Dugu Bo's Shock, Journey to Sunset Forest

A method of treatment.

That was exactly what Jiang Nanchen had been waiting for Dugu Bo to say.

If you hadn't said it, I really would've gone to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well myself and plundered your immortal herbs.

"Yes!"

This could be considered a case of willing bait taking the hook.

"Yes!"

Dugu Bo suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

There was a way!

After that brief excitement,

Dugu Bo calmed down again.

Was it really true that Jiang Nanchen knew how to detoxify him?

"Is that true?"

Dugu Bo needed to make sure.

He could be the test subject, as long as the detoxification succeeded. Then the Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison would no longer plague him.

"Of course it's true. Why would I deceive you, Senior?"

Jiang Nanchen answered with great seriousness. "Whenever Senior's poison flares up, Dugu Bo's skin takes on a bluish-green hue, his meridians burn with pain, and his entire body feels as though countless ants are gnawing at his bones. Cold sweat soaks through his clothes, his body convulses uncontrollably, and Jade Phosphorous poison gas faintly leaks from within him. His internal organs are all being eroded by toxins, leaving him in unbearable agony."

What he said was very clear. Deceiving Dugu Yan would bring him no benefit whatsoever.

Dugu Yan was also his friend. There was no need to deceive her.

Dugu Bo's heart skipped a beat.

Well, well. Did this brat install surveillance on me or something? He knows everything.

Why does it feel like I'm the kid here, while he's the old grandpa?

This brat was no simple fellow. Everything he said came in neat sets, and he carried an inexplicable confidence.

"Little Nanchen, if you really can do it, I'll owe you a huge favor."

Dugu Yan had never imagined that the person who could detoxify them would be right in front of her. It was simply wonderful.

So wonderful that it felt unreal.

"Yanyan, don't get excited yet. Detoxification requires some special herbs. Otherwise, the poison can't be eradicated completely."

Jiang Nanchen spread his hands, looking very troubled.

I've already entered the redemption code. The reward should be issued now.

"Little friend Nanchen, I have a medicinal garden with many herbs. I can take you there sometime. Perhaps you'll find what you need."

Dugu Bo thought of the medicinal garden in Sunset Forest. He did not recognize many of the herbs there and did not dare pick them carelessly.

"If that's the case, we can go take a look tomorrow. It happens to be the weekend."

Jiang Nanchen replied briefly.

He had finally agreed. All that remained was to head there tomorrow.

Dugu Bo nodded rapidly. "Good, good, good! Little friend Nanchen, thank you so much. I agree to everything you said."

It was class time, so Dugu Bo did not linger long before quickly leaving the academy.

After he left, Dugu Yan said, "We should get going too."

Jiang Nanchen agreed and headed to the training grounds with Dugu Yan.

The day passed quickly.

As the weekend arrived and the sun was about to rise,

Jiang Nanchen was called up by Qian Renxue. Since he had already spoken with her about it the night before, she had come specifically to discuss it with him.

"Since you're going with Dugu Bo, have Porcupinefish Douluo accompany you. With a little disguise, Dugu Bo won't recognize him."

Jiang Nanchen had no objections and nodded instead. "Since Big Brother Crown Prince says so, then Uncle Pufferfish can come with me. Besides, I'll give Big Brother Crown Prince a few surprises then."

Leaning back in her chair, Qian Renxue smiled. "What surprises? Tell me."

Jiang Nanchen shook his head. "Heaven's secrets must not be revealed."

"You're making it sound quite mysterious." Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at Jiang Nanchen irritably.

He acted so mysterious every day, but if he could truly earn Dugu Bo's trust,

then once Xue Ye was completely dead and she successfully ascended the throne, she could spare Dugu Bo's life.

After all, he was a Title Douluo with powerful area-of-effect abilities, and his poison attacks were formidable. She still admired him greatly.

