Chapter 47: Who Administered the Poison?
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The silent sword light slashed down above Xu Yan’s head. The small Taoist seemed completely unaware, but the next moment, as Xu Yan leaned forward slightly preparing to step into the room, his stride suddenly halted and his body retreated backward.
Whoosh!
The sword strike missed, and Liao Jiuming, who had been hiding behind the door, was startled before roaring and charging out.
Xu Yan indeed hadn’t noticed the sword light overhead, but he had already determined that this quiet main house was filled with deadly ambush. The feinted step and withdrawal was merely a cautious move – he hadn’t expected to actually dodge a fatal strike.
Xu Yan, who had retreated rapidly, steadied himself in the courtyard. Before him, the scar on Liao Jiuming’s face appeared even more fierce and malevolent.
“You’re that little Taoist.”
Liao Jiuming recalled briefly and remembered the old man’s family he had robbed and killed three months ago. The little Taoist before him was the one who had claimed to be hitching a ride.
“You administered the poison?”
Liao Jiuming held his sword horizontally, its blade flashing with an aura several degrees brighter than Lu Hai’s and Han Lei’s. He questioned Xu Yan while his eyes constantly observed the surrounding darkness.
A little Taoist wouldn’t have the ability to poison Yuan Mountain Stronghold. Liao Jiuming was now even more certain that there was a mastermind behind Xu Yan. His most suspected targets were Han Lei and Lu Hai.
“It wasn’t me.”
Xu Yan’s voice was calm. He kept staring at the expression on Liao Jiuming’s face. Seeing that the other’s attention wasn’t focused on him, Xu Yan immediately realized what this head chief was wary of.
“Who was it? Speak up, and I’ll spare your life.” Liao Jiuming hadn’t detected any ambush in the shadows. His sword point began pointing toward Xu Yan as he asked coldly. Just as his words fell, the little Taoist opposite him actually began grinning foolishly.
“Want to know who administered the poison? I’ll take you to find him.”
Xu Yan left this sentence and turned to run. As long as Liao Jiuming had wariness, his mind would become more chaotic. Mental chaos would affect Liao Jiuming’s judgment, making those traps several times more useful.
Xu Yan’s immediate flight was beyond Liao Jiuming’s expectations. He was slightly stunned, then steeled his heart and strode in pursuit.
The speed of a second-meridian innate martial artist wasn’t something Xu Yan could shake off. Even after suppressing the deadly poison for half a day, Liao Jiuming’s current strength was still not to be underestimated. With the slightest carelessness, Xu Yan wouldn’t be able to leave Yuan Mountain Stronghold.
Temporarily putting aside his confusion and shock about Mei Sanniang being poisoned, Xu Yan now stared fixedly at the path ahead. When passing over a corpse, he kicked back with his heel, and the steel blade resting on the corpse immediately changed direction, pointing directly at the pursuing enemy behind.
Liao Jiuming, in hot pursuit, seemed to keep his attention on the surrounding darkness, but when the long blade on the corpse had its edge turned, he seemed to have anticipated it. His long sword lightly and skillfully flicked, easily deflecting the long blade that would have pierced his legs with his next step.
From drawing his sword to deflecting the long blade, Liao Jiuming’s footsteps never stopped for a moment. The entire movement was like flowing clouds and water, containing certain martial way techniques that could only be mastered through long-term practice.
That was swordsmanship – a combat technique completely foreign to Xu Yan.
Hearing the crisp sound of blade and sword colliding, Xu Yan knew without looking back that the first trap had failed. His figure paused, then turned toward several large trees to one side.
The chase didn’t last too long. Liao Jiuming was about to catch up to the little Taoist. This head chief of Yuan Mountain Stronghold had already calmed down after half a day of calculation. He wouldn’t kill Xu Yan with one sword – he needed to catch the real mastermind behind the scenes. He needed the antidote even more.
The terrifying poison could be suppressed by a second-meridian innate martial artist but couldn’t be easily expelled from the body. Only by obtaining the antidote could Liao Jiuming truly recover his strength. Then, even if the Second and Third Chiefs joined forces, they definitely wouldn’t be a match for him, Flying Centipede.
The little Taoist who had delivered himself became the key for Liao Jiuming to resolve this crisis. However, this pursuit had made Liao Jiuming confused again.
Starting from the first trap, he had successively broken through tightly stretched hemp ropes between large trees and the broken iron pot at the kitchen door, and had nearly fallen into the vegetable field pit filled with sharp blades. By the time he had cornered the little Taoist in a corner of the kitchen’s vegetable garden, Liao Jiuming hadn’t discovered any trace of living people.
He hadn’t seen any living people, but he did see a corpse with half its body charred by the fire pit. Liao Jiuming recognized that build at a glance.
“Second Brother!”
The dead Han Lei finally allowed Liao Jiuming to truly let down his guard. He hadn’t seen Lu Hai’s corpse. At this moment, he glared with round eyes and stared fixedly at Xu Yan, demanding: “Who exactly is commanding you? Little Taoist, you’d better think carefully. The person behind you may not be able to save your life. As long as you speak up, I can guarantee no pursuit. Not only that, I, Liao Jiuming, can ensure you live without worry for the rest of your life.”
The ruthlessness in his heart was deeply hidden. Liao Jiuming approached step by step, tempting and threatening sentence by sentence: “Was it Third Brother’s idea? Speak up – where is he? Little Taoist, tell me and I’ll spare you. If you don’t speak, I’ll dismember you!”
Xu Yan, cornered against the wall, no longer put on a fearful facade. Instead, he was calm beyond his years, his mouth constantly wearing a strange smile, looking completely confident.
The more he acted this way, the more confused Liao Jiuming became. His tightly furrowed brows indicated he was maintaining complete alertness.
“He’s here!”
Xu Yan’s sudden shout startled Liao Jiuming’s heart. Following Xu Yan’s gaze toward the darkness to one side, Liao Jiuming’s long sword was ready to slash out at any moment.
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through air came – not from the surrounding darkness, but from directly in front of Liao Jiuming.
“Ah!”
Clang!
Liao Jiuming, who had deflected the stone with his long sword, felt numbness in his arm. The steel-forged long sword was his handy weapon – ordinary long blades were only used for killing captives or executing unruly bandits in the stronghold.
Looking at the still-trembling long sword, Liao Jiuming staggered back two steps, his face full of shock.
The long sword had indeed deflected the stone, but this force had shocked Flying Centipede beyond measure. He was a second-meridian innate martial artist – he knew very well what the consequences would be if he had been hit by that stone just now.
At minimum, broken bones and torn tendons!
In the quiet vegetable garden, both figures, one large and one small, fell silent. In the silent standoff, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Xu Yan’s left hand now hung powerlessly. Not only was it numb, but his left arm was also experiencing pain.
When killing Lu Hai, he had used Flying Locust stones with both hands. When dealing with Han Lei, he had used his right arm for the second time. The Flying Locust he had just thrown was the second use of his left arm.
Each hand had been used twice.
Xu Yan’s arms had already injured their tendons and bones.
The standoff didn’t last too long. Both figures moved almost simultaneously.
The sky was already brightening. Liao Jiuming was now certain that Lu Hai wasn’t lurking in the vicinity, and the dead Han Lei made him even more at ease.
It wasn’t Han Lei. If it wasn’t Lu Hai either, then wouldn’t that mean the real culprit who poisoned Yuan Mountain Stronghold was this strange little Taoist before him?
Regardless, Liao Jiuming wouldn’t spare Xu Yan. Just as he moved, Xu Yan also moved simultaneously. The small Taoist charged headfirst into the kitchen.
