Stranger Danger

Chapter 558: Ancient Poison, Burning Heart

Xiong Kuohai, the mysterious Sakyamuni, the anomalous heart. Everything suggested that Xiong Kuohai and the mysterious Sakyamuni were plotting something big and scary, though he wasn’t able to say what at this point of time. It was because he was still lacking quite a lot of critical information.

For starters, who was that mysterious Sakyamuni?

Second, what on earth was that heart? What kind of role did it play in this conspiracy?

So on and so on. Until he gathered all the clues, not even the smartest man in the world could piece together the truth.

Luckily for him, gathering the clues was no trouble for him. In fact, he didn’t even need to gather the clues at all. He could unearth Xiong Kuohai’s conspiracy right here and now.

And how was he going to do that? With the Annon Sutra, of course!

Ye Qing produced the Annon Sutra and asked his first question, “Who is the Sakyamuni Xiong Kuohai spoke of? What is his background?”

Then, he spat a mouthful of blood on the vellum.

Unfortunately for him, the blood slid off the piece of vellum without being absorbed. This meant that the Annon Sutra refused to answer the question.

Ye Qing frowned. The Annon Sutra’s reaction could only mean that the Sakyamuni was extremely powerful. So powerful that it refused to look into their identity for fear of incurring consequences he couldn’t withstand.

A moment of consideration later, Ye Qing changed the question. “What is Xiong Kuohai plotting?”

He spat another mouthful of blood on the Annon Sutra, and this time, it absorbed his blood.

“It’s working!”

Ye Qing’s eyes lit up as he repeated the gesture. A dozen or so mouthfuls of blood later, a few lines of bloody text appeared on its surface:

“I discovered a conspiracy. A massive conspiracy.”

“Xiong Kuohai and a mysterious person have poisoned the Blissful Spring with the Burning Heart. They are planning to frame Joy Bodhisattva!”

“I feel so depressed right now. What should I do?”

“Should I expose their conspiracy and play the role of an agent of justice?”

“Or should I just sneak away and watch the inferno from the sidelines?”

“Or maybe I can do both and send Joy Bodhisattva a message before sneaking away?”

“Well, I’m a mature warrior of the jianghu now. I should learn how to handle my own problems instead of relying on a certain cheat to do it for me!”

Ye Qing: “...”

What a useless piece of advice! It said so many words and cost me so much blood, and yet it might as well have said nothing at all!

Also, what do you mean I should learn to handle my own problems now that I’m a mature warrior of the jianghu? If you didn’t want to help me, then a simple no would have sufficed! You didn’t need to take a jab at me!

After Ye Qing wrestled down the urge to punch the vellum and calmed down, he decided that the Annon Sutra’s answer wasn’t completely useless. There were some useful information in it.

The first clue was about the object known as the Burning Heart, and the second clue was that they were planning to frame Joy Bodhisattva.

The Burning Heart was most likely the anomalous heart the duo had dropped into the Blissful Spring, and they were planning to use it to frame Joy Bodhisattva somehow. There should be no fault in his logic here.

With that in mind, the first thing he should figure out was the Burning Heart’s exact properties and function. Only then could he figure out exactly how the duo were planning to entrap Joy Bodhisattva.

Ye Qing glanced at the Annon Sutra after sorting out his thoughts. The occasional jabs aside, he must admit that the Annon Sutra was ever the reliable ally during important moments of his life.

“What are the effects of the Burning Heart?”

Third time turned out to be the charm as the Annon Sutra neither rejected his question nor gave him an ambiguous answer this time. In fact, its answer was a lot more detailed than usual.

“The Burning Heart is one of the nine ancient poisons[1]. Triggered by suspicion, fear or anger, it draws out the myriad darkness hidden in a person’s heart until it becomes the poison that kills them.”

“The Burning Heart is colorless and odorless. Touching or ingesting it would not elicit any sort of reaction either. This characteristic makes it nigh impossible to detect without foreknowledge.”

“When the victim is angry, afraid, or suspicious about something, the Burning Heart would activate and amplify said emotions infinitely. It would also draw out the darkness inside their heart and drive them to the brink of insanity. It cannot be cured.”

“The greater the negative emotions afflicting the person, the worse the Burning Heart would become. In the end, it would turn into a literal inferno that burns both the victim’s body and their mind into ash.”

[2]

“Heavens...”

Ye Qing’s back felt as cold as ice as he sucked in a deep breath. This Burning Heart was easily one of the most insidious and terrifying poisons he had ever seen.

“The Burning Heart cannot be treated or cured. The one and only way the victim can be free from its influence is to be perfectly calm and desireless.”

“What a monstrous poison this is,” Ye Qing sighed after he finished reading the final sentence. He wasn’t able to calm himself even after a long time.

He understood why the Burning Heart was famed as one of the nine ancient poisons. Its effects were scary for sure, but the scariest part about it was that it was incurable and untreatable. Sure, one could technically avoid triggering the Burning Heart by staying perfectly calm and having zero desire whatsoever all the time, but at that point, could you even say that you were still alive? A human without emotions or desires might as well be a rock.

