Poison of the Human Panacea
Chapter 21
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The movement he made was not the movement of "Di Yu Shi Jiu Bian". It was a movement he had just created based on the abilities of the enemy in front of him. The movement was powerful and unstoppable, and the a.s.sa.s.sin soon realized the situation was turning against him. He exercised qinggong out in a hurry, swiftly avoiding Bai Tan"s attack.
Once Bai Tan made the decision to kill, he will not let his target off easily, and so he persistently chased after the a.s.sa.s.sin until he reached the city wall.
Li Wuzhang heard the noise and hurried out of his room. Then he saw a shadow dash into Bai Tan"s room which then captured the yao ren and flew into the sky. The shadow turned out to be a gigantic eagle. Bai Tan exclaimed as he witnessed the incident, "Wuzhang! Do not let him get kidnapped!"
Before Bai Tan could finish his sentence, dozens of people jumped on to the city wall and encircled Bai Tan. So, it was a planned attack after all.
Dozens of these people were in Xiongnu attire. The weapons they used were in odd and unique shapes, with most of them being crossbows used for sneak attacks. Bai Tan clenched on tight to the hook and ax in his two hands, then scanned around once and was able to guess seven to eight parts of this whole ordeal. He looked towards the direction of the person that attacked him and sneered coldly, "Is it possible that you people are all from Xi Jiang[1]?"
The other person gave a slight smile then took off his felt hat, revealing a young male"s handsome face under the moon with the distinguished bronze skin tone of the Da Yue Clan[2] from Xi Jiang. He was also born with a pair of blue eyes, and this person was the third Tang Zhu of Yue Yin Palace, known as the "Ghost Envoy of Soul Hooking." He was able to use the Meridian Soul Hooking Claw with extremely high skill. He looked at him with lights in his eyes. "At such a young age, this little beauty is still gifted with such unique talents."
——It was true that they"ve met before back in the Yue Yin Palace when he was dressed as a dancer to kill the Yue Yin Palace Gong Zhu. The other mistook him for an actual female and had also teased him with words before.
Then this time he was also dressed like a dancer, and it was truly an awkward subject.
"Oh? But why don"t I* remember you?" Bai Tan swallowed down a mouthful of blood that"d surged up to his throat and stood still in the same spot with no expression shown. The zhen qi in his body was now in a mess again and he could barely control it.
The blue-eyed man carefully studied him up and down and purposely lingered at the sight of the thin layered skirt that swayed along in the wind. "Sect Leader Bai, what a gorgeous pair of legs. I wonder how it would feel for them to be wrapped around someone"s waist?"
Bai Tan knew that the other was provoking him on purpose. The air in him was already in a mess now, causing his meridian to have a blockage. If he forcefully tried to make it move, it would only cost himself to go berserk and lose control of his own power[3]. So, he could only force himself to withstand the shame and anger. He then took out a pill[4] he had on him and consumed it to calm his mind. "If you are here to steal someone from me*, I suggest you take that thought back immediately."
"Stealing someone is one of the reasons." The man whistled then the gianitic eagle flew down and dropped the person it captured from earlier behind him. Bai Tan looked over and saw the yao ren"s body covered in fresh blood with his white hair scattered in a mess as he laid on the floor barely breathing. On his back were five terrifying scratch marks, making his breath tighten in an instant.
"As for the second reason, naturally it is for the treasure map. Since Wu Yanfu is dead, the item would be in your care."
"Sect Leader, be careful." Li Wuzhang leaped and landed behind him, then Ji Du followed after.
Bai Tan scanned over the two behind him then said with a sharp look, "I* burned it. Haven"t you heard?"
"Do you think you"re tricking a little kid? If you don"t hand over the treasure map, then I"m gonna kill him!" The blue-eyed man rolled his eyes and picked up the yao ren as the tip of his claw pointed at his throat.
The yao ren coughed a bit then panted weakly. He didn"t even have the energy to lift his head.
Bai Tan shot a glance at him. "You can kill him all you want. I, Bai Tan, hate it most when others threaten me. As for the treasure map, if I said I don"t have it, then I don"t have it. Even if you ask me for it a hundred times, I still don"t have it."
The blue-eyed man coldly crooned and spoke in an odd tone, "Huh, what a heartless, ungrateful[5], little devil that deceives their master to annihilate him! Also, he"s your savior, right? Just for you, a high-up Tang Zhu had fallen down to this stage. It is truly a shame towards our sect – might as well clean out the trash now."
Bai Tan felt as if he had been struck by lightning as his whole body shook and asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
Just when he was about to continue asking, a loud shout came from behind him. Then Ji Du and Li Wuzhang ran up to attack in unison.
The blue-eyed man saw that the fishes had taken the bait, so he grabbed the yao ren then leaped down the city wall. Bai Tan immediately chased after with both Li Wuzhang and Ji Du as they followed him at the same time the rest of the others started fighting against each other.
