"Get up."
With a plan forming in his mind, Zou Feng had already decided on his next course of action.
'Since Yang Yanpeng has provided a ready-made Human-shaped Gu, why shouldn't I use it?'
'When my Five Poison Skill reaches Great Success, I'll combine it with my other two Evil Skills to Enter the Grades…'
'The quality of my Inner Qi under those circumstances... just thinking about it is exhilarating.'
And a high-quality entry into the grades would naturally mean a much smoother path of advancement later on.
In terms of strength, he would be able to crush anyone at the same level, no question.
Seeing Zou Feng tell him to get up, Xu Haoran was still a bit dazed. "Brother Feng... you're... not going to kill me?"
Zou Feng retorted, "Why would I kill you? Do we have a grudge?"
"But..."
Zou Feng waved his hand dismissively. "Enough. Don't be so paranoid. The Five Poison Palm isn't my exclusive secret technique. You practice yours, I'll practice mine. As long as we stay out of each other's way from now on, we'll be fine."
"Oh... Thank you, Brother Feng! Thank you, Brother Feng!" Xu Haoran finally staggered to his feet.
However, judging by the look in the man's eyes, he clearly didn't fully believe Zou Feng's reason for not killing him.
But Zou Feng truly had no intention of killing Xu Haoran.
If Xu Haoran croaked, it would immediately alert Yang Yanpeng.
Keeping Xu Haoran alive, on the other hand, was the best choice for now.
He could be used to probe when exactly Yang Yanpeng planned to make his move and harvest the fruit...
Conversely, when Yang Yanpeng made his move, it would mean he himself was "ripe"—the perfect time to create the Gu.
"Let's get back to the patrol. You should know what to say and do from now on."
Xu Haoran nodded hastily. "Yes, yes, I know! The matter of cultivating a Poison Skill must never be revealed!"
"Brother Feng, why is the Five Poison Palm you practice different from mine?"
Zou Feng didn't answer, merely glaring at the man.
Xu Haoran quickly ducked his head and shut his mouth.
After that, neither of them brought up anything related to Poison Skills again, and they obediently continued their patrol.
During their rounds, they met up with other teams and shared some dry rations as a late-night snack.
However, whenever they encountered other people, Xu Haoran maintained a meek and fearful demeanor toward Zou Feng.
How could Zou Feng not guess what this guy was plotting...
'This idiot is digging his own grave with his clever little schemes!'
Their patrol concluded at around 3:00 AM.
Circling back to the spot where they had previously exchanged palm strikes, Xu Haoran asked cautiously, "Brother Feng, I'll... head back and rest now?"
"Wait a minute!"
"Uh, is there something else, Brother Feng?"
Zou Feng gave a slight, humorless smile. "When we ran into the other patrol teams just now, you still acted terrified of me. Were you afraid people *wouldn't* guess there was something wrong with me?"
Xu Haoran froze, then shook his head in a panic. "No, Brother Feng, you've misunderstood! I... I really didn't mean it like that..."
Before he could argue further, Zou Feng took a step forward and pressed his left middle finger to the space between Xu Haoran's eyebrows. "It's best if you didn't!"
"Remember this: if I was determined to kill you, no one in this Yang Mansion could protect you. Not even Yang Qianqian!"
With that, he removed his finger and turned to leave.
And Xu Haoran, frozen in place, pissed himself uncontrollably...
After cultivating the Chaos Finger, Zou Feng's middle finger had gradually become a weapon like a Poison Needle.
And because it was mixed with the Five Poison Creatures, the Chaos Finger was no longer limited to just making an opponent go into heat.
By controlling the dosage of the mixed toxins, it was also very simple to paralyze an opponent's entire body, causing them to temporarily lose control.
Then, Zou Feng, who had appeared to be heading back to the woodshed to rest, suddenly changed direction, crouching down and circling around to a patch of grass by the courtyard wall.
When he had passed by here earlier, he had felt something—a strange sense that there was something here that held an inexplicable attraction for him.
But because Xu Haoran had been with him, he had suppressed the urge to investigate.
Now, unable to shake the feeling, he knew he wouldn't be at ease until he came back to check.
As he stepped into the grass, a faint hissing sound, "CHH CHH," came from ahead.
Zou Feng was now certain: there was a venomous creature in this patch of grass by the wall!?
He was all too familiar with this feeling. Previously, when capturing poisonous creatures in the city outskirts, he had relied on this same strange sense to precisely locate those potent specimens.
As Zou Feng drew closer, with a sudden WHOOSH, a long, thin object glinting with a cold light shot out from the grass, darting toward him like an arrow.
Unfortunately for it, Zou Feng was already an old hand at capturing poisonous creatures.
He dodged the creature's attack with a simple sidestep.
Then, channeling his Poison Palm, he flicked out his hand and snatched it.
The Drunken Immortal Moon Gazing Step had not only improved Zou Feng's agility but had also drastically increased his reaction speed.
And his palms, long since infused with a mixture of potent poisons, allowed him to handle venomous creatures directly without fear of their toxins.
Once captured, these creatures would in turn be dazed and disoriented by the mixed poison gas emanating from his hands.
Without even needing to look, just by the feel of it, Zou Feng knew he had caught a venomous snake about the size of a chopstick.
But this wasn't the time for a closer look. Another patrol team would be passing by soon; he had to get out of there quickly.
And so, it wasn't until Zou Feng returned to the woodshed that he lit an oil lamp and focused his gaze on the snake in his hand.
What he saw gave him a shock.
"A Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent?!" Zou Feng's first reaction was to wonder if he was seeing things.
'How is that possible? According to the records in the Materia Medica of Herbs, isn't this thing supposed to only exist deep in the Northern Desert?'
Previously, when he sensed the venomous creature in the grass, Zou Feng had subconsciously assumed it was a creature kept by either Xu Haoran, who also practiced a Poison Skill, or Yang Yanpeng, and that it had escaped due to their negligence.
But now that he realized it was a Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent, he immediately felt that this matter was not so simple.
You couldn't even buy this thing in the Ghost Market.
In fact, bringing a Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent all the way from the Northern Desert, thousands of miles away, was an extremely difficult technical feat.
The environment in the Northern Desert was vastly different from here. The slightest mistake and the already fragile Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent would go into shock and die instantly.
Therefore, only an absolute expert among experts would have the ability to transport a Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent alive to Yuan Guang County Town.
As for this thing's venom...
Just as its name suggested, its venom would trigger a plague-like illness and was extremely contagious.
The problem was, the disease had no obvious symptoms in its early stages. The victim would only feel a slight headache and fever.
By the time they realized something was truly wrong, it would already be too late.
If this disease was discovered too late, even an ordinary Martial Artist wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Even one who had Entered the Grades would likely bite the dust, especially if they were an older, declining practitioner like the Yang Family Patriarch, whose qi and blood had weakened.
So, who could be so ruthless as to try and secretly infect the entire Yang Mansion, top to bottom, with the plague spread by the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent?
The answer was obvious.
Who else besides the Blood-colored Butcher would want to annihilate the entire Yang Mansion right now?
That guy had finally lost his patience and was making a move, just in a different way...
'But I've never heard anything about the Blood-handed Butcher being skilled with poison. Did he hire help?'
'But resorting to these flashy, insidious tricks just proves that he doesn't dare to attack the mansion head-on.'
'So, is he just paving the way for me again?'
'I was just worrying about where to find some potent venomous creatures to evolve and upgrade my Five Poison Palm.'
'It's like getting a pillow just as you're getting sleepy...'