Chapter 91
Time flowed, and it was heading towards dawn.
It was a time when even the beasts and insects of the field held their breath and fell asleep, but the lights that filled the huge manor of the Sichuan Tang Clan scattered their light beyond the buildings and up to the sky.
The martial artists of the Tang Clan, who looked full of fatigue, were still moving busily to find something, but it did not seem that they had any particular income.
Swoosh!
In the place where the martial artists of the Tang Clan had passed, there was a shadow that was crossing the wall beyond the road.
'It's getting thicker.'
Jiang Ziya, who was moving, chasing the traces of magic, accelerated his lightness skill, seeing that the traces were gradually becoming clearer.
Jiang Ziya was nimbly moving from building to building, avoiding the eyes of the Tang Clan's martial artists, who were moving restlessly inside the Tang Clan with the lightness skill of the Six Arts and Three Strategies, which was a mixture of Li Hachan's Nine Palaces Divine Steps and the Manifest Demon True Art's Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps.
Moreover, since his presence was even fainter with the eight trigrams magic, not a single person noticed Jiang Ziya, who was moving in the dark.
Jiang Ziya, who was moving, following the traces, began to gradually move out of the center of the Tang Clan to a secluded place.
Since the buildings were seen sparsely and the mountain that was facing the Tang Clan was seen from a distance, it was clear that it was the outskirts of the Tang Clan.
One strange thing was that although there was a movement to find the culprit so noisily in the center of the Tang Clan, this place, although it was surely the inside of the Tang Clan, was so quiet that there was no presence, let alone a light, as if it were another world.
"Why are there no search parties here?"
The surroundings were only a forest covered with dense trees, rocks, and a small lake.
If there were a culprit, he would have run away to a place like this, and it was unlikely that he would still be staying in the building of the Tang Clan.
Jiang Ziya, feeling suspicious, was about to move his feet, but he turned his eyes to a rock that was artificially towering in the dark.
No entry.
Jiang Ziya soon knew why there were no people here.
From the point where the rock was rising, the inside was one of the forbidden zones that the Tang Clan had forbidden.
The Sichuan Tang Clan was a family that could be called the best in the martial world in handling poison.
Who would dare to search the forbidden zone of the Tang Clan at the risk of danger?
Besides the phrase written on the rock, there was no need for any other warning.
This was because if one were to ignore the warning, one would pay the price with one's life.
Although it did not look very dangerous on the outside, Jiang Ziya operated his internal energy and prepared for an unforeseen situation.
Rustle!
In the silence, only the sound of Jiang Ziya stepping on something echoed.
Where else could a culprit hide better than in the forbidden zones of the Tang Clan?
It was clear that the traces were connected to the inside of this place.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Jiang Ziya, who was moving his feet across the forest, felt a grating sound coming from above his head.
The sound of something crawling.
Jiang Ziya, who had lived as a hunter in the Hermit's Valley for several years, could grasp the identity of the sound in one go.
Swoosh!
The Tonglin that was held in one hand naturally bent and changed into the shape of a bow.
Jiang Ziya drew the bowstring of Tonglin, which he had drawn hundreds or thousands of times until now, and shot an arrow in the direction of the sound in one go.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
With the sound of something breaking the air that echoed three times, the fragments of the tree flew, and three green snakes with their heads pierced fell to the ground, struggling.
The three green snakes, even though their heads had been blown off, were coiling and struggling, and their thickness and length were great, and since smoke was rising from the ground, it was clear that they were great poisonous snakes.
"If the situation weren't like this, it would have been perfect to take them..."
Even with the poisonous snakes that would have made an ordinary person terrified in front of him, Jiang Ziya could not hide his disappointment at not being able to take the green snakes.
No matter how great the snakes were, compared to the demonic beasts of the Hermit's Valley, they could be called a cute level, so it was a pity that he could not skin them and to roast and to eat the meat as before.
As the green snakes died, the quiet forest began to stir as if it were moving.
Swoosh! Clatter! Clatter!
The sound of something rubbing was heard, and an unpleasant vibration that was hitting the ground began to rise through his toes.
"Ugh!"
The ground was wriggling in the darkness around Jiang Ziya.
