Poison

Nie Zuo carried the large pig's head and walked outside. The nearby cult members avoided him like the plague. Although the pig's head was still dripping blood and splattering brains, the instructors' reaction was still strange. They were used to seeing life and death, and even if someone was carrying a string of human heads, they shouldn't react like this.

"What's the situation with Officer Nie Zuo?" Li Mo took the opportunity to ask. According to the rumors of the Black Day, the wild boar's tusk contained the Sky Mark, so getting it would be good, especially with all that pig's head meat.

"Because of our own circumstances, the methods of using shadow power that we learned from the High Priest are different. The power that Nie Zuo learned is an extremely strange Soul-Summoning Method," Yao Ge said softly, but a trace of apprehension flashed in her eyes. "I don't know the specifics, I only know that he can borrow the power of spirits."

"A spirit?" Li Mo turned to look at Yao Ge and suddenly asked, "Why do you think he opposes me? And can I win him over?"

"Hehehe, what an ambitious leader!" Yao Ge laughed happily. "You can give it a try. He's a very unsociable person with a very unique personality, but he's indeed very powerful. If you get his help, it will be a great asset."

Li Mo nodded, handed the unfinished meat back to Yao Ge, stood up and coughed twice involuntarily before walking in the direction Nie Zuo had left. His actions attracted the attention of some people, but they soon ignored him.

Yao Ge held the skewer, looking at the half-eaten meat on it, then looked up at the departing boy, her eyes filled with longing. It was as if the memory box deep in her mind had found the right key—no, the right hammer. With one blow, the box was smashed open, and those memories could no longer be contained.

Back then, she was just an innocent young girl, and he was just like her. He was extremely shy when he saw her, but when it came to handling things, he was extremely purposeful, doing whatever came to mind. In both appearance and personality, the two were very similar. That boy occupied her beautiful youth. "Do you want to occupy the rest of my life?"

With a soft chuckle, Yao Ge looked at the roasted meat in her hand, took a small bite, and thought, "As expected of my roasting, it's exceptionally tender and juicy." But the next moment, Yao Ge's expression suddenly changed, her face darkening as she looked up at Lu Zhu, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Following Nie Zuo's trail, Li Mo soon saw a huge pig's head propped up on a large wooden stick in a small clearing in the forest. Nie Zuo was drawing something on the ground with some kind of black powder, then suddenly stood up and looked at Li Mo who was walking towards him.

"You, leave here." Nie Zuo's sinister face was expressionless, but combined with the surrounding environment and the large pig's head stuck there, it looked particularly eerie.

"Ahem." Li Mo coughed twice, then said seriously, "Given your connections, it's unlikely you'll get the leadership position, and you probably don't really need it. So the reason you oppose me is most likely because someone else offered you terms."

"What are your conditions? I'll double them." Li Mo took a step forward and said very seriously.

"Get out of here!" Nie Zuo snorted coldly, and some semi-transparent figures emerged from his body. These figures were of various shapes and sizes, including tigers, bears, and many other deformed and grotesque creatures.

"Alright, but I want to remind you, no matter what kind of ritual it is, if there are other forces at the inner center, it usually ends in failure." Li Mo even stepped back, glanced at the pig's head at the center of the ritual, and said, "By the way, if the pig's head is still there later, can I have it?"

Li Mo finally said, "I quite like eating pig's head meat."

"What do you mean by that?" Nie Zuo asked coldly, as spirits floated out from his body one by one. Their strange shapes and chilling aura made people feel cold all over.

"Pig's head meat?" Li Mo grinned, then a black shadow flashed by, and Li Mo, Li Mo, turned into a shadow. A transparent phantom rose from the ground and hugged Li Mo's shadow.

The shadow power in Li Mo's hand transformed into a Short Blade, stopping not far from Nie Zuo: "Ahem, well, I'm less than three meters away from you now. Guess whether it's faster for you to summon your spirit or for me to cut off your head."

"What did you mean by what you said earlier?" Nie Zuo glanced at the Short Blade in Li Mo's hand and continued to ask.

"The thing in my chest has given me a great deal of knowledge, and all of that knowledge is now in my mind," Li Mo said, squinting. "Although the High Priest received a lot of inheritance back then, judging from some circumstances, it was probably not complete. So, in my opinion, your ritual... tsk tsk."

"I really don't know if you're lucky or unlucky to be able to summon so many spirits," Li Mo's voice was full of temptation. "Just tell me what you know."

Nie Zuo glanced back at Pig Head, then paused for a moment before saying, "I promised someone I wouldn't reveal his secrets, but I can tell you something very important."

"For example, how do we detoxify?" Yao Ge's voice came from behind, lacking the gentle tenderness she usually showed Li Mo, instead sounding unusually violent and angry.

"...That's right." Nie Zuo glanced at the kebab and said, "And afterwards, I will remain neutral regarding your succession as leader."

Li Mo paused, glanced at the meat skewer, and then realized what was happening. She pursed her lips and said, "Poisoned?"

"We really can't underestimate you guys. This poison shouldn't be related to the power of shadows, right?" Li Mo had a headache. Sure enough, mixing with these dangerous individuals was dangerous. He had unknowingly been poisoned, and judging from Yao Ge's expression, this poison was not simple.

"I provided the poison, and I can cure you, but I promised I can't say who's behind it." Nie Zuo's face remained expressionless, even though Li Mo's killing intent was like a dagger pointed at him.

"Not enough." Li Mo remained silent for a moment, completely disregarding the fact that he was poisoned, and said coldly, "You don't have to say who's behind this, but you must stand on my side."

"Your life is in my hands," the sinister man warned.

"Your life is in my hands too!" Li Mo said, brandishing the Short Blade in his hand.

"I'll just side with you, I won't lay a hand on you."

"Deal." Li Mo nodded and said, then received the so-called antidote, the black powder that Nie Zuo had used for the ritual of drawing on the ground. Looking at the powder in his hand, Li Mo frowned, recognizing what it was: bone ash mixed with some herbs. He glanced at Nie Zuo, then put the powder in his mouth, covered his mouth, and swallowed it.