Chapter 47: Poisoned!
Howl~ Howl~ Howl~
The wolves’ cries echoed, accompanied by waves of screams and curses from the Sky Demon cultists.
Back at the mountaintop, Jiang He threw himself down on the ground, clutching his head a split second after throwing the pea bombs.
Just as expected, the System’s explanation was as useful as it was unreasonable. The terrific explosion caused by the pea bombs left even the mountain quaking, with the terrible shockwave and rush of air kicking up a ton of dirt.
Even so, Jiang He felt nothing from his spot on the ground. Only getting up once the shockwave faded, he took out a pea and studied it closely.
[Pea]
[Inedible, extremely destructive.]
[Usage: Throw from long-distances.]
[Gentle reminder: It is suggested that the Host drop to the ground and clutch his head with both hands after throwing to stay immune from damage.]
“Immune, yes... but it’s immunity from damage!”
Jiang He only noticed that little detail then!
Immunity from damage meant that even if the pea detonated inside his pants, he would be absolutely protected and not lose a single hair if he could drop down and clutch his head fast enough. He was about to take off his pants to test that theory, but eventually...
He held back!
“I can just throw it in front of me if I want to test it. Wouldn’t it be bad if my junk gets blown off?”
Meanwhile, the wolves’ howling had died down as one giant wolf after another lunged up the mountain, spreading out when they arrived at the peak. They surrounded Jiang He, each of them baring their teeth and snarling viciously.
The Sky Demon cultists were still astride the wolves. However, only four of them had survived. Aside from Old Liu, there was another rank-five pinnacle martial artist and an earth-type superhuman. As for Tong Nan, the shadow-type superhuman, he was still lurking in the shadows and had yet to show up.
Jiang He turned in shock. “I am surprised... So many actually survived.”
Still, after giving it some thought, he figured that it made sense.
The pea bomb’s power was limited. Pair that with the Ferals’ strong instincts against danger, it was clear that some of the wolves dodged away when Jiang He threw the pea bombs. Most importantly, the wolves were not weak—there were up to sixty of them in front of him now, and the weakest of them were rank-four.
In addition, the defense level of such Ferals would be considerable, and it would be difficult to kill them as long as they were not caught in the center of the pea bomb’s blast.
As for the rank three and rank two wolves, they had been mostly blown away in the wave of bombs.
After all, Jiang He had only thrown the normal peas because he was reluctant to use the strengthened ones...
***
Meanwhile, Old Liu and the others were outraged. They had been ambushed, and their mission left a mess! And once their holy faith pinned the blame on them, no one would be able to escape from the Three Swords, Six Holes punishment.
“Who on earth are you?” asked Old Liu.
He stepped forward, his skinny form suddenly fleshing out and becoming burly and robust, and he even grew a few inches taller. He had B-cla.s.s superstrength, and his Qi would not lose out to a rank-six advanced martial artist!
His voice was hoa.r.s.e and his eyes fully red as he stared ferociously at Jiang He, gritting his teeth. “The Tranquil Heavenly General prepared everything for us ahead of tonight’s plan. So, who are you, and how did you learn about our plan?”
Jiang He had a blank look on his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What plan?”
I’m just here to hunt and gather some rank-six or rank-seven Feral flesh and blood to sprinkle over my tiny farm. Why would I know about your plan?
The other two Sky Demon cultists approached Jiang He as well.
The rank-five pinnacle martial artist was bursting with True Qi, and his aura was overflowing. He drew out the three-section staff he had hanging over his hip, and soon each section connected into a single silver alloy staff.
At the same time, the earth-type superhuman’s body was surrounded by a cloudy mud l.u.s.ter. He was merely waiting for Old Liu to give the order, and he would unleash his superpower to kill Jiang He.
And in the darkness of the night behind Jiang He, Tong Nan, the shadow-type superhuman, was quietly approaching, dagger in hand. It glinted in a faint blue light, showing that it was clearly laced in poison.
Though Old Liu kept his eyes fixed on Jiang He, he also quickly glanced at Tong Nan from the corner of his eye.
“Brat! It doesn’t matter who you are. Only death awaits those who interfere with the plans of our holy faith!” he growled sinisterly. “Well, whatever. After we kill you, we will attack Linzhou City without further delaying the Tranquil Heavenly General’s plan.”
And out of the blue, he barked dozens of decibels louder, “Do it!”
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air echoed behind Jiang He, almost at the same split second when Old Liu called out.
Ding!
There was the sound of metals colliding.
However, Jiang He only felt an ache and an icy touch over his neck. The feeling was like being stung by a mosquito. He promptly turned around but found nothing there.
Touching his neck, Jiang He cursed, “What was that? A mutated mosquito?”
Tong Nan, who had fused as one with the darkness, stared bewilderedly at the dagger that was half a notch shorter now.
What the h.e.l.l.
What was going on?
His C-grade alloy dagger... broke?
He was physically impressive even though he was an Awakened, and would not lose out to rank-two or rank-three martial artists. Indeed, the dagger he had could pierce steel plates or even stone.
So...
Why did the dagger snap?
That brat wasn’t even wearing armor either!
Still, Tong Nan was careful. Once his single-strike failed, he promptly retreated and melted into the darkness again.
“I may have only scratched his skin, but that was enough... The venom on my dagger was extracted from a mutated spider, provided by the poison master of the holy faith. One drop could kill an elephant! Even in powerful martial artists, the venom will trigger in half a minute. His strength will fade and his body will stiffen...”
Over on the other side, Old Liu was already charging at Jiang He. His short and small smoking pipe turned out to weigh hundreds of catties, rumbling through the air as it was smashed down from above.
At the same time, with a point of the earth-type Awakened’s finger, the ground beneath Jiang He began to creep up his thigh, as if it were alive. With a loud cry, the rank-five martial artist also bounded towards him, metal staff in hand.
“For the holy faith...”
What the...
h.e.l.l!
Jiang He scowled. A fight is a fight. Why chant your slogans?
He released a blow of Mighty Dragon Shows Remorse. A deafening draconic roar resounded as the golden silhouette of a dragon flew away, shooting towards Old Liu.
Bang!
Old Liu, who was just two meters away from Jiang He and about to smash his smoking pipe on his head, was sent flying even before he could reach out his hand.
At the same time, Jiang He charged himself with Nine Yang Technique, causing a quake of True Qi that shattered the ground that had wrapped around his feet.
Following up with a Dragon Soars in the Sky, Jiang He sent the rank-five martial artist flying too, because his slogan-chanting made him extremely uncomfortable. Afterwards, he fired another Mighty Dragon Shows Remorse, and the martial artist was dead before he hit the ground.
That was when Jiang He’s body wobbled. He felt an agonizing pain from where the ‘mosquito’ had stung him earlier, and soon his entire body became numb.
“Oh, no! I’ve been poisoned!”