342: Chapter 122 Tendon-Severing and Bone-Corroding Pill

Upon hearing Zhu Danchen's explanation, Meng Li, Wang Yuyan, A Zi, and the others were left speechless.

Although the other party spoke euphemistically, given their understanding of Duan Zhengchun, they understood immediately: the so-called "having a wide circle of friends" was just a way of saying he was flirtatious everywhere, able to meet former lovers wherever he went, rekindle old flames, or receive gifts from them.

This situation was something not only Duan Zhengchun himself but even his guards like Zhu Danchen had grown accustomed to. Since they had never suffered any consequences from it, it was normal for them not to suspect anything.

They just hadn't expected this time to be an accident, and when they fell, they fell hard.

Not only did Duan Zhengchun and Gu Ducheng lose their lives on the spot, but even the ruler of the Dali Kingdom, Duan Yu, was abducted by Jiumozhi.

Once the news reached Dali, it would inevitably trigger turmoil.

However, this had little to do with Meng Li.

After a brief silence, Mu Wanqing told Gan Baobao about Zhong Ling's situation, then informed her that she would not be traveling with them and intended to go to Yougu Valley another day to pick up Qin Hongmian.

Gan Baobao said nothing after hearing this.

Firstly, Duan Zhengchun had just died, and she was filled with sorrow, having no heart to discuss anything else.

Secondly, regarding the return to Dali, her biggest worry had been an ambush by the Three Great Villains. Now, only Duan Yanqing remained of the three, and not only was his strength diminished, but the targets of his pursuit—Duan Zhengchun and his son—were either dead or abducted. In this situation, it was highly likely that Duan Yanqing would not target them again.

Therefore, whether or not Mu Wanqing, Meng Li, and the others traveled with them was not a major issue.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Meng Li asked Mu Wanqing to stay and keep watch, while he took Wang Yuyan, A Zi, and the others back to his own courtyard.

Upon returning to the courtyard, Meng Li asked A Zi and A Zhu to take Zhong Ling to Gan Baobao and to pay attention to how the body was being handled.

Afterward, he dragged the limp, dog-like Quan Guanqing to the woodshed in the corner of the courtyard.

Closing the door and having Mei Jian and Zhu Jian guard the entrance, Meng Li lit a candle and pulled off the man's face mask, confirming that he had not made a mistake; it was indeed Quan Guanqing.

He casually unsealed Quan Guanqing's mute acupoint.

Before he could ask anything, Quan Guanqing spoke first, his face full of shock and curiosity: "What kind of Martial Arts are you Cultivating? You were actually able to counter-absorb my Star Absorption Great Technique!"

Star Absorption Great Technique? Ren Woxing's signature Martial Arts? Hearing this name, Meng Li felt a moment of astonishment.

It seemed that in his first life, there were indeed many people online who linked the Star Absorption Great Technique of Ren Woxing in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer with the Beiming Divine Skill of the Xiaoyao Sect in demi-gods and semi-devils, with the most typical theory being that the Star Absorption Great Technique was an incomplete version of the Beiming Divine Skill.

Whether this was true or false, Meng Li could not verify.

However, what he could be certain of was that Quan Guanqing was indeed Cultivating the Beiming Divine Skill, but the portion he Cultivated was extremely limited.

And by the looks of it, the other party didn't even know this; he had probably been duped by someone using a fake label.

Thinking of this, Meng Li did not expose him but sneered: "Now I am the knife and chopping board, and you are the fish and meat; you will only answer when I ask."

"As for your question, whether I answer or not depends entirely on your performance and my mood."

Quan Guanqing's expression stiffened, and he was secretly annoyed. He then stiffened his neck and said toughly: "I am the Beggars Sect Leader. Even if I have carelessly fallen into your hands, I am not someone who can be humiliated at will. Before I came, I had already given instructions to the Elders in the sect."

"If something happens to me here and I cannot return by daybreak, the Disciples of the Beggars Sect will definitely..."

Before he could finish, Meng Li struck from a distance, interrupting him with a crisp slap across the face.

He wasn't sure about others, but Quan Guanqing was purely an opportunist; his bones couldn't possibly be that tough.

Furthermore, based on the appearance of the Sorrowful Crisp Breeze Poison and combining it with Quan Guanqing's character, Meng Li guessed that he was nine times out of ten colluding with the people from the Western Xia's Yipintang. If this were leaked, let alone continuing as the Beggars Sect Leader, it was much more likely that the other members of the Beggars Sect would purge him from the sect.

