Chapter 317: Is This Your Home?

Chapter 317: Is This Your Home?

Zhao Changhe paid no more heed to Yang Qianyuan and swiftly entered the stone house.

The outer room had already been emptied by Tian Lingzi, the hidden door passage conspicuously visible. Passing through the passage and entering, he saw at a glance an even larger space, in the center of which stood a furnace. The fire had long been extinguished, yet a faint radiance emanated from within, so bright that even the sealed copper furnace could not contain it—clearly a treasure lay inside.

If the furnace contained pills, they could truly be called immortal elixirs.

Beside the furnace sat a skeleton cross-legged, its bones a dark green, like a model carved from jade... It seemed the person had died of poisoning, or perhaps had cultivated poison to such a state.

A pill refiner, on the verge of completing his elixir, had suddenly succumbed to poison, leaving the medicine in the furnace...

When the era collapsed, had the strange power of the furnace's elixir protected the space's independence?

That was rather terrifying—what kind of pill could achieve such an effect? Or was there something else?

It was unclear whether the skeleton bore anything else, for at that moment, countless members of the Money Gang, including their leader Qian, were gathered around it, wailing and rolling on the ground, obstructing the view.

Yet no one could approach within three meters of the skeleton and furnace, forming a bizarre three-meter protected zone.

As if precisely calculated, within the distance from the entrance to three meters from it, the poison in the air had fully permeated and struck with precision.

Those truly knowledgeable, like Poison Spider, sensed something amiss the moment they entered the passage and immediately withdrew to capture others for testing... Unfortunately, Qian Bangzhu and his men were not versed in poison; they had no idea, and by the time they realized poison had entered their bodies, it was too late.

In the brief time Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi had been observing, the Money Gang members had gone from agonized wails to rolling on the ground, then to lacking even the strength to roll, leaving only faint groans.

All had fallen...

Not to mention them—even Xia Chichi, who had already broken through the Secret Treasury, could not detect any poison in the air. It was utterly colorless, odorless, with no special characteristics. Only by deliberately maintaining inner vision could one perceive toxins seeping through the skin, which were dissolved by the Huichun Jue transmitted through Zhao Changhe's hand before they could take effect.

Zhao Changhe himself was not well-versed in poison, but with his preparations and the Huichun Jue, he could easily sense clearly. The poison in the air was indeed growing thinner; even without the Huichun Jue, he estimated that his and Chichi's poison resistance could hold out for a good while.

He figured that if a few more people were thrown in to absorb the poison, it would truly vanish completely...

Just as he thought this, Yang Qianyuan's cry came from outside: "Tian Lingzi! You... ah!"

The sound abruptly cut off.

Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi decisively put on an act, curling up on the ground and pretending to be unconscious.

The next moment, screams rang out in succession as the Money Gang members guarding outside were thrown in one by one.

Tian Lingzi, searching outside for Poison Spider in vain, was baffled. Without Poison Spider, how could he judge whether the poison here had dissipated? Should he go in himself to test?

But on second thought, wasn't Poison Spider's absence a good thing? One less person to share the spoils. The pill was likely only one!

With a flicker of thought, Tian Lingzi turned back and threw Yang Qianyuan and the other gatekeepers inside to test the poison level.

Sure enough, those thrown in took longer to show poisoning symptoms, clearly indicating the poison was nearly gone.

Overjoyed, Tian Lingzi finally threw in Yang Qianyuan.

Yang Qianyuan looked at the people lying haphazardly all over the ground, his face ashen, thinking his life was over... But after a few breaths, nothing happened. A few more breaths, still nothing.

The poison had completely dissipated!

Yang Qianyuan was both shocked and delighted, nearly laughing uproariously.

What was a child of destiny?

This was!

Even more delighted than him was Tian Lingzi, who burst in with a wild laugh: "After all my scheming, today is finally the day."

His gaze fell on Qian Bangzhu, who was not yet dead, curled up among the pile of people, with sweat beading like soybeans, enduring in extreme pain, without even the strength to speak.

Tian Lingzi approached him with a smile, and with a "crack," stepped on Qian Bangzhu's shoulder, crushing it completely: "How does it feel?"

Qian Bangzhu's scream was feeble, and he groaned lowly: "I was blinded by greed... If you have the guts, give me a quick death. What kind of hero tortures people?"

Seeing that Tian Lingzi paid him no attention, Yang Qianyuan slipped away.

Tian Lingzi indeed couldn't be bothered with a small fry like Yang Qianyuan. Hearing Qian Bangzhu's words, instead of granting a quick death, he grabbed the other hand and began crushing it inch by inch from the finger bones: "I, Tian Lingzi, have never been a hero. Is this the first day you've known?"

Qian Bangzhu held on with his last breath, staring fixedly at the passage entrance.

He had a backer, but that backer had yet to appear to help. Qian Bangzhu thought perhaps his backer had fallen to Poison Spider, and the more he looked, the more despairing he became, until he finally breathed his last.

Zhao Changhe suspected that the so-called backer simply didn't care about his life or death, but was waiting for Tian Lingzi to test whether the skeleton and furnace held any traps before making a move...

Seeing Qian Bangzhu dead, Tian Lingzi couldn't be bothered to torture the other Money Gang members. Instead, he glanced at Zhao Changhe with a smile: "I was afraid you two might be the mantis stalking the cicada, but it turns out you're fools too, following me in to get poisoned. Where is Poison Spider?"

