My Leadership Style

Almost the entire exploration team was poisoned, with only Bai Ya as the exception.

Facing Huang Zao's angry scolding, Bai Ya's face was full of panic and confusion. He shook his head continuously, backing away step by step, and finally stumbled, falling flat on his backside to the ground.

"It wasn't me, really it wasn't me," Bai Ya shouted, denying it to the utmost.

Huang Zao strode toward him, but suddenly collapsed halfway there.

His complexion was an ashen cyan, his expression ferocious, much like a patient who had fallen into an ice cave, soaking for a long time in piercingly cold ice water before being fished out on the brink of death.

"Why is it that you're the only one who wasn't poisoned?" Huang Zao lay on the ground, still staring unwillingly at Bai Ya as he squeezed the words out through his teeth.

Lan Zao off to the side suddenly let out a low cry. "Ah! Could it be that this Sea Island Master has made a move? Besides poisoning all of us, he wants to spare one person's life and send him out to spread the word. It's just like great pirates, who, after ransacking a ship, deliberately let some people go to widely spread their notorious reputation."

Huang Zao still retained his sanity, and hearing this, he was quite puzzled. "What person? Does this island still have a master?"

Previously, the results of the discussion among Zhen Jin and the others in the tent had not been told to the rest of the people, and even Huang Zao had been kept in the dark.

Because the results of those discussions were mostly guesses without direct evidence.

Voicing them would also deal a heavy blow to the morale of the entire team, causing people to worry and feel anxious, and it was even possible that their emotions might collapse.

Whether it was Huang Zao or Lan Zao, both had collapsed onto the ground. Throughout the entire team, only Zhen Jin was still barely supporting himself, standing upright. Even so, the youth felt the chill in his body growing increasingly severe, like plunging into an icy cavern.

Lan Zao, lying on the ground, struggled to stand up, failing after several attempts. His gaze, aimed toward Bai Ya, suddenly paused, and he cried out, "I remember now. He didn't eat the mutton, not a single bite. This mutton is poisonous!"

"The mutton is poisonous?" Zi Di paused slightly upon hearing this.

Before eating the mutton, she had clearly verified that it was non-toxic.

"Is it related to the amount? Could it be that we ate too much and therefore got poisoned?" Zhen Jin asked with a frown.

Zi Di shook her head with a wry smile. "Such a simple possibility, I verified it long ago. But it's also possible that some kind of toxin existed that wasn't detected by me... Bai Ya, did you really not eat a single bite of the mutton?"

Bai Ya nodded and stuttered, "Y-Yes, My Lord. I don't like eating mutton; these past few days I've only been eating dry rations."

Bai Ya's performance continuously chipped away at the suspicion resting on him, and Zhen Jin turned his gaze back to Zi Di instead.

If Bai Ya harbored malicious intentions, right now would be his best opportunity to make a move.

Zhen Jin also possessed almost no capability to resist at this moment.

Shifting to another perspective, even if Bai Ya harbored ill intent, choosing to poison everyone at this time would be far too foolish. Surviving in the wild like this, having teammates by one's side increased one's own survival probability. The risk of escaping alone was simply too high.

Zi Di had long since collapsed onto the ground, a thoughtful gleam shining in her eyes. "Sir Zhen Jin, please come over and use the dagger on my body to cut a wound on my arm, will you?"

Zhen Jin nodded, barely managing to move his steps to come to Zi Di's side, and pulled out the hilt of the dagger from her calf.

The sharp blade of the dagger gently sliced across Zi Di's slender, firm arm, carving out a long, thin wound.

Looking from the wound, the flesh and blood inside Zi Di's body had already turned an ashen cyan.

The blood should have flowed and spilled outward, but at this moment it only trickled out a tiny bit, and the blood temperature was low, with the red blood mixed with some eerie ashen gray.

Zhen Jin immediately associated it with zombies. He felt a wave of cold air surge out from the wound and could not help murmuring to himself, "Is it really cold poison?"

Zi Di tightly furrowed her brows.

The scene before her looked like cold poison, yet it also seemed somewhat different.

Vaguely, Zi Di thought of something, but she could not truly grasp this flash of inspiration that had just surfaced in her mind.

My time is running out!

Zi Di clearly felt her body growing stiffer and colder by the moment.

Soon, her heart would freeze as a result, stopping its beating entirely.

Zi Di knew she had to make a decision as quickly as possible!

"My Lord, red... White Mushroom Bottle Cap..." Zi Di pointed her stiff fingers toward the small leather pouch at her waist.

Zhen Jin immediately took action, opening the small leather pouch to reveal the dense array of small potion bottles neatly arranged inside.

There were three bottles that matched Zi Di's description.

After a swift identification, Zhen Jin discovered that all three were identical.

He also knew that Zi Di had a good habit—she would try her best to use bottles, corks, labels, and other elements of different specifications to combine and uniformly distinguish each type of potion.

Prying open the white mushroom-like bottle cap, Zhen Jin brought the pinky-sized glass bottle to Zi Di's lips.

Zi Di managed to part her lips, and Zhen Jin began to pour the thick red potion from the bottle.

Drinking just a small mouthful, Zi Di suddenly rolled her eyes and fainted completely on the spot.

Such an unusual change left the still-conscious people present with stunned expressions.

Zhen Jin's heart instantly sank to rock bottom.

The only pharmacist had fallen unconscious; what on earth should they do now?

"Take off... the sheepskin... go back, go back..." At that moment, Cang Xu's hoarse and weak voice reached them.

After using all his strength to say those words, he lost consciousness once again.

