Watching Gantang’s guilty yet aggrieved little expression, the faint spark of irritation in Lu Qiancha’s heart completely dissipated, leaving only helplessness.
“Energy is a small matter; it’s just the materials that are hard to come by.”
“Qiancha.”
“There are very few disciples in the sect skilled in Poison Arts. Those herbs are all ones I gathered bit by bit by exchanging my monthly allowance with the Internal Affairs Hall.”
“Senior Brother, I thought of something!”
At these words, Gantang’s eyes lit up. She proudly slapped her slender waist with a sharp “clap.”
In an instant, like a magic trick, she pulled out seven or eight bulging, simple Storage Bags, handing them over to Lu Qiancha together with the one Xun Xue had given her earlier.
“Look! I exchanged all my merit points from this Experience Conference for poisonous herbs and rare poisons! This time it’s definitely not a loss—I even made a big profit!”
“And this bag here contains the pocket money your mother gave you. There are a few hundred Ling Stones inside, and I didn’t take a single one!”
She shook it proudly, her face screaming, ‘Praise me quickly.’
Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but smile, but her gaze sharply caught the fleeting hint of… evasion deep within those pink eyes.
“Anything else to report? Say it all now while I’m still in a decent mood.”
Lu Qiancha leisurely twirled her claws.
Hearing this, Gantang took a deep breath, then bent forward and lowered her head, performing a full kowtow.
Eyes tightly shut, her voice resolute as if facing death:
“Senior Brother! Gantang apologizes to you! Two senior uncles in the sect are interested in your poisons. They took several bottles of the most potent toxins from me!”
“I honestly didn’t know how to refuse. Your high level of poison refining was accidentally exposed by me!”
After she finished speaking,
the room fell utterly silent.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Gantang could clearly feel her shoulders trembling slightly.
She wasn’t afraid of Lu Qiancha scolding or beating her—in fact, she almost wanted it to ease her senior brother’s anger.
What she truly feared was seeing disappointment rise in those ever-tolerant blue eyes, was her Senior Brother… treating her as a nuisance from then on, ignoring her…
Why is it so quiet…?
This is bad, bad, Senior Brother must be completely disappointed in me!!
Gantang, oh Gantang, how did you lose your composure the moment you stepped outside, couldn’t help but flaunt yourself in front of others, and now?
You’ve attracted the elders’ attention and caused trouble for Senior Brother…
Gantang braced herself and broke the terrifying silence first: “Senior Brother, whether you hit me or scold me, just please don’t ignore me… Don’t ignore me! I really know I was wrong!”
Just then—
A small paw, soft and warm with plush pads, gently reached out.
Gantang flinched in fright and tightly shut her eyes!
“Gulp.”
She nervously swallowed. From entering the room until now, was she about to endure her first physical punishment—getting beaten by Senior Brother?
But… well, maybe getting beaten would let Senior Brother vent his anger…
The anticipated sharp pain never came. That paw merely tenderly… landed on her cheek. Then, the slightly cool paw pad pressed lightly once.
“Hmm~ Senior Brother, be gentle… it hurts! My face is going to swell!”
Gantang mumbled her protest.
“What nonsense are you shouting? I didn’t even use any strength.”
Lu Qiancha rolled her eyes at her and released the soft cheek, returning to her usual calm demeanor. “Get up. It’s not like the sky is falling.”
Gantang felt as if she had been pardoned, quickly sitting upright, her curves revealed with each breath.
She touched the nonexistent “bruise” on her face and curiously looked at the indifferent little wolf cub in front of her.
“Senior Brother, didn’t you say before that poisons aren’t respectable methods and shouldn’t be shown casually?”
Gantang blinked suspiciously. “You’re not hiding it anymore? Are you going to lay your cards on the table with the sect?”
“What cards? What’s there to reveal?”
Lu Qiancha smiled wryly and said, “You think I don’t know your temper? Since I gave you those poisons for self-defense, I knew what kind of trouble you’d stir up.”
In fact, Lu Qiancha deliberately gave these poisons to Gantang to make her show them off—it was a plan that had been thought through carefully.
