Not a Poison but a Destructive Drug

 LUO FAN

 “It’s a failure,” Xu Dong told me.

I sighed and stroked my forehead. It was already late in the evening, but we were still working in the laboratory, experimenting on a piece of raw meat hoping that the potion that we had been refining for the last three days would succeed.

It did not.

“You should take a rest,” I said. “We’ll continue this tomorrow.”

Xu Dong nodded. “Goodnight, Priest Luo,” he replied in a quavering voice, a sign that he was already exhausted.

After he left, I decided to try it one last time.

Because of my injury, I had remained in bed for the last three days and had not accomplished anything.

I already owed Lord Lan, or Ruan Yanjun, a lot so failure was not an option for me, especially since the life of the crown prince was hanging by a thread.

After that failed attempt in my life, Ruan Yanjun no longer required me to return to the palace. He had told me to conduct all work within his residence instead, where I could be protected at all times.

Whatever I needed, I only had to tell him and he would provide for it. If I needed to check on the crown prince’s condition, a trusted imperial physician and the crown prince’s eunuch would come over to give me detailed information.

He also had granted me full access to his huge library, and should I need more books than what was already there, he would take them from the imperial library, and whatever herbs or things I needed, he had very reliant men to search for anything all over the empire.

That was how powerful Ruan Yanjun was, something that had really amazed me. He could order just anyone and no one batted an eye. They bowed down to him as if he were the emperor himself.

I was actually starting to question whether the emperor was just Ruan Yanjun’s puppet. It was even possible that the rumor was true, that Ruan Yanjun and Emperor Yin were in some kind of relationship.

The more I learned about the actual power Ruan Yanjun possessed, the more I felt pressured. I had never expected that I would ever get entangled with this powerful and infamous man. Even though he treated me well, his presence was so domineering it made me feel uneasy every time he was around.

I took a clean dish and in it, I placed another raw meat that I had soaked in a solution with a drop of the crown prince’s blood.

It was difficult fumbling for things, but I could not expect Xu Dong to come back to assist. The man needed rest.

I heard the door open. The faint sound of the approaching footsteps was enough to let me know who it was.

I turned around and bowed my head to greet him. “Lord Ruan.”

“Are you sure you’re well enough to work?” he asked.

“I’m well enough, my lord. Thanks to Physician Yang’s ingenuity, my spine is back to normal now.”

He nodded. “Continue what you’re doing then. Don’t mind me.”

In fact, I was actually glad he came because I had a hypothesis that I could only confirm with his help.

I kept my eyes in his direction, wondering how to tell him about it.

“Do you need something?” He recognized the look on my face.

I nodded. “My lord, do you mind lending me some of your energy?”

He slowly approached me. “My energy is not something you can just ask for.”

I lowered my head. I knew how precious his energy was. He would not just give it to anybody, not especially to a nobody like me.

“What will you use it for?” he asked.

“I was thinking of refining the specimen with dark energy.”

“Won’t an ordinary dark energy work?”

I shook my head. “One of your disciples tried earlier, but it didn’t work.”

“And you think mine will?”

“You have the most potent source of dark energy, my lord. I’m hoping that it might make a difference.”

He sighed. “How do I pass it to you?”

Surprised, my eyes widened. I could not believe I was able to persuade him so easily. “I cannot process your energy, my lord. If you don’t mind, I’ll guide your hand to the specimen and tell you when to release it.”

“Hold my hand, you say?” he said in a teasing voice. “You not only want to drain me of my precious energy but you also want to take advantage of me physically.”

I frowned.

What’s wrong with holding his hand? We’re both men…

I suddenly stiffened when I remembered the rumor about him and the emperor.

It looks like he really is…

I couldn’t even say it even in my thoughts.

“I don’t mean it that way, my lord,” I finally said.

He sighed again. “Fine, then. I’m in a good mood today so I give you permission to use any parts of my body for whatever purpose you have in mind, but I’m going to demand compensation afterward.”

My ears turned so hot that it felt like a glowing ember. I had never expected that the world’s most notorious devil could shamelessly tease a man in such a way. “What kind of compensation would you want, my lord?” I tried to maintain the usual calm tone of my voice.

“I’ll tell you later. Here’s my hand. Do as you wish with it.” He grabbed my right hand and placed it over his left.

He had a large hand. Mine looked like a woman’s compared to his, like Jinjing’s hand compared to mine.

I quickly shook the silly thoughts off my head. I could not believe I was thinking in that direction in the middle of something.

I held his hand and guided his point finger over the specimen.

“Is that a piece of meat?” he asked when he recognized the cubed raw pork that I had obtained from the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, my lord. It’s clean.”

“Then how come it looks rotten?”

“I put a drop of the crown prince’s blood on it and it turned that way.”

He hummed and stared at the specimen. “Interesting.” Then he sighed and looked at me. “Alright… Continue.”

“Could you channel a small amount of energy to the specimen, my lord?” I asked. “But try not to touch it. It might contaminate you.”

“How small is small?”

“As much as the specimen can handle. Too much might destroy it.”

“Minute then,” he said and released the tiniest amount of energy from the tip of his finger.

To my surprise, the specimen swelled that I feared it would explode.

He immediately stopped but the specimen was already too bloated it looked like a meat ball.

This man’s energy, one that’s coming from the infamous Ancient Demonic Core, was more potent than I had expected. It was almost scary. “My lord, could you take away half of it?”

He did as I asked, and when the dark energy weakened and the specimen reverted to its cube shape, I heaved a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I released his hand but he did not pull it away. He looked at me instead. “You’re adept with swords, I’m certain.”

I wondered how he knew, but I could not think much about it. I was in a dilemma about how to tell him to get his hand off the specimen so I could check on it.

Should I just pat it away?

That might be a little too rude.