The Return Of The Devil's Wife 92 Forbidden Alchemy 2

"Drink it up at the same time. After that we will proceed with the next exercise." Aki ordered. The Aces promptly opened the vials and downed the liquid at the same time.

The four of them looked expectantly at the Aces, each with different purposes. Mamoru and Yui were waiting for their agony while Akane and Yan Qing Shan were curious of this batch's effect. Their antic.i.p.ation didn't last much. Xu Lei directly fainted while Qin Jiran and Jia Wei Ren sprawled in the ground with their consciousness though intact, it phased in and out. Ning Xie Zhi, Jia Yi Lan, and Qi Xia had it a little better. They were on the ground, on all fours with faces scrunched up terribly as if they were about to puke. Luo Chen and Hong Zhen Yue however, fared better with their expressions merely scowling.

Mamoru started howling in laughter at the sight along with Yui who was chuckling. Akane started taking notes while Aki just looked on and waited for them to recover.

"d.a.m.n, Yan Qing Shan! What was that? Are you sure it's nutritional juices and not poison?" Qi Xia spoke difficultly as he suppressed the urge to heave. The taste of the liquid was horrible, so much that he couldn't put it in words.

"Poison? Even poison is better. That d.a.m.ned liquid must be a result of some sort of forbidden alchemy. That thing just rendered my entire body useless. My tongue is about to fall off. I don't think this taste will disappear easily. Is this some kind of punishment? I thought only the last gets punished. You lot better explain this."

"Oi, Qi Xia, Jiran, you had the better tasting ones alright. Xu Lei had the worst 'cause he came last. Poor thing, he got knocked out." Yan Qing Shan retorted with a chuckle as he squatted near the fainted Xu Lei.

"Heck, I don't think that's a punishment. He isn't able to savour the after effects. How is that a punishment?" Jia Wei Ren panted, his glaring eyes at the lying form of Xu Lei.

"Now, now despite the slightly terrible taste, I a.s.sure you those really are nutritional juices. They are beneficial to your exhausted physique. We even upgraded the formulation just for you." Yan Qing Shan responded as she eyes the Aces. They might not be able to feel it now, but sooner they'll reap the benefit of the juice. Excluding its taste, the juice was nothing short of miraculous. Yan Qing Shan stumbled serendipitiously on the formula and has been improving it with Akane ever since. It bolstered their family's strength a lot.

"Wow. Thanks a lot." Jia Wei Ren spoke sarcastically.

"Yan Qing Shan overlooked the sarcasm. She quirked her lips in a cheery smile as she stood up and looked over them.

"Oh, it's nothing. You'll take this every after exercise, so do your best!"

Agonized groans followed suit after her declaration. Yan Qing Shan shook her head at their reaction. The vials were a good sort of negative motivation. No one ever wanted to have the worst tasting one so they'll try their hardest at the exercises even more. Though they may take it negatively, it doesn't negate the fact that it is good for them.

Yan Qing Shan walked towards Mamoru who was tearing up with his non-stop laughs and sneered. "Mamoru-nii, if you don't stop your maniacal laughter people would start to think that you're a deplorable degenerate. It's not as if you're any better than them. You pa.s.s out on the best tasting version of the old formula. You really shouldn't get ahead of yourself."

Mamoru's laugh was cut off by the calm taunts that Yan Qing Shan suddenly threw his way. He pouted prettily at her. If he wasn't wearing male clothes this time, it would have been a sight that would take men's breath away. Though there wasn't much difference this time since his expression would tug at any maiden's heart. Not Yan Qing Shan though. Asahi Mamoru's tantrums were merely a front to his mischief, Yan Qing Shan knew as much to get fooled by it.

"That's mean Ami-chan. Don't go off spouting my secrets lest these kids stop taking my cla.s.ses seriously. Now that's gonna be dangerous." Mamoru remarked off-handedly with an evil smirk.

"Been there, done that. I ain't going to drink any more of that d.a.m.ned juice. They taste horrific as f.u.c.k. Excuse the expression." He continued. Yan Qing Shan covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Mamoru stiffened up as he realized that he had unseemingly stepped on a landmine. Before he knew it, he keenly felt the stirring of the wind. His shoulders suddenly bore the weight of another human whose hostility oozed from her being without care.

"Now you've done it, Mamoru-nii." Yan Qing Shan shook her head at him with pity. Mamoru couldn't retaliate for he suddenly felt the evil little hands holding his jaw firmly.

"Oihp, Akhane staph dat. Vhat are yhou dhoing?" Mamoru struggled to get his words out. He could fling Akane away, that much is easy. But he wouldn't actually do that since they weren't really sparring and it will just leave a bad taste in his mouth. He did go a bit overboard with what he said especially since he was aware how Akane regarded that nutritional juice research she and Yan Qing Shan had been perfecting. Even if it was true that it tasted awful.

"I'm shutting you up." Akane answered sinisterly after which she dumped a vial of the liquid he just dissed for its taste. He felt the cool liquid flow through his gullet as its unexplainable taste permeated his entire mouth and throat. A dizzy spell enveloped his consciousness and rapidly magnified until he was knocked out cold. The last thing Mamoru heard was the tinkling laughter of his mistress.

"Ah, as expected he didn't even last a minute. Fufufu." Akane commented as he looked over at the unconscious body of Mamoru sprawled to the ground.

"Akane, you didn't have to go that far." Yui commented. As for Aki, he was already attending and checking out the Aces' condition that he was oblivious to the antics of the other guardians.

"This is also an experiment, Yui. Seems like our new formulation is up to par." Akane replied righteously. Yui just shook her head at her.

"Akane Onee-sama, would it be alright if I take the rest of the vials?" Yan Qing Shan asked Akane tentatively while she stooped down and poked the face of the corpse impersonator that was Mamoru.

Akane looked at her in question. "It's fine. I can always make more anyway. What do you need them for?"

'I'm going to feed them to the devil.' Yan Qing Shan replied in her mind but since she couldn't actually say it out given the fact that such answer will merely entail even more questions, she just shrugged as a response.

---

Ying Yue Garden. Night.

Yan Qing Shan cheerfully bounded in the direction of the kitchen She had the maids refrain from announcing her arrival thus the Master of the house was unaware that she had gone home. Yan Qing Shan has asked for permission to stay at the villa for a couple of days and she was supposed to be back home by another day. Yet she was too excited to prank Zi Jue with the juice that Yan Qing Shan couldn't bear to wait for another day. Aside from that, she could also treat this as a mini surprise.

She headed for the kitchen and prepared a cup where she emptied the contents of the nutritional juice. All the while justifying to herself that it wasn't a bad idea if worse comes to worst and the concoction knocks Zi Jue out. At least it will help with his insomnia amongst other health benefits. She knew Zi Jue preferred salty as opposed to sweet treats. So, Yan Qing Shan also plated some salted pretzels to mask her less than honorable intentions. There wasn't much of a variant to choose from so she had to make do with them.

'I should probably brush up on my dessert making skills. It would be good to have him keep a stash of treats in case he gets hungry.' Yan Qing Shan pondered as she headed to Zi Jue's study.

Yan Qing Shan lightly rapped on the door. Her heart quickened as per usual upon hearing the pleasant baritone voice of the devil inside the room. But she disregarded it and entered with the tray expertly nestled in her right hand.

"Hey there, workaholic. Care to take a short break?" Yan Qing Shan greeted flippantly at the man who was solemnly focused in his laptop's monitor. Zi Jue snapped his head upon hearing her voice so quickly that she feared he might have almost broken his neck.

"You're home." Zi Jue abruptly stood up and rushed to her side.