Rich and not returning home is like traveling in brocade robes at night

After getting the antidote, Xiao Bai didn't waste any time. He stepped onto his sword and rode it straight towards the Errand Disciple Quarters.

In the jungle below, Mu Yun followed closely, riding her sword at a low altitude, concealing her presence the whole way, sticking right behind Xiao Bai.

If she only relied on her Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation to hide her aura, it would be difficult to truly conceal herself, so she had to use a bit of her Demoness techniques...

This was also something Xiao Bai had anticipated.

He suspected that the Demoness's Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation was mostly fake; her skills and acting were far better than an Elder's!

Hundred Herbs Peak had many hidden formations, which allowed Elder Yuhu to remain unmoving and deeply hidden. Once outside Hundred Herbs Peak, her strength wouldn't be enough to stand against the few Nascent Soul powerhouses within the sect.

That's why Xiao Bai chose to have Senior Sister Mu Yun, rather than Elder Yuhu, accompany him to the Errand Disciple Quarters.

Above the peaks of Snow Flame Mountain.

The snow had uncharacteristically stopped.

The wind howled.

Xiao Bai sped along on his sword, but his heart was filled with anxiety.

They say it's like walking in fine clothes at night if you don't return home wealthy.

But with his friend in trouble, or perhaps himself in trouble, it had completely ruined his mood for showing off back at the Errand Disciple Quarters.

The Snow Flame Sect had set up Errand Disciple Quarters in four directions around the outer perimeter of the mountains.

The Errand Disciple Quarters Xiao Bai belonged to were the largest, the Northwest Errand Disciple Quarters, where two thousand Outer Sect disciples served.

Hundred Herbs Peak was directly to the east, and the line connecting the two spanned the entire sect, over ten miles, quite a distance.

It took several minutes to ride a sword at the Qi Refining Realm.

The Inner Sect disciples Xiao Bai encountered along the way were a bit bewildered to see a young man wearing Instructor robes but only having Fetal Breath cultivation, relying on a Talisman Spell Sword to ride...

By the time the passing disciples realized this was Elder Yuhu's Dao Companion, Xiao Bai had already flown out of sight.

An errand disciple, but quite nimble at riding a sword!

The Northwest Errand Disciple Quarters were built in a mountain valley.

The two mountainsides were covered in dense sword bamboo forests. At the bottom was a stone platform plaza with the Deacon Hall, dining hall, warehouse, and some small workshops scattered around.

On both sides of the valley, built against the mountains, were hundreds of connected stone houses and a scattering of bamboo huts.

The stone houses were for low-level errand disciples.

The bamboo huts were for high-level errand disciples.

Li Feiyu was a high-level errand disciple, and Xiao Bai had also managed to move into a high-level bamboo hut by spending money.

The Northwest Errand Disciple Quarters were located on the outer perimeter of Snow Flame Mountain, far from the Vein of Fire. Here, the wind and snow hadn't stopped but were quite fierce.

As a result, Xiao Bai, who wasn't wearing cotton clothes to keep warm, shivered in the air, his face feeling like it was being cut by knives.

Xiao Bai braved the biting cold wind and landed next to Li Feiyu's bamboo hut.

He pushed the door open... the hut was empty.

Something wasn't right!

He immediately rode his sword to the plaza at the bottom of the valley.

In the plaza, errand disciples wearing gray cotton clothes and bamboo felt hats bustled back and forth, enduring the wind and snow.

Some were eating, some were carrying bamboo.

Seeing Xiao Bai arrive, the nearby errand disciples gradually gathered around, each one filled with envy.

"Xiao Bai, haha, it's Xiao Bai! You finally remembered us brothers!"

"What Xiao Bai? This is Martial Uncle Xiao! The Sect Tour Ceremony is about to be held."

"Haha, yes, yes, yes, it's Martial Uncle Xiao."

"I say, Martial Uncle Xiao, this set of Instructor robes doesn't suit your current status. You should wear Elder robes!"

Xiao Bai nodded in acknowledgment.

Heh, fair-weather friends.

As for his true brothers, most just nodded and called him Senior Brother Xiao, not getting too familiar.

After all, they knew why Xiao Bai had returned, and Li Feiyu's condition was not optimistic...

"Senior Brother Xiao, did you return to the Errand Disciple Quarters for Senior Brother Li's matter?"

A sturdy, short errand disciple asked tentatively.

Xiao Bai didn't have time for pleasantries.

"Precisely. Where is Senior Brother?"

The short errand disciple shook his head and sighed sadly:

"Senior Brother accidentally took forbidden medicine and was poisoned. He's currently lying in the Healing Cave on the north side of the mountain. His condition isn't good, and we don't dare to go near him."

Xiao Bai's heart tightened.

