Chapter 26 Poison Master
Gu Yu is a person who is too lazy to move at times, finding things troublesome.
However, when matters involve himself or Mengyao Gu and her younger brother, he immediately sheds his lazy demeanor and becomes serious.
For instance, these bandits are not merely robbing; Luo Luo Kingdom’s retaliation is involved, making the situation very troublesome.
As for why he didn’t guess that Gongsun Jie sent people disguised as bandits, it’s because the front lines require a large number of soldiers. Gongsun Jie wouldn’t cripple himself by withdrawing soldiers who should be fighting to deal with Mengyao Gu by making them bandits.
Besides, they haven’t been slow on their journey. For the front lines to pursue them, they would have to follow them constantly…
These bandits are undisciplined and don’t look like soldiers at all; they are indeed genuine bandits.
Since the correctness of these speculations is unknown, Gu Yu decides to ‘cure’ Leader Lin of his poison now, which would be of considerable help in understanding the truth.
Of course, this is also why Gu Yu took out the quick-acting poison-inducing medicinal powder. Otherwise, the poison in Leader Lin’s body wouldn’t have erupted so suddenly.
Gu Yu uses this as leverage, completely controlling Leader Lin.
As for how to detoxify, since Gu Yu doesn’t want to waste the precious Detoxification Pill, he decides to rely on his own medical skills this time.
If he fails and Leader Lin dies, it’s only because his skills are insufficient.
Facing the bandits who originally intended to attack them, Gu Yu shows no mercy.
If Leader Lin is cured, he can obtain the next piece of information.
If he’s not cured, the clue will be interrupted… However, other methods can be considered then. It’s not necessary to sacrifice a precious Detoxification Pill, which requires consuming a hundred Good Deeds Points!
In Gu Yu’s heart, the value of the bandit leader and the Detoxification Pill is obviously not on par.
After quickly making his decision, Gu Yu asks Leader Lin to send someone to lead the way, preparing to return to their stronghold for detailed discussions before proceeding with the detoxification.
However, when Leader Lin hears that they are returning to the stronghold, he repeatedly shakes his head.
“No… I can’t. That… person is… in the stronghold. If… the mission… isn’t completed… he won’t… give us… the antidote, and… will even… increase… the dosage.”
“I told you, I will help you detoxify! So, there’s no need for that person. We can just kill him. How about this! Later, I’ll tie up some people with ropes, and you escort us back, presenting us to that person. Then, I’ll make my own arrangements.”
Listening to Leader Lin’s fragmented words, Gu Yu’s eyebrows involuntarily raise upwards. After stating his plan, he quickly puts away the medicine packet in his hand, replacing it with a packet of flour, and then swiftly throws it towards Leader Lin.
Before throwing it, Gu Yu had already signaled Gu Mengyao with his eyes. Therefore, besides Leader Lin becoming a ‘snowman’ covered in flour, no one else was affected.
After Gu Mengyao retracts the dagger from Leader Lin’s neck, she quickly moves to Gu Yu’s side, ready to protect him from harm.
“What did you throw at me? Huh? I can speak again.”
“This is only to temporarily improve your condition. If you want to be completely cured, then lead us to find that person.”
“Okay, as long as you can cure me, I’ll agree to anything.”
Subsequently, after Leader Lin rapidly ‘recovers’, when he speaks with excitement, Gu Yu doesn’t feel anything significant. He simply asks Leader Lin to bring them to that person, face-to-face.
As long as they see the person with their own eyes, the truth will be revealed.
The subsequent development will also be much simpler… At least, there won’t be any guesswork.
Then, after Leader Lin readily agrees, Gu Yu begins to tie people up with ropes.
Of course, it’s not a real binding, just a show.
With hands tied behind their backs and ropes connecting their wrists to their necks, this common binding method is slightly modified by Gu Yu. The ropes binding the hands are loosened enough to be easily broken free, which will be convenient for dealing with unexpected situations.
Thus, Leader Lin and the others ‘escort’ Gu Yu and his group back to the stronghold, preparing to meet the person hiding behind the scenes.
While returning, Leader Lin also mentions the recent events in the stronghold. The person who administered the poison is referred to by him as the Poison Master.
The reason for this is simply his expertise in making poisons.
After poisoning him, he mixed the poison into the meal and poisoned others in the stronghold… However, only Leader Lin knows this; everyone else is kept in the dark.
The reason for doing this is merely to control everyone in the stronghold, making them obedient.
Nothing unexpected happens during the journey. After returning to Kuangfeng Stronghold, with Leader Lin leading the way, Gu Mengyao once again places a dagger across the Poison Master’s neck. Gu Yu smiles as he sees the man sitting on the chair showing surprise.
At the same time, the Poison Master’s subordinates are beheaded by Xing Zhi and others with a single strike.
Subsequently, after Gu Yu binds the Poison Master, he asks Leader Lin, Gu Mengyao, and the others to leave, leaving only him and the Poison Master in the house.
Next is the session of severe interrogation.
