Qin An Was Injured

After pleading to no avail, Qin Shaofeng reluctantly spent 40 Points to buy two Mortal Grade Three Stars Qi Replenishing Pills.

As for the remaining 100 Points, Qin Shaofeng left them untouched, planning to save them for emergencies.

Even after buying the two Mortal Grade Three Stars Qi Replenishing Pills, Qin Shaofeng intended to save them for a critical moment. Under normal circumstances, he might as well just chew grass.

"Hmm, I've got a decent grasp of the system shop. Now I should start drawing!"

After buying the pills, Qin Shaofeng's eyes lit up again.

Lottery chances didn't come around often. The first time, he'd drawn a divine skill like Little Li Flying Dagger. He wondered what he'd get on his second try.

Qin Shaofeng was filled with anticipation.

But just as Qin Shaofeng was about to summon the Lottery System, his vision suddenly blurred, and a figure appeared before him.

Before Qin Shaofeng could react, a large hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

Then came the sensation of being swept into the air. By the time Qin Shaofeng came to his senses, he was already high above the ground.

He was being carried as someone raced forward in a series of frantic leaps.

What was this?

What was going on?

Qin Shaofeng was completely dumbfounded!

"Little master, hold on! I'm going to pick up the pace!"

A somewhat familiar voice suddenly rang out. Qin Shaofeng looked up and saw that the person carrying him at a run was Qin An, who was always by his grandfather Old Master Qin's side.

"Uncle An?" Qin Shaofeng cried out in surprise, then hurriedly asked, "Uncle An, what are you doing?"

Before Qin An could answer, Qin Shaofeng suddenly heard a loud laugh from somewhere not far behind them.

"Hahaha! I never expected the renowned Qin Family Dark Guard captain, Qin An, to be so weak. What a disappointment!"

Qin Shaofeng's heart jumped at the sound. He whipped around and saw a black-robed figure rapidly pursuing them from not far behind.

The man's surging aura far surpassed Houtian Inner Qi. There was no doubt about it.

The black-robed man chasing Qin An and him was a Xiantian Martial Master, just like Qin An!

But this left Qin Shaofeng bewildered.

Just then, a system notification suddenly rang in Qin Shaofeng's mind.

"System Notification: Congratulations, player Qin Shaofeng, you have triggered a system quest—Kill the Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai!"

What?

A quest had appeared at a time like this?

Startled, Qin Shaofeng hurriedly checked his status screen.

Kill the Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai: Three-Star Quest. The player must kill the Xiantian Martial Master Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai, within one hour, by any means. Quest success: Earn 500 Points and experience points. Quest failure: The player will be unable to receive any system quests for seven days.

500 Points?

10,000 experience points?

Seeing the rewards, Qin Shaofeng's eyes gleamed.

This Three-Star Quest offered far more generous rewards than the previous Three-Star level-up quest.

But that was only to be expected. The target was a Xiantian Martial Master, after all!

A Xiantian Martial Master?

Qin Shaofeng paused, then turned to look behind him.

There he saw Wu Sancai, clad from head to toe in black robes.

At last, Qin Shaofeng understood.

So the system had issued him a quest on the spot because he was in grave danger!

"System Notification: Does player Qin Shaofeng accept the Three-Star Quest, 'Kill the Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai'?"

Now that Qin Shaofeng understood, the system issued another notification.

Accept or decline?

Accept!

After only a moment's thought, Qin Shaofeng decided to take the quest.

How could he turn it down?

It was 500 Points and 10,000 experience points!

There was no reason to let that pass him by!

Besides, even if he failed, the worst that would happen was that he couldn't accept another quest for seven days.

At Qin Shaofeng's silent command, the system issued another notification.

"System Notification: Player Qin Shaofeng has accepted the Three-Star Quest, 'Kill the Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai.' Quest duration: one hour. The timer starts now!"

One hour?

Qin Shaofeng frowned slightly, troubled.

Because only now did he suddenly remember.

The Black Hand Butcher!

His quest target was the Black Hand Butcher, Wu Sancai?

Qin Shaofeng was a little stunned.

"Qin An, stop struggling. You've been poisoned by my personal secret toxin. Without my specially made antidote, you're as good as dead!"

Wu Sancai shouted again. "Qin An, hand over that little brat beside you and I'll give you the antidote. Otherwise, you'll be dead from the poison in half an hour at most."

Dead from the poison?

Qin Shaofeng's expression changed sharply. He looked at Qin An, who was carrying him, and saw that his already pale face had grown even whiter. Qin An seemed to be fighting through the agony of the poison, his expression now twisted with pain.

Worried, Qin Shaofeng started to say, "Uncle An, I..."

But Qin Shaofeng had barely begun before Qin An cut him off.

"Little master, there's no need to worry. As long as I, Qin An, am here, that Black Hand Butcher Wu Sancai won't lay a finger on you!"

Qin An's voice was resolute. He seemed ready to stake his life on it, and his speed even picked up a little.

