Chapter 270: Twin Sisters

Next, Qin Mu and the Little Poison King exchanged a flurry of seven or eight medicinal prescriptions. Both individuals were somewhat flustered, for this was their first time cooperating, and inevitably there were moments where things didn't go as smoothly as desired, places where their cooperation was less than perfect.

Moreover, each held a hidden competitive energy, striving to outdo the other. The potency of the tonic within the red pill Qin Mu gave the Little Poison King was not merely thirty or fifty times the norm, but nearly sixty. Similarly, the Little Poison King had increased the dosage of the poisonous liquid he gave Qin Mu.

The two tested each other's skills, but the Emperor and the Yan Kang National Teacher suffered the consequences, being tossed between life and death by these two individuals. Yet, they remained immobile, unable to struggle or call for help.

The Emperor's body began to shrink. Before long, his body had reduced to a normal size, but it continued to shrink, soon resembling that of a newborn baby.

*I truly should have buried assassins around this grand hall to chop down these two divine doctor devils...* The Emperor thought, his mind submerged in his own hair.

On the other side, the Yan Kang National Teacher's body was swelling. Not only was he swelling, but the Yan Kang National Teacher also felt something growing from his buttocks, like a furry tail.

His armpits itched intensely, and he felt bones growing from his shoulders, protruding outwards with a *ka ka ka* sound, as if attempting to sprout two wings.

If two large wings had sprouted, that would have been acceptable. The crucial point was that they only grew to about a foot in length before ceasing to grow.

Their bodies were alternately cold and hot, sometimes feeling as though they had fallen into hell, rolling upon mountains of blades, and sometimes like becoming immortal and divine, experiencing extreme comfort. However, this comfort was the most perilous, for it signified the dissolution of their souls.

At times, various pains surged from all parts of their bodies, a thousand times more agonizing than heart-piercing agony. At other times, it felt as if they were being pricked by ten thousand needles all over, or soaked in a unbearably sour vinegar jar.

In the grand hall, Qin Mu sat upon the scattered hair, one hand holding a brush, the other supporting his cheek, lost in thought.

Not far away, the Little Poison King's brows were tightly furrowed as he anxiously paced back and forth, constantly calculating how to treat the afflicted.

Both had encountered difficulties. Qin Mu picked up his brush several times only to be unable to put it down. The Little Poison King also grasped his brush several times only to set it aside.

Outside the hall, Ling Yuxiu poked her head in and, seeing the two of them looking worried, quietly asked, "Herd the cattle's, how is it?"

Before Qin Mu could answer, the Little Poison King chuckled, "You are the Sixth Princess, right?"

Ling Yuxiu considered for a moment, then said, "My brother is now the Crown Prince, so I am indeed the sixth in rank."

"The Crown Prince, that is the current Yushu Crown Prince."

The Little Poison King's tone was harsh. "Congratulations, Sixth Princess. According to this mediocre doctor's treatment method, your brother will soon be able to ascend the throne and proclaim himself Emperor."

Ling Yuxiu jumped in surprise, her eyes looking eagerly at Qin Mu, stuttering with a tearful voice, "Herd the cattle's, do you really want to cure Father Emperor to death?"

"Younger sister, do not fear, he will not die."

Qin Mu comforted her, then coldly laughed, "Before I cure the Emperor to death, the National Teacher will be cured to death by this fool. Without the National Teacher's support, even if your brother becomes Emperor, he will not last for more than a few days before being overthrown!"

Ling Yuxiu wanted to cry, "You are all trying to scare me, aren't you?"

The Little Poison King scoffed, "Although the National Teacher died at my hands, he was nonetheless supplemented to death by your medicine!"

Qin Mu retorted, "The Emperor was cured to death by me, but he was nonetheless poisoned to death by your poison! You will not live to walk out of the palace!"

The two glared at each other, their eyes emitting sparks, wishing they could instantly poison the other to death.

Ling Yuxiu was furious, shouting, "You two, after curing Father Emperor and the National Teacher to death, neither of you will think of living to walk out of the palace! Assassins? Assassins!"

Both Emperor Yan Feng and Yan Kang National Teacher breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, *Yuxiu (Sixth Princess) is still sensible, otherwise, if these two bastards continued to fight, we would die even if we weren't killed already.*

Inside the palace, inner guards swarmed in, guarding the hall's exterior.

Ling Yuxiu's killing intent soared. She placed her hands on her hips and said to the two, "The assassins are right outside. You both must listen to me! If you cannot suppress his tonic medicine and you cannot manage his poison medicine, then exchange! That ugly one, you come treat Father Emperor. Herd the cattle's, you come treat the National Teacher!"

Qin Mu stood up, looked at the Little Poison King, and said in a low voice, "Exchange patients!"

The Little Poison King's eyes lit up. "You treat the National Teacher, I treat the Emperor. Perhaps there will be miraculous effects!"

The two immediately exchanged patients and examined the conditions of the Emperor and the Yan Kang National Teacher.

After the examination, both breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged a glance.

