

Under the lantern's glow, the skulls were reduced to two dark holes where their eye sockets should have been, sending chills down one's spine. Even with their formidable strength, Lin Xue and Chu Menglan felt a chill run through their bodies, especially Chu Menglan, who felt as if her flat stomach was cramping.

The dry rations we ate on the road seemed like they could be thrown up at any moment.

Then... with a "whoosh," Chu Menglan really vomited.

Being a princess, she was pampered and spoiled, unlike Lin Xue who led troops into battle and was accustomed to all kinds of bloodshed. Her tolerance was insufficient. Some people looked up when they heard the sound, but quickly looked away, clearly unfazed by such a scene.

Jingguan, pale human heads, countless Taoist temples, shrines, statues of gods, incense... all these things come together to form an absurd and bizarre scene.

"Ladies, is this your first time visiting Dongling?" Just then, a man in a blue robe walked over with a smile. The man was in his thirties and had a handsome appearance. He held a teacup in his hand and handed it to Chu Menglan: "Would you like to rinse your mouth, Miss?"

As it happened, Chu Menglan's mouth was feeling uncomfortable at the moment, so she didn't think much of it, took the bag, rinsed her mouth, and felt much refreshed.

Reaching out to take the empty teacup, the man's smile deepened: "Thank you, one tael of silver."

crunch.

Chu Menglan's complexion, which had improved slightly, immediately froze on her face.

Wasn't the tea lent to me voluntarily? Why do I have to pay for it? And it's just a cup of water, why does it cost an ounce of silver?
black.

It was pitch black.

What a waste of such a beautiful face.

For a moment, Chu Menglan even had the urge to chop off the kid's hand.

She glanced around and saw that there were quite a few imperial guards near the Jingguan and temple. As a princess of Chu, she didn't want to cause trouble as soon as she arrived in Dongling. Gritting her teeth, she reluctantly took out a tael of silver from her purse and threw it into the young man's hand.

The young man didn't care about Chu Menglan's attitude. He smiled, put away the silver, and prepared to turn and leave... After all, no one would be in a good mood if they were cheated out of a silver tael or two. They might even curse themselves in their hearts... He made money, so why shouldn't others have a chance to vent their frustrations?
He's not that domineering.

"Young man, wait a minute..."

The young man stopped and turned to look at the taller, more athletic, and stunningly beautiful woman: "Is there anything else, miss?"

"May I ask your name, sir?"

"Qi Chengxuan." The young man cupped his hands in greeting, his gaze sweeping over the two women, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"May I ask, is this the Jingguan built by Marquis Song Yan?"

"Exactly."

"If it's a mound of skulls, why has it turned into this state?" Lin Xue glanced at the temple, her tone full of curiosity.

Qi Chengxuan laughed and said, "Miss, you are not from Dongling and are not very familiar with the situation here." After a pause, Qi Chengxuan continued, "The Ningguo court has been corrupt for a long time. Even if an official does something bad, they protect each other and the matter is eventually dropped. However, Marquis Song Yan is an upright and incorruptible person."

"Upon arriving at Dongling, we uprooted the Ghost Cave, a criminal gang that had been entrenched in the imperial city for nearly a hundred years."

"More than two thousand members of Ghost Cave were uprooted, not one was left."

"At the same time, more than two hundred officials of various levels who were involved with the Ghost Cave were all executed by the Marquis. Many of them had their entire families exterminated or their entire clan wiped out."

"The severed heads and the heads from the Ghost Cave were used to build these two mounds of skulls."

"The atmosphere in the Ningguo court was also cleaned up."

"The people of Dongling are grateful for the Marquis's kindness, but unfortunately the Marquis went to Pingyang to serve as the governor. When they miss him and cannot see him, they will come to Jingguan to walk around and take a look. Over time, this has become a trend. Occasionally, people will burn incense in front of Jingguan and pray for the Marquis to return to the capital as soon as possible."

"At some point, someone built a Buddha temple in front of the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), and then it got out of control. All sorts of temples, Taoist temples, and shrines appeared more and more. Although the imperial court did not like licentious worship and sacrifice, considering that the incense was being consumed by those beasts in the Ghost Cave and corrupt officials, it was better to give it to the gods, so they let it go."

Qi Chengxuan explained with a smile, gesturing for Lin Xue and Chu Menglan to come to his tea stall. He poured himself a cup of water to moisten his throat before continuing:
"With the imperial court's permission, the incense offerings in this place became even more abundant."

"At some point, a rumor spread that a woman prayed for a child here and became pregnant the next day. As a result, even more people came here to burn incense, and then many other ridiculous legends emerged: scholars who prayed here would pass their exams; seriously ill people who burned incense here would immediately become energetic; merchants who burned incense here would have smooth sailing in their business; and even officials who lit a few sticks of incense here would rise rapidly in rank... Haha, it's really laughable. These people have probably forgotten that more than half of the heads in those Jingguan are those of officials and their families."

"In short, more and more people are coming here."

"Officials leaving the capital for distant posts would come here to pay their respects... Newlyweds would come here to pay their respects before their weddings; merchants would come by and pay their respects; and if any child misbehaved, their parents would drag them over and scold them, pointing at the heads on the mound and yelling: 'If you don't behave, the Marquis will take your little head too!' Placing them on this mound of heads always had a good effect..."

“If a person from Ningguo hasn’t come to pay their respects in front of this Jingguan, they’ll be embarrassed to say they’ve been to Dongling.”

"As more people came, some started small businesses here, selling incense and candles, paper money for the dead, lunch and dinner. For example, I opened a small tea stall here, to give those young ladies and gentlemen who vomited from seeing the Jingguan for the first time a place to rinse their mouths. It's enough to make a living."

Lin Xue and Chu Menglan were stunned.

what is this?
Lin Xue's expression was strange; she had a feeling that her younger brother was being worshipped like a god in Ningguo.

Chu Menglan glanced at the Jingguan (a mound of corpses) and saw the densely packed heads, which made her shudder.

I heard that this mound of skulls was built by a shaman who piled up one head of yellow mud at a time.

hiss.

This is too scary.

I have a feeling that this master isn't a good person.

In Chu Menglan's mind, her grandmaster, whom she had never met, became an image of someone who was three zhang tall, with a bronze head and iron arms, and a blue face and fangs.

The thought of having such a person help me break the cold poison... made me inexplicably reluctant.

(End of this chapter)