If I stay in the Hehuan Sect, I'll live off the pampered daughters of the Heavenly Pride Sect.

Deep inside the cave, the sound of dripping water was amplified infinitely in the deathly silence.

An indescribable awkwardness permeated the air, along with a kind of restlessness unique to those who had just finished "strenuous exercise."

Mo Chengyue remained in a stiff posture, feeling his back soaked in cold sweat.

Opposite him, his second senior sister, Qin Wanzhuang, was leaning against the rock wall, half-dead, but her usually cold and aloof eyes were now fixed on his right hand.

That was the hand that had not only embraced Lin Miaoyin, but also had wrapped around her waist and perhaps even slid up slightly as it dragged her into the cave.

Not only was there mud on it, but also residual body heat.

"that……"

Mo Chengyue's Adam's apple bobbed. In this space, which felt particularly cramped due to his "killer gaze," he made a move that almost shattered Qin Wanzhuang's Dao heart.

He solemnly rubbed his hand on his muddy thigh, as if it had something unclean on it.

Then, with lightning speed, he pulled a small abacus from his storage bag.

"Slap, slap, slap."

The crisp sound of abacus beads clashing echoed through the cave, creating a strong sense of rhythm.

"Second Senior Sister, we brothers should keep clear accounts."

Mo Chengyue kept his head down, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he muttered to himself, completely ignoring Qin Wanzhuang's increasingly unpleasant expression.

"One top-grade Earth Escape Talisman costs 800 spirit stones on the market; three enhanced Concealing Breath Talismans are my exclusive secret recipe, I'll give you a friendly price of 1500."

"And there's the cost of the physical exertion of dragging you in, the compensation for emotional distress, and the risk of exposing my escape route while saving you..."

He suddenly looked up, making a gesture with a pained expression.

"Thank you for your kind offer, three thousand spirit stones! No credit allowed!"

Qin Wanzhuang was stunned.

The little strength she had gathered out of shame and indignation was shattered by this sudden display of mercenary arrogance.

She opened her mouth as if to curse "shameless," but what rose in her throat was an even stronger, sweet, metallic taste.

"puff!"

She spat out a mouthful of black blood, and Qin Wanzhuang's face visibly turned ashen.

But what's even more terrifying is her gaze.

His once clear eyes suddenly became unfocused, and a strange flush appeared deep in his pupils.

She began to tremble violently, her hands frantically scratching her neck and arms, her nails digging deep into her flesh as if trying to dig something out of her body.

"Dirty...so dirty..."

Qin Wanzhuang's voice changed, carrying a chilling terror.

"There are bugs... so many bugs... don't crawl on me! Get away! Get away from me!"

In her vision, the mud and blood that had been clinging to her body had now turned into countless, wriggling white maggots.

They were gnawing at her skin, drilling into her pores; the extreme nausea instantly shattered the rational defenses of this germaphobic swordsman.

"I want to take a bath...water...I need water!"

Qin Wanzhuang struggled frantically to stand up, completely disregarding her broken meridians, and stumbled towards the cave entrance.

Outside lies the Soul-Sinking Swamp!

It was full of cultivators waiting to scavenge for bargains and demonic beasts drawn by the smell of blood!

What's the difference between her going out at this time and delivering takeout?

"Holy crap! Are they crazy?!"

Mo Chengyue was so frightened he almost dropped the abacus in his hand.

He knew all too well how terrifying these hallucinations caused by being poisoned by corpse poison could be.

Especially for someone like the second senior sister, who has obsessive-compulsive disorder and would frown for ages even if there was a wrinkle in her clothes, this was simply a game-changer.

"Senior sister! Don't move! It's an illusion!"

Mo Chengyue rushed forward and blocked the cave entrance.

"Get out of here! You filthy demon! You're covered in worms!"

At this point, Qin Wanzhuang could no longer distinguish friend from foe. In her eyes, Mo Chengyue, covered in mud, was simply a giant insect nest.

She screamed, mustered her last bit of inner energy, and with a soft yet resolute palm strike, aimed straight at Mo Chengyue's face.

