Between the non-existent cultivation technique and his arm, Mr. Yao ultimately chose the latter. After a moment, he begrudgingly said, "Give me the antidote recipe, and I will let you go."
"Mr. Yao, I have firsthand experience of your hypocritical behavior. If you let us leave safely first, I will give it to you," Xiao Yixian said, shaking her head with indifference.
Xiao Yixian's indifference made Mr. Yao's heart sink. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I agree."
Seeing Mr. Yao give in, Xiao Yixian turned to Xiao Se and smiled, "Let's go."
With no fight left, Xiao Se shrugged nonchalantly and headed out of the manor, followed closely by Xiao Yixian.
Upon reaching the manor's exit, Mr. Yao, accompanied by the remaining seven or eight guards, followed them with a gloomy expression.
To Xiao Se's surprise, Xiao Yixian summoned the blue eagle from the original story.
"What is this?" Xiao Se asked instinctively.
"This is Xiao Lan. After we parted ways last time, I encountered it during a herb-gathering trip. It was severely injured at that time, and I saved it, so we became good friends," Xiao Yixian explained, waving her jade hand at the blue eagle circling above and smiling at Xiao Se.
Nodding slightly, Xiao Se embraced Xiao Yixian's slender waist, bent his knees, and leaped onto the back of the blue eagle.
Standing on the eagle's back, Xiao Yixian was about to throw the antidote recipe to Mr. Yao when Xiao Se snatched it away.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Yixian asked, surprised.
"It's nothing. That old bastard plotted against you, so I'm just adding a little extra to his trouble," Xiao Se said with a playful smile, taking out a dark green pill from his storage ring. He carefully infused it with a bit of dou qi, then wrapped it in the recipe and tossed it to where Mr. Yao was standing.
Seeing the recipe crumpled into a ball and thrown down, Mr. Yao's mouth twitched. He caught it, paused for a moment, then without much thought, swallowed the dark green pill that had fallen out.
Moments later, a sharp pain shot through his stomach, causing him to grimace. His face paled as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Clutching his stomach, Mr. Yao turned and hurriedly made his way toward his manor, hoping to make it in time before the pain worsened.
On the eagle's back, Xiao Yixian stared in astonishment at Mr. Yao, who was being overwhelmed by the guards. Her beautiful face showed confusion as she brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and looked at Xiao Se with puzzled eyes. "What was that pill you wrapped in the recipe?"
"It's nothing much. Just a laxative fruit from a thousand years ago, combined with some other simple ingredients I collected in magic beast mountain range, all refined into a pill. I added a bit of dou qi to the pill just now. Once someone eats the pill, it acts a very strong laxative and then..." Xiao Se explained with a mischievous grin.
"Laxative fruit?" Xiao Yixian was taken aback for a moment. She then looked at Mr. Yao's miserable state below, quickly realizing what had happened. Her face turned red as she glared at Xiao Se and scolded, "At such a young age, you're already up to no good."
Seeing Xiao Yixian's angry but embarrassed expression, Xiao Se smiled and smoothly changed the topic. "Where should we go next?"
Xiao Yixian shook her head and said, "I don't know. I don't have a place to stay for now. Let's leave Qing Shan Town first." Since it was still early in the timeline compared to the original story, Xiao Yixian had not yet discovered the small valley.
Hearing this, Xiao Se nodded slightly and after a moment of silence, said, "I found an isolated small valley in the Magic Beast Mountains. It has a lot of medicinal herbs, but since I can't fly for long, I couldn't enter. With Xiao Lan as our mount, we can easily fly in. We can settle there."
"Really?" Xiao Yixian's eyes lit up instantly.
"Of course. But before that, we need to visit the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. The mastermind behind the plot against you is there," Xiao Se said with a light laugh, smiling. It was also a chance for him to test his progress over the past few months.
"This..." Hearing that Xiao Se wanted to take revenge for her, Xiao Yixian was touched but also worried. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Maybe it's better to forget it. The Wolf Head Mercenary Group has over a hundred members, and their leader, Mu She, is a Dou Shi. I'm concerned..."
Xiao Se nodded and said, "For certain reasons, I'm not suited for prolonged battles, but isn't that why you're here?"
"Me?" Xiao Yixian pointed at herself in surprise, then quickly realized. "You mean using poison?"
Xiao Se smiled and nodded.
"Well, that's a good idea. The poisons I learned from the Seven-Colored Poison Sutra may not be able to kill many Dou Shis, but they can still incapacitate those below Dou Shi level," Xiao Yixian said proudly, lifting her beautiful face. She then took out a pill and said, "This is the antidote I prepared. Although it's not very useful for you, taking it can reduce your dou qi consumption."
Taking the pill, Xiao Se didn't think twice before flicking it into his mouth. With his memories as a sixth-grade alchemist, he could easily see through whether a pill was poisonous.
Touching his waist storage belt, Xiao Se took out two Zhuge crossbows and said with a smile, "I have two crossbows here. They're quite powerful. Even a Dou Shi could get hurt if they're not careful. They'll be for your protection. You'll use poison from the air, and I'll handle things on the ground."
Seeing Xiao Se swallow the pill she provided without hesitation, Xiao Yixian's beautiful face softened with a subtle smile, clearly pleased that Xiao Se trusted her completely.
Taking the crossbows, Xiao Yixian asked with a smile, "How do I use these?"
"Like this... like this..."
As Xiao Se taught Xiao Yixian how to use the Zhuge crossbows and they headed towards the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's base, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was anything but peaceful.
In the hall, there was a scene of revelry and merriment.
The leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, Mu She, along with the second leader, Gan Mu, and the third leader, Hao Meng, were enjoying themselves with beautiful women and fine wine.
Suddenly, a dishevelled young man rushed in, chased away the dancing girls, and, with a frightened expression, said, "Father, something big has happened. The Wan Yao Pharmacy has just been attacked."
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