"Let go?" Zi Linling's brows furrowed slightly, and she said faintly, "Mm, alright!"
As the words fell, the whip handle slipped from Zi Jinling's grasp, landing steadily in her palm.
Zi Jinling was stunned. She had never imagined that the good-for-nothing she had always scolded and beaten would snatch the whip from her hand.
She was instantly furious and roared, "How dare you take my whip!"
Zi Linling's clear eyes held a knowing smile. "Second sister, didn't you say 'let go for you'?"
Zi Jinling was taken aback, then angrily said, "Good-for-nothing, return my whip quickly!"
"Hmph!"
Zi Linling's gaze instantly turned sharp. She gripped the whip handle and casually flicked it, the whip whistling out.
Before Zi Jinling could react, the whip landed on her, eliciting a shrill scream, "Ah~"
Zi Linling ignored her, lashing out whip after whip.
"Swoosh~ Crack~ Ah~ Swoosh swoosh~ Crack crack~ Ah ah~"
The sound of the whip cutting through the air, the sound of it striking flesh, and the screams of the person echoed through the dilapidated courtyard.
Zi Jinling's light green long dress was quickly torn in several places, revealing glimpses of her inner garments and a hint of bare skin.
Zi Linling gave her no chance to breathe, whipping her twenty-nine times before stopping. She then asked coldly, "Who are you calling a good-for-nothing?"
Zi Jinling gritted her teeth in pain, her anger surging. "Good-for-nothing, how dare you hit me?"
"Swoosh... Crack..." A whip was her only reply.
"Ah~" Zi Jinling screamed again.
"Who are you calling a good-for-nothing?" Zi Linling continued to ask with a cold face.
Zi Jinling's legs trembled from the pain, but her mind was clouded by rage. Without thinking, four words blurted out, "A good-for-nothing is calling you a good-for-nothing!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Arguing with Zi Linling at this moment was like asking for trouble.
She closed her eyes, quietly awaiting the lash, even forgetting that she was a cultivator at the third level of Body Tempering.
At the same time, she forgot to ponder a question: how could a good-for-nothing who couldn't cultivate be more powerful than her?
However, after waiting for a long time, the expected pain did not come. Instead, Zi Linling's mocking voice drifted over, "Oh, so a good-for-nothing is calling me a good-for-nothing!"
Zi Jinling was stunned. She opened her eyes and realized that Zi Linling had thrown away the whip at some point and was looking at her with a meaningful gaze.
"Since you admit you're a good-for-nothing, I won't be overly harsh. I'll overlook what you said earlier, but... don't let it happen again!"
The words "don't let it happen again" carried a strong warning.
She had just transmigrated and had a lot to do. She didn't have time to bicker with Zi Jinling.
She had seen shameless people, but never someone this shameless!
Zi Jinling was so angry she felt like spitting blood. She pointed at Zi Linling with her fair, long index finger and said, "You..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zi Linling's expression turned cold. "If Second Sister doesn't want her finger anymore, I'll reluctantly help you chop it off!"
Zi Jinling, terrified, quickly retracted her finger. The whipping she had just endured had instilled a sliver of fear in her heart towards Zi Linling.
Seeing her frozen in place, Zi Linling's brow furrowed again, a hint of impatience on her face.
"Second Sister is still not leaving? Have you not had enough of the whip? Oh, right, those thirty lashes earlier, twenty-nine were what you owed me, and the last one was interest. I trust Sister is not someone who defaults on her debts."
Zi Jinling almost choked on her anger. She resentfully picked up the whip from the ground and said, "Good... Zi Linling, I will remember today's events!"
Recalling the whipping she had just received, Zi Jinling trembled all over. The word "good-for-nothing" was swallowed back by her with deep hatred.
Zi Linling glanced at her indifferently and said, "That's good. However, my patience is not very good. Next time, it won't just be a whipping."
Zi Jinling wanted to say a few more harsh words, but then she heard Zi Linling coldly shout, "Scram!"
This single word involuntarily instilled a sense of fear in Zi Jinling. Her body obeyed before her mind, and she fled the Luoyu Pavilion as if from a ghost.
What she didn't see was Zi Linling's incredibly dark expression, her face like a sheet of ice, as if the very air around her could freeze.
Only after Zi Jinling's figure disappeared from Luoyu Pavilion did Zi Linling let out a sigh of relief.
Just moments ago, she had suddenly felt an unbearable, bone-gnawing pain engulf her entire body. This was also why she had let Zi Jinling go.
She sat down cross-legged on the ground to check her pulse. Only then did she discover that her meridians and internal organs had become extremely fragile due to the corrosive effects of the poison. Her earlier movements had been too violent, causing her meridians to rupture and the excruciating pain.
In comparison, the external injuries from the whip were insignificant.
The state of her meridians was critical. If not treated promptly, she feared she would meet her end once again.
It seemed that everything was destined. This sliver of hope was not just hers, but also the original owner's.
Zi Linling's heart chilled as a shiver ran up her spine. "It's the Ghost Orchid poison! The person who poisoned me is truly ruthless!"
Ghost Orchid poison was one of the ten great poisons. It was extremely potent but colorless and odorless, making it very difficult to detect.
The immediate priority was to detoxify, then use a Marrow-Shaping Pill to reconstruct her meridians, followed by a Marrow-Cleansing Pill to cleanse her marrow.
However, detoxifying the Ghost Orchid poison was not easy, as it required an extremely rare herb—the Night Shadow Grass.
In her past life, she had accidentally obtained a few stalks and refined them into a special detoxification pill, which she kept in her Nine Spirit Ring.
"Nine Spirit Ring... what a hassle!"
Zi Linling chuckled wryly. "Where am I supposed to find a Nine Spirit Ring now? What a pity about the Universal Antidote inside."
That's right! The Universal Antidote was the detoxification elixir she had concocted using Night Shadow Grass. Although the name was a bit common, anything produced by the "Ghost Hand Poison Doctor" was a masterpiece.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, an annoying voice sounded.
"Your shabby thing dares to call itself a Universal Antidote?"
Zi Linling's eyes turned cold. She was extremely shocked, as no one had ever managed to approach her so silently.
She discreetly scanned her surroundings but found no abnormalities, which sent a chill down her spine.
Even so, she remained remarkably calm. Facing adversity without panic and maintaining composure was the key to survival, a lesson she had learned in her past life.
Besides, her title of "Ghost Hand Poison Doctor" was not earned lightly. If she faltered at this minor setback, how could she snatch people from the jaws of death?
She suppressed the pain and coldly shouted, "Who? Come out!"