Chapter 592: Meeting on the Day of Infiltration

"Cao Xuan'er, I told you, Lu Zhigang is definitely a normal man; he fancies women, not men."

Qiu Dajun found Cao Xuan'er, beaming with joy, "Your chance has come. He called for you to go over; I'm afraid you'll be warming his bed tonight."

Cao Xuan'er was standing on tiptoe to pluck a petal from a branch when she shuddered at these words; she was grazed by the branch, and her delicate, flawless skin immediately split open.

She covered her wound, masking the frantic pounding of her heart, "Why so... sudden?"

"Hurry and come with me, don't keep him waiting. A man can wait for anything, but he cannot wait for this."

Qiu Dajun rushed Cao Xuan'er to that door and stood respectfully, "Master, Cao Xuan'er has been brought."

"Enter!"

Qiu Dajun pushed the door open and entered; Cao Xuan'er couldn't help but look in the direction the voice came from.

A venomous snake was slithering at Lu Zhigang's feet, about ten-plus meters long, its body covered in messy bristles; it was precisely the venomous insect he kept, Chuangmian.

After being fed regardless of cost and treated with the Witch Clan's Secret Technique for rearing, this newborn descendant of the Nine Insects grew rapidly, its size reaching a truly considerable scale.

Chuangmian was fierce and only recognized Lu Zhigang; even Qiu Dajun, the keeper, risked being swallowed in one gulp if he didn't bring enough feed when visiting.

Cao Xuan'er was a young woman and feared these slimy creatures most of all; seeing this, her hair stood on end and her legs went weak.

"Cao Xuan'er, you've been at my estate for quite a few days now, haven't you?"

Hearing Lu Zhigang speak, Cao Xuan'er answered subconsciously, "Twenty-some days, almost a month."

She curiously scrutinized Lu Zhigang's appearance; he was not as ferocious or evil as she had imagined, nor did he have the disgusting tumors or signs of being a Duci like the Poison Martial Arts practitioners she had seen, such as Wu Kui.

He was just an ordinary middle-aged man, with the same appearance and temperament as the servants or carriage drivers in her own home.

Lu Zhigang asked her, "Are you homesick?"

"I am. This time, when I was captured, I was on my way home after visiting a widowed aunt. I heard from my maid that my mother had just made pastries waiting for me to return; if I traveled quickly, the pastries would still be warm when I arrived home."

"In the blink of an eye, everyone is dead, and only I remain, fallen into this godforsaken place where the sun never shines."

Beside them, Qiu Dajun heard her speaking so recklessly and was terrified out of his wits.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zhigang didn't mind at all and agreed with her assessment, "It truly is a godforsaken place; you are not wrong."

"Tomorrow, let Qiu Dajun escort you to the market; buy whatever you wish to buy."

"It's good to go out and get some air; this place is really not fit for humans to stay in, and one gets sick easily if cooped up too long."

Cao Xuan'er was startled. If she could leave this place tomorrow, couldn't she observe the environment and paths of Wanli Zhaohai? The opportunity had arrived.

'Lu Zhigang' watched the two leave, gently stroking Chuangmian's neck. The venomous snake flicked its tongue, its mind connected to his, every movement subtle and precise.

"If the Cao family wants you alive, you can naturally return; but if they tacitly accept that you are dead, I fear you will never return in this lifetime."

Under the guidance of Zhou You's consciousness, this shell of Lu Zhigang already knew the intelligence regarding the Thousand Faces Hall's team launching a surprise attack tomorrow.

He intentionally sent Cao Xuan'er to the market, firstly to avoid bringing trouble upon himself, and secondly to give Cao Xuan'er a chance.

However, based on his understanding of noble families, they might not be willing to have a clan daughter with a tarnished reputation return home.

The possibility of Cao Xuan'er's wish to return home being realized was not high.

"Let us see what tomorrow brings!"

Lu Zhigang raised his palm and softly shouted, "Step-Heaven Flood Dragon Subduing Palm."

His muscles expanded, poison Qi churned, and his body suddenly surged in size by a large margin; beneath his feet, Chuangmian hissed and lunged behind him.

