The Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider had suffered a devastating blow from Lu Bei. Its ferocity flared, and it chased Luo Ban on eight writhing legs. Green liquid dripped from its mouthparts, mixing with the dust it kicked up and causing the Poisonous Mist to spread farther and farther.
Zhu Bo waved his fan repeatedly, raising violent winds to block the Poisonous Mist from spreading.
Lu Bei took out a Detoxification Pill and swallowed it, stopping the loss of two points of health per second. He raised his saber and strode toward...
He glanced at the exit close at hand and stopped. On one side lay the road to escape; on the other was the giant beast rampaging through the entire area. There was no difficult choice to make.
Of course he was going back to fight the monster.
From Sister She willingly placing herself in danger, to the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider ambushing them in the supposedly safe area, to the indistinguishable truth and illusion of the phantom formation, the truth had already been laid bare.
They had fallen into a trap!
The last time Sister She entered the tomb, what blocked her was not a phantom formation but the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider. Knowing she could not defeat it and unwilling to share the treasures inside the cave abode with other experts, she had sought out Zhu Bo, whose strength matched hers, and bought time by sacrificing her allies.
More likely, there had never been a phantom formation inside the cave abode. Sister She had arranged everything in advance, triggered the mechanism, and left, leaving the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider guarding the cave abode for them to deal with.
Wuji's mother had been right: the more poisonous a woman's heart, the prettier the woman; and the prettier the woman, the better she was at lying.
Bai Jin was the exception.
Lu Bei did not know what was happening outside or whether Sister She had obtained the Demonic Cultivator's relics. But one thing was certain: since Sister She had dared dig a pit for the Zhu Clan to fall into, she had never intended to let Zhu Bo leave alive.
There was a trap outside. It looked like a road to life, but was actually another road to death in a different guise.
Not an option!
With that thought, Lu Bei made up his mind. He drew in a deep breath of poisonous air and hurried toward the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider.
"Don't panic, brothers. I'm here to lend you a hand."
The saber flash came down. Ignoring the drain on his cultivation, Lu Bei repeatedly used the Dark Tide skill to raise his critical-hit rate. Though he barely injured the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider, he still pulled Luo Ban away from its poisonous mouth.
"Little Brother Lu, you came at just the right time!"
With the bruiser at his side, Zhu Bo immediately perked up. Moved by the sight of true friendship in adversity, he said, "I'm ashamed to say that when I saw you at the entrance just now..."
"Brother Bo thinks too little of me. I'll remember this grudge for now and charge you extra next time I butcher you." Lu Bei snorted, instantly establishing himself as the loyal man who would stick a knife through his ribs for his brothers.
"Good. It's a deal."
Zhu Bo nodded and swung his treasure fan, whipping up a storm that forced the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider to crawl against the ground. Lu Bei and Luo Ban repeated their earlier tactic, bringing their sabers down together and blasting out another of the spider's eyes.
Lu Bei's spirits lifted. He vaguely saw the red bar above the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider's head shorten by a segment, and he swung his saber even harder.
One man assisted with crowd control while the other two attacked fiercely. Though it was their first time working together, their damage output flowed smoothly. Luo Ban, in particular, noticed that Lu Bei was using military saber techniques and immediately changed his own style to support him. This not only saved his own cultivation and stamina but also greatly increased their attack damage.
After a quarter of an hour, all eight of the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider's eyes had been destroyed. Its head was pitted and cratered, and green liquid had stained the dust and gravel until its original shape could no longer be seen.
Strike while it was down and finish it off.
Lu Bei decisively delivered the finishing blow. While Luo Ban created a disturbance to draw its attention, he threw another flying saber.
This time, he did not aim for the mouthparts. The saber smashed into the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider's battered skull and exploded the green liquid in all directions, cutting away half its remaining life in one blast.
"It still isn't dead?"
"What tenacious vitality..."
Watching the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider roll through the green Poisonous Mist, the three men gathered together, panting heavily and staring at one another.
Zhu Bo's face was pale. Repeatedly activating a magical treasure with Foundation Establishment cultivation had consumed him severely, so he took out several bottles of pills and tossed them into his mouth.
Luo Ban, who had led the attack, had blood at the corner of his mouth. Without his older cousin's support equipment, his defenses were far weaker than Lu Bei's. The Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider had swatted him away twice, and he had endured until now entirely on the strength of his Body Refining Method. He had suffered the worst injuries of the three.
Lu Bei was not much better. He had dealt the most damage, but his cultivation points had fallen to the verge of triggering the Rewind skill. As his stamina dropped, his health was rapidly plunging as well.
"What do we do? Do we keep killing it?"
"We don't know what's happening outside. Preserving our strength comes first. It's half-dead anyway, and it can't see us now that it's blind. Let's leave while we can."
Zhu Bo made the decision. The three hurried toward the exit. Before entering, Luo Ban raised a hand to stop Zhu Bo and threw out a flying saber. Only after confirming that no one was lying in ambush did he take his long saber in hand and step inside first.
Bang!
A black shadow flew backward.
It was Luo Ban. He had moved so fast that he had even left afterimages behind.
Lu Bei had been on guard. He pushed off with his toes and retreated swiftly, but it did no good. He was fast, yet his opponent was faster. A fist as large as a cooking pot rapidly filled his vision. He only had time to raise his saber and block before the surging force sent him flying.
Zhu Bo followed close behind. Lu Bei had barely hit the ground when Zhu Bo came crashing straight after him. Seeing that things were bad, he rolled aside, leaving Luo Ban beneath him to suffer. Luo Ban was struck twice in succession.
[You have been attacked. After calculation, health -80 after defense reduction.]
[You have been poisoned. After calculation, health -20 per second for 30 seconds.]
