Chapter 270: Twin Sisters
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and the Little Poison King had changed the prescriptions seven to eight times, and they were getting slightly flustered. It was the first time they were working together, after all, so there would always be some places that weren't as they wanted, some places where they couldn't complement each other perfectly.
Furthermore, both of them wanted to outdo each other, so the tonic that Qin Mu gave Little Poison King wasn't just thirty to fifty times stronger but sixty times stronger instead. The bottle of poisonous liquid that Little Poison King had given Qin Mu also had a higher toxicity.
The two of them pitted their abilities against each other and the ones suffering were the emperor and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor who got tortured endlessly. What's more, they couldn't even move, struggle, or call for help.
The emperor's body started shrinking, returning to its ordinary size before long; however, he didn't stop there and soon reached the size of a newborn baby.
'I should really have planted executioners in this hall to execute these two scoundrels of divine physicians…' thought the emperor who was drowning in his own hair.
On the other side, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body was still swelling. And not only that, for he could feel something growing on his buttocks. It seemed like a furry tail.
His armpits felt itchy, and he felt a few more bones growing around his armpits. When they cracked and grew outwards, it seemed like he was growing two wings.
It would have been still fine if he had grown two huge wings, but the crux was that the wings stopped growing after reach a foot's length.
The bodies of the two patients were sometimes cold and sometimes warm. Sometimes they felt they had descended into hell and rolled on mountains of knives, while at other times they felt as if they were becoming immortals and felt incomparably comfortable. However, being comfortable was the most dangerous as that was their souls dissolving.
Sometimes, pain came flooding over from all parts of their body and was a hundred to thousand times more painful than extreme heartache. Sometimes, they felt as if there were tens of thousands of needles stabbing their bodies, and at other times, they felt as if they had been soaked in an unbearably acidic vinegar vat.
In the hall, Qin Mu sat on the hair that filled the ground, holding the brush in one hand and resting his chin on the other as he fell into a daze.
Not far away, Little Poison King's brows were tensed and he paced around anxiously. He kept on thinking about how he could continue the treatment.
Both of them were stumped with a difficult problem. Qin Mu had raised his brush several times but could never write anything down. Little Poison King had also raised his brush several times and placed it down again.
Ling Yuxiu at that moment popped her head into and saw the two troubled guys, so she asked softly, "The one that herds cows, how is it going?"
Before Qin Mu could answer, Little Poison King chuckled. "You are the sixth princess, right?"
Ling Yuxiu thought for a moment and said, "Now that my elder brother is the eldest prince, I'm indeed number six."
"Eldest prince is also the current Crown Prince Yushu." Little Poison King then added in a harsh tone, "Congratulations sixth princess, due to the quack's treatment, your brother will soon ascend the throne to be the emperor."
Ling Yuxiu jumped in shock and looked at Qin Mu anxiously. Almost sobbing, she stuttered, "T-the one that herds cows, are you going to cure father to death?"
"Don't be afraid, sister, he won't die."Qin Mu consoled her. He then sneered, "Before I cure the emperor to death, Imperial Preceptor will be treated to death by that idiot. Without the support of Imperial Preceptor, your brother will be overthrown in a matter of days even if he becomes the emperor!"
Ling Yuxiu was about to cry. "You guys are just scaring me, right?"
Little Poison King mocked, "Even if Imperial Preceptor would die in my hands, it would be because he was nourished to death by your tonic!"
Qin Mu then turned to ridicule him back. "The emperor may be treated to death by me, but he would have died under your poison, so you can forget about walking out of the palace alive!"
The two of them stared at each other, and anger blazed in their eyes as they wanted more than anything to poison each other to death.
Ling Yuxiu was furious and shouted out, "Both of you, if father and Imperial Preceptor die from your treatments, both of you can forget about leaving the palace alive! Where're the executioners? Executioners!"
Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor both let out a sigh of relief as they thought to themselves, 'Yuxiu (Sixth princess) is still the sensible one; otherwise, if those two scoundrels continued to fight like this, we would end up dead or about to die.'
The imperial bodyguards of the palace swarmed over and came to stand guard outside the hall.
Ling Yuxiu looked at them with murder in her eyes as she put her hands on her waist to scold the two of them, "The executioners are right outside, so both of you have to listen to me! Since one of you can't suppress the other's tonic and the other can't handle their poison, then both of you shall swap! That ugly one, you shall treat father, the one that herds cows, you shall treat Imperial Preceptor!"
Qin Mu rose to look at Little Poison King and said solemnly, "Swap patients!"
Little Poison King's eyes lighted up, and he said, "If you treat Imperial Preceptor and I treat the emperor, a miracle might just happen!"
The two of them immediately swapped patients and examined their situations.
