After Mu Gaoqi darted into the dense forest, he stumbled along for a while, only to feel his entire body growing weaker and weaker. He knew he must have been poisoned by Wei Qing.
Normally, Mu Gaoqi was born with a congenent Wood Spirit Body, and after being baptized by the Wood Spirit Spring, he was already largely immune to common poisons.
But the poisons of the Carefree Sect were exceptionally sinister — not ordinary ones at all.
Although Mu Gaoqi's roots were outstanding, and the poison took far longer to manifest in him than in an ordinary person, after pushing his origin power to its limits, he had only accelerated the poison's slow acting.
His legs grew heavier and heavier, his steps more and more labored, his entire body more and more limp, until finally he could hold on no longer and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Who would have thought that I, Mu Gaoqi, would perish here!" he cried, grief welling up from within. He simply couldn't accept it. To think that he possessed a congenent Wood Spirit Body — before he'd even had the chance to shine — he was about to die in this ancient medicinal garden.
From the bushes, two figures came streaking in, one ahead of the other, landing on either side of Mu Gaoqi.
The one in front was Wei Qing; the one behind was Du Lihuang.
Wei Qing wore a vicious grin. "Kid, why'd you stop running? Keep going! You've been hit with my Carefree Sect's Spirit-Locking True Scattering powder, and you think you can escape? What a dream!"
Mu Gaoqi was a man of keen insight. Despite usually being cautious and reserved, he was no stranger to backbone — especially in front of his enemies.
Though he knew death was certain, he refused to show weakness.
"Wei Qing, if you're not afraid of triggering a war between sects, then by all means, go ahead."
Wei Qing laughed heartily. "War between sects? Mu Gaoqi, do you think I'm an idiot? With your measly Small Origin Realm cultivation, how far can a voice transmission talisman reach? If your talisman could really reach old man Yun Nie, why hasn't he come to save you?"
"Hmph! Once I'm dead, my sect will naturally investigate!"
"Investigate my foot! Once this ancient medicinal garden closes, the next time anyone can enter will be three thousand years from now. By then, who's going to remember you, Mu Gaoqi? Besides, who do you think you are? Even if Shen Qinghong died, your Qianlan Palace might not necessarily go to war over it, let alone a nobody like you!"
Wei Qing looked at Mu Gaoqi with complete disdain.
Du Lihuang, on the other hand, found this puzzling. In his view, Mu Gaoqi wasn't worth wasting time over. What was so special about a mere Small Origin Realm cultivator that Wei Qing was putting this much effort into hunting him down?
However, seeing a disciple of Qianlan Palace meet misfortune was something Du Lihuang was more than happy to witness. Even if Wei Qing didn't act, if Du Lihuang encountered Mu Gaoqi one-on-one, he wouldn't hesitate to cut him down with a single sword strike.
But since Wei Qing was playing the villain, Du Lihuang was perfectly content to watch from the sidelines.
"Brother Wei, he's only a Small Origin Realm cultivator — not worth the effort. I say, just kill him with one stroke and be done with it. Why waste time?"
Du Lihuang truly didn't want to waste time. Entering this ancient medicinal garden only to chase after a mere Small Origin Realm Mu Gaoqi was an absolute waste.
If Wei Qing hadn't promised generous compensation, Du Lihuang would never have agreed to help with this pursuit.
Wei Qing simply chuckled.
His schemes and calculations were naturally far more numerous than Du Lihuang's.
Hearing Du Lihuang's words, he waved his hand. "Junior Brother Du, if you have business elsewhere, you can leave first. I'll keep this kid company and take my time."
Du Lihuang nodded. He figured Wei Qing was probably curious about how Mu Gaoqi had managed to place third in the Illusory Wave Mountain Alchemy Competition.
Perhaps Wei Qing wanted to extract alchemy secrets from Mu Gaoqi — or even the formula for that Myriad Longevity Pill.
Though Du Lihuang was somewhat interested in these things himself, he knew it wasn't his place to get too involved.
So he said with a laugh, "In that case, Brother Wei, those rewards you promised — it's time to pay up, isn't it?"
Wei Qing chuckled. "Of course. If it weren't for Junior Brother Du's help this time, cornering this kid wouldn't have been so easy."
As he spoke, he tossed a storage ring toward Du Lihuang. "It's all in there. Check it and confirm, so you can't say I, Wei, don't keep my word."
Du Lihuang laughed and caught the storage ring.
Although he hadn't done much actual fighting, the truth was, without his help cutting off Mu Gaoqi's escape routes, it wouldn't have been so easy for Wei Qing to get close enough to poison him.
So Du Lihuang felt that taking some compensation was only natural.
However, when Du Lihuang looked inside the storage ring, his face turned cold. A glint of frost flashed in his eyes as he glared at Wei Qing. "Brother Wei, what's the meaning of giving me an empty storage ring? Are you making a fool out of me?"
Wei Qing blinked. "Empty? How is that possible?"
Seeing Wei Qing's reaction, Du Lihuang thought he must have mixed up the rings and tossed it back. "Check it yourself."
Wei Qing caught it casually, a strange smile hanging on his face. But instead of examining it, he calmly pocketed the storage ring. He crossed his arms and made no further move.
This attitude enraged Du Lihuang.