The Immortal’s Poison

Wen Leyang had been vigilantly fixated on the Tibetan people in the small town of Tuer. He scarcely paid any attention to the evil cult followers. From his point of view, their method of dividing themselves based purely on their numbers was a weak move. They would never make it to the top. On Zhanyan’s Peak, the rogue cultivators had attempted to overwhelm their opponents with their numerical strength, but they had failed, defeated by the supernatural power of a master practitioner of Great Mercy Temple. They were blinded. Some crashed into the mountains, while some were thrown off the cliff.

The power of the Greek’s devilry art had been extremely shocking. Even Qin Zhui could not handle the five remaining warriors. If these five were to enter the magical realm, it would definitely prove troublesome. If Wen Leyang had not went through the trials back in the Painting Town in Shanghai, if his body and bones not not been remoulded by the Poison of Life and Death, it would be difficult to tell if he could have save Qin Zhui earlier.

However, the last of the Greek evil cult followers were already the living dead. With the last thread of life in their body, the instinct to slaughter became their only purpose and inherent ability.

The Greeks were crumbling after their alliance broke apart. Judging by their numbers alone, they were already considered as the most vulnerable. The rest of the three alliances took advantage of the situation. The Indian people were busy encircling and suppressing the remaining Greek warriors; the Khmer alliance and the Persian alliance dispatched their individual representatives in unison and came to Wen Leyang’s campsite.

Gu Xiaojun could not hold himself back.. He pointed towards the Africans and asked Fei Fei, “Can you please tell them to stop screaming like monkeys the moment they see someone approach us?”

Fei Fei shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. “I will not!” The two parties had a communication barrier but Fei Fei had the ability to read the other party’s emotions and it’s changes based on just their expressions and voices. Hence, she could have gestured her intention to the other party without much difficulty.

Compared to the rest of the evil cult followers, the outlook of the Persians were undoubtedly the most prominent. Their faces were tattooed with ancient scriptures. Their pale yellow colored eyes occasionally rolled and rippled in faint but distinctive evil energy. Upon arriving at the entrance of their campsite, the Persian man completely disregarded the Africans whose screams were getting louder and louder. Their poisonous, snake-like gaze slowly swept over Wen Leyang’s troop and finally rested on the eldest member, Gu Xiaojun. He stretched out his hand and gestured, inviting Gu Xiaojun to step out for a discussion.

Gu Xiaojun refused to go outside alone and attempt speaking face to face with an evil cult follower whose face was full of tattoos. He stood rooted to the spot, not caring whether the Persian man could understand his language, he roared loudly, “Speak freely!”

At this point, the Khmer people’s representative also arrived at their campsite. He stared at the Persian man in apparent numbness. Fei Fei scoffed and said to the rest softly, “These two are in cahoots.”

Gu Xiaojun frowned as he instructed unceremoniously, “Expose them!”

Fei Fei laughed. She stretched out her hands and pointed towards the two great power’s representatives standing outside their campsite and then clasped her hands together, making the gesture of holding hands.

The Khmer man and the Persian man were stunned!

These two evil cult followers, from Southeast Asia and South Asia respectively, had been in correspondence for decades. Their mostly similar religious doctrines had allowed them to approved of each other’s existence. Since their arrival in the small town of Tuer, these two troops had not directly walk together but had instead built their own personal power. However, they had sworn, in the name of the nine-headed snake, that they would watch out for each other in today’s battle.

If judging simply by numbers, on the surface, it seemed like the Greek alliance that was just broken apart earlier was the strongest power. However, in truth, the troop with the highest number of people lied in the secret collusion between the Khmer people of Cambodia and the Persian immigrants from South Asia.

The two evil cult followers’ representatives that had arrived before Wen Leyang’s campsite did not expect the Asian people would see through their trick so easily. They were caught off guard and suddenly did not know what to say. After a moment, the Khmer man squeezed out a rigid smile from his dark and thin face and said to Fei Fei, “Eyesight, very good!”

The Khmer people had long been in a cultural exchange with the Chinese. Majority of Cambodians could speak some simple Mandarin.

Gu Xiaojun heaved out a long sigh as he laughed, “Finally, we meet someone who understands, speak freely!”

The Indian alliance troop was still in chaos. Even Qin Zhui had failed at defeating the four Greek warriors whom had launched a counterattack when at the verge of death. Needless to say, the Indian people were strong but not one of them was willing to sacrifice themselves to these dying wild beasts. The Indian leader, old goatee, had extricated himself from the situation under the protection of his bodyguards. As he left the fighting troop, upon seeing the other two great powers send out representatives to the Chinese’s campsite, he too hastily sent out a representative, who walked in quick strides towards Wen Leyang.

