After putting her veil back on, she cautiously looked around. Only after confirming that everything was safe did she finally leave in peace.
"Life is so much more comfortable without Qian Renxue!"
Ye Yunxi gave a soft snort and darted swiftly across the rooftops. With Lingbo Microsteps, her jade feet touched down lightly like a dragonfly skimming the water, carrying her great distances in a single bound.
Meanwhile, the weightlifting competition had ended. Many people still couldn't forget Ye Yunxi's appearance and her shy demeanor.
Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Oscar in particular were already completely smitten.
"Xiao San, don't tell me you..." Xiao Wu challenged Tang San.
"Don't worry, Xiao Wu. I'm very self-disciplined," Tang San assured her again and again. He couldn't possibly be so captivated by a woman.
"That's what you say, but that woman really was beautiful, like some kind of enchantress. It was as if she didn't belong in this world."
Xiao Wu even wondered whether the other woman might be a Soul Beast Transformation.
"Xiao Wu's right. That woman really was gorgeous." Ma Hongjun grinned. "If only I could be with her..."
"Give it a rest, Ma Hongjun." Ning Rongrong couldn't help teasing him. "Someone that beautiful clearly isn't from an ordinary family!"
"Come on, a man's allowed to dream. What do you think, Boss Dai?" Ma Hongjun chuckled.
Dai Mubai glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, but still had to admit, "That woman was beautiful. We all felt it. It's not just me—aren't you girls tempted too?"
As Dai Mubai's voice fell, all three girls' cheeks flushed slightly. It would have been a lie to say they hadn't felt anything. With just one look, their hearts had begun to pound.
She was simply a perfect woman.
At that moment, Ye Yunxi's figure darted across the gray-tiled rooftops of Heaven Dou City like a startled swan in flight. Her jade feet touched down lightly, carrying her several yards at a time. She landed without a sound, like a wildcat treading on snow.
Leaving the bustle of the crowded streets behind, she found a quiet alley to rest in. The alley opened onto a clear stream outside the city, its banks lush with greenery and rarely visited.
She had just let out a sigh of relief when her nose suddenly caught a faint, sweetly foul scent of poison. The poison was so cold it pierced to the bone; it clung to the meridians like a parasite burrowing into the bones, domineering and difficult to shake.
Ye Yunxi's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked up.
Beside the stream, an emaciated old man leaned against a blue-gray stone. His hair and beard were white, his face dark and greenish, and a faint green miasma of poison curled around him. He was none other than Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo.
A pretty young woman stood beside him. Her features were delicate, but her face was wan with a sickly pallor, and her lips had a purplish-blue tint. She was Dugu Yan.
The grandfather and granddaughter were both surrounded by dense poisonous miasma. The plants around them had been tainted by the poison, their leaves withered and curled.
Dugu Yan was supporting Dugu Bo as he regulated his breathing. Her face was ashen, cold sweat beading on her forehead. It was clear her poison addiction had flared up again; her whole body was trembling slightly.
Ye Yunxi's gaze swept over them. Without stopping, she spoke out of the blue, her voice cool and even, without a hint of emotion. "You're poisoned. Don't you know how to cure it?"
At her words, the poisonous mist around Dugu Bo suddenly surged. His green Soul Power churned, and his bony hand clenched abruptly. His murky eyes flashed with a cold gleam as they locked onto Ye Yunxi.
The terrifying pressure of a Titled Douluo swept over them like a mountain and a sea, engulfing the entire stream. The plants withered to ash in an instant.
"Stop!"
Dugu Bo's figure blurred, and he appeared in front of Ye Yunxi. His bony finger pointed straight at her brow, his voice bone-chillingly cold, filled with the utmost wariness and murderous intent. "Little girl, what do you mean by that?!"
His Jade Phosphorous Purple Poison was peerless in its ferocity. Few in the world could even tell that he was afflicted by a strange poison, let alone see through its source. This veiled woman was only a Soul Ancestor, yet she had seen through his hidden affliction at a glance. How could he not be shocked?
Dugu Yan tensed up too, unable to understand why the woman before them had said that.
Ye Yunxi smiled instead of showing fear. A cool curve touched her lips beneath the veil, and her peach-blossom eyes were as frosty as snow. Her voice was unhurried, each word clear as thunder in the ears of Dugu Bo and his granddaughter.
"Your poison flares up twice a day, at noon and at midnight, and each bout lasts at least an hour. At the third watch, you're bound to feel a needle-piercing pain at the Baihui acupoint on the crown of your head and the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of your feet. Then your whole body convulses and spasms. It's a fate worse than death, and you have to endure it for at least half an hour before it eases."
Dugu Bo's whole body shuddered. His gaunt frame jolted, his pupils shrank to pinpricks, and his face turned as white as paper!
She was right!
Not a single detail was off!
This was a secret he had kept hidden for decades. Even the Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall had been unable to detect it. Yet this young woman had revealed it with a single sentence!
"You..." Dugu Bo's voice trembled. His hand, wreathed in swirling poison, shook slightly. Some of the murderous intent faded, leaving only sheer shock and desperation.
Ye Yunxi's gaze passed over Dugu Yan, whose face was growing paler by the moment. Her tone remained calm, but every word struck at the heart of them both.
"Your beautiful granddaughter is the same."
"She may not have your willpower to endure this suffering, which grows worse by the day. Her poison will only flare up more violently than yours."
"That's because the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's source poison had seeped into her very blood and bones ever since she was in her mother's womb."
Boom!
Those words crashed into Dugu Bo's heart like a bolt of thunder.
Dugu Yan stumbled two steps backward, all color draining from her face. Her lips trembled, her eyes full of disbelief. She had known she'd been afflicted by a strange poison since childhood, but she had never known it had been with her since she was in the womb!
The poisonous mist around Dugu Bo came to a complete standstill, and his green Soul Power fell into utter chaos. He stared fixedly at Ye Yunxi, his bony fingers clenching with a series of cracks. A raging storm churned in his eyes: shock, joy, desperation, and a trace of disbelief.
His hoarse voice trembled as he stared at Ye Yunxi. "You... you can cure it?!"
Ye Yunxi gave a faint nod. A trace of indifference passed through her peach-blossom eyes. She stepped lightly with Lingbo Microsteps and shifted aside, avoiding his pressure. Her voice was as clear as the wind. "Everything in this world has an antidote, no matter how poisonous it is. Your poison is hard to cure, but it's not incurable."
As she spoke, she touched the ground with her toe and was about to dart away, without lingering for even a moment.
How could Dugu Bo let her leave? He blurred across her path again. This time, the poisonous mist around him had fully withdrawn, and his gaunt face even showed a hint of pleading. He spoke urgently. "Miss, please wait! If you can cure the poison afflicting my granddaughter and me, I'm willing to pay any price!"
Dugu Yan bit her lip and bowed deeply to Ye Yunxi, her eyes filled with entreaty.
Ye Yunxi stopped. Her peach-blossom eyes remained cool behind the veil, and the corner of her mouth curled in a faint smile.
A favor owed by Poison Douluo was a priceless treasure.
It was a good deal.
She could also make an appropriate trip to Sunset Forest.
"I know how to cure it. I just need Senior Dugu to take me somewhere."
"Where?"
"Sunset Forest!"