Chapter 275: Mountains and Rivers, Will You Draw Your Sword? (Part )
The heavy rain in the mountains did not stop until the next day. The morning mist enveloped the entire mountain, with no end in sight. It seemed that the Hundred Thousand Mountains on the southwestern border had truly been isolated from the world.

After Ji Ruxue took the medicinal bath, the poison on the poison arrow was completely forced out. Not only that, even the minor skin injuries were healed in the medicinal bath, making her skin look a little smoother.

In fact, if Xiao Yan had come to this world a few years later, Ji Ruxue would have been sent out by the empress to gain experience in the martial arts world. At that time, the wounds on her body would probably be far from minor. It is a pity to think of a beautiful woman with wounds all over her back.

Jiuli Village had an unexpectedly uneventful night. During that time, except for coming once to deliver medicine, the village chief Lao did not disturb them easily at other times. It was unknown whether he was afraid of Xiao Yan, whose momentum had weakened, or he could not stand Chi Meng's contempt. In short, he hid in the village and was not seen until Xiao Yan and his group said goodbye and left. Then he came to see them off in a hurry, surprised and happy.

"Alas, Saint Maiden and the others, why don't you stay a few more days? I have already sent out a signal for the leaders of the surrounding villages to come to see the Saint Maiden to discuss the dispatch of troops. If you really don't stay a few more days, are the people below not entertaining you well enough?"

Luo Shentu tried to persuade them to stay with a reluctant look on his face, but he just stood there with his hands folded. Apart from his expression and tone, everything else showed that he hoped Xiao Yan and the others would leave quickly.

Chi Meng changed his attire into a hooded wizard robe. The brim was a bit large, covering his eyes and creating a sense of mystery.

"Uncle, I came to ask for your help this time because I believe that you and my father are close friends. Although I don't know what kind of benefits the Poison Turtle promised you to make you willing to work for him, I hope that the friendship between Jiuli Village and the Ten Thousand Poison Cave will not be severed because of this. My father said that the Ten Thousand Poison Cave was established to benefit and unite the entire Raojiang area, not to become an executioner who enslaves Raojiang. I don't care what you think, but I am willing to give you another chance on behalf of my father..."

Chi Meng lifted his hood, his face serious. He thought for a long time before he remembered the appropriate idiom and continued, "It's not too late to stop before it's too late. Don't let Jiuli Village be destroyed by the hands of the poisonous turtle."

After saying that, she waved her hand domineeringly, put her hands on her waist and left: "Let's go, don't see me off."

You Chuan was still wearing his dirty, loose robe, but he put on a hat to cover his eye-catching white hair. He didn't stay dressed for long. He nodded to the leader of Lao Village and left as well.

Ji Ruxue held the Tang sword in her arms and glanced at Chi Meng with pursed lips.

She knew how difficult it was for Chi Meng to make this decision. In the heart of this little girl, the Gu King represented the Cave of All Poisons, and it would be absolutely impossible for her to forgive him for betraying her father, let alone someone like Lao Shentu who used to be good friends with the Gu King. It was obvious that she had weighed the pros and cons when she said this today.

Otherwise, please ask Xiao Yan to kill the leader of Lao Village with a knife. Wouldn't that save trouble?
But Chi Meng obviously remembered another truth that Xiao Yan analyzed for her last night. Although Lao Shentu looked stupid, he was the one who could understand the situation best. He had also led Jiuli Village for many years. Not to mention his personal strength, at least in terms of prestige, no one in Jiuli Village could surpass him.

It was easy to kill Luo Shentu, but what would happen after that? How would Jiuli Village deal with it? What would happen to the hundreds of Gu Masters and thousands of villagers in the village? If we left it alone, sooner or later the Poison Lord would arrange for someone to take over this place.

But if we destroy the Jiuli Village, kill all the hundreds of Gu Masters, and expel the thousands of villagers, wouldn’t that be another disaster?
On the other hand, even if they really wanted to kill the whole village, it would be difficult for them to do it alone, not to mention that after doing this big thing, Xiao Yan didn't care. He was a Central Plains person and was not liked by Raojiang. It was just a little more bad reputation. But wouldn't Saint Chi Meng become the traitor who betrayed Raojiang?

Leaving behind Lao Shentu, even if he is still determined to work for Du Gong, this evil will remain here, and Chi Meng can visit him anytime and anywhere as long as he is willing.

What's more important is that Luo Shentu is not stupid. People who can understand the situation are never fools. He has his own plans and judgments. He knows whether it is a blessing or a curse to follow the Poison Lord. If he stays here, the Poison Lord will not be able to easily bring Jiuli Village under his command. He will have to work hard.

Therefore, leaving Luo Shentu behind would bring more advantages than disadvantages, but Xiao Yan gave the choice to Chi Meng.

So this time, Chi Meng did not act according to his temper, but suppressed his anger and left Lao Shentu and Jiuli Village, the "accomplices" who were "accomplices of the tiger".

After Chi Meng left, Lao Shentu felt even more uncomfortable. He bent his huge body a little lower and asked earnestly, "Does Xiao Xia have anything else to do?"

