Lu Li offered a bitter smile and remained silent.
Although he wanted to coax the antidote out of Yue, asking for it directly would only backfire.
Seeing him stay quiet, Yue asked in confusion, "I remember the Soul-Devouring Pill only flares up once a month, right? Will it really affect your pill refining?"
Lu Li shook his head, his expression desolate. "That is what the Elder said, but my affliction seems to be a little different. I suffer minor agony every three days, and major agony every month. While the minor agony isn't fatal, it is excruciating to endure. I still have to complete the Elder's assignments, so I fear it will be difficult to carve out time to refine the Jade Skin Pill."
As he spoke, he feigned a look of intense suffering.
He had heard this young woman was kind-hearted, so he hinted as desperately as he could, hoping she would take the bait.
"How could it be like this?" Yue's expression shifted, revealing a touch of genuine sympathy. She hesitated for a moment before adding, "I do pity your circumstances, but... this is my master's decision. I wouldn't dare help you."
Damn it!
Hearing those words, Lu Li truly felt terrible.
Wasn't she supposed to be kind? How could she brush him off like this?
Was his acting not convincing enough? Had she seen right through him?
Lu Li sighed. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the sky, muttering, "It's fine. I didn't expect you to help anyway. This is the Soul-Devouring Pill, not something a little girl like you could cure. Perhaps... this is simply my fate."
"Little girl?" Yue leaned forward, puffing out her ample chest. "Do I... look like a little girl?"
"Ah?" Lu Li was entirely thrown off by the sudden display. He gave her a careful look. "I wasn't talking about that being small. I meant your age."
"Hmph, age. I'm already eighteen years old, and you're barely twenty. What right do you have to call me little?" Yue sat back down, a smug look on her face. "Besides, who says I can't cure the poison in your body?"
She really did have the antidote.
Lu Li rejoiced inwardly. Seizing the opportunity, he added fuel to the fire with a scoff, "Don't boast. How could the Great Elder's poison be cured by a little brat like you?"
"You... who are you calling a little brat! Believe it or not, this young lady will strangle you to death!" Yue demanded, gesturing wildly with her hands.
"Tch, flying into a rage from humiliation, are we?" Lu Li turned his head away, refusing to look at her.
"You! Fine, very well." Yue's eyes darted around before she casually retrieved a jade-green pill bottle no larger than a thumb. She waved it right beside Lu Li's head. "What if I told you this Yuqing Pill can cure the poison of the Soul-Devouring Pill?"
"Yuqing Pill?"
Lu Li whipped his head back around. At the sight of the jade-green bottle, his heart began to pound wildly. He had to suppress the overwhelming urge to snatch it away. However, he stayed his hand. Even if he grabbed it, there was no way he could easily escape this place.
Furthermore, it would deeply offend her. That would truly be losing the bait along with the fish. Thus, he maintained his skeptical facade. "Who knows if you're just using a broken bottle to fool me."
"Me? Fool you?" Yue seemed infuriated to the absolute limit. She tipped out the jade-green pill and went straight to shove it into Lu Li's mouth. "Open your mouth for this young lady!"
Perfect, absolutely perfect!
Lu Li thought to himself that this girl was truly naive. Forcing down his soaring excitement, he put on a reluctant expression and opened his mouth. "Ah-"
However.
He waited for a moment, yet no pill entered his mouth. Startled, he blinked. "You're playing me!"
Yue had brought the pill halfway to his lips, only to suddenly snatch her hand back. Her large, expressive eyes darted around playfully. "I... I feel like... something isn't quite right here."
Sigh, failed again.
Why was this girl's mind clever one moment and completely dull the next?
Deeply frustrated, Lu Li rolled his eyes at Yue. "What isn't right? I think you just have a guilty conscience. That junk pill of yours can't cure the Soul-Devouring Pill at all."
This time, however, Yue did not immediately fire back. She stared at Lu Li for a long while before finally speaking. "It's not impossible for me to cure your poison, but... you have to agree to two conditions."
Lu Li's brow furrowed. "What conditions?"
"First, you must swear upon the Heavenly Dao that you will listen to my words for the rest of your life. Whatever I forbid you from doing, you absolutely must not do."
"That's impossible!"
Lu Li refused instantly. Wasn't this demanding he become her lifelong slave? He would be better off dead.
Furthermore, to a cultivator, a Heavenly Dao oath was no weaker than the Soul-Devouring Pill. If he broke the oath and bred an Inner Demon, his cultivation stagnating would be the least of his worries. His divine soul might be entirely devoured by the Inner Demon, robbing him of even the chance to enter the cycle of reincarnation.
"Then there's no helping it. Without the restraint of the Soul-Devouring Pill, and with you refusing to swear an oath, I might be implicated if you do anything detrimental to the Sect."
Yue dropped the pill back into its bottle. "Last time I sneaked out, Master was furious," she said with a hint of melancholy. "I don't want to anger him again. Otherwise, I might never be able to leave this place for the rest of my life."
She wanted to leave this place?
Wasn't she a disciple of the Corpse Sect?
Lu Li was somewhat surprised. She made it sound as though she were trapped here as well.
After a moment of thought, he softened his tone. "How about we change the condition? I can swear an oath to help you with one matter. As long as you name it and it is within my abilities, I absolutely will not refuse. How about that?"
"One matter?" Yue paused. "What matter?"
"How should I know? Think of it as me owing you a favor. What do you say?"
"Is that so?" Yue sized Lu Li up with a keen stare. "Anything at all?"
"Anything within my abilities."
"Then isn't that the same as saying nothing? When the time comes, you could just say 'I can't do it,' and then what use is this favor?"
Lu Li frowned. This girl isn't stupid after all. "As long as it doesn't pose a mortal threat to my friends or me, I will agree to it," he said helplessly.
Hearing this, Yue's eyes shifted thoughtfully. "Alright. But... one matter isn't enough. It has to be three."
"Deal!"
Lu Li agreed instantly, without a second thought. Compared to the poison of the Soul-Devouring Pill, three trifling matters were nothing. He held out his hand. "Now, can you give me the antidote?"
"No." Yue pulled her hand back, giggling brightly. "You haven't sworn the oath yet. Besides, that was only the first condition. I haven't even mentioned the second one yet."
"Very well."
Lu Li immediately pointed two fingers toward the sky to swear his oath. "I, Qin Shouren-"
"Wait!" Yue abruptly interrupted. "No need to use your name. Just say 'I swear upon the Heavenly Dao.' That is enough."
"Uh, damn it."
Lu Li's face twitched violently. "I swear upon the Heavenly Dao, as long as Miss Yue cures the poison of my Soul-Devouring Pill, I promise to help her complete three matters..."
As soon as the words left his lips, Lu Li distinctly felt a mysterious aura merge into his mind. It seems a Heavenly Dao oath truly isn't something to be sworn lightly, he thought to himself.
"Is that sufficient?" Lu Li asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the small bottle in her hand.
"Mhm! Now you just need to agree to my second condition, and it's yours." Yue gave the bottle another teasing shake.
"Speak." Having reached this point, Lu Li was no longer anxious.
"The second condition is simple. Once your poison is cured, you just need to refine some Jade Skin Pills for me."
"Just that?"
"Mhm."
"Deal!"
"Here you go." Yue beamed, giggling as she placed the jade bottle into Lu Li's palm. She looked at him with eager expectation. "When will you start refining the Jade Skin Pill?"
With the antidote safely in hand, a wave of profound relief washed over Lu Li. "That depends on when you provide me with the materials."