“Your nickname is the Rag King?” Su Changhe looked at the opulent, grand mansion of Ge Xiu with its wide gates and spacious courtyards. “It really doesn’t seem to fit.”
“I may be the Rag King, but this is the Longevity Sect,” Ge Xiu replied with a sly smile. “Only wealth can grant longevity.”
Su Muyu nodded. “On that point, the two of you might find some common ground.”
“Close the gates! No one enters or leaves—violators will be executed without mercy!” Ge Xiu commanded loudly.
“Yes!” the disciples of the Longevity Sect responded in unison.
“Wait.” Su Muyu shook his head. “There are still two people who haven’t arrived.”
“Who?” Ge Xiu asked, puzzled.
“Naturally, it’s us.” A golden ring shot through the air, followed by a voice speaking in heavily accented Mandarin.
Su Muyu raised his hand lightly and caught the flying ring. “Uncle Zhe.”
“Young Master Zhuo,” Su Zhe said, stepping in slowly with his smoking pipe. “Your reputation has grown quite a bit lately.”
“I thought I was the only one here to watch the show,” Su Changhe remarked, stroking his thin beard.
“If you lose your life, there won’t be any show to watch,” Bai Hehuai said as she hurried in. “Luckily, my eyelid kept twitching before I left this time, so I made extra preparations.”
Su Muyu frowned. “Why do you look so tense, Miracle Healer?”
“It’s just a few minor pests,” Su Changhe added, equally confused. “We’ve seen worse than this little internal strife in Peerless City…”
“The esteemed Dark River Grand Master can be this careless? Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong,” Bai Hehuai said, bending down to open the medicine chest on her back.
Su Changhe and Su Muyu both inhaled deeply, then exchanged glances. Su Changhe spoke first: “There’s a faint floral scent.”
“What flowers bloom in Sihuai City at this time of year?” Su Muyu asked Ge Xiu.
Ge Xiu shook his head. “Our Sihuai City isn’t Snow Moon City—we don’t have any ‘wind, flower, snow, or moon’ here. Floral scents? The smells of wine and meat are common every night.”
“It’s poison,” Su Muyu and Su Changhe realized simultaneously.
“Indeed, it’s poison. It’s just not obvious yet. When the floral scent grows stronger, as if you’re standing in a garden of a hundred flowers, that will be the perfect time for all of you to journey to the Nether Springs,” Bai Hehuai said, flipping open the last layer of her medicine chest. A toad leaped out, its back adorned with dazzling colors, as if wearing a vibrant floral robe.
Ge Xiu, who had been standing at a distance, jumped in fright. “Th-this is a highly venomous creature—the Floral Robe Toad!”
As the toad emerged, it was followed by a three-tailed scorpion, a slender black centipede, a blood-red spider, and a small green snake.
“The Five Venoms?” Su Changhe murmured.
“These are the supreme Five Venoms, bred only by the direct disciples of the Wen family. Rumor has it they’re even deadlier than those of the Five Venoms Sect,” Su Zhe said quietly. “I’ve seen Wen Hujiu’s Five Venoms—his centipede even had two heads.”
“Go,” Bai Hehuai commanded with a wave, and the Five Venoms scattered in all directions.
“Agh!” Ge Xiu and the other Longevity Sect disciples shuddered in fear.
Xu An swallowed nervously. “Any one of those venomous creatures could kill you instantly with just a touch.”"Therefore, without my orders, none of you should wander around this courtyard freely." Bai Hehuai took out five flags from the Medicine Mansion and flung them toward five different directions in the yard. As the flags landed, the five venomous creatures obediently settled beneath them.
"Is this an array?" Su Muyu asked.
"The Five Venoms Array. Originally used to trap people—once ensnared, the five venoms would release poisonous mist, leaving no escape for those within," Bai Hehuai explained. "This is an unpassed-down secret technique of the Wen family."
Ge Xiu exclaimed in shock, "Master Su, but... aren't we on the same side?"
"Didn’t I just say that was its conventional use?" Bai Hehuai shot him a glare. "The Five Venoms Array I’m using now is combined with my No Retreat Array. Once activated, no poisonous air from the city can enter this courtyard."
Su Muyu said gravely, "So the Miracle Healer means someone has poisoned this entire city."
"There are only three people in the world capable of such poison mastery," Bai Hehuai replied, pausing to catch her breath after finishing the setup.
"The first that comes to mind is Wen Hujiu, the head of the Wen family," Su Changhe suddenly interjected.
"Uncle’s poison skills are unparalleled—no one in the past three generations or the next three could match his genius," Bai Hehuai nodded. "But he’s allied with Snow Moon City and would never involve himself in Peerless City’s mess. Besides, this poison clearly took years of preparation, and my uncle... is far too lazy for that."
"The second person must be from the Tang Sect," Su Muyu mused.
"Correct. Tang Linghuang, the Tang Sect’s foremost poison master," Bai Hehuai confirmed. "But the Tang Sect is also allied with Snow Moon City. Moreover, Tang Linghuang only uses poisons that kill instantly. He once said any poison that doesn’t directly kill its target isn’t worthy of the name. His obsession in this regard borders on madness."
"Then who is the third?" Su Changhe asked.
"Poisonous Woman, Luo Yandie, leader of the Five Venoms Sect," Bai Hehuai sniffed lightly. "Only she would favor such a floral-scented Deadly Poison. She enjoys seeing people die unknowingly in what seems like a warm, fragrant embrace."
"Do all poison masters have such... twisted preferences?" Su Zhe took a drag from his pipe.
"Twisted or not, shouldn’t you know best?" Su Changhe smirked mischievously.
"Which faction in Peerless City does the Five Venoms Sect rely on?" Su Muyu asked Ge Xiu.
Ge Xiu frowned slightly, stroking his chin in thought. "The Five Venoms Sect... the name isn’t unfamiliar, but neither the Martial Hall faction nor the city lord’s side seems inclined to ally with such unorthodox sects."
"There isn’t one," a scholarly man in a long robe nearby shook his head. "Peerless City prides itself as the world’s foremost martial city, valuing martial prowess above all else and rejecting lesser arts. That’s why even powerful factions like the Thunder Fortress with their firearms, the Tang Sect with their hidden weapons, or the Wen family with their poison arts—no matter how strong—have never been recruited by them. The Five Venoms Sect is no exception."
"Unless someone abandoned their principles for this victory," Su Muyu murmured.
"The Five Venoms Sect is backed by..." Su Changhe suddenly spoke up, "Heaven Revelation City."
"Heaven Revelation City?" The group gasped in unison.Su Changhe stroked the dagger in his hand: "The Five Venoms Sect is located in a remote area and originally had no connection whatsoever with Heaven Revelation City. But back then, an envoy from Heaven Revelation City was dispatched to the ancient kingdom of Xiangxi and accidentally strayed into the territory of the Five Venoms Sect. By all rights, he should have died without a doubt, yet he walked out alive and even returned to Heaven Revelation City."
"How do you know all this?" Ge Xiu asked.
"Because of me." Su Changhe smiled faintly. "I grew up there."
OpenNovel