"I never imagined I'd be this lucky and find a Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower in a place like this! It's an incredibly rare medicinal herb!"
"According to the notes, I can reproduce the Jade Phosphorus Throat-Sealing Poison exactly!"
Looking at the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower, which was almost ripe, Xiao Qing's eyes shone with excitement.
The notes said that Jade Phosphorus Throat-Sealing Poison was colorless and odorless. An ordinary person only had to come into contact with a little of it to bleed from the Seven Apertures and die within a day.
This was the perfect lifesaving weapon for Xiao Qing! If he'd had this poison when he encountered the Datura Snake, how could Xiao Feng have been injured? Xiao Qing would have sent that Datura Snake straight to meet the King of Hell!
Still, Xiao Qing wasn't sure whether a Soul Beast was guarding the area, so he decided to look around for any useful clues.
Just as Xiao Qing raised his eyes to scan his surroundings, he suddenly felt a faint, bloody sweetness rising in his throat. He had studied poison-making for ages—how could he not know he'd been poisoned?
Almost on reflex, Xiao Qing grabbed the Antidote Powder from the Cloth Bag and dumped it all into his mouth, then frantically retreated from the area.
But before he'd taken more than a few steps, a powerful wave of dizziness made him stagger and fall to the ground.
His strength ebbed away, and his consciousness began to fade. Just before he shut his eyes, Xiao Qing saw a blurred figure appear in front of him.
The newcomer stood before Xiao Qing, coldly watching him as he hovered near death.
"What the old man has his eye on isn't for a One-Ring Soul Master like you to touch! I hope you have better luck in your next life!"
Dugu Bo took out the Bone-Melting Water and was about to pour it over Xiao Qing when Xiao Feng, who had been slowing the poison's spread inside the Prism Ball, leaped out.
Poisoned, Xiao Feng swayed as he stood in front of Xiao Qing, blocking Dugu Bo's way and growling at him again and again.
"How interesting. I didn't expect you to have a century-old Wind Shadow Wolf protecting you. But it looks like this beast has been poisoned too!"
"No wonder you picked the Moon Shadow Mushroom. Let me guess—this beast was poisoned by a Datura Snake, wasn't it?"
The reason Dugu Bo was wasting time talking was that he'd discovered the poison in Xiao Qing's body had been held in check.
The poison formation around the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower hadn't used anything especially potent, but it was still beyond a young, inexperienced child like Xiao Qing to deal with.
That was why Dugu Bo had been talking all this time, sizing Xiao Qing up with a scrutinizing gaze.
Suddenly, Dugu Bo spotted the Cloth Bag at Xiao Qing's waist. During Xiao Qing's time in the Star Dou Great Forest, the coarse cloth covering the outside had been torn to shreds, revealing the Cloth Bag's original form.
"Isn't that the Storage Soul Tool I gave Xin'er?!"
Dugu Bo doted on his son, and recognized at a glance the Cloth Bag at Xiao Qing's waist. It was the little gift he'd given Dugu Xin when he broke through to Soul Elder.
Later, after Dugu Xin had traveled alone through the two empires in search of a way to resolve the poison buildup in his body and returned empty-handed, he had told Dugu Bo about it.
He'd once been ambushed in the Star Dou Great Forest by a thousand-year-old Poison Thorn Porcupine. Its quills had pierced him, causing the poison in his body to erupt.
As Dugu Xin lay on the ground, too weak to move and convinced he was about to die, a Two-Ring Soul Master had risked his life to come and save him.
Later, to thank that Soul Master for saving his life, Dugu Xin had given him his medicinal knowledge and the "Cloth Bag."
Dugu Bo stared at the Cloth Bag at Xiao Qing's waist, unable to find anything to say.
After a long while, Dugu Bo came back to himself and sighed, "Fate is truly mysterious!"
Then Dugu Bo took out two Antidote Pills and, relying on his strength as a Titled Douluo, forced them into Xiao Feng's and Xiao Qing's mouths.
