One Swelling Lump After Another

Lily Bai's eyes shimmered with tears as she shouted emotionally, "Young Master Drake! I've always devoted myself wholeheartedly to your demon-slaying cause—never slacking off for even a day! Why are you treating me like this? You wanted me to poison my own Clan Ancestor and I did it! Now you want me to cut off her head too? If you wanted her head so badly, why didn't you do it yourself just now? She's the revered Ancestor of the White family! Do you have any humanity left?"

Palace Guard B spoke up: "Commander Li, maybe I should go instead! She's just a soft little girl—how could she do something so bloody..."

"Shut up!" Leo Li kicked him aside. "Soft little girl? She's a Heaven-Bestowed Demon Slayer! She's killed at least eighty, if not a hundred, demon beasts—what's one more head to her?"

Palace Guard B exchanged a glance with Palace Guard A—furious, but too afraid to speak up.

Leo Li looked at Lily Bai: "Go in, or drink?"

Lily Bai suddenly whipped out the little porcelain bottle and gulped down every last drop!

And immediately, she felt a whole lot better.

She had already filled the barrier with Demonic Poison—anyone who entered would be infected.

Then she took the 'poison' bestowed by the Celestial Empress, poured out two-thirds into the wine, and gave it to those two Palace Guards to drink.

The remaining third, she drank herself.

After finishing, she burped and said, "Done! I drank it all! Happy now? If I die, I'll come back as a vengeful ghost just to haunt you!"

Leo Li took a big step back, watching her warily.

That poison could kill even Fiends—it had to be insanely lethal! Who knew what Lily Bai might turn into?

But after waiting a while, nothing weird happened to her.

Instead, Leo himself suddenly started feeling... really off.

"Ah! Commander Li, what's wrong?" Palace Guard A spotted something. "There's a huge lump on your face!"

"Huh?" Leo Li touched his face. Sure enough, there was a giant bump—and next to it, itchy skin. He scratched twice and another bump popped up.

"Ah! Ah!" The Palace Guards retreated step by step. "What on earth is happening to you?"

Trying to act calm, Leo pulled out a mirror, checked his face, then tossed the mirror away and sprinted toward the Spirit Alliance, yelling, "Bring Lily Bai to the Spirit Alliance!"

......

The Palace Guards escorted Lily Bai over to Luna Lian.

Luna Lian took Leo Li's pulse, then calmly announced, "You've been poisoned by Demonic Poison."

"Demonic Poison? Demonic Poison? How could I be poisoned? They all went in too, why are they fine?"

"No idea," Luna Lian replied.

"It must be Bianca Whitefan! It must be her!" Leo Li shivered, haunted by that creepy smile. "She had Demonic Poison... I shouldn't have touched her body... I shouldn't have..."

"Maybe," Luna Lian said. "Touching a Fiend's corpse so carelessly... honestly, you're just too reckless."

"No... no..." Leo Li still felt something was off. Suddenly, he pointed at Lily Bai: "Wait! She just drank the poison—why is she fine, but I'm like this?"

Luna Lian frowned and asked Lily Bai, "You drank the poison?"

"Yep." Lily Bai handed over the porcelain bottle, sniffing and sniffling. "I drank every last drop, Luna. Will I end up looking like him too?"

Luna Lian took the bottle, sniffed it, and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"The Celestial Empress told me to use it to kill the woman in white inside, then Young Master Drake forced me to cut off her head. I refused, so he made me drink the rest of the poison instead."