Therefore, Quan Guanqing could not have told the other members of the Beggars Sect about this operation.

If he really had the guts, he wouldn't have been wearing black clothes and a mask.

Therefore, what this guy said was complete nonsense.

Judging by his behavior, without using some methods, he probably wouldn't tell the truth.

Meng Li couldn't be bothered to waste time and stared directly into Quan Guanqing's eyes, activating the Mi Xin Great Technique.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Meng Li obtained the answers he wanted.

It turned out that back at Xingzi Forest, shortly after Qiao Feng was forced to leave due to issues regarding his background, Quan Guanqing and the other participating high-level members of the Beggars Sect encountered an ambush by Western Xia's Yipintang. Just like in the original story, the other party started with the Sorrowful Crisp Breeze Poison, and all the members of the Beggars Sect were affected and captured.

Without the involvement of Duan Yu, A Zhu, and the others, the Beggars Sect members were not rescued halfway but were directly imprisoned and interrogated.

Quan Guanqing was not a tough character, and before long, he gave in and defected to Yipintang.

As an opportunist, he naturally wouldn't defect for nothing. Taking the opportunity, he revealed his ambition and, in the name of letting Yipintang secretly control the Beggars Sect, requested resources and assistance from Helian Tieshu, the person in charge of Yipintang.

The Beggars Sect was a top-tier sect in the Song Dynasty's Jianghu. If it could be controlled, it would be of great help to Western Xia's designs on the territory of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Helian Tieshu was tempted. After Quan Guanqing took the poison known as the Muscle-Severing Bone-Rotting Pill, Helian Tieshu managed to get him two sets of Martial Arts: one was the Star Absorption Great Technique, which was an incomplete fragment of the Beiming Divine Skill; the second was the so-called Green Flame Divine Palm.

Relying on these two sets of Martial Arts, Quan Guanqing developed and his strength increased greatly. Coupled with some maneuvering with Helian Tieshu, he successfully became the Beggars Sect Leader.

As for the specific origin of the Beiming Divine Skill fragment, Quan Guanqing did not know.

But Meng Li had already guessed the answer—Li Qiu Shui!

The only person in Western Xia who could be involved with Yipintang and produce the Beiming Divine Skill was her.

Then there was the Muscle-Severing Bone-Rotting Pill.

The Muscle-Severing Bone-Rotting Pill was a strange poison with two miraculous features: First, the person who prepared it could control the time of activation. When it took effect, the victim's tendons would soften and snap, they would be unable to move their tongue or mouth, and they would rot to death.

Second, it was not a single poison, but the result of combining the Nine Revolutions Bear-Snake Pill with another ingredient.

The Nine Revolutions Bear-Snake Pill was a healing medicine of the Xiaoyao Sect, which had miraculous effects on treating external injuries. In the original story, Wu Laoda was struck by a pinecone thrown by Xu Zhu, which punched a hole in his body. After taking the Nine Revolutions Bear-Snake Pill given by the Old Woman of Tian Shan, he was back to normal in no time.

A precious medicine with such miraculous effects was naturally not easy to refine.

And the Muscle-Severing Bone-Rotting Pill only appeared twice in the original story.

The first time was when the Old Woman of Tian Shan used it to control Wu Laoda during her period of weakness, and the second time was when Li Qiu Shui intended to control the Old Woman of Tian Shan.

The difference was that Wu Laoda was fooled, while the Old Woman of Tian Shan understood the trick and refused to take it even in the face of death.

He hadn't expected that Li Qiu Shui would actually use it on Quan Guanqing now.

However, thinking of Quan Guanqing's status as the Beggars Sect Leader, it was worth the cost of one Muscle-Severing Bone-Rotting Pill.

As for the reason Li Qiu Shui did this, Meng Li could also guess a thing or two: besides helping Western Xia plot against the Song Dynasty, it was nothing more than increasing her own power in order to compete with or even rival the Old Woman of Tian Shan.

A Yipintang could not compare to the Lingjiu Palace and its subordinate Thirty-Six Caves and Seventy-Two Islands, but adding the Beggars Sect made a difference.

What was important was that the cost she paid was low, the risk was small, but the potential gain was huge.

For example, this incident at the Shaolin Monastery's Heroes Assembly.