Chapter 256: Widow

"She wanted us to drink a poisoned tablet?" Matriarch Chu's eyes turned so wide, her mouth wide open. "You— No! That would never happen."

"Monthly antidote would be given. Of course, the people who don't want to live can say no." Lyca beamed. Did they think cursing her husband was something that they could just do because they want to? 

"You— How dare you to do this us? I would never drink something like that! I would rather— " the man who spoke wasn't able to finish his sentence as before a bullet hit his head, bullseye. 

"Next?" she smiled and watched as the other members started to tremble in fear. They couldn't help but cursed.

"Miss… Miss…"

"Oh, It's Xi." Lyca forgot that she didn't even introduce herself to these people. She immediately smiled but soon frowned when she heard her stomach grumbling. It was already past five in the afternoon, and she didn't eat anything since she woke up. Was this the consequence of being in love? Not being able to eat when the other is wounded? Lyca thought about her previous life and realized that every time Xu Ke was wounded, she still had her appetite and would even demand to eat more food to restore her strength. While when it comes to Shen Qui, Lyca felt that her strength wasn't affected at all. She wasn't sleepy despite not having a lot of sleep. She also wasn't hungry.

What kind of curse is this?

"Miss Xi, please we cannot drink something like this. What about our families? We are still our clan leaders!"

"Miss Xi, I still have kids in high school! Please, I cannot leave them just yet!"

Lyca only snorted as the others started pleading too. They must have realized that Lyca wasn't joking about any of this at all. It's either they drink it or they die. Those were the only choices that they have.

"Miss Xi, if understand that we are under pressure too. Lord Olfan is currently eyeing the territory. His people have been seen inquiring about the state of businesses in our territory. He is planning to take over this place. That's the reason why we immediately had this meeting when we heard that something happen to Q. How could we allow that Olfan to rule this City?"

"He is right Miss Xi! That Olfan would ask seventy percent of our profits on top of the millions that we would pay him to keep our businesses away from danger. We only wanted to live, Miss Xi!"

"We have families to feed, Miss Xi! We really cannot do this!"

Lyca couldn't help but smile inwardly. Funny how they immediately started calling her Miss Xi when they realized that they have no other way left. Humans… are truly treacherous creatures. "No can do," her words were enough to silence everyone in the room. She stared at their expression and silently patted herself in the back. "I'm only twenty-four, and you were already cursing my husband. What if I become a widow at twenty-five?" she sighed. "What you give to the universe will always come back to bite you. You were hoping that he would die so, I would let you drink that tablet too. Isn't this all fair? This is the law of Karma." She said.

The silence that followed was only interrupted by Lyca's stomach growling. She gave everyone a wry smile. "Alright, enough talk. I am hungry, and I miss my husband it's either you drink it, or you die. Don't worry, I am a very nice person. As long as you don't curse my husband again, I won't harm you too." She stood and beamed at them.

"Then… then… if we don't do anything we will still live?"

"Of course! This is me being generous. Each and every one of you will receive an antidote every month. You have to drink it within that day too. Or… you will suffer from a stroke. I already research your medical history and know that no one here has cancer. Radiation can be extremely dangerous to the poison and your body. So, don't try it." See? This was her being kind… and hungry. She gave them a big tight-lipped smile. "Since I am a very nice person, I would increase everyone's contribution of two million each. In USD. Of course, I am using this to create antidotes too. So be thankful."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Everyone in the room, except Lyca stared at each other. They didn't know if they would actually call her out of her bullshit or just drink the tablet. 

"Of course, if you don't want the increase than I can just— "

"We do! We want it! It's fine!" someone from the group said before he grabbed the tablet and swallowed it. "Two million is a small amount. We can definitely produce it."

Everyone looked at the man, expecting him to fall and die. However, nothing like that happened.

"Fools. Did you think, I would want to waste my tablets just to kill you? I have a sniper outside and four people that could kill you in seconds." She rolled her eyes as she started walking towards the door. She knew that these people were worried that they would die once they swallow the tablet. 

After seeing that the first one who swallowed the tablet didn't suffer any harsh effects, some of them started taking the tablet. After a few minutes, everyone on the table swallowed the tablet and looked at Lyca, waiting for her other words.

"Hmmm. Very Good." Lyca smiled and stood there looking at everyone. The tablet that she gave them is something that would easily melt in one's mouth, so even if they refuse to really swallow it, the tablet would still melt and enter their system in a few minutes. "You can, of course, have some doctors check your systems. Maybe even someone experts in poison. See if they can create an antidote for you." Then her gaze landed on the dead members. These people should have been worth two million more. But they were— eh?

Lyca's gaze was glued towards the necklace that the man in pink was wearing. After the man was shot, his head fell to his right but because the chair was actually huge, he didn't fell on the floor. Because of this, the necklace that he was wearing moved and Is now visible from where Lyca was standing.

On the outside, the dark pendant actually looked obsidian. Perhaps even black diamond. But, Lyca immediately knew that this was something else. Lyca knew that the small sparkling stones that were embedded on the thumb size black pendant really looked familiar to her. In her previous world, these stones were knowns as black stars ore. 

They aren't really of any value and was quite popular jewelry for servants and guards. However, this type of stone should not be present in this world. When she was a bit younger, Lyca already started studying physics and chemistry to understand this world. However, Lyca didn't limit herself in those two subjects. She also studied, biology and earth science, as well as meteorology. Of course, she wasn't considered an expert in any of those fields. She only tried to understand the elements as well as the components of these planets.

At first, Lyca did it to understand why magic doesn't exist in this world. Then, she did it to try and test if she could use her spiritual energy instead. She wanted to know why the humans in this world are quite limited compared to the world where she came from.

"Miss Xi? Is— Is there something wrong?" The man who first took the tablet asked, trembling. The woman started frowning as she looked at the man in pink! He couldn't help but wonder if seeing the man in pink upset Miss Xi! Who knows what would she do if she became too upset? Would she kill everyone?

"Nah." Lyca shrugged as she removed the necklace from her mind. First and foremost, there are always new elements and types of stones that people would discover from time to time. After all, Earth still has unexplored places. For instance, Mariana's trench and even Antarctica. There is just a lot of wondrous things in this world. "I will see everyone next week for the first two million. Of course, we would also talk about other stuff. Sadly, my husband is going to take a rest for a few weeks. So, I will take over for a while." She beamed and stared at everyone's face before finally walking out of the room. 

The moment Lyca walked out, she immediately looked at Gu Cheng and Ma Ping that was standing by the door. "Who is proficient in sniping?"

"It's Junqi," Gu Cheng's smile was full of pride. It reminded Lyca of the shy smile of a high school lover introducing his lover to his friends.

"Oh." Lyca nodded. "Let's go. From now on, you will follow me around."

"Miss Xi, may I know why we have to stop training? I thought the competition was important?" As expected, Ma Ping was the first one to asked questions.