"Bored! So bored!" Rabbit complained.

  After returning to his room, Baiyun watched as the critter ran about in circles grumbling.

  It was the polar opposite of the mole, who was happy to just sleep with its herb pouch day after day, to the point where it was almost forgettable. Being unable to use the cauldron as its home due to fear of death made it somewhat disgruntled, but it quickly adapted.

  Baiyun shook his head inwardly. It was then when he heard familiar footsteps, followed by a few knocks on the door.

  Cobra was already coming to get him?

  "Ah! Someone is here to get you!" Rabbit shouted. "You can't leave me behind again, it's so boring here! I'm coming along!"

  This creature...

  Baiyun felt a bit of a headache as he opened the door. Standing outside was Cobra in his usual outfit, though now wearing gloves of black leather.

  "Eek!"

  Rabbit immediately jumped at the sight, hiding behind Baiyun.

  "Follow me." Cobra said.

  Before Baiyun could even respond, the man had already begun walking away. He took a moment to speak with the rabbit with soulsense first however.

  "If you're so afraid of him, then don't follow me. Stay in the room and hide."

  "No, I'm still coming along!" Rabbit insisted.

  It ran out ahead of Baiyun, rushing in front of Cobra and stopping him in his tracks.

  "You brought a pet to this accused place?" the raspy voice mused. "What a strange rabbit this is..."

  Cobra squatted down to pet the rabbit with a gloved hand, but it darted away and hid behind Baiyun again. He stared at it with confusion for a moment, then seemed to decide it didn't matter.

  As if nothing had happened, he beckoned for them to follow as he continued down the hallways, inmates making a wide berth as he passed by. Baiyun sighed as he followed, Rabbit still following him insistently.

  Several turns later, the three of them arrived at a strange room.

  From floor to ceiling, the walls were coated in a silvery-white sheen, even the window boarded and painted over as if it were never there. In its midst was a simple table with a drawer built in, surrounded by wooden stools.

  Baiyun frowned slightly. Such terrible feng shui, the air here was completely stale and dead! First Qinghe and now him, were the alchemists of this world allergic to fresh air somehow?

  Utter silence engulfed them as Cobra shut the door, sealing away even the prying gazes of the spirits. It seemed the silver coating repelled sound, on top of qi and soulsense. Divine touch bypassed it easily however, far weaker than the resistance of Qinghe's world cauldron.

  Rabbit began to fidget and jump around anxiously. For a creature that relied so heavily on hearing, unnatural silence was extremely disturbing.

  Cobra sat at the table and beckoned to them.

  "This is a secondary room I rented for private dealings." he said.

  Baiyun nodded as he sat at the table, placing Rabbit on the chair beside him and tucking it beneath the table.

  "You'll give me the information as promised?" he asked.

  "Yes. But first..."

  Cobra reached under the table and pulled something out from a drawer, placing a teapot and a tin atop it. He poured a strange assortment of shrivelled blue, purple and green leaves into the pot, filling it with water and setting it ablaze with a wisp of alchemic flame.

  Water boiled in an instant, a plume of steam puffing from the spout. A vague herbal aroma wafted into the air, so faint it was almost unnoticeable.

  "The tea is done."

  "Already?" Baiyun frowned.

  "It's a tea recipe I've been refining, tailored for speed. Give it a try."

  Baiyun extended divine touch into the teapot and noted all the leaves had completely disintegrated. It was no wonder the tea was instant.

  Cobra lifted the teapot and poured him a cup of hot tea. The water had an amber hue, but swirled with strange clouds of white that made the otherwise beautiful colour unpleasantly murky.

  Tea again... Seeing it brought back unpleasant memories of Laohe, and Baiyun gingerly sensed its contents as he picked it up.

  ...

  !?

  Poison! Dozens of poisons! There was nothing but poison in it!

  Baiyun almost dropped the cup as his eyes twitched violently beneath his blindfold. What the hell was this? But just as quickly, he realised there was more to it.

  Poison within enveloped each other as they swirled, slowly neutralising each other and leaving neutral essences, the source of the murky white clouds. None of the poisons were dangerous or incapacitating either, carefully chosen to soothe and relax, much like how one might never wake up after eating a poisonous shroom.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Hah... to think a cup entirely filled with poison showed more goodwill than Laohe's. It was almost ridiculous.

  Baiyun shook his head inwardly before taking a slow sip from the cup. Slowly, the poisons within the tea invigorated him before neutralising, though a faint numbing aftertaste was left on his tongue. A surprisingly rich flavour despite everything. Not bad.

  The neutralisation was so through, even the wood nature of the tea was being eroded into neutrality. This was tea that could be enjoyed by cultivators of any element. Quite the interesting gimmick...

  "How is it?" Cobra asked. "I tailored the recipe to ease the mind, improve focus and restore stamina. It's superior to regular tea in every way and quite healthy."

  Healthy?

  Baiyun had to hold back a laugh. What was with the sudden bragging? Quite the substantial claim considering the ingredients. But he feeling amused, so he decided to indulge Cobra.

  "It's the best tea I've had in my life." he said.

  For this life, it was technically the truth.

  Cobra stared closely at his face and narrowed his eyes sceptically. But as he watched Baiyun genuinely enjoying the tea and taking in the subtle fragrance, his doubts seemed to ease.

  "Hahaha, excellent!" the poisoner laughed. "I knew I was onto something. Those bastards are going to regret doubting me after seeing this recipe!"

  He slid the entire tin of leaves over to Baiyun.

  "Very good. Since you can appreciate the fine flavours of my tea, this one's on the house." Cobra seemed in a very good mood.

  A tea brewing rivalry or competition? Or had he been challenged to brew a tea with nothing but poison?

