Dugu Bo, the Big Sucker: Spend Peanuts for Me, Spend Peanuts for Me!

"This title was actually given to me by Old Poison. He lives in Heaven Dou City, and he's the Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo. Every year, I was the one sent to the Heaven Dou Royal Family to carry out this mission. Over time, the two of us got acquainted."

"However, I belong to Spirit Hall, while he serves Prince Xue Xing because the prince once showed him kindness. To outsiders, he supports the Heaven Dou Royal Family. We're on opposing sides, so we occasionally clash. The last time we fought... hmm, it should have been a few months ago."

Hu Bai asked with some "confusion," "But Uncle Yue, shouldn't you be stronger than Poison Douluo? Why have you two always fought to a standstill?"

Yue Guan laughed. "That's right, I'm stronger than him, and we fight often. Still, he's a Titled Douluo, after all. At first, I had hoped to poach him from the Heaven Dou Royal Family and see whether I could bring Dugu Bo over to Spirit Hall."

"So even though I could defeat him, I never tried to kill him. You could say our fights remained within the bounds of friendly sparring."

Seeing how attentively Hu Bai listened, Yue Guan grew curious. "What? Are you interested in Dugu Bo?"

Hu Bai nodded and deliberately said, "Uncle Yue, since this senior Poison Douluo likes developing poisons, he should be extremely knowledgeable about medicinal herbs, right? And since he likes tinkering with such things, he can't possibly keep buying everything from outside shops, can he?

"Could he have a place like a medicine garden where he cultivates his own flowers and grass?"

Yue Guan paused, then smiled. "Little Fellow, don't tell me you think Dugu Bo might have the medicinal herbs we're looking for? How could that be? If he really had them, he would've eaten them himself already. Why would he wait for us to find them? Don't be fooled by Dugu Bo's weaker strength. His understanding of medicinal herbs ranks among the best on the continent."

Dugu Bo:

Hu Bai secretly laughed. He had actually guessed right. Dugu Bo possessed a treasure land without realizing it, knowing nothing about those Immortal Herbs. Later, Tang San had directly benefited from it all.

Originally, Dugu Bo and Tang San had merely been in a transactional relationship. If Tang San could cure the poison afflicting him and Dugu Yan, Dugu Bo would spare Tang San and stop demanding Tang San's External Soul Bone.

After Tang San cured Dugu Bo, Dugu Bo not only honored his promise, but also allowed Tang San to make three requests of him as repayment, so long as they did not violate his principles.

Tang San's first request was to strip the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye of every Immortal Herb. Though he left the roots behind, it would still take at least several thousand years for them to grow back.

The second was for Dugu Bo to become a Guest Elder of Shrek Academy, supposedly without restricting his freedom.

Later, after the Tang Sect was established, Dugu Bo joined Tang San as well. Tang San promised to provide for Dugu Bo in his old age, though whether he actually did so in the end, no one knew.

From Hu Bai's perspective, Dugu Bo simply was not worth it. All he saw was Dugu Bo giving and giving, while gaining nothing from Tang San in return.

Putting everything else aside, shouldn't those Immortal Herbs have been shared with Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan? They had belonged to Dugu Bo in the first place.

If Tang San had stolen them, then so be it. Treasures belonged to those capable of obtaining them, and Dugu Bo had initially wanted Tang San's External Soul Bone anyway.

But Tang San had used so-called favors to openly demand them, and Dugu Bo could not even say anything about it.

Wasn't that the definition of a Big Sucker?!

Knowing the plot, Hu Bai truly intended to recruit Dugu Bo, provided it did not go against Spirit Hall's interests. No matter how one looked at it, subduing Dugu Bo would bring Spirit Hall more benefits than drawbacks!

Dugu Bo: Spend peanuts for me, spend peanuts for me!

Hu Bai put on an innocent expression. "That may not be true, Uncle Yue. Think about it: Each has his own specialty. Most of the knowledge you gathered about Immortal Herbs came from Ancient Books collected by Spirit Hall.

"And what about Senior Dugu Bo? The only place where he can look up information is the Heaven Dou Royal Family. But how could their collection compare to Spirit Hall's? You've known him for so long. Haven't you ever tried asking?"

Yue Guan:

He suddenly felt enlightened. That was right. What if Old Poison truly did not recognize the so-called Immortal Herbs?

He had to ask. He absolutely had to ask!

But given the relationship between the two of them, even if he asked, Old Poison probably would not tell him, would he?

Time flew by, and Hu Bai's group's carriages passed Sunset Forest.

"Stop!" Hu Bai's voice immediately brought the carriages to a halt.

Yue Guan looked at Hu Bai in confusion. "What is it, Little Fellow? Did you sense something?"

Hu Bai casually made something up. "It feels like there's something inside this forest."

Hu Bai did not notice that as he spoke, the Silver Vertical Pupil on his forehead briefly appeared, then vanished in an instant.

Yue Guan happened to see it.

"This is Sunset Forest. The place where I fought Old Poison before was here. It's getting late, so perhaps we should—"

Before Yue Guan could finish, Hu Bai interrupted him. "No, Uncle Yue. Let's go in now. I have a very strong feeling about this."

Hu Bai was not lying. It was evening now, and because of his Martial Soul, Dugu Bo suffered Poisonous Reversal every midnight. It was most severe during this period. If Dugu Bo could not endure it himself, he would certainly come to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye to suppress it.

Honestly, the fact that Dugu Bo had survived long enough to become a Titled Douluo was practically a miracle. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye had contributed greatly to that.

In the end, Yue Guan could only have the two carriages wait nearby while he led Hu Bai, Xie Tian, and Hu Leyao into Sunset Forest.

Ling Yuan was also hiding in the shadows.

After entering Sunset Forest, Yue Guan began explaining things to Hu Bai. "Although Sunset Forest isn't as vast as Star Dou Great Forest, it's still one of the largest wilderness forests within the Heaven Dou Empire. Thousand Year Soul Beasts are the most common here, while Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts are fewer. By my estimate, there are probably fewer than ten Soul Beasts around Fifty Thousand Years old."

Hu Bai listened quietly, inwardly grumbling. There truly were fewer than ten. After Tang San resurrected Xiao Wu, he had slaughtered nearly every Fifty Thousand Year Soul Beast in Sunset Forest to make up for the missing Soul Rings.

There was nothing inherently wrong with Soul Masters hunting Soul Beasts to improve their cultivation, but Tang San had claimed that every Soul Beast he hunted was evil. That was simply disgusting.

Gradually, under Yue Guan's lead, they began circling through Sunset Forest while Hu Bai carefully watched their surroundings.

He knew the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye was located within Sunset Forest, but he did not know its exact location. He could only conduct a slow Carpet Search.

Perhaps their luck was good, but at some point during the night, just as they were about to pitch tents and rest, the group suddenly saw a cloud of green mist ahead.

PS: Brothers, Godfathers, your votes and Follow Reads are what keep me motivated to continue updating~~