After Marrying the Disabled Prince (BG) - Chapter 14: Snake Venom

Bao Ning screamed, quickly picking up Ah Huang and rushing into the house.

She slammed the door shut with a loud bang and leaned against it, panting. In her mind, those cunning snake-like eyes were multiplying into dozens or even hundreds.

Bao Ning wiped her tears and cried out, “Fourth Prince, wake up! There’s a snake outside, a snake!”

Pei Yuan hadn’t been sleeping. He had been listening carefully to the noises outside, and upon hearing Bao Ning’s words, he immediately understood. The bag that Huang Ji had brought had a snake.

He remembered the shady dealings that Pei Xiao had been secretly involved in all along, and his heart sank.

She had been careless.

“Close the door tightly!” Pei Yuan’s eyes grew cold. He sat up, pulling a short knife from under his pillow. He motioned to Bao Ning, saying, “Come to me! Don’t lean on the door.”

“The door’s lock is broken…” Bao Ning’s throat felt dry, her hands trembling. Leaning against the door, she slowly sank to the floor. “I’ll hold it up… after a while, it will leave, right?”

Bao Ning looked at Pei Yuan with red eyes, hoping for his confirmation. Her voice trembled, “Isn’t the snake most afraid of people?”

“That’s an ordinary snake,” Pei Yuan’s face looked grim, “This snake has been professionally trained, it’s aggressive, and its specialty is attacking humans. It will track your scent, you won’t be able to escape.”

Bao Ning’s head was dizzy, and she didn’t understand Pei Yuan’s words for a moment. Her legs went weak, and she couldn’t even stand. Ah Huang jumped down from her and tugged at her clothes.

Bao Ning supported herself against the door, trying to stand up, but suddenly a strong force came from behind, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Her palm scraped the floor, cutting it and the pain instantly brought her back to her senses.

Pei Yuan shouted, “Get up, come to me!”

As his words fell, Bao Ning heard the sound of something flying past her—”Whoosh, whoosh”—followed by the sound of something inhaling sharply, “Hiss—”

“Woof!” Ah Huang barked, then pounced on the snake, biting its neck, refusing to let go.

It was small but fierce, with sharp teeth and strong, biting down with force. The snake thrashed around, its tail slapping against the door with a “crack-crack” sound, unable to break free.

Pei Yuan yelled, “Ah Huang, don’t touch it!”

Bao Ning took the chance to stand up and hurried to Pei Yuan’s side. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him.

Finally, she mustered the courage to look, and at the doorway stood a large, shiny black snake, as thick as a human forearm, with a terrifying red tip on its head. Its eyes were cold and sharp, and one was destroyed by the corn kernels, bleeding profusely. The snake, enraged by the attack, lifted its long neck, violently swinging back and forth as it tried to shake off Ah Huang.

Bao Ning’s vision blurred, nearly fainting. “Ah Huang, get down!”

“Stay behind me.” Pei Yuan noticed her trembling body and grabbed her shoulder, gently sitting her down. He whispered, “Don’t panic.”

“Just sweat.” Pei Yuan’s hand slid down to her wrist, gently wiping it on his clothes. “Don’t hold your breath, breathe out.”

His palm was dry and warm, and Bao Ning, with her forehead resting on Pei Yuan’s shoulder, slowly exhaled. Her racing heart gradually calmed down.

Ah Huang hesitated for a moment after hearing Bao Ning’s voice, then released its grip, leaping to Bao Ning’s side.

The snake on the ground immediately stretched its neck to bite, missing. After a brief hesitation, it gave up on Ah Huang and turned its head towards Pei Yuan, quickly slithering toward him.

Bao Ning suddenly remembered what Pei Yuan had said: “This snake has been professionally trained, it will track your scent, and you can’t escape.”

The room wasn’t large, and within the span of a few breaths, the red-headed snake had risen in front of them. Its head, as red as bl00d, had a forked tongue hissing menacingly.

Pei Yuan held the short knife in his right hand, his thumb stroking the scabbard. Just as the red-headed snake bared its sharp teeth and lunged, Pei Yuan raised his hand, throwing the heavy scabbard at the wall with a loud “bang.”

The snake was distracted and immediately turned its head to look. Pei Yuan’s eyes narrowed, and with his knife, he struck at the snake’s weak spot.

The red-headed snake quickly reacted, tilting its head to block, biting the blade. Its sharp fangs sprayed black venom, mixed with bl00d, splattering onto the bed, creating muddy stains.

In pain, the snake became more vicious. It retreated a step before attacking again, but Pei Yuan grabbed its neck, wielding the knife to decapitate it.

The shiny black snake’s body hit the ground with a thud, writhing uncontrollably, its rough scales scraping the floor and leaving marks.

The room fell silent, only the rustling of the snake’s movements remained.

Bao Ning slowly exhaled, her heart finally settling.

“If you keep holding on, my hand will break.” Pei Yuan’s voice reached her ears. Bao Ning looked up in confusion and met his eyes, which held a faint smile. He raised an eyebrow and gestured with his chin to her hand. “At that point, I won’t just be unable to move my legs, but my hands too. You’ll have to take care of me.”

Bao Ning looked down, realizing she had been gripping Pei Yuan’s wrist so tightly that her nails had broken his skin, drawing bl00d.

She felt guilty for causing him pain but didn’t say anything.

Hurriedly, she loosened her grip, embarrassed. She gently rubbed his wrist with her fingertips in an attempt to make amends. “I’m sorry, don’t be mad. I’ll make you something delicious tonight.”

