Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Listening to Songs at the Pleasure House—A Black Tag! Just What Kind Of Medicine Is It?

【What the hell is this thing?】

【You, an upright and principled gentleman—how could you want a tag like this?】

【Watching that sharp-faced, monkey-cheeked fellow sneaking glances again and again at your personal handmaid Zhu Xiang, you feel a surge of burning rage.】

【Using something so vulgar on your maidservant, are you?】

【With a casual wave of your hand, you drawl lazily: Drag this man out and beat him to death with clubs, then throw him into the mass graves outside the city to feed the dogs.】

【In no time, 2 burly men step forward, ignoring his wailing, and haul him away.】

【Listening to the screams from outside, the other young men who had come for the guard selection turn pale as sheets.】

【They had only come hoping to secure a decent future—they never expected that you, this third-generation heir, would be so temperamental, killing people at the slightest provocation.】

【Far too frightening.】

【7 days of consecutive selections pass, and not a single one satisfies you.】

【And so, you announce a few days of rest.】

【On the 8th day, you intend to get a proper night's sleep, but a few of your drinking companions come calling, inviting you to the Intoxicating Fragrance House to listen to songs. They say that the Lute Queen Gu Qing-er has composed a new piece that can help you fall asleep faster.】

【You think that sounds perfectly reasonable, so off you go to the Intoxicating Fragrance House.】

【And so you listen—for a full 2 days straight.】

【Afterward, you stagger out of the Intoxicating Fragrance House, swaying on your feet.】

【Somehow, the more songs you listen to, the more exhausted you become—you can barely even walk.】

Zhao Jin: ……

Was he really tired from just listening to songs?

That's a bit embarrassing to say out loud.

【On the 10th day, you rarely stay home to rest for once.】

【It isn't that you're truly afraid of dying in bed—you simply have enough self-control.】

【While at Guardian King's Manor, a sudden flash of inspiration strikes you.】

【Your Tag Plunderer talent allows you to see the tag information of others—but what if you used it on yourself?】

【You glance down at yourself—no information appears whatsoever.】

【Unwilling to give up, you fetch a particularly clear bronze mirror.】

【You wonder whether your reflection in the mirror might be counted as another person.】

【In any case, this time, information finally surfaces.】

【And it isn't just a little—3 tags in total!】

【But they look nothing like any tags you've seen before.】

【Not even matching the 7 colors the system described!】

【Because these 3—2 are grey, and 1 is black!】

【Kidney Deficiency (Grey): Young man, you're running a bit low.】

Zhao Jin's face darkens.

What in the world is this?

Where exactly am I "running low"?

Don't go making things up!

【Poisoned (Grey): You are being continuously dosed with Shattered Heart Parasite poison each day, preventing you from performing any cultivation whatsoever.】

The moment he reads this simulation entry, Zhao Jin shoots to his feet.

Holy…

The reason he couldn't cultivate—he'd finally found it!

It was this thing—the Shattered Heart Parasite!

Zhao Jin had assumed this body was simply born a waste.

Damn it all, it turned out someone had been poisoning him.

He was just about to call in a guard to investigate the Shattered Heart Parasite, but he immediately held himself back.

Because the simulation entry contained the words "continuously each day."

Someone was poisoning him every single day.

That person had to be someone extremely close to Zhao Jin.

Sending others to investigate would only tip them off.

At the same time, Zhao Jin felt utterly incredulous.

He was the sole grandson of Guardian King Zhao Shi-zhong—he was protected so airtight that not even water could seep through.

Every item of food was inspected before it reached his lips.

Yet someone was managing to poison him daily without anyone knowing?

Was this not completely outrageous?

In Zhao Jin's mind, several figures immediately surfaced.

The steward Wang Fu, the handmaid Zhu Xiang, Old Du in the kitchen, the Manor's divine physician Elder Chen, the guard commander Dian Cheng-feng, and the 4 shadow guards his grandfather had assigned to him…

All of them had become suspects in his mind.

Right then, the final black tag surfaced.

【One Foot In The Grave (Black): Within 3 years, your death is an absolute certainty!】

Holy— Zhao Jin was completely numb.

Kidney Deficiency. Poisoned. One Foot In The Grave…

Each of these 3 tags was more vicious than the last.

He was a transmigrator through and through—how had he nearly turned into a total muggle?

He couldn't keep going to the pleasure houses every night. He hoped that his simulated self would pull itself together.

