"What a joke! As if I were that sort of man." Dugu Bo snorted coldly.
"You're not?" Xuan Ming stared coldly at Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo froze. "You haven't lost your mind?"
He still retained his reason during the Berserk Transformation?
"I'm just angry, not insane," Xuan Ming said flatly.
When his life was threatened, his emotions became extremely volatile, and that emotional change affected his Martial Soul, sending it into a state similar to the Berserk Transformation.
But he wouldn't lose his reason completely. After all, he was already on the verge of dying. If he threw away his brains too, wouldn't he die even faster?
"Are you sure?" Dugu Bo looked at the two Black Dragons behind Xuan Ming, which were frantically struggling against the restraints of his Soul Power.
"They're my subconscious instincts," Xuan Ming said.
"I can control my reason, but I can't erase my instincts."
As he spoke, the twin dragons behind Xuan Ming gradually calmed down, though a vicious gleam still flashed in their eyes.
Restraint was restraint, and instinct was instinct.
Chapter 8: We're Not You
"Suppressing the Berserk Transformation?"
Watching Xuan Ming forcibly suppress his rampaging Martial Soul, Dugu Bo's eyes held a trace of shock.
The boy's Martial Soul was in the Berserk Transformation right now. There was no mistaking the twin dragons' savage presence. When he had roared earlier, and when his domain had erupted, the boy had definitely lost his reason!
He was maintaining this scrap of clarity through sheer willpower.
The Berserk Transformation could indeed be controlled, but that had nothing to do with the strength of one's spiritual power. It depended entirely on whether one's will was firm enough to drag that madness back from the edge of the cliff.
Though barely, he had indeed stabilized it.
But to suppress the side effects of the Berserk Transformation at such an age—what exactly had this boy experienced before?
Spiritual power improved through cultivation, but willpower was tempered purely through life.
Had this boy grown up being abused?
Otherwise, how could he possibly possess such willpower?
"Old Poison, have you made up your mind?" Yue Guan asked.
"Will you hand him over, or die here?"
"You might as well ask whether I'd rather die tomorrow or today," Dugu Bo sneered.
Even if he handed the boy over, he would only escape today. With Spirit Hall setting its sights on him, he was destined to have no peace from now on.
"I gave you a chance," Yue Guan said.
"You're the one who refused it."
Spirit Hall was in need of people right now. If Dugu Bo were willing to join, there would certainly be a place for him in the Elder Hall. But this Old Poison considered himself above it all, and he would inevitably interfere with Spirit Hall's grand plans in the future. Better to kill him sooner rather than later.
"Why don't you hand me over? At least you'd get through today," Xuan Ming said.
With Dugu Bo's mercurial temperament, even if it would be safe once they became familiar, the prerequisite was surviving long enough to get familiar with this Old Poison.
He wasn't Tang San. He had none of that skill with poison, and staying with this Old Poison was far too dangerous.
"What are you saying? How could I abandon you?" Dugu Bo said.
"We barely know each other," Xuan Ming said speechlessly.
"I brewed your medicine, and you taught me meditation. We're even."
"Old Poison, didn't you hear? Even this boy doesn't want to stick with you," Yue Guan said.
"Hurry up and hand him over. We'll go our separate ways. Tomorrow's business can wait until tomorrow."
Dugu Bo looked at Xuan Ming. "Do you really want to go with them?"
"If I don't go with them, I'll have to die with you," Xuan Ming said.
Dugu Bo clearly couldn't beat Yue Guan and Gui Mei at all. Never mind fighting two at once-he wasn't a match for either of them alone!
If those two hadn't been wary of this Old Poison's deadly toxins, they would have struck to kill long ago.
If the fight continued, what if Dugu Bo was driven into a dead end and blew himself up?
Dugu Bo thought for a moment, then looked at Yue Guan and Gui Mei. "In that case, you'd better keep your word."
"We're not you." Yue Guan laughed in anger.
What Titled Douluo didn't have any self-respect?
Bullying Soul Douluos and Soul Saints was shameless enough. A Titled Douluo as utterly shameless as this Old Poison was one of a kind across the entire continent!
"Go on." Dugu Bo released the Soul Power restraining Xuan Ming and let him leave.
But when Xuan Ming reached Yue Guan and Gui Mei's side, he suddenly stopped.
Yue Guan frowned. "Boy, why aren't you coming over?"
Do you think I don't want to?
Xuan Ming could barely hold back a curse.
The Nine-Section Jade!
That thing was still on him, and it had already opened its mouth!
If he took another step forward, the Nine-Section Jade would bite!
This shameless old bastard had never intended to let him leave!
"Do it!" Dugu Bo transmitted his voice.
Xuan Ming forcibly suppressed his fury. "Screw you!"
An icy white light abruptly burst outward, and the unprepared Yue Guan and Gui Mei were suppressed once again.
Seizing the opportunity, Dugu Bo, who hadn't been encompassed by the domain, activated his Martial Soul Avatar. His Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Avatar swept across violently, sending Yue Guan and Gui Mei flying.
Poisonous mist surged out, instantly turning the forest into a maze.
