Chapter 53

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Poison of the Human Panacea: Chapter 53

Bai Tan started dreaming with a fuzzy and weighted mind.

It seemed like he was in a world of ice and snow in the dream. A cold wind howled from all around, but he didn’t feel cold. His body floated in the air, just like a soul. When he opened his eyes, a vast amount of white snow entered his sight, from one look, there was no end to be seen. The sky above his head was far far away, the icy stars all over the sky shone and extinguished. They were like countless pairs of gentle eyes.

Was he…dead?

Bai Tan mumbled the question to himself. He leaned forward and flew towards the sky, but suddenly felt his legs being hindered by a string, not able to keep flying upwards. He looked down to see and quickly saw a thin red string tied around his ankle. He bent over in curiosity and pulled the red string a bit, even though that string was as thin as silk, it was as tough as a reed. After he unwound it many times, he still couldn’t break free from it no matter what.

……What was this? Yue Lao’s[1] red string?

His eyes followed the string to look down. Looking through thick layers of clouds, he saw an indistinct figure below.

“Tan’er…”

“Tan’er… can you come back, please?”

That was… Wu Yanfu’s voice?

Bai Tan immediately grabbed the red string, wanting to break it off, but his hand was scratched.

“Ugh… it hurts!”

“Tan’er… I beg you, come back, please?”

……Beg him? Beg him?

How had he kneeled in front of the old demon before to beg him not to send him away?

He was definitely gonna make Wu Yanfu break this red string himself! Was he not even gonna let him die now?

Did he owe him or something in his last life?

Bai Tan reluctantly flew down by following the red string, flying down towards the figure, and floated on top of a frozen pond. Once close enough, he could see Wu Yanfu’s appearance clearly, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

He kneeled there with a bare chest. The snow had covered his whole body, his skin was frozen entirely to blue and white. Like an ice statue, he didn’t move at all, yet in his embrace was a person wrapped up in a thick cloak made of fox skin.

That position was just like a person who was on the edge of death holding onto his only chance of living. Not willing to let go even in death.

But the one in Wu Yanfu’s embrace wasn’t anyone else, it was…him, Bai Tan.

“Tan’er…Tan’er…”

It was that weak calling that allowed him to distinguish that the man in front of his eyes was still a living person.

“Hey, what are you calling for? What are you doing while holding me here?”

Bai Tan landed in front of him, causing a few snowflakes to rise. As if he’d felt him coming, the man’s eyelids quivered. The frozen ice on his lashes fell on the jade-like face, he opened his eyes slowly. Blood veins covered the bottom of his eyes, it seemed like he hadn’t slept for many nights. Then at the bottom of his eyes, a slight light came out of the pitch darkness, shooting straight at him. His eyes seemed to have pierced through his body as it looked at what was behind him.

Bai Tan realized he couldn’t see him.

This may be a dream, or may also be a memory he’d forgotten.

And he would never be able to get the answer to this question from Wu Yanfu himself.

He followed Wu Yanfu’s eyes to look back suddenly, a hole was suddenly chiseled open on the frozen pond. In the hole floated a nude corpse with ghost vines crawling all over it, its white hair spread out on the water.

Even without needing to look closely, he could still be sure of who that was.

What… what was he doing?

The Old Sa Man Shaman’s words rang in Bai Tan’s ears.

Could it be that this was the frozen pond of Xu Mi Valley’s that had ghost vines growing in it and the scene of the old demon helping the yao ren extend his life? But, why would the old demon be embracing him like this, calling out to his name?

“Sect Leader Bai, your shizun truly treated you wholeheartedly.”

A weak old voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

Bai Tan looked back to see a figure with a hunchback standing in front, it was the Old Sa Man Shaman.

“Elder, how, how are you appearing here?”

“Sect Leader Bai, you don’t need to feel weirded out, being able to have this dream, being able to see my old self, a medium. It’s all because you’re already on the edge of death. As a half-human and half-ghost, your soul floats outside of your body, so, you will remember what you saw the last time your soul had floated out of your body, the scene that was forgotten later.”

