Chapter 247: Settling accounts, killing without pardon
Chapter 247: Settling accounts, killing without pardon
Han Yunxi followed behind the white-robed man. The whole way, her detox system went off in response to countless poisons, but the white-robed man always avoided them ahead of time. The entire trip, they turned this way and that as they opened countless sets of hidden doors. It was certain that this white-robed man knew the way.
Just what kind of sacred personage was this man? Was he from the medical academy, or perhaps one of the remnants of the Poison Sect? Rumors had it that there were still traces of their members left in Medical City.
What was his motive in bringing her inside the Sky Pit?
Han Yunxi progressed smoothly with him, while it was Gu Qishao and his map that met with no end of troubles. Because they had a map, they were extremely careless. If not for Gu Qishao’s high-level poison skills and Mu Linger’s supply of poison insecticide, they’d probably long be dead by now. Currently, they had just escaped from a large, dense swarm of king cobras. Gu Qishao’s right arm was bitten to the point that no part of the skin was left unscathed. His bewitching red robes were drenched in fresh blood that gave off a terrifying stench. Mu Linger wasn’t in much better shape. Her back had been bitten multiple times, the blood from the bites turning it damp. It was impossible to tell the original color of her clothing anymore. Her martial arts were too poor to defend herself. Even though Gu Qishao tried his best, he couldn’t do anything against such a horrifying trap. After all, the Poison Sect had set these traps here during their time. All of the world’s poisons came from the Poison Sect, so one could imagine how dangerous things were.
The king cobra pit that they’d escaped from had been piled full of snakes. Even though Gu Qishao and Mu Linger had medicine to face off against them, their numbers were too overwhelming. The entire den of snakes had no place to put their feet or get a proper handhold. Not only did they have to avoid the king cobras’ assaults, but find the exit amongst the snake-covered walls. For a second, Mu Linger had even come close to giving up altogether. If she wasn’t here with Qi gege1, then she definitely would’ve given up.
If Qi gege wasn’t here, I’d definitely give up.
The one thing to rejoice over was that the king cobras were of a commonplace species. Mu Linger’s antivenom was adequate enough to treat the poisoned bites. Currently, they’d already finished ingesting the antidote. Gu Qishao was as tired as a corpse as he leaned against a wall. Mu Linger was equally exhausted and wish she could fall asleep right here and never wake up. Some time later, she finally spoke up. “Qi gege, where did your map come from? Were you tricked?”
If this map was real, then they should’ve smoothly passed through the maze already and avoided all the traps. By now, they would’ve already seen the poison beast! But they’d spent all that time trapped in the snake pit. Gu Qishao abruptly opened his eyes, a vicious glint in his eye. He seemed to have changed into another person entirely as he refused to speak.
Mu Linger grew impatient and crawled over. “Qi gege, what’s wrong with you?”
Gu Qishao took out the map and tossed it away without a second glance. Without a doubt, this map was a fake. Whether the real one had been stolen away by someone else or replaced with the fake by the head elder was unknown. In any case, now Gu Qishao’s entire person was unwell. Mu Linger looked at the map and creased her eyebrows. “Now what do we do?”
What a scary thing it was to enter the Sky Pit without a map?
Gu Qishao rose to his feet, completely ignoring the injuries on his back as he gave Mu Linger a helping hand. “There’s not much time, let’s keep going forward.”
“Not much time?” Mu Linger didn’t understand.
It wasn’t clear whether Gu Qishao had heard her question, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he led Mu Linger by the hand and kept walking.
“Qi gege, are you in a rush for time?” Mu Linger asked again. Sadly, Gu Qishao still didn’t reply. Mu Linger pouted and remained irresolute before finally giving up with her questions.
When Gu Qishao had the map in hand, his steps had been light and quick. He was so carefree that he even whistled along the way. But now he’d cast aside all his playful mood and unrestrained nature. Each step he took forward, he made sure to carefully observe all his surroundings so as to avoid another trap. The Poison Sect’s hundred traps were indeed vicious, but he still trusted in his own skills. Just as Gu Qishao and Mu Linger were preparing to leave the king cobra den behind them, footsteps sounded from nearby. Though the steps were very light, they couldn’t escape Gu Qishao’s ears.
“There’s someone there!” Gu Qishao said in a low voice as he narrowed his eyes.
Shocked, Mu Linger hastened to ask, “How could someone come so soon?”
As customs dictated, those who wanted to take the poison beast typically followed the representatives from Medical City down here and only made their move after the poison beast was drugged into unconsciousness again.
Why the difference this year?
As they heard the footsteps approach, Gu Qishao and Mu Linger hurriedly hid themselves behind a small sunken cavern on the side. Before long, Gu Qishao heard a familiar voice that caused his narrowed eyes to shine with a dangerous light.
“Long…Feiye…” There was a hint of smugness to his tone. He never expected Long Feiye to show up as well. That’s good, it’s time to take revenge.
“The Duke of Qin?” Mu Linger was surprised. Her first thought was whether Han Yunxi had come as well.
When he saw Long Feiye and Tang Li coming closer, Gu Qishao murmured, “Linger, do you still have Heat Powder?”
