Spiders are often referred to as one of the "Five Poison," among which the commonly known "Black Widow" is especially a representative of venomous spiders. Legend has it that a single bite can cause pain for seven days and nights. Since it was nurtured by the Worm Sect, it must be extremely poisonous, to the extent that even the Shennong Pill was ineffective. Ye Shikai lay powerlessly on the ground, his body seemingly glued to the floor, unable to move an inch.
"It seems I have to apologize to Dugu, you brought this upon yourself, you rotten man," the woman sneered, looking down at Ye Shikai sprawled on the ground without a hint of pity, her eyes instead shining with a touch of madness. She stepped forward and kicked at Ye Shikai’s ribs, but to no response.
"So much for your abilities, yet you dared to speak of true love," the woman scoffed, turning away and sauntered to the venomous flowers, continuing to water them.
"I... I... won..." Suddenly, a hoarse and weak voice arose behind the woman. A shock finally surfaced on her cold indifferent face, and she turned around. Ye Shikai was supporting himself with a metallic sword, struggling to keep his body stable, his face pale as paper and lips white, barely clinging to life.
Seeing this, a slow, meaningful smile curled the corners of the woman’s mouth, while Ye Shikai found it difficult to even move a step, only managing to let out a voice with the little strength left.
"I... stood up, you... can’t go back on your word."
The woman slowly approached Ye Shikai, gazing down at him with an indifferent expression. Ye Shikai thought she would agree, as she was, after all, the Sect Leader of the Worm Sect, such an important figure shouldn’t break her promise. However, clearly, Ye Shikai was mistaken...
A blade directly stabbed into Ye Shikai’s abdomen, with almost full-body paralysis, he couldn’t even feel the pain, only watching helplessly as blood flowed out.
"Don’t you know, never trust a beautiful woman’s words," the woman whispered scornfully into Ye Shikai’s ear, her face brimming with laughter.
"You... lied... deceived me," Ye Shikai fell backward, reaching out his right hand, his trembling arms seemingly grasping for the last bit of light, his eyes glazed, pupils dilating. Anger reached its peak in Ye Shikai’s heart, but he was powerless to act, no doubt if he wasn’t poisoned, it would be to the point of vomiting blood, utterly helpless, with no cards left to play. What about Dugu Tianke? Would he come to the rescue, or perhaps, was he in cahoots with this demoness, specifically to harm him...
Ye Shikai no longer had the strength to ponder over these things, toxins and severe injuries had already sapped all his energy, now all he could do was wait for the inevitable death. If he had any remaining strength, it was only in his brain, thinking in death’s incoming moment about Su Qingyu, their marriage had just begun, was he really going to die now? Maybe this was the "go with the flow" that Dugu Tianke always talked about, to have fate without destiny, just ...
.....................
"Come on, wake up if you’re alive."
A slight numbing sensation on the face, slowly opening his eyes, the "outline" on the bed suggested someone was indeed lying there just a moment ago, but now that person was sprawled on the floor. Piecing it together, it all pointed to one thing: being slapped directly from the bed to the ground.
"Where is this again?" Ye Shikai stretched out his hand, rubbing his eyes and muttering.
Why use "again", it seems this kind of scene has occurred quite a few times already.
"Are you awake now?" An impatient scolding voice came from beside his ear.
Ye Shikai slowly opened his eyes and after three seconds, he confirmed something - he really was okay, still alive and well, with no pain in his body, only feeling very weak, as if paralyzed.
He looked up and saw a stunningly beautiful face, this person... wasn’t she the demonic female Sect Leader of the Worm Sect?
Ye Shikai quickly retreated, keeping a distance. This demonic woman, wasn’t she supposed to kill him? Why was she saving him now?
"You are so cowardly, I think the outside world’s opinion of you is a bit exaggerated," said the woman disdainfully.
"You... you are dishonest." Ye Shikai was dumbfounded. The first words he blurted out were the complaint he hadn’t managed to say before passing out.
"Oh, you are quite bold," the woman suddenly laughed upon seeing this, as if she heard a very amusing joke. "Do you still want to kill me? Go ahead, I’ll give you the chance. Do you dare?"
Ye Shikai turned his head away, silent. He didn’t know why the woman would want to kill him and then save him, but her attitude was indeed infuriating.
"What, cat got your tongue? Talk to me." The woman raised her hand again and fiercely swung it down.
Ye Shikai raised his arms, but his body, having just recovered, couldn’t even withstand her blow, and he was sent flying, arms and all.
"Hmph, with you in this condition, you still dare to challenge my Worm Sect." A trace of compassion flashed in the woman’s eyes, but then she reverted to her cold demeanor.
"You won’t help me remove the worm, fine. I’ve taken your three strikes, now I’m leaving." Ye Shikai struggled to get up and slowly walked towards the door.
"Stop." The woman, without saying another word, struck him with her palm, knocking Ye Shikai to the ground again. "Do you think my Worm Sect is a tourist spot, come and go as you please?"
The woman took out a pill from her pocket, grabbed Ye Shikai’s mouth, and directly stuffed it inside.
"Cough cough, what did you feed me?" Ye Shikai, powerless to retaliate—though the woman had cleared the spider poison, the residual effects were not to be underestimated. One careless move could be fatal, so Ye Shikai could not make any sudden movements and could only let her feed him the pill.
"I’ll seal your Inner Strength first. You can recuperate here for the next few days." The woman said and then turned to leave. Just as Ye Shikai tried to follow, he heard a "bang" as the iron door slammed shut. He went forward to turn the doorknob, predictably finding it locked from the outside.
"Hey, let me out!" Ye Shikai shouted loudly, he checked up and down, and all electronic communication devices were gone. Fortunately, the Storage Ring was not taken by the woman.
"Thank goodness, she overlooked something." Ye Shikai secretly rejoiced in his heart. Just as he was about to use his Inner Strength to open the Storage Ring, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his Dantian area. The pill the woman had fed him seemed to be used to seal his Inner Strength. Ye Shikai couldn’t find a trace of Inner Strength anywhere in his body. Now, he was no different from an ordinary person; without Inner Strength, he couldn’t open the Storage Ring, which now was just a plain ring. It seems, Ye Shikai had still underestimated the woman’s capabilities.