[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-nothing-is-taboo":3,"chapter-nothing-is-taboo-nothing-is-taboo-chapter-354":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Nothing Is Taboo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310739,4514,"Chapter 354: Wild Herbs","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-354",354,"\u003Cp>The foul silk excels at corroding objects of utmost yang and hardness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The upper body of the Ghost Beard Tree is barely edible to the foul silk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost Beard Tree did not fail to notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its trickery escaped Xu Yuan’s various crafts and Dafu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet it discovered this clump of silk-like filaments had stuck to itself and come along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because once the foul silk makes contact, it entangles instantly and corrodes at extreme speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost Beard Tree could no longer shake it off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus the foul silk kept sprouting and coiling, tightly wrapping the trunk and clogging those tree eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had no effect on the underground ghost roots, which could carry the upper body and the foul silk away together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But beneath the foul silk’s wrapping, the entire Ghost Beard Tree was extremely weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The underground ghost roots also gradually withered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan pried out one tree eye with three hairpins, then suddenly realized he didn’t know which tree eye held the “true seed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan thought it didn’t matter, so he stabbed repeatedly with the three hairpins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since he couldn’t tell, he’d just pluck out all thirteen eyes at once!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost Beard Tree trembled weakly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each tree eye lost made it wither further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all thirteen tree eyes were plucked out, the strange trunk dried at visible speed, cracking and shattering from the treetop branches downward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It scattered into countless wood chips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan looked down and saw the ghost roots still writhing beneath the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan thought a moment: someone in Ghost Witch Mountain was still searching for the Ghost Beard Tree—this thing shouldn’t die yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trunk’s collapse could no longer be stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan had a sudden idea: try it—no harm if it fails.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan reached out and gripped the “Yin-Yang Guillotine,” unused for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After acquiring the Dragon-Slaying Sword, then the Lightning Long Knife, plus his own sword pellet, he’d used this “treasure” less often.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But its ability to sever yin and yang still proved useful many times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan drew and slashed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cleanly split the Ghost Beard Tree into “yin” and “yang” halves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost roots representing yin and the trunk representing yang severed precisely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Xu Yuan retracted the foul silk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The evil thing took a bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its quality seemed slightly improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Master Xu rarely used it; he casually clenched his fist and turned it back into a demonic pill, storing it away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trunk shattered completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost roots rolled in furious agony underground, like dozens or hundreds of giant earthworms, ready to burst forth and fight Xu Yuan to the death for revenge!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan sneered: “I spared your life—why not flee? Do you want to die?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the thing dared emerge, Master Xu would unhesitatingly burn it to ash with a burst of fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost roots instantly felt guilty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even whole, it wasn’t a match for this fellow—how much less now, with only half its body?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And most of its power lay in the tree eyes, now all in the enemy’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost roots put on a brave front, writhing a few more times underground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if threatening: “You wait!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it dove deep underground—the ground instantly grew still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost roots had Dun ed hundreds of zhang away and plunged another hundred zhang deeper—no trace remained on the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan nodded in satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He collected his various crafts and prepared to meet the two Runshan men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But suddenly he saw Dafu swaying, unable to stand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dafu, what’s wrong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan picked up Dafu—its whole body was burning hot!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu hated being held by Fan Zhe, but now it was too weak to stand, too feeble to struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I must be sick… Dafu thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shouldn’t have been greedy for food…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan frowned—he could see Dafu was ill. Was it because it ate something from the tree tumor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instinctively suspected this “illness” was tied to Ju Ya or Qiu Ningtai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I can’t cure it, I’ll have to beg Qiu Ningtai.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan carried Dafu back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the way, they passed a cliff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu suddenly opened its eyes, struggled out of Xu Yuan’s arms, and lunged to the cliff’s edge—leapt off!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan frowned; though he knew Dafu wouldn’t die from the fall, what was it doing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan followed down on his Fire Wheel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu was at some point on the cliff face, using its flat beak to chip at the rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this stretch of cliff wall grew a kind of purple-red grass Xu Yuan had never seen before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu was too weak to exert force; after two chisels, the rock didn’t budge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, Dafu’s whole body went limp, its large webbed feet couldn’t grip the stone, and it began sliding down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan quickly caught it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu struggled a few times, then helplessly gave up—it simply had no strength left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It tried hard to hide its strange little hands, grown from its own body, beneath its wings, not wanting Fan Zhe to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it pointed with the tip of its wing at the small grasses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan understood, urged the Fire Wheel forward, and used his sword pellet to slice the grasses from the cliff wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The grass roots were deeply embedded in the rock crevices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each root bore nodules like beans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They emitted a strong medicinal scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dafu pecked one, swallowed it, exhaled a long breath, and tilted its head into sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan flew back up the cliff and watched Dafu closely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its fever was receding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan sighed in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He carefully stored the remaining medicinal herbs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This must be a rare herb he’d never encountered before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, he’d use it to enhance his own pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His resistance to Ju Ya and Qiu Ningtai’s afflictions would increase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mission in the mountains succeeded—he’d found Bai Lao’s Eye and Gao Guanzi. Now he’d leave immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The true seed had not yet reached the state described by that lord as fully mature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the Ghost Beard Tree hadn’t devoured a great cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xu Yuan felt no regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Can everything be perfect?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost Beard Tree was extremely cunning; now that he’d found it, he couldn’t let it go, or he might never find it again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, that lord was watching nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This “true seed” was the key to advancing to the Fifth Tier—best to secure it safely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed might lead to empty hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan wouldn’t make that mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the river, a battle had just ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Traces remained on the ground and surrounding boulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the fight wasn’t fierce—the sides were too uneven; the weaker side fell quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Axes, hatchets, bows, and arrows lay scattered nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Guanzi and Bai Lao’s Eye wore dead-gray expressions, each encased in a mass of dark yellow slime, only their heads exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked like… insects trapped in pine resin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Above them, the six-winged strange insects split into two groups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One group hooked their legs into the slime and fluttered their wings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other group bent their hindquarters, continuously secreting more slime to ensure the two Runshan men couldn’t escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My lord turned to his alchemist and asked, “How is your recovery coming along?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Another half hour or so and I’ll be nearly restored.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My lord nodded: “Head to that grove we just passed. When you can use your nose again, we’ll resume searching for Ghost Beard Wood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My lord turned and walked away, and the strange insects followed him together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, he saw a man step out from the nearby forest: “Release the two of them, and I, your lord, will forgive you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1277,"2026-06-20T12:07:24.624Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","485e4143b04ebf0e06dc6869fb033670c05770abda5b5e31202096235f4c0433","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-355","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-353",413,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnothing-is-taboo-cover.jpg"]