Episode 21 : Tear Flower Poison – Chapter 1

Jinshui and Xu Qiao didn't find Liuxin anywhere around the cliff. They didn't know if the little princess was still in the enemy's hands or had left herself. But she was not in that small hut and Qingyi didn't say anything about her to keep Jinshui from leaving. Xu Qiao continued to pull Jinshui's hand and left as far as possible, away from the smell of the poisonous fragrance so Qingyi's influence could also dissipate completely.

Blood was flowing again in Xu Qiao's hands. Jinshui halted his steps, checking the wound. Xu Qiao withdrew her hand, and wrapped it in her own shawl, not looking at Jinshui.

"Qiao-er," Jinshui was confused for a second.

"Jinshui Gege, you would not blame me, would you?" Xu Qiao asked in doubt.

"Why would I?" Jinshui asked her back.

"That woman, she's the daughter of Guardian Menggui, and you promised to take care of her for life. I know what that promise means," said Xu Qiao, "I forced you to leave her against your will, will you blame me for that?"

"Qingyi is my past, while you are my present and my future," Jinshui said sincerely, "you hurt yourself in order to remind me. I... I really am sorry."

"You don't have to explain about Qingyi to me," Xu Qiao slowly glanced back at him. "You said to me, one day if I cannot I can't keep up to your position as the leader of Yumen, I'm allowed to leave you at any time. These words also apply the other way around. If you don't like me anymore, you may as well leave. You and Qingyi are from the same world, if one day you really want to have that world, then I will give up with all my heart."

Jinshui hugged her tight.

"How could I not like you anymore? That Qingyi may become an enemy. She already chose to be in a different world from us, so it is no longer possible for me and her. Later if I say that I don't like you anymore, or want you to leave my side, then you can use xuanlong sword to wake me up once more. It's just…," he grabbed Xu Qiao's injured hand. "Don't use your own hands, your blood, you better stab it right here."

He placed Xu Qiao's hand on his chest.

"You master high-level martial arts, I would not have that chance," Xu Qiao broke away from him. "We must quickly find Huang Erge and the others," she said.

"What happened?" asked Jinshui.

"Only after you left, they came, hindering Zhu Guniang and the others from expelling the poison," answered Xu Qiao. "Liao Gongzi was also hit by that person impersonating Zhu Guniang. Huang Erge asked me to go find you, while he himself also faced a young man I don't know."

"Liangshan Liu Mo," guessed Jinshui, "they come again."

"Yanzi and her sister, also my dashixiong and the remains of Wansui Gu were scattered. They tried to find Laofeng and to search for the antidote for that flowery poison," added Xu Qiao. "Liao Gongzi, Qin Liangjie, Qin Furen, and Lin Guniang were poisoned, Qin Furen's sick baby is deceased."

"What?" Jinshui asked in shock.

"The baby had indeed been poisoned since Wuzhang City incident, his condition was not good. When he was exposed to the poison in the secret weapon of the person posing as Zhu Guniang, his parents could still survive, but that baby could not make it."

She explained the situation in the valley as she stepped quickly down the cliff, several times about to slip and be hit by a thorn bush.

Jinshui felt his strength had returned a lot, he grabbed her by the waist and took her flying down the cliff.

Thick smoke could be seen billowing from a section of Wansui Gu, a stone structure that had been burnt for some time. Jinshui led Xu Qiao to the front of the cave where Huang Yu and the others were.

Four members of Liangshan Liu Mo were there in front of the cave. Li Baixun was fighting Huang Yu, Zu Ye was still in his Zhu Baique disguise fighting Liao Xian, and Fuchang Long was clashing moves with Qin Liangjie. The second member Ma Yongtao sat on a large boulder, clutching Zhu Baique in his arms.

Huang Yu, Liao Xian, and Qin Liangjie were all injured. They exerted all their remained energy to fight those three members of Liangshan Liu Mo in order to protect Lin Xiaoyan, Yin Xiuchen, and Shangguan Ruyin and avenge the death of baby Qin Yujiang. Jinshui immediately saw that the three members of Liangshan Liu Mo deliberately toyed with his friends, exhausted them, and did not try to kill, presumably waiting for orders from Ma Yongtao.