It was not the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider's Poisonous Mist. This poison was even stronger.
When had he been poisoned?
Lu Bei took out a Detoxification Pill and swallowed it, but it failed to neutralize the special toxin. After thinking it over, he accepted the loss of twenty health per second.
"Hehehe..."
A burly man walked in with a sinister grin, cracking his knuckles. He had been the one who tore apart the zombies earlier. His physique was astonishing and his strength immense. Like Sister She, he was a Demon Cultivator.
"Commander Zhu, you're quite capable. You actually beat such a ferocious beast until it lost its temper." Sister She led her people inside. Without Fat Dragon and Fat Tiger, the two cannon-fodder, her seven-man team had been reduced to five.
The Liu brothers, held as hostages for the exchange, were tied up like dumplings. Their faces were battered and swollen, making them look a whole size fatter.
"And this little brother is quite capable too. Your innocent romanticism almost fooled me earlier." Sister She smiled at Lu Bei. He was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. At her words, he lifted his hips slightly in reply.
"Sister She is the capable one. Zhu is inferior in skill. Whether to kill me or release me, you decide!" Zhu Bo had been poisoned, and the Detoxification Pill had failed. Dizzy and with blurred vision, he could barely speak clearly.
He knew the enemy had rested while they had worked. His own people were injured or captured, and they had no chance of winning by force.
But he was not afraid. His surname was Zhu, and the fact that Sister She had not dared kill the Liu brothers proved that there was room for negotiation.
Zhu Bo cursed inwardly, swearing that one day he would find someone to arrange the demoness in eighteen different positions before chopping her up and making snake soup from her.
"Commander Zhu, don't misunderstand. I only schemed against you because I had no other choice."
Sister She remained composed. "Your family is powerful, and your clan members are spread throughout Wu Zhou. If I didn't seize every advantage, how could I make you willingly give up the benefits?"
I knew it!
Zhu Bo's heart settled, but he gave Sister She no friendly look. "Enough nonsense. I was poisoned by your snake venom. Bring out the antidote first."
"Of course."
"And release my two brothers as well."
"Commander Zhu, you're being far too greedy!"
Sister She shook her head but agreed to his demand. She stuffed a bottle of antidote into Liu Meng's arms, then waved her hand and pushed the Liu brothers out.
The Liu brothers staggered forward with tears streaming down their faces and knelt before Zhu Bo. Luo Ban forced himself upright, swung his saber, and cut through their ropes, freeing them.
"Big Brother, that woman doesn't keep her—"
"The antidote." Zhu Bo's expression was livid as he interrupted him.
The Liu brothers nodded repeatedly. They took out the small bottle from their clothing, poured out three pills, and distributed them among Lu Bei and the other two.
"Gulp!"
Luo Ban swallowed his in one go, and his complexion improved slightly. He told the Liu brothers to retreat, then held his saber horizontally and guarded Zhu Bo from behind.
"Little Brother Lu, are you all right?"
After taking the antidote, Zhu Bo frowned when he saw that Lu Bei was still lying motionless.
At that moment, intense pain erupted from Zhu Bo's abdomen. His expression changed violently. When he looked at Luo Ban standing ahead of him, the pain grew so severe that he could not help dropping to one knee.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two cold flashes pierced them. Zhu Bo and Luo Ban froze where they stood, unable to believe that their teammates had stabbed them in the back.
After landing their blows, the Liu brothers quickly retreated and stood behind Sister She, not daring to meet Zhu Bo's eyes.
"Why?"
Zhu Bo's mouth tasted bitter. He coughed up a mouthful of filthy blood and nearly died of rage.
"People climb toward high places, while water flows toward low places. What's there to ask why?"
Sister She smiled as she explained. "I met the two Liu brothers in Hongling County. They felt they would profit more by following me than by following you, so they rationally chose to abandon the darkness and turn toward the light. It's that simple."
The Liu brothers lowered their heads deeply. Their betrayal was already a fact, so they did not bother explaining.
And don't ask why. If you did, the answer was simply that she had offered too much.
"Sister She truly is a master schemer. Every link leads to the next, leaving me no opening. But I... don't understand..."
Zhu Bo glanced at Luo Ban, who had fallen and could no longer rise. Then he looked at Lu Bei, who was repeatedly pounding his own chest and vomiting blood. He asked the doubt in his heart: "Even if I die, someone will eventually trace this back to you. What benefit does that bring you?"
"The world is vast. I can simply leave Wu Zhou."
Sister She cast Zhu Bo a sympathetic glance. "To be honest, I don't want to fight Commander Zhu to the death either. Unfortunately, I have another business that requires the blood of the Zhu Clan. After thinking it over, I could only use you to make my move today."
"You want to rob the tombs of my Zhu Clan ancestors?"
"Hehe, Commander Zhu, you're a dying man. It's better if you don't learn too much, lest you be unable to swallow your anger even in death." Sister She waved coldly. Someone behind her stepped forward and drew a sharp blade, preparing to bleed Zhu Bo.
At that moment.
"I'm... finally... about to die..."
Lu Bei threw away the Detoxification Pill in his hand and sat up coughing blood. Fierce light burst from his eyes as he drew everyone in front of him into his capture range.
Capture range: 1–10 people. Skill Blood Rage activated.
Judgment successful!
Cultivation: 880/3010 Health: 18/2200 Cultivation below 30%, health below 10%. Dual judgment successful. Skill **Rewind** activated. Strength and Speed doubled. Restored 10% of total health per second. Duration: five seconds. Name: Lu Bei Level: 20 Main Profession: Dao Cultivator (Foundation Establishment) Attributes: Strength 180, Speed 136, Spirit 145, Endurance 100, Charisma...
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