Su Muqing threw the iron plate smeared with juice onto the pristine patch of grass. If any other living creature accidentally stumbled into this place later, they might be able to save themselves with the iron plate.
She released Leng Ren and Leng Feng from her space. After carefully tending to their wounds, she let them rest properly. Then, at a distance from them, she let the black bear out.
They were separated by a large section of cut poisonous grass, making it difficult for the black bear to easily jump over. Alternatively, it could choose another direction, crossing the uncut grassland to escape to other parts of the forest.
Seeing the black bear’s injuries, Su Muqing, feeling a sense of acquaintance, cut another piece of honey. She dripped some spirit spring water onto it and then flew above its head. "Eat this, and then you can go! You've already eaten more than half of the honey."
The black bear instinctively stood up on its hind legs, opening its mouth wide and extending its front paws as if to reach for her. Su Muqing threw the honey into its mouth and then turned to fly away.
By the time she landed and rejoined Lu Yuzhi and the others, it was already noon. Su Muqing brought out Little Milk Bag and Fei La, and they all ate something together. After a short rest, the group resumed their journey over the mountains.
Little did they know that not long after they had left, the black bear returned to the patch of grass. It picked up the iron plate that Su Muqing had discarded and examined it back and forth. Finally, it simply sat down in its original spot and began to fiddle with it.
The group climbed for several more hours, reaching what was basically the halfway point of the mountain. In such a deep, wild mountain forest that had basically no human footsteps, every step required extreme caution. You never knew what you might encounter in the next moment.
They had made it halfway without incident. Suddenly, Su Muqing, feeling playful, reached out and pulled a branch overhead, intending to imitate Tarzan.
However, as soon as she gripped the branch, she felt an odd texture. It was nothing like the rough feel of bark. Furthermore, the branch twitched, and then began to struggle.
Su Muqing slowly ascended, then focused her gaze. A pair of round, small eyes stared at her intently, and the spot she was gripping slowly changed color.
In the instant Su Muqing was stunned, something “splat!” – a fast flick – hit her face. Although the sensation was wet and soft, it landed precisely on her right cheekbone.
Damn it! That really hurt!
“Ah! Chameleon!” Su Muqing, after clearly identifying it, yelped and hastily withdrew her hand, falling straight down.
Lu Yuzhi and the others saw her fly upwards and thought she was going to scout the path ahead again. When they heard her scream, before they could even understand what was happening, she had already fallen to the ground.
The three of them rushed over quickly. Lu Yuzhi pulled her up. Fortunately, the ground was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves and decaying branches, so the fall didn't hurt much. But had she landed face-first? Why was there a red and blue bruise on her right cheek?
It turned out that a super-sized chameleon had been lurking on the branch. She had unintentionally gripped its body, which was why it had flicked its tongue to attack her!
It was likely that the chameleon was terrified at that moment. Everyone was encountering this situation for the first time!
Su Muqing stood up and patted the dust off her clothes. Fortunately, the chameleon’s tongue had hit her face. If it had shot into her mouth, she might have had psychological trauma for the rest of her life!
Lu Yuzhi watched the chameleon flee in a panic and disappear without a trace. "Why is there such a big lizard?"
"That's called a chameleon. It's a type of lizard. It can change its color according to its surroundings to conceal itself, making it easier to hunt prey," Su Muqing said, taking out an encyclopedia with colored illustrations and handing it to him. It detailed all sorts of reptiles and lizards.
Lu Yuzhi took the book and flipped through it. Although there were some differences in the text, by guessing and inferring, he was still able to understand the meaning smoothly.
Then, Lu Yuzhi became engrossed in the content. He held the thick book and walked while reading, his attention split between two tasks, yet he could still keep up with the others' pace. That was quite an excellent skill.
Around three o’clock in the afternoon, strange phenomena began to appear on the mountainside. The place where they were standing was still a jungle, but occasionally, dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves. However, further in, it was a pitch-black expanse, devoid of even a sliver of light, as if it had been forcibly split in two.
And a very large, old tree stood at the dividing line between these two areas. The diameter of its trunk was estimated to be over two meters wide, requiring about five adult men to embrace it together.
Su Muqing walked forward, observing the old tree from all sides, then turned to ask Lu Yuzhi, "Brother Lu, this tree must be at least several hundred to a thousand years old, right?"
Suddenly! Su Muqing noticed, on the side of the old tree's root, at the boundary between light and shadow, a green leaf bearing many small, red berries.
She quickened her pace. Before she could even squat down to verify her guess, several wild boars charged at them with brute force. Su Muqing quickly jumped up and then leaped over the backs of the wild boars like riding a horse.
