Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Hundred Flowers Valley Female Cultivator
Cui Jue was first startled, then quickly moved to the side, disgust on his face.

The strange young woman gave another clear, light laugh and said: “Little cultivator, you are not thinking that I like you, are you? When I said you smell nice, I meant the smell of medicine. You are an alchemist, right?”

Cui Jue kept his mouth shut.

She said: “People often say that medicine and doctors go together. Since you are an alchemist, you should understand how drugs help or fight each other, right?” A strange light flashed in the young woman’s eyes.

When Cui Jue heard this, his pupils shrank.

He already had a rough idea of what this demoness wanted him to do.

She said: “I can keep your senior brother from dying, but I want you to be my test subject for poisons.”

The strange young woman’s tone was very sure, as if she was not worried at all that Cui Jue would refuse.

Cui Jue looked back at First Senior Brother’s lifeless face. He did not hesitate for long before nodding and agreeing.

He said: “Fine. Help my First Senior Brother remove the poison first.”

She said: “Relax. With this amount of poison, he can at least last three to five days. You should help me test the poison first.”

Before Cui Jue could answer, a red flying insect the size of a thumb flew out from the young woman’s sleeve and landed on the tip of Cui Jue’s finger.

Cui Jue forced down the urge to shake the insect off and kept his body still. The next moment, a heart piercing pain spread quickly from his fingertip through his whole body.

He cried out: “Ah!”

Cui Jue clenched his fist hard and dropped to one knee. His usually cool and aloof face twisted up, and beads of sweat popped out on his forehead.

The strange young woman laughed excitedly and said: “Hee hee hee, I named this poison Broken Gut Red. Right now, does it feel like your liver and guts are being cut to pieces and your organs are burning?”

At this point, Cui Jue could no longer hear what she was saying. He only felt that he was about to die.

With the last of his strength, he set Fang Cheng Lang down steadily on the ground. Then he knelt on both knees and knocked his head against the earth, trying to ease the pain in his body.

But the endless pain washed over him like waves. His whole body convulsed, and white foam mixed with blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Right before he lost consciousness, a thought flashed through his mind: [Did it hurt this much when Little Zhao swallowed the Bone Eroding Pill?]

…

Hiss.

A Black Giant Python more than thirty feet long lifted its head and let out a sharp hiss. Then its head fell from high above, and the force of it hitting the ground sent countless rotten leaves flying into the air.

Ji Han Zhou jumped down from the tree and rushed toward the snake’s body.

In a serpentine demonic beast like this black python, the most valuable things inside were its gallbladder and inner core.

The gallbladder was especially useful. It could clear poison and calm the mind, making it perfect for cultivators to take when they tried to break through a realm.

Ji Han Zhou took out a dagger and sat down at the seven inch point on the snake demon’s body, cutting it open to search the inside.

Suddenly, an unusual sound of wind came.

But he did not even lift his head. He kept focusing on looking for the gallbladder and demon core. The three people standing not far away, however, were shocked and unsure when they saw this.

The three of them exchanged a look in silence. The man who seemed to be the oldest took a step forward.

Whoosh.

A strong gust of wind swept past.

A fallen leaf nailed into the ground less than an inch in front of the man’s foot.

All three of them instantly looked up.

They saw a young woman whose features they could not clearly see squatting on a tree branch, her left leg braced against the trunk while her right leg swung lazily.

The three of them did not hesitate and turned around to leave.

If they had no eye for danger, they would have died in Marsh Forest eight hundred years ago.

Someone had been right under their noses and they had not noticed at all. If they did not leave now, they really might never leave.

Only after they ran a few hundred yards away in one breath did the three of them let out a sigh of relief, feeling very lucky.

Today they had really taken a walk right outside the Ghost Gate Pass.

After Ji Han Zhou took out the snake gallbladder and demon core, he put them into a separate storage pouch.

This pouch held the things they had gained during their time in Marsh Forest. They planned to divide them up when they were close to leaving.

Ji Han Zhou said: “Senior Sister Yu, I have finished cleaning up.”

Yu Zhao leaped and landed in front of Ji Han Zhou. She was just about to tell him it was time to leave when she heard footsteps behind them that were purposely loud.

Yu Zhao and Ji Han Zhou turned their heads at the same time and saw four female cultivators with beautiful faces and graceful manners walk out from a patch of low bushes.

In that instant, Yu Zhao felt that this dark forest suddenly looked much brighter.

The four beautiful female cultivators also brightened when they saw Yu Zhao.

Among the four, one was at mid Golden Core stage, one at early Golden Core stage, and the other two were like Ji Han Zhou, at late Foundation Establishment.

The mid Golden Core female cultivator in the lead stepped forward, smiled at Yu Zhao, and bowed as she said: “Greetings, Fellow Daoist. We are disciples of Hundred Flowers Valley. When we saw Fellow Daoist’s outstanding appearance and special air, our hearts were drawn to you, so we came over on purpose to make friends. We hope Fellow Daoist will not think we few sisters too rude.”

When Yu Zhao first saw the four of them, she already had a feeling. After hearing them report their sect, she thought to herself: [Just as I thought.]

Hundred Flowers Valley was the only female led sect among the One Sect, Two Schools, Four Clans of the Cultivation World. The biggest difference in its disciples was their confidence. It was not the kind of confidence that came from their sect or their status, but something they were born with, a confidence that came from their bones.

In their eyes there were only two kinds of people: women and men who were useful.

From the moment the two sides met, when they treated Ji Han Zhou like he was invisible, Yu Zhao had almost been able to guess their identity.

Yu Zhao smiled and returned the greeting: “Yu Zhao of Five Elements Dao Sect. This is Ji Han Zhou of Heavenly Sword Sect.”

When the four Hundred Flowers Valley female cultivators learned that Yu Zhao was actually a disciple of Five Elements Dao Sect, they were even more delighted. They did not pay any attention at all to the second half of what she said.

Mo Ci said: “Fellow Daoist Yu, I am Mo Ci. These three junior sisters are Junior Sister Jing Nan, Junior Sister Wang Sheng Xue, and Junior Sister Yang Xi.”

Yu Zhao greeted the other three one by one. The atmosphere between them was very friendly.

Ji Han Zhou was left hanging to one side. He wanted to speak up and show that he existed, but he found he could not get a word in at all, because he realized the four Hundred Flowers Valley female cultivators were, on purpose or by habit, pushing him out.

At first he wondered if it was just his imagination, but after a few times he was completely sure that they were working together to leave him out.

He found this unbelievable.

His mother, Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua of Heavenly Sword Sect, had taught him since he was young that the female cultivators of Hundred Flowers Valley were all gentle, considerate, and understanding young women.

So why could he not feel any of that at all?

One of them said: “Fellow Daoist Yu, are you also here in Marsh Forest to temper yourself? Why do we not travel together so we can look after each other?”

Another said in a sweet voice: “Sister Yu, I felt close to you as soon as I saw you. You are just like my own elder sister. Please agree to walk with us, alright?”

Another one said, her voice soft and acting spoiled: “Senior Sister Yu, please, Marsh Forest is so dangerous. I am scared.”

The sweet, delicate voices poured into Ji Han Zhou’s ears like a magic spell.

He stared blankly as Yu Zhao was surrounded in the middle by the four Hundred Flowers Valley female cultivators. A flash of understanding suddenly struck his mind.

Could it be that his mother, back then, had also been surrounded and praised like this, enjoying being the center of everyone like the moon among stars, so she had said such unrealistic things?

He had been lied to!