Cheng Shi's eye twitched. He snapped back irritably:
"Either stand up on your own, or keep lying there playing dead. As long as you're not afraid of the cold or dying, I'm sure I've got plenty of ti to wait you out. After all, they're hunting you, not .
"And I told you: talk first, heal second.
"Poison, if you want treatnt from , spit out your secret first. Otherwise, no deal."
Hearing this utterly frigid negotiation tone, Poison sighed with waning interest. Then, remarkably, color began creeping back into her face.
The assassin who'd looked monts from death suddenly appeared to be recovering on her own. Gritting her teeth, she wrenched the bolt from her shoulder, and staggered to her feet from the blood-stained snow.
She still looked sowhat feeble — so much so that the instant she stood, she lost her balance and stumbled toward Cheng Shi. He snorted coldly, pivoted, sidestepped. One fluid motion.
But this ti he'd underestimated her determination to get close. Poison lunged forward, slipping through Cheng Shi's shadow — vanished — and rematerialized in the middle of Da Yi and Gongyang Jiao's battle.
Cheng Shi's gaze hardened. A furious roar echoed from ahead, and three figures blasted apart, retreating in different directions.
Da Yi returned to his original position, expression grave, shirt soaked through with sweat. His Iron Thorns had multiplied from one to three in each hand.
Gongyang Jiao's face was slathered in blood. His left cheek appeared to have been pierced through. Blood dripped down his chin and neck, making him look even more deranged.
His crimson tongue poked through the mangled hole in his cheek, coiling around the torn flesh and pooling blood. He sucked and chewed, then fixed Poison with a savage glare:
"I'll peel your skin, you filthy slut. I'll stitch it over my face.
"Then I'll teach you what real fear ans!"
With the main combatants separated, the Chaleon didn't press the attack either. He slipped silently into the blizzard, vanishing from everyone's sight once more.
Jiang Chi frowned slightly, wanting to move closer to Da Yi. But seeing the Gap Light Iron Thorn didn't seem to trust him, he shifted two steps toward Cheng Shi instead, positioning himself partly in front of the priest.
This wasn't to protect Cheng Shi — it was to facilitate the deal with Poison.
Because at that very mont, Poison had erged from the lee and returned to Cheng Shi's side, draping herself across his back in a show of complete exhaustion.
"Don't move. Let
lean on you for a bit. I really have no strength left."
Cheng Shi's expression darkened. He desperately wanted to backhand her with a Lightning Punishnt and send this endlessly troubleso assassin on her way. But he didn't dare.
Because Poison's dagger was already pressed against his chest.
He had zero doubt that this Chosen One assassin would cut him down the instant she felt threatened. But he equally had no doubt that as long as he didn't make a move, she would never strike first.
Because that was Poison. She never enjoyed killing with blades.
What she enjoyed was letting people's own desires kill them. She was rely the catalyst who made them forge their own suicide weapon.
"Have I changed?"
Poison draped over Cheng Shi's back, arms hooked around his neck, her warm breath ghosting against his skin.
"?" Cheng Shi frowned, failing to follow her train of thought.
Seeing him freeze, Poison suddenly laughed. Weak as she was, she still shook with mirth.
"What I an is — after all this ti apart, you've gotten harder. So have I... gotten softer?"
As she spoke, Poison's weakened arms tightened slightly around him.
"..."
Cheng Shi's entire body went rigid, as if the raging blizzard had frozen him solid in place. He didn't dare move a muscle.
"Why won't you answer? Has my temper gotten softer than before?"
"..."
Cheng Shi's eye twitched. 'I don't know if your temper has changed. All I know is the snow in the sky just turned yellow.'
Gongyang Jiao couldn't hear what Poison and Cheng Shi were saying, but seeing how familiar they looked, his expression twisted into sothing even more grotesque.
"I've underestimated your charm."
His bloodshot eyes bored into Poison, then narrowed as he reassessed Cheng Shi.
'What kind of self-respecting priest doesn't even resist when Poison clings to him?'
'Probably already her plaything.'
'Disgusting. He'd thought this would be a satisfying hunt. Now it looked like another obstruction.'
"Kid, I'd advise you to open your eyes. Don't just touch any woman.
"So won are fine wine — llow and sweet. But others... are poison. Heart-rotting, lung-corroding poison. Drink it, and you die!"
Before Cheng Shi could even defend himself, the Screaming Earl detonated from his position and charged straight at them. His montum was so overwhelming that even Poison, draped across Cheng Shi's back, tensed and hissed:
"Run!"
She flung an oddly shaped dagger at Cheng Shi's feet. It detonated with a boom, erupting into a massive cloud of white mist.
Everyone on the field recoiled, fearing [Corruption]'s power might lurk within the haze. Only Gongyang Jiao barreled through without hesitation — but by then, not a soul remained inside.
"Mr. Ram, you're quite impressive. But I'm simply too tired today. Let's not play anymore. We'll schedule a rematch~"
Hearing the mocking taunt lingering in the mist, Gongyang Jiao roared three tis and began pounding the ground like a madman.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Filthy slut! Filthy slut! I'll kill you! I'll rip you apart with my bare hands!!"
The crushing force set the entire plaza trembling. Sensing his fury, Da Yi and Jiang Chi exchanged grave glances and rapidly withdrew.
Soon the plaza held nothing but the wind's howl and the earl's pounding. As for the Chaleon, who'd barely shown his face the entire ti — no one knew where he'd gone either.
Back to Cheng Shi.
The instant Poison's mist bomb detonated, Cheng Shi's vision whited out. His body lurched — before he could react, he'd been yanked from the plaza entirely. When he opened his eyes again with a frown, he found himself in a dim attic.
He knew it was an attic not from the view outside — the blizzard rendered everything beyond the window a wall of white — but because the ceiling was slanted.
The space wasn't exactly cramped, but far from spacious. The stairwell opened just ahead. The banister was old but polished to a shine. A small fireplace on the adjacent wall held faintly glowing embers, its ager heat barely noticeable against the freezing air the two players had carried in from the plaza.
This was clearly a bedroom. The bed was a simple ground-level pallet with blankets. The only furniture was a squat little tea table bearing a cup of water, wisps of steam still rising from its rim.
Cheng Shi quickly scanned the room. They'd apparently landed in soone's ho — though their timing was fortunate: the attic's resident was absent.
And Poison, who'd just been clinging to his back, now lay face-down before him. Covered in blood. Back to him. Perfectly still. Not even the sound of breathing.
'Dead?'
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