Leng Feng’s whip “swished~,” securely binding the wild boars' front hooves. Immediately, fine spikes bloomed along the whip’s surface, piercing their flesh fiercely.
In fact, Leng Feng had underestimated the strength of these wild boars, which were as stout as small hills. Angered by the pain, it suddenly braked sharply, its strength so great that it flung him into the air.
Leng Ren, seeing him flung into mid-air, flew over with his sword. He swung his sword, aiming to chop at the wild boar's neck. However, it suddenly dodged, its agility almost unbelievable for a pig.
On the other side, Lu Yuzhi was also confronting another wild boar. It bared its tusks, its hooves pounding the ground without stopping. It snorted heavily through its nostrils, then charged forward.
The moment the boar charged, Lu Yuzhi sidestepped slightly, then delivered a powerful punch to its head. "Crack!" he heard the sound of bone shattering.
The wild boar was sent flying more than ten meters away before it struggled to its feet, but it was swaying unsteadily, its steps clearly weak and lacking power.
Most tragically, its lower jaw had been broken by Lu Yuzhi's punch. It hung lopsidedly by its mouth, still dripping blood. It looked quite pathetic…
While they were fighting, Su Muqing took the opportunity to probe what was buried beneath the soil. Once she saw what it was, her eyes crinkled with laughter.
"Everyone move aside, I'll handle them!" she shouted. The three of them quickly retreated, leaving the two enraged wild boars milling about.
Seeing their enemy disappear, leaving only one ahead, the wild boar’s eyes turned red. It quickly attacked.
Su Muqing, with her back to the old tree, waved her arm, sending a wall of wind blades in front of her. The boar in front, sensing danger, immediately stopped. As a result, the one charging from behind, unable to evade, crashed heavily into it.
Finally, both wild boars collided with the wind blade wall and were cut, bleeding profusely. Now they seemed somewhat frightened and retreated a few steps in a panic. Unexpectedly, another wind blade wall appeared behind them. Then, walls appeared on the left and right, trapping them.
Containing both wild boars within the wind blade walls, Su Muqing waved her hand, sending single wind blades towards their necks. The boar with the injured mouth was clearly less agile than the other.
Almost every blade Su Muqing threw, it failed to dodge. And each cut landed on its neck. Even with its thick bristles and tough hide, it couldn't withstand being cut for long.
Slowly, its blood flowed more and more, and its steps grew slower. Finally, it could no longer endure and collapsed onto the ground with a thud. It gasped for air with "crunch, crunch" sounds, unable to get up again.
Seeing its companion fall, the other wild boar stared at Su Muqing with bloodshot eyes. While quickly dodging the wind blades she threw, it endured the pain and charged out of the wind blade wall.
Well, well! It has some backbone!
Seeing it charge out with all its might, Su Muqing leaped to dodge. The wild boar crashed directly into the tree behind her, the immense impact causing the tree to sway slightly, shedding leaves.
Just then, Lu Yuzhi shouted, "Be careful! Quickly get…!"
Seeing that the wild boar was clearly no longer a threat, and before Su Muqing could relax, she suddenly heard Lu Yuzhi below yelling for her to be careful, his voice even cracking with urgency…
At this moment, Su Muqing was thinking of descending directly. However, her body did not synchronize with her brain. In mid-air, she instinctively turned around, and the consequence was tragic…
Before she could even clearly see what it was, she felt a sharp pain in her neck, then something wrapped around her waist. Even more terrifying was that she felt her body begin to go numb!
Lu Yuzhi and the others stood below, witnessing a black and red venomous snake, as thick as an adult's calf, suddenly attack Su Muqing. And all they could do was watch helplessly…
In fact, if Su Muqing hadn't turned back at this moment and had landed directly, she probably wouldn't have been bitten by the snake. Unfortunately, although her strength was considerable, her practical combat experience was rather poor.
Su Muqing, before her body was completely paralyzed, quickly reached back and gripped the unknown object biting her neck. Then, she infused her palm with lightning power, and with a "boom!" she directly electrocuted it until it was stiff.
However, although the snake was killed, its mouth was still biting Su Muqing's neck, and its tail was still tightly wrapped around her waist. After such a powerful electric shock, the snake's body had stiffened. Instead, it seemed to have been fixed in place, and she couldn't pull it off at all!
Taking two deep breaths, Su Muqing felt the numbness in her body intensifying. Her consciousness was also beginning to blur, and her vision was hazy. She wanted to mobilize the spirit spring water from her space to save herself, but she was completely unable to muster any strength.
Lu Yuzhi knelt beside her, trying to remove the snake from her body. However, he saw her eyelids drooping weakly, her gaze becoming unfocused. Her complexion was turning paler, even turning ashen, and dense cold sweat beaded on her forehead. This was not a good sign!
