Deal with him?
Long Feiye broke into a sneer. “Bai Yanqing, you can’t even deal with us four with an undying body and resort to poisons again. If you’re not a gutless coward, who is?”
Pfft…
Gu Qishao’s eyes brightened as he added hastily, “Long Feiye, why are we talking with a ‘seedless’ man? Even if he uses poison, we’re not afraid of him!”
Bai Yanqing could tell they were provoking him on purpose, but he couldn’t stomach his temper. Immediately, he gave a whistle and retreated towards the venomous snake swarm. None of them realized Han Yunxi had already pinpointed their location with aid from the detox system and the snakes. Moreover, she was almost on her way there until the snakes scattered, screwing her sense of direction once again.
She was stuck slowly groping about once more.
Bai Yanqing fumed. “Fine, this old man won’t use poison! Are you lot fighting me one by one or all at once?!”
Long Feiye was waiting for these very words!
If Bai Yanqing didn’t use poison, he was much safer. Even without Han Yunxi, he could keep Bai Yanqing at bay.
“We’ll go one by one. That way, you won’t say we were ganging up on you when you lose,” Gu Qishao laughed in a good mood.
“Lunatic ravings!” Bai Yanqing didn’t understand where these young men found the nerve to say such things. Are they trying to trap me here? What a far-fetched dream.
He suddenly flew towards Gu Qishao, who didn’t bother to dodge. He raised his sword to strike back, not willing to miss a chance to injure the man even if he couldn’t kill him!
You can’t die, you say?
That’s perfect! I can keep you alive and torment you slowly!
Gu Qishao slashed at Bai Yanqing’s arm with his sword, leaving a deep cut. Bai Yanqing didn’t budge as his hand lunged for Gu Qishao’s neck. Naturally on his guard, Gu Qishao hastily moved out of the way and aimed his fist at Bai Yanqing’s face. Bai Yanqing turned aside to avoid the blow and stabbed towards Gu Qishao’s gut.
Alarmed, Gu Qishao evaded the blade and patted his chest. “You scared me to death!”
Bai Yanqing didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath as he chased after his prey. Once again, Gu Qishao stabbed back, but Bai Yanqing allowed the weapon to pierce through his stomach as he aimed for Gu Qishao’s heart. As Gu Qishao prepared to flee, Bai Yanqing suddenly sped up. The sword in his abdomen was buried to the hilt as he instantly closed the distance between them. Taking out a dagger from his sleeve, he aimed at Gu Qishao’s heart, freezing the other man in his tracks.
“You lost,” Bai Yanqing said coldly.
Gu Qishao ignored him. His gaze turned frosty as crazy vines rose to encircle them both.
Bai Yanqing laughed out loud. “Young’un, you think these vines can trap me inside?”
“Can’t they?” Gu Qishao grinned. “Let me go or else I’ll trap you here for a lifetime.”
Bai Yanqing snorted, then used his sword-wielding hand to cut through a swath of vines. “This old man can leave you with an intact corpse as long as you admit you’re an abomination.” If he didn’t want the last word in their argument, he’d never bother entangling himself with Gu Qishao for so long. He’d be attacking Long Feiye instead.
Gu Qishao looked at the shredded remains of the vines, then at the dagger pressing against his heart, and feigned fear. “This…Old Bai, actually…it’s Long Feiye who wants you dead, not me.”
“Stop yapping! Are you saying the words or not?” Bai Yanqing had no patience.
“I’ll say it, I’ll say it! Can you let me go if I say Long Feiye’s the abomination?” Gu Qishao asked “desperately.”
Bai Yanqing had hardly reacted when Long Feiye’s eyes flashed with killing intent. He raised his sword and emanated a wave of intense sword qi as he cleaved at Gu Qishao’s head. “Gu Qishao, you’re courting death!”
It was impossible to block such a potent onslaught! Even Bai Yanqing was affected by the blow. If he hadn’t been holding onto Gu Qishao’s sleeve, he would have been knocked backwards. Meanwhile, all the vines surrounding them fell to the ground.
Bai Yanqing was floored. What was all that about?
Long Feiye actually raised his sword against Gu Qishao? He’s the only member of their team that understands poisons. Has Long Feiye…lost his mind?
Tang Li, who knew nothing of the truth, was stunned as well. “Big bro, you…”
Fresh blood flowed down from Gu Qishao’s scalp and trickled past his long eyebrows to drip on the ground. As silence fell upon the scene, Bai Yanqing gaped at Gu Qishao in astonishment, momentarily lost for words. Still, Long Feiye’s temper was still raging.
If I don’t give Gu Qishao a few slashes, he’ll only get more and more daring. I can forgive him for not dealing with Bai Yanqing quickly, but he actually has the time to curse me.
“Gu Qishao, there won’t be a next time!” Long Feiye snapped before sending another blast of sword qi at Gu Qishao’s head.
“Big bro, are you crazy?!” Tang Li hollered.
Gu Beiyue only leaned against the wall, head bowed in a helpless smile. Meanwhile, Gu qishao was forced to crouch on the ground in pain after bearing two attacks in a row. To Bai Yanqing’s eyes, he had collapsed out of exhaustion. Glancing at the angry Long Feiye, he prepared to speak but saw the man had raised his Profound Frost Sword for the third time.
At this moment Gu Qishao, the man who should’ve knocked out by now, rubbed his head and leaped to his feet. He spat on the ground and hissed, “Long Feiye, are you done cleaving me? It really hurts!”
