"Our Holy Maiden is truly amazing!" Su Ran exclaimed. If he were to fight the giant spider with his antique tools, his kung fu might not be enough to gain the upper hand.
"What's so great about this? It's just a big brute. Don't make a fuss. Let's go."
Before this trip, Tang Youyou had made careful preparations. Having heard that there were wild beasts in the mountains, she thought that when it came to fighting such huge creatures, using poison would be more convenient. Although the poison needles hidden in her sleeves were mostly for dealing with people.
The two of them killed many birds and beasts along the way: venomous snakes hiding in the bushes, vultures circling above their heads, wild monkeys with scarlet eyes... But they hadn't seen a single person yet.
"Be careful. There may be bigger ambushes waiting for us ahead."
She felt that this place was truly strange. The road they had just walked on was sunny, but when they reached the middle of the mountain, a thick mist suddenly rose, blocking their vision and making it hard to tell the direction.
"Cover your mouths and noses! This is poisonous mist!" Tang Youyou shouted.
The two immediately covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves. But the mist was so thick that it refused to disperse for a long time. They crawled forward at a snail's pace.
"Take this pill." With that, Tang Youyou freed one hand to take out two pills from the pocket on her waist and gave one to Su Ran.
Su Ran swallowed it in one gulp. Although he didn't know what kind of pill it was, since it was given by the Holy Maiden, it mustn't be a poison. He saw the Holy Maiden stand up and expose her mouth and nose. He quickly took out a handkerchief and handed it to her. "If the Holy Maiden doesn't mind, use this to cover up."
Tang Youyou scoffed. "No need. After taking that pill, why should I be afraid of this little poisonous mist?"
Su Ran's admiration for her welled up. He never thought that one day the Holy Maiden of their Blood Clan would return successfully and have such amazing skills. The day when their Blood Clan would rise again was just around the corner!
Although the toxicity of the poisonous mist was neutralized, the limited visibility was still a problem for them. The visibility was less than five meters, and they couldn't even tell if there were traps under their feet.
"What's this?" Tang Youyou saw a ball the size of an egg in Su Ran's hand.
"This is a flash - bomb made by Su Bai. Before we met the Holy Maiden, Su Bai and I often practiced in the mist - covered mountains. We relied on this to find our way."
After saying that, Su Ran threw the flash - bomb forward. Suddenly, a huge bright light erupted, and the thick mist almost disappeared.
"Holy Maiden, we need to speed up. This flash - bomb only lasts for half a quarter of an hour. Once the time is up, it won't work anymore."
The two walked side by side. Half an hour later, they finally left the thick mist behind. In front of them was a waterfall plunging down, and there were white cranes spreading their wings in the pond. It was truly a beautiful sight.
But this was not the time to enjoy the scenery. Two shadows darted through the tree shadows. Unexpectedly, a rolling stone came crashing down from above, followed by more rolling stones towards them.
Thanks to Su Ran's excellent lightness kung fu, he managed to lead her to dodge them one by one. But they didn't expect that after the rolling stones, there would be a volley of poisonous arrows.
"It's really full of traps." Tang Youyou waved her sharp sword, but the poisonous arrows came menacingly. No matter how fast she dodged, she couldn't withstand the attack of so many arrows.
Seeing that she was struggling, Su Ran wanted to help her, but the poisonous arrows didn't give him a chance to get close to Tang Youyou. The place was open. The mountain, which was originally lush with trees, had no big trees to shelter them here.
Tang Youyou was running out of strength and was forced to retreat continuously. When she thought about dodging to the side, a moment of distraction made her get hit by an arrow in the chest.
"Holy Maiden!"
Su Ran didn't care about his own situation anymore. He managed to come to Tang Youyou's side and protected her tightly behind him. He didn't know how long it took, but finally the rain of arrows ended.
He saw an arrow sticking out of Tang Youyou's chest, and the wound was already turning black. The poison on the arrow was really vicious.
"It's not too deep. Pull the arrow out for me. My left hand is not very convenient."
Su Ran saw that her forehead was already sweating. "Then bear with it."
Just a slight touch on the wound caused unbearable pain, not to mention pulling out the arrowhead. Tang Youyou couldn't stand this pain. She regretted not bringing the anesthesia powder with her.
She bit her sleeve tightly to prevent herself from crying out in pain and attracting unnecessary trouble.
Su Ran grasped the arrow shaft and pulled it out with all his strength. A splash of blood spurted out. Seeing this, he quickly covered the wound with a handkerchief and used the cloth torn from his inner garment to bandage her.
She took a few pills to replenish qi and blood, and her complexion finally improved a bit. But it was obvious that the toxin in her body was spreading quickly, and there was already a red halo in the corners of her eyes.
"Let's go back first. The Holy Maiden can't go any further."
"We've already come this far, and the way back must be different from the original one. Let's keep going. I still have a lot of pills. I'll be fine."
Su Ran was extremely worried. After several attempts to dissuade her failed, he had no choice but to give up.
An hour later, the two finally reached the top of the mountain. This was the base of the Ink Clan, the real Qiling Mountain Villa.
It looked like a paradise. The mountains and waters surrounded it, the flowers and plants were in full bloom, and it was full of spiritual energy. The most eye - catching thing was the four golden characters on the plaque - Qiling Mountain Villa.
The Qiling Mountain Villa was just a guise for the Ink Clan. On the surface, it was an excellent place for self - cultivation, but in fact, it was a huge organization that controlled the intelligence of various countries. Only a few people knew about its existence, and other sects didn't dare to offend it rashly. If someone accidentally fell into the hands of the Ink Clan, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The two sneaked into the villa quietly. It was so quiet that it made their hair stand on end. There wasn't a single person in sight, which was very different from what they had been told.
"Don't move." Su Ran wanted to go forward to investigate, but Tang Youyou grabbed him. She felt something was wrong.
Sure enough, she faintly heard someone talking. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw two people standing on the roof not far away. It turned out that the guards were patrolling on the roof instead of on the ground.
Just as she was thinking this, a group of guards came from nowhere. As soon as they entered the yard, they separated.
Not bad. There were guards patrolling on the ground and on the roof. No wonder it was the Ink Clan. Her previous thoughts were really shallow. The guarding was truly strict.
"Find out where the water prison is."
Su Ran took out the map. According to the previous description, the water prison was on the back mountain of Qiling Mountain Villa. On the way to the back mountain, there were always heavy guards, and they had to pass by the residences of the respected mother and the respected master of the Ink Clan. It was extremely dangerous.
"I'll go find the water prison. Holy Maiden, you stay here and don't move."
"No. This place is heavily guarded everywhere. Poison is the best choice to deal with these people. It's not easy to be noticed. If we go, we'll go together."