bookandnovel Chapter 63 Nine-Turn Poison Dragon, Attack and Defense Combined
Chapter 63 Nine-Turn Poison Dragon, Attack and Defense Combined
After packing everything up, Chen Yu left the venue and returned the way he remembered.
Climbing out of the dry well, I found myself in front of the familiar coffin shop.
It was already 1:45 AM.
The sky was pitch black, and the air was filled with the mist of late autumn and a slight chill.
Chen Yu climbed over the backyard of the coffin shop and walked along Ping'an Street towards the East Gate.
Before they had gone even a mile, they sensed a strong killing intent.
The clapper of dawn had just been struck.
The fog was so thick it wouldn't dissipate, and a thin layer of frost clung to the bluestone pavement.
The long street was deserted, and the shops on both sides were silent.
Only the copper bells on the eaves are occasionally stirred by the wind, emitting a faint sound.
"Ring ring, ring ring."
A figure wearing a straw hat stood in the middle of the road.
The straw hat was pulled down very low, covering most of his face, revealing only a stubbled chin.
He gripped a ghost-head knife tightly in his hand, the tip pointing at Chen Yu, its cold light gleaming.
"If you know what's good for you, leave your package here. Grandpa's in a good mood today, so I'll leave you with one leg to keep going."
"If they don't know what's good for them—"
The man in the straw hat grinned, then swung his blade and slashed at the bluestone slab.
"clang!"
Stone chips flew everywhere, scattering sparks all over the ground.
"Then leave your life behind too!"
Beneath the straw hat, a pair of eyes slowly rose.
The mist churned around him, as if forced back by the sharp aura of a blade.
Chen Yu was about to draw his deer-slaying knife and kill him.
But then a familiar voice came from beside my ear.
"Whose life do you want to spare?"
A sudden gust of wind rose through the fog.
A figure holding a bamboo sword slowly emerged from the mist.
Dressed in black, wearing a black mask.
The man in the straw hat's pupils contracted sharply.
As a seasoned veteran assassin with over twenty years of experience in the industry.
He had killed镖师 (bodyguards), 院卫 (bodyguards), and 不信邪的过行武人 (martial arts practitioners who did not believe in evil).
But no one has ever made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up like they do now.
The man in black walked three steps away from him and suddenly stopped.
The man in the straw hat tried to raise his knife, but his hand wouldn't obey him.
He wanted to say something harsh, but his lips trembled for a long time before he could only manage to squeeze out a few words.
"Who...are you?"
The man in black did not answer.
He simply drew his sword and then sheathed it.
The whole process was shorter than a single breath.
A flash of sword light appeared in the mist.
The man in the straw hat was still standing in the same spot, his sword still in his hand.
The man in black walked past him without stopping.
After walking a dozen or so steps, I heard a sound behind me.
"Clang! Bang!"
First, the ghost-head knife slipped from his hand, the tip of the knife hit the stone slab, bounced once, and then fell down.
Immediately following was a dull thud as his head hit the ground.
Blood flowed three feet away along the crack in the stone slab.
Finally, it stopped in front of a clump of wild grass growing from a crack in the rocks.
"Honorable guest, were you not frightened?"
The man in black winked at Chen Yu.
Chen Yu was genuinely frightened.
It wasn't because of something as trivial as murder.
It was because the man in black in front of him was none other than the Water Rat who had been guiding him.
This guy looks silly, but he's actually a hidden master!
"Who exactly are you?"
Chen Yu asked in amazement.
"This is not the place to talk."
The man in black took two more steps forward.
Ahead, from within a thicket, three figures suddenly darted out and fled desperately into the distance.
"Get out of here! If I see you again within three breaths, you're dead!"
The man in black didn't give chase, but only issued a warning.
"Boss, run!"
"This is terrifying! Who could it be?!"
"Waaaaah, I don't want to die! Don't kill me!"
After running for ten miles, Huang Xintang and his two henchmen finally stopped and caught their breath.
"We've survived a disaster, brother! We've escaped death; good fortune is sure to follow!"
The tall follower flattered him.
"Fuck your grandma's leg!"
Huang Xintang launched into a tirade of profanities.
"Didn't you tell me that the top assassins hired from the Blood Blade Tower always drew blood and had never failed in over twenty years? How could they be killed in an instant?"
"I...I don't know either. Maybe he had an upset stomach and his performance suffered?"
Another, more mature henchman stroked his beard and said, "Second Young Master, what do we do now? Should we continue attacking? If you ask me, that man in black can't keep following us. We'll find a chance to kill him and take the manual back!"
Still shaken, Huang Xintang rejected the suggestion without a second thought.
"Take an egg!"
"That man in the straw hat from Blood Blade Tower is a master of the Perfected Tendon Refining stage. And you? You're merely at the Lesser Tendon Refining stage, yet you dare to spout such nonsense?"
