Setting a Trap

Xu Haoran immediately looked as though he had seized a lifeline. "Brother Feng, tell me what to do. I'll listen to you in everything!"

"Do you know why Yang Yanpeng still hasn't made his move?" Zou Feng did not rush to reveal the plan, instead asking first.

"I... I don't know..." Xu Haoran shook his head blankly.

"Because you're not ripe yet." Zou Feng sized Xu Haoran up. "If I'm not mistaken, your Five Poisons Palm hasn't broken through to the Minor Mastery realm yet, has it?"

Xu Haoran immediately understood. "I'm still a little short. Brother Feng, you mean once I break through to Minor Mastery, I'll be ripe!?"

Yang Yanpeng needed to raise the "human gu" until it reached Minor Mastery in the Five Poisons Palm. This was easy for Zou Feng to guess.

Yang Yanpeng was clearly anxious, yet he had never acted. That was enough to show that the "human gu" was not yet ripe, and he could only continue waiting.

But because Zou Feng had been the first to display talent in the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise, Yang Yanpeng had deemed him the first to ripen.

He was merely waiting for Xu Haoran to "mature" as well before drawing in the net perfectly.

This also showed from another angle that it was not enough for Zou Feng alone to ripen. The two of them had to be turned into medicinal ingredients and refined together...

"Brother Feng, then I'll... drag things out and stop practicing. I won't break the Five Poisons Palm through to Minor Mastery..."

Zou Feng shook his head. "No. Once the conditions for the Five Poisons Palm are complete, it should advance rapidly. If you deliberately drag it out, do you think Yang Yanpeng won't notice?"

Hearing this, Xu Haoran wore a mournful expression. "Then what should we do..."

"Stop sniveling. I told you, just listen to me. Go ahead and break through; leave the rest to me!"

As he spoke, Zou Feng handed Xu Haoran a bamboo cage no larger than an egg.

"Inside is the offspring gu from a mother-and-child gu pair. Once Yang Yanpeng makes a move against you, do everything you can to crush it immediately."

"If the offspring gu dies, then as long as we aren't too far apart, the mother gu on my side will sense it at once."

"When that happens, I'll rush over to support you immediately, and together we'll slaughter Yang Yanpeng!"

This mother-and-child gu was what Zou Feng had bought at the ghost market earlier. The thing was actually quite common. It was not only sold at the ghost market; many traveling merchants sold it openly as well.

After accepting the offspring gu, Xu Haoran still looked timid. "Brother Feng, do... do you have confidence?"

"Of course. Especially since Yang Yanpeng will think he can finally pluck the fruit. At that time, he'll be at his most likely to let his guard down, while we'll be calculating against the unprepared!"

"Then, Brother Feng, why don't you strike first and find an opportunity to just..."

Zou Feng glanced at him, then unexpectedly told the truth. "Because I want to refine Yang Yanpeng instead. The moment he acts will prove that he himself is ripe, and all the preparations he makes then will happen to serve my purposes."

At that, Xu Haoran finally let out a long breath and resolutely said, "All right, I'll fight him. I believe in your skills, Brother Feng!"

Patting Xu Haoran on the shoulder, Zou Feng said solemnly, "Don't worry. Once this is done, I won't treat you unfairly either!"

"You're right to trust me. Someone like Yang Yanpeng should have received retribution long ago."

What Zou Feng truly meant by those final words was a grave warning to Xu Haoran: do not take the worst possible path...

Clearly, although Zou Feng appeared to be cooperating with Xu Haoran, he was actually setting a trap as well.

After all, now that Xu Haoran knew all this, there was a chance he might choose to become a traitor.

It was not impossible. Even if he had witnessed Zou Feng's prowess, Yang Yanpeng was the one laying schemes behind the scenes. Shouldn't he be even stronger?

And even if not, Yang Yanpeng had the Yang Family backing him...

Rather than fight a battle with little hope of victory, it was better to sell out a friend for glory.

Moreover, Xu Haoran would naturally wonder whether Yang Yanpeng's method of refining human gu truly required taking someone's life.

If that were the case, then defecting to Yang Yanpeng would indeed be an excellent choice for him...

Of course, if Xu Haoran harbored no such crooked thoughts, that would naturally be best. Everything could simply proceed according to plan.

Throughout the process, Zou Feng would preserve Xu Haoran's life as much as he could.

But if this fellow entertained thoughts he should not have, then Zou Feng could simply turn the scheme back on him.

He could refine them both together when the time came!

Watching Xu Haoran's retreating figure leave the woodshed, Zou Feng silently said in his heart, Little brother, I hope you don't force me to become a true evil cultivator...

Though that was what he thought, the sinister expression on Zou Feng's face made it clear that he hoped Xu Haoran would choose to become a traitor.

After all, having one more person to refine was always better...

Once their discussion was over, they still had to patrol the night.

After making a round around Yang Estate, the "surprise" arrived right on cue.

Once he sensed where the poisonous creature was, Zou Feng casually found an excuse to send Xu Haoran away, then swiftly acted and pocketed it.

By feel alone, he knew that this "surprise" was a small snake.

But it was not the Golden-Scaled Plague Snake from before.

After finishing the night patrol and returning to the woodshed to inspect it carefully, Zou Feng still could not identify what kind of snake it was.

There was no record of it in the Herbal Compendium.

Could it be some new breed created by that expert proficient in poison arts?

He just did not know how toxic it was, or whether it had any special effects...

Never mind. He would first mix it into the poison water and cultivate with it.

Tomorrow, he could find an opportunity to see how Yang Yanpeng reacted. Perhaps that would reveal its special effect.

Next, Zou Feng circulated the Five Poisons Skill and removed the black snake from the bamboo cage, intending to squeeze out its venom and add it to the urine jar.

Whenever he handled poisonous creatures, Zou Feng absolutely did not dare to be careless. Every time, he circulated the Five Poisons Skill.

When he exerted the skill at full force, poisonous qi not only covered his palms, but his palms themselves became as hard as iron.

Only then could he ensure that those poisonous creatures would not bite through his skin.

Yet this time, an unexpected change occurred as he gripped the black snake.

The next instant, just as Zou Feng was about to squeeze out its venom, the black snake's scales suddenly sprang upright like steel needles.

"Hmm?"

Zou Feng was worried about crushing the black snake to death, so he naturally had not gripped it with all his strength.

Thus, when the snake's scales abruptly stood erect, his palm was inevitably knocked away.

Freed from his control, the black snake actually unfurled a pair of translucent wings from beneath its scales.

After flying into the air, it swiftly turned around, opened its mouth, and continuously spat needle-like objects at Zou Feng.

At that moment, Zou Feng instinctively felt that he absolutely could not take those needles head-on!

Even after becoming a ranked martial artist, even with inner qi protecting his body, he still could not take them!

Fortunately, he had cultivated the Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step. Moreover, after the Five Poisons Skill had broken through to the realm of "Mastery," he had gained night vision.

Otherwise, he truly might have capsized in a ditch.

But now, it was merely a false alarm.

As his body swayed so quickly it nearly left afterimages, he evaded every single needle without missing one.

Then Zou Feng tilted his body, executing an exquisitely precise serpentine maneuver, while pointing a finger straight at the black snake's head.