Chapter 49 Precarious as a Pile of Eggs

In a secluded courtyard within the city of Suzhou, inside a side chamber.

"Ugh..."

Duan Yu opened his eyes in a daze. As his vital points were unsealed and his peerless internal energy went to work, he quickly regained consciousness, though his vision remained slightly doubled.

A vague figure stood before him. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Over the past few days, the old monster had extracted massive amounts of blood from him. Had it not been for his profound internal energy, he would have been reduced to a dried husk by now. Yet, even the strongest internal energy could not turn a man into an immortal who needed no sustenance.

"Amitabha."

Before he could see who it was, a familiar voice reached his ears. Opening his mouth, he addressed the newcomer in a hoarse, weak whisper: "Master Kumarajiva."

Kumarajiva wore a heavy expression, letting out a soft sigh without speaking.

Turning his head slightly, Duan Yu looked at Madame Li, Wang Yuyan, Azhu, and Abihu, who lay unconscious not far away. He pleaded, "I beg the Master's merciful heart to save them."

"Please forgive this poor monk for his impotence," Kumarajiva said, a look of shame crossing his face.

He was currently unable to protect even himself, let alone save others.

Back then, when he brought Duan Yu to the Hall of Melodious Plum, the maidservants Azhu and Abihu had snatched Duan Yu away and fled by boat. Unable to catch up in time, Kumarajiva had threatened a bailiff in Suzhou city to lead him to the He Yi Estate, and the next day, he had sneaked aboard a supply vessel heading to the Manthetto Manor.

Stealing in at midnight, he had encountered Ding Chunqiu.

Having no wish to clash with the Old Monster of Xingxiu, he was searching around for martial arts manuals when he discovered a servant draining Duan Yu's blood for some unknown purpose. After rescuing Duan Yu and before he could leave, he triggered a trap and was discovered by the manor's servants.

During the standoff with Ding Chunqiu, the latter learned of his intentions and offered to gift him profound martial arts in exchange for his assistance.

Thus, he obtained a volume of the Lesser Non-Bound Skill and became deeply enchanted by this peerless martial art.

Later, in order to obtain more of the Lesser Non-Bound Skill, he helped escort Madame Wang and her entourage out of the Manthetto Manor. He also secretly used the Crane-Controlling Skill to help Ding Chunqiu—who appeared to be suffering from severe internal injuries—escape repeatedly from the encirclements of the Four Evils, while standing by and watching Duan Yu being tortured as he gathered news from the surrounding area.

It wasn't that he had never considered simply seizing the manual by force, but the pages of the Lesser Non-Bound Skill were filled with cryptic codes like [First day of the first lunar month, collected nine cash and eight candareens] and [Paid out eight cash and seven candareens], which anyone ignorant of them would take for mere account books.

Moreover, the other party was the notorious Old Monster of Xingxiu in the pugilistic world, dripping with virulent poison. Even he had no confidence in stopping the man from committing suicide, so he had maintained this delicate cooperative relationship.

Later, after witnessing the terrifying poison unleashed by Ding Chunqiu, his heart grew even more wary, and he completely extinguished any thoughts of forcefully seizing the manual.

Due to his greed, he had allowed himself to be manipulated by the other party, until yesterday, when disaster finally struck.

"What?" Duan Yu gasped softly. A look of horror crossed his face; had his body not been so weak, he would have shrieked out loud.

Ding Chunqiu had actually, with utter recklessness, scattered the virulent poison extracted and mixed from his own body all over the city.

All of them had witnessed the fate of those afflicted with this mixed poison.

Without internal energy to protect the body, after a day of fever and bodily discomfort, the victim would sink into a coma by the third day, and within five days at most, the poison would invade the brain and cause death. The corpse would swell up in a matter of moments, its skin filled with fluids capable of dissolving flesh into pus.

This property of dissolving flesh into pus actually originated from the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, the Manggu Zhuha toad, which he had swallowed into his belly.