Yet Qin Shaofeng's mind was racing.

Uncle An was a Xiantian Martial Master. In a fair fight, he might not necessarily lose to Wu Sancai.

But Uncle An had clearly been poisoned and was far weaker than usual. Otherwise, he wouldn't be running away with Qin Shaofeng.

Qin Shaofeng had guessed right!

Qin An had indeed been poisoned by Wu Sancai, and the toxin was just as Wu Sancai had said: a secret poison he'd developed himself.

It wasn't that Qin An had been careless. He'd never imagined Wu Sancai would be so vicious as to have his men carry the poison, then trigger it in the middle of their battle, making them burst one after another into clouds of poisonous gas. That was how Qin An had been caught off guard.

If Qin An hadn't been a Xiantian Martial Master, he would have been dead from the poison already.

The fate of the other Dark Guards made that clear.

Aside from Qin An, all the Dark Guards who had come to secretly protect Qin Shaofeng had already been poisoned to death by Wu Sancai.

Of course, Wu Sancai's Black Hand Gang had been wiped out in the process, leaving him all alone.

But that hardly mattered to Wu Sancai.

Once he completed his mission and got a large sum of money from Zhang Chongshan, recruiting a new gang somewhere else would be easy.

Hmm?

Feeling Qin An's speed pick up again, Wu Sancai furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "That can't be right. Qin An has already been poisoned, and it's been over half an hour. Even with his Xiantian Inner Qi, he shouldn't have the strength to go any faster now, should he?"

"Hmph! So what if he speeds up? He's been poisoned. He'll never escape my grasp!"

With another cold snort, Wu Sancai picked up his pace too, keeping the same distance from Qin An.

In truth, if he really wanted to catch Qin An, he could.

But Wu Sancai didn't want to push Qin An into a corner and risk him trying to take them both down with him.

It would be easier to wait until the poison had completely taken hold, then deliver the final blow.

As for Qin Shaofeng, Wu Sancai didn't even consider him a threat.

A mere Houtian Martial Artist at the first or second level—what could the little brat possibly do?

A martial artist was a martial artist!

No matter what, a Houtian Martial Artist could never defeat a Xiantian Martial Master.

That was common knowledge!

Qin Shaofeng, still being carried by Qin An as they raced along, thought things over for a while.

At last, just as Qin An let out a muffled groan and his face turned noticeably pale, an idea flashed through Qin Shaofeng's mind.

Got it!

His thoughts stirred. Qin Shaofeng immediately summoned his status screen, entered the system shop, and tapped through the options until he found what he needed.

Low-grade Detoxification Pill: Can neutralize ordinary low-grade toxins and restore energy spent while poisoned. Even against stronger toxins it cannot neutralize, it can delay their effects. Cost: 100 Points.

This was it!

When he'd bought the Qi Replenishing Pills earlier, Qin Shaofeng had looked at plenty of other pills.

This included a Detoxification Pill like this. It was only low-grade, but Qin Shaofeng believed that even if it couldn't cure Wu Sancai's poison, it would at least ease Qin An's condition.

Without hesitation, Qin Shaofeng bought a Low-grade Detoxification Pill.

Whoosh!

His Points instantly dropped to zero, and a pale-white pill appeared in his hand.

"Uncle An, this is a Detoxification Pill. Try it and see if it can cure your poison!"

Qin Shaofeng quickly handed the pill to Qin An.

Qin An was taken aback, but didn't hesitate. He swallowed the Detoxification Pill at once.

Still, he didn't expect it to help.

The Black Hand Butcher Wu Sancai was no fraud. Could Qin Shaofeng really cure his poison?

But the moment Qin An swallowed the pill, he realized something was happening.

The pill melted in his mouth, and its effects took hold with astonishing speed.

Qin An felt a cool sensation in his abdomen. The agony of the poison eased considerably in an instant.

What kind of detoxifying pill was this? How could it work so quickly?

Qin An was startled and utterly amazed.

The poison in his body hadn't been completely neutralized, but he no longer felt as miserable as before.

This single Detoxification Pill had neutralized at least half the poison in his body, and the remaining toxins had been temporarily suppressed.

"Little master, where did you get this pill? The poison in my body was carefully developed by Wu Sancai himself. Even Old Physician Wu would need ten days or half a month to cure it, but your pill neutralized more than half the poison in my body at once. It's truly astonishing."

Still reeling, Qin An couldn't help asking Qin Shaofeng.

Phew!

Hearing Qin An's words, Qin Shaofeng finally felt a little relieved.

But then he was startled too.

It had only neutralized half?

Wu Sancai really was formidable. No wonder he was called the Black Hand Butcher!

Even a Detoxification Pill from the system could only neutralize half.

To neutralize all of it, he'd probably need a mid-grade Detoxification Pill.

Unfortunately, a mid-grade Detoxification Pill cost 500 Points, and Qin Shaofeng didn't have any!

But...