Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 684 Influence and Transformation
Mulan, standing on the high platform of the Heavenly Court's command center, glanced at the message on the Mother-Child Talisman with her sleeve half-hidden. She frowned slightly, surprised that the guy had found out. She immediately sent a warning: "You are on different sides, don't act recklessly. Besides, there is no cure for this poison, and it's too late."

Shi Chun frowned as he stared at the mother-child talisman. Clearly, he had guessed correctly; Li Hongjiu had indeed been poisoned.

He pondered, "Li Hongjiu is so extraordinary, she shouldn't die so easily, right?"

What puzzled him even more was that the name of the poison seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, perhaps in a book at Chaoyue Pavilion.

Fearing that Shi Chun wouldn't believe her, Mulan once again unusually explained the power of Yao Lu in detail to this insignificant person.

However, it would have been better if he hadn't said that. He had actually put Li Hongjiu on a dead end, which made Shi Chun really worried. What would he do if Li Hongjiu really died?
Why did he shamelessly cling to Li Hongjiu and call her "brother"? Why did he remain steadfast even after being tricked and betrayed by Li Hongjiu? And why did he risk his life to escape with Li Hongjiu in Jukuzhou?
Li Hongjiu is the light of his spiritual practice, the light of his future path.

Life isn't as enjoyable as it is with only the magic of the Daoist priests and without Li Hongjiu.

The divine fire's power surged wildly. The Mingshan Sect had already produced three Earth Immortals. What was his cultivation level as the leader? The fact that others were still listening to him was partly due to Young Master Nan and partly due to Mulan's appearance. If he continued to be inferior to others as the leader, he would inevitably face embarrassment sooner or later.

Of course, one can choose not to be the head of the group, but cultivation is one's own responsibility, so how could one not want a way to improve one's strength?

But reality is too cruel. Li Hongjiu has already been poisoned, and according to Mulan Jin, she should be beyond saving.

"Sigh." He couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Those around him looked at him upon hearing the commotion, wondering who he had been contacting with the mother-child talisman. They had never seen him so disheartened in public. Feng Chi asked curiously, "Boss, what's wrong?"

Shi Chun sighed, "Someone has done something underhanded to Li Hongjiu. She's been poisoned and I'm afraid she's not going to make it..."

At this point, he suddenly felt a chill and realized something was wrong. He realized that Mulan Jin's words were problematic. From Mulan Jin's earlier warning to guard against the demon's revelation, according to Mulan Jin, Li Hongjiu should already be dead. So why was Mulan Jin still telling him not to do anything reckless?
When others heard that Li Hongjiu was about to fail, their lamentations were merely the kind of lament that "the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind," a pity for a promising young talent, without any deeper feelings. Only Wu Jinliang knew the immense significance of Li Hongjiu to Shi Chun, and thus he also pondered the matter.

Realizing something was wrong, Shi Chun walked away to the side, afraid that the Heavenly Mirror would see him sending messages. Taking advantage of the suitable environment, he hid under a protruding rock. Ignoring his previous suspicions about Pang Tiansheng, he took out the mother-child talisman he used to contact Li Hongjiu and asked her what her current situation was.

On the high platform of the Dongsheng command center, Pang Tiansheng glanced at the contents of the Mother-Child Talisman, and then weakly glanced at Wei Mo beside him.

Wei Mo smiled and reached out, easily taking the mother-child talisman into his hand to examine it. Having already observed and understood the communication code, he personally replied on Li Hongjiu's behalf that she was currently being escorted away by the team.

Wei Mo doesn't actually know what kind of poison Li Hongjiu has been poisoned with, nor does he know that once she's poisoned by the Demon Dew, she'll die very quickly, which is why he resorted to this method.

If he had known it was demonic dew, and if he had known the effects of its toxicity, he wouldn't have used it as a trap to harm Shi Chun.

Upon receiving the message, Shi Chun quickly condensed it into a short message and sent it to Mulan Jin, detailing Li Hongjiu's current situation.

Upon seeing this, Mulan replied, seemingly having learned the information from who-knows-where: "People from all sides are rushing there, and a vortex centered around Li Hongjiu is about to form."

He has said all he could, and that is enough. If you, Shi Chun, really want to die, then he doesn't want to say anything more.

Shi Chun understood his good intentions, wondering if it was for his daughter's sake. But this also made her realize Pang Tiansheng's malicious intent. His sudden warning was actually meant to put him in danger.

He immediately guessed that Pang Tiansheng and the mother-child talisman that contacted Bian Weiying had fallen into Wei Mo's control, because Wei Mo had seen him desperately trying to save Li Hongjiu.

All of this can be put aside for now. Wei Mo can't blackmail him even with Pang Tiansheng. If Pang Tiansheng is in trouble, he might help him out occasionally, but he's not going to risk his life for Pang Tiansheng. They don't have that kind of relationship, and the other party isn't worth it. If he can help, it's only because of Bian Weiying's face, not because of Li Hongjiu.

The talisman in his hand replied again: "Master, didn't you say that being poisoned by the demon dew would result in immediate death, either transforming into a demon or dying suddenly? Why is Li Hongjiu still alright?"

Mulan replied: I was also wondering about this. I've seen people poisoned by this before when I was investigating cases, and their symptoms matched up, but it was impossible for them to last this long. This guy is definitely skilled, but it's clearly getting harder and harder, and he will eventually meet his end. I advise you not to waste your time.

Shi Chun wasn't surprised that Li Hongjiu could last longer than others; that guy was an extraordinary person, and he hoped he could last as long as possible. He immediately put away the mother-child talisman, turned around and beckoned to Wu Jinliang. Wu Jinliang immediately flashed to his side and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Shi Chun said in a low voice, "We need to go to the Underworld and then go to Chaoyue Pavilion in Dazhi City."

