A sharp pain suddenly shot through my hand. The poison from the Spirit-Devouring Flower had entered my body.
I couldn't worry about that now. I ripped the Spirit-Devouring Flower out by the roots and threw it at the mountain gods ahead!
The female mountain god and the other two immediately backed away, making sounds from their noses and mouths that resembled pleas for mercy.
By then, my hands had begun to go numb, and my blood was barely circulating. I pulled several more Spirit-Devouring Flowers from the rock wall, clenched them in my hands, and walked out of the cave!
Sure enough, with the Spirit-Devouring Flowers as my protection, the mountain gods outside all scattered when they saw me!
My upper body had started to go numb, and my mind was hazy. Relying on instinct, I followed the way back.
After only a few steps, I heard chanting carried on the wind. It sounded like a Buddhist calming mantra—it was Master Zeng!
The Buddhist mantra really did work on the mountain gods. The female mountain god let out pained, agitated grunts through her nose and mouth. She tried several times to pounce on us, but ultimately gave up and fled in all directions with the other mountain gods.
Chen Mu ran over, snatched the Spirit-Devouring Flowers from my hands and threw them away, then supported me anxiously. "Second Junior Brother, are you all right?"
"So you two still have a conscience. You knew to come back and save me... I almost became the mountain gods' live-in son-in-law!" I joked, trying to find amusement in my misery.
Master Zeng came over and said, "Chen, you're in serious trouble."
He had me stretch out my arm for inspection. Under the torchlight, I saw that my entire arm had turned a deep bluish-purple.