“What are you planning to do?” Mu Linger was stunned. Heat Powder was nothing good, but a type of medicine equivalent to a stimulant drug. Both humans and animals who ingested the thing would get a temporary boost of energy that doubled their strength, but as soon as the medicine wore off, they’d end up in a heavy sleep for days.
“Do you have it?” Gu Qishao said impatiently. Mu Linger quickly took out the item, a full bottle’s worth. As soon as Gu Qishao got it, he silently scattered the contents into the cracks at his feet. Right below those cracks was none other than the den of king cobras. The switch they’d stepped on before had fallen into that very same den. When the switch had activated the door, it’d revealed these cracks on the floor. Heaven knows how much medicine Gu Qishao had used, but this Heat Powder caused all the cobras in the den to arch straight up as they hissed with their tongues stuck out. All of them were filled with endless vitality. Fortunately, it was dark. Otherwise, anyone who saw the scene below them would get goosebumps and claustrophobia even if they weren’t claustrophobic. That was a world of nothing by snakes, too horrifying!
By now, Long Feiye had stilled his steps. The movement of the king cobras were so obvious that he wouldn’t be Long Feiye if he hadn’t sensed him.
“It’s a trap,” Tang Li said in a low voice.
“Snakes?” Long Feiye fiddled with silver thread glove on his right hand, a cautious look on his face. The entire trip, he and Tang Li had passed at least 10 traps without getting hurt. This was all due to Long Feiye’s prudent nature and the silver thread gloves left behind by his mother that could repel all sorts of poisons. Both of them stopped to listen quietly to the movements before them.
At the same time, the nearby Gu Qishao revealed a cold, sinister smile before he suddenly shouted, “Poison lass, watch out!”
Long Feiye immediately rushed forward like a clap of thunder at these words, Tang Li following in his wake to shout angrily, “Han Yunxi, where are you?”
But just as Long Feiye reached the roof of the king cobra den, Gu Qishao suddenly gave a parallel kick to his stomach, sending him sinking down through the floor. Tang Li was about to help him when Long Feiye said coldly, “You go find Han Yunxi!”
So speaking, he withdrew the blood-red whip hidden by his waist and lashed it towards Gu Qishao, where it wrapped itself around his waist. He didn’t give Gu Qishao time to struggle free, determined to pull him down so they could sink together. In the darkness, Gu Qishao wore a bewitching smile even as he was bound up. Instead of struggling, he even leaned intentionally towards Long Feiye to increase the weight so that they both hit the switch to the trap and tumbled into the king cobra den. As soon as they fell through, the opening was completely covered by cobras in a dense swarm. At a distance, the entire den looked like a pit of boiling snakes.
On the side, a shocked Mu Linger finally recovered her senses and burst into tears. “Qi gege, those snakes have eaten Heat Powder! Our medicine won’t do anything against them!”
Before, they’d combated the snakes in the den with medicine to keep them at bay, but now these cobras had ingested medicine that made them impervious to those tactics. Neither could one knock them out. This den of snakes was mad to the point of a crazed frenzy.
One could imagine how dangerous it was for the people who fell inside.
Tang Li’s first reaction upon seeing Mu Linger was shock, but he recovered soon enough. “How come you’re here?”
Mu Linger didn’t know who Tang Li was, but Tang Li had observed this genius pharmacist for a long time. He was even looking forward to her prescription skills when it came time to subdue the poison beast. Mu Linger didn’t have any interest in Tang Li, but rushed forward. Steeling her heart, she leaped into the pit of cobras as well. Tang Li had no idea how dangerous they were right now, nor what Mu Linger’s “Heat Power” was. Since he couldn’t find Han Yunxi nearby, he hastily chased after her into the pit.
Inside the snake den, the masses of entangled snakes had long gone crazy. They were like man-eating ants that swallowed up any humans who fell their way. Suddenly, the flash of a blade appeared, its light momentarily shining through the entire den. In a corner of the den, a large swath of snakes had been cut open, spilling blood everywhere. Long Feiye struggled out of the pile and prepared to escape when Gu Qishao suddenly appeared by the side to place a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.
“Where’s Han Yunxi?” Long Feiye asked coldly.
This fellow was still worried about that woman at a time like this?
Gu Qishao’s gaze turned complicated, but the look quickly passed. A cold, expressionless mask replaced it as he said icily, “Right here!”
Long Feiye, this young master’s shedding his morals this time. Let’s settle our old debts once and for all! I too, know how to kill someone without pardon!
The always paranoid Long Feiye didn’t even think to doubt Gu Qishao’s words this time. He set off a large shockwave that not only shook off the cobras clinging to his body, but Gu Qishao as well.
“Han Yunxi, where are you?” his voice was cold to the point of being frightening, but the words held a rare tone of worry.
Gu Qishao was knocked far away, where poison snakes quickly swarmed to cover his body. He ignored them all and grabbed a giant snake by his side, before tossing it straight at Long Feiye…
1. gege (哥哥) – literally ‘older brother,’ also used as an affectionate address to refer to slightly older males that the speaker knows well, even if there is no familial relation.