After everything returned to peace, Su Muqing first brought Lin Rongrong back to the RV to check on her. She wanted to see if her current state was due to injury or poison.
It was finally discovered that several silver needles had been inserted into her head. The needles were pressing on a certain nerve in her brain, causing insufficient blood supply to her brain. This made her appear dazed and confused.
Su Muqing pushed aside her hair and forced the two silver needles out of her body. Fortunately, the needles hadn't been there for long. If they had continued to press like this, she might have truly become a lifelong simpleton.
After the silver needles were removed, Lin Rongrong fell into a deep sleep. It was likely that for the first few days, she would still be a bit groggy. She could only wait for herself to slowly absorb and recover.
Next, Su Muqing carefully examined her from the inside out. Only after ensuring that she was truly alright did she ask Su Cuiping to stay with her in the RV to rest. Leng Nuo voluntarily stayed behind to guard the two girls and protect them.
Tianji Old Man and Huo Qixiao saw Su Muqing descend from the RV and quickly stepped forward. “Young friend Su, this old man is not entirely clear. How did you know that Ruo Qiao was a fake? I am ashamed to admit that I failed to notice her profound inner strength. We almost caused a great disaster!”
Su Muqing pondered how to explain. She couldn’t possibly tell them that she could sense the hatred the fake Chu Ruo Qiao had towards her, or that she could see the fake’s emotional value from her space, and the restraints suppressing her inner strength in her dantian.
Most importantly, the detector had found traces of those two poisons on the fake. The toxicity test had also confirmed it was her, so it had to be her!
Since she couldn't tell them the whole truth, she decided to embellish a bit. “I don't know either! I was just guessing. At first, I only suspected she was the one who wanted to eavesdrop on us and had injured Rongrong, the person in black. Yesterday afternoon, I tested her. I discovered she indeed had profound inner strength. Actually, I was just bluffing her earlier, and I didn’t expect her to not retort! I was also very surprised.”
Huo Qixiao asked anxiously, “Then where is the real Ruo Qiao?”
Looking at the worried Huo Qixiao, Su Muqing replied in a very calm tone, “I don’t know about that. Perhaps she was swapped out on the way to the无人区 (Wú rén qū - No Man's Land).”
Unexpectedly, Huo Qixiao firmly denied her statement. “Impossible! I was with Ruo Qiao when she came. She showed no unusual behavior during the journey. So it’s absolutely impossible she was swapped on the way!”
It was evident that Huo Qixiao was panicking. If Chu Ruo Qiao had met with trouble on the way, how would he explain it to the Duke’s mansion? But if something happened to her after arriving in the 无人区, then the responsibility would fall on Tianji Old Man, and it would have nothing to do with him.
After speaking, Huo Qixiao turned to Tianji Old Man. “Senior Tianji, Ruo Qiao disappeared in your 无人区. You cannot stand by and do nothing!”
Seeing his eagerness to shirk responsibility, Tianji Old Man lightly waved his horsetail whisk. “This old man will do his best to find Ruo Qiao and give the Duke a satisfactory explanation!”
Meanwhile, Chu Ruo Qiao, who had lost an arm, should have been called Chi Yue Ji. She jumped into their pre-arranged escape tunnel despite her severe injuries.
By the time she reached their secret cave, she was drenched in sweat from the pain, and her body was getting colder and colder, to the point of freezing.
As someone skilled in poisoning, she knew she had been poisoned. Strangely, she had taken many pills to counteract the cold poison, but none of them had any effect.
Chu Ruo Qiao, sitting in the secret chamber, heard the sound of someone opening the stone door. Seeing Chi Yue Ji walk in covered in blood, she knew the mission had definitely failed!
After Chi Yue Ji briefly explained, Chu Ruo Qiao gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. She had meticulously planned for so long, providing the倭寇 (Wōkòu - Japanese pirates) with rocket crossbows, tampering with Cang Ze’s Divine Thunder Fire, and giving her the precious Annihilation.
She had thought that this time, she would definitely be able to help Ze Yu Ge Ge (Brother Ze Yu) capture the 无人区. Who knew that this idiot would use all her Annihilation to deal with a Su Muqing, causing her plans to go down the drain!
“What’s wrong with you?” Chu Ruo Qiao was about to take action to finish her off when she saw Chi Yue Ji actually developing frost.
“Su… Muqing, poisoned… me,” Chi Yue Ji said, shivering. Her teeth chattered from the cold.
“Can’t you cure any poison?” Chu Ruo Qiao was surprised that she couldn’t cure the poison in her own body!
“Ice… vine grass…” Chi Yue Ji curled up on the ground, hugging herself tightly.
What? Chu Ruo Qiao was shocked and quickly stepped forward to feel Chi Yue Ji’s pulse. How was this possible? She clearly remembered there was only one Ice Vine Grass, and it had already been used against Huo Qiyuan.
Su Muqing, it was this Su Muqing again! Before the Ice Vine Grass could fully invade Chi Yue Ji’s heart, Chu Ruo Qiao put on her ice silk gloves and then shattered her skull with a palm strike, quickly extracting the vital蛊 (gǔ - a type of poison/curse) from her heart.
The moment she withdrew her hand, Chi Yue Ji turned into an ice sculpture. Chu Ruo Qiao looked at the corroded area on her ice silk gloves. It was indeed Ice Vine Grass! The potent toxicity had almost frozen her hand.
