The four Liangshan demons stood at the entrance of the cave, observing as the Yumen descendants partially recovered from the poison, and some were still fighting for their lives.
"Jinshui Gege, you have to take your antidote now," Yanzi knelt before Jinshui. "There is only one left, I can take your place to receive the poison from her. I was raised in Wansui Gu, and just like Duan Meng, I don't need the antidote."
However, Jinshui knew that Yanzi was not Duan Meng and he couldn't risk it to have Yanzi take the last poison. He rejected the antidote and approached the last Haitang Jian Pai disciple, once again exerting his internal energy to suck out the poison.
Liao Xian, Qin Liangjie, Liuxin, and Yin Xiuchen had already blocked Liangshan Liu Mo members, keeping them from entering the cave. Ma Yongtao just smiled and apparently did not intend to attack.
"You have caused the death of my son," Qin Liangjie immediately raised his spear and was about to strike at the trickster Zu Ye who had once again changed his appearance into a man.
"I also need to avenge Yue Dage," Liuxin had regained her short blade weapon, and she was about to join in the attack.
Liao Xian blocked Qin Liangjie while Huan Chaoyu tried to signal Liuxin. Their job was to keep Liangshan Liu Mo members from entering the cave to harm Jinshui or others.
Huang Yu opened his eyes as if he had recovered enough strength. It wasn't him who received the poison, but Duan Meng. He was still deeply injured but he was currently in a relatively harmless state.
Ma Yongtao and his brothers came again, those on guard will not be enough to hold back. Liangshan Liu Mo's reputation was clear, this time the Yumen descendants might be doomed. Their only chance, perhaps, was to wait for a miracle.
Huang Yu glanced at Jinshui for a second. He knew his friend had pushed himself too much, something he certainly didn't expect. For a moment his brain was spinning, looking for a way to solve all this. Jinshui, no matter what, couldn't become unconscious like Duan Meng now.
Zhu Baique struggled to her feet, and approached the demon head, her steps staggered. Liao Xian tried to hold her back at the entrance of the cave, but Zhu Baique ignored him and charged forward toward Ma Yongtao.
"My father harmed your father, you only have grudges against me and you should not put it on Jinshui or the others," Zhu Baique said sharply. "Let them go. After that, if you want to torture or kill me, go ahead."
"Que-mei, I never had any desire to torture or kill you," Ma Yongtao replied with a faint smile. "You shouldn't ask me to put everything on you because I won't have the heart."
"Until now you still give me that sweet talk," Zhu Baique replied cynically. "Ten years. I have known you for ten years, but you have never once told me that you are a member of Liangshan Liu Mo. Ma Yongtao, your way of taking revenge like this is really extraordinary."
Ma Yongtao walked over to her, looking at her strangely.
"I never really intended to take revenge on you," he said, "it was my father who harmed your father first, I also know that you shouldn't share the grudges of the generations above us. Que-mei, ten years, do you still not understand what I want?"
Zhu Baique did not respond this time. She stood still and hid a needle between her fingers, quickly stuck into Ma Yongtao's arm when he was about to grab her hand. That needle was the needle that Zu Ye Niang used to spread to poison Qin Liangjie and Yin Xiuchen, some leiying hua poison was still there.
Ma Yongtao pulled out the needle. He knew that there was poison in it and he had to quickly knock his blood path in the arm to block the poison from spreading.
Zhu Baique was not strong enough to deal with him, she preferred to charge toward Fuchang Long, wanting to beat up the fake monk first before Ma Yongtao could get rid of the poison.
Liao Xian could have taken the opportunity to attack Ma Yongtao first while the second member of Liangshan Liu Mo was still busy suppressing the poison, but it seemed that Shen Zhang Gongzi, the descendant of Baigu, was not someone who could use underhanded means, so he just waited silently.
Moreover, like Jinshui, he felt that Liangshan Liu Mo was just messing around and didn't actually have the intention to kill. Just now, he started to feel that Ma Yongtao's words to Zhu Baique contained some indescribable sincerity.
At the same time, Jinshui was already extremely exhausted, only being able to suck out half the poison from the last Haitang Jianpai disciple, a thirteen-year-old young girl named Caiqin. Xu Qiao had also used too much energy and her face was deathly pale.
Huang Yu knew that if Jinshui insisted on helping this last person, then perhaps even an antidote would be of no use. He was worried. His friend Liao Xian could understand the slightest difference in someone's emotion, but he was rather ignorant. He only thought of Liangshan Liu Mo as a dangerous enemy.
