Outside Sunset Forest, the space rippled slightly like water waves, and then a gap opened. A dark green figure stepped out of it with a trace of imperceptible fatigue. It was Dugu Bo who had gone to the Tang Sect to handle an urgent matter and hurried back.
As soon as he landed, he subconsciously took a deep breath of the familiar, poisonous and decaying air in the forest. However, the breath in his lungs made his withered face, which always had a hint of sinisterness and indifference, suddenly freeze.
No.
The taste... is bland.
Not only is it lighter, but there is also a lack of the "pure" poisonous odor that he carefully cultivated and is unique to Myriad Poison Pool, which is a mixture of hundreds of high-level toxins, death essences, and special corruption rules.
Instead, there was a... thin, mixed smell, as if it had been forcibly "washed" by something, or like it had been "diluted" countless times, an ordinary, slightly fishy, putrid puddle smell.
Dugu Bo's cold eyes narrowed into a dangerous gap in an instant. Without any hesitation, he turned into a blur of dark green light and rushed towards Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The poison barriers along the way automatically separated, and he did not dare to stop him in the slightest.
In a few breaths, he had passed through the colorful poisonous fog on the outside and arrived at Myriad Poison Pool.
Then, he stopped.
His body was stagnant, like a statue that had suddenly frozen.
On the withered face, the original tiredness, gloominess, and even a trace of relaxation after handling the affairs were completely wiped out the moment he saw the scene in front of him. Instead, there was a dead silence, as if it could freeze the soul and the coldness, and under that coldness, crazily surging, almost gushing out, with enough rage to burn the world!
In front of him, where is the Myriad Poison Pool he is familiar with?!
In my memory, that black poisonous pool was as thick as ink, bottomless, with dark green poisonous bubbles constantly rolling on the surface, exuding a disgusting and heart-stopping horror of poison and death...
Gone.
Instead, there was a... turbid, yellow, almost "clear", unremarkable pool of water.
Yes, waterhole.
Although the water is still turbid, colored, and still toxic, the toxicity... is weaker! Too much weaker! It's like a bowl of thick, deadly poison that has been poured into ten or a hundred times of clean water, and then roughly stirred and diluted!
The water in the pool was no longer pitch black, but instead took on an unpleasant, sickly khaki color. Only a few sparse, feeble small bubbles were slowly bursting on the surface. The coldness and deathly feeling that belonged to Myriad Poison Pool and could erode the soul was almost gone.
Beside the pond, the poisonous weeds that originally grew ferociously and colorfully under the nourishment of the rich poisonous gas are now withering and dull in color, and many leaves have even begun to turn yellow and wither, as if they have suddenly lost their most important source of nutrients.
The most important thing is - the pool is empty.
It is not the "emptiness" of water, but the "emptiness" of "vitality" and "essence".
Of the thousands and varieties of low-level poisonous insects he raised, which he spent a lot of effort to collect to test new poisons and observe the ecology... not a single one of them was missing.
There are no traces of struggle, no remains of corpses from mass deaths, and not even a tiny bit of their own weak life or Soul Power fluctuations can be sensed.
It's as if they never existed.
No, not just poisonous insects.
It is the Poison Pool that Myriad Poison Pool has accumulated over countless years, composed of the failed products of his countless experiments, the residues of rare poisonous weeds, the corpses of special poisons, and the essences of hundreds of high-level toxins that he deliberately guided and precipitated... the Poison Pool.
Drained.
Was plundered.
He was "eaten" in an extremely domineering and greedy way.
Dugu Bo Slowly, extremely slowly, he raised his head.
His gaze was like the coldest and sharpest poisonous blade, sweeping across the pond water inch by inch, sweeping across the withered poisonous grass beside the pond, sweeping every inch of land and every wisp of air around it.
There are no traces of the intruder.
There is no aftermath of the battle.
There are no space-rending fluctuations.
Not even... not even a trace of an "outsider"'s, obvious, traceable aura remained.
Clean.
So clean.
So clean... weird and terrifying.
It was like an invisible, silent, and extremely greedy ghost came here quietly during the few days he left, then opened his huge mouth, swallowed, chewed, and digested all the valuable, energy-containing, and poisonous things in Myriad Poison Pool, then wiped his mouth and left quietly.
What is left is this half-dead, yellowed wastewater pool that has been "sucked" dry of its essence.
"Heh..."
A low, hoarse laugh that seemed to be squeezed from the deepest part of the chest, a mixture of extreme absurdity, coldness, and overwhelming anger, rolled out of Dugu Bo's throat.
He slowly raised his hand and looked at his thin fingers, which contained terrifying power that could kill Titled Douluo. His fingertips trembled slightly.
Not fear.
It's anger! It's the uncontrollable rage of being completely provoked, being silently humiliated, having someone take away a piece of my heart in my most core territory, my most Concealment "back garden"!
"Who..."
One word seemed to be squeezed out from between the teeth, smelling of blood.
"Who... did it?!"
