Chapter 44: Need Help?
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Under the tree shade, among the wild grass, the Third Chief of Yuan Mountain Stronghold opened his mouth wide with an expression of complete disbelief. His body tilted to one side, ultimately dying an unnatural death.
Xu Yan pulled the long blade from the corpse’s chest. The small Taoist staggered toward Yuan Mountain Stronghold, moonlight bathing his body, making him appear even more cold and desolate.
Human hearts were like demons – since the fierce demon had been released, it should run rampant as it pleased.
The wailing in Yuan Mountain Stronghold had diminished greatly. Occasionally, scattered screams and dying moans could be heard. Many bandits who killed without blinking were hunched over like children, crying bitterly. The immense pain even drove some bandits to choose suicide by blade rather than endure such inhuman torment.
In the stronghold of over a thousand people, when Xu Yan returned to the kitchen, only about a hundred were still alive, and even these hundred were all barely breathing, clearly not going to survive.
The expressionless little Taoist entered the kitchen carrying the steel blade upside down, its edge flashing with intimidating cold light.
The kitchen was already in complete chaos, with pots, bowls, ladles, and basins scattered everywhere. Two cooks lay curled up silently on the stove, and several others had fallen near the cutting boards. Without exception, all these cooks were hunched over with contorted features, eyes wide open, looking like they had died with grievances unresolved.
“Aiya… aiya…”
Painful moans came from beside the water vat – it was the fat head chef’s voice. This tall, fat man had eaten more roasted lamb than anyone else, yet he could still hold on until now.
Following the sound, Xu Yan saw the fat head chef clutching his stomach, bean-sized sweat drops covering his fat face. The pain had nearly displaced all his facial features.
Hearing footsteps, the fat head chef forced his eyes open. When he saw the little Taoist, he was initially puzzled why the other was unharmed, but soon he figured out the key.
“It was… it was you… who poisoned us!”
The fat head chef’s voice trembled, his eyes no longer showing the dismissive and contemptuous attitude from before – they were filled entirely with fear.
He truly couldn’t believe that a half-grown child could poison an entire stronghold’s worth of people, could dare to poison over a thousand people!
“Need help?”
Xu Yan stood before the fat head chef, blinking his eyes and showing a foolish smile. His white teeth looked chilling in the weak firelight.
Just like a fierce beast about to open its bloody maw!
“You little bas…” The fat head chef hadn’t finished speaking when he felt another cramping pain in his stomach, as if his internal organs were about to snap. He didn’t dare continue being stubborn and hurriedly pleaded: “Help me… Xu Yan, help me!”
“Very well.”
The little Taoist’s smile became somewhat sinister as he thrust the long blade forward, directly piercing the fat head chef’s heart.
This was how he had helped that dying soldier on the battlefield, and now he could only help the fat head chef in the same way.
Help him find release sooner!
Whoosh!
Just as the blade tip pierced the fat head chef’s heart, a malevolent wind struck from behind Xu Yan’s head.
Hearing the wind sound, Xu Yan quickly bent his waist low, then heard a crackling sound as the water vat before him was split open by a giant blade.
“Little bastard, so it was you causing trouble!”
The muffled angry roar came from a tower-like strong man. Yuan Mountain Stronghold’s Second Chief Han Lei held a giant blade, looking like a fierce demon.
Though this Second Chief Thunder Shaker seemed rash and simple-minded, he wasn’t stupid. Since everyone in the stronghold had been poisoned, the most likely source of the poison had to be the kitchen. So he had been waiting in the kitchen all along, wanting to catch the poisoner.
He had been waiting for quite a while and hadn’t expected to actually catch Xu Yan.
Relying on his agile form, Xu Yan barely avoided the fatal strike. He was now pressed against one wall, panic appearing on his face again, his eyes filled with fear as he stammered: “It wasn’t… wasn’t me. I went into the mountains to find my pig. My pig got lost.”
Facing a powerful enemy, disguise became his only means of self-preservation. While Xu Yan pretended to panic, his heart grew heavier and heavier.
Because the strong man opposite him showed no signs of poisoning whatsoever.
He didn’t eat the roasted lamb?
No, that’s not right!
When delivering the food, Xu Yan had personally seen Han Lei holding an entire roasted lamb and eating heartily. With Han Lei’s appetite, he wouldn’t be full without at least half a lamb. How could he possibly not be poisoned?
While pondering, Xu Yan shifted his steps. He needed to calculate the direction of the other’s next strike and his own escape route.
“It wasn’t you?”
Seeing the other’s terrified appearance, Han Lei was also somewhat confused. After all, he didn’t have the intelligence of the Head Chief or Third Chief, and how could a little Taoist dare to poison over a thousand people?
Xu Yan’s youth made Han Lei doubtful. He had never heard of a half-grown child having the courage to slaughter a thousand people. In his moment of hesitation, the little Taoist in the corner slipped out of the kitchen like a loach.
The fellow had actually fled.
“Little bastard! Dare to run!”
Those who don’t do wrong aren’t afraid of ghosts knocking at their door. Xu Yan’s flight immediately made Han Lei think the other had a guilty conscience. Even if the poison wasn’t administered by that little Taoist, it should be related to him.
Was he bought off by someone, or threatened by someone?
Han Lei had no time to think carefully. He strode in pursuit, and when rushing to the doorway, his shoulder swayed and directly knocked down one side of the door frame. This Thunder Shaker charged out of the kitchen topped with grass debris and wooden blocks.
A night breeze blew, and the outdoors was naturally cooler than the kitchen. Han Lei appeared much calmer. His first suspicion fell on Third Chief Lu Hai.
Tonight Lu Hai had visited both chiefs, and in Han Lei’s courtyard, Lu Hai hadn’t eaten a single bite of food. This point alone made Han Lei extremely suspicious. He had first thought of the kitchen and ambushed here, but hadn’t had time to check Lu Hai’s and the Head Chief’s residences.
That Han Lei could think this far was already the limit of his intelligence. He wasn’t good at using his brain, but this time he was forced to. He not only needed to find the culprit but also urgently needed to obtain an antidote.
Having consumed most of a roasted lamb, Han Lei was more heavily poisoned than anyone else. The reason he could hold on until now and move freely was because he was using his true qi to temporarily suppress the poison’s effects.
The true qi of a first-meridian innate martial artist could circulate throughout the body. Not only could it make blade and sword techniques more powerful, but it could also assist the circulation of qi, blood, and meridians to achieve cultivation purposes. Only when qi, blood, and meridians became stronger could one possibly break through the next meridian and reach the level of a second-meridian innate martial artist.
While escaping from the kitchen, Xu Yan also thought of the term “innate martial artist.”
He had only learned about innate martial artists after joining Yuan Mountain Stronghold. As for the true abilities of innate martial artists, Xu Yan knew nothing at all. Seeing Han Lei moving freely, Xu Yan suddenly realized that innate martial artists had the ability to suppress severe poison within their bodies.
If Han Lei alone could suppress the poison until now, then wouldn’t Head Chief Flying Centipede be able to suppress it even longer!
The poisoning strategy had been calculated and recalculated countless times by Xu Yan over the past half month. He had thought of countless ways to handle unexpected situations. However, his lack of experience had ultimately cost him dearly. He had thought that eliminating Lu Hai would solve everything, but hadn’t expected the real danger to still lie ahead.
Now this was troublesome…