Jinshui had not only absorbed too much poison, but he had also shed too much-contaminated blood from his arm. Yanzi cried incessantly, asking him not to push himself.
At that time Fuchang Long had already stepped away from Zhu Baique, deliberately hit Huan Chaoyu, and engaged in a fight with him. Li Baixun was about to grab Liuxin but he had Liao Xian step in to deal with him. Qin Liangjie had also been involved in a fight with Zu Ye, easily getting hit in several parts of his body because he couldn't exert his inner strength yet and his steps were still slow.
Zhu Baique was worried that Ma Yongtao would be able to get rid of the poison quickly. She turned around and forced herself to attack that scholar. Huang Yu stood up, and assisted her by flicking three chess pieces at once to some critical blood point in Ma Yongtao's body, also not wanting to wait until the demon head finished controlling the poison.
But Ma Yongtao was the demon head of Liangshan Liu Mo, certainly not someone who could be casually attacked with some chess pieces by even a descendant of Chailang. Once he moved his sleeve, the chess pieces fell like dry leaves, none of which had time to touch them. In the next moment, he also caught hold of Zhu Baique's arm and grabbed her tightly.
Huang Yu exerted the energy given by Chailang and started an attack while one of Ma Yongtao's arms was still poisoned and the other was holding his loved one. Ma Yongtao was given no chance to dodge, so he should have blocked with his poisoned arm. But at that time he suddenly used Zhu Baique's hand to meet Huang Yu's attack.
Zhu Baique's arm in the demon head's grip was strong. Huang Yu was forced to cancel the attack, acting carefully and not wanting to injure his own friend. In the next second, his secret weapon was thrown several times at Ma Yongtao's poisoned arm, about to disperse the black blood that had gathered there.
Ma Yongtao saw his cunning moves. He suddenly stamped his foot, and his body seemed to float like a ghost, releasing Zhu Baique from his grip. Using one hand, he caught Huang Yu's arm, while his other hand, the one filled with poison, was aimed at him more slowly, trying to force him to greet with his palms too, the movements were exactly the same as those played by Huang Yu just now.
Huang Yu knew that if he responded to that attack then the poison might transfer to his body. He tried to dodge and release his arm which was caught in the grip. He still managed to free his hand because Ma Yongtao's attention was still partly on the poison. But quickly the demon head was about to use another chance.
Three chess pieces were flicked by Huang Yu at once, but not at Ma Yongtao this time. No one knew what was in the mind of the Chailang descendant, one chess piece even shot toward Jinshui, and the result was more than previously calculated.
Xu Qiao spat out fresh blood. Jinshui did too, and he felt everything around him go dark.
The chess piece attack just now caused the poison that had accumulated in Jinshui's left arm to spread out, not only did it dominate his whole body, even his energy core was affected, and as a result the wuqing xue energy that was sucking the poison from Caiqin turned around, returned to the little girl, making her collapsed instantly.
Jinshui told himself to stay awake. He vaguely watched the blue bruises on his arms disappear, replaced by black all over his body. Everything happened so fast that he had no time to stop it.
Caiqin groaned for a few moments on the ground, then fell silent completely, startling the other disciples of Haitang Jian Pai. The little girl was dead.
Xu Qiao had also slumped down and was lying still on the ground. Jinshui could barely maintain consciousness, but he actually felt pain all over his body, his vision turned faint and dark, could only call out softly.
Yanzi quickly came over to Xu Qiao and checked on her pulse.
"It's okay, just tired," she quickly said to Jinshui, but her voice trembling slightly. "Let Qiao-er Jiejie rest for a while, then after waking up there will be no more trouble."
Moying's energy in Jinshui's body woke him up. He could feel that something was wrong. The poison that he had been suppressing earlier should have spread throughout his body, he should be like Duan Meng at this moment, half asleep and half dead and who knows how long he would wake up, but he gained his consciousness faster than expected. The poison was in his body, but somehow he was still able to survive. He faintly remembered that someone had attacked him from behind.
"Jinshui Gege, Huang Yu Gege is in trouble now," Yanzi reminded him. "You drink this antidote pill first. We still have Zhu Jiejie and the others to protect us."
She held out the one remaining antidote with trembling hands. But since Jinshui didn't immediately accept it, she then came closer, force it directly into Jinshui's mouth, and made him swallow it. Jinshui knew he didn't have much time, he quickly grabbed the xuanlong sword and used it to help him walk, letting the antidote take effect as he approached Ma Yongtao.
