Chapter 204: Poison-Absorbing Stone and Highly Toxic Stone

Luo Seng was laboriously hacking at the horn on the snake's head.

During this process, he also had to be on guard against the snake biting him.

Lin Jue, meanwhile, was sitting under a tree resting, looking at the patch of stone-colored skin that had stained his wrist.

He could feel that his skin really seemed to have turned into stone.

However, it was only a shallow layer on the surface.

Recalling the palpitations he felt in his heart just moments ago, Lin Jue knew that there was likely a spell in ancient books similar to the giant snake's ability, or perhaps this spell was created by drawing inspiration from the abilities of such monsters.

After all, spells are derived from the heavens, the earth, and all things.

Sunlight and moonlight, clear winds and rain, every blade of grass and every tree, and even the rise of a single thought, could all contain a Great Dao, and could all contain the principles of a spell.

Lin Jue also knew how this giant snake hunted the Xingxing.

It was a pity that he and his Xiao Xiao Shimei had long ago practiced the Fossilization Spell, which could turn their entire bodies from inside out into stone, and they could freely turn into stone and back again; this spell was ineffective against them.

It could be used against others, though.

Even a martial arts expert like Luo Seng, if caught off guard and struck by the spell, leaving his body unable to move or slow in action, would likely be unable to cope with the giant snake's constriction and blood-filled maw.

However, this spell did partially overlap with the Immobilization Spell.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the fox was standing by his side, looking earnest, staring straight at his wrist.

"No need to worry."

Lin Jue exerted force with his hand, and the skin quickly recovered.

The fox's eyes flashed, feeling amazed once more.

Immediately after, Luo Seng's voice came from the side: "I have seen many high-ranking monks and Daoists in the capital, and I have dealt with many strange people and extraordinary scholars, but I have never seen anyone like you, Daoist, who is so proficient in spells and magical combat."

By this time, he had already hacked off the snake horn and was holding it in his hand.

The fox was attracted again, jumped over Lin Jue's legs, and leaned in to watch curiously.

This horn was nearly a foot long, the thickest part at the bottom was about the thickness of a person's wrist, and the very top was pointed; held in the hand, it felt like stone, heavy and substantial.

"What were those like, the ones you have seen, Lord Luo?"

"Most of the monks and Daoists in the capital worship gods and Buddhas and do not practice spells. Those who do practice spells only know some small tricks, and even if someone knows two or three, that is considered a lot. Most of those so-called strange people and extraordinary scholars are the same; even if some are truly highly skilled, they only know one or two things."

"The world is mostly like this," Lin Jue said. "So the capital is the same."

"Everywhere is like this." Luo Seng said, while drawing his blade again, "I wonder what the meat of this snake tastes like, whether it can be eaten or used as medicine. I will cut off a few jin to take with me."

Xiao Xiao Shimei also exchanged glances with Lin Jue, communicating their thoughts.

This was a thrifty Xiao Xiao Shimei.

Luo Seng wanted to take meat from the giant snake's belly.

But unexpectedly, when he used his blade to cut open the snake's belly, there was actually a person inside who had not yet been fully digested. Now, even he had no intention of taking this snake meat. Lin Jue and his companion were also spared the trouble of thinking about it.

"What shall we do next?" Lin Jue asked him again, "Is this one horn enough?"

"..."

Luo Seng was silent, looking at him.

Lin Jue knew immediately—

He didn't know either.

"To be safe, let's collect a few more," Lin Jue said to him. "This snake likes to eat people. I will use spirit liquid to lure it over. Once it sees us, it will naturally drill out from the ground, and then we can attack together."

"Good!"

"This yellow smoke has no effect on my Xiao Xiao Shimei and me, so you just need to be careful. To be safe, I will not ask these four heroes skilled in close combat to help."

"No problem!"

Lin Jue then withdrew the four bean soldiers, leaving only the archer, and immediately took out a small porcelain bottle.

This was the last bottle of spirit liquid.

Opening it, a rich fragrance wafted out.

Then, the few of them waited in different places.

If a giant snake came again, the fox would be responsible for reconnaissance, Lin Jue would attack from a distance with his sword, and the bean soldier archer would shoot arrows; this would not only attract its attention but also cover it in wounds, and if they hit a vital point, that would be even better.

Xiao Xiao Shimei would guard Lin Jue, and use Wind-Calling to disperse the yellow smoke, and push fire and shake bells as assistance.

Luo Seng would find an opportunity to behead it.

The efficiency was very high.