Xiao Yan looked over Lao Shentu's shoulder and saw a group of guards, elders and leaders following behind him, obviously guarding against him, a person from the Central Plains.

But he only took a glance, and Luo Shentu understood instantly. He rolled his eyes and waved to the people behind him: "You guys go back quickly, I want to discuss some important matters with Xiao Xia alone!"

"Master Xiao, if you have any instructions, just tell me. Chi Li has been lawless in recent years and has done a lot of shameful things behind the back of the Gu King. I have actually disliked him for a long time! If the Saint really wants to raise an army, I will not say a word!" After everyone left, the leader of Lao Village was righteous.

Xiao Yan just glanced at him, then asked with his hands behind his back, "Will you be grateful to me for not taking your life?"

Luo Shentu's righteous expression froze on his face, and a chill ran down his back. He subconsciously glanced at Ji Ruxue beside him. Seeing the latter's cold expression, sweat broke out on his forehead and he stammered, "Of course I am grateful to Master Xiao... I deserve to die for offending the Saint, but Master Xiao, please give me some consideration..."

"I'm just asking you, just answer it." Xiao Yan nodded and stretched out his hand.

Lao Shentu was a little confused, but after a moment, he immediately reacted and tentatively lowered his body.

Xiao Yan patted him on the shoulder and turned away.

Ji Ruxue followed beside them with a knife in her hand, her face still cold, as if she didn't care at all about the leader of the Lao Village who had nearly killed them the night before.

Lao Shentu stood there somewhat uncertainly, watching the two figures reunite with Chi Meng and leave. He did not even take out the long flute that was inserted behind his waist until the four figures could no longer be seen.

Just now, he only needed to use his long flute to urge, and a formation of insects would immediately appear where Xiao Yan and the others were standing. All the poisonous insects in the entire Jiuli Village had been set up in this formation. It was extremely powerful and was a large formation to protect the village. It could not only restrict the enemy's actions, but also greatly weaken the opponent's strength. Together with the poison masters and soldiers in the village, it would not be a problem to capture Xiao Yan.

But he had an illusion just now, as if he would die immediately if he took action.

Even though Xiao Yan looked as if he had been seriously injured.

That was a close call. I won’t have to deal with this guy again. It was really uncomfortable to have had such a close call with hell.

Lao Shentu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, went back to the village and drank three big bowls of herbal tea before he calmed down.

But he hadn't sat there for long before someone came to report that another person had arrived.

Lao Shentu was very annoyed and climbed up the village wall himself to take a look. However, he saw a blond man with a red umbrella on his waist waiting below. Before he appeared, this handsome man was knocking on the village gate.

The guards on the village wall looked at each other, some of them did not dare to provoke this strange man.

Luo Shentu was so evil that he gnashed his teeth and said, "You bastard, didn't you see that I closed the camp? If you have anything to do, go somewhere else. Don't mess with me. You are looking for death!"

The man at the foot of the village wall was polite and smiled back, saying politely: "Brother Xiao left me a message saying that Jiuli Village is a good place to stay. But seeing that the village owner is in such a dilemma, I guess Brother Xiao must have left the wrong message. Sorry to bother you." Damn it...

The leader of Lao Village felt dizzy and his words were trembling.

"Please stay... Your Excellency, please stay."

------

After leaving Jiuli Village, Xiao Yan was still thinking about the question he had asked Lao Shentu before.

In fact, this question is just one of the verifications of Yuan Tiangang's game.

The so-called "human heart", "officials, and thieves" can certainly be seen as the current situation. He and Chi Meng are thieves when they travel in Raojiang. The Ten Thousand Poison Caves controlled by Du Gong are officials, and the entire Raojiang is the "people", that is, the "human heart".

Under the manipulation of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, people's hearts will inevitably follow the officials. "Thieves" will have nowhere to hide and will be unwelcome everywhere. It is not easy to get rid of this identity. Even if the Gu King is rescued, it is likely that the status quo will not change. The Ten Thousand Poison Cave controlled by the Poison Lord has now reached the point where he can cover the sky with one hand. What does it matter if the Gu King is rescued? He is still not a "thief".

And looking at a longer perspective, in the area of ​​Raojiang, the people of Rao are officials, and the people of Central Plains are thieves. He, Xiao Yan, and Ji Ruxue are thieves, so Chi Meng and You Chuan also became thieves, thus going against the entire Raojiang.

So at this moment, any decision made by Xiao Yan represents the decision of Zhongyuan, and represents Zhongyuan's intervention in Raojiang's affairs. This situation seems to be easy to break, as if killing Du Gong will solve it all, but Xiao Yan understands that with Yuan Tiangang around, it is not up to him to decide whether to kill Du Gong or not.

Don't think that Xiao Yan's internal strength has improved by leaps and bounds after practicing the Nine Nether Mysterious Heaven Divine Art in the past two years, jumping from the small heavenly position in Caozhou to the early stage of the big heavenly position, and now he is not weaker than the Underworld Emperor and the Empress. After becoming a demon, he can even fight Yelu Zhiwu on equal terms.

