Poison of the Human Panacea

Chapter 5

"Sect leader, how will you deal with this traitor?" Liu Wuzhang inquired in a low voice.

Bai Tan opened his eyes, revealing a dark beautiful pair of eyes. "Come to think of it, I* have yet to be summoned for an audience with my* younger brother[1], the emperor of the Kingdom of Xi Ye. It is said that he likes to paint on human skin, we can give him an exquisite skin silk[2] as a tribute this year…"

There was no need for further explanation, he couldn't have understood any better.

Li Wuzhang instructed the two rakshasas[3], "Take him away and skin him; there's no need for the skin on his head."

But Bai Tan said in a soft voice, "Wait, is there a need to drag him away? Skinning him here is fine, just in time for him to be an offering to the Mahakala[4]."

Some Rakshasa took the person who was on the brink of death to the sacrificial altar in the centre of the Dadian[5], spread his limbs and secured them on the stone pillars. The Jiegu[6] started pounding, the priestess dressed as Lakshmi[7] responded to the sounds by stepping on to the altar. Her fingers were sharp; using her nails as blades, she cut a line on the sacrificial offering's back. With the first cut made, she peeled the skin off the backbone and fresh blood spurted out in a split second. However, her movements were smooth and graceful, as if she was dancing to the beats of the drums. When the beating of the drums stopped, a piece of human skin was perfectly separated from the flesh. Looking at the blood gourd[8]-like person again, he was no longer moving or breathing.

Bai Tan watched the whole process with a hand under his chin, not batting an eye. When the skin was presented, he whistled, calling for the condor[9] that had smelled the scent of blood earlier and was hovering above the altar to eat the corpse.

The hall fell into silence for a moment; Bai Tan secretly let out a breath.

He actually didn't like to watch these kinds of b.l.o.o.d.y displays, but sitting on the sect leader position made him worried and scared. The more afraid he was, the crueler he needed to be. To make it so no one would dare defy him, he must execute one as a warning to a hundred[10].

"This Ye Cha[11] was really not tactful. Sect Leader don't get angry." A voice broke the silence suddenly.

The owner of the voice was a man in green – his eyelids flooded with blood[12]. A look at him and one would know that he has killed many people before. A highly venomous silver python wrapped around his hand[13], but he smiled as if the spring breeze was stroking his face[14]. His mannerism had a distinguished aura of a young master from a corrupted time and place[15]. The man was Ji Du[16], one of the seven leaders[17], also known as "Asura[18]".

"'Concubine Ming' is not found by chance. Your subordinate is willing to help the sect leader resolve it."

Bai Tan's eyes flickered. "What do you mean?"

"The Sect Leader might not be aware of how the former Sect Leaders found a 'Concubine Ming'. It actually relies on the reading of the stars[19]."

"Reading of the stars?" Bai Tan muttered to himself.

His fate entering a narrow path was all because of the reading of the stars.

On the year of his ninth birthday, Wu Yanfu, who was the country's advisor[20] of the Kingdom of Xi Ye, set up the formation for stars reading. He spread fallacies to deceive people, saying that Bai Tan was the descendant of a demonic woman from a fallen kingdom. He was born with a feminine appearance and had alluring bones[21]. Once he reached his twenties, his alluring bones will mature, he would become excessively lewd and the s.e.xual tension would be hard to suppress. He would wreak havoc in the palace like his dead mother[22] and was not suited to be the heir to the throne.

His father[23] never doted on him due to his mother and he had always admired and respected Wu Yanfu. Thus, it was only natural that he would believe in Wu Yanfu's words.

Not long after, he was sent to the shrine of the fierce spirited 'blood drinking Jingang[24]' to stay for a night, in the name of pulling through the calamity presented to him. But there was not a single person who survived in that shrine.

It was meant to send him to his death. But, as he was the prince, and it would not go well if the public were to find out about it.

The night he spent there was like a horrible nightmare.

