Chapter Eighty-Nine: Human Experimentation

His face was buried against her neck, his hot breath tickling her skin and making her itch inside. “You... so understanding...”

She gave no answer, only remained silent.

“You actually refused me without the slightest hesitation.” He eased out of her embrace, slowly releasing his hold, the corners of his mouth lifting as he looked at her. “But fortunately, we are still friends.”

“Yes.” Her smile was faint, yet it was a true smile from the heart.

“I had too much to drink. Everything I said just now was drunken nonsense. You don’t need to take it to heart.” He laughed heartily and waved a hand. “Who do you think I am, Long Geng? What place do these things of love and longing have with me?”

“Yes indeed!” She smiled again, and the warmth in her eyes grew deeper.

“I must really be drunk.” He looked at her with questioning eyes, as though waiting for something to be confirmed.

Her smile widened. “You really are drunk.”

Long Geng’s face blossomed with another smile, tired, perhaps, but unguarded, a genuine smile.

On the way back, everyone was as drunk as mud. Long Geng and Chunhua lay piled together in the carriage, while Kai Ming was also so drunk she could hardly breathe, her heart feeling tightly blocked.

A bodyguard followed behind the carriage, worried. “Commander Kai Ming, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just a little...” She waved a hand. Before the carriage had even come to a stop, she clutched her chest, jumped down, and bent over by the roadside to vomit violently.

The bodyguard shook his head. He ordered the driver to halt, then dismounted and came over to check on her. “Is the commander all right?”

After vomiting, she straightened her back and felt a little clearer. She said to him, “Leave your horse with me. You all go back first.”

“Commander, it’s so late...”

“Afraid I’ll run into bad people?” She gave a low laugh. “Who would dare block my way? Or else, lend me your sword.”

“Commander, if Commander Long Geng finds out...”

“He’s drunk and can barely take care of himself. That carriage is hard and stuffy; it jolts me so much I feel sick the moment I sit in it.” Seeing the troubled look on the bodyguard’s face, she reassured him, “Don’t worry. You all go on ahead. I’ll follow slowly behind.”

The bodyguard had no choice but to say, “Very well.” He brought over the reins of his warhorse and helped her mount it, swaying unsteadily.

Sitting astride the horse, she rocked back and forth, and the bodyguard feared that with one careless move she might topple to the ground.

When they came to a fork in the road, she vaguely remembered something. Seeing them go straight ahead, she immediately pulled the horse’s head around and smiled at the startled bodyguard. “I remember now. I need to go check on the little place I’ve settled in the city. You all go back first; no need to wait for me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she spurred the horse and galloped off.

Behind her, the bodyguard called anxiously, “Commander Kai Ming! Commander Kai Ming!”

She was running as if her hair were on fire; there was no way to call her back.

Very soon she reached her little courtyard. Dismounting, she bent over again at the entrance and retched. Damn horse. Even when sober it was rough enough; once she had drunk, it practically turned her intestines inside out.

The moment her hands touched the door, it whooshed open by itself. She was unprepared and pitched forward, falling flat on the muddy ground at the threshold.

Since when had this door become automatic? Strange.

Muttering to herself, head spinning, she had no time to think carefully. She staggered to her own room, shoved at the door and couldn’t get it open, tugged and found no strength in it, and then with another whoosh the door opened on its own.

She tipped her face upward and fell back, only to hear a voice coming from within: “Commander Kai Ming? Why are you here?”

Her drunken mind thought, what sort of question is that? I’m the master here—why shouldn’t I come?

The voice paused, then sounded again: “You’re drunk?”

Only then did she grow a little clearer. Squinting, she looked over and saw only a glittering wash of gold, and a white hand drawing nearer and nearer.

The hand extended before her and stopped. She naturally seized it, and with that pull her body lurched and she stumbled into her own room. The instant she entered, an extremely strange smell filled the air, and her stomach lurched again.

“What is this smell? It stinks to high heaven!” She held the wall, covering her mouth as she gagged.

“It’s the insect gu I refined,” the voice from before continued by her ear. “Would the commander like to try it?”

“Get away, get away!” She waved him off rudely in displeasure, slid down along the wall, and collapsed on the floor.

“Commander, sleeping on the floor will make you catch cold.” The voice kindly reminded her.

“Shut up, I don’t need you to mind me!” She swatted away the flies buzzing in her ear. Her upper and lower eyelids were nearly sticking together.

The voice gave a soft laugh. A gentle hand reached out to brush aside the loose strands of hair from her forehead, and coaxed in a bewitching tone, “Commander, come and drink a little.”

“No!” She slapped his hand away decisively and frowned. Being disturbed in one’s sleep was the most annoying thing of all.

“It’s a sobering tonic...” The voice, faint as a mosquito, slipped into her ear. She was still frowning when that hand suddenly clamped onto her chin and forcibly poured red liquid into her mouth.

She startled violently and opened her eyes. The pale hand suddenly seemed to possess boundless strength, pressing her chin tightly so she could not spit it out.

Her eyes flew wide open. All she could see was a glare of gold, a snow-white face, and flashing blue light.

She grabbed the hand pinning her chin, but could not pry it away. The hand lifted her chin higher, and the liquid naturally flowed down her throat into her belly.

The fright made her sober up somewhat. Her eyes darted wildly before finally settling into focus. A snow-white face, blue-green eyes, a strange smile, and that cascade of hair like molten gold.

Her memory yielded a name: Prince Northern Palace, the Bewitching Prince.