After it, they sighed in relief and looked each other in the eyes.
Moments before, Qin Mu had begun planning to take the dragon qilin and hide in Great Ruins, while Little Poison King had also planned to escape and lie low. As for the experts outside, it would be a stretch for them to hold these two divine doctors back; it was just a matter of a dosage of poison.
However, after they swapped patients, they discovered they could clean up the mess the other had made, and this way, they wouldn't have to worry about escaping after causing the deaths of the emperor and Imperial Preceptor.
Qin Mu and Little Poison King raised their brushes to write down the prescriptions for the imperial physicians to grab the herbs.
The both of them diagnosed and treated their patients with great care, changing their prescriptions repeatedly. After close to three days, the hair on the emperor's body dropped off and the cocoon on Imperial Preceptor's body gradually vanished.
The injuries on Imperial Preceptor's body gradually lessened and the remnants of the god's divine arts weakened. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was also able to mobilize some cultivation.
Even though the emperor's divine treasures were still in ruins, Little Poison King had used countless venomous spiders to carry over vital qi and life force to rebuild them. With the powerful life force from Qin Mu's medicine used for restoration, there should be no more big problems.
Their injuries healing was just a matter of time.
Ling Yuxiu summoned a few eunuchs to clean up the palace. These eunuchs filled up several carts of hair, and while another was filled up with tails, wings, extra arms, and legs that had dropped off from Imperial Preceptor.
"There really aren't any more big problems."
Qin Mu looked at Little Poison King, and Little Poison King also looked over at him at that moment. They sneered at each other. Ling Yuxiu seemed to have met her greatest foes and immediately said nervously, "No more fighting!"
Qin Mu wrote down a prescription and made the imperial physicians grab the herbs. He stretched his body and smiled. "I won't fight with him. I'm tired after diagnosing and treating the emperor and Imperial Preceptor for the past few days, I'm going back to rest."
Little Poison King also said in a sinister manner, "I'm also tired so I have to return to sleep. You can leave the rest of the stuff to the quacks at the door."
Ling Yuxiu looked at Little Poison King, then turned to Qin Mu and said, "The one that herds cows, let me send you back to Imperial College."
Qin Mu hesitated, then shook his head. "No need, you also haven't rested for the past two days."
"I must!" the girl said firmly.
Qin Mu saw that she was insistent on sending him and could only nod in agreement. The two of them then waited a moment for the imperial physicians to come back with the herbs. Little Poison King sniffed the air for the smell of herbs, but since they had used numerous herbs these days, the smell in the hall was thick, and it was hard for him to differentiate.
Qin Mu took the herbs and Ling Yuxiu hurriedly went after him. Little Poison King also followed behind. When they passed by the Jade Band River in the palace, he suddenly jumped into the water with a plop and never came out after that.
Ling Yuxiu looked down with a cry of astonishment. "He escaped by the river. The one that herds cows, could he be afraid of you?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "He isn't afraid of me, he's afraid of Empress Dowager."
Just as he was saying that, Jade Band River suddenly rose into the sky, and the water floated in the sky like a huge silver-colored python. Two palace maids raised lanterns and walked over to shine into the river. Countless sword lights in the flames of the lanterns shot off and went into Jade Band River.
"Empress Dowager, that person is not in the river." The two palace maids with lanterns saluted a tall building at the side.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu immediately looked towards there and saw Empress Dowager standing on the balcony. She had lifted one of her hands before, and that moment, she gently placed it down.
The water of Jade Band River instantly whooshed downward and filled the canal.
Qin Mu saluted the balcony and Empress Dowager smiled. "Little divine physician, is the emperor cured?"
Qin Mu said, "He still needs to recuperate and will recover to his peak in a few years."
Empress Dowager nodded and said, "Yuxiu, bring these two palace maids with you to send little divine physician off for me."
Ling Yuxiu smiled. "I was just planning to return to Imperial College with him."
Empress Dowager walked into the building, and the two palace maids carrying the lanterns followed behind Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu.
Walking out of the palace, Qin Mu suddenly stopped and told the two palace maids, "Go back, I won't need you for the journey ahead."
The two palace maids were a pair of twins and they were alike in looks. They were both bright and quick-witted as they shook their heads in unison. "Empress Dowager has instructed us to send divine physician back to Imperial College."
Qin Mu frowned slightly and said to Ling Yuxiu, "Sister, go back with them."
Ling Yuxiu shook her head. "With me by your side, Little Poison King won't dare to lay his hands on you."
Qin Mu sighed. "To us apothecaries, there's no one we don't dare to poison to death. I originally just needed to protect myself, but now I will have to protect you as well, so I'm afraid it might be a bit strenuous."