As Jiang Ziya concentrated his eyesight, hundreds of centipedes that seemed to be there were crawling up on the grass and were gathering towards Jiang Ziya, rubbing their bodies against each other.
If it were an animal, any ferocious beast or demonic beast would be fine, but if it were an insect, the story was different.
Jiang Ziya, with a disappointed heart, hurriedly moved his feet, leaving the bodies of the snakes that he could not easily take his eyes off.
The centipedes gathered on the bodies of the dead snakes in an instant and began to tear and to eat them.
Jiang Ziya displayed his divine footwork and hurriedly moved his feet towards the deeper part of the forest.
"Hmm?"
While moving like that, Jiang Ziya let out a big breath at the stuffy feeling.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before, as his head was spinning and his stomach was churning.
"By any chance... is this poisoning?"
If one's inner art reached a certain level, a protective qi would naturally arise and to protect the mind and body.
Although the poisonous qi in the surroundings was getting thicker, it did not make sense for Jiang Ziya, who had practiced an ultimate divine art, to be poisoned by this level of poisonous qi.
But there was one thing that Jiang Ziya had overlooked.
The Crouching Frog Art.
The Crouching Frog Art, a secret art that he had learned through a fateful encounter with the Butterfly Scholar, was a heart art that absorbed the external qi through the skin, and if one were to trace its roots, it was a heart art that had been born in the test that had been displayed to create a poison man.
Until now, Agong had been able to achieve a fast accumulation of qi with the heart art of the Six Arts and Three Strategies, which was a mixture of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art and the Nine Gates True Scripture.
Although Jiang Ziya had been late in entering the martial arts, thanks to that, he had now achieved an outstanding internal energy that could not be compared to the rising stars of his age.
But in it, the role of the Crouching Frog Art, which had been displayed unconsciously, could also be said to be great.
But as he entered a space full of poisonous qi, the Crouching Frog Art, which he had been displaying unconsciously until now, had naturally absorbed the poisonous qi that was spread here and had accumulated it in his body.
Jiang Ziya, who did not know how to handle poison, nor had he received the treatment of a poison man like the Butterfly Scholar, could only realize that he had been poisoned when the poisonous qi had spread throughout his body.
"This is ridiculous..."
Although he tried to circulate the qi throughout his body in one go and to burn off the poisonous qi that was flowing through his blood vessels, the place was too dangerous to circulate his energy.
To circulate his energy unguarded in a forest where poisonous insects and poisonous beasts were eating each other and a poisonous mist was rising thickly was no different from saying that he would commit suicide right now.
Jiang Ziya held back his nausea and bit his lower lip.
He had never imagined that he would experience such a difficult situation, not when he had encountered Sheng Wang's group or had fallen into a threatening trap.
It was a great disaster that had been brought on by Jiang Ziya's own arrogance.
Both of his two masters had warned him to be most wary of arrogance, but the arrogance that had been accumulating little by little had become a stumbling block and had tripped Jiang Ziya.
'It's my mistake. I will never move carelessly again...'
His vision was gradually getting dizzy, and he could not distinguish the direction.
Although his complexion was gradually turning blue, Jiang Ziya was not collapsing.
The energy of the Six Arts and Three Strategies had realized the abnormality of his body and had begun to fight against the poisonous qi that was spreading in his body.
The power of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art burned the poisonous qi and sent a hot energy through his blood and qi, and behind it, the power of the Nine Gates True Scripture protected the tired and injured blood and qi and made them more solid.
But although he was barely protecting his blood and qi like this, thanks to the Crouching Frog Art, which had absorbed a lot of poison, the function of his body had greatly decreased.
Moreover, the dust of unknown identity that was falling from the forest was burning Jiang Ziya's throat and nose hotly every time he breathed.
The dust that was falling from the forest was also a poison powder.
Jiang Ziya once again realized why there were no guards, let alone people, here.
Since it was a natural fortress that was alive and breathing with the poisonous things that filled the sky and the earth, they had not needed to search this place.
Jiang Ziya, in a hurry, displayed the eight trigrams magic and swallowed the paper with the character for 'fire' written on it in one go.
Black smoke rose from his throat and nose, and a pungent sensation was felt.
