Poison Eruption

After nightfall, a wind suddenly rose in the valley.

Tang Hao woke from his cultivation and looked toward the far side of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

The energy of heaven and earth in the valley remained steady, but the nearby venomous creatures had grown unusually restless.

Creatures that had been hiding among the plants crawled out of their nests and fled toward the valley's edge.

Only one thing in the valley could make them avoid it of their own accord.

Dugu Bo's poison.

Tang Hao rose and went to the Stone House. A sickly sweet scent was seeping through the cracks around the door.

"Dugu Bo."

There was no answer from inside.

Tang Hao pushed open the door and found Dugu Bo sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, dark green poison mist coiling around him.

His eyes were shut tight, and his right arm had swollen to nearly twice its usual size.

The green markings that had faded during the day had reappeared. They ran past his shoulder and spread across his chest.

The phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor behind him writhed constantly, now solidifying, now coming apart.

Forcing out the poison a second time had destroyed the balance within his body.

It had only seemed to work during the day because the backlash had yet to come.

Tang Hao did not approach rashly.

"Can you still hear me?"

Dugu Bo slowly opened his eyes. His pupils had become narrow slits like a snake's.

"Get out."

"Still talking tough. Looks like you won't die just yet." Tang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

"I said get out!"

Soul Power burst from Dugu Bo's body, and dark green poison mist filled the Stone House in an instant.

Tang Hao held his breath, shielded his body with Soul Power, and scattered the oncoming mist with a palm strike.

"What's the point of acting tough now?"

"The poison is flowing back. I can't suppress it."

Dugu Bo's voice was hoarse. "If an outside force disturbs it, the backlash will only come faster."

Tang Hao extended his spiritual power and carefully examined Dugu Bo's meridians.

The poison gathered in his right arm during the day had indeed failed to return completely. Some of it had lodged in his shoulder, blocking two major meridians.

Every cycle of Dugu Bo's Soul Power pushed more poison toward his heart meridian.

But if he stopped circulating his Soul Power, the deadly poison would run out of control.

It was like a leaking Wooden Bucket.

Plug one hole, and the others would only leak faster.

"Seal off your right arm first."

"I can't."

Dugu Bo gritted his teeth. "The poison has already eaten into the meridians in my shoulder. Cut them off by force, and the whole arm will be ruined."

"Your arm or your life. Which do you choose?"

"I choose both."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?"

Tang Hao summoned the Clear Sky Hammer, preparing to use his Soul Power to suppress Dugu Bo's Martial Soul.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the valley entrance.

"Grandpa?"

A clear young woman's voice carried through the poison mist.

Tang Hao's expression changed slightly.

Dugu Bo jerked his head up. "Don't come in!"

But it was too late.

A girl of seventeen or eighteen passed through the Poison Formation and appeared outside the Stone House.

She was tall, with short, dark purple hair that reached her ears and sharp green eyes.

Her close-fitting clothes traced a slender figure, and she moved with the brisk ease of a Soul Master.

A dark green Jade Token much like Tang Hao's hung at her waist. She had clearly not stumbled in by mistake.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

She had barely taken a step forward when her body went rigid.

Three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple, rose uncontrollably beneath her feet, and her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul entered Martial Soul Possession on its own.

Her legs seemed to turn soft and boneless as green scales spread upward from her waist.

Drawn by her, a wisp of the poison mist around Dugu Bo actually drifted toward her.

The girl gave a muffled groan. Her lips swiftly turned blue-purple.

Their Martial Souls, born of the same source, had resonated.

"Yan Yan, get back!"

Dugu Bo forced up a hand, trying to draw back the poison leaking from him.

But the movement made the green markings on his chest suddenly deepen.

Tang Hao stepped in front of the girl and swung the Clear Sky Hammer, blasting the poison mist apart.

That brief contact was enough for him to sense something wrong inside her.

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was not confined to her Martial Soul and Soul Power.

It had seeped into her meridians and had even begun eating into her bones.

Only because her cultivation was still low, and far less poison had accumulated in her than in Dugu Bo, had she shown no obvious symptoms before.