The sound suddenly rose in pitch, like the neighing of an injured poisonous snake. It was sharp, harsh, and contained terrifying Soul Power pressure. It instantly caused the poisonous mist to roll around, and countless turbid water splashes exploded in the pond! Those poisonous weeds that were already withered were directly shattered to pieces!
The terrifying aura of Titled Douluo exploded without reservation, mixed with Jade Phosphorus Serpent Emperor Poison's cold and bone-corrosive toxicity, sweeping out with him as the center! The temperature in the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well peripheral area dropped sharply, and countless poisonous insects Soul Beast lurked in fear. Even the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well spring water in the distance seemed to ripple slightly.
However, the angry outburst could not change the facts before him, nor could it help him find the culprit immediately.
Dugu Bo forcibly suppressed the murderous intention that almost broke through his chest and forced himself to calm down. He closed his eyes, and the vast sea of Mental Power was mixed with Jade Phosphorus Serpent Emperor Poison's unique and extremely keen perception of "poison" and "life", like the most sophisticated scanner, scanning every inch of space and every particle of dust in Myriad Poison Pool and its surroundings again and again.
This time, he no longer looked for traces of "outsiders", but for "changes" and the tiniest traces of "predatory methods" left behind by predatory behavior.
However, still not.
There was no residue, no special aura, no spatial fluctuations... nothing. The predator seemed to be just an invisible ghost. After swallowing everything, it completely dissipated in the air.
Dugu Bo's face was so gloomy that it could drip water. This feeling of being clueless made him more annoyed than finding out that it had been stolen.
He walked to the edge of the pool and observed carefully. The Rock on the edge of the pool showed a unique black color with holes due to being soaked and corroded by poisonous water for a long time. But at this moment, near the water surface where the water stains had just receded, there seemed to be... some unusual traces of moisture?
The trace was very light, almost blending in with the surrounding damp Rock. But Dugu Bo was still keenly aware of it - it was not the water stained edge left by the natural evaporation of the pool water, but a... Thicker and more stagnant, as if there were extremely fine traces of infiltration left by some kind of heavy mucus dragging. This trace followed Rock along the edge of the pool, all the way outward, intermittently, pointing in the direction of the outer edge of the forest.
Moreover, the corrosion state of the Rock near this mark... seems to be darker in color and with more holes than the surrounding normal Rock that was corroded by Myriad Poison Pool poisonous water. It was fine, with a deeper, almost non-reflective black, as if it had been infected by some kind of more concentrated, more domineering, and intensely toxic substance. However, the infection was very shallow, and the toxicity seemed to be extremely restrained. If he hadn't sensed it carefully, it would have been almost impossible to detect it.
That's right... that thing "crawled" out of the water when it left. It was full of Myriad Poison Pool's poisonous water, and it might be even more toxic. When it crawled out, it left extremely subtle traces of special corrosive properties on the Rock.
A cold light flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes, following the almost illegible, intermittent traces of moisture and special corrosion, he cast his gaze to the outskirts of the forest.
The trace seemed to have disappeared not far from the edge of the pool. The thing might have changed its way of moving, or it might have extremely strong concealment capabilities.
But... there is a direction.
At least, the direction it left was toward the outskirts of the forest.
Dugu Bo Without any hesitation, the figure turned into a dark green stream of light again, but this time, he did not rise into the sky, but stayed close to the ground, speeding away at low altitude in the direction pointed by the trace at an astonishing speed. His powerful Mental Power is like the most sophisticated radar, scanning every inch of land, every fallen leaf, and every wisp of air along the way, looking for any possible remaining clues related to the plundering of Myriad Poison Pool.
Along the way, he did find some extremely weak and intermittent "clues."
It was an extremely thin, almost integrated with the environment, and slightly corroded aura residue. It was very light and very scattered, as if it was a "body odor" that was naturally emitted when something moved and could not be completely restrained. This aura had a vague connection with the emptiness left by Myriad Poison Pool after being "looted".
Occasionally, in an inconspicuous corner, under rotten leaves, or on the moist soil, he would find tiny specks of extremely dark color, almost non-reflective color, similar to dried mucus or concentrated poison stains. There was no grass around them, and even the soil had lost its activity. These specks were also extremely subtle and far apart. If he hadn't been keen on tracking and fully aware, he wouldn't have noticed them at all.
These sporadic, weak, and intermittent clues are like spider silk in the wind, barely pointing in one direction - the periphery of Sunset Forest, close to the edge of the human activity area.
In that direction... it seems that occasionally carriage teams transporting goods pass by?
Could that thing... be heading towards an area of human activity? Does it want to blend into human society, or does it have another purpose?
Dugu Bo's heart sank. If that thing really left Sunset Forest and blended into the human world, the difficulty of tracking it would increase exponentially.
But he will never give up.
No matter what that thing is, no matter where it escapes to, if you dare to touch his Dugu Bo things, you must pay the price!
He kept moving, following the increasingly faint and almost disappearing clues, towards the outskirts of the forest, and quickly pursued him. The murderous intent in his eyes was like solid ice, shining dangerously in the dim light of the forest.
"No matter what you are... if you escape to the ends of the world, I will dig you out, peel your skin and cramps, and refine your soul into poison!"