Chapter Nineteen: Jade Lake Inn, The Venomous Frog’s Pouch

Dusk was falling, and the two had already hurried over five hundred miles.

Amidst the hills of the Black Mountains, a great lake glimmered with rippling light, and on its shore, a guesthouse of golden-hued timber sent up curling smoke from its kitchen.

“This inn is quite elegant. Let’s stay here for the night and get something to eat. By this time tomorrow, we’ll have reached Pei Jun’s estate!” Han Chong turned to Cold Moon, who had not spoken a word along the way, and suggested the plan. Seeing she did not object, he headed straight for the inn.

“Jade Lake Inn!” Han Chong raised his brows, nodded slightly, dismounted, tied his horse to a post, and strolled inside.

The inn’s furnishings were refined, every table and chair crafted from superior elm, and the stair rails and doorframes were all carved with winding vines and blossoms. A fresh scent of fragrant wood permeated the air, refreshing the spirit.

Yet, for such a spacious inn, there were only two servants, both slumped over the tables in deep sleep, and not a single guest in sight—a clear case of wasted potential.

“Ahem!” Han Chong coughed, rousing the two from their slumber.

“Oh! Honored guests! Please, come in!” The two servants—one plump, one thin—started awake. At the sight of Han Chong and Cold Moon’s attire, their pupils narrowed, but after exchanging a glance, they suppressed their alarm and quickly wiped down a table and offered seats with practiced ease.

Han Chong’s first impression of the inn was favorable, and he surveyed the space. Cold Moon, for her part, seemed deep in thought and paid little attention to the servants’ expressions.

“Honored guests, our inn is famous far and wide. Our specialties—Jade Lake Roast Fish, Turtle in Supreme Broth, Braised Prawns, and Eel in Brown Sauce—are unparalleled. We also have Roast Beef, Marinated Pork Shank, Braised Rabbit Head, and Wild Pheasant with Mushrooms—true delicacies!”

Han Chong nodded with interest, surprised at the variety, and his appetite was stirred.

“Good! Bring us one of each dish you mentioned. We’re famished!”

“Right away! Xiao Liu, bring the tea—I’ll hurry the kitchen!” The plumper servant rushed off, while the thinner one soon returned with tea.

Though Cold Moon was troubled, she was no novice to the world. She drew a silver needle and dipped it into both cups of tea; finding them harmless, she drank. Han Chong nodded to himself—out here in the wilds, testing for poison was essential.

Though the tea was clean, a vague sense of unease crept over Han Chong. The inn was so elegantly furnished, the menu so rich, yet not a single other guest—something was off. Better to be cautious. He still had three unused skill points, and the system offered a passive detoxification technique as a safeguard.

Consumption: Even if one ingests deadly poison, no harm will come. Passive skill, each use consumes varying amounts of vital energy.

Within a quarter of an hour, the two servants began setting the table with delicious dishes. Cold Moon, her expression unreadable, tested each with her silver needle, but found nothing amiss. The servants were unfazed, as if used to such caution.

“Eat,” Cold Moon said, picking up her chopsticks and sampling the aquatic dishes.

“Mm.” But before half a stick of incense had burned, Cold Moon was seized with violent stomach pain, nausea, and dry heaving. She hurriedly swallowed an antidote pill, but her face turned ashen—she had been poisoned.

Han Chong’s eyes widened as he felt the poison act on himself, but his Consumption skill activated at once, a cool sensation coursing through his belly. Still, he feigned collapse, slumping onto the table, intent on discovering the culprit.

A coarse, raucous laugh echoed from the back door as a bald, rotund man emerged. He resembled a laughing Buddha, but his eyes glinted with malice, and his toad-like mouth was repulsive. The two servants greeted him obsequiously, and he was evidently pleased.

“Who are you, knave, to resort to such base trickery as poisoning?” Cold Moon struggled to sit up, but even the antidote could not dispel the toxin. Her voice was icy as she demanded an answer.

“Hahaha, little lady, you’re tender and pale—bound to be delicious!” The bald man opened his mouth wide, and a yellow-brown tongue, nearly a foot long, shot toward Cold Moon.

“Monster! How can this be?” Cold Moon cried in alarm. She possessed the art of sensing auras, yet had detected no trace of demonic energy in the inn—not even now, with the creature standing before her.

The bald man cackled, then suddenly split open at the crown, peeling off a human skin to reveal a huge, warty toad’s head. Waves of demonic energy poured out, his body covered in slime and bulbous with poison sacs—a monstrous yellow-green toad, over a yard long!

The demon drew close, intent on swallowing Cold Moon whole. Her eyes were wide with despair, powerless to resist.

Just then, a golden-threaded Demon-Binding Cord snaked from Han Chong’s sleeve, coiling tightly around the toad demon.

“Croak!” The monster thrashed with all its might, but the more it struggled, the tighter the cord became.

“This Demon-Binding Cord truly works wonders—a bane to all demons!” Han Chong, now sitting up, looked coldly at the writhing toad and muttered to himself.

In a flash, he seized the two terrified servants as they tried to flee, knocking their heads together so hard they collapsed, groaning on the floor.

