Chapter Ninety-Two: Ferocious Pills

With a cry, her foot touched the ground and seemed to strike something soft and writhing. Startled, she looked down and saw a squirming, boneless creature beneath her sole. A shiver ran over her whole body. She yelped and sprang away, and when she looked more closely she saw the room crawling with such creatures, as though some terrible infestation had broken out.

Inside, Yingshi and Huo were chasing the crawling things, trying to shove them back into a black lacquer box.

“What is going on here?” she cried from the doorway, unable to find a place to put her feet.

“Are you blind?” Yingshi snapped. “The bugs got out. We’re catching them.”

He darted to the doorframe, pinched up one of the creatures, and grinned wickedly at her. “These are the raw materials for the antidote that’s being made for you.”

A wave of nausea rose in her throat. She almost vomited.

“Help us catch them,” Yingshi urged on purpose.

She shook her head and stayed by the door, too afraid to go in.

“So our commander is afraid of bugs after all!” Yingshi laughed aloud.

She ignored him. The petty triumph on his face only made him more detestable. Her gaze drifted toward the golden-haired man inside. In his long robe, with his pale skin, she idly wondered about the history of his mixed blood.

At last, after the two of them had gathered up the insects, Huo finally glanced sideways at her. “You can come in now.”

She had been staring at Huo’s figure in a daze; when he turned, he met her eyes directly. For a moment she felt awkward, as if she had been caught peeking at something that belonged to someone else. Her face reddened, and she said with forced nonchalance, “The commander came early today.”

Huo tipped the contents of the box into a strange device, then set another pitch-black object over it. It squealed like a rat, and the whole box of bugs was ground into greenish paste.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. She could no longer suppress the nausea rising from her belly. “You two keep at it. I need some air.” In a panic, she fled through the door.

It was only when she reached the cool courtyard that she let out a long breath.

Yingshi mocked her, “My lord, look at how terrified she is of bugs.”

“There isn’t a woman in the world who doesn’t fear insects,” Huo said leisurely. “We’ve simply grown used to them.”

He casually picked up another creature from the lacquer vessel. It was a scorpion, its great claws snapping in the air. Its body was a deep black, exuding a murderous, vicious aura.

Huo lowered his finger. In an instant, the scorpion’s long tail whipped up and stabbed toward it like lightning.

Huo sucked in a sharp breath, then smiled coolly. “That big fellow packs quite a sting.”

At once, his fingertip turned a bruised black-blue. The scorpion, triumphant, brandished its tail and claws at him in challenge.

Huo smiled and sucked on his finger. As the poison blood faded, the color of his eyes changed again. The former blue vanished, replaced by a vivid scarlet. At the same time, his golden hair seemed to pale, turning almost a grayish gold.

Yingshi watched him, worried. “My lord, it’s changed again.”

Huo gave a slight nod. “This fellow’s poison is no small thing. It seems to be a good medicine.”

With astonishing speed, he reached out, caught the scorpion by the tail, and flung it into the medicine device. Then he pressed down the black lid and crushed it into a paste.

Yingshi looked at him and asked cautiously, “Yesterday... did you really set such a fierce insect curse on the commander?”

Huo turned his head and smiled. “It was a new medicine. I dispelled it last night. Today I’m just tricking her into trying this formula.”

In the lamplight, his faintly red eyes looked like a demon climbing out of hell. Even his smile could not soften the thick smell of blood clinging to him.

Yingshi turned away. “So that’s how it is.”

“Yingshi, are you afraid?” Huo asked quietly.

“My lord, what are you saying?”

“Every time I change, you never dare meet my eyes. Are you afraid?”

“No.” Yingshi drew a deep breath and forced a smile. “I’ve followed my lord for so many years. I’ve endured far worse than this. Why would I be afraid?”

Huo said nothing. In the quiet room, only the grinding of medicine broke the silence, while the air grew thick with a nauseating, bloody stench.

“Yingshi,” Huo said at last, calm and detached, “once we chose this road, there was no turning back.”

He lifted his red eyes. Flames seemed to leap within them. “At least insects are more lovable than people...”

A crack split the air as thunder detonated overhead, as though answering his words. Lightning illuminated his face for an instant: one half dim yellow, the other ghastly pale, like a specter risen from the grave.

Kaiming, standing in the courtyard, was startled by the sudden thunder and cursed as she ran back into the room. “Is it ready yet?”

“It is.” Without turning around, Huo lifted his slender, jade-like fingers. Pinched between two of them was a pea-sized pellet, dark and ugly as mud.

Disgust curled her lip. “This is the antidote you were talking about? Those crawling worms just now... can’t you use something else?”

“Something else?” Huo said blandly. “A centipede, perhaps. Which would you prefer?”

She felt another surge of nausea and clutched her chest to stop him. “All right, all right. I’ll take it, if I must.”

She stepped forward and took the pellet from his hand, frowning and pouting at it for a long while. The moment she brought it to her lips, thunder rumbled again above her. She jolted in fright, and her slanting eyes happened to catch Huo’s profile. Alarmed, she said, “Your face...”

Yingshi immediately emerged from the shadow behind the door and approached her.

She did not notice, too busy staring at Huo’s features. “Strange. What is it? Something about you looks different.”

“It looks different?” Huo turned toward her, facing her directly, and smiled faintly. “Can the commander tell what is different?”