  "Thank you." Baiyun nodded as he accepted the tin.

  Cobra was quite the strange person, but it somehow put him at ease. Not having eyes diminished his past life's experience at judging others, but he began to get an inkling that the man might be the decent sort.

  "But before we proceed with the deal, allow me to take another look at your hand. I find myself curious once more." Cobra said.

  Again? Baiyun felt a little cautious, but he nodded anyway.

  "Alright." he said, passing over his mangled arm.

  Rabbit yelped at the sight and began to ask questions frantically, but was ignored.

  Cobra slowly examined the hand, scanning its structure with qi sense. He took out a notebook and began to scribble hastily. Rows and rows of messy words were written, before he flipped several dozens pages over to a sketch of a small formation. He referenced the seal on the mangled arm, quickly drawing it out with neat lines, far more care put into it than his handwriting.

  Baiyun subtly peeked at the notes with divine touch. The sketch of the formation appeared to be the contribution jade's for comparison; it seemed Cobra was a practitioner of multiple professions like Laohe.

  He wondered why the man was noting down the differences. Was he planning to exploit it?

  "Such an eyecatching 'contribution jade' you have there, kuhaha." Cobra suddenly chuckled. "If you'd like, I could buy it off you for an additional 5000 contribution points. It has quite the pleasing aesthetic."

  "No." Baiyun's eyes darkened. "I'm not selling it."

  Tsk. Asking a precious limb of his to enter some macabre collection... ridiculous.

  He inwardly cursed at Cobra. Just some stinking kid in his 40s obsessed still obsessed with edgy things, more than apparent from his terrible fashion sense! Restoring his missing arm aside, letting it become a toy for a child would only sully his dignity!

  Cobra remained blissfully unaware of the scalding thoughts, continuing to write in his notebook.

  "A shame." he shook his head. "Then, we shall proceed to impartation. Allow me to place my hand upon your head, and do not resist."

  Impartation... Baiyun was somewhat surprised. Yet another speciality the man wielded, and one closely related to souls. He thought he would only be getting brief verbal descriptions, but it seemed he was getting his money's worth.

  He nodded as he affirmed his soul disguise.

  A black glove suddenly closed around his head, the gaunt fingers clutching so hard he could feel the bones through his skull. It was unpleasant, but he stayed completely still.

  Pulses of qi sense and soul pierced servant skin painfully and entered through wounds, carrying with them visions and thousands of words. As scant droplets of blood soaked into his scalp, dozens of strange beasts rushed through his mind with roars and cries. Their presence was vivid and exaggerated, though somewhat marred with patches of black and yellow like weathered old paintings.

  Baiyun's attention was drawn by something else however. That impartation seemed to be 95% qi sense, rather than a pure soul art. A unique method of impartation created due to the lacking soul mastery of this world... interesting.

  "Stay calm and process the memories. The headache will be over soon." Cobra said.

  Right. Baiyun's soul easily parsed the meagre information, but he winced and clutched his head, leaning forwards against the table.

  He quickly reviewed the information new information that invaded his mind. Hm... as he thought, the border was really quite the abnormal area.

  It was almost absurd how a single location had so many strange occurrences. How did such a ridiculous and unnatural habitat even form?

  But he frowned for a different reason.

  "Cobra... this information is incomplete, isn't it?" he said after 30 seconds, pretending to be in pain. "There are only details about the most basic threats."

  Despite how strange the threats detailed were, ultimately, they were all relatively 'minor' threats with low cultivation.

  There were also no details about the strange young man or the Faceless Giant, and much more he wanted to know. The giant seemed especially important, as it was something Crow wanted the inmates to report on.

  "Oh?" Cobra smiled, amused. "You recovered quicker than I expected."

  Baiyun ignored the comment and pushed to the main point.

  "I need to pay more to learn about the rarer threats, don't I?" he frowned.

  "Half right. Information about stronger threats require far more payment. But I will not sell that to you."

  "Huh?" Baiyun was taken aback "Why?"

  "It is indeed wise to spend to learn about the threats here, but any more than that is merely paranoia. Those of your level will be sent on easier missions, so as long as you follow proper safety protocol and avoid dangerous territory, you will not meet such entities." Crow shook his head. "Our fellow inmates are far more dangerous than the beasts here. Don't waste your money pointlessly, spend it on things that will help your immediately survival instead."

  Tsk. It wasn't bad advice but...

  Should Cobra really be saying this, after judging Stone for withholding information out of consideration for children? It was hypocritical!

  But despite his complaints, the unexpected concern from the man made him feel strange. He thought Cobra would fleece him for all he was worth, somewhat similar to Qinghe when they first met; greedy but not malicious.

  "Fine. Then, sell me a few of your poisons." Baiyun said.

  "Huh? Do you realise how dangerous-"

  Cobra's words halted as Baiyun pulled out a token from his bag.

  "This-" he widened his eyes in shock.

  It was from the Myriad Herbs clan!

  "Despite how I look, I am a direct disciple of Laohe." Baiyun said. "I am more than capable of handling simple poisons."

  Inwardly, he felt slightly tense.

  He hadn't planned to reveal this any time soon, but he made up his mind after his interactions with Cobra. This man could likely be trusted. He would take the gamble to make an ally, one that would make his stay at the border much easier.

  The poisoner was silent. Then a wide smile suddenly split his face.

  "Ahahahaha! Hahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

  Cobra laughed maniacally as he snatched the disciple token away, doubling over and clutching his chest, his bemusement uncontrollable.

  This... Baiyun backed away in alarm from the man's outburst. The man's serpent like gaze landed upon him, the edges of his smiling lips pulled frightfully high.