【After seeing the One Foot In The Grave tag, your expression shifts drastically and you become restless with anxiety.】

【From these 2 grey and 1 black tags, you begin to discern the pattern.】

【Grey ones are negative statuses—unpleasant, but not lethal.】

【Black ones are fatal tags.】

【You had originally only wanted to train in martial arts, but now resolving these 3 tags—especially the black one—has become your most urgent priority of all.】

【Yet you realize with miserable clarity that there is not a single person around you that you can trust completely.】

【A great many things, you will have to handle yourself.】

【On the 11th day, through Chen Gong-jia—a group member in the Primordial Realm chat group—you learn that the Shattered Heart Parasite is a venomous insect, ground into powder and dissolved into water. It is colorless and odorless. Consumed over a long period, it not only blocks the meridians but also causes slow and gradual death.】

【You have no idea who could be this vicious—who wants you dead.】

【On the 12th day, while listening to songs at the pleasure house, you happen to hear from your drinking companions that the Black Sun Cult of the Di Nation is a prolific source of the Shattered Heart Parasite.】

【The Di Nation is a barbarian state to the north of Great Qian—the very enemy that your grandfather, Guardian King Zhao Shi-zhong, is currently holding at bay.】

【If the forces of the Di Nation are the ones poisoning you, that would seem to make perfect sense.】

【Over the next 3 days, you wander about the manor under various pretenses, casually checking the tags on everyone around you, hoping to spot a single telltale sign.】

【And indeed, you actually manage to find a dozen or so people harboring ill intent.】

【All of them carry tags along the lines of Pervert—tags indicating moral corruption.】

【But you cannot tell which of them is the spy or the one doing the poisoning.】

【You quietly make note of them all, without tipping anyone off.】

【In the process, you also stumble upon a pleasant surprise.】

【Among the guards in the manor, there is one called Li Er-niu, carrying a 5-star white tag: Born With Brute Strength.】

【Born With Brute Strength (5-Star White): You were born with considerable raw power. A single punch can kill a bull, and you can wield a force of a thousand catties.】

【Tags that grant a thousand catties of force are not particularly rare, but a 5-star potential is extraordinarily precious—it signifies that at its peak, it can reach the Sacred Grade.】

【It is the highest-potential tag you have encountered so far, and the most fitting for you.】

【You use your Tag Plunderer to transfer this tag onto yourself.】

【Instantly, you feel your body brimming with strength.】

【The grey tag on your body—Kidney Deficiency—slowly fades and disappears.】

【You are overjoyed beyond measure.】

【Now you can listen to songs for a much longer stretch without stopping.】

【Pfft, pfft—your life matters more than anything. What are you still thinking about pleasure houses for?】

【Because your Tag Plunderer requires you to remain in physical contact with the target for the duration of 1 incense stick's burning in order to transfer a tag—】

【Once you leave, Li Er-niu feels a chill creep down his spine.】

His granny—could this third-generation heir actually have a taste for men?

【At that moment, Guard Commander Dian Cheng-feng watches the scene with an expression of deep contemplation.】

【That very night, Li Er-niu is sent into your chambers.】

【You are absolutely horrified and drive him out on the spot.】

Damn it all—now they're just sending anyone and everyone into your room, are they?

You haven't gotten that desperate yet!

【Perhaps because you hadn't gone to the pleasure house for 3 consecutive days, your subordinates had all drawn the wrong conclusion.】

【On the 16th day, you make a special trip to the Intoxicating Fragrance House.】

【With Born With Brute Strength in play, things are a whole different story.】

【Even listening to songs feels remarkably vigorous.】

【That night alone, you hold your own for a full 2 hours straight, leaving no small number of beauties utterly astonished.】

【On the 17th day, your good friend Xiao Wei—son of Prince Liang—hears word of your performance and comes seeking your "secret medicine."】

【You tell him there is no such medicine—this is entirely your own ability!】

【Xiao Wei looks completely unconvinced and even accuses you of being stingy with good things and not sharing, saying you lack decency.】

【So you head over to the manor's divine physician Elder Chen, grab a random packet of medicine, and stuff it into his hands.】

【Xiao Wei leaves in high spirits, absolutely delighted.】

【On the 18th day, you hear that Xiao Wei pushed himself far too hard listening to songs and nearly died in the bed.】

【You rush to ask Elder Chen: just what medicine did you take yesterday?】