The Khmer people’s representative spoke in a string of ghastly and indiscernible Chinese. He was so nervous that his face was covered in sweat. Wen Leyang’s troop of five starred speechlessly at one another, no one could understand him. The Khmer people’s representative could speak a few words in Chinese but there he could not for the life of him string together a proper sentence.

The Persian man seemed to grow impatient as he listened. He pointed towards himself, then stretched out his hand and gestured the number four, then pointed to the Khmer man and gestured the number four again. He pointed to Gu Xiaojun and gestured number one. Finally, he gestured the numbers four plus four plus one, which equaled to the number nine!

The Khmer man stretched out his hand and pointed towards the Indian people standing far away and the rest of the few troops that had stripped themselves away from the Greek alliance. He spoke in a simple and strained manner, “Will kill, we!”

Gu Xiaojun had not even responded when the Persian peoples’ representative suddenly shouted loudly. His hand flipped as he pulled out his curved knife. His body turned in an circle as he agilely cut the Indian people’s representative, that was approaching near, into two with just a stroke! Simultaneously, the Persian leader at the far side shouted in an awe-inspiring voice, the Persian evil cult followers that were gathered next to him pulled out their curved knives in unison. Their curved blades pointed straight at the Indian people’s troop.

After the Persian representative had kept away his curved knife, his expression was unusually odd. It had only took him a moment to cut the Indian man into two, but it was during that fleeting moment, that he had felt as if a gigantic threat was approaching, which disappeared as suddenly as it had came.

Wen Leyang chuckled. He had took a step and arrived in front of the Persian man then fell back next to the two siblings. The Persian man could not even see Wen Leyang’s movements. He only saw a blur in his vision, someone else was there and had disappeared almost instantaneously. It was then that the Persian man understood, when he drew out his knife earlier, Wen Leyang did not know the Persian man’s intentions. Wen Leyang had immediately approached him, fast as lighting. When he saw that the Persian man was just dealing with the Indian man, he fell back.

Tutatante suddenly stopped screaming. His eyes were filled with unease. There was even fear in his eyes as he looked towards Gu Xiaojun and the others. When he caught Wen Leyang’s gaze, he hastily stretched out his hand and patted his chest, repeatedly speaking with his choppy Chinese, “Friend! Friend!”

The two representatives’ intention could not be any clearer. There were four troops in each of their alliances. In addition to Gu Xiaojun’s group of five, there were nine troops in total. As for the rest of the evil cult followers, the Persian people and the Khmer people would be responsible in dealing with them. The Chinese people would only need to look away and do nothing.

The situation between Wen Leyang and their African allies suddenly became dangerous.

Gu Xiaojun seemed to be interested in their proposal. His gaze alternated back and forth over the patrolling African people. Tutatunte felt like a lamb that was awaiting its slaughter. His gaze was simple yet sorrowful. He watched Gu Xiaojun quietly. His eyeballs rolled around. The lingering fear in between his brows could not be erased.

Wen Leyang gave Tutatunte a smile, signaling to him that he needed not worry. When these African people, who only knew how to scream, were patrolling last night, they had circled around the Chinese peoples’ campsite as well. Even though there was no inherent use in them doing so, Wen Leyang could see their kind intention with his eyes.

Gu Xiaojun could see through Wen Leyang’s action. He reminded Wen Leyang softly, “Everyone here is an evil cult follower. They are all our enemies.”

Fei Fei suddenly took a step forward. Without waiting for her leader to speak again, she took the liberty of laughing as she nodded towards Tutatunte and said strenuously, “Friend!” Following that, she shifted her gaze towards the Persian and Khmer representatives and shook her head in determination. She stretched out her hand and pointed towards her people and the African people. Then clasped her fingers together and balled them into a fist.

The African people were elated. Under their leader’s guidance, they continued to shriek…

The Persian representative laughed. He nodded towards Gu Xiaojun. Within his poisonous, snake-like eyes, a glimmer of admiring praise appeared.

Fei Fei used an extremely soft voice and explained to Gu Xiaojun, who was staring at her in rage, “The Tibetan people dislikes troops that betray its’ allies. When the Greeks were betrayed by their own allies earlier. The Tibetan’s’ expressions were very angry.”

Gu Xiaojun was stunned for a moment. He looked towards Fei Fei. “Really?”

Fei Fei blinked her eyes with an expression of injustice. She muttered an answer, “Of course it’s real!”

Gu Xiaojun nodded. He roared loudly towards the representatives who stood little ways away, “Chinese people never betray their allies.” Upon hearing that, Wen Leyang felt goosebumps erupt all over his body.

The Khmer representative pondered for a moment then pointed with his finger in the direction of the Indian people and the other small troops of allies again. “They, I kill. All of you, wait!”

Wen Leyang was overjoyed. If it were not for the Khmer representative’s anticipation and gesturing, just by listening to his words, Wen Leyang would have that he meant “I will come and kill all of you once I am done killing everyone else.”