Just moments ago, Qin Mu had been contemplating immediately taking the Dragon Qilin and hiding in the Great Ruins. The Little Poison King had also planned to slip out of the palace incognito. As for the inner experts outside the palace, keeping them would still be somewhat difficult, merely a matter of a dose of poison.

However, after exchanging patients, they discovered that they could indeed clean up each other's mess. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about fleeing because they had cured the Emperor and the National Teacher to death.

Qin Mu and the Little Poison King each held a brush and wrote down pill prescriptions, instructing the imperial doctors to enter, take the prescriptions, and fetch the medicine.

The two carefully diagnosed and treated, constantly changing the medicinal prescriptions. After two or three days passed, the Emperor's body hair fell off, and the National Teacher's cocoon also receded into his body.

The National Teacher's bodily injuries gradually lightened, and the residual power of the gods' divine abilities diminished. Yan Kang National Teacher also gradually regained the ability to mobilize a bit of his cultivation.

On the Emperor's side, although his Divine Treasure was still ruined, the Little Poison King used countless poisonous creatures and spiders to transport vital energy and life force, rebuilding his Divine Treasure. Coupled with the strong life force in Qin Mu's pills, which transformed into a self-repairing force, there shouldn't be any major issues.

It was only a matter of time before the two recovered from their injuries.

Ling Yuxiu summoned some eunuchs and instructed them to clean the palace. These eunuchs loaded ten several carts with the fallen hair, and another full cart with the National Teacher's fallen tail, wings, extra arms and legs.

"Basically, there are no major obstacles."

Qin Mu looked at the Little Poison King, who happened to be looking at him as well. Both let out a cold chuckle. Ling Yuxiu felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy and was extremely nervous, quickly saying, "No fighting allowed!"

Qin Mu wrote down a pill prescription and told the imperial doctors to go fetch the medicine. He stretched lazily and laughed, "I won't fight with him. These past few days, diagnosing and treating the Emperor and the National Teacher have tired me out. I want to go back and rest."

The Little Poison King said sinisterly, "I am also tired and want to go back to sleep for a bit. Other matters, let those mediocre doctors at the door handle them."

Ling Yuxiu looked at the Little Poison King and said, "Herd the cattle's, I will escort you back to the Imperial College."

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "No need, you haven't rested much these past two days either."

Ling Yuxiu said firmly, "I must!"

Seeing her insistence, Qin Mu could only nod. The two waited for a moment. The imperial doctors delivered the medicine. The Little Poison King forcefully inhaled the scent of the medicine in the air, but they had used too many medicinal materials these past few days. Various spiritual medicines had been used, numbering in the thousands of kinds. This grand hall was filled with a mixture of various medicinal smells, making it difficult to distinguish.

Qin Mu carried the medicinal materials and walked out. Ling Yuxiu quickly followed. The Little Poison King also walked out of the grand hall on his own. As he passed through the palace's Jade Belt River, there was a sudden *plop* sound as he jumped into the river and then did not surface.

Ling Yuxiu looked down and let out a surprised *eh* sound, saying, "He escaped through the water. Herd the cattle's, could it be that he fears you?"

Qin Mu shook his head, "He does not fear me, but the Empress Dowager."

Just as he finished speaking, the Jade Belt River suddenly soared into the sky, the large volume of water traversing the air like a silver-white giant snake. Two palace maids carrying lanterns walked over and shone the lanterns towards the river. The flames within the lanterns shot out countless sword lights, which entered the Jade Belt River with a *swish swish swish* sound.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, that person is not in the river." The two palace maids retrieved their lanterns and saluted a high building to the side.

Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu quickly turned back to look at the building platform, only to see the Empress Dowager and several palace maids standing on the platform. The Empress Dowager virtually held her hand up, then gently lowered it.

The water of the Jade Belt River immediately splashed down, filling the river channel.

Qin Mu saluted the building platform. The Empress Dowager laughed, "Little divine doctor, is the Emperor's illness cured?"

Qin Mu said, "He still needs to recuperate. After several years, he can recover to his peak period."

The Empress Dowager nodded, "Yuxiu, bring these two palace maids to escort the little divine doctor."

Ling Yuxiu laughed, "I was just planning to return to the Imperial College with him."

The Empress Dowager walked into the building, and the two palace maids carrying lanterns followed behind Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu.

They walked out of the palace. Qin Mu suddenly stopped and said to the two palace maids, "You may both return. The road ahead does not require you."

The two palace maids were a pair of twins, looking exactly alike, both intelligent and quick-witted. They shook their heads together and said in unison, "The Empress Dowager has instructed us to escort the divine doctor back to the Imperial College."

Qin Mu frowned slightly and said to Ling Yuxiu, "Younger sister, you should return with them."

Ling Yuxiu shook her head, "With me by your side, the Little Poison King would not dare to make a move on you."

Qin Mu sighed, "For pharmacists like us, there is nothing we dare not poison to death. Originally, I only needed to protect myself, but now I also have to protect you all, which I fear will be somewhat strenuous."