In an instant, the palm shadow's poison aura merged with Chuangmian, and a venomous flood dragon over ten meters long darted out.

This was not a phantom image condensed by poison aura, but a true venomous flood dragon of solid flesh and blood, using Chuangmian as a carrier, fused with the power of the 'Poison Flood Dragon' realm Poison Palm, and formed by the Secret Technique of the Nine Unifying Poison Spirit Profound Art to turn a poison pet into palm force.

The palm force of this lunging venomous flood dragon was enough to rival the power of someone who had just entered the Qiangwu Yichongtian. This was also one of the greatest gains from Lu Zhigang's closed-door cultivation during these days.

The next day...

The market was bustling; although occasionally someone would fall dead and venomous insects would crawl out from dark corners to share the corpse, under the warm sun, there was still some feeling of a world of the living.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here to protect you!"

Qiu Dajun looked around vigilantly, while the surrounding Poison Martial Arts practitioners looked at the two of them with curious eyes.

Cao Xuan'er was a recent celebrity; the outside world was in an uproar because she had been captured, and warriors from many cities had joined forces to hunt down Poison Martial Arts practitioners, causing many disciples and followers of the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop who went out to lose their lives.

However, no one dared to take revenge against her.

Because everyone now knew that Cao Xuan'er's backer was Lu Zhigang, and she was the favored concubine of this inner disciple.

Qiu Dajun was just a lackey; he could be beaten at will, and Lu Zhigang wouldn't care if he were beaten to death, but a favored concubine was different—she was a bedfellow.

Therefore, although the two of them walking together attracted countless gazes, no one came up to provoke them.

Cao Xuan'er was clever and sharp, seeing the key point at a glance, "Qiu Dajun, you owe me a favor."

"Why?"

Qiu Dajun could not fathom it at all.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."

Cao Xuan'er's trip out, besides getting some air, was also to scout the terrain of the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop and look for a way to escape.

She intentionally inquired about rare items that could not be produced locally and were only transported from outside, attempting to find a channel to enter and exit the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop through this.

This day was just a very ordinary day.

People came and went in the market, attending to their own business; no one expected anything to happen on this day.

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded on level ground, like a thunderball falling from the nine heavens to the ground.

A dozen figures suddenly dropped onto the street; a few Poison Martial Arts practitioners couldn't dodge in time and were torn into countless fragments.

"It's..."

Qiu Dajun looked at the familiar scene before him, too shocked to speak; this was the same method he had used to get here.

He had not seen wrong; this group was indeed the team that had infiltrated the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop using heavy talismans as carriers, organized by the Thousand Faces Hall.

The Poison Martial Arts practitioners bribed by the Thousand Faces Hall did not dare to set coordinates in the inner disciples' territory, but they had set the coordinates in the market.

Poison Martial Arts practitioners were everywhere, but there were no powerful characters among them.

And so, this team of carefully selected experts began to slaughter wantonly, like Meng Hu Quan released from a cage.

Swish! A rainbow rose from the flat ground, sweeping across the earth like a taut steel wire, its height perfectly level with a person's waist.

The Poison Martial Arts practitioners on the path could not dodge in time; one after another, they were cut in half at the waist, falling to the ground to groan in pain and struggle as they died.

Looking at the end of the rainbow, the youth named Kongque Laoliu swung his long sword leisurely, waving it with every step, hacking and killing the surrounding Poison Martial Arts practitioners as wantonly as if he were mowing grass.

"Someone is invading! Go report to the Ancestor, report to the inner disciples, do not let a single one escape."

The Poison Martial Arts practitioners were no pushovers either; having been caught off guard at first, they reacted by scattering poisonous bees and spraying poisonous water, engaging in a brutal slaughter surrounding the invading martial masters.

"Ah!"

A martial master had just killed a Poison Martial Arts practitioner, but was splashed in the eyes by the poisonous blood spraying from the opponent's severed neck, causing two streams of foul blood to smoke as he went blind! He stumbled backward, stepped on a scorpion on the ground, and was pierced in the heel by its stinger, dying of poison on the spot.

(End of chapter)