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With a heavy step, dark energies swirled around Zhuo Fan as he made his way to Lu Xie. His eyes flashed with bloodthirst.
Lu Xie froze, shaking all over, “Steward Zhuo, what’s the meaning of this? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
The rest were tense but not enough to make them talk.
Pff!
Zhuo Fan got next to Lu Xie and clutched his throat, lifting him off the ground. The overwhelming aura made breathing hard as he demanded, “Where is the antidote?!”
Antidote?
Lu Xie’s brow shook with understanding.
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[Zhuo Fan still cares about that broad!]
He used to think Zhuo Fan’s cold front implied he did not give a damn about that woman, but he was holding it in to settle the accounts now.
Lu Xie’s heart was filled with indignity as he croaked, “Steward Zhuo, you can’t do this to me. I have given my all for the sect. You didn’t punish someone that forfeited, but you go after me for harming some woman? Where’s the fairness in that?”
“Zhuo Fan, Lu Xie had fought hard just now. I understand you want the antidote, but you can’t just demand it like this…” Fiend Yang found an excellent excuse to try and talk some sense into him.
Zhuo Fan snorted, “This is my business. Any that interferes will be severely punished. I will be the judge here about what is excessive or not. You have no say in this. Don’t think for a second Venerable Shi can protect you. You have always gone against me all the way here. Ignorant fool, hand over the antidote now, or else… “
“T-there isn’t one…”
Lu Xie’s brow trembled, feeling the power in Zhuo Fan’s grip, “My poison isn’t deadly. She will suffer for 49 days, and that’s it. The judge had given his verdict, so I didn’t dare kill anyone. I’m also afraid Double Dragon Manor will interfere. Otherwise, the other side’s elders would’ve also asked for the antidote, don’t you think?”
Zhuo Fan’s eye twitched, and his heart filled with rage. His body was flooded with a raging power current as the black energy roamed all over Lu Xie before entering his body.
Lu Xie felt like a tight black net robbed him of all movements as it ate away at his body. He had never felt such danger before, sweating buckets in fear.
Zhuo Fan was going to kill him over some woman…
Zhuo Fan’s icy eyes felt like a sucking abyss, his voice eerie, “Hand over the antidote, or you’ll get out of my sight for good.”
“Wait, Zhuo Fan, he just said there isn’t any. The woman is in no danger as well. This is still the Double Dragon Gathering, and we need all the help we can get. You can’t just kill him!” Fiend Yang tried to reason with him.
Zhuo Fan wouldn’t hear it; the black energy coiled more and more around Lu Xie, moments away from enveloping him in complete darkness.
The venerable was panicking yet still didn’t make a move to stop him. Lu Xie could no longer hold it and cried, “Wait, wait! I-I have the antidote!”
Lu Xie’s hand shone, and a vial appeared.
Fiend Yang stood agape and then glared at him.
[The prick had the antidote all along. He could’ve just handed it over from the start, but he had to make us all worried for nothing.]
Bam!
Not even sparing him a glance, Zhuo Fan flung him away. As he slammed to the ground, he spat blood, and the vial in his hand soared through the air and into Zhuo Fan’s hand.
Zhuo Fan eyed the rest with a cold gaze, “Every poison user has an antidote for their poisons, lest they get poisoned as well. Maybe some extremely deadly poisons do not, so the enemy will never survive, but as for the milder ones, especially used in torture, they are bound to have an antidote. The next time I do something, stay out of my way!”
Ugh!
Fiend Yang was embarrassed, then glared at Lu Xie.
[This bastard was faking it all along so much that we even bought it.]
Zhuo Fan ignored them, walking away. But just after a few steps, he stopped again, looking baffled.
“Long time no see, Zhuo Fan!”
A familiar figure stood in the doorway of their courtyard. Xie Tianshang came along with two girls, Shuang’er and Yongning.
The girls looked from Lu Xie, bleeding on the ground, to Zhuo Fan’s dark expression and gasped. They had never seen him so furious before.
