593: Chapter 4 The Poisonous Man Attacks

After that hand landed on his shoulder, Jing Tian couldn't escape the predetermined plot, and his luck took a sharp turn for the worse: first, he was pressed against a wooden cart and bullied by the owner of the hand, Li Xiaoyao, who had traveled through time and space, and his half jade pendant, which he regarded as a treasure, was snatched away. Before he could even complain, he was found by the people of the Tang Clan and taken away to their headquarters.

The high-ranking members of the Tang Clan almost had Jing Tian executed to vent Tang Xuejian's anger.

At the critical moment, an urgent report came from the Tang Clan's backyard, saying that Tang Xuejian intended to take her own life.

To save his own life, Jing Tian had no choice but to bite the bullet and give his word, claiming he had a way to make Tang Xuejian stop seeking death.

After a series of matching her tricks and parrying her moves, Jing Tian successfully got the spoiled and willful Tang Xuejian to stop her nonsense.

Having escaped death, he quickly ran back to Yongan Pawnshop, only to find that misfortunes never come singly; he received two more pieces of bad news.

The first piece of bad news was that his position as the manager of Yongan Pawnshop had been stripped away.

The second piece of bad news was that the new manager was the former steward of Yongan Pawnshop, Zhao Wenchang.

Zhao Wenchang was a mean-spirited man who bullied the weak and feared the strong; he had frequently hit and scolded Jing Tian in the past.

Jing Tian often called him 'Vampire' or 'Zhao the Skinner' behind his back with Xu Maoshan and He Bi Ping.

When he saw Zhao Wenchang take out the medallion representing the manager of Yongan Pawnshop, Jing Tian felt his future had changed from 'limitless' to 'lightless.'

Afterward, Jing Tian recalled what Meng Li had said the previous night and felt deep regret, wanting to cry but having no tears.

"If only I had known, I would have given the jade pendant to that Grandmaster Meng."

"Now it's just great—the jade pendant was stolen, the manager position is gone, and I've somehow offended the Eldest Miss of the Tang Family."

"It's truly losing the lady and the soldiers."

"What a misfortune!"

...

The next evening.

After experiencing the wonders of the Chaos Dao Embryo, Meng Li emerged from his meditative state, removed his protective measures, and stood up to lazily stretch his muscles. He then walked to the window and opened it, intending to see what the situation was like outside.

After opening the window, he saw a group of people dressed in coarse cloth clothes baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they wandered the streets.

As if hearing the noise, several people in the group turned their gaze toward Meng Li.

As their eyes met, Meng Li's brow furrowed slightly.

Because he discovered that the people below had red pupils, fangs exposed at the corners of their mouths, and ferocious expressions; they looked more like mindless beasts than humans.

These are... Poisonous People?!

Just then, a cry for help suddenly came from not far away: "Help!"

Meng Li thought the voice sounded a bit familiar. Following the sound, he saw a figure running for their life.

That figure was none other than the Xu Maoshan he had met before.

He was running while calling for help.

After a closer look, Meng Li found it somewhat amusing.

Xu Maoshan was naturally stout, his physique like a small mountain.

Most of those Poisonous People were thin and small; their weight was not in the same league as Xu Maoshan's, and they moved slowly and were scattered.

With Xu Maoshan charging through like that, they couldn't even block him, let alone hurt him; they could only follow the sound and chase him slowly from behind.

However, Xu Maoshan hadn't noticed this due to fear and kept running while calling for help, which instead attracted the attention of the surrounding Poisonous People, causing them to gather into a crowd as they chased the same target, making the situation worse and worse.

At this moment, Xu Maoshan saw Meng Li and hurriedly called for help: "Grandmaster Meng, help!"

Meng Li leaped out from the window, arrived in front of Xu Maoshan, grabbed his shoulder, and jumped, easily leaping out of the Poisonous People's encirclement.

Then, Meng Li raised his hand and pointed at the group of Poisonous People from a distance, softly uttering a single word: "Freeze!"

In an instant, a massive Body-Fixing Talisman manifested out of thin air within the crowd of Poisonous People.

The power of the Talisman erupted, covering all the Poisonous People.

In just a flash, all the Poisonous People on the field were frozen in place.

Xu Maoshan watched in stunned silence, then quickly snapped out of it and gave Meng Li a thumbs-up, offering praise: "Grandmaster Meng, you are so amazing! With just a point from a distance, you froze them all."

