361 Taking a Gamble

No matter how turbulent the outside world was, at least inside the Valley of Medicine Masters, it still looked peaceful, but no one knew how many undercurrents were surging under this calm exterior.

As the second disciple of the Valley of Medicine Masters, the heavy responsibility fell on Li Mao’s shoulders as the eldest disciple had not returned yet. There were many things to worry about. In addition to patrolling the valley, he also had to calm the disciples’ minds. It was not easy for him to calm them down for a while.

However, a disciple sent him a secret letter. After reading it, his expression immediately changed.

As night fell, most people fell into dreamland. A sneaky figure came to the front of the array and saw a few disciples guarding it under the moonlight.

!!
There was an unknown fragrance in the air. The disciples yawned and began to feel drowsy. After a while, their heads drooped.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the green light flashed slightly, like a firefly in the dark night. It also revealed the person’s face. It was Li Mao.

The array rippled like water, and a circular pattern appeared. His figure quickly blended into it, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

The disciples seemed to have sensed something. They looked up and looked around drowsily, but there was nothing. Even the array had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

“I feel like I’ll get sleepy easily tonight. I probably didn’t rest well yesterday.”

“We still can’t let our guard down. After all, the valley master has instructed us. If the night patrol elder sees us dozing off here, he’ll definitely scold us.”

After the few of them conversed, the sleepiness was dispelled, and their minds became clear again. A cool breeze came from somewhere and blew away the red and faint fragrance in the air.

No one could understand that in just a short while, someone had already sneaked out of the valley.

The array of the Valley of Medicine Masters had been set up for hundreds of years, and it was very difficult for outsiders to break in. If they were to break in by force, it was bound to alarm everyone in the valley. However, it was easy for the people inside the valley to get out.

Yao Tianchen had already given the order that all the disciples in the valley were not allowed to leave. No one dared to disobey the valley master’s order. Furthermore, it was a time of trouble and their relationship with the Five Poison Sect was tense. No one would take such a big risk.

With Li Mao’s ability, it was not difficult for him to slip out without anyone knowing. According to the location on the letter, he had come to the forest not far from the Lingnan mountain range.

When he first stepped into the forest, there were already people who knew and had been waiting for him for a long time.

“Long time no see.”

This person was Zhou Sheng, and there were dozens of tied-up disciples of the Valley of Medicine Masters beside him. Their clothes were in tatters and stained with blood. They looked at Li Mao as if they had seen their savior.

“Senior Brother Li, save us!”

Li Mao looked at their miserable appearances and knew that they had suffered a lot in the Five Poison Sect. His expression turned extremely ugly. “So it was you who captured them.”

Most of the Valley of Medicine Masters disciples outside had come back, but there were still some who could not be contacted no matter what, and the messages sent out were like rocks sinking into the sea without any response.

The people of the Valley of Medicine Masters had already thought of the worst-case scenario, which was the disciples that could not be contacted might have ended up in the hands of the Five Poison Sect.

Zhou Sheng laughed wildly, “So what if it’s me? You guys blinded me and refused to hand over the culprit. Now, you don’t even allow me to capture some disciples to take revenge.”

The letter Li Mao received today was to tell him the whereabouts of the nominal disciples. He was told to come alone and that he was not to report this matter. If there was anyone else that came with him, these disciples would be beheaded.

Only the Five Poison Sect could target them like this. It wasn’t as if Li Mao had never suspected that there was a trap. The letter had also been accompanied by the jade tokens of the disciples.

Li Mao had thought of reporting to the elders to go rescue them together, but if he did so, what if the Five Poison Sect flew into a rage out of humiliation and killed those disciples? Thus, he decided to take a gamble.

“Do you want to capture me and take revenge?”

Li Mao was also one of the participants in the incident that blinded Zhou Sheng, so he couldn’t help but suspect Zhou Sheng’s true motive. “Those disciples are innocent. If you let them go, I’ll compensate you.”

Zhou Sheng revealed a disdainful expression and looked at him viciously. “What are you going to pay with? Can you compensate me with an eye? Even if I kill a few dozen more Valley of Medicine Masters disciples, it won’t be enough to relieve the hatred in my heart.”

These people weren’t the main culprits who blinded him, so there was no point in torturing them.

Li Mao seemed to have guessed something. He asked, “You want fellow Daoist Ye?”

“That’s right!”

What Zhou Sheng wanted was Ye Xuan’s life, but he was in the Valley of Medicine Masters and didn’t come out. With Yao Tianchen’s protection, Zhou Sheng couldn’t do anything to Ye Xuan for the time being.

Zhou Hong said that the time was not right yet, so he could not forcefully make a move on the Valley of Medicine Masters. When he could finally take revenge, that would be a very long time into the future, and what if Ye Xuan was secretly sent away by Yao Tianchen?

To avoid adding more variables, Zhou Sheng decided to take action by himself after thinking about it. Otherwise, he would definitely not be able to take it lying down. Therefore, he thought of this countermeasure.

The disciples of the Valley of Medicine Masters couldn’t draw Ye Xuan out, but they could draw out other disciples, and Li Mao was a very good candidate. Moreover, it wouldn’t alert the higher-ups of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Thus, that would not alert the enemy as well.

Li Mao’s first reaction was to refuse. “I would never do such a thing! You should just give up, the Valley of Medicine Masters disciples are not ungrateful people.”

Zhou Sheng wasn’t surprised by his rejection. His eyes instantly became extremely fierce. “Is that so? then I’d like to see how hard your bones are.”

Zhou Sheng gestured with his eyes, and the people of the Five Poison Sect came over. There was a dense sound in the air as if many poisonous insects were approaching.

Li Mao knew that this mission of his would be very dangerous, but even if there was only a slight chance, he would still try. He was even prepared to die.

“Ah!”

A blood-curdling screech pierced through the sky, almost making one’s hair stand on end.