Poison Kill

Ye Tong abruptly raised his head. Though the Book of Life and Death's immense suction had devoured all the vital energy in his body in an instant, his sharp eyes still caught Um Bato's body shuddering violently for a moment. The saber glow he had unleashed also showed signs of collapsing.

"Pfft..."

The Dragon Head Cane hurled by Medicine Slave crushed the weakened Saber Light with irresistible force and smashed into Um Bato's head, killing him on the spot.

"What just happened?"

Medicine Slave was somewhat dumbfounded. He had already braced himself for severe injuries as he used his strongest move to clash with Um Bato, yet how had he broken Um Bato's attack so easily? How had he killed him so easily?

"Cough, cough..."

Ye Tong's body went limp. If not for the long saber in his hand being planted into the ground to support him, he would have collapsed face-first onto the earth. The searing pain in his lungs made him cough up saliva streaked with blood. After calming the roiling blood and energy within him, Ye Tong looked at Medicine Slave and shouted, "What are you still standing around for? If they get killed, those twenty Silver Crystals will be gone."

As though waking from a dream, Medicine Slave suppressed the confusion in his heart, turned, and charged at the other black-clad assassins.

Mu Xiaochen and several black-clad assassins were locked in a deadly fight, danger lurking at every turn. Each time, he had to go all out merely to evade their attacks. Still, he was confident he could protect himself for a short while; he was only worried that his two confidantes would not be able to hold on.

Medicine Slave killing that burly black-clad man had filled him with wild joy.

Yet upon hearing Ye Tong's words, his body trembled slightly. Caught off guard, his left arm was torn open again by a black-clad assassin, leaving a bloody wound.

Mu Xiaochen was utterly depressed!

He was the dignified son of the Zifu County King, yet his noble status was somehow less important than twenty Silver Crystals. Did that youth have nothing but money and wealth in his eyes? Did he not know that befriending him and earning his goodwill and gratitude was a hundred times more valuable than those twenty Silver Crystals?

"What an ignorant brat."

Mu Xiaochen grumbled bitterly to himself.

Medicine Slave's arrival posed an enormous threat to the black-clad assassins. All of them had broken through into the Innate Realm, but aside from Um Bato, the strongest among them was only at the Innate Second Level. Facing Medicine Slave, an Innate Triple Stage expert with rich combat experience and ruthless, merciless attacks, three more men met miserable deaths within four or five short minutes.

"Retreat!"

A voice full of grief and indignation rang out from one of the black-clad assassins.

In an instant.

The remaining seven or eight black-clad assassins abandoned their attacks, doing everything they could to Repel Ye Tong's group of four before turning and fleeing into the distance. They carried some kind of Thunder Beads with them. After escaping a hundred meters, they hurled them behind themselves, and the violent explosions blocked the attacks Medicine Slave's group feigned at them.

Medicine Slave returned to Ye Tong's side and clasped his fists. "Young Master, I have fulfilled my mission without disgrace."

Ye Tong nodded in satisfaction. He had no intention of telling Medicine Slave that Um Bato's sudden problem at that critical moment had been his doing behind the scenes. What he needed now was to get those twenty Silver Crystals as quickly as possible.

"Hand it over!"

Ye Tong held out his hand toward Mu Xiaochen.

Mu Xiaochen froze, then realized what Ye Tong was asking for. A hint of embarrassment appeared on his handsome face as he said, "Could I owe you for now? I only have four Silver Crystals left on me, though I still have some Blue Silver banknotes. Altogether, they should be worth forty thousand taels."

Ye Tong frowned and said unhappily, "The dignified son of a county king, yet you are this poor? You cannot even produce a mere twenty Silver Crystals?"

"Pfft..."

Having narrowly escaped death, the two women had only just relaxed when they heard Ye Tong's questioning. They exchanged a glance, then could not help laughing.

Mu Xiaochen smiled awkwardly. "We have been out for some time. We brought quite a few Silver Crystals with us before, but after spending them during this journey and exchanging some for other things, this is all that remains. How about this? I will give you the four Silver Crystals first. Once we leave Cold Mountain City, I will immediately give you the remaining sixteen."

Ye Tong asked curiously, "You can get Silver Crystals in Cold Mountain City?"

At those words, Mu Xiaochen immediately assumed a somewhat proud posture. "The Mu family's businesses are spread throughout the entire Sky Net Empire, especially within Zifu County. What city does not have one of our shops? If I wished, let alone a mere twenty Silver Crystals, even two hundred or two thousand Silver Crystals could be produced in minutes."

"What a tycoon!"

Ye Tong gave him a thumbs-up and praised him before saying, "Then what are you waiting for? Give me those four Silver Crystals first!"

"Uh... all right, all right."

Mu Xiaochen hurriedly took out four Silver Crystals and handed them directly to Ye Tong. Though Ye Tong had been willing to save him because of the Silver Crystals, Mu Xiaochen was still deeply grateful to Ye Tong and Medicine Slave. After all, no amount of wealth was worth mentioning beside one's life. A life-saving debt was a life-saving debt; mere money was far from enough to repay it.

