Chapter 46 Poison

Capricious.

Duan Yanqing mentally formed this evaluation of Zhang Chengyi, though he did not mind it particularly.

Among villains, being capricious made someone relatively easy to deal with. Didn't Lao San Yue often turn from high spirits to immediate homicidal rage the moment someone said a wrong word?

What concerned him far more was whether he truly had a son.

How did this person know about the events of that night? Or could it be...

No, the age did not seem to match up.

"Great Hero Zhang, now that you have met me, please feel free to state any demands you may have." Having taken a slap, Murong Bo quickly composed himself. Showing no trace of anger, he lowered his posture considerably.

Zhang Chengyi did not answer. Dropping Murong Fu onto the ground, he simply said, "Let's go."

Completely unaware that Duan Yanqing was practically viewing him as a son by this point, Zhang Chengyi took the lead and stepped into the inner grounds of the Man陀 (Mandala) Manor. The ground was littered with a number of bloated, rotting corpses emitting a bizarre, foul stench. Human and animal alike, they bore the unmistakable mark of virulent poison. The walls and the plants in the courtyard were all withered and decayed.

"What on earth happened in here?"

Failing to sense the presence of any other living people, he frowned and asked.

Following behind while supported by his father, Murong Fu spoke up, "When I received the distress signal and rushed over, there were already no living people left inside. After exchanging a single palm strike with me, Ding Chunqiu leaped into the water and escaped under the cover of night."

His words carried a tinge of suppressed grievance. Initially, his maidservants A-Zhu and A-Bi had entered Mandala Manor and vanished without a trace. Shortly after, his four chief retainers had come ahead to investigate, only for them to sink like stones in the sea, vanishing as if swallowed by the earth.

Learning from a fleeing servant at the Qin Yun Cottage that the Xixia Yipin Tang had besieged Mandala Manor, he had fully believed the Xixia people were behind it. Who could have imagined that upon arriving, he would inexplicably clash with the Four Great Evildoers? Finding himself unable to stand alone, he had been injured, and only after fleeing into Mandala Manor had he realized he had fallen into a trap.

Corpses were everywhere inside. Having already sustained internal injuries, he could only watch helplessly as Ding Chunqiu dove into the water. That old freak seemed exceptionally skilled at breath-holding techniques and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Instead, he had ended up trapped by the Yipin Tang himself. Had his father, Murong Bo, not appeared, he would already have been captured by them.

"Are Li Qingluo and Wang Yuyan both dead?" Zhang Chengyi asked again.

"Unknown." Murong Fu's reply was rigid and curt. He was far more eager to know the whereabouts of his four chief retainers; by comparison, an aunt-in-law with whom he shared poor relations and a cousin infatuated with him were completely unimportant.

Murong Bo answered on behalf of his son, "Neither mother nor daughter was among the corpses. Perhaps they were sent away in advance by Ding Chunqiu."

Or perhaps they were killed and thrown into Lake Tai.

Though he thought this to himself, seeing that Zhang Chengyi seemed to care deeply about the mother and daughter, Murong Bo kept it to himself.

"Swoosh!"

"Ahhhhh!"

A Xixia warrior, seemingly suffering from lingering terror following the recent fright, accidentally stepped onto a corpse in the courtyard while fumbling with his trousers. The bloated corpse squirted out yellowish-green fluid, which landed on his bare ankle. The flesh and skin that came into contact with the fluid rapidly dissolved into pus and blood. Screaming, he tumbled backward and crashed entirely onto the pile of corpses.

*Holy crap!*

Being the first to react, Zhang Chengyi raised a hand and unleashed a palm strike. The force compressed the Xixia warrior—who had just crashed into the corpse—along with all the bloated corpses on the ground, blasting through the wall and scattering them far into the distance.

"Splash!"

A sky-full of tainted fluids rained down, yet it did not seem to corrode anything inanimate. Instead, the Xixia warrior who had made close-range contact with the bloated corpses dissolved rapidly right in mid-air. His entire body turned into pus and blood, leaving behind only a set of garments hanging on a distant wall, fluttering in the wind.

Not only were the Xixia warriors terrified, but even Murong Bo and his son changed color—they had previously been standing right next to such virulent poisons.