His condition is so bad they don't dare to go near him?

Just then,

A tall, thin old man with a kind face, leaning on a cane-sword, walked over.

He corrected the short errand disciple in a deep voice.

"It wasn't accidentally taking forbidden medicine, but forcing a breakthrough and suffering Cultivation Deviation."

The old man was the head Deacon of the Northwest Errand Disciple Quarters—

Zhao Hanwu.

He was quite famous.

It was said he was over 150 years old, and only reached the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm at the age of 100, which allowed him to live this long.

Most of the Deacons in the Errand Disciple Quarters were old men with similar experiences.

After all, young people who could refine Qi could directly enter the Inner Sect to cultivate. Who would be willing to waste time in the Errand Disciple Quarters?

The Errand Disciple Quarters Deacon was different from an Inner Sect Instructor; they were simply the managers of the Errand Disciple Quarters. Although the position wasn't high, they managed a lot of people and it was a lucrative job.

Under Xiao Bai's money offensive, Zhao Hanwu treated Xiao Bai quite well, giving him many tasks that involved going to the Inner Sect.

"Deacon Zhao, what exactly happened?"

Deacon Zhao sighed and slowly recounted:

"I advised him three days ago that now wasn't the perfect time to attempt a breakthrough, but when he saw you rising so quickly, he felt he couldn't fall behind, so he secretly took forbidden medicine and forced the breakthrough... Alas, he's almost beyond saving."

Deacon Zhao was advanced in age and spoke very slowly, which was maddeningly frustrating.

Xiao Bai quickly said:

"There's still hope. I brought the antidote. Which healing cave is Senior Brother in specifically?"

The old man still wasn't in a hurry, slowly saying:

"When the two disciples found him on Black Stone Slope, he was already unconscious. They could only carry him to the nearest one, the third healing cave on the north side of the mountain."

"I'll go there now."

Having confirmed the location, Xiao Bai turned and left.

The old man grabbed Xiao Bai again and sighed:

"His current condition isn't good. The forbidden medicine poisoning is contagious. The two disciples who found him are still bedridden... You should swallow this protective medicine first."

With that, Zhao Hanwu tremblingly and somewhat reluctantly took out a green pill.

Xiao Bai took the medicine and swallowed it without hesitation.

It was indeed Spirit-Stopping Medicine.

This old man wasn't completely bad.

"Let's go."

"This old man will go with you."

The two walked towards the north mountain slope, one after the other.

The rest of the people also followed in twos and threes.

Upon reaching the third healing cave, the errand disciples who followed only dared to watch from afar, none daring to approach within ten zhang.

Even Deacon Zhao, who was in the Qi Refining Realm, only dared to stay by the door, not daring to step inside.

"It's a good thing you have Balanced Five Elements, otherwise I really wouldn't dare to let you go in. Be extremely careful once inside, and if anything happens, be sure to call for this old man immediately."

"Okay."

Xiao Bai nodded.

He looked around, then pushed the door open and went in.

Squeak.

Although it was called a cave, it had a small window, so the interior was quite bright, and the spiritual energy concentration was decent, better than both stone rooms and bamboo huts.

If you weren't seriously ill or rich, you wouldn't even be qualified to stay in a healing cave.

"Senior Brother Li?"

Xiao Bai called out from the outer room.

The empty space gave no response.

Senior Sister Mu Yun was also nowhere to be seen, not making a sound...

This made Xiao Bai especially nervous.

He tiptoed into the inner room and finally saw Li Feiyu lying on the stone bed.

Even though there was ventilation from both sides, a faint, strange腥臭 still permeated the inner room.

"Senior Brother, are you alright?"

On the stone bed, Li Feiyu was lying on his side facing inward, seemingly asleep, but his breathing was very weak.

"Did you write the letter?"

Xiao Bai covered his nose and approached the stone bed step by step.

"I brought the antidote to save you."

"Antidote..."

Hearing the word "antidote," the dying body on the stone bed regained a trace of vitality.

Li Feiyu slowly turned his head, a pair of black, empty eyes crawling with maggots staring straight at Xiao Bai.

"Can even Inner Demons be saved?"

"Yes, they can."

Xiao Bai comforted him softly.

He wasn't scared at all by Senior Brother Li's miserable state of cultivation deviation and approaching death.

Instead, he felt guilty...

So he took out the prepared antidote, quickly went to the bedside, and put the pill into his senior brother's mouth.

Just then!

A rotten arm covered in talisman paper suddenly reached out from under the covers and grabbed Xiao Bai's hand—

"Soul Seizing!"

At the same time!

"Not good, this is Soul Seizing Art..."

Deacon Zhao, who was guarding the door, suddenly drew his sword and rushed in.

"—Martial Uncle Xiao, wake up quickly!"