"Sit down. Withdraw your Martial Soul."

The girl watched Tang Hao warily. "Who are you?"

"If you want to live, do as I say."

"Yan Yan, listen to him!"

Dugu Bo's words finally made the girl lower her guard somewhat.

She sat cross-legged and tried to end her Martial Soul Possession.

But her three Soul Rings merely flickered a few times. They did not disappear.

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison within her was responding to Dugu Bo's Martial Soul, utterly beyond her control.

Tang Hao pressed a palm to her shoulder.

The girl instinctively tried to struggle, but his immense Soul Power held her fast.

His Soul Power entered her meridians and forcibly stopped the spreading poison.

Compared with Dugu Bo's, the poison was not particularly strong.

But the girl's body was nowhere near as resilient as a Titled Douluo's.

If they delayed any longer, her foundations would be damaged even if she did not die on the spot.

"Did you ask her to come today?"

Tang Hao looked at Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo's face darkened. "I meant to examine her."

When he left the valley that afternoon, he had sent word for Dugu Yan to come that night.

At the time, he had not yet realized his poison was out of control.

"Can you save Yan Yan first?"

"Your Martial Soul's aura stirred up the poison in her. Once you stop leaking poison, she'll settle down."

"If I could stop it, would I need you to tell me?"

Dugu Bo's chest heaved, and the phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor behind him solidified once more.

Dark green poison mist surged out like a tide. The plants around the Stone House withered before their eyes.

The Soul Power barrier around Tang Hao gave a faint hiss as the poison corroded it.

If this continued, both grandfather and granddaughter would be in danger.

Tang Hao looked at Dugu Bo.

"Use your Martial Soul to draw the poison running wild inside her out."

"Draw it where?"

"Into yourself."

Dugu Yan snapped her head up.

"No!"

Dugu Bo stared hard at Tang Hao too.

His poison was already on the verge of running out of control. Absorbing more poison of the same kind would be like striking a match beside a powder keg about to explode.

Tang Hao's expression did not change.

"Your Martial Soul is affecting hers. As long as poison keeps leaking from you, the poison inside her cannot settle."

"I can take her out of the valley," Dugu Bo said.

"Too late."

Tang Hao kept the meridians in Dugu Yan's shoulder suppressed.

In that brief span, fine green markings had already appeared beneath her skin.

"Draw away the active poison, and she'll live."

"What about my grandfather?" Dugu Yan asked through gritted teeth.

"I'll find a way."

"Why should I trust you?"

The girl clearly did not appreciate his help, nor did she understand the situation.

"Is this enough?"

Tang Hao set the Clear Sky Hammer down with a thud. Nine Soul Rings flashed into view behind him.

Overwhelming Soul Power crashed down, forcing the roiling poison mist back several feet.

Dugu Yan was startled. The man before her was also a Titled Douluo. She had no choice in a situation like this.

He was doing her a favor by helping; he had no obligation to. She had no grounds to demand a reason to trust him.

Tang Hao had no intention of holding it against her. He looked at Dugu Bo. "Decide quickly. Wait any longer, and you won't even have a choice."

Dugu Bo did not hesitate for long.

He raised his right hand, and the phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor threw back its head in a soundless hiss.

The Titled Douluo's Soul Power enveloped Dugu Yan.

Strand after strand of dark green poison was forcibly drawn from her meridians. It passed through their joined hands and poured into Dugu Bo.

The green markings on Dugu Yan gradually faded.

But Dugu Bo's aura began to soar wildly.

"Take Yan Yan and go!"

He abruptly pulled back his hand and pushed the girl toward Tang Hao.

The next moment, the phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor shattered with a roar.

Poison mist so dense it was almost black shot into the sky, and every medicinal herb in the valley shook violently.

Clutching his chest, Dugu Bo toppled toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Tang Hao grabbed Dugu Yan with one hand and tightened the other around the Clear Sky Hammer.

The poison mist stung his heart meridian too.

"Damn it. I wanted to take this slowly, but now I've got no choice but to risk my life ahead of schedule."