Bai Tan looked at Wu Yanfu, who held onto his own body in shock, his heart shuddered aggressively.

“Last time… could it be, I’ve already been revived from death before?”

The Old Sa Man Shaman nodded. He let out a long sigh before speaking, “My old self cannot speak of it directly, but Sect Leader Bai is probably able to guess what your shizun had done for you back then.”

Bai Tan shook his head in disbelief, did he… had he murdered him wrongly?

No, he wouldn’t forgive Wu Yanfu, nor would he regret annihilating his corpse!

The Old Sa Man Shaman slowly walked closer to him while supported by his staff, he reached out a trembling, withered hand.

“Sect Leader Bai, now knowing what happened back then, it is also time to let go of your inner demon. Let my old self help you pass on. With my old self as your passer, it can free you from suffering when you descend to hell as well.”

“Many thanks, elder, but why does the elder want to help me out this much?”

“People of Wu Lin all view you as an evildoer, but my old self has lived for hundreds of years, read many people, and just from one look, my old self could tell you were not an evil disciple. It must be your overpowered inner demon that caused your temperament to be so. Even though your life was at its end, you didn’t use the Rengu Nian Bead to save yourself, instead, used it to save another. My old self began to sympathize.”

“Then… elder, please…”

Bai Tan reached his hand out hesitantly, then he remembered something and retrieved it.

“But I still have a few wishes unfulfilled. Elder, do I still have time left?”

“Alright, since you don’t wanna leave yet, enjoy your last few days well. Once your life comes to its end, you will see my old self again.” When finished, the Old Sa Man Shaman waved his sleeve and vanished in an instant.

“Tan’er! Tan’er!” Then, a voice rang from behind him, a shapeless form of strength pulled him back, making him return to his body immediately. Then, he woke up.

Upon opening his eyes, they met a jade mirror mask that was circulated with cold air nearby.

The pair of deep, dark blue pupils through the mask’s holes stared at him steadily. The man lay by his side, trapping him in the shackles he formed with his bent arm. He didn’t know how long the other had stayed in this position to watch him.

The memory from moments before flashed by Bai Tan’s mind. He jumped back in fear, crashing off the bed, but was pulled back up onto the bed again. He was locked under Wu Yanfu but wasn’t willing to meet eyes with him. His whole body curled up into a ball.

“Right… right now, you are …are …”

Wu Yanfu lowered his head to reach his ear, “It’s master.”

Bai Tan held onto his head with his hands, bent his knees up, and curled up into an even smaller ball from fright. Almost like a pangolin. But with such a movement, his buttocks started hurting slightly, reminding him just what had happened earlier. In a panic, he tried to gather neili in secret, and as expected, his Sea of Energy had no motion at all…… there really wasn’t a single bit of pure[2] energy left.

Instantly, his heart felt like it’d fallen into an ice-cold hell.

His face paled ghastly, swinging his hands, he hit randomly at the chest of the man above him, as he began to yell.

“Why… why did you have to snatch away the only thing I could depend on as well?”

Wu Yanfu easily caught his wrists, he pulled them to the side, it seemed like he wanted to remove his hard exterior. But the youth only wanted to seal himself up to be even more secured, he buried his head even lower. The closer the other’s face got, the tighter the youth’s body curled in, his breathing fastened and his body trembled more violently.”

“…How cruel you are!”

“Cruel? The martial power you’ve got seems like they were stolen by digging out this master’s heart, right?”

Bai Tan clenched his teeth, not making a sound.

“For this master to take back his powers from dozens of years of cultivation, what was wrong with that? But…” Wu Yanfu stared at the mark between his brows that’d lightened quite a bit, he muttered lowly next to his ear ambiguously, “The method was a bit mean.”

