Chapter 0245 – Alternative Play – Absolute Returns

The Poison King froze, blinking in disbelief as he asked, “You’re asking me to play with you? And bring Marble with you?”

“That’s right.” Jian Wuji nodded seriously.

The Poison King reached out and touched Jian Wuji’s forehead, “You shouldn’t have gotten sick from eating the Weather Pill, right?”

He grabbed Jian Wu Ji’s wrist again and checked his pulse.

“Is it so hard to play with you for a day?” Jian Wu Ji asked helplessly.

The Poison King turned around and tried to slip away, but was pulled by Jian Wu Ji.

“Don’t be nervous, I will accompany you.” Jian Wuji said with a smile.

“You might as well tell me to go learn how to bark in the drill hall! What the hell do you want?” The Poison King was about to collapse.

“I just want to take a day off and hang out with you on the way.” Jian Wuji said, “Come on, just play with me for a day.”

The Poison King sighed and was about to speak when the attendant came in to report that Marble had arrived.

The Poison King glared fiercely at Jian Wuji before turning around and walking out.

“Your honored guest has arrived, I’m sorry for not welcoming you from afar, forgive me and pardon me.” The Poison King greeted him with a smile on his face.

“Senior Poison King, how are you doing?” Marble also smiled and returned the greeting.

The Poison King’s attitude was a far cry from his previous evasive appearance, he acted very enthusiastically and was not the least bit offended by Marble’s arrival.

“This is your first time in the Thousand Poison Forest, isn’t it?” The Poison King asked.

“Yeah, it’s been a beautiful ride, the scenery.” Marble marveled.

“There are many more beautiful places out there.” The Poison King said with a smile.

As a matter of fact, the Poison King had never been to Marble’s Golden Buddha Temple either. He had always preferred to stay in the Thousand Poisons Forest and seldom went out, let alone visiting other Demon Lords.

After exchanging pleasantries, Marble looked towards Jian Wuji, “Second Duke, so you’re here.”

He acted as if he only just realized that Jian Wuji was here, his acting was very realistic. Jian Wuji also acted cooperatively.

“It seems that Lord Marble and I are truly destined to meet here.” Jian Wuji said with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s really something.” Marble smiled back.

“It seems that my recent efforts have not been in vain.” Jian Wuji looked at Marble and said meaningfully.

“What do you mean by that?” Poison King asked from the side.

“Don’t you know that Lord Marble and I have been inseparable good friends lately?” Jian Wu Ji said with a smile.

He deliberately acted like he was close to Marble in front of the Poison King.

“Second Prince, if you say that, Senior Poison King will be unhappy.” Marble said with a smile.

“Why should I be upset?” The Poison King asked in disbelief.

“Who in the entire Heavenly Demon God Sect doesn’t know about your special friendship with the Second Prince?” Jian Wuji said with a smile.

He was referring to the last martial arts arena incident where the Poison King and Sword Wuji learned to bark together.

Poison King blankly glanced at Jian Wuji, “Ever since I met you kid, I haven’t encountered any good things.”

He secretly transmitted his voice to Sword Wuji:

“Now is the biggest bad thing of all!”

Jian Wuji pretended not to hear and turned his head to look away.

After exchanging pleasantries, the Poison King brought Marble to the guest hall of the Thousand Poison Sect.

“Please.”

It was a gazebo built in the middle of the woods, with a tranquil and elegant surroundings and a pleasant view. Since it was rarely visited, it was usually empty, but the attendants would clean it every day.

A rejuvenated old man, a short statured man, plus a Sword Wuji, these three people standing together were really a strange combination.

“Did the errand out of the valley go well this time?” Marble asked.

“Thanks to your blessings, everything went well.” Jian Wuji replied.

The two men were polite for a few moments and then fell into silence.

Although Marble often dealt with people, at the moment he felt uncomfortable. He usually seldom interacted with the Poison King, and the young appearance of the Poison King made him uncomfortable. Of course, the Poison King probably felt the same way when he saw him.

