Chapter 246: Poisoned Again

"It should be fine," Ah Fei replied.

"What does 'should be fine' mean?" Tang Yuhan asked. "Either it works or it doesn't—if we can't cooperate, we go our separate ways."

"I don't know how to put it," Ah Fei said with a helpless smile. The boy who once declared, "My sword is all I need," is long gone. "Master Xuanzang truly can perform consecration to heal wounds, and there's 'Buddha's teachings are boundless' to enhance one's strength, but he—"

After a pause, Ah Fei continued: "He's like a warrior nation!"

Exactly. This description is spot-on, and Ah Fei proudly praised his own inspired remark.

"Be more specific," Tang Yuhan said.

Warrior nation? Icy tundras, vodka, encountering a bear and fleeing?

"He once killed a hostage," Ah Fei said, recounting the entire incident.

The martial arts legend's men abducted A Tuo, then Tang Luo beat A Tuo to death. After slaying the hostage, they successfully captured one person alive, then rescued A Tuo.

I heard that after that day, A Tuo didn't touch a car for three full days.

Later, when he drove again, he even crashed once—like Fujiwara Takumi discovering Mogi Natsuki's enjoined dating, it took him a while to recover.

"So, his consecration healing can truly save lives?" Tang Yuhan asked.

"Probably," Ah Fei replied, not daring to be certain.

I haven't experienced whether it truly can resurrect the dead or regrow flesh from bone—consecration healing I have experienced, and its effects are outstanding.

"Hmm..." Tang Yuhan murmured, lost in thought.

Secondhand hearsay inevitably involves exaggeration or deliberate belittling, leading to distortion—ultimately, one must see it with one's own eyes.

"I found a map."

Soon after, there was a result: Fu Fengxue found the map in the residence of a prominent local family in the village, barely confirming everyone's position.

This place is in the northern reaches of the Great You Dynasty, relatively close to the border.

To the south lies a major city named "An City."

"An City, huh," Tang Luo chuckled. "It seems you really are from your 'birthplace.'"

"Meow!"

The Heavenly Howling Dog on Tang Luo's shoulder let out a cry, drawing everyone's attention.

"Is this the 'pet' you brought out from the mission world, Master?" Ah Fei asked.

When Tang Luo initially brought out a "native" from the mission world, it attracted considerable attention.

Unfortunately, no later instance of a demon or god walking managed to replicate such a feat, and since the Heavenly Howling Dog looks like an ordinary cat, everyone gradually forgot about it.

"Hmm," Tang Luo nodded. The Heavenly Howling Dog lay lazily on his shoulder, resembling a pet cat that thinks, "Besides being cute, I'm utterly useless."

Though everyone was somewhat curious, no one pressed further.

Now that our position is confirmed, our next steps have a clear objective: first, rush to the northern frontier city An City to assess the current state of the Great You Dynasty.

Without further discussion, everyone agreed on the goal, found a route, and headed south.

However, the group's attire appeared somewhat mismatched.

Ah Fei, Fu Fengxue, and Kong Ming slightly leaned toward ancient-style clothing.

The others leaned more toward modern attire.

Tang Luo, meanwhile, was a thoroughgoing ancient-style monk, his white robes flowing, appearing quite unrestrained.

"After arriving at An City, I can find a place to stay," Tang Luo said. "Then everyone can change clothes to avoid a mismatched aesthetic."

Everyone naturally had no objections.

The situation remains unclear, and wearing such strange, eye-catching outfits is hardly advantageous.

Speaking of which, the advance notice for the demon-god mission is rather problematic—only a time is given, nothing else. Otherwise, we could at least prepare coordinated attire in terms of aesthetic.

"This must be an official road, right? We've walked so long and haven't seen a single person."

After walking for most of an hour, Zhang Xiuiping couldn't help but speak up.

The entire route has been desolate, with not a soul in sight.

"Well, it's ancient times—productive forces are underdeveloped, so it's normal for such a remote border region to have no people," said a man named Wei Cheng'en.

As he spoke, the sound of horse hooves came from behind the group, steadily approaching.

Judging by the sound, a group of people was rapidly galloping toward them on horseback.

Turning to look, at the road's end, faint dust rose in the haze. Soon, seven or eight people came into view, riding swiftly.

"Soldiers?" Kong Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are these soldiers of the Great You?"

"No, they don't resemble Great You people," Tang Luo said.

The seven or eight riders approaching wore swords at their waists, carried bows, and were dressed in notably thick winter garments. The leader wore fur, and over that, they had haphazardly fastened heart-protection mirrors, breastplates, and similar gear.

They looked more like scattered bandits and mercenaries.

The leader bore strange tattoo patterns on his face, even more suggestive of a foreign tribe.

Kong Ming glanced at the wrecked cart he had seen earlier by the roadside—he had inspected it, and some marks on it resembled dried bloodstains from long ago.

"Perhaps I now know why that village was abandoned," Kong Ming said. "The Great You is in turmoil; foreign tribes may be invading southward to plunder."

Their background is indeed one of a chaotic age.

There are demons and monsters, and the possibility of foreign tribes invading south to plunder is not small.

"Just seize them and interrogate—then we'll know," Gang said, baring a ferocious grin.

