Chapter 246: Your methods are truly dark

Tang An clutched the red curtain of the Universe Bag, wanting to look outside, but she could see nothing.

"Tell me, how many rounds do you think Baimu Mojun can hold out?"

She felt the commotion outside was quite significant; it seemed as if Baimu Mojun had transformed into his true form and was engaged in a Battle of Dharma with Sun Wukong and Yang Jian.

With the Universe Bag protecting them, their battle did not reach this place.

Nezha's brows furrowed slightly; for some reason, he felt a faint sense of unease.

Where was the unease coming from? The centipede spirit? But Baimu Mojun had Sun Wukong and Yang Jian to deal with him, so what could possibly go wrong?

Tang An, however, was different from him; her spirits were high, and a flash of inspiration struck her.

"I remember, in the story, there are scenes where Wukong and my master cry at the grave and burn paper. Do you think I should cooperate and faint, just to make that little liver of King Yama tremble once more?"

Nezha's expression grew a bit more solemn. "Lishan Laomu will come too?"

"According to the original plot development, yes."

"But in the current situation, she probably won't come. I don't believe a single Baimu Mojun could be too much for the three of you to handle."

Nezha's inner unease grew even stronger; after all, he still had fresh memories of the state Tang An was in when Lishan Laomu appeared last time.

"Maybe we should just..."

Nezha wanted to say that maybe they should just give up on this tribulation and continue on their way.

But before he could finish his sentence, he fell silent, his pupils instantly dilating.

The Universe Bag was torn open by a streak of golden light, and Baimu Mojun's desperate final counterattack happened to pass through that very tear, striking Tang An in the back.

Tang An's body stiffened; she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her back, and her whole body went limp in an instant. Before she could react, she collapsed to the ground right in front of Nezha.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The speed was so fast, and the coordination between the golden light and Baimu Mojun's strike was so precise, it was as if it had been rehearsed thousands of times.

Even with Nezha, Yang Jian, and Sun Wukong by Tang An's side, they were completely unable to react in time.

"Master!"

Sun Wukong and Yang Jian flew toward Tang An, each grabbing one of her arms to keep her from falling face-first.

"It's a good thing it's you guys; you remember I don't like face-planting." Tang An was so weak she felt as if she had been drugged; she couldn't move a muscle and could only manage to speak.

"I'm... I'm fine." Tang An shook her head and thought to herself: "System, the Indestructible Body you gave me, it's... it's not working."

Last time she was beaten until she was shattered, and this time she was poisoned.

Yet at this moment, her peripheral vision caught sight of her Universe Bag; the bag had broken at some point, and the Buddhist treasures inside were spilling out continuously.

"Treasure..."

Tang An struggled to lift her head and look toward the Western Heaven, "Leaf... leaf."

"Your, methods, are, truly, dark..."

Before she could finish, everything went black before Tang An's eyes, and she fainted.

It seemed Lishan Laomu would still come, and Sun Wukong would still go to find Pilanpo to save her.

As expected, some tribulations among the Eighty-One Tribulations simply cannot be avoided.

Before Tang An completely lost consciousness, she still felt at ease.

Because she knew Sun Wukong would go and invite Pilanpo, Pilanpo would come and save her, and then, once she recovered, she could clear this tribulation and continue on the journey.

"Nezha, Nezha?"

Sun Wukong went over and shook Nezha's shoulders. "The poison Master has been struck with cannot be cured by ordinary Immortal Pills."

"You and Brother Yang Jian keep watch over Master; I am going back to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain to ask Master if there is an antidote to save her."

Nezha grabbed Sun Wukong; at this moment, Nezha's eyes were filled with chaos.

"Lishan Laomu, go find Lishan Laomu!" He remembered Tang An saying that Lishan Laomu would appear.

"Oh?" Sun Wukong looked at the fainted Tang An; he figured she must have known her own tribulation, and even more so, how to resolve it.