"Damn it, you're really asking for it!"

Mo Chengyue was also driven to desperation.

Trying to reason with someone who is temporarily mentally impaired at this point is just plain stupid.

If words don't work, then let's use force!

He ducked to avoid the weakened palm strike, then retaliated with a grappling move, grabbing Qin Wanzhuang's wrist and twisting it behind her back.

Using his weight advantage of over 100 pounds, he forcefully pinned the usually unapproachable and unattainable second senior sister to the ground.

"Bang!"

Dust flew everywhere.

"Behave yourself! Move again and I'll tie you up and throw you in the latrine!"

Mo Chengyue threatened fiercely, his entire body like an octopus, firmly pinning down Qin Wanzhuang's limbs.

This posture is as indecent as can be.

It can be as ambiguous as it gets.

If anyone were to enter now, Mo Chengyue would be in deep trouble—shocking! Qingquan Peak disciple Huangye committed indecent acts against his senior sister!

Qin Wanzhuang was still struggling frantically, even attempting to bite her tongue and commit suicide to preserve her "innocence".

"Can you please stop making things worse!"

Mo Chengyue was furious. He pressed one hand firmly on her shoulder, while using the other hand to check her injuries in his haste.

With a "ripping" sound, her already tattered clothes on her left shoulder were roughly torn open.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Qin Wanzhuang, who was struggling, seemed to have been put on pause, and her whole body froze.

Large swathes of skin, as delicate and white as mutton fat jade, were exposed to the air, possessing a breathtaking beauty.

However, beneath this beauty lies a horrific and repulsive scar.

Her once rounded shoulders were now completely black.

What was flowing from the wound was not fresh blood at all, but foul-smelling black pus.

Even more terrifying, beneath the rotting flesh, there were indeed tiny, white spider eggs wriggling slightly.

The venom of the Ghost-Faced Spider also has the property of laying eggs.

This is the root cause of Qin Wanzhuang's hallucinations—it's the fear of her biological instincts.

Qin Wanzhuang stared blankly at her shoulder, her pupils dilating violently as a despair deeper than death instantly overwhelmed her.

"Dirty..."

She murmured to herself, tears streaming silently down her face. At this moment, she was no longer the decisive swordsman, but simply a broken girl.

Mo Chengyue took a deep breath.

The trouble is big.

This poison has penetrated deep into the bone marrow; conventional antidotes are simply useless, like feeding sugar candy.

There is only one way to save her—use the domineering properties of the Yin-Yang Virtue Harmony Classic to force out the poison.

But this technique... is a bit unorthodox.

Furthermore, physical contact is required.

If this woman were to wake up and find out how I saved her, I'd probably be hunted down to the ends of the earth.

"Oh well, what can I do? I'm just too kind-hearted."

Mo Chengyue sighed, mainly because he was afraid no one would take the blame, and took out a tattered strip of cloth from his storage bag.

"Senior sister, please forgive me."

His face was solemn, and his tone was somber, as if he were about to perform a sacred ceremony.

"You have been poisoned by the Demon Spider's venom, and the poison has attacked your heart. I am not very talented, but I once learned a method called 'Blind Man's Bone-Feeling Method' from an ancient family book."

"To protect my senior sister's reputation, I will seal my eyes and never look inappropriately!"

After saying that, he solemnly covered his eyes with the rag and tied it in a tight knot behind his head.

In fact, his divine sense had already been fully activated long ago.

Blindfolding? That's for the patient's psychological comfort! That's called medical ethics!

"Bear with it, it will hurt a little, and it will feel a little... strange."

After Mo Chengyue finished speaking, he took out a dagger that he had prepared beforehand from his pocket and ignited a spiritual fire at his fingertips to disinfect it.

Then came the sound of clothes tearing.

To clean the wound, Qin Wanzhuang's cumbersome outfit had to be completely cut open.

"Sizzle—"

In the dimly lit cave, large patches of snow-white skin gleamed like porcelain in the firelight.