Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 190 Perilous Storm
Upon hearing the shouts outside, Deng Baichuan unleashed a powerful palm strike, causing the gate to swung open with a resounding crash.

Then they heard a cacophony of footsteps and hoofbeats outside, the sounds of horses rushing off in all directions.

Deng Baichuan frowned and said, "The news travels really fast! Young master, I'm afraid the road ahead will be fraught with difficulties."

Jiang Mingzhe's face was also ashen as he thought to himself: I shouldn't have lingered at Mantuo Manor for that extra day just to learn martial arts. So many unexpected things happened in that one day!

But then Murong Fu said proudly, "Brother Deng, don't worry. If they're all like those Maoshan Taoist priests, we wouldn't be afraid even if there were ten times as many!"

At this moment, the waiter ran out from the back room, complaining, "Oh dear, gentlemen, you've gotten into a fight. How did you manage to turn my shop into this mess?"

Gongye Qian said, "Stop arguing. I'll pay you back whatever it is!"

The waiter then smiled and said, "Oh, that's wonderful, thank you so much, sir."

He bowed and scraped as he moved forward, and Wang Yuyan exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, this waiter doesn't seem to be the one who served us before!"

Gongye Qian's expression changed, and he reached out to grab the waiter. The waiter quickly stepped back, shook his hands, and flung out two puffs of green smoke.

Gongye Qian was greatly surprised. He had made the first move, and his opponent had a counterattack or a way to deal with it. However, two puffs of smoke suddenly appeared from his sleeve, which were difficult to dodge or block, catching him completely off guard.

Seeing that he was inevitably going to be hit, he suddenly felt a tightness in the back of his collar, and was then lifted away as if he were floating on clouds. He turned his head quickly and saw that it was Jiang Mingzhe who had made the move.

Jiang Mingzhe lifted Gongye Qian with his left hand, opened his fan with his sleeve, and swept it out. Two wisps of green smoke spun rapidly, turning into two arrows of energy. Without wasting a single bit, they struck the faces of the two Maoshan beauties. This was one of the three poisoning techniques passed down by the Starry Sky Immortal.

The two beauties of Maoshan, having substituted Li for Tao, immediately changed their expressions and cried out urgently, "Poisonous Scholar, bring the antidote!"

The fake waiter yelled and slapped Jiang Mingzhe with his palm. Jiang Mingzhe had excellent eyesight and could vaguely see a bulge in the waiter's palm, guessing that it contained poison nails or needles. He closed his fan and used a move from the Free and Easy Fan Technique called "Free and Easy" to slap the waiter's palm.

The fake waiter's poison needle was slapped and bent backwards, sticking into his own flesh. He panicked and turned to run away, but Jiang Mingzhe slapped him on the shoulder, causing him to fall over.

This was no small blow. The fake waiter, ignoring the pain, gritted his teeth and reached into his pocket for the antidote. Just as he took out a small bottle, Jiang Mingzhe kicked the back of his hand. The bottle spun and flew up, but Jiang Mingzhe caught it with his fan and stepped back to the table.

Zhong Ling said smugly, "Haha, my brother Jiang is a top disciple of the Xingxiu Sect. For you to use poison in front of him is like showing off your skills before an expert."

The poisonous scholar was startled, then gritted his teeth and said, "So you're the Star Constellation Demon! No wonder you're in cahoots with that dog Qiao Feng!"

Jiang Mingzhe said speechlessly, "Your family also uses poison, so how come you've become a monster in my eyes?"

The Poison Scholar said, "Although I use poison, I do not use it to kill. If you were hit by my Ten Thousand Pain Needles, you would only suffer for one night. Your Starry Constellation Sect uses poison to take people's lives at will. How can you be compared with me?"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded and said, "That makes sense. Since it's not life-threatening, it doesn't really matter whether we take the antidote or not."

With that, he flicked his fan, and the medicine bottle flew out with a whoosh. He slapped it in mid-air and shattered it, the powder inside scattering and disappearing in an instant.

