Lin Jiu pressed the cup to Qin Yunxi’s lips and poured its contents in with force!
“Stop!” Liu Qingyin’s delicate voice rang out sharply as her ethereal figure dashed forward.
Murong Chun quickly intervened, blocking both the cup in Lin Jiu’s hand and Liu Qingyin’s palm as it struck toward Lin Jiu’s back.
“Enough!” The man said urgently. “Calm down, all of you. Words alone prove nothing. If you want to know if there’s really something in the tea, just send it to Baiyao Peak1 for analysis. We’ll have the answer soon!”
‘Ha! So, it can be analyzed that easily? It’s obvious now—the female lead’s reckless act of drinking the potion must be done with an ulterior motive!’ Lin Jiu’s sneer deepened as she raised her voice, “Exactly! Words alone mean nothing, and sending it to Baiyao Peak will reveal the truth. So, why then, would the Great Sword Immortal, the esteemed first disciple of Wanjiangui, be so sure this tea contains a love potion? A man of your status, spouting such nonsense? Or could it be… you and Xiong Yulian are in cahoots, colluding to frame me?!”
Suddenly, Lin Jiu felt a grip on her wrist as Qin Yunxi seized her hand holding the teacup. Lowering his head, he pressed the cup to his lips and drained it in a single gulp. He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, his voice slightly raspy, “If this cup contained a love potion… you are finished.”
Lin Jiu merely showed a cold smile in response as she comfortably settled herself on the stone chair.
“Yulian,” a moment later, Liu Qingyin’s cold voice rang, “do you dare to swear that every word you just said is true?”
There was a hint of pressure in her tone.
Xiong Yulian hurriedly knelt and declared, “Master, this disciple swears on her life!” She shot a venomous glare at Lin Jiu, figuring that the best course of action was to continue to deny everything. Once the potion’s effects took hold, it wouldn’t matter which of them was telling the truth!
Time passed slowly. Qin Yunxi’s frown deepened, his face as pale as ever, showing no signs of having taken a love potion.
“Impossible… how could this be…” Xiong Yulian began to lose her composure, rubbing her hands together nervously.
Just as sweat started to form on her forehead, Qin Yunxi’s expression suddenly changed! His face, deathly pale a moment ago, turned a deep red in an instant, his thick eyebrows knitting together in pain.
Xiong Yulian breathed a sigh of relief, clapping her hands with excitement. “There it is! Master, Master! I didn’t wrong her, did I? This is perfect—there’s both witness and evidence! Quick, let’s send her to the Punishment Hall! When the Sword Monarch returns, he will certainly divorce her and throw her out! Let’s see her gloat then! Hmph, she tricked her way into this marriage with deceit, what good could she be? Now, her true colors are revealed!”
Watching Xiong Yulian, Lin Jiu could see that the girl was sincerely happy for Liu Qingyin, and couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. To be honest, if she had a choice, she would have gladly become the female lead’s bestie! Who would choose the arduous path of going against fate if they could have an easier life? At the very least, being a loyal follower like Xiong Yulian wouldn’t be bad either.
Suppressing a sigh of melancholy, Lin Jiu watched Qin Yunxi’s performance silently. If this half-paralyzed man could convincingly act like he was under the effects of a love potion, then she would admit defeat and present him an Oscar Award before being exiled to Dongting!
Qin Yunxi’s face grew darker with each second. The expression on his face was like he had swallowed something bitter, yet couldn’t speak out. His handsome face contorted, now as red as a cooked shrimp.
“Enough!” Liu Qingyin hurried forward, gently rubbing Qin Yunxi’s back as she ordered, “Yulian, go to Baiyao Peak immediately and call for a healer!”
Qin Yunxi struggled to raise his hand, “No… don’t…”
Lin Jiu let out a cold sneer. “Oh? You don’t need a healer? What, are you going to say that this drug can only be cured by entering a locked room with another person and slowly undressing?”
‘That’s exactly how the damn main couple resolved the potion effect in the novel!!’
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyin’s fair face turned bright red. “Y-you! How dare you utter such filthy words…”
“Huh?” Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow. “I never said anything about resolving it that way. I was talking about using internal energy to disperse the potion’s effects. Only someone with a dirty mind sees everything in a dirty way—where exactly is your mind going?”
Liu Qingyin’s eyes reddened with anger, leaving her at a loss for words.
Qin Yunxi, on the other hand, stared in stunned silence, his eyes wide open as if he had just discovered something unbelievable. Because of his shock, he forgot to maintain the tension that had been tightly wound inside him—
In the next instant, a long, unmistakable sound of gas filled the solemn, ethereal space.
Pfft—blorp blorp blorp—pffft pffft pffft—pop!
Qin Yunxi’s flushed face instantly turned pale.
Liu Qingyin: “…”
Xiong Yulian: “…”
Murong Chun: “…”
Lin Jiu: “…??!!” What in the world? Was Wei Liang’s bottle filled with croton seeds? Even if it was, it shouldn’t have been this powerful!
‘So, Qin Yunxi wasn’t acting earlier; he was just holding in gas?!’
Qin Yunxi, resigned to his fate, hung his head and sighed, “It’s just a common gorse in small quantities… harmless to the body.”
Liu Qingyin’s eyes turned red with anger, and she questioned Lin Jiu, “You put gorse in my tea, are you trying to embarrass me in public?”
“He passed gas because his body is weak. But you, a powerful Great Sword Immortal—are you really going to end up like him?” Lin Jiu sneered, deliberately emphasizing the words ‘pass gas.’
“You!” Liu Qingyin’s breath caught in her throat.
The third petal of the karma lotus finally reached full bloom. A warm current surged through Lin Jiu’s body, flowing into every limb via her strengthened meridians. She took a step back, calmed her mind, and used the method Wei Liang had taught her to guide the immense aura through her meridians.
“You’re secretly practicing devil arts?!” Liu Qingyin, quick to notice the sudden surge of aura within Lin Jiu, sprang forward without hesitation and seized her wrist.
Lin Jiu looked up and gave Liu Qingyin a mocking smile. “Can’t stand the sight of me, can you? Now you’re just making baseless accusations?” Before the female lead could respond, Lin Jiu flung her hand away and turned to Murong Chun. “Sword Immortal Murong, I kindly request that you stand guard for me. I’ve just gained some epiphany and wish to practice the technique Wei Liang taught me.”
In truth, the moment Liu Qingyin made contact, she had already sensed that there was no trace of aura disorder in Lin Jiu’s body, nor any sign of forbidden arts. The technique Lin Jiu was practicing was, in fact, the most standard cultivation method of the Wanjiangui Sect.
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I can hear each face get slapped by the FL. 😂😂