When he was curled up, trembling at the sacrarium[25], there was Wu Yanfu opening the door.

He was naïve and like a bird with broken legs, threw himself into his embrace, begging for his help.

Wu Yanfu went to ask his father if he could take him in as his disciple; his father, naturally, happily allowed it.

From then on, he was no longer the prince, but a flower[26] raised in the hands of Wu Yanfu.

The reason behind Wu Yanfu's actions was clear if one looked at the person occupying the throne.

He facilitated the marriage that brought Lou Lan[27] and Xi Ye together.

As for Bai Tan, he was the trophy that Wu Yanfu incidentally obtained.

Yet, it was the trophy who took the life of the person who covered the skies with one hand[28].

To read the stars and ask the skies – how accurate is it? Wasn't he still able to reverse their fates?

Ji Du saw Bai Tan sneer, emotions flickering in his eyes. His eyes seemed to be smiling and yet, resenting. Witnessing this, Ji Du couldn't help but be unsettled. "Would the sect leader allow this subordinate to set up the formation for the stars reading to look for the 'Concubine Ming' whereabouts?"

Bai Tan smiled. "Alright, let me* look at your capabilities."

"This subordinate feels extremely flattered[29]." Jidu approached cautiously, fearing that the fickle minded beauty would suddenly attack and injure him. But he gathered his courage, knowing that he needed the bravery of a man entering a tiger's den, to gain Bai Tan's liking.

He stared at the delicate face of the person on the seat, which resembles that of a jade carving, and lowered his voice. “So, may the Sect Leader go to the stars reading platform at night. But during the reading, there must be no idlers around. Only Sect Leader and I must be there. Apart from the 'Concubine Ming' whereabouts, your subordinate has another secret to inform the sect leader about."

He had a loose[30] personality and there was a bit of ambiguity[31] in his words, but he immediately kept it in check…

It was natural that when looking at Bai Tan's face, he didn't forget Bai Tan's past ident.i.ty.

The son of a peerless demonic concubine, the boy toy[32] born with alluring bones, even if he became a high-ranking Sect Leader, it was inevitable for there to be imaginations of him. But he was not stupid, he would not touch Bai Tan's reverse scale[33].

To touch the fur of a beautiful but ferocious beast, of course, you must pet it in the direction of the fur.

Bai Tan examined him with interest for a moment and his lips slowly turned upwards.

Though this person was ambiguous, he was cautious of his att.i.tude. He was not frivolous but modest and did not evoke the slightest bit of irritation. If he did not have some true ability, then he would not provoke him for no reason.

"You go to the stars reading platform and prepare."

Jidu happily nodded, but a chill crept up his neck as he stood up.

As if someone was cautiously watching him with ill-intention.

Jidu looked to the side and only saw Li Wuzhang, one of the four guards standing in front but was not looking at him. Instead, he was focused on playing with the strange beast in his arms, but the curled human figure in the corner, behind Li Wuzhang, caught his attention.  The man had disheveled white hair, his limbs completely crippled, and he was on the floor as if he was soft and boneless. It was clear that it was a crippled yao ren, but there was the air of a ghost around him.

An ordinary person can't see the air of a ghost, but the yin and yang eyes[34] that Jidu was born with, allowed him to see it.

That person was possessed by a ghost with a grievance, in other words, a vengeful ghost.

Wu Yanfu was staring at him because he was rather displeased.

Although he longed to peel Bai Tan's skin off and break his bones, Bai Tan was his plaything. He has never allowed other people to touch his belongings, especially this 'stranger', who was his big disciple, whom he had cultivated himself.

His wild nature was difficult to tame. Ever since Wu Yanfu discovered this disciple scheming and exchanging secrets with his enemies from Yue Ying Palace, he thought of eliminating him and placing a curse on him.

It was a pity that it was not completed. But this has become a good thing.

This disciple would be the first chess piece that he would use.