But if we really talk about it, he is still far behind Yuan Tiangang, and we don’t know how big the gap is. Maybe it’s as big as heaven and earth? Or maybe it will take more than a hundred years to make the difference? It’s like a chasm.

Well, since this solution didn't work, Xiao Yan could only look for another way. Showing favor to Jiuli Village was one way, but it seemed that it wouldn't work either. Zhongyuan and Raojiang had been grudged for a long time, and Du Gong fanned the flames, spreading the legend of "Maple Leaf Humiliation". The prejudice between the two could not be eliminated in a day or two, let alone eliminating Raojiang's image of Zhongyuan as a "thief".

This is Yuan Tiangang's purpose, he just wants to see how Xiao Yan will take on this game. If Xiao Yan continues to kill people in Raojiang, he will naturally not be able to transform his image of a "thief" into an "official", and the people of Raojiang will become more and more distant from him, and become something that the Poison Lord can control at will.

The Central Plains will be integrated with Raojiang sooner or later. If we allow such a big threat to remain in the southwest, it will not be stable now and it will take decades or even hundreds of years to pacify it in the future.

Especially for Raojiang, which has been grudged for a hundred years, if it erupts, it can affect the entire Shuzhong and Lingnan. As the saying goes, "Shu will be in chaos before the world is in chaos, and Shu will be in order after the world is in order", the same is true for Raojiang. Under regional independence, the cultural uniqueness born in Raojiang is enough to become a rival to the Central Plains, just like Mobei.

Therefore, if we can remove some of the thorns planted in Raojiang as soon as possible, we can nip the hidden dangers in the bud as soon as possible.

Raojiang becoming a serious threat to Central Plains is not something Xiao Yan wants to see now or in the future.

This was not a game that Xiao Yan could not refuse. Even if he did not take it, Yuan Tiangang would continue to play with him. Although the two had an agreement that they would not let the bad guys interfere with Xiao Yan's actions within two years, they did not have an agreement that they would not let others interfere with Xiao Yan.

Since whether he accepts it or not, Yuan Tiangang will lead the Poison King to set up a big plan for him, why doesn't Xiao Yan take the initiative to accept it?
Whether or not you can get out of the Shiwan Mountains is one thing, winning or losing the game is another, not to mention the prizes you get after winning or losing.

Besides, if one road is blocked, there are always thousands or tens of thousands of roads.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Xiao Yan glanced at You Chuan who had been following the team. He put his hands behind his back, narrowed his eyes, walked between Chi Meng and Ji Ruxue, and overlooked the continuous poisonous miasma at the foot of the mountain.

The miasma stretched for countless miles, covering the entire foot of the mountain. It was so thick that it was visible to the naked eye, like a green sea of ​​clouds, rolling in the sky above the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons.

"This is the Poison Cave!"

Chi Meng put his hands on his waist, and said with a hint of pride: "After passing through this miasma that never dissipates and kills anyone who touches it, you can enter the Ten Thousand Poison Cave. In Raojiang, only the people in the Ten Thousand Poison Cave have been soaked in poison soup since childhood to be immune to harm and come and go freely. If an outsider wants to enter the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, he must either know the art of Gu wall poison, or carry the wall poison bead mentioned earlier that can avoid poison within a radius of several feet. Only in this way can he enter safely."

Ji Ruxue looked at the green fog and poisonous miasma below and frowned: "Is there no special passage?"

"No." Chi Meng put his finger on his chin and thought hard, then shook his head: "Xiao Guoguo wants to go to Southern Xinjiang, but he can't avoid the Poison Cave. I can teach you Gu Shu to avoid poison, but I'm afraid you find it troublesome."

Xiao Yan thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Let's go to Guishizi."

The Spring Festival is just a few days away. After the New Year, it will be the fourth year of Kaiping. Time waits for no one.

He can learn the art of witchcraft by relying on the sword's will, and the speed will not be slow, but Ji Ruxue has no foundation in this field, and mastering the art of witchcraft requires some very cruel means. If he really wants to master this thing, it will probably take at least half a month here.

You Chuan hesitated for a moment, and then said, "The people in Guishizi may have a big prejudice against people from the Central Plains. Chi Meng and I are wanted by the Ten Thousand Poison Cave. It will be troublesome if we go there to ask for the poison-avoiding beads."

"It doesn't matter."

Xiao Yan just smiled and patted You Chuan: "At worst, we can just rob him."

You Chuan was a little surprised, frowning and silent, but Chi Meng was quite expectant: "I have long disliked that Xiao Weng in Guishizi. He owns the entire Guishizi, but he is very stingy. Before, my father wanted to buy some medicinal herbs from the Central Plains to save people, but he was unwilling to sell them!"

Xiao Yan smiled but did not answer. Instead, he looked at the other side of the mountain foot where there was no miasma.

The sky was not beautiful, as it was covered with dark clouds and looked quite gloomy, but the mountains and waters were bright. The mountains were mountains, and the waters were waters, and when they came together, they formed beautiful mountains and waters that stretched for thousands of miles.

Seeing such a beautiful scene, he was reluctant to draw his sword.

But he had to draw his sword.

(End of this chapter)