The Poison Scholar was furious. He struggled to get up, but halfway up, he suddenly screamed and fell back down, rolling on the ground, howling in agony, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

Just as Jiang Mingzhe was about to observe carefully, he suddenly heard the two beauties of Maoshan scream. He turned his head and saw that the two had stared blankly, drool dripping from their mouths, and were pulling each other and punching each other. Before long, they had broken noses and swollen eyes, as if they were mortal enemies.

Deng Baichuan said, "Those two wisps of mist must be some kind of hallucinogenic drug. Now that these two have gone mad, should we splash them with cold water to wake them up?"

Jiang Mingzhe shook his head and said, "Let them fight. There should still be their accomplices around here. Once we leave, someone will naturally rescue him."

Gongye Qian said, "That's right, we shouldn't stay here overnight, lest the enemy gather in greater numbers. Let's reunite with Master Xiao first."

After saying this, Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian went to the backyard to fetch the horses. A moment later, their angry roars came from the backyard. Everyone rushed over and found the stables reeking of a foul stench. The horses were neighing sadly and were defecating in a mess, clearly unrideable.

Murong Fu said, "Runzhou is only a few dozen miles from here. Let's use our lightness skills to travel! Brother Jiang, your lightness skills are the best. In this emergency, you can carry my cousin on your back."

As he spoke, he glanced at Wang Yuyan, fearing she might refuse. But he saw Wang Yuyan with her head down, silently walking behind Jiang Mingzhe, showing no sign of refusal. Surprised, he suddenly felt a pang of displeasure.

Jiang Mingzhe nodded and said, "Yes, in urgent situations, we must act expediently."

Wang Yuyan glared at him secretly, thinking to herself, "That day at my house, when you carried me up and down, was that also an expedient measure taken in an emergency?"

Seeing Jiang Mingzhe squat down slightly, she climbed onto his back without any hesitation.

Zhong Ling said anxiously, "My lightness skill isn't good either!" Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Mingzhe had already lifted her up by the knees and put her on his forearm.

Zhong Ling thought to herself, "These two arms have always been occupied by that wooden girl Zi Ya, but now it's finally my turn!" Feeling smug, she reached out and hooked her arm around Jiang Mingzhe's neck.

Kumārajīva laughed heartily, "A perfect couple, a handsome man and a beautiful woman! Come, this humble monk will clear the way for you!"

He darted out first using his lightness skill, with Jiang Mingzhe close behind.

Murong Fu knew that Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian were not known for their lightness skills, so he whispered, "Second brother, go first, I'll stay behind and cover you!"

Although Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian were unwilling, they were afraid of making excuses and causing trouble, so they reluctantly nodded and rushed out first.

The city gates were still open at this time. Kumārajīva led the way, and the group rushed out in the last rays of twilight. Before long, the night deepened and the moon rose, shining brightly on the earth as if it were covered with a layer of silver frost.

Kumārajīva used his Great Snow Mountain Divine Foot Technique to run swiftly, maintaining his elegance as he swung his arms and his sleeves fluttered, laughing loudly, "It is wonderful that the heavens have blessed us with this full moonlight."

If Jiang Mingzhe were to use the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique), the others might not be able to keep up. So he is now using the Shexing Hefei Gong (a skill of walking on snakes and flying cranes). With the two beauties with him, this skill is even more agile. He is not even half a step slower than Kumārajīva. He smiled and replied, "Grand Preceptor, you have a fine taste!"

Although Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian possessed high internal strength, their lightness skills were only average. At this moment, as they were running wildly, they were unable to keep up with the conversation.

They followed the official road, unafraid of getting lost, and ran for more than forty miles in one breath. They saw a range of mountains ahead, and the official road stretched between the two mountains.

Kumārajīva did not slow down. As he approached, a loud shout was heard, and two sets of hidden weapons rained down.

Kumārajīva shouted, "An ambush!" His sleeves fluttered, and a gust of wind swept away all the densely packed hidden weapons.

