"Blue Elf?"
Ma Wei furrowed his brow. This drug had appeared on the market in the past six months and was already becoming rampant.
It was cheap, potent, and gave users such intense euphoria that countless people found themselves unable to quit. It wasn't just ordinary people at the bottom of society—many martial artists had fallen under its sway, too.
The Public Security Bureau naturally wasn't going to let things keep getting worse. They had already begun cracking down hard on the banned substance.
Unfortunately, no matter how often they cracked down, it kept coming back. Drug dealers were like rats in the sewers: wipe out one nest, and three more popped up somewhere else.
"What's your name? Who are you working for?"
Ma Wei stared at the man tied to the tree, his eyes full of killing intent.
"M-Meng Wei. I don't know who I'm working for, either."
Ma Wei immediately flew into a rage. "You refuse a toast, only to be forced to drink a forfeit. You're on death's door, and you still want to hide the truth?
"You're just asking for a beating. Maybe I should poke a few holes in you and let a dozen burly men have their way with you!"
Meng Wei had been barely conscious, but he instantly perked up, utterly stunned.
"Big brother, I really don't know who I'm working for.
"I used to work for a circus. One big brother noticed I could tame snakes and brought me into this gang.
"I don't know anything else. He never told me a thing."
Ma Wei studied Meng Wei. His expression and tone didn't seem fake. What he said was probably true.
"What's this big brother's name?"
"I... I don't know."
"You don't know again? Are you an idiot?"
Meng Wei looked as if he was about to cry. "They told me not to go asking questions. There was nothing I could do."
"Idiot!"
Meng Wei's lips moved a few times, but in the end, he didn't dare say anything.
"How many people are at your hideout?"
Meng Wei answered at once. "Seven, counting me."
Then he added, looking aggrieved, "I really don't know their names or where they came from."
Ma Wei sneered. "What, do you want me to praise you?"
Meng Wei quickly shook his head.
"So these people never considered you one of their own, yet you're willing to sacrifice yourself to protect them? How noble of you!"
Meng Wei hung his head. He had planned to escape, but then Meng Yao had suddenly appeared and pinned him to the ground, beating him like a dog.
If he'd known this would happen, he would have run sooner. Now that he'd fallen into the hands of the Public Security Bureau, he was finished.
"You at least know what they look like, right?"
Meng Wei nodded repeatedly.
"Fine. You can give us the details once we get to the Public Security Bureau.
"Now tell me, where's your hideout?"
Meng Wei said, "Head south from here. You'll see a cave."
Ma Wei snorted angrily and untied the vines binding Meng Wei.
Then he said to Gao Teng and the other person, "You two can go now. Rejoin your classmates."
"Okay."
Gao Teng agreed.
Ma Wei then reminded the people beside him, "Don't tell anyone what Gao Teng and the other person did today. If a wanted notice goes out, they'll definitely be targeted for revenge."
The Public Security officers exchanged glances, then immediately thumped their chests and promised, "Don't worry, Deputy Chief. We'll keep our mouths shut."
Ma Wei gave a slight nod, said goodbye to Gao Teng and Meng Yao, then hauled Meng Wei south.
"Let's go."
Gao Teng and Meng Yao didn't linger either. They set off toward the edge of the woods.
On the way, Meng Yao spoke up first, her face full of disbelief. "Gao Teng, you're incredible! You learned the Snake Taming Technique just by listening. Even my brother doesn't have your kind of talent."
Gao Teng was a little curious. "Your brother is...?"
"My brother goes to Taiyi University. In the provincial high school combat competition the year before last, he ranked tenth.
"But you're a little strange. You've got such incredible insight, so why are your grades so bad?
"When you think about the huge gap between us in the future, you must be really upset, right?
"After all, you'll hardly ever get to talk to a pretty, adorable girl like me again. Just thinking about it must make you miserable."
"..."
Gao Teng gave Meng Yao a long look. Her train of thought was far too erratic.
A quirky personality like hers wasn't something you'd expect from someone at the bottom of society. People raised in poverty were cautious in everything they said and did. How could they be this carefree?
Clearly, Meng Yao came from a powerful family and was deeply cherished by them.
He was about to ask her more when something caught Meng Yao's eye. She hurried east.
"What's wrong?"
Gao Teng quickly followed.
Meng Yao stopped beside a corpse, both hands over her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief.
"She... she was my deskmate. This morning, she asked me for help with a problem. She said she was almost qualified to get into an ordinary university, and that she wanted to become a teacher after graduating. She... she's dead?"
Gao Teng pressed his lips together and fell silent.
"Why did they leave her here?"
"Maybe they didn't have time to collect the bodies," Gao Teng said. "We don't know what's happening on this island. To avoid more casualties, we have to evacuate immediately.
"The Public Security Bureau will have to investigate the island first. Only then will they have time to collect the bodies."
"Damn it!"
Meng Yao gritted her teeth and reached to pick up the corpse.
But the moment she touched it, a fiery-red venomous snake shot out from beneath the body and bit her on the neck.
Meng Yao's physical strength was clearly formidable, but the snake's fangs still pierced her skin and injected their venom.
In an instant, a dark haze spread across her face!
Gao Teng's pupils contracted. He hurriedly reached out to grab the snake.
But to his surprise, he caught nothing. The snake had vanished in the blink of an eye!
Gao Teng's heart leaped. The snake was small and ordinary-looking, nothing like a mutant creature, yet it had terrifying speed.
Suddenly, his instincts warned him of danger. A streak of red shot toward the side of his neck from the corner of his eye.
It was moving so fast that he couldn't even make out the snake's body. He could only lean back on instinct.
In an instant, the red streak grazed his throat, and blood sprayed into the air.
Gao Teng ignored the wound the scales had cut into him. His eyes tracked the red streak as a bold idea came to him.
The next time the red streak attacked, he deliberately let the snake bite his neck, then grabbed its body in a death grip!
Pain erupted through him like an electric current. The fangs sank deep into his flesh, and the venom rushed into his body.
Gao Teng's vision went dark. He tore the snake off and twisted it hard between his hands.
But its body was extraordinarily tough. Instead of twisting into a knot, the snake clamped its jaws around his arm.
Gao Teng didn't let go. He frantically drove his vital energy, and greater strength burst from his hands.
The snake's body creaked under the brute force. Its scales flew off, and blood poured out.
[You gained 1,385 merit points]
Soon, a notification sounded.
Gao Teng didn't hesitate. He prepared to steal Meng Yao's cultivation.
If he could steal her physical strength, he should be able to clear the snake venom from his body.
It was undoubtedly a gamble, but what else could he do?
Faced with the deadly predicament he'd just been in, he had only one chance of survival: fight to the death!
"Gao Teng, take this medicine!"
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