Immortals and Demons Forever

Chapter 35: Baiting the Hook

As the numbness gradually subsided, Zhong Da mustered all his strength and leaped onto Su Mu’s back. Su Mu took off running; even with someone on his back, he was still as fast as a galloping horse. Perhaps driven by the danger, the surrounding darkness seemed to affect him less and less. He could make out the general terrain around him and didn’t run around aimlessly, crashing into walls or tripping over protruding rocks. The spider-like demon beast seemed utterly astonished. This prey had clearly been poisoned—how could it be running so fast as if nothing were wrong?! In the brief moment it took for the creature to react, Su Mu had already sprinted more than ten meters away. Was this juicy prize really going to slip away? The spider-like demon beast immediately gave chase. “Mu Ge, this way! Hurry!” Chen Li shouted loudly, holding his torch high. Su Mu didn’t even need to look back to know the spider-like demon beast was chasing him—fortunately, it wasn’t moving all that fast. Before long, he reached the exit. Chen Li hurled the shovel in his hand with all his might toward the demon beast, which was faintly visible in the darkness! “Mu Ge is hurt—let him go first!” Zhong Da shouted. “Stop whining. I’m fine—it’s just a mosquito bite. What the hell are you crying about?” Su Mu felt a little touched inside. As the saying goes, “A real man doesn’t shed tears easily,” but this guy was now crying like a total idiot—he was a man of deep emotion after all, so it hadn’t been in vain that he’d taken that hit for him. The three hurriedly scrambled out through the exit and immediately filled it with stones—all of which had been prepared in advance. By the time the arachnid demon beasts gave chase, the entrance passage had already been sealed off. The three were a bit worried that it might dig its way through in a fit of rage, but after waiting a short while, there was no sound coming from the other side of the wall. The beast had probably seen its prey escape and reluctantly retreated. Drenched in sweat—some from exhaustion, others from fear—the three sat on the ground, panting heavily. “Mu Ge, is the wound on your arm serious? I need to figure out a way to get you some antidote pills.” Zhong Da hurriedly looked over and let out a startled “Eh!” Su Mu glanced at it by the light of the fire and was also taken aback. The blood had already dried; it had a slightly greenish tint, and it seemed the poison from the thorn hadn’t entered his body. Su Mu felt only a slight ache in his arm; other than that, he didn’t feel anything unusual. He tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve, gripped it in his hand, and pulled the thorn out. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a bone spike fired from the demon beast’s mouth—it took some effort to snap it off. “I don’t think I was poisoned after all…” “What’s going on?” Chen Li looked utterly astonished. “The green-haired spiders around here are deadly poisonous. Half a year ago, I saw it with my own eyes—it killed a strong and healthy outer-sect disciple with a single bite. It happened in less than a minute. The guy first screamed, then went into convulsions, foaming at the mouth—even the foam was a bit green.” “Who knows? Maybe I’m just lucky. To be honest with you two, I’ve had stagnant poison in my body since birth—maybe I’ve already built up a resistance to it.” “No wonder… So it’s because your constitution is different from others.” Zhong Da felt relieved. He wasn’t just impressed with Su Mu now—the man had saved his very life! “Where’s that top-grade Source Stone? Hurry up and show it to us. Damn, that was no easy feat!” Chen Li chuckled and pulled a palm-sized brown stone from his robe. Top-grade and low-grade Source Stones really are different—you can tell just by the feel. It felt incredibly smooth and lustrous, almost like jade. Low-grade Source Stones, on the other hand, not only lacked any luster but were also pitted and uneven; some were even just ordinary rocks that had grown and fused together. “We can’t let all this hard work go to waste—everyone gets a share!” Chen Li said, pulling three more stones from his robe. Zhong Da couldn’t help but curse, “You’re a damn greedy bastard. No wonder it took you so long to finish—you almost got the two of us killed, you know that?” “It doesn’t take much longer to collect one than it does to collect four. These top-grade Source Stones lying out in the open are just like ripe jujubes—they fall off on their own with the slightest touch.” Su Mu praised him, “Well done! Let’s set one aside as a gift for Cao Shang, and split the remaining three among ourselves. Do you guys dare to take them?” Chen Li rubbed his nose. “Mu Ge, I just want to get back to the Outer Sect safely. I’d feel uneasy keeping one of these for myself. I’ll give mine to you.” Zhong Da added, “It’s not that I’m afraid to take one—Mu Ge just saved my life. Top-grade Source Stones are valuable, so I’ll give you mine too.” “Alright! I won’t stand on ceremony with you guys. Then all three of these are mine.” Zhong Da suggested, “Let’s go back and find a place to bury it. When Mu Ge leaves here, we can come back to retrieve it. It’s too dangerous to carry it around.” Su Mu nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Come on, let’s head back first.” The three of them stepped out through the iron gate. The night was still young, and many people were still asleep. Black Hand saw the three of them return and hurried over to ask what had happened. Zhong Da recounted the events of the night, speaking with great enthusiasm and praising Su Mu to the skies. Black Hand’s eyes were filled with admiration, and he even made a point of running over to take a closer look at the wound on Su Mu’s arm. The three were quite exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they lay down. When they woke up, the wound on his arm had mostly healed. The attacks from the spider-like demon beasts were primarily dangerous because of their potent venom; their ability to inflict physical damage was actually quite limited. Zhong Da had only been bitten a few times by the little spiders and was fine. By the next day, the first step of the plan had been completed, and the second step was to lure the fish into the trap. He specifically sought out He Jin from the Supervision Team. “Brother Da, what brings you here? You’re not thinking of sending someone off again, are you?” He Jin teased as soon as they met. “Brother Jin, you’re so sharp—I hadn’t even opened my mouth yet, and you guessed it right away.” “Really? Haha, well then, tell me—who’s it going to be this time? It can’t be Su Mu, the guy who’s currently riding on your head and shitting all over you, can it?” “No, no—it’s me,” Zhong Da said, pointing at himself. “You? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Su Mu won’t last long in the Heavy Industry Zone. Brother Shang is letting you off the hook—just to keep an eye on this bunch of guys—out of old friendship. This is a sweet deal. Where do you want to be transferred to? You can’t possibly be thinking of going back to the camp to drink and eat meat, can you? Not even I get that kind of treatment!” “I want to go back to the Supervision Team.” “What did you say? Are you seriously messing with me?” “As long as Cao Shang’s willing to put in a good word for me with Boss Song, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to get back on the Supervision Team, right?” “Hey! Who do you think you are? Why should Brother Shang go out of his way to help you like this? What do you even have to offer?” He Jin was clearly getting a little angry. “He’ll definitely help me—just because of this!” Zhong Da pulled a brown stone out of his sleeve and waved it in front of the other man. “Th-that’s…” He Jin’s eyes widened instantly. “Hand this over to Brother Shang and convey my request. Don’t let anyone else on the Supervision Team see this—you know what’ll happen if they do. If Brother Shang’s willing to help, have him come see me in person.”