Healing His Wounds

"Be careful! Come back soon! I'll be waiting for you!"

The next morning, Gu Sheng and Chu Xin said goodbye at the cave entrance. The little beauty waved, tucked the fine hair at her temples behind her ears, and gave Gu Sheng a playful wink, but a trace of worry remained hidden deep in her eyes.

As Gu Sheng's companion, she knew better than anyone that the two of them had gained more than any other Reincarnators in this world. While most Reincarnators were still in the "pioneering" stage, they had already fulfilled the requirements to return to the real world.

Their combined Conquest Progress far exceeded half of the total Conquest Progress of all the remaining Reincarnators combined. At this point, they had no need to risk venturing deeper into the wilderness. They only needed to consolidate their existing advantages, and they could return safely when the time came.

However, Gu Sheng insisted on venturing deeper into the wilderness, and for his sake, she had also chosen to take the risk. Although she did not know why Gu Sheng desired strength so desperately, she knew that he must have encountered some difficulty.

When Gu Sheng learned from her that entering and leaving the Samsara worlds took no more than an instant in the real world, his expression became exceptionally grim. At that moment, she also understood that he must have encountered a tremendous difficulty in the real world.

That difficulty had forced this cautious man to risk his life and venture deep into the wilderness in search of the Cinnabar Fruit. One had to know that in the perilous wilderness, life and death could be decided in an instant. If they encountered danger and failed to return in time, they might never be able to go back.

"I will!"

Gu Sheng placed his right hand atop her lovely head and affectionately stroked the back of the little girl's head before solemnly making his promise. She might not even have noticed the change in her attitude toward Gu Sheng. A girl would only unconsciously keep tidying her appearance in front of someone she liked.

Gu Sheng had noticed, but he did not point it out. Wasn't things fine as they were? After waving goodbye to Chu Xin, Gu Sheng pushed the stone slab back into place to seal the cave entrance. Then, carrying the antidote he had scavenged that morning, he once again set out toward Iron Arm Ape Mountain.

Under the cloudless sky, the blazing sun burned fiercely. Gu Sheng followed a winding trail forward. As he looked down at the distant snake trail, faint tension stirred in his heart. What he was about to do was extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake would mean dying on the spot.

In a valley somewhere halfway up Iron Arm Ape Mountain, green mist filled the air. The moisture carried a sweet fragrance that made people dizzy. Covering his mouth with a damp cloth, Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes and carefully surveyed his surroundings as he slowly followed the traces ahead.

"Whew! This big fellow sure can run!"

After walking through the deep valley for about half an hour, Gu Sheng arrived at a secluded cliffside. Not far ahead was a spacious, shallow cave, where a gigantic green-and-cyan creature was roaring and twisting restlessly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Verdant Python writhed restlessly, its barrel-thick tail lashing heavily against the rock wall and stirring up repeated howls of wind. Chunks of shattered rock flew in all directions. It was obvious that the Verdant Python was suffering greatly.

"As expected, it's badly injured!"

Gu Sheng's gaze shifted to the back of the Verdant Python's neck. Four bloody holes looked horrifying. Through the layers of green mist, Gu Sheng could see something inside the wounds. They were clearly not something that should have been part of the Verdant Python.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, the Verdant Python turned its head toward Gu Sheng. It opened its abyssal maw and hissed a warning at him. It had recognized this "little monkey"—the one it had allowed to escape yesterday. It had never expected this "little monkey" to be so bold as to come and provoke it.

Gu Sheng took out the ointment he had dried the day before. After smearing some over his hands, he evenly applied it to his cheeks and the areas of exposed skin. Once he had finished, he took a deep breath, raised both hands, and slowly walked toward the wary Verdant Python.

"Roar!"

The Verdant Python hissed, warning Gu Sheng not to come closer. When its "admonition" proved ineffective, its maw opened and closed, sending a burst of dark-green mist shooting toward Gu Sheng. A black-green wall of fog spread through the air.

As it happened, Gu Sheng had been lucky. The previous day, the Verdant Python had repeatedly unleashed powerful attacks while fighting the Iron-Arm Ape, nearly depleting its venom. Then, because it had been careless and suffered injuries, its condition had worsened. It had not produced enough venom to form a sufficient dose of liquid poison.

Gu Sheng's eyes narrowed. He abruptly sidestepped and stopped, then leaped over the wall of green mist. Although he had an antidote, being directly struck by a large amount of poisonous mist would still be fatal.

Gu Sheng flipped through the air and landed, then charged rapidly toward the Verdant Python. Seeing this, the Verdant Python flew into a rage and thrust its aching head toward him. Although it was in poor condition, it was not something a "little monkey" could provoke.

Gu Sheng kept closing the distance between himself and the snake's head. He could even see the rows of gleaming silver fangs revealed whenever the jaws opened and closed.

"Go!"

At the instant the two were about to collide, Gu Sheng suddenly pulled and flung out the large bundle he had been carrying on his back. He then sidestepped the snake's head and used several quick steps to activate the Horizon Strider movement technique, rapidly putting distance between himself and the Verdant Python.

"Whoosh!"

A semitransparent, sticky mass resembling dough cut through the air and completely plastered itself over the Verdant Python's enormous head. As though it had been choked, the huge creature shook its head uneasily and hissed.

Without even looking at the Verdant Python struggling behind him, Gu Sheng sprinted into the distance. After running nearly a hundred meters, he felt that he was safe and finally turned back to observe the Verdant Python, whose condition was clearly abnormal.

The Verdant Python was in a very strange state. It had swallowed the entire mass Gu Sheng had thrown into its belly, and the huge creature immediately began struggling and thrashing wildly.

But after struggling for a while, it gradually stopped moving. Although its slit pupils were still wide open, the movements of its body had diminished, as if someone had drugged it.

"Looks like it worked!"

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Gu Sheng's mouth when he saw this. This was the "secret weapon" he had spent half a day and an entire night making.

He had mixed the antidote to the Verdant Python's venom with several plants that suppressed its toxins, along with herbs he had gathered along the way that produced effects similar to anesthetics. After the system database's calculations, there was an eighty-percent chance it could render the Verdant Python unconscious for an hour.

After some time, the Verdant Python finally lay motionless on the ground. Its slit pupils were filled with a jumble of complex emotions. Gu Sheng could even sense sorrow and humiliation within them.

"Big fellow! I didn't come here with any ill intent. I'm only here to treat your wounds!"

Gu Sheng raised both hands and walked over to the Verdant Python, which could now only twitch and tremble slightly. After expressing his goodwill, he carefully stepped toward the back of the Verdant Python's neck.

The back of its neck was even thicker than a barrel, and the four bloody holes were badly swollen. Drops of blood and pus trickled out from them now and then. Deep inside the wounds, Gu Sheng could even see several fairly large objects that appeared to be foreign sources of infection.