Sinking Moon Valley's Past (II)
"The man was also dressed in a gray robe, with half of his face covered by a silver mask, revealing only the lower half of his face with its cold, hard lines. He walked out step by step, his steps very light, his aura completely concealed. It wasn't until he stood in front of the patrol team that I sensed his cultivation level."
"Level 89, peak Soul Douluo level, the same level as me back then."
He introduced himself, saying his name was Ye Mingshang and that he was the current patriarch of the Nether Blood Moon Clan.
"Is he a good person or a bad person?" Xiao Wu asked softly.
Dugu Bo scoffed, "Little girl, in a place like this, you'll only encounter the living and the dead, not good or bad people."
Lin Chen's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. Ye Mingshang? The patriarch of the Nether Blood Moon Clan, an 89th-level Soul Douluo.
He was on par with Dugu Bo ten years ago, so what about now? Ten years have passed, has he broken through to become Titled Douluo?
As he was thinking, he saw Dugu Bo suddenly turn his head and look at him intently.
Do you know what his first words to me were?
Lin Chen shook his head.
A meaningful smile appeared on Dugu Bo's lips.
He said, 'Outsider, the poison in your body is almost killing you, isn't it?'
My heart skipped a beat.
Dugu Bo looked up at Lin Chen, his eyes flashing with the shock of yesteryear. "The backlash from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in my body has always been extremely well hidden. The poisonous power in my meridians is suppressed by my Soul Power. Even a Soul Douluo of the same level might not be able to see through it at a glance. That Ye Mingshang stood just a few feet away, through a layer of poisonous mist, and saw through it with a single glance. I knew then that this person was no ordinary person, and that the things in this valley were far more profound than I had imagined."
Ye Mingshang neither made a move nor questioned him about the reason for his actions.
He merely turned slightly to gesture for the patrol team at the valley entrance to make way, his voice as deep as the perpetual fog in the valley. "Guests are always welcome. If I'm not mistaken, you've come here to search for poison. Why don't you come in and have a seat?"
Dugu Bo was naturally fearless, and the more mysterious the other person was, the more curious he became. He didn't refuse, cupped his hands in greeting, and followed the person into the valley.
Entering the valley felt like stepping into another world.
The steep cliffs on all sides pierce the sky, allowing only a sliver of light to filter through overhead. The sunlight is filtered clean by the cliffs, and the valley is perpetually bathed in a hazy, dim light. Pieces of dark purple minerals are embedded in the cliff faces, gleaming faintly with a fluorescent glow, serving as the valley's only source of light.
The houses on both sides of the road were all built of black stone, and the windows were covered with thick black cloth, with even the gaps sealed tightly, so that not a bit of strong light could get in.
At the bottom of the valley lies a deep, black pool, its water icy cold, forever reflecting a blurry moon. Legend has it that long ago, a meteorite sank into the pool, causing even the moon to sink beneath the surface, making it impossible to retrieve. Hence, it was named "Sinking Moon Valley."
Occasionally, a few tribesmen would pass by on the road, all dressed in dark gray robes, their steps as light as shadows on the ground. When they saw people, they would only nod slightly, their brows and eyes always carrying an unyielding gloom, as if they were carrying a burden of a thousand years.
"This place doesn't seem like a community settlement; it's more like a prison," Dugu Bo said in a low voice.
Dugu Bo stayed there for half a year.
Initially, he merely used the dense, poisonous aura of the valley to refine the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, attempting to break through the bottleneck of the Titled Douluo.
But less than a month later, they encountered a full moon night.
"That night, I will never forget it in my life." Dugu Bo's tone became a little more serious, his fingertips tightened, and the tea in the teacup rippled.
"That night, in the latter half of the night, the moon was high in the sky, and a sliver of moonlight shone through a narrow strip of sky into the valley. First, a hoarse roar came from the depths of the valley, followed by one after another, like a tide washing over us."
"Many clansmen burst out of their houses, their eyes bloodshot, dark purple crescent-shaped markings on their skin, baring their fangs and lunging at anyone they saw. An elderly woman was a fraction of a second too slow and was bitten on the neck by her own son, without even a chance to struggle."
He paused, lowering his voice slightly. "The clan's deacons, carrying dark red pills, would need three to five people working together to restrain a berserk clansman, pry open his mouth, and force the pill down his throat. After swallowing it, the person would convulse for a moment, their eyes would clear for a brief instant, recognizing those around them, but less than half an incense stick's time later, they would slump down again, as if they had lost half their life, but at least they would no longer go berserk and harm people."
"That's their clan's secret Nether Pill, which is also a kind of poison. It can only temporarily suppress the poison's effects, treating the symptoms but not the root cause. Moreover, it loses its effectiveness with repeated use. They have to endure this every full moon night. If the pill isn't taken in time, or if the poison is too potent, the cultivation level is too low, or the willpower is weak, it can lead to death."
"This is just an ordinary full moon night. If it were a red moon night, which only happens once every hundred years, the entire tribe would probably be wiped out."
On the night after the full moon, Ye Mingshang personally went to Dugu Bo's residence.
Only one ghostly stone lamp was lit in the black stone house, its purple light illuminating half of his silver mask, which appeared as cold and hard as ice. He sat opposite the stone table, remaining silent for a long time before slowly speaking, revealing the secret that this tribe had kept hidden for thousands of years.
"This is the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison."
Dugu Bo mimicked Ye Mingshang's tone, his voice low and etched with a deep weariness. "Born with our Martial Soul, passed down through generations in our blood. Outsiders say it's the moon's punishment, a curse from the gods. In truth, it's our ancestors who, when they found the Blood Moon Devil Lotus in the Nether Blood Pool and forcibly consumed the lotus seeds to gain Power of the Nether, also ingested the lotus seeds' deadly poison into their bloodlines."
"Passed down from generation to generation, the poison grows deeper and deeper, intertwining with the Martial Soul and divine soul, growing deep within the bones, impossible to peel away."
"On the night of the full moon, the power of Yin activates the blood poison, causing one to lose their mind and become unrecognizable to even their closest relatives. Sunlight, being extremely Yang, will cause the poison to backfire if it shines directly on them. Therefore, we can only hide in this sunless valley, like ghosts that cannot bear the light."
After he finished speaking, the stone house remained silent for a long time.
Outside the window, there were suppressed coughs from the tribespeople and weak panting from afar.
Dugu Bo remained silent for a long time. He had dealt with poison all his life and had seen countless kinds of deadly poisons, but he had never seen such a cruel poison. It was not fatal at first, but passed down from generation to generation, slowly eroding a person's mind and lifespan, trapping the entire clan in a dark valley with no hope of ever rising again.
"I later studied the toxicity of the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison in detail, and also dissected their Nether Pill formula."
Dugu Bo continued, "I discovered that this Moon-Eroding Nether Poison and my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison actually belong to the same lineage of insidious poisons. However, the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison is more potent and stubborn, having grown together with the very essence of one's bloodline, making it inseparable. Ordinary antidotes are completely useless; forcibly expelling the poison will only cause it to backfire, ultimately leading to the poison attacking the heart, severing all the blood vessels in the body, and resulting in a gruesome death, resembling a blooming blood lotus."