The snake poison in Xiao Feng's body quickly disappeared after taking the Antidote Pill. As for Xiao Qing, he'd been poisoned too deeply to wake up anytime soon.
"Hey, can you understand what I'm saying? If you can, tell your master that I've repaid the debt I owed him for the Soul Tool at his waist. As for those Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flowers, I'll leave one for him too. Consider it compensation for accidentally poisoning him!"
After saying this, Dugu Bo walked over to the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flowers. He left the ripest one behind, dug up all the others, and put them into his Wishful Treasure Pouch.
Having finished, Dugu Bo took one last look at the unconscious Xiao Qing, then at the Cloth Bag at his waist. A complicated expression flickered through his eyes before vanishing.
Then his figure blurred, disappearing into the depths of the forest like a ghost, as if he'd never been there at all.
The sun sank in the west, and its light streamed through gaps in the forest, falling across Xiao Qing's face.
Xiao Feng sat beside its master, keeping watch over the surroundings. Its ears turned now and then, catching every sound in the forest.
The poison in its body was completely gone. It had even grown stronger after absorbing the experience points it had gained from the Datura Snake.
The sky grew darker and darker, but Xiao Qing still showed no sign of waking.
The Star Dou Great Forest was especially dangerous at night. Nocturnal Soul Beasts began to stir, and animal howls and rustling sounds came from the distance.
Xiao Feng stood up and circled Xiao Qing and the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower, leaving its scent as a warning to other Soul Beasts to stay away.
When the moon hung high overhead, Xiao Qing finally stirred.
"Ugh..."
A pained groan escaped his throat.
At the sound, Xiao Feng hurried over and licked its master's face with its warm tongue.
Pain was the first thing Xiao Qing regained—his head throbbed as if it were about to split open. Then came his sense of taste: his mouth was full of bitter medicine, mixed with the metallic tang of blood.
His blurry vision gradually cleared. He saw Xiao Feng's worried face and the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower under the moonlight.
"Ugh! My head hurts..."
Xiao Qing pushed himself upright and rubbed his temples, his thoughts in a jumble.
The elation of discovering the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower, the bloody sweetness in his throat, swallowing the Antidote Powder, frantically retreating, then collapsing—and seeing that blurred figure...
"Wait, someone was here!"
Xiao Qing abruptly sat up. His vision went black from the sudden movement, but he forced himself through the discomfort and quickly scanned his surroundings.
There was no one else—only Xiao Feng, the forest, the night, and the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower.
No. That wasn't right.
Xiao Qing's gaze fell on the flower.
He remembered clearly that there had been four of them. Now only one remained. The ground around them had been disturbed, and the soil was fresh. Someone had clearly dug up the others not long ago.
"Xiao Feng, what happened?"
Xiao Qing looked at Xiao Feng. It whimpered softly, nudged Xiao Qing's hand with its head, looked at the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flower, then mimed swallowing something with its head tilted back. Finally, it looked into the depths of the forest and bared its teeth.
Thanks to the translation function on the Prism Ball, Xiao Qing more or less understood what Xiao Feng was trying to tell him.
"Green hair, and a presence stronger than a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast—is it Dugu Bo?"
Xiao Qing sat on the ground, murmuring to himself. If that really was the case, then everything made sense.
Only a poison expert at the Titled Douluo level could set up a poison formation that left him poisoned without him noticing, casually produce pills that instantly neutralized Green Phosphorus Poison and Datura Snake Poison, and dig up the Green Phosphorus Seven-Leaf Flowers with such ease while leaving behind the ripest one.
"But why would Dugu Bo save me? I have nothing to do with him!"
Just then, Xiao Qing accidentally touched the Cloth Bag at his waist.
"Right, the Cloth Bag! The origins of this Soul Tool are the most mysterious thing about me. Dugu Bo must have seen the 'Cloth Bag' and decided to save Xiao Feng and me!"
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