Xie Tianshang hardly cared, evident by his smile, “Ever since what happened to Ning’er at the Esoteric Debate, I never saw you so out of control. Edifice Lord Chu must’ve made some progress, I see, ha-ha-ha…”
“Xie Tianshang, why are you here? Are you representing Tianyu as well?”
“Not at all. While you did not notice me in the sects’ stands, I had a clear view of your arrogant and overbearing self. Ha-ha-ha, you haven’t changed a bit after all these years.”
Xie Tianshang’s gaze sharpened, “Zhuo Fan, do you remember my old goal? Since you left Tianyu, then I did as well. I am now a disciple of the Sword God Sect, competing in the middle three sects. I’ll be waiting!”
Zhuo Fan frowned and gave the nod after a pause. He flicked his sleeve and threw the vial, “Let’s leave that aside for now and help me with this.”
Xie Tianshang caught it and chuckled, “Just like always, exercising extreme caution, never doing it yourself.”
“Alright, I’ll deliver the antidote for you.” Xie Tianshang turned around and walked for a few steps before looking back at the girls, “How about you two come along? You haven’t met with Edifice Lord Chu yet, have you? Come on, if you know your enemy and yourself, you’ll surely win, ha-ha-ha…”
Xie Tianshang went on with a faint smile as the girls tensed. They shared a glance, then looked from Zhuo Fan to the disciplined Lu Xie, bleeding on the ground. Their eyes lit up and rushed to follow.
They didn’t even greet Zhuo Fan.
Zhuo Fan grumbled for a bit, then left as well.
With them gone, the heavy mood slowly returned to normal. Fiend Yang sighed and couldn’t help but a curse, “You idiot, are you that blind to not see how much Zhuo Fan cares about that woman? And you struck her? You must be damn lucky you got away from Zhuo Fan in one piece.”
“But didn’t they break it off? Didn’t they both say they’ll go all out the next time they meet?” Lu Xie gnashed his teeth.
Kui Lang sighed, “They said one thing, but their hearts thought another. In this world, when a man meets a woman, what they say and what they feel are opposite. They might say they won’t hold back, but who is to say that will truly happen when they meet again? The girl didn’t skewer you because of Steward Zhuo. And Steward Zhuo almost killed you because of her. This is called saying one thing and doing another. In any case, you just had a brush with death.”
“Shit! Why the hell are they faking then, and why am I taking the fall for their duplicity?” Lu Xie was raging mad, “Venerable, I was just following your advice, to be ruthless to those bastards that burn bridges!”
“No, no, no, you’re not dumping this on me. I was talking about the others and did not say that girl specifically. You could’ve at least come to this conclusion yourself and thought of Zhuo Fan.”
Fiend Yang was waving all over as he tried to get out of this mess, “Zhuo Fan was right in the end. He had put up with you for too long. You not once showed an ounce of respect all the way here. Everything else he may overlook, but this time you have struck where it hurt him the most. Did you not see how he dealt with Yan Mo?”
“You got what was coming to you this time. I have been around more than you and can tell. In matters between a man and a woman, it’s best not to get involved, or this is how you’ll end up.”
Fiend Yang finished his reprimand, and Kui Lang followed, making him sullen and angry.
[What the hell did I get into? I was just beaten up and now seen as an outsider?]
[And that Zhuo Fan, he was going to kill his teammates over some woman? How is he fit to lead us?]
But then he looked around, and all he saw were faces saying he got what was coming. He was fuming mad.
[God damn it, Zhuo Fan, just you wait! You haven’t seen the end of this. Mark my words!]
Lu Xie gnashed his teeth, his eyes sinister as he looked at everyone around him.
These people, teammates for lack of a better word, were Zhuo Fan’s lackeys, taking every one of his words as law, even ignoring the good of the sect. His heart just could not accept it.
This resentment was bound to be the seed of calamity…