Meng Li smiled faintly: "A minor trick, not worth mentioning."

Immediately, he asked, "Where did this group of Poisonous People come from, and why were you being chased by them?"

Xu Maoshan scratched his head and replied, "I don't know where these Poisonous People came from either. Boss Jing Tian said he was going to see a meteor shower to pick up treasures, but I didn't go with him because I had things to do. Then I saw that he hadn't returned to Yongan Pawnshop so late, so I came out to find him, and I encountered these Poisonous People halfway."

As he spoke, his expression changed as if he had thought of something: "Grandmaster Meng, Boss couldn't have encountered the Poisonous People too, right?"

"It's possible. Where is he?"

"At the foot of Shushan, over there," Xu Maoshan replied, pointing in a direction.

Meng Li raised his hand and applied an Incantation of Superintendent Dai to Xu Maoshan, then leaped toward that direction.

"Grandmaster Meng, you..."

Xu Maoshan saw Meng Li leap several yards at a time and wanted to ask him to wait, but as soon as he started running, he found his heavy body was incredibly light, as if it had no weight. With a casual leap, he could also cross several yards. He was overjoyed and took off in pursuit.

After catching up to Meng Li, he said in surprise, "Grandmaster Meng, what kind of Spell is this? It's so magical!"

"The Incantation of Superintendent Dai, also known as the Divine Speed Talisman," Meng Li replied flatly, then pointed ahead. "We're here. Jing Tian is there."

Xu Maoshan looked in that direction and instantly saw Jing Tian, as well as Tang Xuejian.

However, the two were surrounded by a group of Poisonous People, and the situation was not looking good.

"Boss!"

"Grandmaster Meng, Boss and the others are in danger, you..."

Before he could finish, Meng Li leaped out, grabbed Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian—who hadn't been reached by the Poisonous People yet—one in each hand, and lifted them out of the encirclement.

Just as Meng Li was about to repeat his previous trick and use a Body-Fixing Talisman to freeze those Poisonous People, a figure in white flew over on a sword and cast a Spell to set up a formation above the group of Poisonous People.

Meng Li immediately dropped the idea of intervening.

Before long, the power of the Sword Array erupted, suppressing the group of Poisonous People.

Following that, the man in white took out an Eight Trigrams Mirror and cast a Spell to pull the suppressed Poisonous People inside one by one.

Afterward, the man in white walked over, cupped his fists toward Meng Li, and said, "I am Xu Changqing of the Shushan Sect. May I ask who Your Excellency is?"

"Meng Li of the Qingyun Sect," Meng Li replied, cupping his fists in return.

Xu Changqing's eyes moved slightly as he searched his memory, finding he had no impression of the Qingyun Sect, which left him puzzled. However, he didn't dwell on it; the world was vast, and even a great sect like Shushan couldn't know everything. Besides, there were more important matters at hand.

Therefore, he nodded slightly, then turned his gaze toward Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian, asking, "You two weren't scratched by those Poisonous People, were you?"

After speaking, he carefully observed the two of them, only relaxing once he was certain there were no issues.

Seeing this, Jing Tian asked curiously, "What would happen if we were scratched?"

Xu Changqing replied, "These Poisonous People carry a poisonous gas; they are very dangerous. Once scratched by them, you will be infected by the poisonous gas and subsequently turn into a Poisonous Person yourself."

"Huh?"

"That dangerous!"

Jing Tian, Tang Xuejian, and Xu Maoshan were all startled.

Xu Changqing consoled them, "You don't need to worry too much; dawn is approaching. Once it's light, the Poisonous People will disperse on their own."

Hearing this, Jing Tian, Tang Xuejian, and Xu Maoshan felt slightly relieved.

But in the next second, Xu Changqing's tone shifted abruptly: "However, there are still many Poisonous People nearby, so you must still be careful in a moment."

This gave the three of them another shock.

Then, Jing Tian's eyes darted around as he tentatively made a request to Xu Changqing: "Then you and Grandmaster Meng should stay and protect us."

Xu Changqing said, "I have other Poisonous People to deal with."

"Then what about you, Grandmaster Meng?"

Meng Li smiled and said, "I already saved you once just now. If I step in again, there will be a fee."

"Ah? I don't have any money." Jing Tian's face fell.

At this time, Tang Xuejian patted her modest chest and spoke up: "I do! Grandmaster, how much money do you want?"

Meng Li shook his head: "I don't want money. I want the broad-sleeved flowing immortal skirt."

...