Chu Ruo Qiao pushed the body into the bottomless abyss beneath the secret chamber and then turned to leave the chamber. She needed to figure out her next move!
…
After Su Muqing and her group finished their business, they prepared to pack up and return to the 无人区. They hadn’t expected to drive away the倭寇 so easily this time, and they had also destroyed five of their warships.
With such heavy losses, the倭寇 likely wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. However, before leaving, Tianji Old Man still set up a formation barrier on the sea.
This was something he had cultivated after engaging in multiple battles with the倭寇 for nearly a year.
He placed the barrier on the sea surface, choosing the beach as the center of the formation. He only told Su Muqing the location of the center. Once the barrier formed, the sea surface quickly became misty.
Lao San and the others used the small boats left behind by the fishermen to row on the sea for a long time. As a result, they only managed to go in circles.
Now, unless they found the center of the formation and disarmed or completely destroyed it, the倭寇 on the opposite side wouldn't be able to get in! However, the people in the 无人区 also couldn't leave by water for the time being.
After completing all this, the matter of the倭寇 finally came to an end. Everyone then began to return gradually.
Leng Ren and the others folded down all the chairs in the back of the RV, forming a very large bed, giving it to those who were most severely injured or had lost limbs to lie on.
Lu Yuzhi was still sitting in the co-pilot's seat. He said he had already learned how to drive, but seeing the injured in the back, Su Muqing still drove herself. She told him she would let him try in a couple of days when they were on the road.
Although they drove slower on the way back, they didn’t have to push the chariots and weapons anymore. It actually took less time.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived at the small square at the entrance of Wuji. Tianji Old Man didn’t let the crowd return but instead had the people who had been on guard duty gather at the small square. Then, he had Cang Ze, who had been apprehended, brought forward.
Because his performance in this incident was too much like a倭寇 spy, Tianji Old Man planned to interrogate him in front of everyone in the 无人区.
“Tianji, what do you mean? Do you want to frame this venerable one and force me to admit I’m a spy?” At this moment, Cang Ze had already woken up from his dazed state. However, his meridians had been sealed by Gongsun Zan, rendering him powerless.
Before Tianji Old Man could speak, Le Xiong of the Three Saints Palace reprimanded him. “Youngster Cang Ze, stop trying to quibble! If you weren’t a spy, why didn’t your divine artifacts kill a single倭寇, only attacking the people of our 无人区?”
Especially the last explosion, other than the slaves, the casualties were mostly from the Three Saints Palace. Le Xiong, thinking that the Blood Robe Sect people might have done it intentionally, couldn't help but clench the large saber in his hand.
Cang Ze listened to Le Xiong’s words with disdain. “Absurd! When the cannon exploded at the end, this venerable one was also on the chariot. I barely managed to dodge it. Would this venerable one use his own life to be buried with your disciples?”
Le Xiong heard the lack of remorse in his tone and, instead, heard his usual arrogance. He rushed forward with the large saber in his hand.
Tianji Old Man stopped him and then turned to Su Muqing, giving her continuous meaningful glances. “Young friend Su, didn’t you say you had something to ask him?” The subtext was: hurry up and ask, or he might be beaten to death soon!
Su Muqing stepped forward and looked at Cang Ze, who was slumped on the ground. “How did you get this cannon? Did you make it yourself? Did you buy it? Or was it given to you by someone else?”
Cang Ze looked at the masked Su Muqing with utter contempt. “What do you think you are? A scurrying rat hiding its head and tail, you are worthy of speaking to this venerable one! You are not even fit to carry my shoes!”
Seeing the arrogance and dismissiveness evident on his face! Su Muqing found it very puzzling. What gave him the right to act so superior? Did he think he was the most handsome in the world? “I’ll ask you again. How did you get this cannon? Did you make it yourself, buy it, or was it given to you?”
Cang Ze might not have realized that the makeup on his face was no longer as exquisite after a day had passed, but he still unconsciously put on a suave expression and teased Su Muqing. “Take off your mask and let this venerable one see your pretty face. If you’re not too bad, perhaps this venerable one will tell you out of goodwill.”
“Slap~” a sound rang out! Su Muqing, without any warning, slapped him hard across the face! The sound was crisp! Many people present couldn’t help but raise their hands to touch their own faces.
“A stray dog, and you still dare to call yourself ‘this venerable one’ in front of me! What are you boasting about?” After speaking, Su Muqing even tapped Cang Ze’s face with her toe, the insult very obvious.
“Bitch! How dare you humiliate this venerable one like this! You…” Cang Ze was stunned by the slap and only recovered after a long time. He was so angry that he cursed at Su Muqing, his voice even cracking!
At this moment, one side of his face bore the imprint of a slap, while the other side was ashen with anger. The sect leader who had been so glorious yesterday had become a two-faced fellow today.
Seeing that he still dared to curse, Su Muqing stopped wasting her breath. “Slap~” She slapped him again. “Are you going to say it or not?”
Arrogant Ze: “B…”
“Slap~” “Are you going to say it or not?”
Proud Ze: “I…”
“Slap~” “Are you going to say it or not?”
Bone Ze: “No…”
“Slap~” “Are you going to say it or not?”
Cowardly Ze: “I’ll say… I’ll say…”
Seeing that he had changed his tune, Su Muqing finally stood up and shook her hand. She couldn’t resist mocking him. “Tsk~ That’s all? I thought you could withstand ten Dragon Subduing Slaps!”