Ye Tong happily accepted the four Silver Crystals, then directly tossed two to Medicine Slave before asking, "Why were those assassins hunting you?"

Mu Xiaochen shook his head. "I do not know, but someone must have paid to hire assassins from the Left Camp to take my life."

Left Camp?

Ye Tong firmly committed that name to memory, then revealed a faint smile and asked, "As the saying goes, save someone to the very end, send Buddha all the way to the west. By my reckoning, the time is about right. You have been hunted so miserably. Do you want revenge? As long as you can produce Silver Crystals, I can help you slaughter every one of those assassins."

"You?"

Mu Xiaochen laughed dumbly, saying with a trace of disdain, "If I am not mistaken, although you are a cultivator at the third level of the Acquired Realm, you are sickly and weak, without much strength, right? You can help us kill all those assassins who escaped? Heh heh... stop joking."

Ye Tong feigned anger and shouted, "Add another twenty Silver Crystals, and I will do as I say. Does not your grand Mu family have businesses throughout the Sky Net Empire? Do you not have shops in every city? Did you not say you could produce two thousand Silver Crystals in minutes? Add another twenty. Can you do it?"

"You..."

Mu Xiaochen stared blankly at Ye Tong. After hesitating for a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Fine. Since you are so confident, I will trust you this once! In any case, to me, it is only twenty Silver Crystals, nothing worth mentioning."

"Generous!"

Ye Tong praised him, then said to Medicine Slave, "Carry me and chase after the black-clad assassins in the direction they fled. Oh, and take these Detoxification Pills first."

Detoxification Pills?

Apart from Medicine Slave, Mu Xiaochen and the other three were stunned. When they quickly checked their bodies, horror immediately showed on their faces. They faintly sensed that their strength was slowly draining away, while the circulation of vital energy through their meridians seemed slightly obstructed and no longer flowed as smoothly.

They took the pills and gave chase.

A full hour later, halfway up the Eleventh Mountain, the five of them saw two corpses that had died from poisoning. These two were precisely the Left Camp assassins who had previously besieged Mu Xiaochen's group of three.

"Two!"

Ye Tong nodded in satisfaction.

Mu Xiaochen now understood completely. Though the youth before him had a terrible cultivation level, he was skilled at using poison. During their earlier battle with these Left Camp assassins, Mu Xiaochen had not even noticed when Ye Tong had poisoned them.

If Ye Tong had not given them the antidote earlier, would they not have suffered a poison-induced death just like these two assassins?

With a measure of wariness, Mu Xiaochen raised his thumb and praised him. "Young Master Ye, impressive."

"My name is Ye Tong."

For the first time, Ye Tong told him his name.

Mu Xiaochen smiled. "Brother Ye Tong, no matter what, you saved our lives. Such a great kindness cannot be expressed by a mere few dozen Silver Crystals. Therefore, I will surely repay your life-saving grace in other ways in the future. Shall we continue pursuing them?"

Ye Tong smiled noncommittally. "We will chase for another quarter of an hour. If we do not find any more traces of the Left Camp assassins, there will be no need to continue. That will mean they also possess extremely precious detoxification medicine."

Half a quarter of an hour later.

Within an area spanning more than ten kilometers, the five of them found another eight corpses in succession. All of them were Left Camp assassins who had previously besieged Mu Xiaochen's group of three.

This outcome thoroughly shocked Mu Xiaochen and the others.

Ye Tong had not possessed much confidence in the poison he had refined. Though it was the most toxic poison he could make, he had not known whether it could kill Innate Realm experts. Now, it seemed he had been worrying over nothing.

"One thousand taels of Blue Silver."

Ye Tong crooked a finger, his expression utterly calm.

Mu Xiaochen asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Ye Tong said irritably, "I used my most poisonous toxin and helped you kill all these Left Camp assassins. The additional twenty Silver Crystals can count as payment, so there is no need to pay anything more for that. But those three Detoxification Pills took tremendous effort and a great number of precious medicinal ingredients to refine. Charging you only one thousand taels of Blue Silver is already the friendship price."

A friendship price?

Mu Xiaochen and his two confidantes looked at one another. Strange thoughts surfaced in all three of their minds: Had this brat named Ye Tong never seen money before? Or had he died of poverty in his previous life?

A money-grubber!

A miser!

A bitter smile hung on Mu Xiaochen's face as he directly pulled out Blue Silver banknotes from his robes, casually drew one out, and handed it to Ye Tong. "Ten thousand taels. Take it."

Ye Tong's outstretched hand froze in midair. His brows furrowed slightly, then he withdrew his hand and shook his head. "I do not accept rewards I have not earned. I must receive the Blue Silver that is mine to take, but I will not accept Silver Blue that does not belong to me. Exchange it for a one-thousand-tael note. I cannot make change for ten thousand."

"This..."

Mu Xiaochen and the other two instantly changed their impressions of Ye Tong greatly. Just moments ago, they had thought Ye Tong was a money-grubber and a complete miser. They had not expected him to be so principled.