Dugu Bo scooped up Xuan Ming, turned, and ran!
"Old Poison! You're utterly shameless!" Yue Guan roared.
"Old Ghost, after him!"
"You've been poisoned," Gui Mei said.
"I don't care! I'm killing this Old Poison today!" Yue Guan briefly suppressed the deadly poison in his hand, broke through the poisonous mist, and resumed the pursuit with Gui Mei.
That boy's domain was far too unfair. Even Titled Douluos would be suppressed if caught unprepared. Though it lasted only a very short time, breaking free still took time. Dugu Bo had staged all this precisely to seize that instant!
"Boy, well done."
In the brief interval while Yue Guan and Gui Mei were driven back, Dugu Bo had already carried Xuan Ming a considerable distance away.
"Heh." Xuan Ming didn't want to speak.
"Don't think I'm despicable. Spirit Hall isn't anything good either. With all those rules and restrictions, how could it compare to the carefree life of an idle cloud and a wild crane with me?" Dugu Bo said.
"Sorry, I'm vulgar. I like wealth and glory," Xuan Ming said.
"Wealth and glory are easy. I have plenty of ways," Dugu Bo said.
"..."
"If I hadn't cooperated just now, what would you have done?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Why ask when you already know?" Dugu Bo said indifferently.
Xuan Ming was somewhat speechless. "Did you really have to go that far?"
"Of course I did," Dugu Bo said.
"Don't think I can't tell. I threatened you with the Nine-Section Jade to make you help me, then forcibly took you away, putting you in danger. You resent me deeply. If I'd really let you go with them, you would most likely have come to take revenge on me in the future."
The boy had escaped those two human traffickers and even seized an opportunity like that to kill them instead. That alone showed how calculating he was, and how decisive his actions were!
Calculating people often had an extremely strong desire for revenge!
If the boy hadn't cooperated with him just now, he absolutely couldn't have been allowed to live!
Otherwise, he would be the unlucky one in the future!
"And if you force me to come with you, I won't take revenge?" Xuan Ming asked.
"You just helped me escape. In Yue Guan and the others' eyes, you're already tied to me. Even if you want to join Spirit Hall in the future, with this thorn between you, do you think you could get by there?" Dugu Bo said indifferently.
"Besides, you risked helping me in such a dangerous situation just now. Do you think Spirit Hall would believe you sincerely wanted to join them?"
"In fact, once you attacked me, you'd become a two-faced, backstabbing scoundrel in their eyes. Who would dare keep you around?"
"You threatened me," Xuan Ming said.
"Do you think they'd believe that?" Dugu Bo said.
"Don't forget, you were abducted and sold by Spirit Hall's patrol deacons. With that grudge between you, they wouldn't trust you no matter what."
"You just offended Chrysanthemum and Ghost, which means you've offended Spirit Hall. If you don't stick with me, you won't survive."
"As for taking revenge on me, wait a few more decades."
"..."
Xuan Ming said nothing more. He feared that if he kept talking, he wouldn't be able to resist taking a couple of bites out of this Old Poison!
He really didn't want even a shred of face!
Chapter 9: Breaking into the Military Camp
"Old Poison! Prepare to die!"
After escaping through a dirty trick, Dugu Bo didn't get to enjoy himself for long. Gui Mei soon caught up.
Gui Mei was, after all, an Agility Attack System Titled Douluo, and his Soul Power Level was higher too. In terms of speed, Dugu Bo was no match for him.
Though Gui Mei was wary of Dugu Bo's deadly poison and couldn't take him down outright, he was more than capable of keeping him occupied.
During that time, Yue Guan caught up as well.
The poisoned Yue Guan attacked even more fiercely than before. Clearly, his temper had flared.
"Yue Guan! Have you got a death wish?!" Dugu Bo was frustrated too.
Yue Guan had been unprepared for that strike earlier and had already been afflicted with his snake venom!
Instead of hurrying to expel the poison, he was pursuing him relentlessly?
"Old Poison, you think far too highly of yourself!" Yue Guan said coldly.
"I'm a rank ninety-four Titled Douluo. That little bit of poison won't kill me!"
The reason they hadn't taken Dugu Bo down yet was their concern about the deadly poison that would erupt if this Old Poison detonated himself, not fear of that little bit of poison in his hands.
"Damn it!"
Facing the serious combined assault of two Titled Douluos, Dugu Bo was utterly outmatched. With his injuries on top of that, he could barely suppress his own poisonous backlash.
Yet at the sight of the severely wounded Dugu Bo, Yue Guan and Gui Mei instead reined in their attacks considerably, both deliberately keeping their distance.
Anger was one thing, but if Dugu Bo went mad and blew himself up, they wouldn't be able to withstand it.
"You're not about to die, are you?" Xuan Ming suddenly asked.
Dugu Bo grunted. "If I die, you won't escape either!"
Just as Dugu Bo was preparing to activate his eighth Soul Skill and take a gamble against Yue Guan and Gui Mei, he seemed to sense something and accelerated again, charging deeper into the dense forest.