Chapter 327 — Lovesickness Is the Most Bitter

Mu Yingxue stood dazed. Great logs hurtled through the air, and a massive block of wood came crashing toward her, yet she forgot to dodge.

Suddenly Shen Mu lunged forward, scooped her up, and fled. They had scarcely left when the great log came smashing down with a thunderous roar, and the surging blast of air hurled them both away.

Once they steadied themselves, Shen Mu set the woman down and looked back. The spot where Mu Yingxue had stood but moments before was now a great crater, earth and shattered stone flying everywhere.

Mu Yingxue, her soul scarcely settled after the fright, suddenly came to her senses. She hastily drew several jade bottles from her person and said rapidly, "There is poison on me. When you held me just now, you may have been poisoned too.

.

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" "No need. " Shen Mu swiftly compounded several antidote pills himself and neutralized the poison.

The two looked around, and could not help but feel numb. The valley on every side was filled with black wood, chaotic and disordered, heaped into mountains.

And beneath their feet were the root-tendrils of the Root-Tendril Monster, countless roots twisted together, utterly still. Shen Mu hurriedly looked to the dragon qilin and the others. When that unimaginably vast tree had collapsed and fallen, it had not harmed them where they stood among the roots, nor buried them.

That was fortunate indeed.

"You win. " Mu Yingxue's expression dimmed, and she said dejectedly, "The foremost poison master of the Western Lands still cannot compare to a young fellow from the ruins.

I am unworthy of the title of foremost in the Western Lands. " Shen Mu shook his head. "You need not grieve.

This time I merely picked up an advantage. My poison contained the witch poison of the Loulan Golden Palace, and moreover you had poisoned the Root-Tendril Monster first, wounding its vital essence.

Only thus was I able to poison it to death. " Mu Yingxue said bleakly, "It swallowed the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl. Its vital essence could be replenished at any moment.

I was of no help.

" Shen Mu consoled her, "In truth, I am not skilled in the way of poison.

What I am skilled in is healing the sick and saving lives.

And besides, I am not some nameless nobody. My reputation is very great and very resounding. " Mu Yingxue was deeply stricken.

Not skilled, and yet he had still defeated her? "You might as well not have comforted me at all. " Mu Yingxue said coldly, "You have won. How do you intend to deal with me? " Shen Mu was puzzled, and shook his head.

"Deal with you? Why would I?

You and I contested with poison, and moreover we removed the Root-Tendril Monster, that formidable enemy.

I am quite happy. We are all of the same path; exchanging skills is only a matter of course. " Mu Yingxue stared at him with her dark, glossy eyes. Suddenly she rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss upon his lips, then thrust a small cloth pouch into his hand and darted away, laughing with a giggle, "I have poisoned you, with the poison of lovesickness!

If you ever come to the Western Lands, do not forget to seek me out.

Do not enter by the front gate of my home; climb in through the window! " Shen Mu was stunned for a moment. He only felt that the girl's lips were wet and soft and fragrant, and his mind went somewhat blank.

But this was not poison. Shen Mu, as the young divine physician of the Jingping Kingdom, knew his own body like the back of his hand.

The youth was still analyzing with utter calm: "This is a symptom of cerebral ischemia. She kissed me once, my heart skipped a beat, and for a moment no blood flowed to my brain, hence the blankness in my mind.

" Mu Yingxue headed straight for the dragon qilin, Xiong Xiyu, and the others. Shen Mu was startled, and hurried after her. That Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl had also burst from the Root-Tendril Monster's body during the collapse, landing in the midst of the group.

Xiong Xiyu, the former palace master of True Heaven Palace, was struggling with all her might, arching her body to inch toward the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl.

The two white bats were also crawling toward the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl. The poison on them had been administered by Mu Yingxue, and now its toxicity was gradually dissipating on its own, allowing them to move.

On the other side, the power of the Bewildering Fragrance in Yu Bochuan and the others was also fading, and they too were crawling toward the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl, trying to snatch it before anyone else. The dragon qilin crawled fastest.

This enormous creature, bulky of form and originally exceedingly lazy, would not move unless its tail was on fire, yet now it wore an expression of absolute determination to obtain the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl, straining forward and overtaking everyone. But its endurance was poor.

It had not crawled long before it was panting heavily, its speed gradually slowing. The two groups drew ever closer to the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl.

One Heaven-Human realm expert was nearest to it, and stretched out his palm to seize it. Seeing this, the dragon qilin hastily opened its mouth and extended its tongue. The tongue grew longer and longer, licking toward the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl. It looked as though it would coil around it at any moment.

Mu Yingxue also arrived on the scene.

Shen Mu, one step behind, raised his hand and beckoned. His qi flew out and lifted the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl.

But Mu Yingxue did not reach out to snatch the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl. Instead, she swept her sleeve, gathering up Yu Bochuan and the others and sending them onto the back of the white elephant.

The girl in black paused, her form rising lightly, and stood upon the upraised trunk of that great white elephant.

She waved to Shen Mu: "The head of the Yu family was kind to me, so I am taking them with me as well! Most of all, it is the young man who is longed for—come to the Western Lands soon—" Shen Mu was dazed, and waved back at her, a strange emotion stirring in his heart. The small cloth pouch Mu Yingxue had thrust into his hand was not large, like a perfume sachet, though black in color, embroidered in gold thread with mandarin ducks swimming neck to neck beside lotus flowers.

He opened the sachet, and inside was a small handful of bright red beans, like ripe red apples, but much smaller. "Red beans grow in the southern land; how many branches sprout when spring comes? " Xiong Xiyu staggered to her feet, looked at the red beans in his hand, and softly recited, "I pray you gather many of them; this thing is most for longing. Cult Master Shen, the poison master is inviting you to a walking marriage. " Shen Mu sniffed the red beans and shook his head.

"Red beans are poisonous. She must be trying to poison me! Could there really be a poison of lovesickness? Yes—just now she kissed my lips with her mouth, and it was somewhat wet.

There must be another poison on her lips, and that poison can combine with the poison of the red beans to form a compound toxin. .

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Mm, it must be so! " Xiong Xiyu was dumbfounded.

This former palace master of True Heaven Palace widened her dark, glossy eyes and looked at the cult master of the Heavenly Sage Cult, utterly bewildered: "Are red beans not used to express longing and love? How has this great Cult Master Shen gone on about red beans being poisonous? And he even suspects Mu Yingxue of poisoning him?

" She could finally be certain that this great Cult Master Shen seemed to have some misunderstanding about the feelings between men and women, and his illness was not mild!

"He seems to have been instilled with mistaken ideas by someone. " Xiong Xiyu thought to herself. Nevertheless, Shen Mu still put the poisonous red beans back into the black silk sachet and solemnly tucked it away, which made Xiong Xiyu feel he was not yet beyond saving.