Chapter 18 - Please take responsibility



...

Bai Heng takes a deep breath as his head begins to feel heavy and he begins to get dizzy. He’s afraid that the poison is spreading too quickly.

“Just tell me what gave it away,” Bai Heng demands because he knows he’s going to die anyway.

Kong Wuying doesn't mind answering. “I didn't even say anything about the ballad, but you were in a hurry to meet me and expose your identity as a man from Yeying, despite being in Mingguang. Is anyone really that stupid without an ulterior motive?”

"Second, even if I'm really from Yeying and somehow don’t know how our culture promotes lies and deceit, you were so confident in asking for me to cooperate, even telling me the details of your secret mission? Aren't you afraid I'll sell you out? For us in Yeying, selling out partners is a common occurrence.”

"Third, you don't know my ability at all, but you very quickly made a plan of attack. What's the benefit of such a cooperation? You can do it without me. There’s no logic.”

"Fourthly, the whole process was too fast; from saying I’m from Yeying, straight to cooperating. You rushed me so I didn’t have time to think. Obviously you wanted me to make mistakes."

"Fifthly..."

.

.

.

"The tenth reason is that the whole plan was controlled by you. Your soul puppet even has the final say on where the tracker was. Anyone could see that you were making things up.”

"And eleventh is-"

"Stop!" Bai Heng is already dizzy enough. Listening to the endless berating, it seems that Bai Heng should have quit while he was ahead.

Bai Heng offers up a bitter smile. “I was that bad?"

"Quite bad. Fortunately, the Anbu executive identity was a lie as well. If someone like you was sent on a mission like this, I’d worry for Yeying’s future.”

(^ lol anbu, dunno if it’s a real thing in this story or Bai Heng just pulled some naruto out of his ass)

Bai Heng splutters. He really doesn't want to listen to it any more and thankfully he doesn’t have to because he passes out soon after.

Kong Wuying didn’t give Bai Heng a deadly poison. At most, the victim becomes paralysed for a while and faints.

Although the moral integrity of people from Yeying is extremely low, Kong Wuying still loves his people.

But...

Kong Wuying stands and mercilessly kicks the Bai Heng on the ground. What fat head ballad, he doesn’t have a fat head!

Killing two enemies -aheam, birds- with one stone, Kong Wuying moves to Jiang Chen's side. He unties the space bag at the man’s waist and takes out the rare medicinal materials and magic tools from it to lure in the Golden Toad.

(^ space bag = tardis in a bag/bag of holding)

The Golden Toad can't stand the temptation of rare things, so one hops by quickly. Without the mischief of any competitor, Kong Wuying soon has a Golden Toad in his hands.

As soon as the Golden Toad was grabbed, the space goes dark. The Golden Toad turns into a golden light and rushes into his body.

Kong Wuying closes his eyes. It turns out that this is the secret collection of the Pill Emperor Chu.

Kong Wuying can feel that the Golden Toad is the key to the valley, and with it, the whole valley is under Kong Wuying’s control.

With a wave of his hand, a door appears in front of him. He enters the door and emerges out into a very different place.

"Whoa, whoa!" the system shouts in excitement. “Our pill emperor family line is pretty generous, right?"

Getting excited over a little thing, hah. Kong Wuying’s treasure house is thousands of times bigger than this.

But times change and having this will make things easier now he’s short of resources. The things here can make up for his unexpected needs. In the treasure house, Kong Wuying finds several treasures that could help make his new house in Mingguang look nice.

Kong Wuying sighs. “This is Pill Emperor Chu’s secret collection, nothing is impossible here. I have been observing this place for half an hour now and the flames here move in a pattern that recycles every nine minutes.”

Kong Wuying looks out over the layout. “According to their movement speed, quantity and size, a comprehensive analysis can only draw the conclusion; if you want to avoid being burned alive, you can only...”

"What? What can I do?"

"Cough, cough, alas! The smoke is everywhere, my throat is dry and I’m losing my voice."

“...You don't want me to bring you tea and water, right?”

Kong Wuying raises an eyebrow. "Am I the kind of person who threatens others? To be honest, if you were burned alive, I would be very sad. I don't mind you sneering at me, or your blatant accusations of me trying to kill you. Really.”

Jiang Chen purses his lips.

Seeing the spitting lava getting bigger and bigger, Jiang Chen can’t help but reach out and grope around his waist for the space bag - wait, it’s gone. So he only has...

Jiang Chen grits his teeth, takes out a small bottle from a secret pocket and throws it to Kong Wuying. “This is the soul cleansing elixir that all martial artists dream of. You can have some to drink!"

Kong Wuying sips and nods. “Nice, very sweet."

"Tell me quickly!”

Kong Wuying slowly explains, “To not be burned alive, don’t move.”

Even over the crackling, spitting volcano, Jiang Chen’s cry is very clearly heard. “You played me! Return my elixir!"

"Be careful of the fire!"

"Shit!"

Eight hours later, Jiang Chen is lying on the stone ground, surrounded by fire. “This is it. We’re going to die.” His voice is hoarse and dull.

"Why is your voice so bad?" Kong Wuying muses, full of energy because of course he is, he just drank half a bottle of the soul cleansing elixir.

Kong Wuying looks at the bottle in his hand and says, "Well, there’s one mouthful left. Here you are." He tosses the bottle over.

"Wait, careful!” Jiang Chen shouts.

“Huh? Your voice is fine?”

Jiang Chen fumbles to catch it and the bottle hits the ground, rolling away where a spout of lava and fire shatters the glass bottle. The liquid inside disperses with a light shockwave, putting out the fire and calming the lava with a hiss.

Holy crap. They’re stunned.

After that, they immediately feel light-headed and come to again when they reappear in a clearing. Looking at the familiar scenery around then, it’s the foot of Hongyun mountain.

"Young master! Young master!"

"Young master, are you all right?"

Jiang Chen's subordinates immediately flock to take care of him.

"Not to worry, I can't die," Jiang Chen dismisses and looks around. He finds that no one left, even the little brother who’s selling cold drinks stayed to take care of the business.

(^ little brother = familiar way to refer to someone who isn’t actually related)

"Why don't I see that third contestant?" Jiang Chen is puzzled.

Next to him, after taking a cool drink from Kongbao, Kong Wuying replies in disbelief, “How can you still ask that question? Who do you think put us in the volcano?”

Jiang Chen is first shocked but then narrows his eyes. “I won’t spare him.”

Listening to Jiang Chen's hissed threat, Kong Wuying drinks the passion fruit tea brought over by Kongbao, his heart satisfied at a job well done. He spent eight hours in that place, and the blame landed firmly at Bai Heng’s feet.

My people of Yeying, as your Lord, I will not deceive you.