“What did you make me eat?” She tried to speak, but could not spit out the words.

That face moved closer, smiling brilliantly. “Gu.”

“Gu?!” Her drunkenness vanished completely. She stared, wide-eyed and speechless. “You, you made me eat insects...” A wave of nausea rose at once. She stuck out her fingers and clawed blindly at her mouth, but could find nothing at all.

The Bewitching Prince gave a low chuckle. “It’s already gone down, Commander.”

“Are you trying to kill me?” She snapped her head around and glared at him. “Do I have a grudge against you?!”

The Bewitching Prince shook his head lightly. His gaze moved like flowing water, his whole being dazzling with charm. “The commander and my insect gu are fated. I had just finished refining it and was worrying that I had no one to test it on, and then the commander arrived.”

“What a rotten excuse!” she roared. “So you just fed me insects—” She let out another gagging sound.

“What do you feel now?” The Bewitching Prince watched her nervously, deeply concerned about the experiment’s progress. “Do you feel like there’s a spring surging in your chest and belly?”

She gave him a contemptuous sidelong look. “You think I’d tell you...” She had not finished when something suddenly jabbed at her chest, and at once her stomach began to churn violently. Her expression changed drastically.

Seeing the change in her, the Bewitching Prince said anxiously, “You must tell me, or else, with one careless moment, your intestines will be pierced through and you’ll die in agony.”

“You damn—” She exploded into curses, but could not overcome the violent rolling in her stomach and gut, and cried out miserably.

“Quickly, tell me, so I can give you the antidote!” he urged.

At this, she deflated at once and could only report truthfully. How her stomach twisted, how her chest convulsed, even her face turning pale.

The Bewitching Prince hurriedly formed a pill and stuffed it into her mouth. “Use this to hold it back for now.”

“Hold it back for now? What does that mean?” She rolled her eyes weakly at him. “This isn’t the antidote?”

“Just an ordinary detox pill. It’ll delay the poison’s effects in your body.” He busied himself over there. “The real antidote, I haven’t made it yet.”

“You damned—” She cursed again.

“Keep your mouth shut, and the poison will move more slowly.” He spoke at an unhurried pace.

Sure enough, she immediately closed her mouth, able only to turn her eyes around in boundless resentment.

“Try this one.” He came over, all eagerness, and handed her a vivid green pill.

With no choice, she swallowed it. “You damned bastard, using me as a human experiment!”

The Bewitching Prince smiled. “That’s why I say the commander and my insect gu are fated!”

This man made no sense at all. The only thing sustaining her now was the determination that once she recovered, she would personally cut this little brat down.

Watching her pale face, the Bewitching Prince shook his head again. “The cramps in your limbs have stopped, but your complexion still hasn’t improved. This one is wrong too.”

She shouted at his back, “Don’t make me look like a demon by tomorrow. I still have to see people!”

“With my skill, you can rest assured.” The Bewitching Prince looked back with a smile, and that smile made her feel a chill run straight through her heart.

That Prince Northern Palace truly was only half-baked. For a while he kneaded red pills, then green pills, none of which worked. In the end she was tormented beyond endurance and simply closed her eyes, took herself to sleep, and pretended to be a corpse.

She slept vaguely until dawn. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the Bewitching Prince’s enlarged face hovering right before her, scaring the wits out of her. “Trying to frighten someone to death first thing in the morning?”

His face looked tired, but his eyes overflowed with blue laughter. He had actually remained unmarred after an entire night without sleep; truly a marvel of a man. “It looks as though you’ve recovered.”

“Have I recovered?” She touched her own face, unable to feel anything unusual. The pressure in her chest was gone, and her stomach no longer churned; that was all.

“The commander boldly risked herself to test the gu. Admirable spirit.” A hateful smile lingered on the Bewitching Prince’s face.

Kai Ming glared at him. After last night, the Bewitching Prince was no longer the pitiful Northern Palace prince in her eyes, but a class enemy on the opposite side. “Prince Bewitching, after a night of deep consideration, this commander has decided to retract my previous words. Please move out of this room today.”

The Bewitching Prince smiled indifferently. “The commander spent last night muddle-headed in sleep. How could she have given the matter deep consideration? Such a decision was too hasty. Please think it over again.”

“There’s nothing left to think about!” She glared. “Today, immediately, at once!”

“Whether I leave or not is of no consequence.” The Bewitching Prince spoke in a soft, languid voice. “But as for yesterday’s insect gu, the residual poison was not fully cleared. I see that the commander’s constitution is quite tolerant of medicine, so by accident I added another gu. I am truly sorry. If I leave and the commander is poisoned again, what then?”

The more he said, the wider Kai Ming’s eyes opened, until at last they were almost like a dead fish’s, fixed in a furious glare. The Bewitching Prince found it amusing, and the smile on his face deepened.

She said in a hoarse voice, “You’re saying that by accident, you gave me another kind of gu?”

The Bewitching Prince wore an innocent expression and nodded emphatically.

“You damn, damned bastard!” At last she could no longer restrain the rage in her chest. Springing from the floor, she lunged at him, clamping her hands around his throat and roaring like a madwoman, “You ungrateful wretch! You deserve a thousand cuts! You... you...!”

The Bewitching Prince cried out, but did not resist. Letting her grip him, he stuck out his tongue and pretended to be dead.

She shoved him down and raised her fist to strike his face. He did not move, lying there quietly as he watched her, a barely perceptible mocking smile at the corner of his lips.

She shook her fist furiously in front of him, venting her anger, but in the end she did not bring it down.