Although Gu Qishao wasn’t knocked unconscious, such an action made him seem like a corpse who had suddenly come back to life. As Long Feiye and Gu Beiyue knew the truth behind his constitution, they didn’t react, but Tang Li and Bai Yanqing were given a fright–especially the latter.
He froze in place and gaped at Gu Qishao as a sense of fear crept into his heart.
Could it be…
Gu Qishao wiped the blood off his face and glanced at Long Feiye. “Two strikes, this old man will remember them!”
“Try and talk nonsense again!” Long Feiye didn’t fear him.
Gu Qishao immediately turned towards Bai Yanqing and flew at him. By the time Bai Yanqing recovered, it was to quickly back away while demanding, “Gu Qishao, just what kind of human are you?”
“If you admit you’re an abomination, then this old man will tell you!” Gu Qishao snorted.
“Keep dreaming!” Bai Yanqing immediately went on the offensive. He absolutely refused to believe that Gu Qishao had an undying body as well. Long Feiye must have hidden some tricks in his sword attacks! He himself had long used up all the ingredients needed to nurture a Poison Gu human. The rest needed thousands to years to grow to maturity, so there could be no second specimen on this Earth. Definitely not!
He was the only one!
Gripping a dagger, he threw it directly at Gu Qishao’s heart. “Die!”
Gu Qishao allowed the dagger to penetrate him as he gave him a scornful look. From up high, he kicked him aside and mocked, “If you can kill this old man, I’ll call you great-grandpa!”
Staring at the fresh blood pouring from Gu Qishao’s wound, then at the man himself standing steadily on his feet, Bai Yanqing had trouble accepting reality.
Furious, he demanded, “Just who are you? Why are you like this?!”
“I’m your great-grandpa!” Gu Qishao didn’t hesitate. He gripped Bai Yanqing by the shoulders as twin vines grew from his arms to entwine the man in its clutches. Alarmed, Bai Yanqing tried to struggle free but failed. Then he poisoned the vines by scattering powder from his imprisoned form, which fell on both Gu Qishao and his plants.
“It’s not use!” Gu Qishao snorted. He backed away and used more vines to wrap Bai Yanqing up until he was securely pinned in place.
Bai Yanqing couldn’t believe it! He never expected this counter-plot and stopped struggling to stare at Gu Qishao. He didn’t want to believe his eyes, nor was he willing to accept the truth.
Long Feiye suddenly broke the silence. “Gu Beiyue, take Tang Li to search for secret switches and save the hostage!”
To ask Bai Yanqing for their locations was equal to wasting their time. It was best to find the hostages themselves. Tang Li and Gu Beiyue prepared to leave when smoke suddenly began pouring out of the gaps in the walls.
“No good, it’s poison!” Gu Qishao shouted.
Long Feiye’s trio held their breaths as a swarm of venomous snakes appeared on both sides. Thy were the same snakes who were releasing poisonous gases a while back.
“There are so many snakes!” Gu Qishao turned solemn.
Leaving aside how long Long Feiye and the rest could hold their breaths, just the sheer number of snakes made it impossible for them to win. Moreover, who knew what other toxic methods Bai Yanqing had lying in ambush!
“Abomination, you said you wouldn’t use poison!” Tang Li cursed.
Bai Yanqing didn’t budge. If he knew Gu Qishao couldn’t die, he would have used poison ages ago! For the sake of this day, for the sake of East and West Qin falling into chaos, he’d waited for ages! No matter what, he wasn’t going to lose today!
Gu Qishao couldn’t decipher the type of poison in the air, much less dissolve its effects. He knitted his brows at Long Feiye, waiting for him to make a choice.
“You guys better hold out. As soon as you’re poisoned…this old man guarantees you’ll die in the time it takes to brew a pot of tea!” Gu Qishao warned.
Long Feiye was hesitant as well. What was the point of trapping Bai Yanqing here if they all lost their lives in the end? Abruptly, Tang Li’s eyes widened as he started gesticulating wildly to Gu Beiyue and Long Feiye. Although Long Feiye couldn’t understand him, Gu Beiyue realized it immediately. The princess was still in the maze. As long as they held out a little longer, she would definitely track them down via poison. With so many venomous snakes and all this gas, she’d be able to find them very quickly.
As long as she was here, Bai Yanqing couldn’t do anything against them.
They would wait!
This was the only way to solve their problem and everyone’s path to survival!
Long Feiye didn’t get it, but seeing Gu Beiyue’s expression made him realize they could keep up the delay. At this moment, one of the snakes suddenly flew towards Long Feiye as the others attacked en masse. Gu Qishao couldn’t move because he was keeping Bai Yanqing in check, so Long Feiye used his sword to cut through swarms of snakes. Gu Beiyue and Tang Li quickly attacked as well, both using Tang Li’s shadow needles.
They had to maintain a certain distance from the snakes to avoid being poisoned after their deaths. Seeing this, Bai Yanqing only smiled coldly. Gu Qishao rushed at him and snarled, “This old man will make your life worse than death!”
As he prepared to act, Tang Li raised a hand and suddenly discovered the skin on the back was turning black.
“Big bro, I’ve been poisoned.” So saying, Tang Li gave up on holding his breath.
Seeing this, everyone grew alarmed. Only Bai Yanqing maintained his smirk. How could his poison be avoided by something as simple as holding one’s breath? He grinned at Gu Qishao and said, “They don’t have much time left. All of their lives are in your hands, you know.”