The sand in the desert sky was dancing violently at this time and no matter how good of a skill one had, it was hard to avoid being dragged down by it. Bai Tan calmed his nerves and forced his neili to come out to fling the Shiyue Hook out to block the attacks from the few that surrounded him. Then, with one hand carrying the Pori Ax, he attacked towards the blue-eyed man. Seeing that he could not avoid the sudden brutal attack, the blue-eyed man did not move but swung his arm as a cold light flashed from his sleeve and sharp claws appeared in his hand. The moment it appeared, it was extremely fierce, as if it was a mad jiao[6] surging out of the sea and a vigorous dragon coming down the mountain. It cried the wails of a ghost and the howls of a wolf; the wind the claw produced was enough to sweep up a black hurricane-like swirl from the sand in the sky and it attacked Bai Tan head on!
But Bai Tan only used Tiannu Guayue[7] in return. He leaned his body to flip backwards and dodged the attack easily. To rid of further complications, with a sound of "ka" he swiftly cut off the metal chains and swung the Soul Chasing Claw back fiercely. "These c.r.a.ppy chicken claws of yours – I"ll return them the way they came!"
The blue-eyed man caught the broken claw then suddenly felt the bone in his arm stunned by extreme pain, making him take a few steps back with an immediate change of expression. That"s when he knew he had underestimated that person. The Bai Tan now could not be compared to the past him. How was he the little boy toy from that year? Even if the Lao Gong Zhu was still alive, it did not seem like he could beat him either.
Just as he was hesitating, he heard a soft moan beside his ear, "Lian Jiu…with only the power of your Tang by itself, you can"t beat them. Don"t rush – wait for them to drop their guard. For now, hide away from the danger first."
Lian Jiu was shocked then happy; tears filled his eyes from the endless emotions mixed together. Taking advantage of the loud wind, he responded in a low voice next to Wu Yanfu"s ear, "Da"ge[8], when you come back, the position of Gong Zhu will be yours with no doubt."
As he finished talking, he stuffed some kind of item into his hand then swung his sleeve for an item that emitted phosph.o.r.escence light. He called back the few others after not wanting to continue the battle anymore, and they all disappeared within the sand in an instant.
Bai Tan saw that they left the yao ren behind, so he didn"t have the heart to chase after them anymore. Instead, he took quick steps forward, only to realize the odd smelling phosphorus powder which looked like a sky full of b.u.t.terflies dancing disorderly in the wild wind, landing on his face. He quickly used his sleeve to wipe his mouth and nose then rushed over to support the yao ren up. Wu Yanfu lifted his eyelids and saw the sight of the wild wind lifting up the youth"s raven black hair. That pair of gorgeous phoenix eyes were full of worry and shock while looking at him; even though the face that was as pale as snow was full of sand grains, it was still somehow able to move one"s heart.
Maybe it was because the emotions were not for him, Wu Yanfu"s heart felt as if it was being twisted like a towel by someone, and he reached out a hand to caress the youth"s cheek and quietly muttered the word "master". Bai Tan looked at him with furrowed brows. His mouth opened a bit, but before he could make a sound, he turned his head to the side and spit out a whole mouthful of fresh blood, staining the sand floor below his feet red.
He had already reached his limit with the last trick and to endure another one would be too hard. The zhen qi, which was already in a mess, has now become harder to control to where he didn"t even have the strength to stand up.
Bai Tan used the ax hilt as a support and carried him on his back, but then both of his legs went soft and his whole body fell forward.
Wu Yanfu unconsciously embraced him tightly with fingers squeezing abruptly.
"Sect leader!" Li Wuzhang was shocked at the sight and fled towards them.
Suddenly, with a rumbling sound of explosion, the surrounding area collapsed and created a huge hole. The quicksand all around him instantly formed a swirl, and Bai Tan picked up the yao ren, wanting to jump out of it, but he was already at his limit. So he sank down along with the sand then was immediately buried by the sand waves.
Translator: Crispyfry
Proofreader: CSChick911
QC: Xiao
Xiao"s Comments: I bet Bai Tan looked gorgeous in that dancer"s outfit…
Translator"s Notes:
[1] Xi Jiang – 西疆, literally means Western Border
[2] Da Yue Clan – 大月氏族, literally means Big Moon Clan
[3] "go berserk and lose control of his own power" – 走火入魔, literally means "walk (into the) fire, enter demonic (way)" it is a common saying in Xuan Huan and Wu Xia novels where one loses their sanity due to things such as having their neili being blocked and it could do damage to both their mental and physical health, it can also go as far as making one crippled or dead (especially by suicide when one loses their logic and sanity in the moment of heat)
[4] Pill – 金创药, literally means "gold/metal harm medicine" meaning to heal the wound that"s caused by a (metal) weapon, at the same time it"s a common name for different medicine that could be used as a painkiller, antibiotic, stanch bleeding, and in the text it is used for Bai Tan to calm his nerves.
[5] Ungrateful – 忘恩负义, specifically describes a person who bites the hand that fed them, referring to what Bai Tan had done to Wu Yanfu
[6] Jiao – 蛟, a mythical sea dragon (see; #Aquatic_dragon)
[7] Tiannu Guayue – 天女挂月, literally translates to "heavenly girl hanging moon"
[8] Da"ge – 大哥, literally means "big brother", can be a friendly way of addressing an unrelated senior and here it is used to show respect and status
*The use of "I" or "me" makes a reference to Bai Tan"s position or suggest a high rank.
Chapter 22