Ever since he swallowed that toad, his blood had become highly poisonous. Back in the palace of Dali, when the imperial physicians tried to use leeches to suck his blood, the leeches refused to bite no matter what, and when forcibly pressed against his skin, they were poisoned to death within moments.

Heaven knows what toxic creatures Ding Chunqiu had mixed with his blood to create such a heinous mixed poison.

Kumarajiva chanted another Amitabha, then said with a bitter expression, "This poor monk never expected that he would spare not even himself, scattering the mixed poison everywhere. Even this poor monk..."

Yes, he too had fallen victim to it.

He had been poisoned alongside Ding Chunqiu. The old monster possessed no antidote whatsoever, nor had he developed one, intending to drag everyone down to death with him.

After discovering it this morning and turning it over in his mind, he concluded that perhaps only Duan Yu, who was immune to all poisons, could walk out of Suzhou city alive. He hoped that Duan Yu would go out and warn others never to enter again, leaving this city to be buried alongside Ding Chunqiu and the mixed poison.

With death staring him in the face and knowing he had committed monstrous karma, his vision cleared and his mind grew lucid. His own greed had brought about this fate of death, and he had brought it upon himself; yet the people of this entire city were truly innocent.

Lying on the couch, Duan Yu stared dazedly at the pale, unconscious "Immortal Sisters." It took him a long while to muster the strength to say, "How could Ding Chunqiu be so ruthless as to treat even his own daughter..."

Kumarajiva shook his head, pointed toward the food box nearby, and said, "Duan Gongzi, get up, eat your fill, and leave this place."

Duan Yu slowly dragged himself up, crawled to the sides of Wang Yuyan and Madame Li, and reached out with a trembling hand, yet dared not touch the Immortal Sisters. Choking back a sob, he asked, "Is Ding Chunqiu not here?"

"No," Kumarajiva replied. "The Knight-Errant of Jinshan and the Elderly Scholar of Clear Wisdom and their company have come to settle scores with him. He is waiting for them in the front yard."

Duan Yu had no idea who the Knight-Errant of Jinshan or the Elderly Scholar of Clear Wisdom might be, but he had no leisure to care. Hunger finally triumphed over his infatuation with the Immortal Sisters. Stumbling over to the food box, abandoning all dining etiquette, he grabbed the food with his hands and frantically crammed it into his mouth.

His sunken cheeks bulged as they were stuffed with food, and lacking the strength to chew properly, he held the food in his mouth for a good while before swallowing it whole.

The thought that the Immortal Sisters were going to die, that everyone in this city would not be spared, and that he alone would escape alive, brought tears streaming down his face.

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"Swish!"

Murong Bo's figure flickered as he rushed toward a Beggar Sect disciple, moving to capture him, when a palm silently materialized, firmly grasping his neck. With just a slight exertion of force, it could easily have taken his life.

"You are a bit too hasty," Qiao Feng said with a stern face, his eyes fixed on Zhang Chengyi, waiting for the next move.

"Oh?"

Zhang Chengyi lowered his chopsticks, stood up, and said, "It seems your father and son have good luck."

"Let's go, and go meet Ding Chunqiu."

"Wait."

Su Xinghe held back the Beggar Sect disciple who had come to deliver the message, carefully observing his features. After channeling a surge of the North Ocean Divine Qi into him, Su Xinghe turned his head to look at Qiao Feng beside him.

Sure enough, it was once again the poison from Murong Fu, though with some alterations. Had it not been for the fact that those who possessed internal energy insufficient to temporarily suppress the poison would undergo changes in physiognomy and aura when afflicted by it, he would almost have been fooled.

Qiao Feng fell silent for a moment, released his grip on Murong Bo, and said, "Lead the way."

He knew that the only way to find a cure was to find Ding Chunqiu, and thus, he now stood on the same side as his enemy.

Murong Bo let out a breath of relief and followed the group out of the courtyard. Vaguely, for reasons unknown, he felt a slight numbness and discomfort in his body as he moved, though the sensation vanished almost immediately.

Perhaps an old injury?

An ominous premonition stirred in his heart.