Wu Jinliang asked suspiciously, "No way, he still wants to go find women at this time? He's been locked up in jail for twenty years and can't hold back anymore?"

Shi Chun glared at him. "Stop talking nonsense. Li Hongjiu has been poisoned by a strange poison called 'Demon Dew.' If she can't withstand it, she'll die; if she can, she'll turn into a monster. Mulan said there's no cure, but I think I've read about it in some book, probably in the Chaoyue Pavilion's collection. I need to go look for it and see if I can find an antidote." Hearing this, Wu Jinliang understood. They wanted to see if they could find an antidote. If there was a way to save her, they would consider rescuing Li Hongjiu. If there wasn't, there was no need to take the risk. Even disregarding the danger, they weren't on the same team; what kind of team would they be helping?

He nodded in agreement, but hesitated. "Yao Lu... You know what, it does sound familiar. I think I've seen it in some book in the library before. It seems we've read the same book. But the library has countless books. Are you sure we can find it before Li Hongjiu is finished?"

Shi Chun said, "If we can't find it, someone else can: Dong Liangyu!"

Wu Jin suddenly realized, remembering that the woman was indeed very powerful. He had heard Shi Chun mention her before; she could even remember the location of every book in the library. He nodded repeatedly, "That's right, we just need to find her. She should know which book has the mark of the Demon Dew..."

Suddenly, he paused, then abruptly reached out and grabbed Shi Chun's arm as he was about to walk out from under the protruding rock to find a suitable place to escape.

Shi Chun turned to look at him, "What are you dawdling about?"

“No, it’s not from the library’s collection. It seems to be recorded in the book ‘The Northern Dipper Demon Book.’ That’s right, the demon book. It’s in the demon book. I remember now.” Wu Jinliang shook Shi Chun’s arm and assured him repeatedly.

Shi Chun was taken aback. "Are you sure you didn't remember wrong?"

He didn't think the other person had a better talent for reading than him. He couldn't even remember the content himself, so how could the other person remember it?
Wu Jinliang: "It can't be wrong, definitely. I've encountered a lot of things in the past twenty years, sometimes involving demon cultivators. In order to investigate, I've read those demon books many times. I have them on hand, and I can check them now."

As he spoke, he used his magic to examine the Qiankun bag and soon pulled out a thick paper booklet. The binding was rather simple, there was no cover, and the contents could be seen directly. Furthermore, the handwriting was poor and the illustrations were somewhat distorted.

Wu Jinliang took it out and started flipping through the pages one by one.

Shi Chun stared at him, speechless with emotion.

After a while, Wu Jinliang patted the leather book and pointed vigorously, saying, "Look, this, this, that's right, it's Yao Lu. I told you I wasn't mistaken, uh... why are you looking at me like that?"

Shi Chun snatched the homemade demon book from his hand, picked it up and examined it, finding it quite rudimentary. At the same time, he felt a bit of a toothache, realizing that this guy's fondness for handicrafts was truly hard to shake. He asked, "Did you make a copy?"

Wu Jinliang said "Oh," and whispered, "It's not exactly a replica, just a copy. Oh, not just a copy, but to be on the safe side, I also made a copy on a jade slip and hid it somewhere secure so that no one can find it. We can dig it up if needed. We can give the original to those rats, but after all, it's an important manual, so we have to keep a backup plan."

Shi Chun raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you planning to copy a few more copies so you can sell them for money if needed?"

"..." Wu Jinliang paused, wanting to explain, but then thought that they knew each other well, so he chuckled and said, "There are many reasons. It's not a good idea to just sit around and do nothing. After all, we don't know when you will come out, so we have to make some preparations."

Besides, there's no use for us keeping this thing. No matter how powerful it is, we can't cultivate with it. If we give it to other demon cultivators, I have to be wary of backlash. If they've cultivated to a high level and know I've read demon books, who knows what they might do? I wouldn't dare give it away as easily as you did to the Golden-haired Rat Clan, without any fear of backlash.

Of course, the most important thing is for you, Boss. Think about it, if the right opportunity comes along and I can use this to get you out of trouble, I'll definitely use it as a bargaining chip, don't you think?

Shi Chun was too lazy to argue with him any further. He finally understood why the other person had a better memory than him. It turned out that this bastard had copied it twice by hand. If he didn't remember it, he must be a pig.

Now he roughly understands where he saw the record of the Demon Dew. It is very likely not in the library, but most likely in the Big Dipper Demon Book, because he had looked at it before.

Returning their attention to the contents of the demonic book they were copying, Wu Jinliang carefully examined the handwriting, which could easily cause reading difficulties, and also leaned over to look at it again.

After reading through the obscure content about the Demon Dew and figuring out what was going on, the two looked at each other in bewilderment. They discovered that the Demon Book never mentioned the Demon Dew as a poison; instead, it described it as a tonic, and a highly potent tonic that was refined for absorption.

In other words, this chapter about demonic dew only explains how demon cultivators refine demonic dew, but does not explain how to neutralize it.

Only the last sentence adds: "The kindness of a drop of dew can move all living beings."

Before it was released, the two of them definitely wouldn't understand what the last sentence meant. Shi Chun might even ask Wu Jinliang, "Are you sure you didn't copy the wrong content?"
Now that they know the consequences Li Hongjiu is about to face, the two of them probably understand what it means.

Wu Jinliang pointed at the last sentence and cursed, "It seems that it can not only turn people into demons, but also all kinds of living things such as flowers, trees and animals. It can influence all living beings. It influences all living beings, damn it. It's concise enough. Spring, it seems that this demon dew is really unsolvable. Li Hongjiu is finished. Everyone said he was a demon. Now he may really become a demon."

(End of this chapter)