Zhao Changhe said nothing, while Xia Chichi simply pretended to be unconscious.

Tian Lingzi laughed: "If she had died at your hands, the Luanshi Shu would have announced it. So it seems she was wounded by you and hid away. That's not a bad thing—the poison mist is gone, and I have no further use for her. I'll take sole possession."

Zhao Changhe sighed: "Even if you take sole possession, Poison Spider will come after you later."

"That's not your concern." Tian Lingzi bent down and pulled him up, sealing Zhao Changhe's acupoint with a finger, then pushed him toward the jade-green skeleton: "Go and retrieve the items on it."

The jade-green skeleton was clearly covered in poison; most likely the poison in this space emanated from it. Tian Lingzi dared not touch it, so naturally he needed a scapegoat.

Zhao Changhe was shoved toward the jade-green skeleton. Xia Chichi, behind the two, slightly opened her eyes and saw Zhao Changhe wave a hand behind his back, signaling not to rush.

Originally, they had planned to rise up and kill Tian Lingzi, but since Tian Lingzi showed no interest in her beauty and didn't torture Zhao Changhe, instead sending him to test the poison... there was indeed no hurry, so Xia Chichi quietly watched the show.

Zhao Changhe crouched beside the jade-green skeleton and carefully examined it.

At the cross-legged spot lay a thin booklet titled "Baicao Dujing" (Hundred Herbs Poison Classic), which seemed to have been placed against the chest and fallen when the clothes decayed. Besides that, various items were scattered about—gold, silver, pearls, jade, and a small jade-green token, likely an identity plaque.

Tian Lingzi urged: "Bring it over!"

Zhao Changhe silently handed the poison classic and token to Tian Lingzi. Tian Lingzi wrapped his hand in true qi and received them, laughing heartily: "Zhao Changhe indeed knows when to yield. No wonder you've been thriving. Go, open the furnace."

Zhao Changhe reached out and lifted the furnace lid, but it wouldn't budge. He was somewhat surprised: "It won't open... It feels as if it's cast as one piece."

"What furnace lid is cast as one piece?" Tian Lingzi didn't believe it. "Are you putting on an act? Didn't you actually use any strength?"

Zhao Changhe gave him a helpless look: "Try striking it with a palm from a distance and you'll see."

Tian Lingzi picked up the sword of Qian Bangzhu from the ground and flung it, accurately inserting it between the lid and the body.

With a "clang," the sword was deflected, but the lid remained unmoved, completely unopenable.

Tian Lingzi began to wonder: "Is it not enough force?"

Zhao Changhe thought to himself: Indeed, it requires the power of a dragon-elephant.

His "acupoint sealed" naturally left him powerless, and Tian Lingzi wouldn't help him unseal it. So Tian Lingzi finally gathered his true qi and pushed with all his might.

The moment his true qi erupted, his meridians twisted in excruciating pain. A poison that had been lurking in his body, unknown when it entered, lay dormant when true qi was still, but once stirred, it raged like a tempest.

Tian Lingzi had no idea where this poison came from and let out a pained grunt.

At the same time, a chill surged from behind. Xia Chichi, who had seemed unconscious, suddenly thrust her sword at his back. Beside him, Zhao Changhe, who had appeared docile after being acupoint-sealed, drew his Longque blade as if nothing was wrong and slashed at his neck.

Even with his meridians in agony and chaos from the poison, Tian Lingzi managed to deflect the Longque with a backhand and sidestep Xia Chichi's thrust, displaying extraordinary cultivation—even stronger than Poison Spider!

But Xia Chichi was no longer the same as yesterday. His dodge was not complete; the Bingpo sword followed like a shadow, still slicing across his ribs, leaving a long gash. The sharp Baihu sword qi erupted violently, causing Tian Lingzi to scream again as he retreated to a corner, clutching his ribs and gasping.

The pair of scoundrels raised their blade and sword together, closing in from both sides.

"You weren't acupoint-sealed at all!" Tian Lingzi was utterly incredulous. "Not sealed, and not poisoned—is this place your home or something?"

Zhao Changhe was taken aback by the question, then laughed: "Maybe."

Tian Lingzi was practically laughing in anger: "Since neither of you was poisoned, why didn't you strike when I let my guard down? Instead, you deliberately let me seal your acupoint—what a pointless waste of effort!"

"Old friend..." Zhao Changhe smiled slightly. "Poison Spider is ranked fifty-eighth on the Renbang and masters astonishing poison arts. Why would someone like that cooperate with you and follow your arrangements to ambush Chichi? It seems you were the one taking the lead."

Tian Lingzi said nothing.

Zhao Changhe said, "This only proves that you are not at all the ordinary district gang leader who appears to swallow his pride under Chief Qian's coercion. Your true strength is no less than Poison Spider's, if not greater. My wife and I were not confident in ambushing such an expert, so of course we had to let you weaken a bit more first."

Tian Lingzi examined the toxin inwardly, utterly incredulous: "But how was I poisoned?"

Zhao Changhe pointed at the ink jade token in his left hand: "Since you now know that the two of us are in the poison yet unharmed, can you not figure it out? Some things I can touch, but you cannot. Using me to test the poison would be pointless."

Tian Lingzi angrily flung the token to the ground. The jade struck the floor with a crisp sound, not even a corner chipped.

Zhao Changhe said calmly, "Chichi detests you. The two of us put on this act not to take anything, but merely to kill you."