Both Huang Zao and Lan Zao placed great trust in Cang Xu's words. Huang Zao was already unable to move, but Lan Zao still retained a certain degree of mobility, immediately setting to work stripping off the woolen leather garments on his body.

A few breaths after taking them off, Lan Zao had a distinct sensation.

"It works! I feel my whole body starting to grow warm again," Lan Zao called out in a low voice.

It was very strange.

The greatest function of the woolen leather garments was to keep warm. Previously, when they were near the Snowy Peak, these newly made woolen leather garments had made people feel a sense of bliss.

But now, taking off the warm leather garments actually allowed their frozen, stiff bodies to regain some vitality.

What on earth was going on here?

Zhen Jin had no time to think.

Although he did not understand, he immediately ordered Bai Ya and also lent a hand himself, helping the fallen exploration team members strip off the woolen leather garments they wore.

After these leather garments were removed, most of the members who had collapsed onto the ground yet remained unconscious unexpectedly regained the strength to stand up!

Zi Di, Cang Xu, and the others, however, still remained plunged in unconsciousness with their eyes tightly shut.

"Carry them, we are returning immediately!" Zhen Jin's attitude was resolute and without hesitation.

The conscious crowd all knew the matter was urgent, and they exerted all their strength to drag the unconscious members along, returning by the original route.

Cang Xu, Zi Di, Huang Zao, and the others were loaded onto the backs of White Bone Head Goats.

The flock of sheep that Zhen Jin had specifically ordered to be captured had suffered heavy casualties, with more than half dead. Only the four strongest Bronze-level lead sheep remained, and the rest of the lambs had completely perished.

The further back they walked, the better everyone felt, and strength gradually returned to their bodies.

Even though the temperature in the air was growing lower and lower, everyone's torsos and limbs were no longer stiff and cold, but instead grew warm.

Finally, when the crowd returned to the spot where they had previously hunted the sheep flock, many of them had recovered to their original state.

Zi Di and Cang Xu also awoke.

Zi Di untied the bandage on her arm to check the wound she had cut a short while ago. She discovered that the originally ashen-cyan wound had returned to a normal flesh-and-blood color, and fresh blood flowed naturally out once more, no longer terrifying and zombie-like as before.

It seemed as though everything that had happened previously was merely a nightmare.

Yet two dead corpses still coldly reminded everyone that all of this had indeed occurred.

Yes.

The exploration team had lost two people.

Those two people had fallen into unconsciousness, never waking up during the return journey, and finally, when they returned to the initial location, their traces of life completely dissipated.

"I understand. I understand why there are so many mountain sheep here. Because these are all highly toxic creatures! Whoever eats them must pay the price with their lives!" Terror was written across Huang Zao's face.

"This is a curse, the devil's curse!"

"We can only stay here. As long as we get a little further away from this place, our poison will flare up again and cause us to die!"

The crowd discussed animatedly, feeling extremely panicked, and looked at the mountain sheep grazing leisurely in the distance with fear.

The morale of the entire exploration team plummeted severely.

"All of you shut up! Calm down." At this moment, Zhen Jin stepped forward, glanced around at the sides, and let out a low shout.

During these past few days, he had already established sufficient prestige within the team. At his single command right now, everyone obediently shut their mouths, leaving not a single sound of conversation.

Zhen Jin knew very well in his heart that sheer suppression alone would not work; he also had to alleviate and release the terror hidden in everyone's hearts.

Thus, he continued speaking once more, "With me here, what are you panicking about?"

"Things are still far from reaching an irrecoverable stage. Don't forget, we still have Miss Zi Di. She is not only a mage, but also an extraordinary pharmacist."

The fact that Zi Di had just drunk the potion only to knock herself out cold on the spot seemed to have been forgotten by Zhen Jin.

However, quite a few people had witnessed that scene at the time, and on the journey back, those who knew the truth had spread the matter around.

Could she really do it?

Zhen Jin naturally understood the hesitation in everyone's hearts, and he smiled with confidence. "Earlier, we didn't know the cause of the poisoning, so diagnostic errors were completely normal. Using potions has always been about prescribing the right medicine for the illness. Now that we know the root cause, it's a completely different matter! How could a mere flock of sheep trap our hands and feet? Everyone, I am still going to lead you away from this island. Giving up now is still far too early."

The confused and terrified expressions of the crowd began to change.

Zhen Jin had a head of blonde hair, fair skin, a high bridge of the nose, and eyes like the morning stars. Just his outward appearance alone made him handsome and outstanding.

He was also the sole heir of the Hundred Needles Family, a Temple Knight of the human race's strongest legion, and one of the contenders for the White Sand City Lord.

Even though he wore only damaged chainmail at this moment, with the spear slung across his back and the long saber at his waist being crudely made, these various hardships instead served all the more to set off the youth's indomitable and unyielding spirit.

He was like the morning sun just rising at the break of dawn—the sunlight was not blinding, yet it brought people hope.

He was like the flag fluttering in the wind atop the pristine white castle under the blue sky; as long as one saw such a flag, one would inevitably be drawn to it and guided by it.

Zi Di and Cang Xu looked at Zhen Jin in this moment, staring blankly and lost in thought.

"My Lord, with you here, there is simply nothing to be afraid of! You are a knight, a Temple Knight! This time, you were the one who saved us," Bai Ya shouted excitedly, breaking the silence.

"Master, the two of us will surely swear to follow you to the death, no matter when or where, no matter if the heavens fall and the earth shatters." Lan Zao also expressed his loyalty.

The crowd gradually grew stirred up.

"Sir Zhen Jin is completely right."

"Following Sir Zhen Jin, we will definitely be able to escape from here."

"That's right. I will entrust my life to you, My Lord!"