Li Baixun returned Huang Yu's chess piece secret weapon attack, trying to get closer to the cave, apparently wanting to catch whoever was there. Yin Xiuchen guarded at the entrance of the cave, but she was also injured and poisoned, unable to help. Huang Yu saw Jinshui coming, his spirit was revived and he managed to grab Li Baixun's shoulder, pushing him away from Yin Xiuchen.

Liao Xian was once again hit by Zu Ye's blow. The trickster's acrobatic skills were very good, his body was incredibly flexible and agile. It was just that the punching power was not that big, probably because he deliberately held back. Liao Xian was still able to quickly get up, then attacked again with his maobi weapon in hand.

Qin Liangjie, who was not in good condition, was repeatedly hit by the Fuchang Long's praying beads. Since Wuzhang City, Qin Liangjie often spent all his energy preserving his baby's life and was also seriously injured during a fight with Xie Tianhu near Qingxiang Zhuang a few days ago. He hadn't recovered yet, now he had to face the fake monk from Liangshan Liu Mo. If Fuchang Long really intended to finish him off, then he only needed to hit him once.

Jinshui did not immediately help his three friends because he knew that Liangshan Liu Mo had no intention of killing. He stepped closer to Ma Yongtao.

Zhu Baique saw him coming, and tried to escape Ma Yongtao's clutches, but she had both of her hands tied, and Ma Yongtao held her arm tightly.

"What grudge do you actually have with us Yumen descendants?" Jinshui directly asked Ma Yongtao. "Liangshan Liu Mo helped Zhou Sangong carry out a rebellion in Wansui Gu, I believe it's not simply for the sake of power, moreover it is impossible for just a number of poisonous plants."

"Her father had harmed my father years ago, did you know that?" Ma Yongtao pointed at Zhu Baique, and spoke casually. "My father's life now is unimaginable. Even if you all die, it would not be enough for my revenge."

He mentioned revenge without showing the slightest hint of hatred, every word he said was said calmly and casually. This young scholar was really a strange person, the contents of his mind cannot be predicted.

"She's your future wife," Jinshui said. "I never thought that the second member of Liangshan Liu Mo who was notorious for his intensely sadistic behavior, now can only trick a young girl."

"I never lied to her, not a single word," replied Ma Yongtao. "I promised to marry her, you can count on it."

"Let her go," Jinshui said again. "Whatever enmity you have with her, I will represent her to settle it with you."

"All right then," Ma Yongtao easily agreed and then released Zhu Baique's hands unconditionally.

Zhu Baique immediately snatched the bayinxiao flute hanging from Ma Yongtao's waist, twirled it in her hand, then struck the scholar with all her might, the emotion of anger evident was written clearly on her face. Ma Yongtao easily caught the flute, snatched it back, and stepped aside.

"Zhu Guniang, go help Huang Yu and the others," Jinshui ordered her.

"I can fight him," Zhu Baique replied, "he would not kill me anyway."

"Zhu Guniang understands me really well," Ma Yongtao responded mysteriously. "I believe you will be my good wife." His words sounded mocking, but also serious, really someone who wasn't easy to read.

Zhu Baique turned her head away, exerting her inner energy, and was about to beat him up to vent her emotions. It wasn't acting, she really was angry at him.

"You mustn't fight him now, it will only hurt you," Jinshui said, knowing Ma Yongtao had other intentions by agitating Zhu Baique. "Don't worry, I won't kill him either. Whatever happened between you, you will have a turn to settle it your way."

Zhu Baique spun around in annoyance, realizing Jinshui's intentions, and also realizing that facing Ma Yongtao out of hatred would only give the demon head the chance to toy with her even worse. She was caught by Ma Yongtao and took a few hits, but her condition was still quite good, so she immediately jumped up to help Huang Yu and the others fight Zu Ye, Li Baixun, and Fuchang Long.

"Ah, you let her go because you need her to protect them," Ma Yongtao spoke with a smile on his face. "And to keep me from taking her away."

"She is one of us," Jinshui said, "Hua Jinshui would not let anyone harm my friends."