That two palace maids giggled. "What little divine physician said is truly interesting. You are still on Five Elements Realm while Little Poison King and us sisters are on Seven Stars Realm. Furthermore, Empress Dowager has granted us a treasure to deal with Little Poison King. With us sisters around, if Little Poison King dares to come, he will definitely be taken down by us!"
Qin Mu shook his head and didn't persuade them to leave. "Apothecaries can kill people regardless of their realm. You two are too naive. Even for me, poisoning strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm isn't a problem, so what do you think it's like for Little Poison King? It's fine even if you want to follow me, but be more alert, I'm afraid I can't look after both of you."
The two palace maids giggled non-stop.
There were many people on the street. and the two palace maids carried a lantern in front and at the back. Carrying a lantern in the morning was very eye-catching, but since they were dressed in the outfits of the palace, no one came forward to inquire about it.
Imperial College was far from the palace, but after walking six to seven miles, they still hadn't seen anything. Qin Mu refined medicine on the way and finally finished refining the few packets of herbs he had been carrying. He then stretched his hand into his taotie sack, so only his arm and shoulder could be seen jerking gently. The hand technique that he executed and the medicine that was being refined in the taotie sack could not be seen.
The two palace maids were very alert, and any flies or spiders on the way were all slaughtered by the two women with sword lights. None of the insects could get close to them.
As they continued, a chilly wind blew over, and the two women immediately roused their vital qi. The light of the lanterns suddenly became brighter, and the lights formed two circular barriers to cover them, not allowing the wind to blow in.
One of the palace maids laughed. "Does Little Poison King only have these kinds of methods…" Just as she said that, her delicate face suddenly turned black and she collapsed. Her sister behind also collapsed with a thud, no longer able to move.
Ling Yuxiu was startled and looked around in a hurry before asking, "Why are we fine…"
Thud.
She collapsed with her face facing upwards.
After the three women collapsed, a few pitch-black tentacles covered in spikes crawled out from the ground. The lower legs of the women had been pricked by the tentacles, poisoning them.
Qin Mu flicked his finger, and those tentacles flailed and dissolved with a sizzle, turning into small puddles. The ground trembled, and it seemed like there was a huge creature which moving under the ground.
Qin Mu took out three spirit pills to suppress the toxicity of the poison so the trio would regain their consciousness.
Suddenly, a grunt came from afar. "You gave tonic to my baby?"
Boom!
The ground trembled and split open, causing the houses to collapse. From beneath, a weird insect that was about thirty yards tall and hundreds of yards long tunneled out. Its entire body was covered with tentacles, and it was the insect king that Little Poison King was raising!
Just as Little Poison King returned this insect king to his side, the insect king's body started swelling from Qin Mu's tonic. He wasn't able to suppress it even if he wanted.
At that moment, Little Poison King was pathetically sprawled on the back of the insect king.
"What are you waiting for?" Qin Mu asked the two palace maids beside him.
They were still groggy, but they poured their vital qi into the lanterns when they heard him. The lantern light shone towards the insect king like swords and pierced through the creature, turning it into a broken sieve!
Little Poison King suffered numerous sword wounds and vanished into a puff of smoke.
The two palace maids immediately shone down on the ground, and with the light from the lanterns, the ground actually became transparent. Their light could actually shine dozens of yards below the ground.
However, the poison in the two women hadn't yet detoxified; it had only been suppressed by Qin Mu. They quickly felt the toxicity in their bodies about to break out again, so they didn't dare to activate their magic powers.
Qin Mu said, "No need to chase him. He already suffered a defeat, and if you force him to the end of his rope, he could poison everyone in the capital city. Instead, I better cure the poison both of you received; otherwise, it will be too late."
Qin Mu extracted a tiny drop of fresh blood from the three of them and saw that their blood was already black. Even though they were all poisoned by the same venomous king, the amount of venom in their bodies was different, so he had to help them separately.
On the way, Qin Mu worked to identify the poison and cure them. By the time they reached Scholar's Residence, even though the poison within the three women had been detoxified, there were still some remnants left, which made them light-headed. Before they could even reach Qin Mu's room, they all collapsed onto the floor.
Qin Mu frowned and dragged them all into his residence. He threw Ling Yuxiu and the two palace maids onto the bed before going back to close the door.
At the door, the dragon qilin said, "Cult Master, don't worry, I will definitely not let anyone come in! I understand very well in my heart…"
"You have done well," Qin Mu praised him.
He was simply too exhausted for the past few days, so when he returned to his room, he laid down among the three women and fell asleep. As he slept, he suddenly felt a slight itch at his nose and guessed it was the hair from one of the girls. With a passing flip, he pushed one of them out of the bed.