Ma Yongtao could handle the poison better than Jinshui and the other Yumen descendants because Jinshui and the others were already injured and exhausted from facing enemies without taking a rest. He took out a bowl of poisoned blood from one of his fingers, while the remaining poison could still be cleansed with medicine and internal energy. Everything was done while facing the attacks of Huang Yu as well as Zhu Baique.
At that time Huan Chaoyu, Liao Xian, and Qin Liangjie had already been taken down by Fuchang Long, Li Baixun, and Zu Ye. The three demons would not kill without order, so they then both confined Huang Yu and Zhu Baique, keeping them away from their leader.
"Hua Jinshui, I have to say I really admire you," the Liangshan Mojun said, trying to buy time while still drawing the poison blood from his body. "You do not only help your own friends but also pay no attention to your own safety, willing to help those who are hostile to your Yumen sect."
"Ma Gongzi, I have to say I really admire you," Jinshui replied in the same exact words, also buying time for the antidote to react further. "You are still young, but you are already the leader of Liangshan Liu Mo, mastering great internal energy, you can expel leiying hua poison yourself without any antidote."
"Zhou Sangong said that there is no antidote for this poison, I don't know what kind of medicine you are taking," Ma Yongtao said. "Did Zeng Baifeng give it to you?"
"Where is our jiaozhu furen?" Jinshui asked, not wanting to explain the origin of the antidote he got. "You took her away from your friends, where do you hide her now?"
"I was just taking her to a safe place, in a little while she might also appear here to meet you," Ma Yongtao replied with a smile on his scholar's face. "That master of mine gave orders for the Yumen guardians to gather the eight descendants thirteen years ago, placing too high expectations on you. But it turns out, you are just like this, can't even get past us Liangshan Si Mo." He changed liu mo or six demons to si mo, meaning four demons, because Wang Wei had died, and the original Mengpo was also gone.
"We are still living well, still enough to deal with you."
Jinshui already felt some of his strength return, so he quickly drew his sword, charging towards Ma Yongtao with swift movements, not giving the scholar a chance to chant his dangerous ghostly palm moves.
At that time, Huang Yu's leg was also hit by the Fuchang Long praying beads and his body fell to the ground, dragged by the praying beads a long way. One chess piece attack was unleashed by him and managed to hit Fuchang Long's knee, knocking him down. Huang Yu put away the praying beads, but he couldn't easily get up again.
Zhu Baique managed to hit Li Baixun and Zu Ye both, throwing them quite a distance. However, she had also used Huling's inner energy in her to the fullest, momentarily staggering and feeling weak in her body. Li Baixun and Zu Ye sat on the ground, trying to recover themselves.
Everyone was exhausted from the long, almost non-stop fights since last night. Jinshui's state was also still very weak, his attacks were not enough to trouble a member of Liangshan Liu Mo. The poison and internal injuries combined made him only able to attack a few moves, and by the sixth move, his leg defense had faltered again.
Ma Yongtao returned his attack using a force from a long distance, causing him to fall to the ground without being able to stand up again.
Jinshui's whole body trembled, feeling as if he was being stabbed by thousands of sharp blades.
"Hua Jinshui, is that all you got?" Ma Yongtao asked. "You really disappoint me."
He saw that Jinshui was in pain and motioned to his three friends not to get up quickly. Among the Yumen descendants, only Zhu Baique was left standing upright, but she also knew that this remaining strength would not be able to deal with the four members of Liangshan Liu Mo, moreover, her personal dealings with Ma Yongtao made her unable to think straight.
"Laoer, you have to kill him first," Zu Ye said to Ma Yongtao, asking him to finish off Jinshui.
"I've never killed anyone, have you guys forgotten?" the demon head's ruthlessness showed on his face, anyone was horrified to see the change in the figure of the capable young scholar. "Seeing Hua Jinshui and the other Yumen descendants kill themselves one by one, would be interesting. This kind of sight is extremely rare, I guess you don't want to miss this either."
"The rest of them are also certain to die, there's no need for us to go to great lengths to kill them," Fuchang Long added, "everything went according to plan, it was really very enjoyable."
"Where is that lovely girlfriend of Jinshui?" Li Baixun asked. "If she's still not dead, that's great, we can put on an interesting show."
"Eh, that girl is about to die, do you want to play with her too?" Fuchang Long asked with a laugh.
"Dying girl is the best, don't you know that?"
Huang Yu, Liao Xian, Qin Liangjie, and Huan Chaoyu were all blocking at the entrance of the cave, this time strictly guarding against the Liangshan demons from getting in to hurt those inside.