"I have no plan to harm her, just played with her for a while, when waiting for you to come back," said Ma Yongtao. "I want her to still be able to stand just fine watching me take down all of you one by one."

Jinshui drew his sword and immediately charged towards Ma Yongtao before the scholar start an act. Xu Qiao slipped to the entrance of the cave and accompanied Yin Xiuchen guarded Shangguan Ruyin and Lin Xiaoyan who were inside.

However, Ma Yongtao again didn't really want to fight with Jinshui, only keeping him busy with his ghostly palm moves. Jinshui also did not necessarily use all his abilities just yet while trying to find his opponent's weaknesses. He knew that Ma Yongtao possessed high level of internal energy, it could be on par with what he had. It wouldn't be easy for him to catch that demon head.

"Hua Jinshui, your friends were exposed to leiying hua poison, do you know that?" Ma Yongtao asked while dodging the xuanlong sword's strike, softly touching the body of the sword with two of his fingers, pressing it down to test how much energy left Jinshui had. "You haven't recovered either," he continued, "I wonder if we have a chance to fulfill our promised duel."

"What do you want really?" Jinshui asked curiously. "Why do you keep getting into trouble with us the descendants of Yumen?"

"No, nothing, just want to test you," replied Ma Yongtao, "I just need to see all your capabilities in order to convey to Gu Chenhui."

Jinshui slowed down his sword. He had almost forgotten about Mengpo, the first member of Liangshan Liu Mo who according to Fuchang Long was no longer the real Mengpo. And this Ma Yongtao seemed to really know about the whereabouts of jiaozhu furen Gu Chenhui.

"Our former jiaozhu furen," he said, "do you know her?"

"Surely do," replied Ma Yongtao. He lowered his voice as if he didn't want his conversation with Jinshui to be overheard by a third person. "Ever since Huan Jiaozheng handed her over to us Liangshan Liu Mo ten years ago, I'd taken care of her, respected her, and even then praised her as my new master."

"What did you say?" Jinshui asked in shock.

"Hua Jinshui, your friends have been poisoned, if the poison isn't removed by noon, then even the gods won't be able to help," Ma Yongtao suddenly shouted again. It wasn't clear what he was thinking, he suddenly stepped forward, let himself be hit by one of Jinshui's fists, then jumped backward and fell to the ground. Jinshui's palm didn't contain enough energy to injure anyone, but the demon head just deliberately holding his chest and pretending to be in pain.

Zu Ye, Li Baixun, and Fuchang Long start to get tired of fighting Zhu Baique who was trying to beat them up with angry emotions. Seeing their second leader fall slightly startled the three of them. Zhu Baique's kick threw Li Baixun a few meters away, and Huang Yu's secret weapon also knocked Fuchang Long's leg.

"Haitang Jian Pai disciples are also poisoned," Ma Yongtao said again in a quite loud voice. "Hua Jinshui, you don't have much time. I'd like to see you either help your friends first and let Yuan Wancui's followers all die of agony, or you will play hero and save everyone."

While saying those words, Ma Yongtao had already dashed away and left them all behind. His three brothers didn't have the guts to face the Yumen descendants without the highly skilled second brother, and they also ran off as fast as they can.

"Let them go," Jinshui held his friends, especially Zhu Baique.

But he really didn't need to hold them back either. Qin Liangjie and Liao Xian had already been poisoned and the fight just now had drained their abilities and made the poison react faster. Both of them immediately sat down and tried to expel the poison using their own internal energy.

Huang Yu quickly stepped into the cave to help Lin Xiaoyan. Zhu Baique was forced to do the same and try to help Shangguan Ruyin first after Yin Xiuchen said she could still restrain the poison herself.

Yanzi came to them, Zhou Xiangnu and Yang Lei came after her. The rebellion in Wansui Gu had been suppressed, but the casualties were severe. Zeng Baifeng had also gone somewhere else, possibly burying Yuan Wancui's body in a place that only he knew.

"Huang Yu Gege, someone burned down the medication room," Yanzi reported to Jinshui, "we failed to save the antidote."

"Where is your father?" Huang Yu asked her.

"My father?" Yanzi's face turned pale.

"He's the one who created leiying hua poison, he should be the one who can cure it," Jinshui said.