A moment later, when Gu Yu walks out of the house, he has a clear understanding of the entire sequence of events.
It’s largely as he suspected, but there is one difference.
That is, this Poison Master is merely a vanguard sent by Luo Luo Kingdom. The purpose of poisoning these bandits is also clear… If their preemptive strike fails, the people sent by Luo Luo Kingdom later will join forces with the bandits to encircle and annihilate Gu Yu and his group.
The Poison Master is simply an spy planted by Luo Luo Kingdom in Linfeng Kingdom. Because he is skilled in making various poisons, he was assigned to be a mole in Linfeng Kingdom, ready to complete assigned tasks at any time.
Regarding this, after Gu Yu forced the Poison Master to reveal the antidote for the bandits and the others, he didn’t prolong the Poison Master’s suffering. Instead, he directly stabbed him through the heart with a dagger, causing the Poison Master to die with a face full of unwillingness.
Gu Yu’s expression is indifferent. After wiping his dagger with the Poison Master’s clothes, he walks out of the house as if nothing has happened.
Previously, not only did Gu Mengyao kill someone, but Gu Yu also did not fall behind. However, unlike Gu Mengyao’s apprehension during her first kill, Gu Yu calmly accepted this fact.
This even makes Gu Yu wonder if he might be a pervert!
Otherwise, how could he not experience any negative emotions after killing someone… Gu Yu struggled with this question for a long time.
Finally, with Gu Mengyao’s comfort, Gu Yu emerged from this predicament.
That’s right, his little wife is right… The people he killed were his enemies. If he didn’t act, he would have been killed.
Moreover, after dividing into two opposing factions, there is no need for kindness.
Upon realizing this, Gu Yu is able to remain so calm and not let his life be thrown into disarray due to the heavy psychological burden of killing.
Anyway, as long as he doesn’t become like a perverted serial killer in the movies, killing in ancient times, especially on the battlefield, is unavoidable.
“A’yu, how is it?”
“I know almost everything. I’ll explain it to you later. For now, let’s detoxify Leader Lin and the others.”
When Gu Mengyao asks with concern upon seeing him, Gu Yu immediately indicates that there are no major problems, but this is not a good place for explanations.
Therefore, after Gu Yu announces his intention to detoxify the bandits, Gu Mengyao doesn’t press further and stays by Gu Yu’s side as a bodyguard.
When the bandits hear Gu Yu say he will detoxify them, they are naturally overjoyed. After all, seeing Leader Lin’s poisonous symptoms, they don’t want to end up like that!
However, the antidote Gu Yu obtained from the Poison Master is not immediately given to the bandits. Instead, he takes out the poison, pours it onto a piece of paper, and, in conjunction with the book recording poison techniques, slowly begins to analyze it.
This time, not only did he obtain a bottle of antidote, but Gu Yu also found a book detailing poison techniques from the Poison Master, which brings him joy, thinking it’s a job that requires no effort.
Before, he had been thinking about learning some poison techniques but had no place to learn.
Unexpectedly, it has now appeared before him in this manner.
However, even though the Poison Master directly provided the antidote, it doesn’t prevent him from playing a trick on Gu Yu in the end… If Gu Yu gives the antidote to the bandits, and their poison is not resolved but worsens instead, then the bandits and Gu Yu will be in an irreconcilable situation.
Of course, to ensure the two sides are evenly matched, the Poison Master doesn’t intend to let the bandits die, but he will cause them to suffer some after-effects.
To prevent such a situation from happening, Gu Yu carefully begins to analyze the antidote, while also testing his previously acquired knowledge.
The ingredients for making the poison recorded in the book are not difficult to find, and many of them are medicinal herbs, which makes Gu Yu eager to try.
After studying the Medical Scripture for such a long time, Gu Yu is no longer ignorant of everything. At least, it has proven useful at this time.
Afterward, upon detecting that several of the herbs were unusual, Gu Yu directly threw the antidote aside. Instead, he followed the instructions in the poison book and asked Leader Lin to find the materials, intending to brew the antidote himself.
Originally, Gu Yu wanted to save himself some trouble and not do it personally… But he didn’t expect that the dead Poison Master was not a good person either.
As for why he is detoxifying these bandits, it’s because Gu Yu will need them later. Otherwise, he would have left long ago, not caring about their lives or deaths.
However, the poison techniques recorded in this poison book are not very good, otherwise, he wouldn’t have found a flaw so easily. For now, it’s just sufficient.
Once he finds a stronger poison book in the future, he can replace it.
While Leader Lin leads people to search for the ingredients to make the antidote, Gu Yu briefly explains the situation to Gu Mengyao. Upon hearing that it is related to Luo Luo Kingdom again, Gu Mengyao stamps her feet in anger, having the urge to go back and kill them.
Gu Yu quickly comforts Gu Mengyao and then states that he now has a plan, but they will have to stay in Kuangfeng Stronghold for a while to wait for the people sent by Luo Luo Kingdom to arrive, so they can be caught all at once.
Since they like to scheme so much, he will play along with their plan.