The two palace maids giggled, "Little divine doctor speaks truly interestingly. You are still in the Five Yao realm, while the Little Poison King and we sisters are in the Seven Stars realm. Moreover, the Empress Dowager has bestowed treasures upon us, precisely to deal with the Little Poison King. With us sisters here, if the Little Poison King dares to come, he will surely be apprehended by us two sisters!"

Qin Mu shook his head, no longer trying to persuade them to leave. He said, "Pharmacists kill people regardless of realm. You are all too naive. It is not a problem for me alone to poison several Heavenly Human realm experts to death, let alone the Little Poison King? If you all follow me, you can, but be more alert. I fear I may not be able to look after you all."

The two palace maids giggled incessantly.

The street was crowded with people. The two palace maids, one in front and one behind, carried lanterns. Large lanterns in broad daylight were very eye-catching, but they were wearing palace dresses, so no one came to inquire.

The Imperial College was quite far from the palace. They walked for six or seven *li*, all the while safe and sound. Qin Mu refined medicine as he walked, refining all the several packs of medicinal materials he carried. Then, he probed his palm into the Taotie Bag, but one could only see his arm and shoulder shaking slightly, yet his hand's refining technique within the Taotie Bag was unseen, nor could one discern what medicine he was refining within the Taotie Bag.

The two palace maids were very alert. Along the way, any flies, mosquitoes, or spiders were chopped down by the sword lights from the two girls' lanterns, unable to approach them.

As they walked, a cool wind suddenly blew. The two girls immediately roused their vital energy. The light from their lanterns suddenly brightened, forming two large shields that covered them, preventing the wind from entering.

One of the palace maids laughed, "The Little Poison King only has these means..." Just as she said this, her delicate face suddenly turned pitch black, and she fell straight down. The palace maid behind her also planted herself to the ground with a *plop* sound, unable to move.

Ling Yuxiu was stunned and quickly looked around, saying, "Why are we fine..."

She fell face up to the ground.

After the three girls fell down, several black tentacles crawled out from underground. The tentacles were covered in sharp thorns. They had been poisoned by the tentacles stabbing their calves from underground.

Qin Mu flicked his finger, and the tentacles scattered wildly, dissolving with a *chi chi* sound into pools of water stains. The ground shook, and something massive seemed to be hiding underground, gradually moving away.

Qin Mu took out three pills and suppressed the poison for the three girls, allowing them to wake up.

Suddenly, a muffled grunt came from the distance, "You put tonic medicine into my baby?"

*Boom!*

The earth shook and cracked. Houses collapsed one by one. A strange insect, over ten *zhang* high and over thirty *zhang* long, drilled out from the ground, covered in tentacles. It was the insect king raised by the Little Poison King!

The Little Poison King had just now received this insect king to his side. This insect king had then swelled up from being supplemented by Qin Mu, expanding violently, making it impossible for him to suppress it.

At this moment, the Little Poison King was lying on the insect king's back, in a sorry state.

"Still not making a move?" Qin Mu said to the two palace maids beside him.

The two palace maids were still a bit muddled. Hearing his words, they roused all their vital energy and surged it into their lanterns. The light, like swords, shone towards the insect king. Countless sword lights pierced through the insect king with a *swish swish swish* sound, turning it into a broken sieve!

Several swords pierced the Little Poison King's body. He suddenly turned into a puff of poisonous smoke and drilled into the ground.

The two palace maids quickly carried their lanterns and shone them underground. They saw that the ground became transparent under the light. This light could unexpectedly illuminate dozens of *zhang* deep underground.

However, the poison in the two girls had not yet been solved. It was only suppressed by Qin Mu. They soon felt the poison in their bodies about to attack and dared not urge their magical power.

Qin Mu said, "No need to chase him. He has already suffered a loss. If we force him too much, he could become malevolent and poison everyone in the capital to death. I will help you all cure the poison as soon as possible. It is late, so it is late."

Qin Mu took a bit of fresh blood from the three people. He saw that the blood was already black. Although a poison king had stung them, the poisons were different and needed to be solved separately.

On the way, Qin Mu detoxified them separately. Returning to the Scholars' Residence, although the three girls' poison was solved, there was still some residual poison that had not dissipated. They were still dizzy and had not yet walked to Qin Mu's room when they fell to the ground with a *plop plop*.

Qin Mu frowned, dragged the three girls to his residence, threw Ling Yuxiu and the two palace maids onto his bed, then turned around to close the door.

At the doorway, the Dragon Qilin said, "Sect Leader, rest assured, I will not let anyone enter the door! I am very clear in my heart..."

"You are doing very well."

Qin Mu praised him. He had indeed been very tired these past few days. Returning to the room, he lay down face up and fell asleep amidst the three girls, snoring away. As he slept, he felt something itching his nose. He did not know which girl's hair had found its way into his nostril. Qin Mu casually flipped over, and he did not know which girl he had flipped onto the floor beside the bed.

————I weakly ask, four thousand words, does it count as a big chapter? Can I ask for something?