Chapter 30: Alas, I Poison, Yet I Taste Again

…
Therefore, no matter what choice is made, there is no way around Luo Yuzhu. After composing his expression, Cao Chengyu smiled brightly.
“Sister Luo, Chengyu has come to see you…”
…
Because the techniques in the third and fourth floors of the Scripture Pavilion were more expensive, Cao Chengyu simply settled into Chunhua Residence. Once a week, he would prepare delicious dishes for Luo Yuzhu, each time with a new twist.
In his leisure, he played the zither, read books, cultivated his temperament, living quite comfortably.
Throughout this process, his relationship with Luo Yuzhu grew increasingly harmonious and tacit.
Luo Yuzhu, stationed within the Skywatch Tower, rarely needed to go out; so long as she submitted a batch of poisons each month, she received a wealth of contribution points.
It was more than enough to support a little pretty boy in the Spirit Refining stage.
Moreover, he had earned his keep with his body, so his conscience was clear.
Luo Yuzhu’s time to refine the Human Poison Pill was usually about a week, but as Cao Chengyu’s Poison Eye secret art grew more profound, the refinement process grew longer and longer.
It left him somewhat lonely.
Today, idle, he practiced the zither in the tea room.
Suddenly, a ruckus erupted in the main hall of Chunhua Residence.
He had no desire to pay it any mind, yet the noise only grew louder, prompting him to frown and step outside to see what was happening.
“Wei, what’s going on?”
“Exactly! Where’s Steward Luo? Get the manager out here! Your medicine caused problems—what can a mere errand boy decide?”
Wei, dubbed ‘the tool-man’ by Cao Chengyu, was a relentless gatherer of herbs.
He was a disciple of the Hundred Herb Hall under the Skywatch Tower’s third division.
He truly had no authority, and with Luo Yuzhu still refining the Human Poison Pill, there was nothing he could do.
He could only stand by and offer feeble explanations, his words falling flat.
The troublemakers had even carried in a young man with a greenish face—clearly poisoned.
With the evidence right there, Wei, merely a tool-man, dared not retort.
Seeing this, Cao Chengyu coughed twice and stepped out from the inner chamber, asking,
“Wei, what’s happened here?”
Seeing Cao Chengyu, Wei hurried over, as though he’d found his pillar.
“Boss Cao… these people are from the Willow Serpent Guard—they say we sold fake medicine, and now someone’s turned green!”
…

Cao Chengyu’s lips twitched, words on the verge of spilling out, but he held back.
The Willow Serpent Guard was an internal Crimson Guard unit in the Skywatch Tower, under the stewardship of a woman named Xiangliu Yan.
She held the same rank as Luo Yuzhu, both core seeds of the Skywatch Tower. Luo Yuzhu, too, commanded a small Crimson Guard, known among the gossips as the Poison Guard.
The Willow Serpent Guard was much the same.
But Xiangliu Yan and Luo Yuzhu were old enemies—every meeting ended in conflict.
That odd old woman from the Inspection Division last time had been Xiangliu Yan’s subordinate.
Cao Chengyu had told Luo Yuzhu about the incident and learned the cause.
Xiangliu Yan and Luo Yuzhu once practiced poison arts together, as close as sisters. But during a refinement, something went awry.
Xiangliu Yan’s face was ruined, and she grew jealous of Luo Yuzhu, who emerged unscathed.
She resorted to all manner of underhanded tricks, friendship shattered, turning to enmity.
Publicly, she claimed Luo Yuzhu envied her beauty and interrupted her at a critical moment, causing the disaster.
Luo Yuzhu, not one for clever arguments, had little sway. Xiangliu Yan’s narrative prevailed, and Luo Yuzhu’s reputation was ruined—now she was known as a venomous woman.
And now, more dirty tricks.
Cao Chengyu had just sorted his thoughts, when the other side spoke up first.
Four had come, two carrying the immobile green-skinned youth; the spokesman was a scar-faced man at the front.
“Oh, isn’t this the famous Second Lord? You’re here as well.”
Second Lord: a flattering title for a well-kept pretty boy.
The man’s expression was strange, his mockery palpable.
Cao Chengyu chuckled.
“Second Lord is too much—First Lord would suit me better, ha ha.”
“You!”
The scar-faced man’s expression darkened, unleashing the aura of an early Dao Body cultivator with a cold snort.
“Enough with your fancy titles. Today, even if the king himself arrived, you owe us an explanation.”
His Dao Body aura was strong, and all four were cultivators of the Dao Body realm. Compared to them, Cao Chengyu was clearly outmatched.
But it was no matter.
“An explanation will certainly be given, but not by us—by you.”
Seeing their confusion, Cao Chengyu pressed on, not giving them a chance to speak.
“What, you’re poisoned so you come here to cause trouble and demand compensation? There are countless poisonings in the world—why don’t they all come here for a payout?”
“Is it just your thick skin? Are you the only ones who stir up trouble?”
By now, a crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the hall—family members of cultivators and others from various factions in the inner city.
Cao Chengyu’s voice seized the initiative, shaping the narrative. The crowd, not knowing the truth, began to whisper and point.
The scar-faced man flushed and shouted angrily,
“Nonsense! The Jade Poison was bought here—who else would we blame?”
…

“Oh? So you’re in the right?”
Cao Chengyu did not get angry; instead, he moved to the entrance and beckoned the onlookers closer.
“Everyone, listen! Not only are these fellows causing trouble, but having bought poison, they got themselves poisoned and now blame us!”
“It’s like smearing poison on the blade and then licking it, only to complain it’s not sweet—how absurd!”
“We run a business, and quality always comes first. How you use our products is your own affair.”
“Chunhua Residence has been established in the inner city for years—never have we heard of staff being poisoned. What kind of fool doesn’t know how to handle poison?”
“Here, friend, do you know how?”
The young man pointed at was dumbfounded but nodded.
“And you, madam, do you know how?”
The matron blushed and nodded shyly.
“See, even ordinary people can handle it, yet you, a cultivator, cannot?”
“If you admit you’re an idiot, then Chunhua Residence will accept the blame.”
Cao Chengyu waved his hand, and a small mountain of three hundred spirit stones appeared on the floor.
“Come, idiots, take it—no charge.”
…
The hall fell silent; the scar-faced man and his group’s faces alternated between green and pale.
He swore, truly, it was the medicine at fault.
His companion had been fine when he brought it home—but by nightfall, he turned green.
How could he have poisoned himself?
After the silence, someone in the crowd shouted “Well done!”
The scene erupted; voices cursing the troublemakers echoed everywhere.
Finally, the scar-faced man and his fellows could bear it no longer, and as they left, spat a threat.
“Cao Chengyu, the Willow Serpent Guard will remember you—just wait!”
“Hmph! We’re leaving.”
With that, they pushed through the crowd and departed…
Cao Chengyu licked his lips, savoring the moment—was that all?
When the crowd dispersed, Wei hurried over, somewhat embarrassed, and produced a piece of leather, speaking quietly,
“Boss Cao, I checked—the fault was indeed ours. The packaging was faulty, and the Jade Poison… leaked…”
…
Cao Chengyu’s face flushed red; he pretended not to hear, whistled, and retreated to the inner chamber.