Chapter 23: You Did It First
Waves lapped against the shore near a rocky outcropping. Xiao Nanfeng frowned as he turned back to glance at the unusual white mist they had just passed through.
"Senior Brother, Taiqing Island is filled with misdirection arrays to prevent any intruders from getting their bearings and protect the safety and secrecy of the island. If they don't know the way out, they'll be trapped in circles within the arrays."
"Isn't this the harbor?" Xiao Nanfeng pointed at the sea close by.
"We're taking a shortcut. If we take the usual routes, we'd have to wind around a few mountains. We'll be able to reach the harbor quickly by following the coast. If you're tired, Senior Brother, we can rest for a bit," Tang offered.
"Let's do so, then. It's lucky that you're familiar with the terrain of the island, or this trip might have taken a lot longer." Xiao Nanfeng smiled as he sat on a large boulder.
"Senior Brother, I've noticed that you've only had spiritbeast meat ever since entering the sect. Have you tried any other delicacies? I might be just a nominal disciple, but I did enter the sect a year earlier, and I've seen my fair share of top-grade products. For instance, this flask of spirit-infused alcohol is comparable to the spiritbeast meat you've ordered in the past. Would you like to try a little, Senior Brother?" Tang unhooked a flash of alcohol from his waist.
"Oh, spirit-infused alcohol?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.
"Here, Senior Brother!" Tang warmly offered him the flask.
Xiao Nanfeng uncorked it and took a few whiffs. "How fragrant!"
"As to be expected of spirit-infused alcohol," Tang replied, smiling. "Please, help yourself, Senior Brother."
Xiao Nanfeng tipped the flask up and took a big gulp. As Tang saw Xiao Nanfeng drink the wine, his lips curled upward and his eyes flashed with anticipation.
Suddenly, however, Xiao Nanfeng spat out the wine.
"Ah? Senior Brother, you..." Tang was flabbergasted.
"This is far too spicy for me!" Xiao Nanfeng sniffed disdainfully at the flask as he returned it to Tang.
Tang hesitated for a moment. Spicy? Looking at Xiao Nanfeng strangely, he ventured, "Senior Brother, is this your first time drinking wine?"
"Ah, how did you know?" Xiao Nanfeng replied in embarrassment.
Tang: …
Indeed, Nanfeng was only sixteen, and it was natural that he hadn't had wine before. It made sense that he would denounce it as spicy.
"Senior Brother, this is just how wine tastes," Tang replied, smiling wryly.
"But it really is spicy!" Xiao Nanfeng shook his head immediately.
"You have to drink it in big gulps, like this!" Tang lifted the flask and demonstrated, gulping down its contents.
"Ah, it's invigorating! Did you see? This is spirit-infused alcohol! All men drink, and this alcohol's the best of the best! It accelerates cultivation immensely, and spitting it out is a waste. Who knows? You might even seek me out at the harbor hoping to buy more!" Tang advised.
"Really? Let me try again, please!" Xiao Nanfeng seemed to have been tempted.
He downed another big gulp of alcohol—but instead of swallowing it, he spat it out again.
Tang frowned. You're doing this intentionally, aren't you?
"Sorry, I wasted it again. I'm still a little unused to alcohol, but I did manage to swallow half a gulp. I feel it burning down my throat," Xiao Nanfeng told Tang.
Tang's eyes lit up. "That's right, that's the feeling! Well? Do you feel invigorated?"
"Ah, it really is spicy. I feel like my stomach's burning up, but somehow there's also a sensation of comfort," Xiao Nanfeng described.
"Haha! Right, this alcohol is rather special, isn't it?" Tang grinned in satisfaction.
Then, he sneered at Xiao Nanfeng openly, as though waiting for something to happen.
Xiao Nanfeng suddenly stumbled, clutching his head in pain. "Why do I feel—my body, my stomach..."
"Are you feeling weak all over, as though you can't seem to muster up any strength?" Tang suddenly asked.
Xiao Nanfeng stopped clutching his head. He slumped down by a nearby rock.
"Tang? I can't even seem to move. Am I drunk? What's wrong with me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked in worry.
Tang stared coldly at Xiao Nanfeng. "How can a cultivator at the sixth stage of Acquisition get drunk on such little alcohol? You're not drunk, just poisoned."
"Poison? What poison? Ah—the wine was poisoned? But why?" Xiao Nanfeng's face flashed with alarm.
"You're no match for me, but I'm a cautious person, you see. We're near the outskirts of the island, and there's barely anyone here. Even if you scream your throat hoarse, no one will come rescue you. Don't blame me too much, alright, Senior Brother Nanfeng?" Tang grinned.