A giant snake that even a regular squad of soldiers might not be able to handle was being slaughtered very easily under their hands.

Even as they became more skilled and tacit in their cooperation later on, the efficiency kept increasing.

Instead, it was the walking that took several days.

"That's about enough, we can't carry any more," Luo Seng said decisively. "It's not good to delay too long, let's go out."

"Good!"

The three of them did not hesitate and left this place immediately.

By this time, the backs of the two donkeys that Lin Jue and Xiao Xiao Shimei were leading were full of things; apart from heavenly treasures, there was the hair of the Xingxing, and even the branches of the Yingmu that Lin Jue had taken could only be held in his hands. The snake horns taken were all tied up by Luo Seng using vines rubbed from the forest and placed on the back of the horse.

The group walked out, swaying as they went.

The miasma in the forest was pervasive, making it easy to get lost.

Fortunately, the fox remembered the direction.

The group returned almost the same way they came.

Passing by the village outside, they actually encountered that middle-aged man again.

Seeing the snake horns tied to the back of Luo Seng's horse, the bloodstains on his body that had not yet dried, and the two Daoists walking with the wind, the middle-aged man looked as if he had seen ghosts and gods.

Before he could react, the group had already walked far away.

The one in the Ju Xian Fu said that these snake horns needed to be sun-dried to become Poison-Absorbing Stones, and shade-dried to become Highly Toxic Stones. Previously, the forest was filled with miasma, and after walking out, it was also a cloudy day with no sun, so Lin Jue had to spray water on the snake horns every once in a while, and let the fox breathe out a mouthful of cold air to ensure they remained moist and cold, waiting for the sun to dry them.

He also checked these snake horns from time to time.

These snake horns felt like stone to the touch, their weight was like stone, and sensing them carefully, the spiritual aura within them was also like stone.

Added to the snake's ability to drill into the soil and the ability to turn all things to stone by spitting mist, he probably knew that it should be a strange beast with a five-element attribute of earth, and these horns were very likely formed by its absorption of earth-element spiritual aura.

No wonder they were called Poison-Absorbing Stones and Highly Toxic Stones.

Because this was originally a piece of stone.

This was something Lin Jue would not judge wrongly—

He had at least two spells related to stone, such as Pointing Stone into General, and the Illusion Silver Spell; both of these spells could work on this snake horn. Moreover, he studied alchemy, and alchemy required learning how to gather materials, so judging the materials of common things in the world was a basic skill.

"Shade-dried then Highly Toxic Stone..."

"How toxic is highly toxic?"

"Stone..."

Lin Jue frowned in thought, vaguely having an idea.

It was just that he didn't know if it would work.

Lin Jue planned to find an opportunity to ask later.

At this time, looking ahead at the long road, the mountains were full of golden-red Luan trees, and Luo Seng was walking silently with his blade, so he couldn't help but ask: "I haven't asked you yet, Lord Luo, what is going on with the zombies in Kuze County?"

"It's a village, originally not peaceful, often plagued by zombies, but that place has a very strong literary atmosphere, having produced two top scholars in a row, so they are unwilling to move away."

Luo Seng answered without turning his head, pausing for a moment:

"The head of the family in that village told me that it was because people in his family had gotten involved in a strange incident elsewhere, and they suspected they were being retaliated against by monsters, so they spread corpse aura locally."

"Spreading corpse aura?"

"I don't know the source, but I guess it's nine times out of ten that the village's water source was contaminated." Luo Seng still didn't turn his head, walking with his head down. "The local people would fever and fester one after another, die of illness, and seven days after being buried, they would become stiff, turn into black-haired zombies, and be very fierce. Those bitten would also fever and die, and after death, they would become stiff; only by burning them can it be stopped."

"It's actually like this!"

Lin Jue frowned and said: "Then can we still make it in time?"

"I don't know. Those who died of fever before all took ten days or half a month, and those who drank the water didn't necessarily fever immediately. When I left, it was still happening one after another, there should still be living people."

"So that's how it is."

"Originally, when encountering such a stiffening incident, finding the zombie and burning it is fine. Only this place's incident is unusual and the most difficult to handle. I had to ask some heroes I met in the Jianghu to guard there; if anyone becomes stiff, they will kill and burn them, and burn the dead as well. If they are people with fever and festering, they are also strictly supervised, but for those who haven't fallen ill yet, it's not good to kill them all together."

Luo Seng said, pausing slightly, and added a sentence:

"The wealthy family in that village has nephews and nieces who are officials in the capital."

