23: Join the game

Qin Yue had no poison in his bag, and there was nowhere to buy it in this small mountain village. He could only go to the homes of the villagers who had been killed by the monster before to see if there was anything useful. That way, even if other villagers saw him, he could claim he was investigating the monster.

He visited three homes of the murdered villagers. There were still many things inside, probably because they had all been killed by the monster and died violent deaths in their homes, so their belongings hadn't been touched much.

Qin Yue also wandered around the village pond and the woods. He collected everything that might be useful, chose an empty house, and laid all the items before him.

A bottle of wine, a packet of arsenic—likely used for poisoning rats—moldy food, wild ginseng, and poisonous mushrooms.

First, he discarded the moldy items. Qin Yue found them too difficult to consume, and even if they caused poisoning, the slow onset would make it impossible to test anything.

Then he put the arsenic aside for last. This substance was too toxic, and its effects were too rapid. Qin Yue was afraid that if his special ability didn't work, he might poison himself to death.

First, Qin Yue drank wine. Since his Transmigration, Qin Yue had never consumed alcohol, as his current physical age was too young.

Drinking the wine straight was too harsh, so Qin Yue cooked a piece of cured meat he had taken from a villager's house to accompany the wine.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp."

Qin Yue drank about half a bottle of wine, and the effects began to set in. Fearing he might truly get drunk, Qin Yue activated the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art, utilizing its special ability, Refining Food into Qi.

As soon as the Cultivation Technique was slightly activated, the effects of the wine immediately subsided. Qin Yue opened the System and saw that his Blood Qi had recovered a little.

After a comparison, Qin Yue found that drinking wine recovered Blood Qi faster than eating! In the future, when he didn't have Blood Replenishing Powder, he could prepare some wine to restore his Blood Qi!

After Qin Yue finished experimenting with the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art's absorption of wine, he gained some confidence in eating poisonous mushrooms and wild ginseng. He knew that drunkenness was a form of poisoning, so if he could dispel the effects of alcohol, then poisonous mushrooms and wild ginseng would be no problem.

As Qin Yue expected, he cooked the wild ginseng and poisonous mushrooms separately. After consuming them, he used the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art to neutralize their toxins.

Finally, Qin Yue also tried the arsenic. Before taking the arsenic, he was already quite confident that the powerful properties of the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art could certainly detoxify it.

However, with Qin Yue's cautious nature, he only took a small amount. Feeling unwell, he immediately began to detoxify. The experiment showed that the Refining Food into Qi ability could indeed neutralize ordinary poisons, which allowed Qin Yue to attend the village chief's dinner with peace of mind.

Time quickly passed to the afternoon. Apart from discovering the Refining Food into Qi ability, Qin Yue had no other findings regarding the monster.

To gain a lot of information, he could only immerse himself in the situation and see what the village chief was truly planning.

When dinner time arrived, the village chief's eldest son proactively came to invite Qin Yue to their home for dinner. In this village, the village chief knew exactly where Qin Yue was staying.

The village chief rushed to greet Qin Yue when he arrived home and invited him to the main seat. Since Qin Yue had already decided to immerse himself in the situation, he no longer refused, wanting to see what the village chief's family intended to do.

As Qin Yue took his seat, he noticed that the dishes prepared for today were quite good. Although there was no fresh meat, the village chief had prepared pickled fish, cured chicken, and cured meat.

Although the village chief verbally apologized for neglecting his guest, his expression showed extreme satisfaction with the arrangement of this meal.

"With such good dishes, why is there no wine? Eldest, bring out our best wine."

As soon as the village chief sat down, he immediately instructed his eldest son to fetch the wine.

Qin Yue did not object; with Refining Food into Qi, he accepted all offerings.

The dinner was enjoyed by both host and guest, and by the time it was finished, night had fallen.

Finally, having eaten and drunk his fill, Qin Yue bid farewell, as he still needed to stake out the empty house.

After his attempts to keep him were unsuccessful, the village chief personally escorted Qin Yue to his destination with his two sons. They only returned after Qin Yue had settled in.

"Did I misjudge this village chief?"

The change Qin Yue was waiting for never came. Even after dinner, Qin Yue felt no abnormality in his body. He had initially thought there was something suspicious about the village chief insisting on escorting him, but nothing happened.

Since nothing had happened, Qin Yue could only stick to his original plan, which was to lure the monster out alone.

After sitting idly for about half an hour, Qin Yue felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

"It seems drinking alcohol can indeed induce sleep!" Qin Yue thought to himself.

To witness the village chief's methods, Qin Yue had deliberately refrained from using Refining Food into Qi to refine today's food and drink.

Now that the effects of the wine were setting in, and it seemed the village chief had no further plans, Qin Yue activated the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art to begin digesting the food.

After operating the Cultivation Technique for a while, Qin Yue immediately stopped, closed his eyes, and with a "thud," fell to the ground.

Qin Yue, of course, wasn't asleep. He had noticed something amiss: today's food and wine were too difficult to digest, and the Blood Qi gained after Refining Food into Qi was too abundant. There must be a problem here. To avoid alerting anyone, Qin Yue decided to lie on the ground for a while.

Qin Yue lay for about half an hour when the village chief's voice came from outside the door: "Sir, Sir, this old man has brought you a quilt. Sir, please open the door!"

After calling for a while and seeing no one open the door, a young man jumped over the wall. It was none other than the village chief's second son.

After jumping in, he turned and opened the main gate. The village chief and his eldest son entered from outside together.

None of the three spoke until they entered the house and saw Qin Yue lying on the ground. The village chief pushed Qin Yue but couldn't wake him. Only then did the eldest son speak,

"I thought this monster hunter would be very powerful, but isn't he just like the last one?"

"That's right, sister-in-law's method is really good, but these monster hunters are really rich!" the village chief's second son said while rummaging through Qin Yue's bag.

"Stop rummaging, we're not doing this for things! Quick, pack up, don't leave anything behind. Take both the person and the bundle back."

The village chief interrupted his second son's actions and said.

Hearing this, the eldest son took out a coil of rope from behind him, tied Qin Yue's hands and feet, and then took out a wooden stick. He and the second son together lifted Qin Yue.

In the pitch-black night, the entire village was silent. The two brothers, one in front and one behind, carried a person in the middle, and an old man walked behind, carrying a bundle and holding a knife, adding a touch of eeriness to the tranquil countryside.

The three people swayed back home and placed Qin Yue in the center of the living room.

"Yunniang, Yunniang, come quickly, that monster hunter has been brought back. This time, your illness will definitely be cured."

As he spoke, a young woman walked out from the side room. This young woman had an alluring appearance, but her face was pale, and she swayed as she walked, as if her health was not good.

"Ah, Dalang, Erlang, Father-in-law, you are all doing this for my illness, that's why... It's all my fault!"

Saying this, the young woman covered her face and began to cry, tears falling profusely, looking pitiful.