THDP Ch 127 Part 4 – A Menacing Choice (IV)

Meng Qi recalled that the other party had indeed asked her to show her the bamboo slip used to refine the Five Spirit Cauldron.

With this in mind, Meng Qi closed her eyes and extended her hand. The next moment, a small bamboo slips appeared in her palm. The bamboo slips had turned yellow, bearing the marks of passing time. “Senior,” Meng Qi’s tone remained respectful. “This is the bamboo slips used to refine the Five Spirit Cauldron.”

“Oh?” Lin Yan seemed a little surprised. She reached out and made a gesture, which summoned the bamboo slips into her hand. “Indeed, it’s the Five Spirit Cauldron. The imprint is still there. If you can refine the Five Spirit Cauldron, then it truly has been passed down to you,” Lin Yan muttered softly as she flipped through the bamboo slips. She then put it away and glanced at Meng Qi. “Only Buddhist Sand has tempered your cauldron. Since you have given this bamboo slips to me, your natal weapon will very likely have no chance to grow further. Are you willing?”

“Definitely not.” Meng Qi replied. She still wanted to become stronger, and didn’t want to be left too far behind by Yun Qingyan. She also wished that, in the event that he got injured again or when he received another backlash and was in the danger of falling into Qi deviation, she could do more beyond entrusting the final step to fate’s will.

But……

“Senior, please let them go.” Meng Qi cupped her hands and bowed her head politely.

“Who said that I would release them just because you gave me the bamboo slips?” Lin Yan giggled again. She blinked her eyes and suddenly leaped down from the willow branch, landing gracefully in front of Meng Qi.

“Ah… I almost forgot.” Lin Yan raised her hand. The willow branch she was sitting on extended swiftly, twisting and turning into the shape of a bed.

Meng Qi looked up, “Sovereign Qingyan!” She exclaimed. The man in white robes lay on the bed woven from the willow branch, his eyes tightly shut, unconscious.

Lin Yan chuckled and walked over to Meng Qi. “Look how good I am to you. This is someone you like and care about the most. I didn’t tie him up. Instead, I let him lie comfortably on the bed.” Walking up to Meng Qi, she reached out and pinched her hair. “Little sister, since you entered this forest, it was impossible for you to leave alive. However…”

Lin Yan playfully said, “Since my Five Spirit Cauldron and medical notes are in your possession, it can be considered fate between us. So…” she continued, “I’ll give you a chance to save them.”

Meng Qi’s hands clenched.

“He is someone you like… the most, right?” Lin Yan said, gently shaking her finger towards the bed made of willow branches. The bed swayed in mid-air, carrying Yun Qingyan.

Meng Qi bit her lip and remained silent.

“Even if you stay silent, you can’t hide anything from me,” Lin Yan said confidently. “In this forest, there is nothing that can escape my eyes. As for me…” She circled around Meng Qi, looking at her. “I need their aura.”

Meng Qi’s heart suddenly jumped, “Aura?”

“Yes,” Lin Yan nodded. “But because we have a fate, I can give you a chance. You even know about the Luoxin Tree, so your knowledge isn’t bad.”

Meng Qi remained silent.

Lin Yan seemed to have no intention of waiting for her response and continued, “To reach such a medical rank while still in the Golden Core is quite impressive. What’s rare is your clever thinking…” Meng Qi’s heart stirred, and she saw a small pill held between Lin Yan’s fingertips. “To think of a way to integrate arrays and pills.”

As she spoke, Lin Yan’s cheeks suddenly flushed, and her eyes shimmered as if she recalled some beautiful memories, sweet and shy. However, the sweetness didn’t last long as Lin Yan’s expression grew increasingly gloomy. She seemed entranced, staring at the pill in her hand, and muttered, “I didn’t expect that there would be a medical cultivator who could… It was said that the art of arrays was declining…”

She stopped abruptly, her voice falling silent, and remained still thereafter.

After a while, Lin Yan suddenly looked up and gave Meng Qi a playful smile. “So, we are truly destined. I really like you, you know?”

As she spoke, she raised her hand again. Dozens of Luoxin leaves instantly flew down from the tall trees. Lin Yan’s fingers moved in the air for a moment, and the leaves flew towards the bound and unconscious figures before stopping in front of them.

Meng Qi raised her gaze and saw three leaves in front of each person. The leaves were close to the lips of Sikong Xing and the others. She knew that with another wave of Lin Yan’s hand, they would be delivered to the mouths of her friends.

Meng Qi had never truly seen a Luoxin Tree, but the books she read wrote plenty about it. Even inhaling its powder alone was the strongest hallucinogen. If… if…

“By the way, I heard what you said a moment ago, and you made a good point,” Lin Yan said, her hands behind her back as she tilted her head slightly towards Meng Qi. “Inhaling the powder can make people oblivious to pain, in a daze, and there is no antidote. Let’s see…” She smiled charmingly, revealing two cute dimples on her cheeks. “Even inhaling a small amount takes three to five days to gradually wake up. But if you were to consume it directly…” Lin Yan leaned closer to Meng Qi and spoke softly, “That would turn them into mindless corpses, like idiots. They would know nothing except eating and sleeping… Perhaps, for them, it would be even worse than death.”

“So, little sister,” Lin Yan lifted her arm and drew a semicircle, “it’s your turn to choose.”

“Choose… choose what?” Meng Qi’s voice became somewhat dry. She had a vague idea of what Lin Yan was implying.

But why? This Lin Yan was completely different from the one she met in the Grand Tournament’s barrier.

Yet this person knew about the Five Spirit Cauldron, recognized the medical notes, and had a voice that was exactly the same with Lin Yan…

Meng Qi had doubted before that this one was not Lin Yan.

But was there any difference if she were or weren’t Lin Yan?

No!

She was so strong that even Sovereign Qingyan…

Meng Qi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. “Choose what?”

“Him, or them,” Lin Yan chuckled lightly. “Your beloved… or these people you care a little less about. Choose one.” She paused and continued, “I can set you free, along with the one you choose. The rest must stay behind, consume my Luoxin leaves, and serve me until death.”