"No, didn't you drink that alcohol too? Why are you alright?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
"I had the antidote in advance, of course," Tang replied breezily.
"Just what are you planning to do? I haven't offended you, have I?" Xiao Nanfeng grew even more alarmed.
"Indeed not, but you hold a special position in the sect, you see. You're Elder Ku's only disciple. Don't worry, I won't kill you—as long as you're obedient. Make use of your identity as Elder Ku's disciple to retrieve something from the fourth floor of the Vault of Scriptures for us," Tang whispered.
"You—just who are you?!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
"That's not important. What you should keep in mind is that you've been poisoned, and I'm the only one with the antidote. If you don't listen up, your stomach will rot and you'll die from the inside out. Even Elder Ku won't be able to save you then. Now, do you want to live or to die? It's up to you," Tang threatened.
"Ah, you mentioned an 'us'? You're working with someone else?" Despite his physical paralysis, Xiao Nanfeng still boasted a keen intellect.
"Who I am doesn't concern you. Now, do you want to live or to die?" Tang delivered an ultimatum.
"I want to die, of course, but even if I chose death, would you be able to kill me?" Xiao Nanfeng suddenly laughed.
"You!" Tang stood up, but before he could continue speaking, he suddenly felt a severe bout of dizziness. He stumbled and crashed onto the floor.
Paralyzed, Tang let out a gasp of astonishment. "I consumed the antidote, so why..."
Tang tried to clamber up, but couldn't muster the strength to do so.
Not far away, Xiao Nanfeng slowly stood up, his earlier 'symptoms' having abated. He looked down at Tang coldly.
"You faked it? No, that's impossible! You drank the wine!" Tang cried out.
"Didn't I spit it all out? Have you forgotten already?" Xiao Nanfeng replied calmly.
Tang gaped. Hadn't Xiao Nanfeng swallowed half and spat out the other? No, he had been lying even then!
"You poisoned me? When?!" Tang cried out.
Tang understood what had happened now. He had poisoned Xiao Nanfeng, but Xiao Nanfeng had drunk nothing and had counter-poisoned him instead!
"Don't you know not to let unsealed drinks out of your sight?" Xiao Nanfeng replied.
Tang frowned. He had been paying attention to his flask all along. There had been no opportunity for Xiao Nanfeng to have poisoned it—no, there had been a single moment!
"Just now? While I was looking at you spit out the first mouthful of alcohol? But how did you know I would have drunk it?" Tang cried out.
"I guessed. If there's anything to blame, it's your poor acting skills. You wanted me to drink the poisoned alcohol, so you'd have to dispel my concerns. Of course, even if you hadn't drunk the alcohol, I would have found a way to make you do so." Xiao Nanfeng stared coldly at Tang. "And I just so happened to have some paralytic poison on me. Tang, I had no quarrel with you, but you tried to lay a trap for me. Spending a whole month to get to know me better, then luring me out like this... you've really planned this out, haven't you?"
"You—when did you discover that I was here to harm you? My acting was perfect! How did you discover it?"
"Do you think I'm unfamiliar with the terrain of Taiqing Island just because I've only been around the Vault of Scriptures? Aren't you aware that there are maps of the island in the vault? Of course, there are some unmarked parts of the map, but do you really think I wouldn't know the route from the vault to the harbor?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"What?" Tang gasped.
"Initially, I thought that we really were taking an unmarked shortcut, but at this point, don't you think I would have realized that something was wrong?"
"You were acting this whole time?"
"You started it."
"I... you..." Tang pointed at Xiao Nanfeng, not knowing what to say.
He thought he was tricking Xiao Nanfeng, but he had been tricked himself! How was Nanfeng, a sheltered youth of sixteen, so good at discerning such trickery?!
"Alright, that's it. Who are you, and what are you planning to steal from the Taiqing sect?" Xiao Nanfeng glared at Tang.
"I won't tell you." Tang glared back with a determined look in his eyes.
"You aren't afraid of dying?"
"When we infiltrated the Taiqing sect, we never expected to be able to leave alive," Tang scoffed.
Xiao Nanfeng suddenly stepped forward and pinched Tang's lower jaw, curling his fingers and rummaging through his mouth until he discovered a small black ball between Tang's teeth.
"You—how did you know about this?!" Tang gaped.
"You seemed like a zealot, so I hazarded a guess. Honestly, I'm almost more surprised to find it than not," Xiao Nanfeng replied, staring strangely at him. He... had learned about this from period dramas in his past life.
Tang: ...
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