"Wake up. Don't let anyone control you," Chu Feng said once more.
"I… I… I…" The voice inside wavered with hesitation.
"You are yourself. You should not be controlled by anyone."
"Wake up, my brother. Don't forget your clansmen — they're still waiting for you."
"If you keep going like this, not only will innocent people die because of you, but one day your own clansmen will be killed by your hand as well." Chu Feng pressed on relentlessly.
"No… I can't kill my clansmen. I absolutely cannot."
"I won't!!!"
The voice within the venom grew sharper, thick with struggle, until at last it erupted into a roar.
BZZZZZ—
Beneath that final thunderous shout, the venom clinging to everyone's bodies began to tremble violently.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh—
In a flash, the corrosive poison that had been eating away at people's flesh started shooting away — not only from their bodies, but from the open air itself, countless streams of venom bursting forth and converging a short distance from Chu Feng.
Before long, the liquid mass took the shape of a colossal giant — taller even than the stone giant, but far more repulsive. Its entire body was composed of thick, green, viscous venom. No features could be made out, no face discernible; all that churned and flowed was the poison itself, belching out a stench that turned the stomach.
But Chu Feng recognized him at once. This was Du Wanwu.
"Brother, you're finally awake." Looking at the towering figure of Du Wanwu, Chu Feng offered a faint smile.
"I'm sorry, Chu Feng… I — I accidentally hurt your friends. Let me heal them right now."
Even as he spoke, Du Wanwu swung one enormous arm. A fierce gale erupted in its wake, but what mattered far more was that venom sprayed from his body once more as his arm swept through the air, blanketing everyone's bodies again in the blink of an eye.
"No!!!"
At the sight, every person's heart lurched and their faces drained of color.
And yet, in the very next instant, the panicked crowd froze where they stood.
The venom was no longer corroding their flesh. Instead, the damaged areas began to mend and heal.
"Truly remarkable." Watching this unfold, the Artifact Refining Immortal and the others marveled with genuine amazement.
They always said that only the one who tied the bell could untie it, but none of them had imagined that this monster drenched in poison could not only harm with venom, but heal with it as well.
It was resolved. Not a single soul had expected that when people were on the verge of despair, Chu Feng would single-handedly turn the crisis around.
Now, at last, everyone understood what he had meant by those words: truly foolish.
Chu Feng had held the winning hand all along. He had already devised a way to save them all.
The gazes that now settled on Chu Feng had grown far more complicated.
Because even the Elf King had been completely at a loss.