As the horses neighed, the group of "knights" reined in before Tang Luo and the others, each wearing a cruel smile.

Their gaze lingered longest on Tang Luo and Tang Yuhan.

Tang Luo and his companions noticed that behind the last three horses were ropes, each dragging a person, being pulled along the entire way.

Two of the bodies had been ground down beyond human shape.

Only one remained—a bloody pulp, breath as faint as a spider's thread, barely clinging to life.

"Great Hidden Person?"

The leader of the foreign tribe looked at Tang Luo and his group and asked.

The people behind him had already nocked their arrows and drawn their bows, ready to strike at any moment.

"Amitabha." Tang Luo uttered a Buddhist chant, "Indeed, I wonder who you are..."

"Ha." The tattooed man let out a sinister laugh and directly ordered, "Kill the men, keep the women to have fun—no, this white-haired one should also be kept."

As his words fell, the seven people behind him released their grip, and the bowstrings trembled.

The sharp arrows flew toward the faces of the crowd—only Tang Luo, Tang Yuhan, and another woman, He Yishan, "escaped."

Facing the arrows, the six people reacted differently.

Some blocked, some dodged, and there was even Gangang, who covered his face with both hands, charging straight at the tattooed man like a wild ox.

The arrow pierced his arm, leaving only a faint bloodstain, barely breaking the skin.

Yet it made Gangang's heart jump—he had thought this arrow wouldn't even leave a white mark.

Although it was due to the close distance, it also meant that these foreign tribe members were stronger than he had imagined.

Gangang naturally wouldn't retreat because of this discovery; he roared, already rushed to the tattooed man's side, and a palm as large as a cattail fan grabbed toward this person, about to pull him off his horse.

The beast-like aura startled the tattooed man's horse beneath him into a neigh, raising its front hooves.

The horse beside him also instinctively retreated backward.

The tattooed man, like Gangang, was startled in his heart by Gangang's aura, but it did not hinder him from striking.

A flash of cold light passed—the curved knife at his waist was already drawn, and the sharp blade slashed toward Gangang's arm.

Gangang's outstretched left hand retracted, he clenched his fist, and struck again.

Changed claw to fist!

The tattooed man's curved knife also swept horizontally, blocking Gangang's vital point.

As the horse's front hooves landed, it let out a neigh, nearly unable to stand, and the tattooed man riding it was punched off his horse by Gangang.

He merely rolled on the ground and stood up again, appearing uninjured.

"Let's attack together."

Kongming frowned and said, that strong and powerful Gangang, is also a third-rank demonic wanderer in human form, a level of human tank.

Originally, I thought his strike could easily take down this group.

But I didn't expect that upon clashing, he only matched the leader evenly, failing to take them down in one move.

It shows this world is extraordinary; if we underestimate the enemy, we might capsize. Everyone must act together to quickly take down this group—this is the correct choice.

The surrounding seven cavalrymen retreated a distance in response, three of them cut the ropes: "Drive!"

With a unified shout of anger, these people directly charged at Tang Luo and his group, while Gangang was naturally left to face their leader.

As these cavalrymen swept past Gangang and the others, the middle horse also raised its hooves and ran away, creating a moment without obstruction—Gangang threw a punch straight ahead, direct and unadorned, with nothing but power.

The tattooed man's curved knife turned in his hand and he slashed outward!

The blade flashed, and the curved knife slashed toward Gangang's fist.

Blade and fist collided!

The blade cut open the skin on the fist, a thin layer of flesh tore apart, revealing the stark white bone within!

But in the next breath, the curved knife flew from his hand.

The tattooed man was greatly startled in his heart—his slash had only torn through a thin layer of flesh on the opponent's fist.

The sharp blade struck the bone, and with far greater force than that punch just now, it directly caused his tiger's mouth to split, and the weapon left his hand.

His entire right arm felt somewhat numb.

Gangang gained the upper hand with his punch, showing no mercy.

His punch momentum did not stop, he increased the ferocity slightly, and blasted toward the tattooed man's chest.

The tattooed man, frustrated in his attack, not only lost his weapon but also lost his balance, unable to block or dodge Gangang's fist.

He was about to be punched straight through.

Suddenly, a strange aura appeared on the tattooed man's body, and an illusory wolf's head emerged before him, biting toward Gangang's fist.

The wolf's kiss and fist collided!

Invisible air waves spread in all directions, stirring up a layer of dust on the ground.

Gangang retreated two steps, his right arm also felt somewhat numb, and he was further blinded by sand and dust in his eyes.

In the lingering smoke and dust, the tattooed man's shadow approached like a ghost, and a dark dagger silently stabbed toward Gangang's lower back.

The dagger pierced in—before the tattooed man could even show a smile, he felt the dagger grow heavy, actually being completely locked by the opponent's muscular strength.

"Die!"

Gangang let out a furious roar, and struck the man's head with his elbow.

This time, no strange aura condensed into the evil wolf appeared; the tattooed man's skull exploded, red, white, and yellow scattered across the ground.

Gangang pulled out the dagger, pressed the wound, took no more than two steps, his body swayed, and he half-knelt on the ground.

The dagger was actually poisoned, and the poison was quite potent.

"Poisoned again, huh, why say 'again'?" Gangang shook his head, feeling the plot seemed familiar.