Escape

"Master, you've been poisoned! I have antidote pills here. Take one quickly!" Huang Xiao grew even more anxious at those words. He did not know what Heart-Burning Powder was, but he understood that this poison probably had a formidable origin.

Xuanzhenzi waved a hand. He had refined Huang Xiao's antidote pills himself, so naturally he knew their effects. His pills could neutralize many poisons found in Jianghu, but Heart-Burning Powder was not among them.

More precisely, there was no antidote for Heart-Burning Powder in Jianghu. Only the mysterious Poison God Valley possessed a true antidote. After all, Heart-Burning Powder had come from Poison God Valley.

"Heart-Burning Powder doesn't take effect immediately. They say its toxicity only flares up after more than ten days. Hu Guyi, you administered this poison at the Green Ox Gate, didn't you?" Xuanzhenzi said after forcibly suppressing the poison within him.

"Correct. I arrived early at your Green Ox Gate, but seeking pills for my disciples was a pretense, and so was wanting to accompany you to the Huaqing Sect. My real purpose was to poison you," Hu Guyi said with a smile. "Thankfully, the sect master thought everything through. Otherwise, we really would have capsized in a gutter."

Hu Guyi was also utterly shaken. Inside the room earlier, he and Zhang Ming had first proved no match for Xuanzhenzi. Then Bai Tianqi had personally stepped in, only to find himself outmatched after several dozen exchanges as well. In the end, all three had been forced to join hands before they could drive Xuanzhenzi out of the room.

"Qingxiao, leave as soon as you get the chance!" Xuanzhenzi told Huang Xiao quietly.

"No, Master!" Huang Xiao did not want to leave. Now that Xuanzhenzi was poisoned, how could he possibly contend with all three? Yet Huang Xiao also understood that staying would accomplish nothing. He would probably only distract Xuanzhenzi.

Xuanzhenzi said nothing more, instead shouting at the three, "Even poisoned, I won't let the three of you escape without paying a price!"

With that, he darted forward and charged at them.

Xuanzhenzi knew he could not waste time now. The longer this dragged on, the worse his situation would become.

Bai Tianqi's expression shifted slightly when he saw Xuanzhenzi charging toward him. Hu Guyi and Zhang Ming even felt the urge to retreat, but with Bai Tianqi right beside them, they dared not shrink back.

"You two, attack!" Bai Tianqi ordered.

Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi could only steel themselves and meet him.

"Bai Tianqi, are you sending your own disciples to their deaths?" As Xuanzhenzi swung his palms, gust after gust of force left Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi trembling with fear.

Although both were second-class experts, one at the middle grade and the other at the upper grade, and were rare experts in Jianghu, Xuanzhenzi had, after all, already entered the first-class realm. The gap between first-class and second-class was like an enormous chasm, difficult to cross.

Huang Xiao struggled inwardly over whether to leave. If he left, his master should have no worries at his back, but he could not rest easy about his master once he was gone.

Seeing that Zhang Ming and Hu Guyi were no match at all for Xuanzhenzi, a sliver of hope rose in Huang Xiao's heart. He felt his master should still have a chance.

Bai Tianqi frowned slightly. Having exchanged blows with Xuanzhenzi earlier, he was exceedingly wary of him. Now that Xuanzhenzi's poison had flared up, he naturally wanted to stall. Before long, Xuanzhenzi would breathe his last without Bai Tianqi even having to act.

It could be said that once Xuanzhenzi had been poisoned with Heart-Burning Powder, he was doomed to die, because Bai Tianqi himself had no antidote either. Earlier at the Huaqing Sect, his requests that Xuanzhenzi hand over the Sixty-Year Pill, followed by promises of various terms and benefits, had all been false. Although they could obtain the Sixty-Year Pill after killing Xuanzhenzi, that was never as good as having Xuanzhenzi produce it himself-or, rather, having him explain certain precautions for the remaining six months. Of course, killing him was the last resort.

"Master, watch out!" Huang Xiao could not help shouting from the side when he saw Bai Tianqi join the fight.

"Leave now! Go back and tell Qingfeng and the others to leave the Green Ox Temple immediately!" Seeing that Huang Xiao still had not left, Xuanzhenzi grew somewhat anxious. His own death did not matter, but once he died, these disciples of his would probably all follow him to the grave. That was something he did not want to see.

Huang Xiao had not wanted to leave, but Xuanzhenzi's words reminded him that if his master was defeated in the end and he still had not left, his own death would not matter. What mattered was that his three senior brothers at the Green Ox Temple would probably also fall victim to their murderous hands.

"Master, take care!" Huang Xiao said, his voice catching as tears welled in his eyes. Although he had only spent a few months at the Green Ox Temple and had not had much contact with Xuanzhenzi, who had been refining pills throughout that time, he still felt deeply attached to the Green Ox Temple, especially to Xuanzhenzi and his three senior brothers.

It could be said that Xuanzhenzi and his three senior brothers all treated him like family. Of course, Huang Xiao was not the only one they treated this way; everyone was the same. Xuanzhenzi was like a father, and naturally, the fellow disciples were brothers.

Of course, Huang Xiao knew that Xuanzhenzi had used that five-hundred-year-old lingzhi without a moment's hesitation to save him back then, which made him all the more grateful.

Now Huang Xiao could only trust that his master would ultimately escape this predicament. As for himself, the most important thing now was to hurry back to the Green Ox Temple and warn his three senior brothers.

"Hu Guyi, kill that young Taoist!" Bai Tianqi naturally would not simply let Huang Xiao leave. In his plan, Xuanzhenzi had to die, but his death certainly could not be allowed to reach the ears of the disciples still at the Green Ox Temple. Only then could he obtain the Sixty-Year Pill. Of course, once he took over the Green Ox Temple, whether its disciples lived or died would be entirely up to him.

"Hu Guyi, get out of my way if you don't want to die!" Xuanzhenzi naturally would not let Hu Guyi intercept Huang Xiao. With a swift movement, he blocked Hu Guyi's path.

Hu Guyi's heart jolted, and he abruptly retreated. At that moment, however, Bai Tianqi and Zhang Ming followed close behind. Master and disciple were preparing to join forces against Xuanzhenzi.

Ordinarily, even the two of them together would probably have struggled to suppress Xuanzhenzi. But now Xuanzhenzi was poisoned. Even though he had suppressed the poison, it still affected the strength he could bring to bear.

Seeing Xuanzhenzi tied down by Bai Tianqi and Zhang Ming, Hu Guyi felt free to pursue Huang Xiao.

"This brat has barely crossed the threshold of martial arts, but there's something to his lightness skill." Hu Guyi was somewhat surprised to see that Huang Xiao had already run several dozen zhang away in the blink of an eye.

However, Huang Xiao possessed at most a year's cultivation of internal power. Although his Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps had some subtlety, and combining them with internal power now made them somewhat more intricate, his internal power cultivation was simply too low. What could that amount to before Hu Guyi?

Within a few breaths, Hu Guyi flashed in front of Huang Xiao, then laughed loudly. "Martial nephew, do you think you can get away?"