Poison Genius Consort

s. There’s something off about his attitude.
What does he mean by that?

Gu Qishao’s eyes turned cold.
“This young master’s only interested in you!”

Jun Yixie was immediately on guard.
He glanced at the remnants of their meal, sensing that he’d been tricked.
But he was sure there was no poison! Aside from Han Yunxi, were there others with superior poison skills to him?

“Just who are you? Why did you come here?” he asked coldly.

Gu Qishao slowly drawled out two words, “The Bear chuan…”

At this, Jun Yixie turned shocked, though he didn’t reveal it on his face.
Coldly he retorted, “What’s a Bear chuan?”

“You don’t know?” Gu Qishao smiled.

“I’ve never even heard of it!” Jun Yixie denied utterly.

But how could not know? The Bear chuan was an exceedingly precious and unique medicinal ingredient.
It wasn’t only used to treat illness, but as an ingredient in antidotes as well.
He had expended no end of effort and money to secure one in the past. How did this fellow find out about my Bear chuan? What kind of poison is he trying to cure with it?

Gu Qishao didn’t argue when Jun Yixie repudiated his claims.
Instead, he sat watching the man in amusement with his arched eyebrows.
After eating an entire meal with the man, Jun Yixie was ill at ease.
He creased his brows and prepared to fight until he recalled the No Fighting policy on Fishery Island.

“Just what are you planning?” he raged.

Gu Qishao’s eyes turned vicious as he spat out, word by word, “Hand over the Bear chuan and I’ll give you the antidote! Otherwise…”

Jun Yixie felt puzzled.
Judging by the man’s attitude, he seemed to harbor a serious grudge.
He’d offended plenty of people in his life, including killing off fathers, wives, and entire families.

So which one does this situation fall under?

Though bewildered, he put up a strong front and shot Gu Qishao a scornful look.
“Or else, what?”

But he’d barely finished speaking when a sharp pain rose from his stomach.
It gradually intensified into sharp, stabbing pains, as if something was burning his intestines from the inside out.

Would any of Gu Qishao’s poisons be a simple affair? Even a man like Jun Yixie couldn’t stop himself from knitting his brows! Of course, aside from the pain, his heart was already filling with terror. So the meal was really poisoned! But I didn’t even notice it when I ate.
Moreover, I still don’t know what kind of poison this is?! To fail in his strongest subject was sheer humiliation for the famous and celebrated poisons expert and head of the Hundred Poison Sect!

A single Han Yunxi is already enough.
Where did this guy come from?! Jun Yixie endured the pain and roared, “Just who are you!?”

Gu Qishao was still leaning lazily against his tree, pulling up tufts of grass to amuse himself.
It was a long time before he finally drawled again, “Bear…chuan…”

“I don’t have it!” Jun Yixie denied in a stern voice.

Gu Qishao shrugged.
After resting for a bit, he brought out another pack of lamb strips and started boiling hotpot anew, thoroughly enjoying the taste of the meat.
But that time was enough to send Jun Yixie into the throes of agony.
He clutched his stomach as he huddled in pain, but forcing him to hand over the Bear chuan was hardly so simple.

He would endure!

“I’m off to fish for lobsters.
If Your Highness Duke of Kang has thought things through, come find me for the antidote anytime,” Gu Qishao grinned.

Fishery Island might have prohibited fighting, but not poisons! As long as he didn’t poison all the fish to death, nobody could do anything against him.
If he hadn’t used Jun Yixie’s confidence in poisons against him, he might not have won this bout at all! Under Jun Yixie’s hateful glare, Gu Qishao picked up his fishing pole and started humming a tune as he headed for the Illusory Sea Lake.
He was planning to catch a few giant lobsters to help his Poison lass restore her health.

Late spring on the cusp of summer is a great season for lobsters!

As soon as Gu Qishao left, Jun Yixie was so angry he kick the hotpot flying! Dammnit! Have I gotten rusty? Any old nobody can beat me now? If they want me to hand over the Bear chuan, they can keep dreaming!

Jun Yixie sat at the base of the tree as he pressed pressed his hands against his stomach and forced himself to calm down.
He refused to believe that he couldn’t treat this poison!

Unfortunately, hours of enduring the pain later had still yielded no hints or clues.
He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even sit straight, but remained hunched over on the ground.
Here of all times, his poisoned shoulder started acting up as well.
Jun Yixie fell to the side and grew still.
Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and started thrashing around on the ground.

Pain could be fatal, too! Plenty of people had died from sheer pain alone.
Aware that he wouldn’t be able to survive at this rate, Jun Yixie finally caved.
He forced himself to walk to the lake, too pained to talk, and held up the Bear chuan in one hand towards Gu Qishao.

“Aiya, you’ve thought things through?” Gu Qishao smiled.

“Bring over the antidote!” Jun Yixie gasped out, his face pale and drenched in cold sweat.

“Do you think you have the right to talk terms with me?” Gu Qishao retorted coldly.

Unwilling yet helpless, Jun Yixie tossed the Bear chuan over.
Gu Qishao caught it in his hands and made sure it was the real thing before rejoicing.
He glanced back at Jun Yixie with a devastatingly beautiful smile and said, “Welp, it looks like I forgot to bring the antidote with me.”

people will die for a good meal (人为食亡) – renwei shiwang, this is actually a shortened/modified version of the original saying, 人为财死，鸟为食亡 renwei caisi, niaowei shiwang, which means “people die for the sake of wealth (while) birds die for the sake of a meal.” Here the saying has been adapted to just include the “people” and “sake of food” bits in an ironic twist.
The original saying came from an anecdote about two people who unexpectedly dug up a treasure trove on top of a mountain.
In the midst of their excitement, Person A told Person B to bring back some food while he guarded the treasure, and to not tell anyone about it.
Person B agreed and went down the mountain.
After grabbing some rice and food, he started the trek back up, which took hours.
While waiting for him, Person A began to entertain thoughts of keeping the treasure for himself, and plotted to kill off Person B.
Meanwhile, Person B had the same thought, and placed poison in the food to kill off A.
Eventually, Person B made it to Person A.
While preparing to enjoy their meal, Person A caught Person B unawares with a knife and killed him.
Then Person A ate a few bites of the meal in celebration, only to die shortly afterwards, scattering his rice on the ground.
A few stray birds who flew by looking for a meal ate the rice and also died.
In the end, no one got the treasure.
Some time later, a wandering Immortal who came upon the scene sighed and murmured, “People died for the sake of wealth as birds die for the sake of a meal.”