Therefore, Lu Yuzhi quickly took out the spirit spring water he had with him. He saw that he had used it on Fei La's external injuries earlier that morning, and now he only had a little left in his bottle.
He also took the bottles from Leng Ren and Leng Feng and gave Su Muqing a small bottle first. Seeing the grayish-blue tint on her face gradually recede, he felt a little more at ease.
This divine medicine truly had miraculous effects! Seeing her complexion improve and her lips regain their previous rosy hue, Lu Yuzhi quickly fed her all the remaining spirit spring water.
Leng Ren, holding three empty small bottles, couldn't help but remind Lu Yuzhi, "Young master, didn't Miss Su say that this divine medicine shouldn't be consumed in large quantities? You've given it all to her, will something go wrong?"
Lu Yuzhi's expression froze. Oh no! How could he have forgotten this? Muqing had said that this divine medicine could only be taken in its original form by poisoned individuals. And when taking it a second time, it was best to have a long interval. Otherwise, there would be side effects!
"Her constitution is different from ours, so… so she should be fine, right…" Lu Yuzhi felt a pang of self-reproach. What if something really happened to Su Muqing? He had been a bit too hasty just now, only thinking of quickly detoxifying her. And then…
What should he do now? Would it be too late to try and make her vomit it up?
The answer was clearly no! Because by this time, Su Muqing had already slowly woken up. If she saw him with his hand in her throat, she would surely kill him!
"Hiss~" Su Muqing tried to prop herself up to sit, but discovered something extra on her body.
Upon closer inspection, it was a charred, thick python! Seeing this terrifying soft-bodied animal, her slightly hazy consciousness instantly returned. She also recalled what had just happened.
Su Muqing took out a sharp dagger and fiercely slashed upwards from the snake's head. After cutting it off, she also cut open the section of the snake wrapped around her waist. The tender white snake meat was exposed, still somewhat translucent. It seemed it hadn't been fully cooked by the lightning.
Now, only the charred, dark red snake head remained stuck on her neck. Honestly, this look was quite unique! At least it would guarantee 100% attention!
Just as Su Muqing was preparing to remove the snake head, suddenly! Her stomach let out a series of gurgling sounds, accompanied by a strong cramping pain! Her expression changed drastically, as if she were suffering immense agony.
Seeing the pained expression on her face, Lu Yuzhi's heart skipped a beat. "Muqing, what's wrong? Is your body uncomfortable? Is it the divine… from just now?"
Hearing his concern, Su Muqing felt embarrassed. She felt like she needed to… diarrhea? Without waiting for Lu Yuzhi to finish speaking, she quickly flashed into her space and headed straight for the toilet!
What followed was a cacophony of… gongs and drums, firecrackers celebrating. The gates were opened, the flood was released, pouring out in a thousand miles!
(For the sake of the readers' sensory cleanliness, I will not provide detailed descriptions.)
Sitting on the toilet, Su Muqing, with nothing else to do, also pulled off the snake head from her neck. The stomach pain finally subsided. She put on her pants and walked out.
However, before she could even leave the bathroom, that suffocating feeling struck her again. Su Muqing "whoosh~"ed back into the toilet and continued to detoxify…
Finally! After going back and forth like this nineteen times, Su Muqing could no longer walk out. She crawled out of the toilet like a worm, inching along.
She feared she would die on the toilet if she didn't get out soon! She definitely didn't want to become the first deity envoy in history to die on the toilet. That would be too undignified!
Looking at the luxurious bathroom in front of her, Su Muqing wanted to slap herself twice! Who told her to build such a large toilet? It's so difficult to crawl out!
Whether alive or dead, she had to get out of the bathroom. That was her only stubborn thought now. Finally, relying on her incredible willpower, Su Muqing managed to crawl out of the toilet and then, exhausted as if she had run thirty thousand meters, collapsed on the grass, her arms too weak to even lift.
Fortunately, after finally crawling out, she no longer had the urge to relieve herself. She must have been completely depleted, with nothing left to expel.
Fei La had seen Su Muqing enter long ago. However, seeing her confined to the toilet, it hadn't approached. Seeing her finally emerge, it ran over to find her.
Upon seeing Su Muqing's strange movements, Fei La thought she was playing with it. So, it also imitated her, sticking its butt up and dragging its front legs forward with all its might.
Little Milk Bag managed to stand up and then shakily walked towards them. Seeing the person and the dog lying on the ground, with their butts sticking high up in strange postures, Little Milk Bag giggled happily.
Su Muqing was utterly exhausted. She turned her head and watched Fei La and Little Milk Bag play for a while. She had only intended to rest for a bit, but she ended up lying back on the grass and falling asleep.
