Return

After the scorching heat passed, the autumn wind arrived with surprising speed, bringing a touch of coolness as evening approached.

But there was a sinister chill within that coolness.

Behind the group, croaks sounded now near, now far, following them along with the occasional cold laugh.

Whether the group moved quickly or slowly, the sounds never ceased.

Jin Wanliang was clearly an extremely patient pursuer. Ever since he began hunting them, he had been looking for an opportunity.

He tried to lull Zhang Xuezhou and the others with words before launching a sneak attack, repeatedly tried to close the distance and swiftly kill Zhang Zhong and the others, and even tried to circle quickly ahead of them to set traps and lay poison...

To Zhang Xuezhou, it felt like a troublesome clash between hunter and prey.

But in this clash, who the real prey was remained to be seen.

Jin Wanliang, who excelled at poisoning, had run into Zou Bugui, an Alchemist skilled at refining pills. Many of his tricks were neutralized without a trace; time and again, he laid poison, only for Zou Bugui to see through it.

And with Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong there, it was extremely difficult for Jin Wanliang to launch a surprise attack and kill anyone. Several times, Lady Yourong had even driven him back with her bow when he tried to approach.

"Poison is a kind of technique too. He isn't some indestructible toad, and he has limited ability in close combat!"

The closer they drew to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, the more at ease Zou Bugui felt.

Though he did not want to return to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple and get dragged into more troublesome matters, he had lived there for years. Not only did he have the advantage of familiar terrain, he also had certain things hidden there that he could use against their enemy.

Once this was over, he would head south, travel a thousand miles away to seek medicinal ingredients and refine pills to drive out the poison, and steer clear of these muddy waters for good.

Now that Zou Bugui felt at ease, he had enough attention to spare to tell them a little about the golden toad demon Jin Wanliang.

"Eighty percent of his poison techniques probably depend on a Yao Treasure!"

"What's a Yao Treasure?"

"A Yao Treasure is a medium demons use to cast techniques. In importance, it's second only to the demon core they use to cultivate both life and nature!"

"You can think of a Yao Treasure as a kind of weapon!"

"This kind of weapon must come from some part of their body. Through constant refinement and use, its power grows!"

"It's an old tradition among demons!"

"They aren't like us humans, who like to forge weapons and Law Treasures and replace one when it doesn't work!"

"In the minds of demons, their own bodies are the finest things there are, so naturally they develop their own bodies!"

"Without divine weapons and sharp blades, the power of their Yao Treasures really does surpass our weapons and Law Treasures at the same level!"

"But their weakness is obvious too. Once they lose their Yao Treasure, their strength is bound to fall sharply!"

Leaving aside the fact that they were still being hunted, this really was a good time to seek important knowledge on the subject.

Under ordinary circumstances, Zou Bugui was unlikely to explain things in such detail.

But his life was on the line now, and Zou Bugui wished he could make every last detail perfectly clear, so Zhang Zhong and the others would know what they were dealing with.

Zou Bugui avoided or concealed nothing in response to Zhang Xuezhou's questions, telling him everything he knew.

"Golden toads like to refine their tongues into Yao Treasures. When they strike, their tongues dart like arrows. If you can sever his tongue, you'll definitely deal Jin Wanliang a grievous blow!" Zou Bugui suggested.

"Though that demon's tongue isn't as hard as metal, it's extremely elastic and tough, and it moves incredibly fast. I can barely block it, let alone cut it off. That's utterly impossible!"

As a master of the fast saber, Zhang Zhong's saber was swift.

But his speed could scarcely keep up with Jin Wanliang's strikes.

Even if he found the perfect opportunity to slash Jin Wanliang's tongue, he could not sever it with a single blow. Even wounding it would be extremely difficult.

Ultimately, Zhang Zhong was only an ordinary man. To cross several levels and sever a great demon's Yao Treasure was as hard as ascending to heaven.

The fact that he could barely protect Zou Bugui as they fled was already beyond his usual performance.

Zhang Zhong felt this experience was second only to his feat of killing the Ten Yin Holy Son.

