Chapter 675: In terms of taking liberties (1/2)

The wedding of the young Tang Clan head was bound to be an extraordinary affair, with a long and lively procession. Unexpectedly, Tang Li only brought along a few guards and a single red carriage to the Ten Thousand Commerce Hall. The “procession” behind him was even less to speak of beyond the term “unsightly.”

Even Long Feiye couldn’t ignore the obvious slight. “Your idea?” he asked Han Yunxi.

“Tang Li’s idea,” she replied. Han Yunxi would never be so wicked. The wedding day was worth the memories of a lifetime and very important! Although she’d given Tang Li and Lady Tang plenty of suggestions, it was still Tang Li calling most of the shots by the end.

“Why?” Long Feiye didn’t understand.

“You wouldn’t understand things like chasing girls,” Han Yunxi laughed.

Long Feiye seemed to feel awkward at that and avoided her gaze without bringing up the topic again. Chasing girls… His own world had never had such things, it was true.

A few days later, Tang Li’s group reached the edge of the canyon. Once again, the same guide as before led them down, while Long Feiye and Han Yunxi stopped following. One hour later, Long Feiye said, “Tang Li should have reached Ten Thousand Commerce Hall by now. Let’s move.”

It wasn’t a simple task to pick up a bride. Tang Li would get to drink a cup of tea and a bowl of sweet chicken eggs before going through the traditional custom of getting picked on by the bride’s family–in this case, the Cloud Realm Trade Consortium staff. Plenty of others would be on hand to witness the fun. Long Feiye had told Tang Li in advance to waste as much time as possible. If he could attract a bigger crowd, then even better. This way the rescue operation on the side could proceed more smoothly.

Han Yunxi took out a small china vase and undid the stopper to reveal a sweet and cloying scent like honey. Long Feiye instantly covered his nose, disliking such smells.

“My favorite dessert. Come, try a taste,” Han Yunxi joked.

Long Feiye actually took the vase for a drink, scaring her. She quickly snatched the bottle back. “I was joking. This is Rainbow Queen Bee poison, it’s fatal!”

“Your lordship was joking as well. You couldn’t tell? Why so nervous?” Long Feiye said seriously.

“I, I….was playing along with you, of course,” Han Yunxi replied.

Long Feiye simply grabbed her bottle again and tossed its contents into his mouth. Because he moved so quickly, Han Yunxi could neither stop him or see clearly what he’d done. Despite this, she was frightened. “Long Feiye, are you crazy?”

She quickly withdrew a big pouch of liquid from her detox system, meant to induce vomiting. “Hurry and drink this down so you can spit up the poison!”

There was no antidote to Rainbow Queen Bee poison beyond expelling the toxins before they took effect. She was almost losing her mind, but Long Feiye only asked with amusement, “Are you still playing along with your lordship’s joke?”

Han Yunxi froze before looking at the bottle in his hands. Somehow, somewhere, he’d already put the stopper back on the opening. He was fooling her all along!

She exhaled and said coldly, “Was it very funny?” The number of times she’d gotten mad at him could be counted on her fingers, but she was much fiercer this time. Long Feiye looked at her before his gaze turned awkward. He remained silent because he didn’t know what to say. He’d known this woman for so long, but this was the first time he’d been in such a situation. She’d lost her temper at him in the past, but this time the fault was all his…the joke had gone too far and scared her.

Han Yunxi glared at Long Feiye. She assumed that he’d apologize, but he was just looking at her expressionlessly. It seemed like they were in a face-off! In the end, she dropped the issue and recovered her poison. After adding another toxin to the bottle, the sweet scent of honey grew even more pronounced in the air. Soon enough, a huge poison wasp approached the bottle and flew around it in circles as if enjoying the scent. Han Yunxi capped the bottle, and the wasp went flying back down the canyon again.

“Follow that wasp, hurry!” she said coldly.

Long Feiye picked her up without a word to give chase. Her voice was still icy as she spoke. “Put me down, I can just wait for you outside! You go follow that wasp.”

Instead of replying, Long Feiye only held her tighter.

“Put me down. I can’t help you any inside, I’ll only be a burden!” she said reasonably.

“Impossible. I’ll worry if I leave you behind,” Long Feiye said lightly. With his stubbornness before her, she dropped her gaze and let him carry her into the valley. Once inside, they realized exactly how complicated it was. Aside from the dense forest, there were multiple paths that all led to different directions. Unless they had a guide, it’d be impossible to know where to go next.

Long Feiye held Han Yunxi tight as he weaved between the trees, ducking from any guards along the way as he chased after the wasp. It flew very quickly as it darted through the leaves, forcing one to keep a sharp eye on its trajectory. But Long Feiye was still dividing his attention between it and the woman in his arms. He knew that Han Yunxi’s gold ingot was used to guide the way, but was blank as to the specifics.

“How is this wasp guiding the way?” he asked as if nothing had happened between them.

Han Yunxi’s voice was still frigid. “This poison is part of the yin-yang class. One half is yin while the other is yang. Both halves attract each other. The one left in the gold is also Rainbow Queen Bee poison, but of the yin nature. That’s why it has no scent. The one in my bottle is of the yang nature and very pungent. A poison wasp that’s been exposed to yang-natured Rainbow Queen Bee poison will naturally seek out its yin counterpart.”

Han Yunxi paused to look at Long Feiye, but he had no reaction. Thus, she added, “As long as that gold’s been on the guide for at least an hour, its poison properties will stay in his body for a month. Once the poison wasp finds him, it’ll simply suck out the yin nature poison from his body. Then the victim will die from the bee venom within half a month. Ning Jing won’t suspect a thing from us then.”

“Oh,” Long Feiye remarked.

Han Yunxi didn’t ramble and neither did Long Feiye ask any more questions. The two of them were supposed to be preoccupied with chasing down the wasp, but the silent atmosphere between them was still odd. Meanwhile, the mountain path grew more and more complicated. It wasn’t guaranteed that the wasp would trace the same road as their human guide, but by the end of it they’d end up at Ten Thousand Commerce Hall. At this moment, the wasp darted into a thick patch of thorny undergrowth. Long Feiye held Han Yunxi tight and turned around to enter the brambles backwards, thus shielding her from the thistles. By the time they came out of the other side, his entire back was covered in scratches while Han Yunxi remained untouched.

He could’ve broken through the thorns easily, but that might have attracted the guards. This was the fastest, quietest way. Soon enough, Long Feiye caught a whiff of something sweet. The wasp abruptly backtracked to their side to fly around them in circles.

“What’s going on?” Long Feiye asked.

“Put me down,” Han Yunxi said coldly.