Chapter 512: Counter-Kill and Teleportation

Du Wuyao's tone was at times high-pitched, at times low, as if he were conversing with someone, immersed in his own emotions.

Zhou You sat on the ground, motionless; his entire body was numb, and he could not even blink his eyelids.

It is often said that villains die from talking too much, but Du Wuyao was no mindless villain; he appeared long-winded, venting his emotions, but in reality, he was waiting for the potent poison to completely occupy Zhou You's entire body.

As time passed, the potent poison seeped deep into the marrow, impossible to purge in the short term.

Du Wuyao had won.

This Poison Martial Arts master known as Strange Scorpion appeared peaceful and harmless at first glance, yet he harbored terrifying schemes, with his hidden traps laid out over a thousand miles.

Under his careful cultivation, the long-buried trap struck a fatal blow.

Zhou You did not consider himself a fool; since entering the Ten Thousand Poisons Secret Workshop, he had walked on thin ice, cautious time and again, careful with every step.

Yet he had not expected that the moment he accepted the scorpion egg, he had already fallen into the other's conspiracy.

"Cough, cough, Brother Zhigang, you are still too young. If you were as weathered as your elder brother, you would know one truth: never be greedy for benefits that come for free."

Du Wuyao peeled back Zhou You's outer skin, exposing his chest and back, holding a sharp bone-carving curved blade.

He pinched the protruding parts of Zhou You's shoulder blades and collarbones with one hand, pondering how to make the cut.

The Puppet Hub hanging from a tree branch nearby swayed and collided with the wind, as if the rhythm of a death knell were approaching step by step.

Suddenly, Zhou You's eyeballs showed movement; although his whole body was numb and he could not blink or turn them, the light in the depths of his pupils flickered twice.

"You want to speak?"

Du Wuyao hunched over to ask, then shook his head, "No, no, I cannot let you speak; I am a person... with a soft heart."

"Once I am finished and you have become an obedient puppet, you can say as many sentences as you like."

Following Zhou You's gaze, he saw a bulge on the other's chest and suddenly stopped his movements.

After hesitating repeatedly, Du Wuyao took out the item hidden in Zhou You's bosom, a palm-sized pocket.

"Could this be?"

Du Wuyao slapped his thigh, "A Storage Pocket! You have such a good thing on you; perfect. With these two treasures offered up, I am destined to rise in the world."

Then he hesitated again, "No, no, pies do not fall from the sky. Brother, you wouldn't be so kind to your elder brother; there must be something inside meant to harm me."

Having said this, he unfastened the pocket without hesitation, and a small scorpion fell out with a *plop*.

Du Wuyao recognized at a glance that it was a Golden Money Scorpion, the very one hatched from the egg he had gifted to Zhou You.

Du Wuyao laughed heartily, "A Golden Money Scorpion, a Golden Money Scorpion."

He reached out to stroke the scorpion, but unexpectedly, the little scorpion was very vigilant and turned to jump onto Zhou You's body.

The next moment, the Golden Money Scorpion raised its tail stinger and stabbed down fiercely.

Zhou You felt as if his brain were splitting from the pain; the numbness in his entire body faded away like a receding tide, and his hands and feet regained their freedom.

Just as expected, the little scorpion was the key to the antidote.

If the potent poison Du Wuyao used to plot against him came from the Golden Money Scorpion's egg, then the Spirit Medicine to cure the poison must also be hidden in the little scorpion hatched from that egg.

"Seven Step Poison Sand Palm!"

"Nine-Segment Scorpion-Form Fist."

A fist and a palm collided, friction creating scorching air currents; the surrounding trees and earth were baked dry and hot.

Zhou You and Du Wuyao retreated a few steps simultaneously, watching each other vigilantly.

The sound of crawling like a tide rose all around; one by one, massive Golden Money Scorpions crawled into the foreground from the shadows, surrounding the two in the center.

Seeing so many of its own kind, the little scorpion hurriedly shrank into Zhou You's clothes, hiding and refusing to show its head. "Human hearts are like paper; once wrinkled, they can never be smoothed out."

