Chapter 286: Again, It’s Him!
Chapter 286: Again, It’s Him!
A rush of red surged beneath her porcelain skin, spreading in delicate wisps like crimson smoke. Luo Qingqian’s expression shifted in an instant. Her pupils contracted, her breath hitched. She swiftly sealed a few acupoints and began circulating her True Qi, hoping to suppress the invading force.
But even as she forced the flow of energy through her meridians, she realized—it wasn’t working. At most, it slowed the poison’s advance, but could not stop it. Her blood pulsed with unnatural vigor, her heartbeat quickened, and a strange warmth bloomed beneath her skin like wine heating in the veins.
She didn’t have time to identify what kind of poison it was. That didn’t matter now. What mattered was making sure the man beside her remained unharmed.
That butterfly was no accident. It was a controlled vector—deliberate, precise.
Someone was targeting her.
Luo Qingqian’s eyes sharpened. Without hesitation, she decided to leave, to sever herself from Wang Haoran’s proximity before he was dragged into the danger swirling around her.
“I just remembered something urgent—I need to go. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”
Her voice was crisp, but tinged with regret. Before Wang Haoran could respond, her figure flickered—and vanished.
By the time his gaze caught up, all that remained was the memory of her back fading into the distance. Wang Haoran rose slowly from the stone bench. He didn’t rush, but neither did he hesitate. He walked in the direction Luo Qingqian had disappeared, his expression thoughtful.
She was poisoned. And if someone had gone to this extent to trap her, then surely danger lurked nearby.
Naturally, he wouldn’t just stand by.
He caught up quickly, keeping a respectful distance—close enough to act if needed, but far enough not to alert her.
Ahead, Luo Qingqian was visibly weakening. Her pace slowed and her steps faltered. Eventually, she stopped altogether.
They were deep within a mountain forest near Qingling Campus. The land still belonged to the school, though untouched and unclaimed. Plans were in place to develop the area, to flatten it and build teaching buildings. But for now, it remained wild—secluded, quiet, thick with old trees and hidden groves.
It was a good place to hide. A good place to detox.
But detoxification required more than peace and quiet. It needed antidotes—and Luo Qingqian had none.
Wang Haoran didn’t approach. Instead, he paused a hundred meters away and quietly opened his senses.
And soon, he detected movement.
Someone else was coming.
The enemy had arrived.
Wang Haoran activated his X-ray Vision. His gaze pierced through the trees, cutting across layers of foliage until it landed upon—
A familiar figure, masked, holding a folding fan.
Meanwhile, hidden in the tall grass, Luo Qingqian focused all her energy on purging the poison. But it was useless. No matter how she pushed her True Qi, the heat inside her body only grew. A strange, unfamiliar sensation began to take root—a loss of clarity, a blurring of thought. Her limbs weakened. Her mind swam.
And then she understood.
She recognized this feeling. This particular poison.
She didn’t even have time to curse as a rustle of footsteps reached her ears.
She lifted her gaze and there, stepping into view—was the man behind it all.
Jiang Gaoxuan.
Even with the mask concealing half his face, she recognized him instantly—his eyes, his stature, that smug posture of his.
“Jiang Gaoxuan. It’s you!” Her voice trembled not with fear, but fury.
He smiled beneath the mask, voice oily and mocking. “Surprised, aren’t you? Fate really does bring people together.”
“You despicable bastard! You dare resort to such vile, cowardly means?” she hissed, gritting her teeth. Then her expression changed again. Something about the nature of the poison—it wasn’t from his sect.
“This isn’t your handiwork… This—this is the work of the Poison Sect!”
Her fury flared anew as the realization struck. She turned sharply toward the shadows and shouted:
“Enough hiding! Show yourselves!”
A rustle. And then, from behind a great tree, emerged a figure draped in black—curves dangerous, smile malicious.
Shao Wanwan.
The Poison Sect’s Saintess.
“Well, well. Still so lovely after all this time,” she cooed, her tone dripping with spite.
“You witch!” Luo Qingqian’s blood boiled. There was history between them—bad blood that time hadn’t dulled. Seeing her now, in such a moment, ignited the fire instantly.
“The angrier you get, the faster it takes effect,” Shao Wanwan said sweetly, as though sharing a tip with an old friend.
Luo Qingqian tried to calm herself, but the poison fought her will. The more she tried to still her emotions, the more they surged. Her mind grew hazy. Desire crept beneath her skin like a slow-burning fire. Her thoughts scattered. Her logic cracked.
Jiang Gaoxuan’s breathing quickened. He could see her defenses crumbling—her clarity dissolving. The temptation before him grew stronger by the second.
But Luo Qingqian wasn’t someone who would fall without a fight.
Just as her vision began to blur, she clenched her jaw and made a brutal decision. She opened her mouth slightly—and prepared to bite down on her tongue, to end it all before her mind was taken.
Jiang Gaoxuan’s expression twisted in horror.
“No—!”
But she was already moving. He had no time to stop her.
And then—
“Luo Qingqian! Where are you?”
A voice echoed through the trees.
She froze.
Her teeth hovered inches from her tongue. Her body trembled. Her eyes widened in shock.
Jiang Gaoxuan noticed the shift immediately. “Someone’s looking for you?” he said slowly, eyes narrowing. “Judging by your reaction… seems like someone very important to you.”
“Don’t you dare hurt him! If you do, even as a ghost, I won’t let you go!” she shouted, panic lacing her voice.
“Oh? Then how about this—” Jiang Gaoxuan smiled cruelly. “You do something for me, and I’ll spare him.”
She glared at him with hatred sharp enough to cut.
The voice called out again, closer this time.
“Luo Qingqian! Are you here?”
It wasn’t someone skilled in martial arts—his footsteps were clumsy, his presence unguarded. Clearly, an ordinary person. Likely clueless, yet walking straight into danger.
Shao Wanwan frowned, confused. “Who the hell is that?”
Jiang Gaoxuan smirked and responded loudly, “She’s here!”
Luo Qingqian’s eyes widened in terror. She tried to move, to stop him, but her limbs were heavy, her body sluggish. The poison pressed in on all sides, dulling her reactions.
Bushes rustled. Branches parted.
And then, emerging from the foliage, came a young man in tattered robes, hair tousled, clothes scraped and torn from brambles—but face calm, confident, beautiful.
Wang Haoran.
Jiang Gaoxuan’s body stiffened and his smile froze on his lips.
No. It can’t be…
His eyes locked onto the newcomer’s face—and all at once, the mask of arrogance shattered.
The robes were different. The hairstyle had changed. But that face… that face haunted him.
That night.
That pressure.
That feeling of being utterly crushed—of staring at a being he could not even comprehend, let alone fight.
Jiang Gaoxuan felt it again.
A crushing, formless weight. An instinctual fear. The sense of staring into the eyes of a higher being.
He didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t shout. Didn’t threaten. Didn’t fight.
He just turned—and fled.
True Qi roared through his body as he launched into the trees, faster than he’d ever moved in his life. He didn’t care about Shao Wanwan. He didn’t care about the deal. He didn’t care about Luo Qingqian.
There was only one thought in his mind: Run.
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