The rain suddenly stopped at that moment.
Su Muyu looked at Mu Xuewei standing before him and said softly, "Go back. Your poison has no effect on me."
Mu Xuewei gave a faint smile. "Su Muyu, don’t be so conceited. Do you really think I came here for you?"
"You—" Su Muyu narrowed his eyes slightly and immediately swung his sword, but it was already too late. Mu Xuewei swiftly brushed past him, darting toward The Head’s room. As she ran, she scattered a trail of crushed flowers behind her—vibrant and beautiful, but Su Muyu knew that stepping on even one of them could be fatal. Finally, Mu Xuewei turned and flicked her sleeve, releasing a cloud of poisonous mist. "If you want to save anyone, break through my poison array first."
Inside the room, The Head had nearly shattered the entire wooden door with a single strike of his sword, while Bai Hehuai lay panting in the corner. At the last moment, she had thrown out three Silver Needles with threads attached, using them to pull herself out of harm’s way. Now, Mu Xuewei had reached the doorway and paused briefly at the sight before her.
"Mu Xuewei of the Mu Family," The Head said, gripping his sword, forcing his voice to remain calm.
Mu Xuewei glanced at The Head, then at Bai Hehuai in the corner, and murmured, "How unexpected. Xin Baicao’s junior aunt turns out to be such a lovely young woman. But it seems her medical skills are lacking. Since you want to kill her, Head, I’ll do it for you!" With a light step, she lunged forward, striking at Bai Hehuai with a palm strike.
Bai Hehuai immediately recognized the black miasma swirling around Mu Xuewei’s palm—it carried a Deadly Poison. Not daring to take the blow head-on, she threw three more Silver Needles into the ceiling and yanked hard, propelling herself upward.
"The Su Family’s Three Needle Thread Technique? Who exactly are you?" Mu Xuewei demanded.
"You don’t even know who I am, yet you attack so ruthlessly?" Bai Hehuai exhaled sharply and turned her head, spotting the Wooden Bird on the door. No time to think—she needed to call for help to stabilize the situation first! Without hesitation, she grabbed the thread and pulled it down sharply. Suddenly, the Wooden Bird seemed to come alive, its wings fluttering as it flew straight out of the room.
"A mechanism?" Mu Xuewei, unsure of its intricacies, hesitated and retreated three steps cautiously.
The Head remained standing with his sword, unmoving—because he truly lacked the strength to move.
"And then…?" Bai Hehuai swallowed nervously, but after a long pause, nothing happened. Mu Xuewei, initially wary, realized the Wooden Bird was likely just a signal and gathered poison in her palm once more. Just then, the floorboards beneath Bai Hehuai suddenly swung open, revealing a dark, bottomless passage below.
"A secret passage?" Mu Xuewei flicked her sleeve, striking toward Bai Hehuai.
With no other choice, Bai Hehuai released the thread and tumbled into the passage, muttering as she fell, "Liar Su Muyu. He promised I’d be safe as long as he was here."She had only spoken halfway when Su Muyu broke through the poison array and arrived at the entrance. Bai Hehuai instinctively reached out toward Su Muyu, who also extended his hand to pull her, but it was already too late. Bai Hehuai fell into the secret passage and slid straight down. Without hesitation, Su Muyu immediately followed.
"Su Muyu, why did you go down?" Mu Xuewei hurriedly called out as she stepped forward.
"Ahhhhhhh, I just found my father! I don’t want to die!" Bai Hehuai slid downward, unsure how deep the passage was or what lay below, finally revealing a trace of a young girl’s fear.
"Miracle Healer, don’t panic," Su Muyu said calmly.
"Huh?" Only then did Bai Hehuai notice Su Muyu and exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you here too?"
"I promised you, Miracle Healer, that with me here, you’d be safe." Su Muyu tapped his foot and surged forward, leaping directly in front of Bai Hehuai. The passage was narrow, and their faces were so close they nearly touched. Bai Hehuai’s face flushed red instantly, but she couldn’t even turn her head away. Su Muyu, however, seemed completely oblivious. He wrapped his left arm around Bai Hehuai’s waist and drove the thin sword in his right hand into the wall, gradually slowing their descent. Moments later, they finally landed. Su Muyu released her and turned to look.
Before them stood a stone door.
Bai Hehuai helplessly raised her head, looking upward. "It’s so high—there’s no way we can climb back out."
Meanwhile, in the room above, only The Head and Mu Xuewei remained. Mu Xuewei glanced at The Head, several thoughts flashing through her mind before she finally bowed slightly. "Greetings, Head."
A wave of poisonous mist drifted up, rushing toward The Head.
The Head remained standing with his sword, showing no reaction to the poison.
Mu Xuewei’s heart leaped with joy. As expected, The Head had been bluffing all along—he was truly powerless to fight now.
"Retreat!" A sharp shout rang out, followed by an iron staff striking the ground, dispersing the poisonous mist. The hunchbacked old man landed, gripping the staff and drawing a circle in the air, creating an invisible barrier of energy that separated them from Mu Xuewei’s poison.
"You actually followed us here," Mu Xuewei took a step back.
"Don’t be in such a hurry to retreat." A figure in Taoist robes landed as Mu Qingyang pressed a hand against Mu Xuewei’s back, then immediately withdrew it, muttering, "Forgot, forgot—now I’m going to die from poisoning."
"Lost outside?" Mu Xuewei tossed a pill into Mu Qingyang’s hand.
"The Twelve Zodiac Shadows aren’t so easy to deal with. At most, we have half an incense stick’s worth of time left." Mu Qingyang glanced around. "Where’s that Xie Family kid?"
"Ran away," Mu Xuewei replied.
"Ran away?" Mu Qingyang’s lips twitched slightly. "What about Su Muyu?"
"He fell into that hole, along with the Miracle Healer from Medicine King Valley." Mu Xuewei pointed at the gap in the floor.
"Throw the strongest poison you have into that hole," Mu Qingyang said darkly.
"Are you insane? Su Muyu is down there!" Mu Xuewei frowned."You once gave him a Wuhua Pill, sealed inside the hilt of his sword. Don't think I didn't know." Mu Qingyang set aside his usual playful demeanor and spoke gravely. "Poison him now, or it'll be too late. Su Muyu doesn't have to die, but that Miracle Healer must."
"What a bunch of lunatics." Mu Xuewei shook her head helplessly as she pulled out a small glowing white flower from her robe. With a gentle flick of her wrist, the flower flew from her hand into the secret passage, drifting slowly downward.
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