Poison Genius Consort

The black-robed woman didn’t see Chu Xifeng as a threat, but Tang Li’s weapons gave her a headache. It was impossible for her to defend effectively against them, which was why she couldn’t help Chu Tianyin.

“We only bully old women like you, so what?” Tang Li lost all his elegance whenever he opened his mouth. As he spoke, he tossed out two more strange weapons, but the woman only managed to dodge one. The other sank into her shoulder---a dart. Still, she bore on bravely and released a cloud of arrows just like Chu Tianyin, each of them twice as powerful as his.

Neither Chu Xifeng nor Tang Li could block them all, so they simply opted to get out of the way. By now, Long Feiye had already completely overwhelmed Chu Tianyin. He was about to slash the man when the black-robed woman shot an arrow at him from the side. Long Feiye swerved out of the way, but the sword in his hands didn’t stop. It merely changed direction to slice off a few strands of Chu Tianyin’s hair.

Once again, Long Feiye stabbed towards Chu Tianyin, who hastily dodged the thrust. The black-robed woman prepared to shoot again when a single bristly bramble suddenly shot out from the undergrowth and twined around her wrists, trapping the arrow in her hands.

“What’s that?”

“A vine?” 

Both Chu Xifeng and Tang Li were shocked, but so was Han Yunxi. Gu Qishao stood there and grinned wickedly without saying a word. He had finally found some suitable earth to plant his seed. It was about time he showcased a few secret skills of his own.

“Witch Aunt!” Chu Tianyin cried out.

So this woman really was the famed Witch Aunt from the other old woman’s lips!

The Witch Aunt was quite calm as she snapped back, “Hold fast to your arrows! A cheap trick like this won’t stop your Witch Aunt!” So speaking, the vine that was binding her hands suddenly shriveled up and withered, along with the one holding her weapon hostage. As the plant fell towards the ground, Witch Aunt held onto a massive arrow and pulled back on her invisible bow, aiming for Long Feiye.

“You dared to poison this old man’s thorny vine!” Gu Qishao was enraged as he tossed another seed. Once again, the vine grew wildly upwards, tying Witch Aunt up seconds before she released the arrow. Unfortunately, her poison arts were so formidable that she had been able to soundlessly poison the vine almost as soon as it grabbed her.

As soon as the vine made contact with her, it wilted. Gu Qishao refused to believe his luck and kept trying with multiple vines, but all of them had died from poison at Witch Aunt’s hands. He could only lament the loss of all those seeds!

Witch Aunt had long discovered what Gu Qishao was up to and gave him a supercilious look. “Insignificant skills! You’re only making a fool of yourself!”

Gu Qishao was so angry that he grit his teeth, but it was then that Han Yunxi murmured, “Old fiend, keep it up.”

“This old man’s only got three seeds left,” Gu Qishao had to tell the truth. It was easy enough to use them, but raising them took extreme effort!

“One will be enough. Let me play with it first,” Han Yunxi smiled coldly.

Gu Qishao was doubtful, but Han Yunxi was already sticking out her hand. “Hand it over, what are you hesitating for?” 

He was willing to give her everything without her asking for anything, much less now. Gu Qishao happily handed over a seed to Han Yunxi, who toyed with it briefly in her hand before returning it to Gu Qishao. “Why don’t you try it now.”

Quite obedient, Gu Qishao tossed out the seed, which once again sprouted into a vine that flew up towards Witch Aunt. She had ignored it completely as she dodged Tang Li’s weapons while drawing her invisible bow towards Long Feiye. Yet, this time, the vine didn’t die from her poisons. It climbed onto her back instead. Alarmed, Witch Aunt looked back to see the vine spreading from her back to pin her completely in place, leaving her motionless. She had clearly used a hypertoxic poison against the thing that was many times stronger than the poisons before it.

But why did this happen?

Witch Aunt couldn’t believe it. She then tried poisoning the vine again, but it only held her tighter instead of dying. Finally, she looked towards Han Yunxi, the only culprit capable of performing such a feat. Even though she was tied up fast, she still asked with a superior air, “How….how did you counter the poison?”

Han Yunxi was standing below Witch Aunt, but her attitude was no less arrogant. She arched a delicate brow and shot back, “What, you still haven’t figured it out yet?”

“You!” Witch Aunt fumed. She was considered one of the founding members of the poison community, yet she’d never been so humiliated by a junior before. 

“Looks like you really can’t tell. With skills like this, you still want to fool around?” Han Yunxi was definitely angering her to death. Witch Aunt’s face was even turning green with rage, but she still couldn’t believe it. How could Han Yunxi have made an antidote within the few seconds I used my poison? Moreover, her toxin was both colorless and scentless. Han Yunxi hadn’t even touched the dead vines! How could she figure out what kind of poison it is?

Witch Aunt tried another poison, yet the vine didn’t react at all. Fear grew in her heart, but she refused to admit it and tried ten successive poisons in turn. Still, the vine didn’t move yet held her fast, like a thing immune to hundreds of poisons. 

“Impossible!” she raged again, before using all the poisons she had at the same time. But the results left her broken and even filled with dread. The vine didn’t react at all! 

Would bystanders be able to understand a match between top level poison masters? Only Witch Aunt herself and Han Yunxi knew exactly how many poisons she had managed to use in those brief seconds. By now, Han Yunxi was laughing so hard that her stomach hurt. Gu Qishao couldn’t tell what was going on and kept asking, “Han Yunxi, how did you do it?”