He was never scared of anyone apart from Wu Yanfu, but this disabled yao ren made his hair stand on ends.

That yao ren - where exactly did he come from?

Xiao's comments: Bai Tan is quite brutal…poor Ye Cha…It seems Jidu does indeed know some magic since he was able to tell that the yao ren is possessed by an evil spirit…an evil spirit. Wu Yanfu, you get no sympathies, dead or alive, lol.

Important Note: Previously, we were using the term ‘shaman' to describe the kind of person that Wu Yanfu had possessed because Bai Tan mentioned that the shaman had access to the underworld due to his demonic vines. However, a reader pointed out that 'human panacea' was a more accurate term. We originally went with shaman because it was a more smooth flow. However, after much discussion with the rest of the translators, we've decided to change it to ‘yao ren' (human panacea) for a more accurate translation and to avoid any confusion. So, from now on, we'll refer to the previously used term, ‘shaman' as ‘yao ren'. The t.i.tle of the novel has also been changed to reflect this change.

Translator's Notes:  

[1] A special way used to refer to siblings in the royal family.

[2] The actual translation has the meaning of a top-grade cloth, usually white and usually made of silk.

[3] An evil spirit/ghost that is also the prison guards of h.e.l.l, responsible for berating sinners. In this case, it is probably used to refer to a guard/low level member of the sect.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahakala

[5] Dadian is the main hall of a Buddhist temple

[6] Jiegu is a drum used in ancient China having a shape of an hour-gla.s.s

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi

[8] A bottle gourd is a container for ancient Chinese people to drink alcohol in

[9] Condor is a type of vulture

[10] Execute one as a warning to a hundred means an execution intended for the public to know; to warn the others who may also have the same intentions off.

[11] Ye Cha otherwise known as Yaksa is a malevolent spirit in Buddhism. It is also the name of the character

[12] Could mean that the color red was applied to the eyelids or that it is red from the blood flowing.

[13] Could mean arm too

[14] Means happily and comfortably.

[15] Means that the person/man has an extraordinary air about him.

[16] Jidu is the name of the character

[17] Tan Zhu(壇主) means the owner of the altar but in the novel, the author seemed to have used it as leaders of factions/divisions in sect

[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asura_(Buddhism)

[19] More accurately, reading or using the stars to predict or foretell the future.

[20] Can also be read as country's teacher

[21] This is a term we coined that is used to describe an occurrence that was previously mistranslated as an idiom; context was given later on in the novel.

[22] The phrase also refers to the mother as a concubine. The way princes and princesses of the royal family address their mother who are not the queen

[23] Term refers to his father as the king. The way princes and princesses of the royal family address their father, the king.

[24] Jingang is the blood drinking guardian deity in Buddhism

[25] Sacrarium is the main part of the temple.

[26] The flower also has the same character as Bai Tan. It actually refers to a type of plant in the cactus family, epiphyllum, which blooms large fragrant flower for a single night only. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyllum

[27] Loulan is the original name of the ancient Shanshan state; is another kingdom in the same western region of ancient china (like xiye). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loulan_Kingdom

[28] It means that the person lied to the whole world/everyone and was able to get away with it.

[29] The phrase is directly translated to "as though shocked from being doted" but is better understood as being flattered or honored that the other person did/said something (like in this case "the other person" allowed him to carry out the star reading)

[30] This was understood as distinguished in the paragraph above because of the part before it that describes him as extraordinary, but it can also mean to be loose (like the person flirts around), or unconventional and carefree. But the sentence here seems to suggest otherwise.

[31] The term is usually used to describe the ambiguity in the relations.h.i.+p between two people or the actions that cause the ambiguity.

[32] The actual term meant something closer to personal boy toy?

[33] Meaning taboo topic

[34] Something like spiritual eyes able to see the supernatural.   *The “I” or "me" makes a reference to his position or suggests a high rank  

                                                                                                                                      Chapter 6