The Poison King secretly transmitted his voice to Jian Wuji:

“I’m on the verge of suffocating, and you’re asking me to play with you? I’d rather fight a life and death duel with you!”

Luckily, the valet brought tea to ease the awkwardness.

“Good tea!” Jian Wuji exclaimed.

He picked up his teacup and leisurely savored the fragrant tea. Marble, on the other hand, just held the teacup but did not drink it. If his men dared to be like Jian Wuji and be so casual in front of him, he would have been furious long ago.

“You dare to drink Senior Poison King’s tea? Really tired of living!” Marble said secretly in his heart.

The Poison King had always been a feared existence in the eyes of the crowd.

“To be honest, I actually came here today for the sake of the Second Duke.” Marble put down his teacup and looked at Jian Wuji, “I heard that the Second Duke is here, so I purposely came over to take a look. Recently, I’ve found myself enjoying chatting with the Second Duke more and more.”

Jian Wuji could hear that Marble was already different from before. He seemed to have put all of his energy into this battle for the heir, showing unprecedented passion and candor.

“I’m curious, what does Elder Poison King and Second Prince usually talk about?” Marble asked.

“I asked him to help me clean up today.” The Poison King said faintly.

Marble froze at his words, thinking that the Poison King was expressing his displeasure with himself.

“Sorry to be so talkative.” Marble said.

“I really cleaned it.” Jian Wuji said in a hurry.

He looked at Marble accusingly, “Did you think that I would only be a smart ass and rely on flowery words to pull people in? I’m a hard worker!”

If Sword Wuji had really helped the Poison King clean up, that would mean that he wasn’t acting when he said he was tired before.

“You are, after all, a candidate for the Patriarchate, so be mindful of your status.” Marble said.

He didn’t say, “You’re the one who’s going to be the sect leader in the future,” because he hoped that Jian Wuji would never become the sect leader.

Marble’s words caused the atmosphere of the scene to become awkward once again. After all, his words could also be interpreted as the Poison King disregarding Jian Wuji’s status and making him do some lowly work.

However, the Poison King wasn’t angry because he could take it out on Jian Wuji.

“Did you hear that? He went so far as to say I made you do menial work! How do you expect me to play with you?” The Poison King secretly transmitted his voice to Jian Wuji.

“He didn’t mean that, don’t misunderstand.” Jian Wuji hurriedly explained.

“I can’t play well alone, let alone with three people.” The Poison King said helplessly.

Yeah, the three of them, none of them had much experience in entertainment. The reason why Jian Wuji wanted to play with them was because he knew that there weren’t many opportunities like this.

“How about you show us around the Thousand Poison Forest?” Jian Wuji proposed.

Before the Poison King could refuse, Jian Wuji stood up, “Let’s go, it’s sure to be fun.”

The Poison King had no choice but to take them to visit the Forest of a Thousand Poisons.

The Thousand Poison Forest covered a vast area with lush trees, and they walked for about an incense stick of time before arriving at a bamboo forest.

“It’s beautiful here.” Marble marveled.

Even Jian Wuji was here for the first time. Passing through the bamboo forest, they saw a huge ancient tree, and behind the tree was a meadow filled with flowers.

Attracted by the scenery in front of them, the three of them slowed down and took their time to appreciate the beauty around them.

Even Marble, who was reluctant at first, was gradually mesmerized by the scenery of the Thousand Poisons Forest and let out exclamations of admiration from time to time.

“Watch out!” The Poison King suddenly warned.

A colorful, venomous snake was spitting its letters and coiling on a branch.

“This is the Hundred Point Snake, it’s extremely poisonous, even if you’re a martial arts expert, if you don’t have the antidote, you won’t last more than a day.” Poison King explained.

Jian Wuji thought to himself that the name of this snake must have been given by the Poison King as well.

Along the way, when Jian Wuji saw all sorts of poisonous grasses, poisonous insects, and poisonous snakes, he would ask the Poison King about them, while the Poison King was excited to explain them to him.

Marble thought that Jian Wuji was doing this to curry favor with the Poison King.

“This kid, he’s really coming around.” Marble said in his heart.