The more he talked, the angrier he became, pointing at the tall follower's nose and cursing him incessantly.
"I knew you were a bastard, always coming up with terrible ideas!"
"You should have listened to me a long time ago and invited experts from the Impermanence Pavilion. Wouldn't that be far better than the Blood Blade Tower?"
"If it were the Black and White Impermanence who made the move tonight, I would have already taken the manual back!"
The tall follower was scolded, his face filled with helplessness.
Huang Xintang made no such arrangements beforehand, and his current remarks are merely an attempt to shift the blame onto himself.
"Forget it, I'll deal with you when we get back. First, let's run!"
Huang Xintang felt extremely aggrieved.
Although he was angry that the secret manual had been bought, he still had a backup plan.
This backup plan was the assassin that the man in the straw hat had hired from the Blood Blade Tower beforehand.
This is to prevent situations where we can't win the bidding against others.
In Huang Xintang's plan, even if someone else bought the item, he could have the man in the straw hat kill that buyer.
Unexpectedly, the buyer was still alive, but the man in the straw hat was killed first.
Huang Xintang led the escape, and his two henchmen followed suit, scrambling and stumbling as they ran into the distance.
On Ping'an Street, Chen Yu and the man in black were also hurrying along.
After the two figures disappeared into the street, An Yanshi emerged from the dilapidated wooden house on the left.
"That scared the hell out of me! Thank goodness I didn't lay a hand on that guy, or I'd be dead here too."
An Yanshi patted his chest and said.
He had laid an ambush here beforehand, intending to launch a surprise attack and seize the secret manual.
Who would have thought that a man in a straw hat would arrive even earlier than him.
Of course, she died even earlier than him.
"Hey, Brother An, you're here too! What a coincidence!"
From inside the tiled house on the right, Xing Liwei's eunuch-like voice drifted out.
In the auction hall, Xing Liwei did not place a single bid.
He had no intention of paying; he was only thinking about killing people and stealing their goods.
Unfortunately, no matter how well the plan was made, it all fell through when it came to actual implementation.
"Just who is that guy? How come he has the Night Owl Gang protecting him all this way?"
Xing Liwei murmured.
"Brother An, can you see any clues?"
An Yanshi was dejected and didn't want to talk to him at all.
The Five Spirits Health Cultivation Technique is doomed, and the old patriarch is in serious trouble. What will become of his business?
Chen Yu and the man in black walked side by side and soon exited the city gate.
"My mission will be complete in another thirty miles."
The man in black said to Chen Yu.
"Our Night Owl Society's rule is that we can only escort distinguished guests up to thirty miles outside the city gates."
Chen Yu nodded and said, "The Night Owl Society is indeed reliable. Escorting guests thirty miles away is already quite generous. What ordinary triad offers this kind of guarantee?"
The man in black chuckled and said sincerely, "No, even a long-established underworld organization like the Night Owls doesn't have a rule that they're obligated to protect their guests."
"If it's inside the venue, of course we have to ensure the safety of every guest, but once they're outside, it's out of our control. Whether they live or die, whether money comes or goes, it all depends on their own abilities."
"It's not uncommon for people to be murdered and robbed right after they leave the venue, and even we, the Night Owls, can't do anything about it."
"But you are different."
At this point, the man in black paused, his clear eyes looking at Chen Yu again.
"Your first visit to the venue has already cost you over ten thousand taels of silver. For our Night Owl Society, you are an extremely valuable customer."
"For a distinguished guest like you, there will definitely be some special treatment."
"What kind of special treatment?"
Chen Yu asked.
"The most basic requirement is safety. I will follow and protect you within 30 miles outside Wangjiang City."
"Anything else?"
Chen Yu stared at her and continued to ask.
"And... uh, and this black robe you're wearing, according to the rules, it has to be taken back when you appear, but I can give it to you for free now."
"this one?"
Chen Yu was speechless for a moment.
"I haven't thought about the rest yet..."
The man in black spoke frankly.
The two talked as they walked, and soon they passed through a grove of trees.
Ten breaths later, two more figures passed through the woods.
These two were none other than the medicine dealer, Granny Long, and her maid, Xiao Feng.
"What do you mean by 'megaphone'?"
"I asked the Dragon Lady."
Xiao Feng stretched out her index finger, and a dark red flying insect quickly landed on it.
After a moment, she slowly said, "This little guy said that the man in black is going to escort him to a place thirty miles outside the city."
"Just as I expected!"
Upon hearing this, the old woman's expression became even more excited.
"For Night Owl to be so interested, he must be a really fat sheep! If we devour him, we'll be set for life, maybe even living a life of luxury. Why would we need to come to this black market and do these shady things?"
Xiao Feng was also very happy: "After I finish this job, I'll retire from this life of crime, go back to my hometown, find a good husband, and get married."
