Chapter 90: The Return of the Blood Pact

After beating Lu Yu senseless, the foul air trapped in Xiang Nan’s chest was finally vented by half.

At the barbecue stall, Xiang Nan and Xu Jiya were drinking a little wine and eating grilled meat, in spirits so high they could hardly have been better.

Su Yao, who had finished her cultivation, hurried over as well.

By now, the pair of cat ears atop Su Yao’s head had turned a pure, snowy white, harmonizing perfectly with her silver hair.

The moment Xiang Nan saw her, he hurried over and reached out with both hands, itching to scratch at her head.

“Little wildcat, let me touch your ears,” he said, staring straight at Su Yao’s cat ears and swallowing.

“No way, no way. You just got here and you’re already trying to take advantage of me!” Su Yao tilted her body and flopped straight into Xu Jiya’s arms.

“Just once. Let me touch them once.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“One body-reforming pill.”

“Deal!”

At last Xiang Nan got what he wanted. Stroking those fluffy cat ears, he felt an exquisite relief in his heart.

As expected, beast-eared girls were irresistible.

But before he had his fill, Su Yao slipped away with a sidestep and tucked herself to the other side of Xu Jiya.

“What the hell? One body-reforming pill and you only let me touch them once? That’s a total rip-off!” Xiang Nan was deeply displeased by Su Yao’s stinginess.

“There’s only this one shop. If I don’t fleece you, who will I fleece?” Su Yao said with a smug smile. “All right, Xiao Nan, I’ve been cultivating all day and I’m starving. Let me get my hands on some skewers first.”

Xiang Nan had no choice but to let it go. Hearing that he had given Lu Yu a beating at school that day, the three of them raised their cups in delight and celebrated heartily.

“Handsome guy, beautiful lady, this is our shop’s new ice-cold plum drink. One pitcher free for every table. It’s perfect for cutting the grease after barbecue. Please enjoy.”

A young girl in a maid’s dress brought over a pitcher of plum drink and said with a bright smile.

Xiang Nan glanced at her by accident. She wore heavy makeup and looked decent enough.

But if Su Yao, that beast-eared girl, dressed in such a maid outfit, heaven would truly be turned upside down.

He wanted to see it so badly that his heart itched.

Su Yao had no idea what sort of images Xiang Nan was conjuring in his mind. Seeing the plum drink and feeling thirsty, she lifted a cup and downed it in one gulp.

“Mmm, sweet and sour. It’s really good.”

“Really? Let me try too. I haven’t had plum drink in ages. It’s a must with skewers!”

Xu Jiya also poured herself a cup and drank it in big mouthfuls.

None of the three noticed that in one corner of the barbecue stall, a pair of icy eyes had been watching them the whole time.

A short while later, Xiang Nan got up to use the restroom.

The plum drink really was tasty, and he had had quite a lot of it.

He had barely taken a few steps after standing up when he bumped into the maid waitress who had served the drink.

She looked small and slender, but the little arms beneath her sleeves were surprisingly hard and sturdy.

Xiang Nan did not pay it much mind and kept walking toward the restroom.

At the table, Su Yao had already begun to feel dizzy.

“Good heavens, I must have been cultivating too hard lately. Even my alcohol tolerance has been affected. We’ve barely started, and I’m already getting light-headed.”

“What? Yao Yao, I remember your old nickname was ‘a thousand cups and still sober.’ How are you giving out so fast?” Xu Jiya, her gaze unfocused, looked at Su Yao, then suddenly changed expression. “No good. There’s something wrong with this plum drink.”

“What? Really?” Su Yao shook her head hard, again and again. “No wonder it tasted a little strange. Was there something drugged in it?”

“That’s right. It was drugged.”

A cold female voice came from behind them.

Su Yao and Xu Jiya both turned around.

Standing there with a smug look on her face was the maid-dressed waitress who had just served them the plum drink.

Behind her stood several burly, muscular men.

“What the hell! What do you want?” Su Yao shouted sharply, while using the last of her clarity to trigger the mechanisms on her body.

She had been born into the Eagle Alliance, a sect famous for hidden weapons, and later studied mechanical arts overseas. Her entire body was full of hidden devices.

Xu Jiya, too, had already brought her fingers close to her concealed weapons. Those things were her lifeline.

And yet.

Their opponents seemed to know them very well. Two men suddenly emerged from the side and pinned Su Yao and Xu Jiya down tightly.

Only then did the two girls realize that after being drugged, all their reactions had slowed by several degrees.

Mechanisms that once required only the lightest touch were now seen through with ease, and they were subdued in a single move.

By the time Xiang Nan finished up and returned from the restroom, the entire barbecue stall had already been emptied out by the customers.

In the open space ahead, several muscular men stood face-to-face, holding Su Yao and Xu Jiya captive.

The girl in the maid outfit stood nearby, looking at Xiang Nan with open mockery.

“I heard you’re immune to all poisons and exceptionally skilled in martial arts. I wonder whether that’s actually true?”

The moment the girl spoke, her voice was cold enough to chill the bones.

“Since you’ve investigated me so carefully, you should know that it’s all true,” Xiang Nan said, clenching his fists in secret and doing his utmost to keep his anger under control.

“So what if it is? The two women you care about most are in my hands. Do you still dare resist me?”

The girl smiled at Xiang Nan, but there was not the slightest trace of warmth in that smile.

“Tell me your purpose first, and then I’ll decide whether to resist.”

Xiang Nan simply pulled over the nearest chair and sat down. He had already guessed why these people had come.

“You don’t have the qualifications to resist me. If you do, I’ll make them suffer a fate worse than death.”

As she spoke, the girl somehow produced a syringe in her hand, the needle aimed directly at Xu Jiya.

“Cursed poison? You’re from the Blood Alliance?”

Xiang Nan’s expression changed at once. He recognized that syringe. When he first came to the capital, several Blood Alliance thugs aboard the plane had carried syringes exactly like that.

Among the Seven Alliances of Kyushu, the Blood Alliance was not the strongest, but it was certainly the most ruthless and most dangerous. It specialized in all manner of inhuman biological weapons.

Cursed poison was one of them.

Anyone struck by it would quickly lose reason, along with the most basic remnants of human form. Before long, they would forget themselves completely and become a killing machine without mind or sense of vital energy.

“You do know a thing or two. You even recognize our Blood Alliance’s specially made cursed poison.”

The maid-dressed girl narrowed her eyes at Xiang Nan, then continued, “Then you should know that with just a light stab from me, and then a gentle push, these two lovely friends of yours will become hideous, inhuman poison slaves. For the rest of their lives, they can do nothing but kill. Their fate is in your hands now.”

“Enough nonsense. What exactly do you want? Just say it. If this is about revenge, then come at me. What do they have to do with any of this?”

Xiang Nan truly could not tell whether the Blood Alliance had come for revenge, or whether, like the others, they coveted the innate treasure on his body.

By all appearances, the latter was far more likely.

From the tiny shifts in her expression, the maid girl seemed rather surprised that Xiang Nan even knew what cursed poison was.