This was simply too toxic. Was Ding Chunqiu's poison truly this terrifying?

Thinking to himself, Zhang Chengyi said, "Be careful. Let's pull back first." Feeling somewhat unsure whether his own Northern Darkness True Qi could withstand it, he sensed those yellowish-green fluids were practically on the verge of becoming chemical weapons.

Considerably more cautious than when they first entered, the group quietly retreated and returned to the shoreline.

Who knew if something else might go wrong inside Mandala Manor?

Seeing that Su Xinghe and the others had yet to catch up, Zhang Chengyi decided to employ a mix of coercion and enticement on his future beasts of burden. He stated, "Crown Prince Yanqing, Princess Consort Dao Baifeng of the Southern Domain bore a grudge against Duan Zhengchun's romantic escapades, so she deliberately sought out a beggar covered in pus and blood for a night of passion to exact revenge. Who would have guessed she would quickly discover she was pregnant?"

"Your son was born on the twenty-third day of the eleventh month of the Renzi year, and is currently the Heir of the Prince of the Southern Domain, Duan Yu. He might still be in Jiangnan. Capture him, and you will know for certain just by looking at the golden plaque around his neck."

The meridians on Duan Yanqing's face had long since been severed by enemies, leaving him incapable of forming any facial expressions. Yet his facial skin twitched slightly, his eyes revealing an expression of utter disbelief, which quickly shifted into a mix of joy and deep suspicion.

"And now for the two of you." Looking at the Murong father and son, Zhang Chengyi said, "Your Murong family has too many wretched affairs. Do some tasks for me, and while you are working, I will ensure you stay alive."

Murong Bo remained silent without the slightest change in expression, while Murong Fu's eyes clearly flashed a hint of disdain.

Though he and his father might be inferior to the monstrous entity before them, looking across the entire martial arts world, how many people were truly capable of killing them?

Zhang Chengyi was not angered. With a cheerful chuckle, he said, "Murong Bo, you coveted the family fortune of Funiu Sect Leader Ke Baishi. When your attempt to absorb them failed, you silenced them by exterminating the sect. I, the Golden Mountain Knight, have certain ties of friendship with the Funiu Sect. Today, I shall uphold justice on behalf of heaven right here. Do you submit, or do you not?"

Stunned, Murong Fu raised his head with a blank stare. *So the person wanting to kill us is actually you? And you had the nerve to talk about ensuring we stay alive...*

Wasn't this pure, unadulterated intimidation?

"That's right, I am threatening you. What about it?" Zhang Chengyi smiled amiably, leaning in a bit closer with an utterly punchable expression on his face.

Acts of murder and looting for profit were everywhere in this pugilistic world. What the Murong father and son had done was hardly rare; at most, their obsession with restoring their fallen state was a bit bizarre.

Yet he always judged people based on affinity. Someone like Qiao Feng, who caught his eye, would be treated as an equal to drink, eat meat, and befriend; someone slightly lesser, like Duan Yanqing, could still be won over with polite words.

The Murong father and son before him fell squarely into the category of those he despised. When doing evil, they dragged their feet and acted covertly. In particular, Murong Bo possessed deep hidden motives and was far more vicious than his son—the quintessential type of person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

In comparison, when it came to true wickedness, Duan Yanqing fell far short.

"We are willing to be at Great Master Zhang's beck and call."

Murong Bo readily offered a bow. Having witnessed Qiao Feng undergo a complete transformation after being captured, he agreed without the slightest hesitation. What crossed his mind was that if he could grow as strong as Qiao Feng, he would surely exact revenge for today's humiliation. Yet possessing an unfathomable depth of city-form and enduring humiliation with heavy burdens, his expression showed no anomaly, as if he genuinely rejoiced in accepting the arrangement.

Murong Fu remained silent for a moment, gritting his teeth. Torn between incomprehension toward his father and anger that made his temples throb, under his father's stern gaze, he ultimately yielded:

"W-Willing to be at Great Master Zhang's beck and call." His voice was extremely hoarse, sounding as though he carried boundless grievances.

Nodding in satisfaction, Zhang Chengyi finally turned his gaze toward Duan Yanqing, whose eyes had been shifting continuously since a moment ago.

"And you?"