Outside the Yang Mansion, in the courtyard where the three fiends had once gathered.
"Snake Monarch, let's be honest. Are you actually capable or not?"
"Didn't you say you'd cause total havoc in the Yang Mansion within ten days?"
"And now? It's been six days, and everyone in the Yang Mansion, including the servants, is perfectly healthy and happy!"
"Not even a single one of the mansion's chickens or dogs has died. So you tell me, is this what you call 'total havoc'?"
Xue Ruhai, the Blood-handed Butcher, had originally been quite wary of the Jade Snake Young Master, Li Li, and had always spoken to him politely.
But now that he'd realized the man's reputation was completely undeserved, he had lost all patience.
On the receiving end of this tirade, Li Li found himself unable to lash out in response.
After all, he had indeed made some bold promises, and now he was eating his words.
"It was an accident!" Li Li's tone was incredibly awkward. "I truly didn't expect the Yang Mansion to have a Poison Dao master of its own!"
A Poison Dao master guarding the Yang Mansion was the only explanation Li Li could come up with.
If the Exotic Poisons he had secretly deployed were discovered and neutralized once or twice, he might have chalked it up to their good luck.
But it had been five or six days now. They couldn't possibly be that lucky every single time.
Besides, even if the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall experts stationed at the Yang Mansion were far stronger than estimated, it was impossible for them to find the poisons in time on every occasion.
Even if they did find them, they would likely fall prey to the Exotic Poisons without knowing what they were dealing with.
So, after eliminating all other possibilities, Li Li was left with only one conclusion.
There was very likely a Poison Dao master within the Yang Mansion who was his equal!
"A Poison Dao master in the Yang Mansion?" Xue Ruhai was skeptical. "Then how come I don't know about it?!"
His certainty wasn't just empty talk. After all, in his quest for revenge for his son, Xue Ruhai had already conducted a thorough investigation of the entire Yang Mansion.
"Besides, not a single one of those sons of bitches from the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall knows how to use poison. They fancy themselves a Righteous Sect and wouldn't deign to use such underhanded tactics!"
"...Brother Xue, watch your words!"
It seemed like he was talking about the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall, but Xue Ruhai was clearly making a veiled insult.
Xue Ruhai snorted coldly and didn't complain any further.
Li Li cleared his throat and said, "However, now that I know the Yang Mansion has a Poison Dao master, I just need to make the appropriate preparations."
"Tonight, I have prepared a grand gift for them!" Li Li sneered, his expression turning terrifyingly grim.
'Even a Poison Dao master would never recognize that the seemingly unremarkable black thing is actually my Lifebound Gu.'
'Even an expert with incredibly dense Inner Qi like Xue Ruhai would most likely be killed by my Lifebound Gu if caught off guard!'
"This time, let's see how he can possibly... Huh!?"
"BLECH—"
Before Li Li could finish his threat, his body suddenly convulsed, and he uncontrollably spat out a mouthful of black blood.
The sudden, unprompted change gave Xue Ruhai, who was standing nearby, a huge shock.
He hastily took several steps back, putting distance between himself and Li Li.
Li Li continued to cough up several more mouthfuls of black blood before saying with an expression of utter disbelief, "No, this is impossible... impossible..."
As he spoke, his eyes gradually filled with terror.
His Lifebound Gu had not only failed to assassinate the troublemaker as planned... it had been killed in retaliation!
After all, when a Lifebound Gu dies, its master immediately suffers a severe backlash.
This was precisely why he rarely deployed his Lifebound Gu.
Furthermore, his Lifebound Gu possessed extremely high Spiritual Wisdom. If it sensed that an opponent's aura was too powerful and it likely stood no chance, it would remain dormant and not attack.
Even the black snake was just a disguise.
Li Li had, in fact, never revealed his Lifebound Gu's true form.
His real Lifebound Gu was a Gu Insect that lived as a parasite inside the black snake.
But all of that was irrelevant now. His Lifebound Gu had well and truly been destroyed.
It didn't even have a chance to escape using a diversion...
"Snake Monarch, what's wrong with you?" Xue Ruhai asked tentatively, seeing Li Li frozen with an expression like he'd seen a ghost.
Having lost his Lifebound Gu and suffering considerable injuries himself, Li Li's composure completely shattered.
"What's wrong with me?"
"I quit!"
"I don't want the rewards you promised! Whoever wants them can have them!"
With that, Li Li swiftly swallowed a pill and prepared to flee.
'I can't afford to provoke them! I can't!'
'What Poison Dao master? That was a fucking Poison Dao senior!'
'Or could it be that someone from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect arrived in Yuan Guang County early and, for some inexplicable reason, decided to help the Yang Mansion deal with Xue Ruhai?'
'Either way, I can't wade into these muddy waters any longer.'
"Wait, Snake Monarch, what in the world happened? Explain yourself!" A bewildered Xue Ruhai chased after him.
Li Li spun around and said impatiently, "Are you fucking deaf? I said I quit!"
"Out of respect for our past friendship, I'd advise you not to rush into dealing with the Yang Mansion for now. For a gentleman, ten years is not too late for revenge. It's better to wait and get a clear grasp of the situation first!"
"Farewell!"
After saying this, Li Li's figure flickered and vanished into the night.
Xue Ruhai watched the direction of Li Li's panicked escape, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
In truth, Xue Ruhai was naturally furious that Li Li had suddenly and inexplicably bailed on him.
He had been on the verge of striking out and crushing Li Li to death.
But in the end, he was still wary of Li Li's Poison Skills.
It was best not to provoke these poison users, even when you knew they were injured...
However, Xue Ruhai never fully believed Li Li's shouts about a Poison Dao master in the Yang Mansion.
The reason was simple.
The Thousand-Faced Widow, Bai Cuixiang, had already successfully infiltrated the Yang Mansion.
According to the intelligence she had sent out, there were no outsiders in the Yang Mansion apart from the few experts from the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall stationed there.
So, in the end, it was most likely that the snake-charmer was simply incompetent, and the poisons he released were discovered in time by the experts from the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall.
Alternatively, the Yang Mansion might have taken precautions, having already made special arrangements against a potential poison attack.
It was no wonder Xue Ruhai thought this way. After all, Li Li had never explained just how formidable his Lifebound Gu truly was...
Li Li wouldn't reveal a secret like his Lifebound Gu even to his own father.
"Jade Snake Young Master?" Xue Ruhai sneered in the direction Li Li had fled, then spat a thick glob of phlegm. "Bullshit!"
「In the Yang Mansion's woodshed.」
Zou Feng stared thoughtfully at the remains of the black snake he had just obliterated with a single finger poke.
'If I saw that correctly, it looked like a small insect was blown up along with the black snake, right?'
Unfortunately, the power of the Chaos Finger was unexpectedly potent. That, combined with the chain reaction caused by the mixed poison permeating the body, had blown the little bug to bits, leaving only fragments behind. Its original appearance was impossible to make out.
However, Zou Feng was certain that this sudden turn of events was a trap set specifically for him by the person who had been repeatedly poisoning the Yang Mansion.
Although he had just escaped unharmed, it was enough to prove that the culprit really had some skill.
'Looks like starting tomorrow night, I'll have to be more careful. Or maybe I should just stop being greedy for the essence of those poisons...'
PS: Begging for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets are also welcome. Thank you, my generous readers, for your support!