"Don't think too much about it right now. Focus on the location of the attracting insects and don't lose them."
Luang Phor reminded him.
"Don't worry, Mother-in-law, I've been keeping an eye on it."
"The scent-attracting insects are still a mile, half a mile, thirty zhang, ten zhang away..."
Xiao Feng suddenly looked up.
"Wait, why are they getting closer and closer to us!"
Before she could finish speaking, the old woman suddenly stopped and stared ahead in terror.
Xiao Feng followed the gaze and saw two men in black rushing towards her.
"Bang! Bang!"
After two loud bangs, Xiao Feng felt everything go black and immediately fainted.
She didn't wake up again until a warm, wet current was poured over her head.
"Slap! Slap!"
As soon as she opened her eyes, she found herself wrapped in a rope, and two red marks on her face.
"Who gave you the audacity to plot against our Night Owl Society's distinguished guest?"
After slapping Xiao Feng, the man in black slapped Granny Long a few more times.
"Spare me! Spare me!"
"Waaaaah, I know I was wrong, please don't kill me!"
Although the old woman was tied to the tree, she still danced around and shouted.
"I heard everything you were plotting."
Chen Yu stepped out from behind the tree and said calmly.
"Innocent! Innocent! We were only after money, we never intended to kill!"
The old woman cried and sobbed.
"Distinguished guests, what should we do? Should we kill them?"
The man in black asked Chen Yu.
Chen Yu looked at her, saying such frightening things, yet his eyes still looked innocent.
"Let me think about what to do with these two pieces of trash..."
Before she could finish speaking, Luang Phor had a sudden inspiration and quickly shouted, "I'm not useless! I'm useful! What do you want? Or rather, what do you want me to do? I'll grant your wish! Please, spare my life!"
Seeing this, the man in black couldn't help but sneer, "Old woman, if I asked you to kill this little girl, would you do it?"
"Of course I'd do it! Just give the order, sir, and I'll finish her off myself!"
"I'm hysterical," said the patriarch.
"You crazy old hag, you're a heartless and ungrateful beast!"
Xiao Feng was so angry that she started cursing.
After the man in black, playing the white-faced role, finished his part, Chen Yu began to play the red-faced role.
"Alright, alright, don't get so worked up! If you behave well, I'll spare your lives."
After saying that, he turned to the old woman.
"Do you have any secret drug-making formulas? Or any antidote techniques? You've been in this business for so long, you should have seen these things before, right?"
Upon hearing this request, Luang Phor breathed a sigh of relief.
"What a coincidence! I happen to be carrying a copy of the 'Nine Revolutions Poison Dragon Technique.' Once mastered, it grants both the power to inflict penetrating poison and immunity to all poisons!"
After the old woman finished speaking, the man in black quickly searched her body and found the secret manual.
Chen Yu took a look and confirmed that it was indeed a technique that combined the creation and detoxification of poisons.
"Now you can let us go, right?"
The old woman asked tentatively.
"cannot."
The man in black preemptively vetoed the idea.
"This is far from enough."
As she spoke, she rummaged through the scattered medicine baskets and packages around her.
After searching for a while, they found a total of over a thousand taels of silver notes and three bottles of blood-nourishing pills.
"Consider these items compensation for disturbing this distinguished guest. Is that alright?"
The man in black waved his hand in front of the old woman's eyes.
"No, no problem, please take it!"
The old woman hurriedly called out.
The man in black handed the silver notes and pills to Chen Yu, and then untied the two women.
"Get out of here! Don't let me see you at the Night Owl Club for at least six months!"
"Out of consideration for this distinguished guest, this is just a warning. If this happens again, I guarantee you'll all die a horrible death!"
The man in black spoke in a rather cold tone.
"Thank you for sparing our lives, esteemed guests! We'll be leaving now!"
Grandma Long and Xiao Feng didn't dare to linger for a moment and immediately ran out of the woods.
After packing their belongings, Chen Yu and the man in black continued their journey towards Sunset City.
The man in black stopped about ten miles from Qinglan Mountain.
"Weren't you supposed to deliver it thirty li away? It's already over fifty li!"
Chen Yu asked, puzzled.
"Actually, our rule is to escort them fifty miles away. I knew someone was secretly following us, so I deliberately said thirty miles away, just to lure them out and catch them all in one fell swoop!"
The man in black put his hands on his hips and said smugly.
Chen Yu looked at her; she still seemed a bit silly.
But after spending time together, Chen Yu realized that she was far more complex than she appeared.
"Farewell, esteemed guest. We look forward to welcoming you back to Night Owl Club again!"
"May I ask your name?"
Chen Yu couldn't help but ask.
"My name is Gu Yuwei. The journey through the martial world is long; may we meet again someday!"
In the blink of an eye, the person was gone, leaving only a lingering echo.