The toad demon, unable to break free, finally went still. Its bulging eyes stared at Han Chong in terror, and it spoke in a guttural voice.

“You—you’re not poisoned? How is that possible?!”

Cold Moon let out a slow breath, utterly baffled.

“You toad demon! To poison food in broad daylight—you are truly cruel and treacherous!” Han Chong raised his right palm and sent a razor-sharp blade of light flashing out, slicing off one of the monster’s legs.

“Aaah! Mercy, immortal master, spare me!” The toad howled in agony, tears streaming from its fishy eyes as it begged for its life.

“What is this poison? Produce the antidote at once, or I will show no mercy!” Han Chong spat a stream of blue fire, charring the creature’s wound and wringing another scream from it.

“Spare me, immortal! The poison was given to me by another—I have no antidote. I only know there are two kinds, each placed in different dishes. They are colorless, tasteless, and undetectable, but if consumed together, death follows.”

The toad, for all its fear, was surprisingly articulate.

But Han Chong’s eyes glinted with cold light, and he spat another jet of flame, filling the inn with the scent of roasting flesh. Still, the toad refused to divulge more.

“Immortal, I know how to neutralize the poison! Please, spare me! We were forced by this toad demon to do these wicked deeds!” The thin servant kowtowed desperately. Suddenly, a streak of red-gold light pierced his throat, killing him on the spot.

“Scoundrel!” Han Chong had not expected the toad to have enough strength left to strike with its tongue—truly, a stubborn creature.

This time, Han Chong unleashed a fierce blast of fire on the wound, torturing the demon until it was barely clinging to life.

“You, speak!” He grabbed the plumper servant and demanded in a low voice.

“Yes, yes! Just take out the toad’s poison sac and the toxin will be neutralized! It always swallows its victims whole, or it would have died of its own poison long ago!”

“Hmm! That makes sense,” Han Chong nodded, drawing his sword to open up the toad demon.

“No, don’t—if you kill me, Lady White Jade will never forgive you!” The toad, in its final struggles, uttered a name that made Han Chong pause.

“Oh? Lady White Jade—I’ve never heard of her. Who is she to you, and why would she avenge you?”

Han Chong kept his expression neutral as he questioned further.

“Lady White Jade is a high demon under the Black Tiger King, commanding all demons and demon soldiers within a four-hundred-mile radius of Pei Jun’s estate. I am one of her toad demon envoys. Release me now and you may yet live—otherwise, you won’t see next year!”

The toad, seeing Han Chong’s hesitation, threatened him with a hateful glare.

“Boasting won’t help you. Lady White Jade isn’t here—what can she do to me?”

“Hmph! This is no official road. Since you two passed this way, you must be heading for Pei Jun’s estate. In time, you’ll fall into Lady White Jade’s grasp!” The toad tried to sound fierce, but there was fear in its tone.

“Hmm?” Han Chong exchanged a glance with Cold Moon, surprised to learn that the White Jade Serpent Demon oversaw all the minor demons in Pei Jun’s domain—it explained why her traces kept appearing.

“Nonsense! How could a demon dwell long in a bustling human settlement? The Demon-Slaying Division has a branch there—you must be lying!”

“Who says we demons are easily discovered in human towns? All demon envoys and soldiers are equipped with special man-skin pouches crafted by Lady White Jade. Once inside, our demonic aura is concealed—even the Demon-Slaying officers can’t detect us!”

So that was the secret! No wonder neither of them had sensed any demonic presence in the inn—it was masked by these special serpent-skin pouches.

“Very well. Tell me where Lady White Jade resides, and I’ll spare your life.”

“I don’t know. We only receive direct orders—we can’t seek her out ourselves unless summoned.”

“Fine. Since you’ve told all you know, it’s time to go.” With a swift motion, Han Chong plunged his sword into the toad’s chest, extracting a golden poison sac.

The poison sac, far from stinking, actually neutralized toxins, much like a snake’s gall bladder.

Han Chong grabbed the plump servant, made him squeeze out a few drops into a cup of water, then kicked him away and fed the cup to Cold Moon.

As the servant tried to escape, Han Chong’s sword flew through the air and pierced his chest.

Within moments, color returned to Cold Moon’s cheeks, and the poison was gone.

“I never thought you’d save me again—you’ve rescued me more times than I can count,” Cold Moon said, a little despondent. As a Demon-Slaying officer, she never imagined that after meeting Han Chong, a mere constable, she would become the one needing protection—a bitter pill to swallow.

“No need to thank me. You’ve helped me understand this world in many ways.”

“Understand the world?” she echoed, puzzled by his words.

Han Chong approached the toad demon’s corpse and spat a jet of fire, reducing it to ashes.

In recent days, the Bloodshadow Serpent within him had learned to devour. Whenever a demon died nearby, it would slip unseen into the corpse, suck out the demon blood, and return unnoticed to Han Chong’s chest, greatly enhancing his physical strength—he had now reached the pinnacle of the acquired level!

Crisis and opportunity always go hand in hand. Han Chong felt the power coursing through his body, sensing another subtle surge in strength.