Gu Xiaojun burst out laughing. “Why! Isn’t this good for us!”

QIn Zhui had alone made the entire Greek troop annihilate itself. He had forced the Greeks into exchanging their lives for the final power from the art of devilry. Following that, Wen Leyang had moved at such a speed that even the evil cult followers’ leaders had not been able to follow him, that they could not tell how he had tossed away those four savage Greek warriors. What scared the evil cult followers the most was this small-eyed bodyguard, who owned invisible giants, had yet to make his move. While the mysterious old man and young maiden seemed to have no intention of attacking at all, what actual powers were these five people hiding?

Due to sudden emergence of the squad of five as a strong force, it broke the balance of the original plan of the Persian and Khmer people. Hence, they wanted to fight a quick battle to force a decision, put an end to the currently in-chaos Indian representative troop and the Greek representative troop that had already lost its backbone. However, everyone was afraid that the Asians might stab them from behind. That was why they sent over representatives in an attempt to negotiate. Even if they fail in drawing the Asians to their side, at the very least, the Asians were be appeased temporarily. By the time everybody else was defeated, it would be much easier for them to eliminate the Asians.

The Khmer representative opened his mouth. He appeared as if he wanted to swear at Gu Xiaojun. The Persian representative burst out laughing. He patted his companion’s shoulder, turned around, and returned to his troop. The descendants of warriors, that had once battered Europe, trusted the Asians because they refused to abandon their ally.

The Persian representative’s move left Wen Leyang with a good impression of them.

The African leader, Tutatunte, walked over. He pointed to himself for a while and pointed to Old Gu. Occasionally, he pointed towards the outside, gesturing for a long while. Fei Fei finally understood. She laughed as she turned around and informed Gu Xiaojun, “They are saying that, if someone were to attack us, they would not hesitate to engage them in combat…”

Gu Xiaojun burst out laughing. “Relax. No one would dare screw with us right now. Tell them, our two families will rise in rank together smoothly!” Since the Tibetan people of this small town fancied the act of being loyal to friends, Gu Xiaojun decided that he would speak of loyalty to friends until the end of time. Upon finishing his sentence, he stopped for a moment and hastily added to Fei Fei, “Please ask them to stop screaming. If they keep screaming, we will surely dissolve the alliance!”

The Persian leader was not an old man but a young warrior. He had on a pair of leather pants. His upper body was unclothed, but densely-packed with scripture tattoos. Upon hearing his representative’s report, he first raised his curved knife high in salute to Gu Xiaojun. Then, his sharp blade abruptly slashed through the air as he somersaulted out of his troop. He roared as he dashed towards the Indian people, knife in hand!

The Persian people seemed to not favor the use of devilry. They only wanted to use the most primeval and savage method to slaughter the enemy! One could tell from their attire and weapons, that they were all warriors, similar to the Greeks.

The other three troops under the Persian alliance’s siege were the Surinamese people from North America, the Kayan originating from Borneo, and the Canaanites. Their alliance was obviously stronger than that of the Greeks’, which had broken off the moment danger hit. Just as the Persian people charged forwards, the rest of the three troops scattered off simultaneously. They charged towards the Indians from three directions, in coordination with the main troop!

The Khmer’s leader was a middle-aged man of over forty years old. He had a thin and bony frame. His body was not bigger than that of an ape, but his movements were a hundred times more agile than one. He was leading his underlings and allies to pounce sideways towards the original Greek alliance. A tangled warfare was about to break out in the blink of an eye.

Ever since Wen Leyang had came out into society, he had encountered all forms of chaos, so much so that he could no longer keep track. This was a rare occurrence, him having the opportunity to keep out of the grand scene. His expression was relaxed as he stood in the campsite and took out a fresh stick of carrot.

Gu Xiaojun appeared as calm and steady as before. His sneer was accompanied by a note of contempt. “This gang of evil cult followers do not possess much in the way of abilities, they are only capable of using their arms to…” Before he could finish his sentence, the entire ground suddenly started to trembled. Dozens of boulders as big as houses, fell like meteorites, slamming into the small town in loud bangs. The extremely loud explosion wiped away Old Gu’s contemptuous sneer in a flash.

The falling boulders did not follow any direction, purely crashing everywhere in a chaotic manner. The Khmer people, the Persian people, and the Indian people were all slammed by the boulders. Two chunks of rock even slammed into Wen Leyang’s campsite. Even though no one was hurt, it still petrified the bunch of Africans.

The boulders slammed into the ground and immediately exploded on impact. It was only then, that Wen Leyang saw the fear hidden within each of these boulders. Golems with hideous appearances. Bodies like that a tortoise, complete with buck teeth and vestigial wings like that of a fly, and sharp claws, were wrapped in the boulders. The monsters appeared similar to the ancient Chinese mythological creature known as Bixi, that was used in decorative plinths of commemorative tablets, but its appearance was much more ferocious and malicious than that of Bixi.