What, what good method that was a bit mean. Bai Tan closed his eyes, squeezing out a few words through his teeth, “You… when… when will you be willing to leave Tian Su’s body?”

“You look forward to master leaving that much?” Wu Yanfu reached his hand out to stroke his cheek, his voice was so gentle it could suffocate someone, “Too bad, this master took over this body long ago, and will always stay by Tan’er’s side.”

What does that mean? Bai Tan was completely dumbfounded, it was like a hornet’s nest had exploded in his mind.

“You’re saying that, you… you…”

“That’s right, this master was revived by using this corpse. Ever since you killed this master, this master had turned into a yao ren.” Wu Yanfu sighed, holding one of his hands, he squeezed his soft joints a bit, “This master has received quite a lot of slaps in the face lately. When Little Tan’er’s claws hit people, it sure hurts a lot.”

The scenes of their interactions flashed by Bai Tan’s head. The more he thought of it, the more shamed and panicked he was. In a panic, he only wanted to find a hole to squeeze into and escape. He didn’t want to stay with Wu Yanfu for a moment longer.

“Terrified? When you annihilated this master’s corpse, didn’t you have great guts?”

“…”

“How did this master never realize that Little Tan’er was this powerful in the past?”

“…”

“Tan’er…”

Bai Tan couldn’t endure it anymore, he covered his ears, “Stop calling! Just let go of me! You’ve revived from the dead, also got your power back, what else do you want? I already have nothing, only this lowly life is left!”

“What does this master want?” Wu Yanfu grabbed the youth’s thin, soft nape. He felt just like grabbing onto a fish that could escape from his grasp at any time, “In this life, master only pleads for a cup of epiphyllum wine. Then to never be sober from the drunkenness.”

Bai Tan stilled a bit, endless sorrow surged out of his heart. He turned his head away and started to laugh mockingly.

He already didn’t have many days left to live, with claws and teeth already detached by him too, yet he wanted to stay together forever?

“Shizun… in an epiphyllum’s entire lifespan, it only blooms once, once missed, then it is missed for a lifetime. Once withered, even if it were brewed into wine, it can only allow one a short moment of drunkenness, how can anyone not sober from long drunkenness?”

Wu Yanfu’s heart pained for some reason. He merely felt like the little one was saying farewell to him, the fingers that held the back of his neck subconsciously tightened a bit, “You’re speaking against your heart. You obviously like this master inside. You lied through your mouth, but you can’t lie to your little foxtail. Once this master touches, it swings in pleasure.”

When finished, his hand slid down the back of his neck, all the way till it landed on the tiny little soft bone’s place.

“Don’t touch me!”

Bai Tan bit his arm harshly, struggled as he rolled off the bed and backed away to the door. Wu Yanfu raised his arm, and he quickly felt a tightness around his waist. In the next moment, his body had fallen into Wu Yanfu’s embrace.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom……”

Just at that time, a world-shaking drum sound that could resound the sky came from outside the door. The Great Assembly of Wu Lin was going to close its curtains, the moment of announcing whose hands the Wu Lin Overlord spot would land in was about to arrive.

Hearing the battle-drum sound, an unbearable feeling rose in Bai Tan’s heart, he curled his hands into fists as nails engraved his palms.

But Wu Yanfu reached his hand out to seal his acupoints. He carried the person back to the bed and coaxed in a low voice, “Wait for master here, master will take you away from this troublesome place very soon. To a place that you will like.”

Translator: Crispyfry

Proofreader: Grumpykit

QC: Xiao

Xiao’s Comments: I love Bai Tan’s comment about the epiphyllum. Ugh, just be honest with your master, he’ll definitely find a way to save you…

Translator’s Notes:

[1] Yue Lao (月老) – Yue Lao is a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology, and known for bonding destined couples together by a red string. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Lao

[2] Pure Energy (真气) – This has been defined before, but wanted to note that the ‘pure’ is just a literal translation, not related to the fact that he’d lost his virginity.

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