Fei La and Little Milk Bag, tired from playing, saw that Su Muqing was asleep. So they also ran over, leaned against her, and slept beside her.
One adult, one child, and one dog lay on the lush green grass, appearing peaceful and serene, with a sense of detachment from the world. If not for the large door of the toilet directly facing them, the scene might have been even more picturesque!
Su Muqing was sleeping soundly when she suddenly felt something wet on her face. A warm breath also sprayed onto her nose, constantly moving across her face.
Her luck above the shoulders was terrible today! First, she was bruised by the chameleon's strike, and then she received a free tattoo on her neck from a venomous snake. So, closing her eyes, she quickly reached out and restrained the rogue element molting on her face!
"Ang ang ang ang er~" Fei La’s tongue was pulled by Su Muqing, and it let out a painful cry.
Fei La: Master, let go quickly! Are you having a nightmare? You're pulling so hard, it hurts!
Su Muqing heard the sound and her eyes snapped open. Seeing Fei La's pained expression, she quickly released her grip. Fei La’s tongue, now free, sprang backward, moving far away from her.
Seeing the bloodstains dripping on the grass, Su Muqing hurried forward. Despite being injured by her just now, Fei La still did not resist her touch.
Su Muqing held Fei La’s head and gently pried its mouth open. The edge of its tongue had many small cuts, constantly oozing fresh blood?
Fei La’s eyes welled up with tears, which broke Su Muqing’s heart. "I'm so sorry, Fei La! I didn't mean to. I was groggy just now and thought something else was going to bite me, so I reacted…"
Su Muqing apologized while gently blowing on its tongue. Seeing the blood beads, she joined her index and middle fingers and used her healing technique to mend the wound.
After Su Muqing's treatment, Fei La improved somewhat. However, its throat was clearly uncomfortable, and the sounds it made were hoarse. But Fei La still extended its tongue and licked her bruised cheek, as if to say, "I forgive you, don't blame yourself!"
Seeing that Fei La was alright, Su Muqing felt a little more relieved. Thinking that she must smell unpleasant after defecating for so long, she went to take a good bath.
When she emerged after tidying up, she glanced at the timer in her space. It was already almost six o’clock outside, meaning over an hour had passed.
What? She had actually been in her space for over six hours? Seeing the three of them pacing anxiously and looking around outside, Su Muqing quickly picked up Little Milk Bag and brought Fei La out of her space.
Outside the space!
Leng Feng saw that Su Muqing had been gone for almost an hour with no sign of her returning. He couldn't help but ask Lu Yuzhi, "Young master, why isn't Miss Su out yet? Is she alright?"
Leng Ren pulled him back and gave him a meaningful look. Then, he whispered in Leng Feng's ear, "Which pot is not sealed, and you're bringing that up? Didn't you see how worried the young master is?"
Leng Feng then realized that his brain had gone on strike just now. How could he ask such a foolish question? The young master must care about Miss Su the most.
Although Leng Ren and Leng Feng spoke in hushed tones, Lu Yuzhi could still hear them. He tightly clenched his fists, his knuckles and dangling forearm bulging with veins.
His mind began to recall every moment since he met Su Muqing.
From their first meeting, she had always been diligently helping him. After traveling together, she had also been going all out to save him. If it weren't for the poison on his body, Su Muqing wouldn't have had to travel such a long distance for this.
Yet, along the way, he couldn't do anything right. He couldn't use his Qinggong or internal energy at all. Whenever they encountered a strong opponent, he couldn't even offer help; instead, he became a burden. Every time, he had to rely on Su Muqing and Leng Ren for rescue.
Lu Yuzhi was filled with guilt and pain, his complex emotions tormenting him. The previous uncomfortable feeling resurfaced, wanting to seize his consciousness. He gritted his teeth tightly, battling the force within his mind, the metallic taste of rust lingering on his lips.
Unseen by Leng Ren and Leng Feng, Lu Yuzhi's pupils grew darker and darker, while the whites of his eyes turned increasingly red. Black mist coiled around his face, and dark vein patterns appeared on his skin. The bead Su Muqing had given him emitted a faint red glow from his chest, which then deepened into a dark red.
As soon as Su Muqing exited her space, she saw Lu Yuzhi standing ahead with a dejected posture. His hands were clenched tightly, and his body was trembling. "Brother Lu, what are you doing there?"
"Miss Su, you're finally here!"
"Miss Su, it's so good that you're alright!"
Leng Ren and Leng Feng saw Su Muqing suddenly appear and were stunned for a moment before they reacted. They quickly stepped forward to take Little Milk Bag and check if she was truly unharmed.
But just then! Lu Yuzhi turned around abruptly, pulled her into his arms, and tightly encircled her slender waist with both hands. Due to the height difference, he pressed her head close to his chest.