The implication was that if it weren't for this, the local officials and soldiers might not have been able to avoid such an act of slaughtering and burning the village.

In fact, this was indeed a common method.

Walking and walking, it was night again.

The group lit a fire and roasted some game to eat.

After Xiao Xiao Shimei finished her work of gathering firewood and lighting the fire, she became idle, turned to hold a small book, curled up in front of the fire, and read seriously by the firelight, waiting for the meal.

The book was filled with dense handwritten text.

It was the spell written by Lin Jue:

"Mountain Pressing Down".

Xiao Xiao Shimei's talent leaned towards the five elements, and the skills she currently learned also leaned towards magical combat; she was also good at magical combat, and as long as she was willing, Lin Jue could teach her all the five-element spells he had learned.

Including Mountain Pressing Down, Water Control Spell, Pointing Stone into General, and the Wood Escape Method.

If this continued, it was foreseeable that her attainments in five-element spells would likely surpass Lin Jue's own in the future.

It was just that Xiao Xiao Shimei currently had the deepest understanding of earth-element spiritual aura, so Lin Jue taught her earth-element spells first.

Xiao Xiao Shimei was very diligent and hardworking.

After eating, she continued to study.

Even after the fire went out, she was unwilling to go to sleep so early, because she had lit a night-watch lamp, so she lay on the stone where the night-watch lamp was placed, and continued to read by the lamp light.

Unexpectedly, the firelight flared up again.

Xiao Xiao Shimei closed the book instantly, stuffed it into her bosom with one hand, took her sword with the other, and turned to look.

Lin Jue also sat up.

Only to see those four divine officials in the hazy light in the distance.

"Greetings, Daoist..."

The leading divine official in red robes bowed to the two and asked politely: "Now that you have come out of Kuze County, can you take us to the place where you met the Princess?"

Lin Jue felt helpless immediately.

He didn't expect them to still be waiting outside; it seemed it was indeed not easy to go back and report like this.

Looking at this attitude, they might have even followed them into Kuze County and seen the process of them killing the snake.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Luo Seng.

"In my opinion, if I don't take them to see it, they won't give up. After all, I once promised that Princess to help her deliver a letter, and now that the letter hasn't been delivered to the Western Peak, it doesn't count as completing the task. It's fine to take them for a trip tomorrow," Lin Jue said, pausing. "Now that the snake horn has been obtained, Lord Luo, you should go back first. We might only be delayed for half a day, and we will arrive shortly after."

"That works." Luo Seng nodded. "That place is outside Runze County, called Yang Family Village; you have to ask someone to find it."

"No need for that."

Lin Jue turned his head to look at Fuyao.

The fox was truly smart and understood immediately; it walked up, raised its paw, and pressed it on Luo Seng's leg.

Luo Seng immediately lifted his hem and pant leg to check.

There was already an extra fox paw print on it, looking like a plum blossom.

"I know Lord Luo has high martial arts and vigorous blood, and many spells have no effect on you, so please do not deliberately mobilize your blood to flush it out. As long as it is still there, we will naturally be able to find Lord Luo."

"Daoist has good skills!"

"It is my Fuyao..."

Luo Seng nodded; he originally didn't want to say much, but seeing the fox turn its head instantly and look at him with glowing eyes, he was silent for a moment and had to add:

"The fox of the Daoist also has good skills!"

Only then did the fox withdraw its gaze and raise its paw.

"The snake horn must be sun-dried; as for how to use it, please explore it yourself, Lord Luo," Lin Jue exhorted.

"We know how to use this thing," the divine official in red robes said faintly from a distance.

"You all know?"

"Naturally, I know, but I didn't expect such a strange beast to be hidden in this Kuze County." The divine official in red robes paused, and seeing that he had agreed to take them, he didn't sell it short. "If there is a wound, stick it on the wound, and it will naturally absorb the poison. If there is no wound, stick it on the forehead, and it can also absorb the poison. When the Poison-Absorbing Stone turns ink-colored, it means the poison in the Poison-Absorbing Stone is full; it can be washed by soaking in water, and then used after being sun-dried. It must not be shade-dried. If it is a contagious poison, the water used to soak the Poison-Absorbing Stone must not be poured out randomly; it needs to be buried deep in a pit."

"Hmm?"

Luo Seng glanced at them.

After thinking for a moment, he felt it didn't seem like a lie.

Anyway, he would know after trying.

It just didn't change his impression of them, so he just bowed his hands to show respect and ignored them.

The next morning, both sides went their separate ways. ===== CHAPTER 205 =====