"Your Highness, I've already inquired."
The old lady of the Beiyu Family rushed back in the evening, her expression even more grim than when she left. Just as the King of Qin had said, the heads of the various powerful families had all disappeared in the secret room.
Chen Qing simply nodded upon hearing the news; he had already anticipated this outcome and was merely confirming it.
"Your Highness, what should we do now?"
Even though she had weathered many storms, the old lady was somewhat flustered at this moment. Her own family's head and elders had disappeared. What kind of turmoil would it cause if all the elders of the entire Northern Yan Kingdom were to be in danger?
She didn't even dare to think about it.
"Madam, don't worry, things haven't gotten to the worst yet," Chen Qing said reassuringly with a smile. "The other families didn't have any remains, which means not many people died. So many aristocratic families and elders have all practiced new cultivation techniques; not everyone will be in danger."
The old lady nodded slightly upon hearing this. The remains in the secret room had already been examined, and none of them bore the characteristics of the Beiyu Family. It seemed that her master and the other elders might still have a chance of survival.
"Your Highness, please save my master!"
"Rest assured, Madam, I will do my utmost!"
--
"My lord, what should we do now?" For the first time, Shen Qi lost his composure, and whether it was due to excessive anxiety or something else, he began to frequently fidget with his arms.
Chen Qing glanced at him but didn't stop him. His own hands were unbearably itchy, and he was only holding on by sheer willpower. Clearly, the poison had already begun to take effect.
"Let's find Ziyue and the others first." Chen Qing's expression wasn't very good either.
This Spirit Ghost is very difficult to deal with; it's an unsolvable program. At this stage, it's almost invincible!
"I don't understand, when was the poison administered? Was it when we met outside?"
"No." Chen Qing shook his head. "Outside, it wouldn't dare. It's unsure which faction you belong to, or whether you have any special magical artifacts to deal with it. It won't take that risk; it just needs to lure you in. But once you're in the city, it has plenty of time to poison you."
"But we didn't come into contact with it after we entered the city."
"It seems there are relatively few poison masters in this era." Chen Qing looked at the other person. "Poisoning is a very mysterious thing. A skilled poison master can use Spirit Energy to control poison and poison in any environment. For example, the honey drink you drank this morning was sold to you by a street vendor. He could sell it to anyone else without being poisoned, but it was different when he sold it to you."
"That's true." Shen Qi smiled wryly. "According to what you've said, Master, if poison sorcerers are so powerful, why are there so few who have inherited their skills?"
"One reason is that such things are too fearsome and easy to be besieged." Chen Qing recalled the history of intelligence in the Demon World. In the intelligent calculation, the poison sorcerer lineage was always the first to be eliminated because its destructive power was too great, but its individual strength was not very strong. If it could not be used by him, it was best to eliminate it first to prevent future troubles.
"Anyone with real strength dislikes having such a tricky way to harm themselves, especially those with bloodline martial arts. I believe this is one of the reasons why the lineage of poison sorcerers eventually died out. The reason why the Mr. Five Poisons was so feared back then was also for this reason."
"That's true," Shen Qi laughed. "If I had known about this earlier, I would have also tried to deal with the other party first. After all, I don't want to die from poisoning for no reason one day."
"It's not actually that mysterious," Chen Qing laughed. "The more ingenious the poison, the weaker its lethality. To target experts, only potent, direct poisons are effective. Toxins like this, which can take hold silently, are generally useless against experts; they can be forced out with force. It's just that the current environment is too clever, allowing it to take advantage of the situation."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qi rolled up his sleeves. By this time, the black spots on his arms had increased significantly and were emitting a foul odor.
"If left unchecked, it probably won't last more than a few days."
Chen Qing nodded. "With such ingenious poisons, it's best to keep them hidden as long as possible, as the deeper the poisoning, the more likely it is to harm a master. But this one is deliberately made so obvious, and it's incredibly itchy, clearly forcing someone to use their power."
"Is that monster really that powerful?" Shen Qi frowned. " Northern Wolf City is quite large, even bigger than Liuzhou City. That monster can't possibly be by your side all the time, can it? Does it mean that as long as I use my power, the monster can find me instantly no matter how far away it is?"
"No." Chen Qing looked at Shen Qi, a hint of a smile flashing across her face.
Shen Qi's mind never disappoints; even at this moment, he was able to calmly and quickly find the flaw.
"Then..." Shen Qi's eyes lit up, as if he had found a solution.
"But the problem is... we're not sure where that thing is." Chen Qing used his spiritual power to draw a picture on the table, a panoramic view of Northern Wolf City.
"That thing is invisible to humans, by no means possible, so you don't know where it is. And its speed is indeed extremely fast; it can cover dozens of miles in the blink of an eye. Its sense of smell can almost cover the entire city. What you described is true. For example, if you are far away from it and activate your Transcendent spiritual power, as long as you force out the poison before it arrives and then escape, it's possible to survive. But... that's a gamble!"
Chen Qing looked around. "Nobody knows where it is. Maybe it's sitting right across from us, just waiting to confirm your identity."
Shen Qi: "."
"Sometimes I feel like you'd be quite suited to telling ghost stories, moderator."
Chen Qing: "."
"Could we use other people to attract attention?" Shen Qi asked in a low voice.
"Your idea was probably not uncommon at first," Chen Qing sighed. "Many powerful families were unaware of it, so we were likely outmaneuvered a few times initially. But we can't use it recklessly, because Northern Wolf City is now ours. Theoretically, the scions of these powerful families are also our subjects. Using them as cover would breed resentment."
"Moreover, this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause, because it's difficult for us to prevent the giant snake from continuing to poison us. We could find the hiding places of other powerful families and force them to use their power to pinpoint the monster's location, while another family detoxifies us from a distance. But what happens after that? We still can't get out; we're still stuck here. The giant snake has plenty of time to poison us again, and plenty of time to watch us kill each other."
Shen Qi frowned upon hearing this. "Is there really no solution?"
"There's no solution for now," Chen Qing sighed. "Let's find Ziyue and the others first. I suspect that after so much time, they must have used the method you mentioned earlier. But even if they managed to evade it immediately, they'll still be marked. To hide from tracking them, we'll need a very secretive place."
"Even for that monster, there are hidden places?"
"Yes," Chen Qing nodded, "That thing is a ghost. For it, the Black Lantern is a hidden place."
" Black Lantern?" Shen Qi suddenly realized, "The palace?"