Although he had delayed the poisonous qi a little, it was a temporary measure.
He had to circulate his energy as soon as possible and to drive out all the poison in his body at once.
Jiang Ziya staggered and moved his feet.
If this were the forbidden zone of the Tang Clan, there would surely be a building or a place for experimenting with poison.
Although it seemed that there were things of unknown identity that were aiming for him and were flying in the middle, Jiang Ziya, even with his blurry eyes, swung Tonglin and shattered and cut them in one go.
Although the sound of something gathering and eating the bodies was heard behind him, Jiang Ziya deliberately ignored it and moved his feet.
How long had he walked? Jiang Ziya, who had staggered and had grabbed something, held on to his blurry mind at the smooth feeling that was felt on his palm.
"I found it!"
Jiang Ziya looked at the wooden building that was in front of his darkened vision.
It had been right next to him, but since his mind was hazy, he had not noticed the building.
Once he had found the building, it was not very difficult to find its entrance.
The building was a mansion built of wood and stone, and it was not very large, and since someone had been managing it until recently, it had a fairly clean appearance.
"Phew."
Jiang Ziya felt that it was a little easier to breathe, perhaps because of his mood.
The poisonous things that had been grating on his ears also, as he got closer to the mansion, no longer chased Jiang Ziya and scattered somewhere and disappeared.
As he moved his feet into the building, he realized that the poisonous qi and the poisonous things that had been tormenting him were no longer invading this place.
As he let out a sigh of relief and looked around with his blurry eyes, as if a powerful poison-proof pearl had been placed, the inside of this building was so clean that his past hardships seemed insignificant.
"Phew..."
The eight trigrams magic that he had displayed to chase the traces of magic had already been broken for a long time.
Jiang Ziya was in a state where all his strength had been drained from fighting the poisonous qi all this time. If the master of the magic that Jiang Ziya was chasing were to be here, it would be no different from having entered the mouth of a tiger while trying to avoid a wolf.
But he had no choice.
One fortunate thing was that there was no presence or trace of a person around.
Jiang Ziya, even with his hazy mind, stood Tonglin straight and stuck it in the ground, and drew a circle around it and engraved the characters that symbolized the eight trigrams.
Although the outside of the building was so full of poisonous things and poisonous qi that it was not enough to display a barrier with just Tonglin, if it were inside the building, he could maintain the barrier enough.
Although this was a temporary measure, it was to protect himself, who was displaying a barrier and circulating his energy.
Rumble!
The runic characters engraved on Tonglin emitted a faint light, and he could confirm that the barrier was working.
"Heavenly Lord, please protect me."
Seeing the statue of the Heavenly Lord on the altar in front of his blurry eyes, Jiang Ziya asked the Heavenly Lord for a favor and then sat down in a cross-legged position and gasped for breath.
"Phew..."
As his eight extraordinary meridians shook hotly, the internal energy that had been moving restlessly in his dantian began to pour out at once as if a dam had broken.
Drip!
Sweat flowed from his whole body and began to soak his clothes.
Every time he sweated, Jiang Ziya's complexion, which had been blue, gradually returned to its normal color.
Crackle!
Steam rose from the top of his head, but the steam was so poisonous that it burned the ends of Jiang Ziya's hair, and his hair was curled up on its own.
Jiang Ziya, who had driven out all the poison that had dominated his body and the poisonous qi that had encroached on his blood and qi in one go, could finish his energy circulation by taking three breaths in and out.
The drawback of the Crouching Frog Art that he had not known before.
Since he had learned that the Crouching Frog Art absorbed poisonous qi, he would have to be careful when he displayed the Crouching Frog Art in the future.
Although he had finished a long energy circulation unlike usual, a feeling of fatigue, rather than a feeling of refreshment, was making Jiang Ziya's body heavy.
Although Jiang Ziya's body was recovering quickly, the remaining fatigue was not easily erased.
Jiang Ziya, who had staggered and had gotten up, was about to pick up Tonglin, but he belatedly realized that there was a gaze that was staring at him in front of him.
The thing that he had thought was a statue of the Heavenly Lord wrapped in silk on the altar was not a statue, but a person.
(End of Chapter)