Where the hell did Xiong Kuohai and that Sakyamuni get their hands on something like this? So scary!

Some time later, Ye Qing finally put away the Annon Sutra and began piecing the clues together. It was time to figure out Xiong Kuohai’s plan.

“The Burning Heart...”

“Suspicion, fear and anger...”

“The Blissful Spring...”

“Frame... they’re planning to frame Joy Bodhisattva...”

A cool breeze and waning moonlight were his only companions as Ye Qing leaned against a rock and tapped a finger against the ground repeatedly, thinking. From time to time, a word or two would pass through his lips as a quiet, incomprehensible murmur. The way his face was facing upward suggested that he was looking at the moon, but his eyes were dilated and unfocused. His pupils were pools of darkness with unfathomable depths.

Some time later, Ye Qing’s finger abruptly stopped tapping the ground. The reflection of the round moon in his pupils were shattered by a ripple of movement as well.

“I got it. The sandpiper and the clam go to war, and the fisherman catches both. So that’s what Xiong Kuohai and the Sakyamuni are planning.”

It took him some time, but Ye Qing was finally able to piece the clues together.

In and of itself, the plan was basic and nothing to write home about. To put it simply, they were going to make the guests think that Joy Bodhisattva had poisoned them and pit them against each other. Then, they would swoop in and claim all the spoils.

The plan was extremely simple, but its effects were devastating to say the least. If it succeeded, then Joy Bodhisattva would die, and the Buddhist Hall of Joy would be annihilated as a result.

That said, the plan wasn’t simple to execute. One mistake, and they would have to go back to the drawing board.

First, nearly everyone participating in the Trueman feast was a noteworthy person. A good number of them were powerful champions, famous doctors, or even expert poisoners themselves. If even one of them prematurely discovered that something was wrong with the Blissful Spring, then the whole plan would fall into shambles. After all, even if they suspected that Joy Bodhisattva was trying to poison them, they would ask questions first and kill her later.

Besides that, no one participating in the Trueman feast was a true idiot. No matter what happened, it was only a matter of time before they found out that someone was trying to frame Joy Bodhisattva. Joy Bodhisattva would lose face because her security was apparently lax enough for someone to pull something like this, but ultimately, it wouldn’t cause too big a splash.

This meant that the plan had two prerequisites: one, the poison must be undetectable even to an expert in this area. Two, the poison must remain undetectable until it was too late.

The Burning Heart was colorless and odorless. Touching or ingesting it would not elicit any sort of reaction either. It was only when the victim was suspicious, fearful or angry that it would reveal its true colors. It was almost impossible to detect the poison without foreknowledge, meaning that it was the perfect poison for the job.

So, they had their poison. But how could they make everyone think that Joy Bodhisattva was the poisoner? And how could they pit them against each other?

The Blissful Spring was the answer. From the beginning, Ye Qing had been wondering why Xiong Kuohai had chosen to poison the Blissful Spring instead of the wells the Buddhist Hall of Joy drew water from. After all, water was food, water was life. Poisoning the wells would ensure that everyone participating in the Trueman feast would be poisoned. Besides that, the wells weren't guarded like the Blissful Spring was, and they were closer to the lodgings as well.

It was definitely easier to poison the wells than the Blissful Spring, so why would Xiong Kuohai purposely make things more difficult for himself? The answer was simple. It was to make everyone think that Joy Bodhisattva was the poisoner.

According to Ye Qing’s observation, the Blissful Spring was only twenty or so meters wide and not really that deep. Normally, it was more than enough to feed everyone in the sect, but they were planning to treat thousands and thousands of people this time. Not only that, every guest would receive at least one jar of Blissful Spring since it was Joy Bodhisattva’s Trueman feast. Assuming his estimation was correct, there was barely enough spring water in the pool to treat the guests.

What this meant was that the disciples of the Buddhist Hall of Joy would refrain from drinking the Blissful Spring to avoid depleting its reserve. After all, the guests came first, and they second.

There were two advantages to poisoning the Blissful Spring. One, the poison would not be discovered prematurely. The disciples of the Buddhist Hall of Joy would wake earlier than anyone to prepare for the day’s event, so if they poisoned the well water, then it was almost guaranteed that they would display the symptoms first.

Although the conditions to trigger the Burning Heart were somewhat stringent, it wasn’t that stringent. As soon as the first victim appeared, Joy Bodhisattva would know that something was amiss.

1. I’ve been considering changing poison to affliction since it’s the more general term, and I personally believe it’s more accurate in terms of meaning compared to the literal translation, but since I’ve been using poison for most of the novel I decided to keep it as poison. ☜

2. Basically, the Burning Heart turns you into a king/emperor. Once you plant your ass on that throne, suspicion, fear and anger will always be with you. It’s why I can’t understand why some people actively seek out more responsibilities, like are you guys fucking insane the burden of living is heavy enough bro. ☜