"Fine, I am fast on my feet; I will be back in a flash." Having said that, Sun Wukong didn't waste any more words, stepped onto his Somersault Cloud, and went to seek Lishan Laomu.

Jiuyue had just been fighting Baimu Mojun alongside Sun Wukong, Yang Jian, and Xiaotian Quan. Her original goal was to quickly improve her strength during the battle, but just now, she had once again witnessed Tang An getting hurt with her own eyes.

"Big sister." Jiuyue transformed into her nine-tailed fox form and went over, lying down beside Tang An and curling her fox tail around her, resting her against her own furry body.

"Brother Yang, Big sister will be okay, right?" She was so anxious that tears were swirling in her eyes.

Everything had happened too fast, so fast that no one could react in time.

Yang Jian looked at Tang An's torn Universe Bag, then looked toward the direction of the Western Heaven.

Combined with the "leaf" Tang An mentioned before she lost consciousness, the answer was already obvious.

Only a leaf from the Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree could have torn the Universe Bag in an instant, broken through Tang An's Indestructible Body, and allowed the poisonous needle from Baimu Mojun's final counterattack to pierce into Tang An's body.

Nezha did not speak again throughout the whole process, but his hands trembled as he gathered those treasures back into the Universe Bag.

No one knew what he was thinking, but the more unnervingly calm he was, the more it suggested that a massive emotional backlash was likely to follow.

Western Heaven, Lingshan.

Zhunti, who had observed this scene, raised his hand, intending to retrieve the scattered Magic Treasures from Tang An's Universe Bag back to Lingshan.

However, before he could move, a cyan light above his head and the purest killing intent in the world moved faster than he did.

A man's figure appeared in mid-air.

He looked to be in his twenties or thirties, his face peerlessly handsome, yet between his brows was an arrogance that held neither heaven nor earth in his eyes.

"Move."

"Die."

The Qingping Sword struck directly at Zhunti; Zhunti was forced to manifest the Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree to protect his body.

The newcomer let out a cold snort; the look he gave Zhunti was as contemptuous as looking at trash.

"The Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree, she wants it, I will not destroy it."

"After the Measure Tribulation, the seven treasures shall change hands; life or death, it matters not."

The man's figure vanished into the horizon, and those supreme Buddhist treasures had already been gathered by Nezha and tied back onto Tang An's waist.

One hundred miles outside Huanghua Temple, in a mountain pavilion.

Just as Sun Wukong was about to pass by, he felt a strange light attracting him and could not help but look toward this place.

Judging by the situation, it must be an immortal who has come specifically to provide guidance?

When Sun Wukong flew down to the pavilion, he saw an old woman burning paper money inside.

"Elder brother—you died such a miserable death—"

"Had I known the centipede spirit's poison could be cured, why would you have thrown your life away in vain?"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up, and he became even more convinced that this person was an immortal who had come to guide him.

He used his Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze to look, and it would have been fine if he hadn't, but one look and he nearly laughed out loud.

Why would Lishan Laomu disguise herself as an old woman and burn paper money for her brother?

Forget it, never mind.

Sun Wukong moistened his fingers with saliva and went over to mimic Lishan Laomu's mourning; he even snatched her paper money and competed to burn it.

"You monkey, how unreasonable, why are you snatching my paper money?"

Sun Wukong thought of how he truly felt heartache for Tang An, and his heart really did feel bitter.

"My poor master, traveling west with us, has to guard against monsters every day, and on top of that, guard against the treacherous people in the heavens plotting against her."

"Today, my junior brother and I were in a Battle of Dharma with a demon, and through one moment of carelessness, we let our master fall victim to the black hand of a treacherous person; it was impossible to guard against."

"If the treatment for master's poison is delayed for too long, with her mortal body, wouldn't she truly have her soul scattered?"

Thinking of this, Sun Wukong became uncontrollably furious; both angry and anxious, he could only tear at the paper money to vent his rage.