"Go on, run! Let's see whether you can keep running longer with your whole family in tow, or I can keep chasing longer!"

From afar, Jin Wanliang's voice sounded a little smug.

But when Lady Yourong plucked her bowstring, his voice quickly faded.

In Zhang Household Village, everyone, young and old, male and female, knew how to draw a bow and shoot. They might not all be able to pierce a willow leaf from a hundred paces, but they could at least hit their mark nine times out of ten. Even Zhang Xuezhou could shoot rabbits with a bow.

Lady Yourong was able to go out with the hunting party, and her archery was clearly more than respectable.

Only six arrows remained in her quiver, but Lady Yourong sometimes plucked the bowstring and sometimes actually shot, giving Jin Wanliang no small amount of grief.

"A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow!"

Lady Yourong spat.

She cast an unobtrusive glance at Zhang Zhong and Zhang Xuezhou.

For now, they could hold Jin Wanliang back, but sooner or later she would run out of arrows.

Once Jin Wanliang closed the distance, they would certainly face enormous danger.

For a moment, Lady Yourong felt regret, thinking she should not have schemed for Zou Bugui's pills. She should have taken the Body Fragrance Pill and left.

Although they were the main force holding Jin Wanliang back right now, Zou Bugui was the one they ultimately had to rely on.

Yet Zou Bugui still looked sickly and extremely unreliable.

"Why are we getting back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple so quickly?"

After crossing another mountain, Zhang Xuezhou felt he could already see familiar places.

If they hurried just a little faster, they might make it back to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple by nightfall.

"I remember it took us a full five days to get there!"

Zhang Xuezhou voiced his confusion, and Zhang Zhong responded with a couple of awkward coughs.

That was what happened when one took a few turns at random in the mountains. It was no surprise to take a wrong path and spend several extra days traveling. In particular, after he observed Zhang Xuezhou's condition following his Realm Entry and determined that there was no longer any danger, it would have been perfectly normal for him to deliberately toughen Zhang Xuezhou up by spending another eight or ten days getting out of the mountains.

Of course, Zhang Zhong's aimless circling had ultimately landed them in trouble.

He coughed twice, tightened his grip on Zou Bugui, whom he carried on his back, and raced onward.

"Push a little harder. That toad can only hop around blindly on two legs, and he isn't fast going either uphill or down. Let's hurry back!"

Zhang Zhong urged the others on.

He did not know what Zou Bugui had prepared at his Daoist temple to deal with Jin Wanliang, but he had to reach the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple as quickly as possible.

Once night fell, they would lose every advantage they had. With Zhang Xuezhou becoming a burden who collapsed to sleep right on time, a dangerous situation was bound to arise.

If things really came to that, he would simply toss Zou Bugui aside, hoist Zhang Xuezhou onto his shoulders, and flee for his life.

But now, the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple was close at hand.

Zhang Zhong ran on, and when his gaze fell on Zou Bugui, he could not help asking him in a low voice.

"Rest assured, I have a clever plan of my own. I won't bring harm to any of you!"

Zou Bugui pressed his lips together as a trickle of foul-smelling black blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth.

The Law Power inside him surged without cease, but there was some confidence in his eyes.

As long as it was not the Golden Toad Dharma King who came, everything would end here.

Whatever else he might be, he was a great cultivator of the pill path, with many ways to counter poison techniques. Once he suppressed the Golden Toad Dharma King's poison, a great demon like Jin Wanliang would not be able to stir up many waves in his hands and would surely be forced to retreat.

But as they drew closer and closer to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Zou Bugui began to feel that something was a little wrong.

His heart tightened at the sight of the wooden door creaking as gusts of cold wind swung it back and forth.

When he left, he had flown away high in the air and had not opened the door.

If his guess was right, then during the ten-odd days he had been away, a thief had most likely visited the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple.

"Damn it, would someone really come and strip a rundown house bare in mountains like these? Please don't let it have been a fellow practitioner!"

Staring at the traces of several pairs of shallow footprints on the mountain path, Zou Bugui felt terrible.

He could only hope that his preparations had not been turned upside down. Otherwise, tonight would be hard to get through.