Then someone shouted, "What a powerful foreign monk! Xiao Feng, that Liao dog, has indeed colluded with many foreign experts. To deal with such evil heretics, we don't need to follow the rules of the martial world, let's attack side by side!"

A fierce battle cry erupted from the two forests, and a series of dark figures darted out, numbering at least fifty or sixty!
Hearing the commotion, Murong Fu raised his voice and shouted, "Murong Fu of Gusu is here! Let's settle this with this, and avoid any misunderstandings!"

As soon as he announced his name, someone on the other side shouted, "The Murong family are Xianbei bastards who have been hiding in our Great Song Dynasty for who knows what kind of conspiracy they are plotting. Now they have also joined forces with the Khitan dogs. Everyone, there is no need to hold back!"

Murong Fu originally wanted to clear up the misunderstanding and find the person behind the instigation so that he could gain the respect of the heroes. But when he heard that he had a conspiracy, he immediately lost his composure and roared angrily: "Ignorant rats, you are being used as pawns and you don't even know it. Brother Deng, Brother Gongye, teach them a lesson with heavy blows!"

Then Jiang Mingzhe shouted, "Brother Murong, don't bother with these fools! Everyone hold your breath and charge straight through!"

Having said that, he quickened his pace and used the Lingbo Weibu technique. The Beiming True Qi rapidly transformed into scorpion venom, and a dark mist with faint five-colored hues rolled out from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his foot, quickly circling around the enemy formation.

He used this move, "Lingbo Poison Step," against the Wuliang Sword and Shennong Gang in Wuliang Mountain. After many days, he used the same technique again. His internal strength was far greater than before, and the poison he produced was naturally much stronger.

After the encirclement, the enemies fell with screams of agony. The few remaining with higher internal strength were also powerless to fight back, each struggling to resist the poison with their own internal energy, filled with immense fear.

Murong Fu and the others were both surprised and delighted to see him use such a thunderous method. They held their breath and quickly passed by the scene.

Before long, they crossed the mountain forest and came upon a majestic city. Murong Fu said, "We've arrived at Runzhou! I'll lead the way."

He sped to the front, leading the group around the city. Suddenly, they saw a shimmering silver river, lying across the river like a giant dragon. They raced along the riverbank for a while and soon reached the ferry crossing.

The group stopped in their tracks. Murong Fu said, "We can't stay here any longer. Let's quickly find a boat to cross the river, go to Yangzhou to buy horses, and travel day and night to Shaolin!"

Deng Baichuan said, "Yes, I'll go find a boat right away."

Just as they were about to act, a thin figure emerged from the reeds not far away, saying urgently, "Young Master, you've finally arrived! This servant has been waiting here for a long time. Young Master Duan has been captured by the Green Dragon Gang!"

Everyone looked and saw it was Abi. Jiang Mingzhe hurriedly asked, "How could this happen? Didn't you stop Brother Xiao?"

Abi said with a bitter face, "We did manage to intercept you, but Brother Xiao said that Shaolin Temple is the number one sect in the martial arts world, and its strength is extraordinary. He didn't want the Duan family and the Murong family to become enemies with such a powerful sect because of him. He asked Young Master Duan to take us back and persuade you to come. Young Master Duan refused, so Brother Xiao used his acupoints to stop him and asked Azhu and me to take him back while he crossed the river."

Wang Yuyan asked, "What about A'Zhu? Was she also captured by the enemy?"

Abi shook her head and said, "After Brother Xiao left, Young Master Duan refused to go back. So Azhu said that she would disguise herself and secretly follow Brother Xiao northward, leaving marks for us along the way. But soon after Azhu left, many martial arts people came after us, cursing Brother Xiao with foul language. Young Master Duan argued with them, but his acupoints were not yet released, so he was no match for them and was captured. I secretly followed them to their lair and came back here to hide, waiting for Young Master to come and make a decision."

(End of this chapter)