Kaiming gasped and opened her mouth wide. “Your eyes changed? And your hair too? How miraculous!”

“Only miraculous?” Huo smiled with a seductive softness, his manner now oddly coquettish, almost like a flippant woman’s. “Doesn’t the commander feel afraid?”

“Afraid of what?” she asked in confusion, studying his eyes. “The color of your eyes is a little strange, that’s all.”

“Commander, if you wait too long, the medicine will lose its effect,” Huo reminded her kindly.

She made a sound of assent and brought the pellet to her lips again. Caught by the uncanny, predatory look in Huo’s eyes, she suddenly felt a chill. Instinctively she stepped back. “This... I think maybe today I should not—”

Before she could finish, a figure lunged up behind her, seized her chin, and with the other hand quickly caught her wrist, forcing the pellet straight into her mouth.

The suddenness of it stunned her, and she could only let him act. The pill lodged in her throat and blocked her windpipe. Only then did she react, clutching her neck and gasping for breath.

Huo moved faster still. He signaled Yingshi to pry her mouth open again, then poured down an entire pot of cold water.

At last she coughed violently and swallowed the pill into her stomach.

Shaking off their hands, she exploded in fury. “What are you doing? Trying to murder an officer of the Central Palace?” Her eyes widened and widened, as if she had suddenly realized something. “I understand now. You’re not hostages from the Northern Palace at all!”

Huo looked at her with a smile that was half amusement, half contempt. “By the commander’s reckoning, then, what are we?”

“Spies! You’re both spies sent by the Northern Palace!” she shouted, lunging for the door.

Yingshi blocked her path at once.

Huo chuckled. “Commander Kaiming, how clever of you to guess that we’re Northern Palace spies. Alas, since you’ve guessed correctly, we can’t leave any trouble behind.”

“Wait!” Only then did she realize she had made a catastrophic mistake. She bitterly regretted exposing her thoughts in front of two enemies whose depth she could not gauge. She hurriedly put on a flattering smile. “I was joking. How could Prince Huo possibly be a spy? I had some wine tonight and feel a little dizzy. Please don’t take offense, Your Highness.”

“Wine?” Huo deliberately sniffed the air, then looked at her. “I don’t smell any wine.”

Her palms were damp with sweat. “Aren’t we friends? I even tested medicine for you yesterday. And look, I specially lent you this room. For the sake of our friendship...” Before she could finish, a rush of hot air surged up from her belly. She gave a choked sound and stopped talking.

“It’s begun,” Yingshi said softly, and swiftly shut the door behind them.

Mouth open, she looked from one to the other, only feeling a fire blaze inside her body. Wherever that fierce flame passed, heat surged through her veins, even devouring her blood vessels and nerves.

She screamed, rolling on the ground, sweat pouring from every inch of her body as she desperately tore at her clothes.

“Such a violent reaction?” Huo said in surprise. He stepped forward and touched her arm, then cried out, “Her temperature has risen to this degree?”

Yingshi looked at him. “My lord, could this kill her?”

“I’m not sure,” Huo frowned. “After all, this is the first time the new medicine has been tested.”

Kaiming was already writhing on the floor, shrieking. Outside, thunder rolled continuously, just enough to cover her tearing cries.

Then the rain came suddenly, pouring down in sheets and pounding fiercely against the roof.

Yingshi hesitated. “My lord, it wouldn’t do to cause a death in the Central Palace.”

“I know.” Huo immediately went to her, loosened her collar, and pulled the clothing across her back down below her shoulders.

What appeared before them was shocking: the exposed stretch of skin had turned entirely blood-red, bubbling outward as though it were boiling. Even through the cloth, one could feel the furnace-like heat radiating from her body.

“Bad! Bring me my Silkworm Lady at once!” Huo shouted.

Yingshi hurriedly brought over a container of white jade, icy to the touch, and opened the lid. Inside lay a languid white silkworm, its round black eyes blinking as it peered at the people outside the vessel.

“Silkworm Lady, I’ll have to rely on you again this time,” Huo said quickly. He lifted the creature with two fingers and deftly pinched its body while Yingshi forced Kaiming’s mouth open once more and stuffed it in without a second thought.

Fortunately, she was already close to unconsciousness; otherwise, having such a large insect shoved into her mouth would surely have terrified her to tears.

The silkworm slid down her esophagus and into her body. After the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, her fever gradually subsided, and her breathing returned to steady rhythm. Huo and Yingshi both let out a breath.

Beneath her skin, the silkworm’s wriggling shape could be seen moving from her collarbone to her shoulder blade, then crawling toward her arm.

Huo exchanged a glance with Yingshi, who immediately fetched a sharp little knife, no longer than a finger.

Huo took it, pulled Kaiming’s hand free from the tangled clothing, held down her wrist, and in an instant slashed the blade across it.

A line of blood opened in the direction the silkworm was traveling. Along with the flowing blood, the silkworm crawled out from her wrist. Huo quickly pinched it up with great care and held it in his hands as though it were a precious treasure.

Yingshi hurried to sprinkle medicinal powder over Kaiming’s wound and bandage it, his movements smooth and practiced, all in one breath. The two of them moved with the perfect coordination of long-trained partners, and in the blink of an eye they had completed the entire process of harming her and saving her.