Mules and Horses Were More Useful Than People

At these words, Meng Shan froze for a moment.

He then looked toward the Bloodbath Alliance disciples holding torches in the valley.

Next, he saw someone not far away begin coughing lightly.

The man even shouted a few complaints, blaming the mountain night's bitter cold and saying he had come in too much of a hurry to put on a few extra layers...

Before long, people nearby began coughing sporadically as well. At first, no one paid much attention, thinking it was merely an ordinary chill.

But when someone suddenly vomited blood, their skin itching unbearably before gradually ulcerating and festering, everyone finally realized the severity of the situation.

"Not good! Miasma poison has been released into this valley! Retreat at once!"

The middle-aged man in black robes shouted heavily. He immediately held his breath and circulated his true qi, forming a palm seal in an attempt to disperse the poisonous gas in the valley.

But it was clearly already too late. The surrounding alliance disciples had been deeply poisoned. Even if they heard his words and wanted to flee the valley, they could no longer do so.

The uncontrollable itching, along with the bone-piercing agony caused by their flesh gradually rotting away, had long since left them unable to care about escaping.

One after another, they desperately clawed at their own bodies. Even as strips of skin were torn from their faces and bodies, even as bloody raw flesh was gouged out, they felt nothing.

For a time, the entire valley echoed with waves of shrill screams and wails. Everyone rolled across the ground, drenched in blood, as though it were a living hell.

At the sight, the middle-aged man in black robes wore an expression of unbearable anguish. He exchanged looks with the other two elders, then immediately retreated out of the valley.

At that moment, the masked woman rose from the bluestone.

She surveyed the valley's current state, undisguised delight gleaming in her eyes.

"You think escaping the valley will help? Within a radius of three li, I've spread colorless, odorless Wild Goose Devouring Poison Powder. Even wild geese flying through the sky would be poisoned to death. Do you really think you can escape?"

She raised a hand and clenched it. The blue-black mist that had originally lingered within three feet around the four of them streamed toward her palm, thread by thread, like rivers flowing into the sea.

Within a few breaths, she merged it into her true qi and absorbed it all into her body.

Meng Shan and the other two standing beside the woman remained silent. They seemed not to dare speak, nor did they dare look too closely at the Bloodbath Alliance disciples' miserable state.

It was as though they feared that one careless word might displease the masked woman, causing them to silently fall victim to her poison and end up just like those Bloodbath Alliance disciples.

"You stay here. Those three won't get far after being poisoned. I'll deal with them first!"

The masked woman swept her gaze over the three of them meaningfully, then immediately pursued the direction in which the middle-aged man in black robes had fled. Murderous intent filled her eyes.

"As long as I kill those three martial arts grandmasters, my Blood Aspect Poison Claw Technique can advance another step."

Meanwhile, outside the valley, Yu Changlu, hiding behind a rock, had unsurprisingly also been poisoned by the Wild Goose Devouring Poison Powder.

Like Cang Yinyue, he had been secretly observing the situation within the valley, originally wondering how he might find an opportunity to seek help from the Bloodbath Alliance.

Yet before long, he witnessed firsthand the horrifying sight of the Bloodbath Alliance disciples being poisoned in the valley.

Just as he shuddered in terror and secretly rejoiced that he had not rushed to seek help, he discovered that he too had been poisoned, following in their footsteps.

By now, Yu Changlu had clawed his own face into a ghastly mess. The itch and pain that seeped into his very bones made him roll endlessly across the ground.

"Save... save me!"

Suddenly, when he saw Li Musheng standing nearby as though nothing had happened, he seemed to find a lifeline and hurriedly reached out to him with difficulty, begging for help.

"Sorry, but poison is really not my specialty."

Li Musheng spread his hands, indicating that he could do nothing.

Beside him, Cang Yinyue took out a porcelain bottle from her robes, poured out a detoxification pill, and swallowed it.

She gave Li Musheng a careful look. She did not waste a detoxification pill on him and simply tucked the bottle back into her robes.

As for Yu Changlu, she had not looked at him even once from beginning to end. She had no intention of saving him whatsoever.

Cang Yinyue then sat cross-legged on the ground, circulated the true qi within her body, and used the medicine's effects to expel the poison from her system.

"Why weren't you poisoned?"

Without shifting her gaze, Cang Yinyue suddenly asked.

"One of the martial arts I created is called the Indestructible Golden Body. I may not understand poison, but once you master that thing, you become immune to all poisons."

Li Musheng explained casually as he crouched down, his gaze falling upon the two mules that had suddenly collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue merely glanced at him and asked no further questions.

Li Musheng stared at the poisoned mules for a while, then shook his head and said, "These horses can't die. We still have such a long road ahead of us. I don't want to walk all the way to Shangyang City on two legs."

He then reached out and placed his hand against the mule's back, patting it lightly.

In an instant, the mule that had been foaming at the mouth and shivering violently gave a sudden jolt, then sprang to its feet full of life, completely as if nothing had happened.

Li Musheng then repeated the process and revived Cang Yinyue's horse as well.

Yu Changlu, writhing in agony nearby, caught sight of this scene from the corner of his eye, and his eyeballs nearly fell out of their sockets.

When he had just begged Li Musheng to save him, Li Musheng had said poison was not his specialty and that he could do nothing.

He had thought it was true, so he believed him, blaming only his own fate.

Yet in the blink of an eye, he saw that mule, worth practically nothing, nearly die of poison. Without a word, Li Musheng immediately acted and revived it in just a few moves.

The difference between how he and the mule were treated was as vast as heaven and earth!

But how much could a cargo-hauling mule possibly be worth? Apparently, his life was not even worth as much as a horse's.

"Save... save me..."

Yu Changlu immediately endured the pain coursing through his body and crawled toward Li Musheng with difficulty.

In his view, if Li Musheng could even revive a horse, saving him would surely be no trouble at all.

At the same time, Cang Yinyue's phoenix eyes widened as she stared fixedly at Li Musheng, disbelief filling her gaze.

She had naturally seen what had just happened.

She did not know how Li Musheng had accomplished it, but she knew that to save a mule in such a short time without relying on an antidote, one would have to use abundant true qi to drive the poison from the animal's body.

Yet just now, she had not sensed the slightest fluctuation of true qi from Li Musheng.

How exactly had he done it?

Cang Yinyue could not understand it, nor did she particularly believe Li Musheng's claim about self-created martial arts.

She only felt that he carried no small secret, and that this secret was surely connected to the opportunities he had encountered.

At that moment, seeing Li Musheng walk toward Yu Changlu, she could only suppress her doubts and say, "You don't need to save him. This man has committed countless evils in the Bloodbath Alliance. He deserves to die."