The Poison Steam that had just began settling underneath Wen Leyang’s feet immediately spread out and surrounded everyone. Wen Leyang asked in fear, “What is that?”

Fei Fei was seemed unusually calm. She stood next to Wen Leyang and pondered out loud, “This creatures is carries similarities to the Garuda beast in Angkor Wat. It appears to have been summoned by the Khmer…”

As if in response, the stone Garudas shook their heads and wagged their tails as they moved about. A series of sharp whistling sounds echoed from the Khmer troop. The Garuda beasts immediately raised their heads and let out a cry which sounded like sick cows. Following that, the Garuda beasts spread their legs. With the help of their vestigial wings, the beasts surged towards the enemies!

The tangled warfare that had been brewing for a long time finally broke out. It was the exact opposite of what Gu Xiaojun had imagined. This was no simple battle.

The Indian people still had not freed themselves of the four Greek warriors. When they were faced with the Persian people’s wild attack, the Goatee leader finally made up his mind. He commanded his troops loudly. The sounds of peculiar incantations echoed out continuously. The ground that had been calm just moments earlier, started to trembled with the Indian people’s queer prayer. It only took seconds, then a stretch of forest burst out of the ground, concealing the entire Indian troop and their allies.

Even a camel could guess that this stretch of forest belonged to the Indian people and stepping into would spell death to any enemy that was daring enough to invade them.

The Persian warriors waved about their own curved knives in a ghastly manner. Rather than calling it waving, one could say that they were performing an ancient ceremony. Following the shouts of their young leader, everyone stabbed their knives into the loose soil. At high speeds, the ground underneath the blades split open, leaving behind streaks upon streaks of fissures.

Shriveled hands struggled to stretch out from the fissures which had been slashed open in the ground by the Persian warriors. The palms clawed away at the ground. Dried corpses, bodies pure black in color and emanating a foul stench, jumped out of the ground and followed the Persian warriors as they dashed into the forest without the slightest hint of hesitation!

It didn’t matter which campsite the rest of the evil cult followers belonged to now, they all summoned their magic spells at this moment. Some were fiddling with flames, some summoned magical guardians, while some channeled the power of wild beasts… All throughout the small town of Tuer, the sounds of ghosts weeping and wolves howling was heard!

Qin Zhui had not been severely injured. He recuperated for a moment and recovered quickly. He walked out of the tent and was startled, he said, “What the heck? We really shouldn’t look down on this gang of foreigners!”

Wen Leyang nodded his agreement. “If we were to toss all these magic spells and supernatural powers into the magical realm, although it may not be as powerful as the Five Blessings, but the ordinary small sects would be no match for them.”

The dozen evil cults in the small town each displayed their own supernatural powers. The magic spells they summoned were quite remarkable. However, if pitted one to one, they did not possess the imposing mannerisms and domineering abilities of the Kunlun Sect’s Thousand Swords Greeting. Nevertheless, if any ordinary small sect were to butt heads with them, the small sects would certainly suffer losses.

Xiao Sha may be an ordinary mortal, but he had always been in close dealings with the magical realm. He chimed in, “In this town, gathered here are all the most incisive evil cult followers of the entire world, of course they are remarkable… you… you… YOU! What are you doing?!”

Qin Zhui did not wait for Xiao Sha to finish talking. He had raised his Tang knife and dashed outside. If it was not for Wen Leyang, who pulled him back, he would have already casted all caution to the wind and dashed into the evil cult followers’ battle and fought to his heart’s content.

Their African companions were not screaming anymore; they were staring in bewilderment at the chaotic battlefield, Tutatunte’s face was dotted with cold sweat, he finally understood that China was a very dangerous place.

The Persian people and their allies dashed into the forest. Apart from Wen Leyang, who had psychic abilities, no one could make out the situation. The sounds of raging moans were heard and explosive bangs rang out from the gigantic trees. The smell of spilled blood hung in the air.

The battle that the Khmer people waged was more direct. It was also a grander sight. Various foreign monsters of all shapes and sizes roared, pillars of flames soared high into the sky, the sounds of battle songs filled with strength and agonizing screams filled with terror converged into one…

The troop of evil cult followers, that had abandoned the Greeks, were resisting the Khmer people’s rapid attacks with all their might. They clenched their teeth as they pushed back their enemies, praying devotedly in attempt to seek the aid of their nine-headed snake deity. At last, it was obvious that the nine-headed snake did not play favourites. They managed to hold back the Khmer’s forces through the daytime but by nightfall, they too had fallen and were slaughtered.

The victorious Khmer people did not even take a moment to rest. They immediately instructed the remaining Garuda stone beasts and their allies to dive headfirst into the forest. The shouting and roaring from the forest, which had been gradually fading, grew loud once more!