"No, he cannot," Yanzi looked agitated.

"You let him go," guessed Jinshui.

Yanzi immediately knelt down before him. "I'm sorry, Jinshui Gege, but my father has already made a grave mistake, and I know yeye will not spare him. He is my father, I can not let him…."

"I'll look for him." Zhou Xiangnu said. She was also exposed to leiying hua poison. She knew she didn't have the ability to remove poison using internal energy like the Yumen descendants. They also had hostility towards her. Naturally, she couldn't ask for their help.

"He could go in any direction," Yanzi said. "I asked him not to tell anyone including me where he run. It's impossible to find him and bring him back here in time."

"You little…." Zhou Xiangnu was about to kick her in annoyance, Xu Qiao quickly pulled Yanzi to her side.

"Shimei, can you help Xiang-mei?" Yang Lei begged Xu Qiao. His glance briefly fell on Jinshui, hoping that Xu Qiao would ask Jinshui to help his Xiang-mei, the Jiuwei Bian Zhou Xiangnu. "Please."

"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao pleaded to Jinshui.

"Haitang Jian Pai disciples who were also poisoned, where are they?" Jinshui asked Yanzi, not wanting to deal with Zhou Xiangnu.

"They are there," Yanzi pointed south.

"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao pleaded again.

"Zhou Daguniang once wronged Huang Yu, if Huang Yu is willing to spare her life then let him get rid of that leiying hua poison from her," Jinshui said, then stepped up to follow Yanzi. Xu Qiao motioned to Yang Lei that she would try again and followed Jinshui.

They headed for the stone huts in the southern part of Wansui Gu, past a flower garden filled with vines and tiny flowers that resembled water drops. Jinshui was about to draw his sword and destroy the flowers, but he still remembered Zhou Sangong's words that poison was in the little flowers, a single sword could not destroy them.

He paid no heed to the plants, continuing to follow Yanzi.

Zeng Baifeng's loyal servant, Duan Meng was standing in front of the stone hut along with several of Wansui Gu's loyal servants, helping the prisoners get out of the stone hut and untie them. However, the poison had weakened those who were caught by Zhou Sangong and Liangshan Liu Mo, they all then could only sit in front of the hut, partly trying to catch their breath.

Yuan Wancui's third and seventh disciples, Yunhe and Yunli, were among the eleven Haitang Jian Pai disciples who were there. The four monks that Fuchang Long had bullied the other day were also there. It seems that they were caught again after being released by Huang Yu. There were also four young Taoist priests, probably also captured by Fuchang Long and initially used as his toys. The other two men were members of the Yongjun Hui, somehow they were also caught and brought here.

"Yanzi, did they all expose to leiying hua poison?" Xu Qiao asked Yanzi.

Yanzi walked over to Yunhe and checked her pulse. That third disciple Yuan Wancui tried to resist, but she was also too weak and couldn't even get rid of a little poison master. Yanzi also checked Yunli and found a similar state.

"They got that leiying hua poison too," Yanzi reported to Jinshui.

"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao called quietly, hoping that Jinshui would be willing to help because after all Haitang Jian Pai was the origin sect of her stepmother Bao Xinfei.

"Yanzi, is there an antidote for leiying hua at your grandmaster's?" Jinshui asked Yanzi again.

"The leiying hua poison was my father's work, and as far as I knew, yeye never want to know about it," said Yanzi. "However, yeye has a bottle containing antidotes for various kinds of poison made by Wansui Gu. I'll go find it."

She didn't wait for his respond and ran away. Jinshui just waited, letting Xu Qiao pass some water to Yunhe and the others. He looked around, and tried to acknowledge the presence of other people around him. It seemed that those Liangshan demons didn't really leave, they were quietly watching and waiting to see if Jinshui would spend all his energy saving the lives of those who wanted to kill him once.

Yanzi returned quite a while later, carrying a bottle of medicine in her hand, and handed it to Jinshui.

"Jinshui Gege, I found some guishi tan (pill of returns to the world)," said Yanzi. "Yeye used to make it to overcome the poison of zixie, zhaobai, and the poison of honglong needle. I don't know if it can be used to overcome the leiying hua poison, but this pill is the only hope."