"Brother Zhigang, your elder brother is ashamed and has no face to face you; I can only kill you and then give you a grand burial to fulfill our bond!"

Du Wuyao let out a whistle, and countless Golden Money Scorpions surged forward like a tide.

Zhou You retreated a few steps and flicked his hand, tossing out a Poison Nest; the massive object landed with a *plop*.

The Bamboo Insect-shaped Witch Beast landed in the middle of the scorpion swarm, crushing seven or eight of them on the spot; it rolled to its feet and looked around at the strange environment, appearing somewhat confused.

How did I appear here? "A Witch Beast? No, such a massive Witch Beast, how can you carry it with you!"

Du Wuyao could hardly believe his eyes, "If I truly had this treasure, my scorpion treasures would have a place to stay."

His massive scorpion swarm was usually grazed in the wild, hunting large beasts; the movement was significant and easily exposed his tracks. The previous times he was exposed were because scattered scorpions were caught by others.

Under Zhou You's 'command', the Witch Beast fought frantically with the Golden Money Scorpions.

With the toxicity of the Golden Money Scorpions, large beasts of equal size would die suddenly after only a few tail stings.

But the Witch Beast was different; it was a variant bred by Witch People since childhood, fed with the carcasses of poisonous insects, cultivating an extremely strong resistance to poison.

One Golden Money Scorpion after another rushed forward, covering the Witch Beast's limbs like a tide, scrambling to drive their tail stingers into it.

Although the Witch Beast cried out in pain, it fought with ferocity, stepping on a group with one foot and swallowing a pile with one bite.

The Golden Money Scorpions were blocked by the Witch Beast, unable to reach Zhou You for the time being.

A gust of wind rose behind Du Wuyao's ears, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up; he suddenly kicked out with a scorpion tail, blocking Zhou You's sneak attack.

"Crack, crack!"

Zhou You's entire body joints shifted flexibly, his pair of palms moving as nimbly as a snake, attacking Du Wuyao from all directions.

In that instant, the sky was filled with Zhou You's palm shadows, spitting out poisonous miasma.

Du Wuyao's Scorpion-Form Fist was not simple either; although it lacked agility, its defense and power were both outstanding.

His body surface seemed covered by a layer of transparent shell; the palm winds struck it and bounced off, and the poisonous miasma could not penetrate it.

Suddenly, Zhou You lunged forward, his spine undulating like waves, his arms and legs pulled together, looking like a giant python breaking through the air to close in; his upper body coiled around Du Wuyao's back, and his lower body constricted his legs.

"Brother Zhigang, don't you know that close-quarters combat is my specialty? Since you've delivered yourself to my door, don't blame your elder brother for being impolite; I will pluck your snake scales, peel your snake skin, and extract your snake tendons..."

As he spoke, Du Wuyao shook his body, and thick, hard black hairs sprouted from his pores, just like long black steel needles, extending and lengthening, looking as if they were about to pierce into Zhou You's flesh and blood.

"Poison Python Realm: Jiao Transformation!"

At this moment, Zhou You risked tearing his own flesh, forcibly erupting with the power of an Intermediate Martial Master, evolving the Poison Palm of this shell into the essence of a Poison Jiao, with all his strength bursting forth from his tendons, bones, skin, and flesh.

He slightly contracted his head and feet, moving like a coiling snake, and with a tough, tightening force, he wrapped around Du Wuyao and pulled him inward.

Crackle, the hard shell was crushed, and the flesh and bones instantly turned into meat paste.

Du Wuyao's eyes widened as he was crushed by Zhou You's physical body into a heap of mush, collapsing limply onto the ground.

Before dying, he still could not understand where his brother Zhigang had gotten so many methods to turn the tables in a desperate situation and counter-kill him.

Not far away, the Witch Beast fought more bravely as the battle went on, killing the Golden Money Scorpions until they were in total disarray, trampling and eating them, its mouth dripping with grease.

"Next..."

Zhou You silently called out to the interface in his heart, "Recall projection..."

"Deploy projection, target location, Ten Thousand Poisons Secret Workshop."

With a projection function, who would be foolish enough to trek over mountains and through rivers on foot; isn't it better to just teleport home? (End of chapter)