Han Yunxi wouldn’t tell the true answer to that. Actually, she had figured out all the poisons Witch Aunt was carrying long ago. Just then, she’d managed to place their antidotes in the seed she’d touched, so no matter which poison Witch Aunt used from her stores, it wouldn’t have affected the plant.

Witch Aunt glared at Han Yunxi before she finally managed to stop laughing. “If you still have any poisons left, you may keep going, ah!” Han Yunxi shot back.

Witch Aunt was stunned. Just what does she mean by that? Does she already know I’ve used up all the poisons I have? Witch Aunt didn’t dare to say any more, but still tried using various poisons. Without them, she couldn’t struggle free from the vine.

“Auntie, you should save a bit of your poisons. Those are all hypertoxic types, it’s such a shame to waste them all,” Han Yunxi grinned.

Witch Aunt felt both humiliated and furious that her little secret had been exposed. “Damned girl, if you have the skills then let me down! We’ll fight openly!”

“I wasn’t the one who trapped you. I really don’t have the skills to let you down,” Han Yunxi said honestly.

Witch Aunt was almost angry enough to spit up blood, but it was at this moment that Chu Tianyin crashed into her before bouncing back again. It was obvious that he’d been kicked into her body. With her trapped, Chu Tianyin had lost his ally. Why wouldn’t Long Feiye kick him now?

Oppressed to the breaking point, Chu Tianyin had no choice but to keep dodging as he retreated---up to the point Long Feiye kicked him. By now, both Tang Li and Chu Xifeng had withdrawn from the battle. Gu Qishao wasn’t making a move either. All of them knew that Long Feiye had long wanted to teach Chu Tianyin a lesson, so they’d let him vent to his heart’s content. 

In the air by Witch Aunt’s side, Chu Tianyin spat up a mouthful of fresh blood. Witch Aunt was better in the Driving Arrow Arts than him, yet helpless to save him. The sight of him made her heart ache. Still, Chu Tianyin wouldn’t admit defeat so easily. He wiped away the blood by his lips and sent a massive wave of arrows at Long Feiye once again. Long Feiye allowed him to shoot as he wished, his eyes cold as they burned like hellfires with his disdain for Chu Tianyin. Chu Tianyin couldn’t stand his scorn and grit his teeth, causing all of his arrows to quiver in anticipation.

“Long Feiye, go die!” Chu Tianyin released his storm of powerful arrows as they all whistled towards his opponent. But Long Feiye didn’t even move. Only the sword in his hand did. As multiple arrows approached, his weapon made a clang as a wave of red sword qi split through the mass and broke each and every arrow. At the same time, he flew out from inside the assault and struck Chu Tianyin viciously against the chest with his heel, sending him flying again!

Before Chu Tianyin could land on the ground, Long Feiye’s figure flickered to reappear in front of him again. Chu Tianyin didn’t understand. This fellow could clearly kick him to the ground in one blow, so why didn’t he?

“Long Feiye, what’s the meaning of this?”

“This!” As Long Feiye spoke, his second kick slammed into Chu Tianyin’s body. Once again, he spat up a mouthful of blood before crashing heavily into the ground. He finally realized that Long Feiye was tormenting him on purpose, but it was too late. Because he was too severely injured, he couldn’t even crawl to his feet. Usually, Long Feiye got to the point very quickly. As Gu Qishao could attest, a single kick from Long Feiye was enough to leave a person grounded from their injuries. His three kicks for Chu Tianyin was simply paying back his debts nice and slowly.

Now he picked up a fallen arrow from the ground and approached him expressionlessly. Chu Tianyin stared at Long Feiye as he struggled to speak. In the end, it was Witch Aunt who raged, “Duke of Qin, it’s always the losers who are in the wrong. If you want to kill, then do as you will! But just get to the point!”

Even an idiot could tell that Long Feiye was in no hurry to finish the job, so her words were absolutely worthless. Long Feiye simply ignored her. But Witch Aunt was only stalling for time to protect Chu Tianyin. “Long Feiye, let us go and the Earth of Ten-Thousand Poisons will be yours.”

Before they set the fire to burn the rest of the soil, they had naturally saved some for themselves. It was a vital ingredient to break through the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion, after all. Long Feiye simply continued to ignore her, so Gu Qishao couldn’t help but say, “Auntie, we don’t need it. You can keep it for yourself.”

He had spent all that effort to preserve his own patch of soil that he really didn’t care about others’ share. 

“You all must have come to the underground palace for the sake of Perplexing Butterfly Illusion. Release us and I’ll tell you about its whereabouts,” Witch Aunt said next. 

Besides Long Feiye, everyone else was secretly laughing to themselves. By now, he had already reached Chu Tianyin. At this, Witch Aunt expended a tremendous amount of internal energy and broke through the vine by force, before suddenly shooting a flurry of arrows at Long Feiye. Caught off-guard, Long Feiye dodged at the same time Witch Aunt grabbed Chu Tianyin and prepared to flee.

Gu Qishao, Tang Li, and Chu Xifeng immediately rushed forward to block her way, while Long Feiye trapped her from the other end. As the hovered on the edge of a fight, a restless stir rose up from the woods. Very soon, a large mass of bats flew out of the forest, covering the skies with their bodies. Everyone was stunned by the sudden change and grew tense. These bats were larger than usual, so they couldn’t be common creatures. 

Witch Aunt supported Chu Tianyin as she said coldly, “Long Feiye, these are extremely dangerous bloodsucking poison bats. If you want to live, we can only choose to cooperate.”

Yet Han Yunxi simply snorted in contempt. “No need!”