The previous pope had tried several times to recruit him, but Dugu Bo had refused every time. He was then hunted by Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo, suffering severe injuries. Only after Prince Xue Xing helped him did he survive and retire into seclusion within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Qian Renxue straightened up, her gaze returning to Jiang Nanchen as her expression grew more serious. "Nanchen, are you sure you can do this? That old monster Dugu Bo has a strange temperament, and that poison is even more..."

Jiang Nanchen nodded frantically, looking somewhat helpless. "I can, I can. Big Brother Crown Prince, you're so annoying. You keep nagging like some old auntie."

He had been confident from the beginning, but Qian Renxue kept asking him over and over. His ears were practically growing calluses.

"Little Nanchen, you really have no sense of propriety." Qian Renxue snorted softly and raised a hand as if to knock him on the head, but withdrew it halfway. She had figured it out by now—this child responded to gentleness, not force. The more she said, the more he found her annoying.

As they spoke, footsteps sounded outside. Porcupinefish Douluo's voice rang out. "Young Mistress, this subordinate has prepared the luggage. We can depart at any time."

Jiang Nanchen's eyes lit up, and he immediately got to his feet and headed for the door. "I'm going to eat first. I need a full stomach to have the strength for the journey."

Before his words had even faded, he had already darted out of the study, afraid that Qian Renxue would grab him and start lecturing again.

Watching his rapidly vanishing figure, Qian Renxue shook her head helplessly, though the corners of her lips lifted unconsciously.

"That child runs faster than a rabbit." Qian Renxue turned to Porcupinefish Douluo and instructed, "Keep a close eye on him along the way. Don't let him touch anything in the medicinal garden carelessly. Report promptly if anything happens."

"This subordinate understands." Porcupinefish Douluo bowed in acknowledgment, secretly amused.

Though the young mistress complained about the trouble, she cared about this little fellow more than anyone.

After breakfast, Jiang Nanchen headed toward Heaven Dou City's southern gate with Porcupinefish Douluo, who had disguised himself as an ordinary attendant.

Porcupinefish Douluo had restrained all traces of his Soul Power. Dressed in a short gray cloth outfit, he looked like an ordinary guard, with none of a Title Douluo's bearing.

At the southern gate, Dugu Bo and his granddaughter had already been waiting for quite some time.

Dugu Yan leaned against the carriage, standing on tiptoe as she looked in their direction. The moment she spotted Jiang Nanchen, she smiled and hurried over.

"Little Nanchen, you're finally here. We've been waiting for you for quite a while." Dugu Yan's gaze swept over Porcupinefish Douluo behind Jiang Nanchen, and she asked curiously, "Who is this?"

"An attendant His Highness the Crown Prince sent to protect me. He'll be useful on the road."

Jiang Nanchen explained casually.

Dugu Yan nodded in understanding, finding it reasonable.

Her grandfather's strange temper was famous throughout the continent. It was perfectly normal for His Highness the Crown Prince to be unwilling to let a six-year-old child travel alone with them and to send someone along.

Dugu Bo, however, narrowed his eyes slightly. As a Title Douluo, his senses were extraordinarily sharp. Even though Porcupinefish Douluo had deliberately concealed his aura, Dugu Bo could still faintly detect a fairly strong fluctuation of Soul Power from him.

As for the disguised Porcupinefish Douluo, Dugu Bo merely took him for a fairly strong Soul Master. It also showed just how highly the crown prince regarded Jiang Nanchen.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get moving. Sunset Forest is still some distance from the city."

They boarded the carriage, and its wheels rumbled as it left the city gate, heading toward Sunset Forest.

Porcupinefish Douluo sat in the corner of the carriage with his eyes closed, resting quietly. He did not say a single word the entire time, dutifully playing the role of an attendant.

He paid no attention to Dugu Bo's probing. No matter how formidable Dugu Bo was, he could not possibly tell that he was a Title Douluo. At most, he would think he was a Soul Sage.