Her fingers were a bit cold, but soft, with no calluses, delicate and fragile, unlike his hand that was used to wielding knives and swords.

“I’m not mad,” Pei Yuan’s throat was slightly dry. He licked his lips, about to say something more, but suddenly noticed Bao Ning’s pale face. “Pei Yuan!”

Ah Huang also reacted, suddenly rushing over, and attempting to slap the snake’s head away.

But it was too late.

The bloodied snake head suddenly moved forward, slithering a full foot, and then opened its mouth, biting into Pei Yuan’s left leg.

Bao Ning was horrified. Without thinking, she rushed over, grabbed the snake’s head, and yanked it off, throwing it to the ground.

There, two bloody puncture wounds appeared just above Pei Yuan’s ankle, and dark, foul bl00d oozed out.

Bao Ning’s tears immediately poured out. “Pei Yuan…”

She panicked, not knowing what to do with her hands. Her heart seemed to stop beating as she frantically recalled what Concubine Ming had taught her about treating venomous snake bites.

She was supposed to tie a cloth around the wound to slow the poison, then make a small cut to drain the venom, and the faster it was done, the higher the chance of survival.

With no piece of cloth within quick grasp, she quickly took off her waistband and tied it around Pei Yuan’s lower leg.

The only knife available had been contaminated with venom, and she had no time to go to the kitchen for another. Bao Ning pressed on the wound, took a deep breath, and bent down to suck the venom out. She drew in one strong pull and spit it out onto the floor.

The bl00d was still black.

Bao Ning grew even more frantic, genuinely fearing that Pei Yuan would die.

She wiped her lips and was about to suck again when Pei Yuan stopped her.

“That’s enough,” he said, gently grabbing Bao Ning’s shoulder and pulling her into his arms. He rubbed her eyes to wipe away her tears, frowning, “Why do you always cry?”

He said this in a soft tone, surprisingly gentle, giving a faint smile. “Little crybaby.”

Bao Ning couldn’t laugh. Her eyes were red like a frightened rabbit. She had no time to respond to Pei Yuan. Pushing him away, she was determined to deal with the poison.

In her impression, the snake from just now was brightly colored, with a sharp head, likely highly venomous.

She didn’t understand why Pei Yuan appeared so indifferent—was he overconfident in his body, or did he not want to live? But she couldn’t afford to stop now. If she were any later, Pei Yuan might die.

“Really, there’s no need,” Pei Yuan sighed, grabbing Bao Ning’s wrist. “It bit my left leg, but it’s not fatal.”

Bao Ning didn’t understand and asked with a hint of crying in her voice, “Why?”

“Didn’t you always want to know what happened to my leg?” Pei Yuan pulled her to sit down, his expression turning serious. “I’ll tell you now, do you want to hear it?”

Bao Ning nodded.

Pei Yuan said, “It’s because of this kind of poison.”

Bao Ning was stunned: “You’ve been bitten by such a snake before?”

“It wasn’t a snake.” Pei Yuan paused. “It was a poisonous rat.”

“I didn’t want to tell you this,” he continued.

Pei Yuan raised his hand and adjusted Bao Ning’s clothes. Her belt had loosened, and her outer garment was open, revealing the pale pink lining. Pei Yuan undid the belt on her leg and tied it for her.

Bao Ning was in a daze, so much so that she forgot to feel embarrassed, allowing him to adjust her clothes.

After finishing, Pei Yuan looked up, meeting her gaze: “Some things are dirty and private, not meant to be seen. The fewer people who know, the better. One, to keep it from spreading, and two, the person who knows can’t escape.”

Bao Ning hesitated and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Pei Yuan slowly said, “My leg was injured by a poisonous rat in prison.”

“This poison is so potent that you either lose your leg or your life. I could only seal the large wound on my left leg, trapping the poison there. So, while my left leg is immobile, my life is not in danger. You must have seen the scars on my body, right? Those were from attempts to detoxify, cutting with a knife. The scars on my leg are the same, they were to let out the poison.”

“The poisonous rat from that time, and the venomous snake from today, were both raised by Pei Xiao. He has a subordinate named Gong Sun Zhu, who specializes in poison techniques. He’s skilled at training these vicious creatures, making them both poisonous and aggressive, so they can kill their targets without anyone noticing.”

“Raising such creatures is a long process. You have to fail many times, spending years before succeeding. I consider myself lucky that he offered me these precious creatures twice.”

Bao Ning looked at him in shock.

She remembered the scars all over Pei Yuan’s body and couldn’t imagine how ruthless he must have been to inflict such pain on himself. That was his own flesh.

And Pei Xiao, his brother, how could he be so cruel?

… And what exactly was Pei Yuan trying to say?

Pei Yuan gently touched her eyelids and whispered, “Did you think I drove you away because I didn’t like you?”

Bao Ning’s lashes trembled, and she nodded.

“Well, that’s true,” Pei Yuan said. “But there’s another layer to it. Husband and wife are one. If Pei Xiao wants to deal with me, do you think he’ll let you off? I didn’t want anyone else involved in this, afraid that person would regret it or blame me. I was also afraid that someone might stab me in the back, take advantage of me when I’m down.”

Pei Yuan chuckled lightly: “Bao Ning, you’re really unlucky to have met me. I’m a very selfish person. If I don’t want something, I’ll throw it away, even if it’s forced into my hands. But if I want something, even if the King of Heaven comes to take it from me, I’ll peel his skin off. I’ve already given you plenty of chances, and now I’ve changed my mind. Even if you want to leave now, you won’t be able to.”