“Among the senior disciples who took poisons from you, is there a Senior Brother from Dandingfeng named Liu Xiuwen?”
Seeing Gantang’s confused look, Lu Qiancha thought for a moment and added, “He’s the one… who has a facial ailment, always wears a cold expression, and always carries a Longgu Wooden Staff.”
Gantang tilted her head, trying to recall, then suddenly brightened, “Yes! There really is that Senior Brother!”
“The first to come to me was Elder Fang, who’s in charge of the Experience Conference… A few days later, that cold Senior Brother showed up!”
“He was very generous, gave me a lot of rare poisonous herbs, and said he wanted to exchange them for those poisons…”
As Gantang spoke, realization dawned.
Her Senior Brother had just returned yesterday; he couldn’t possibly know about this…
Which meant—
“Senior Brother!!”
Gantang glared angrily into Lu Qiancha’s clear, innocent blue eyes and gritted her teeth: “You planned all this, didn’t you?!”
Lu Qiancha laughed softly. It seemed her junior sister wasn’t as clueless as she’d thought.
She then propped herself up on her paws and sat on the bed edge, flicking her tail and swinging her feet lightly as she looked at the fuming Gantang, speaking leisurely:
“What’s there to plan between siblings? This is called ‘kind protection.’ Knowing too much only adds unnecessary worries, right?”
“Well…” Gantang was still uneasy and asked, “Is it really safe for those elders to have those poisons?”
“Of course.”
Lu Qiancha waved her paw calmly. “Most of the formulas I gave you can be found easily on the first floor of the Changjingge. The herbs needed aren’t rare in the Internal Affairs Hall either. Besides…”
Her gaze turned indifferent.
“Nowadays, in the cultivation sects across the Five Provinces, nine out of ten treat poison like trash, thinking it’s just a lowly underhanded trick. Even if they know I can refine some poisons, they’d at most think…”
She imitated the tone of those old-fashioned types, dragging the words out deliberately—“Oh, that little disciple from Tianquanfeng, has decent talent, but a crooked heart, what a pity…”
Her perfect imitation made Gantang laugh through her tears.
Thinking this over, Lu Qiancha looked again at Gantang, sitting cross-legged on the floor, and continued:
“Also, many of those rare poisons I gave you are improved versions from a Poison Arts manual I copied from Changjingge, written by none other than that Liu Xiuwen Senior Brother from Dandingfeng.”
Gantang finally understood fully. Her mouth formed a perfect ‘O’—so Senior Brother had decided to use her as a ‘stepping stone,’ casting a bait to fish for guidance from Senior Brother Liu.
Pouting a little in dissatisfaction, she said, “Next time, you could just tell me directly, right? Why go through all this trouble, treating your kind, clever, and thoughtful junior sister like a pawn?”
She dramatically placed a hand on her chest, emoting, “It’s just… too much!”
“Cut the act and stop changing the subject.”
Lu Qiancha poked her from afar with a little paw. “Let’s get one thing straight—right now, we’re talking about you wasting poisons. You have to be taught a lesson so you remember.”
Her eyes rolled as she passed judgment: “I’m punishing you—to go chop wood and clear the wasteland in the back mountains! For three days!”
“Hmph, stinky Senior Brother, I’ll go then!”
Gantang snorted, raising a foot to leave, then suddenly remembered something and turned back curiously.
“What exactly are we clearing the wasteland for?”
“First, I plan to build a small house for Xun Xue. Second, it will be a Dan Room for refining pills and poisons.”
Lu Qiancha thought for a moment and said, “By using you this time, I’m letting the sect’s higher-ups know I’m good at poison refining. From now on, I can naturally work on these things here at Tianquanfeng without having to play hide-and-seek every time.”
She pinched her face.
“Oh, then Senior Brother, I’m off to clear the wasteland.”
Gantang nodded and left the cottage, letting out a long breath.
Hmph, Senior Brother still spoils me after all. I thought wasting so much poison would get me a good scolding, but I only got pinched!
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