"Hm?"
Now it was Harriet's turn to be confused.
She hadn't expected Ethan to agree so quickly, 'Shouldn't he be suspicious of me first, and then...'
Ethan's sudden agreement made all the arguments she had prepared completely useless.
"Is it done yet?", Seeing that Harriet hadn't immediately served him a bowl, Ethan squatted beside the boiling pot and took a deep sniff, "Smells great!"
"Of course it does. This soup uses premium mushrooms I've been saving for a long time, along with Roaring Boar meat that increases stamina after eating it," As soon as the ingredients came up, Harriet became animated again, "Give it a try and see if the flavor is just right."
"I'm not the best judge. Not only am I bad at cooking, but my taste isn't great either," Ethan smiled and waved his hand, "I think you'd better let someone else test it. If I can't tell properly, your whole pot of soup might go to waste."
"In that case... Charlie!"
When Harriet heard Ethan refuse, she was delighted inside.
If Ethan had shown no suspicion from beginning to end, that would have been worrying. But now that he refused to test the soup for her, what did that mean?
It meant Ethan truly didn't trust her, so he was making an excuse to have someone else try it first.
Then Ethan would know whether the soup was poisoned or not.
"Sister Harriet, what is it?"
Charlie was panicking, but he still tried hard to suppress his fear so he could cooperate with Harriet.
After giving him a look, Harriet said, "You're young, and you don't smoke or drink. Your sense of taste is lighter. You're the best person to test the soup."
"Oh... okay."
Charlie nodded repeatedly. Taking advantage of the moment he stood up, he quickly stuffed the Detoxification Herb into his mouth.
Although the Detoxification Herb could cure all poisons, it had one drawback.
It had to be eaten immediately after being poisoned.
Otherwise... once the poison entered the internal organs, the Detoxification Herb would no longer be very useful.
That was why Charlie was so nervous.
"Didn't she tell you to drink the soup?", Ethan looked at Charlie and said, "What's in your mouth?"
"N-Nothing!"
Charlie was so nervous that his mouth had gone dry, but he didn't dare spit out the herb, "I was worried there might be a taste left in my mouth that would affect the soup test, so I'm chewing some grass to clear my palate."
"Oh, I see!"
Ethan nodded thoughtfully.
Harriet's face twitched twice before she finally said, "Charlie, if you've finished clearing your palate, then spit out the grass."
"Ah... ah..."
Hearing that, Charlie became even more nervous.
He wanted to spit it out, but he was afraid the poison might be too strong. If he didn't have the Detoxification Herb ready to counter it, what if he died?
"What do you mean 'ah'?", Harriet had already filled a bowl with soup and held it out to him, "If you don't want to spit it out, then swallow it! What's the point of keeping it in your mouth?"
"Right. Right."
Charlie's eyes lit up. He quickly swallowed the Detoxification Herb he had been holding in his mouth.
Inside, he praised Harriet for being clever.
The Detoxification Herb would be in his stomach, and the poison would also go into his stomach. Wouldn't that make his stomach a poison treatment plant?
'Too smart!'
Gulp~ Gulp~
Charlie took a large mouthful of the poisoned soup.
But the moment it entered his mouth, he immediately sprayed it out.
"Pfft!"
"What happened?"
Harriet was shocked. She thought the poison was really that powerful.
Did Charlie collapse after just one sip?
No way?
"Hot!"
Charlie's eyes were full of tears.
Harriet practically rolled her eyes countless times. Charlie was really too stupid.
If she hadn't had no one else to cooperate with, she would never have chosen him as a partner.
"Hahahaha..."
Ethan burst out laughing, "Forget it, forget it. I can handle hot food. I'll do the tasting."
From the beginning, Ethan had only wanted to see what these two were up to.
Now that he had figured it out, there was no point continuing the game.
"Lord Ethan, please."
Seeing that Ethan was willing to drink it, a gleam of success flashed through Harriet's eyes. She quickly handed him the bowl.
Ethan took it and blew on the soup first, as if cooling it down.
It also looked like he was testing it.
But Ethan's hesitation before drinking made Harriet's heart rise to her throat. Her heart pounded, making her extremely nervous.
She hadn't been this nervous even on her wedding night with her boyfriend.
Not even when the two of them had sex naked on an overpass...
Had she been this nervous.
"Smells great!"
Ethan took a small sip and sighed with admiration.
The soup really was good soup, and it really did smell wonderful.
'But this soup... Is also really damn poisonous!'
Just that tiny sip was enough to make even Ethan, who was practically soaked in poison already, struggle to resist it. New notifications appeared again.
[Toxicity +10]
[Toxicity +8]
[Toxicity +7]
[Poison Release Skill Level 1 → Poison Release Skill Level 2: Venom]
[Venom Skill Options: Store venom in the mouth, store venom in the blood, or upgrade the tear glands into Poison Eyes capable of continuously shooting venom?]
[🎉 Shoutout to Cesar and Kai for joining p@treon. Thank you very much 🤗]