Poison Douluo Dugu Bo

Zhang Fei did not rush to answer. His gaze passed over the overlapping canopy toward the depths of the Sunset Forest.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay deep within the Sunset Forest, surrounded by a layer of Poison Miasma Dugu Bo had laid down. Anyone below the rank of Titled Douluo would find it difficult to pass through.

A genuine Titled Douluo was standing right beside him, and his own grandfather at that. If he missed this chance, finding another excuse to come out after they returned would be difficult.

The sooner one consumed immortal herbs, the better their effects.

Even if he ran into Dugu Bo and exposed his identity, it would be worth it.

Besides, Dugu Bo probably could not beat She Long. At worst, they could simply take them by force.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Fei gave She Long an ingratiating smile. "Grandpa, how about... you take me deeper into the Sunset Forest for a look?"

She Long paused, his brows drawing together. "Deeper? Didn't you hear what I said earlier? The farther in you go, the older the Soul Beasts get. There are plenty of thousand-year and ten-thousand-year ones. What would we go there for? To go looking for trouble?"

"No, no." Zhang Fei hurriedly waved his hands. "I read an ancient book in the Crown Prince's Residence library. It said there's a treasure land deep in the Sunset Forest, covered by a layer of deadly Poison Miasma. No one can enter unless they're a Titled Douluo."

She Long's frown deepened. "What sort of nonsense have you been reading? Since when does the Sunset Forest have a treasure land? Some bastard probably made it all up."

"It's true!" Zhang Fei declared confidently, without a blush or a flutter of his heart. "We're already here anyway, so why not take a little detour and have a look? It won't take much time. What if it really exists? Wouldn't that be a windfall?"

She Long still refused to relent, shaking his head. "Nonsense. Even I can't guarantee nothing will go wrong deep in the forest."

Seeing that reasoning would not work, Zhang Fei immediately changed tactics.

He curled his lip slightly and deliberately provoked him. "Grandpa, are you scared?"

"Me, scared?" She Long raised an eyebrow. "What would I be scared of? I'm a Titled Douluo. What have I got to fear?"

"Then that settles it." Zhang Fei spread his hands. "You're a mighty rank ninety-two Power Attack System Titled Douluo. What's there to worry about if we take a stroll? If you really can't beat something, just grab me and run."

At a loss for words, She Long rubbed his temples. "Fine, fine. I think these three years cooped up in the Crown Prince's Residence have driven you stir-crazy. You finally got to come out, and now you want to make the most of it and wander around. Why not just say so? Did you have to invent some nonsense about ancient books and treasure lands to fool me?"

Zhang Fei chuckled. "So you agree, Grandpa?"

"Yes, yes, but let's get one thing straight first." She Long put on a stern expression. "The depths of the forest are riddled with danger. Once we're there, you stay behind me and behave. You're not to go more than three steps away from me. Understood?"

"Understood!" Zhang Fei snapped his heels together, straightened his back, and saluted. "Don't worry, Grandpa. I absolutely won't run off or cause trouble!"

His heart surged with wild joy. Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, immortal herbs, here I come!

"All right, all right." She Long scooped Zhang Fei up and tucked him under his arm. "Hold tight. We're off."

Before Zhang Fei could react, She Long blurred into motion. They shot into the air, darting through gaps in the canopy and heading straight toward the heart of the Sunset Forest.

They spent another five days roaming the depths of the Sunset Forest.

Over those five days, She Long's patience drained away at a rate visible to the naked eye, and his expression grew sourer by the day. Every day, he had to ask, "Which direction is that treasure land in, anyway? How much farther?"

Zhang Fei's answer was always the same: "Almost there, almost there."

In truth, he was not sure either.

All he knew about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's general location was that it lay deep within the Sunset Forest. As for exactly where, only the devil knew.

After Zhang Fei had led him around for five days, She Long's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. Zhang Fei could only steel himself and play dumb.

Then, on the afternoon of the fifth day, just as She Long's patience was about to run out and he was ready to say, "Forget it, we're going back," something unusual appeared ahead.

About a kilometer away, the colors among the trees took on an eerie hue.

A faint, sickly-sweet, bloody scent drifted through the air, making their scalps prickle.

"Grandpa, look! Poison Miasma!" Zhang Fei suddenly pointed in that direction, unable to suppress the excitement in his voice. "I was right, wasn't I? It really exists!"

She Long had already noticed it.

He narrowed his eyes at the blue-purple curtain of mist, surprise replacing the impatience on his face. "You really were right... There actually is a patch of Poison Miasma in this godforsaken place."

Zhang Fei chuckled without answering, but his mind raced through the possibilities.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well should be inside that Poison Miasma. The question now was whether Dugu Bo was in there.

That old venomous monster Dugu Bo stayed holed up inside year-round, using the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to suppress the poisonous backlash within his body. Under normal circumstances, he would not leave lightly.

But even if he was there, Zhang Fei was not particularly worried.

Although Dugu Bo was also a Titled Douluo, She Long followed a dual-attribute path of poison and lightning, giving him a natural advantage against toxins.

That was also why Spirit Hall had sent She Long and Porcupinefish to Heaven Dou City to assist Qian Renxue. One countered toxins, while the other devoured them. This pair of guardian generals had been stationed there precisely to keep the ticking time bomb that was Dugu Bo from causing trouble.

If the two really fought, She Long might not be able to defeat Dugu Bo quickly, but protecting himself would be more than manageable.

Even if having Zhang Fei as a burden kept him from fighting freely, they could simply head back to Heaven Dou City and bring Porcupinefish Douluo along. Two against one, their chances of winning would be extremely high.

The only hidden danger was exposing his own identity.

Once Dugu Bo saw his face, with his relationship to She Long impossible to explain away, he would no longer be able to stay by his little angel's side.

But Zhang Fei could no longer afford to worry about all that. The immortal herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were arguably the greatest opportunity on the entire Douluo Continent. If he missed it, who knew how many moons would pass before he got another chance?

At worst, once exposed, he could return straight to Spirit City and hide there. He would have to go back sooner or later anyway.

While Zhang Fei was turning all these possibilities over in his mind, She Long suddenly lifted him up and set him on a branch of an ancient tree. He lowered his voice. "Something's wrong with that Poison Miasma. It doesn't look naturally formed. I'll go check it out first. Stay here and behave. Don't move, and don't go anywhere. Do you hear me?"

Zhang Fei obediently nodded, clutching the trunk with both hands as he watched the distant Poison Miasma.

She Long straightened, and a blue-purple snake lance silently materialized in his palm. Nine Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black.

Lance in hand, he stepped forward. A few bounds carried him to the edge of the Poison Miasma, where he began examining it carefully.

Soon, something stirred within the Poison Miasma, and a figure slowly emerged from the depths of the mist.

The man wore a close-fitting gray-green robe. He was tall and thin, his face aged and withered, his eyes deeply sunken and gleaming with a sinister light.

It was none other than Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo.

The most famous "Poison King" on the entire Douluo Continent, and probably its most wretched Titled Douluo as well.

He could not even suppress the deadly poison filling his own body. Every moment, he battled the toxins within, living as though treading on thin ice.

Watching from afar, Zhang Fei muttered inwardly, That old venomous monster really is here. Looks like this won't end peacefully today.