"Mm... Huh!?"
Zou Feng casually agreed at first, but then he realized something was amiss and quickly retightened the sash of his pants.
"Master Tian... I don’t think you need to look..."
Only then did Tian Yun look up. She casually tucked a stray strand of hair back into place and said nonchalantly, "That’s a little red, too!"
With her being so forward, even a fool like Zou Feng would understand that Master Tian had made up her mind.
It wasn’t surprising. Tian Yun had simply never met anyone she fancied before. Now that she finally had, years of pent-up desire burst forth like a great, surging river.
Like the Yellow River overflowing its banks, it was completely unstoppable.
The feeling was mutual, and unlike the situation with Liu Xian’Er, this wouldn’t cause any major trouble. Zou Feng wasn’t about to play the celibate and needlessly deny himself.
However, while he didn’t mind giving Master Tian a helping hand, now was definitely not the time or place.
"Master Tian, I need you to be my Guardian!" Zou Feng coughed, his expression turning serious.
Tian Yun asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
"I have a strong suspicion that those Red-haired Demon Beasts are a type of Gu intentionally cultivated by disciples of the Biyou Palace..."
"I can’t be certain, but to be safe, I have to expel the poison right away!"
Seeing how serious Zou Feng was, Tian Yun stopped testing the waters.
The next moment, she nodded, rose to her feet, and began to stand guard, vigilantly watching their surroundings.
Zou Feng, meanwhile, had already begun the process of expelling the poison, trying to force out all the toxins contained within the Xiong Xin and Monkey Brain he had eaten.
’No wonder,’ he thought. ’Even after consuming these poisons, I still haven’t been able to figure out their specific effects.’
’Since this is a technique from the Biyou Palace, it’s not something an unorthodox Poison Cultivator like me could figure out so easily.’
But even if he couldn’t fully understand it yet, Zou Feng’s skill in the Poison Dao was far from ordinary. Precisely forcing out the toxins shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zou Feng opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of dark, poisonous blood.
It contained all the toxins that had been turning his hair red.
"General Zou, did you succeed?"
Zou Feng nodded and let out a long sigh of relief. "I think I got it all out. Master Tian, quick, help me take a look."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Tian Yun hesitated for a moment. Then, as if she had made a decision, she nodded firmly and replied, "Alright!"
With that, she stepped forward and began to tug at the sash of his pants.
Zou Feng froze, then said, exasperated, "My hair! Look at my hair!"
Tsk!
Tian Yun gave a sheepish smile and stopped what she was doing. She glanced up at his head. "It’s gone. It’s all black now!"
Hearing this, Zou Feng finally relaxed completely.
But Tian Yun, relentless, pressed on. "General Zou, shouldn’t we confirm the color of the hair in... other places?"
Now that the poison was expelled, Zou Feng felt a great sense of relief. He decided to play along, cupping his fist and saying, "Then I’ll have to trouble Master Tian once more!"
Tian Yun, of course, knew exactly what her words and actions implied.
But she had been using them to test Zou Feng.
After all, while she was confident in her looks and figure, she was a bit older than him.
Because of this, she was genuinely worried Zou Feng might be put off by the age difference.
In their daily interactions, Zou Feng had always acted like too much of a gentleman, his eyes never lingering on her... ample assets.
This made Tian Yun suspect that the General Leader simply wasn’t interested in older women.
As for the rumors about Zou Feng and Bian Yixia, Tian Yun wasn’t concerned.
The reason was simple: they were all Seekers striving to reach the peak of the Martial Dao. Romance was a possibility, but it was by no means their primary pursuit.
Now, hearing Zou Feng’s reply, Tian Yun’s heart was finally at ease.
No more words were needed. Tian Yun stared straight into Zou Feng’s eyes, took two steps forward, and reached out her hand with a determined gaze.
Zou Feng had braced himself for a passionate whirlwind, but he hadn’t completely let his guard down.
The next moment, an inexplicable sense of alarm flared in his mind.
Zou Feng sensed danger. He didn’t push away Tian Yun, whose hand had already found its mark. Instead, he pulled her into an embrace. "Trouble. We need to hide, now!"
Tian Yun trusted him completely. She didn’t ask questions, allowing Zou Feng to hold her as they quickly fled the area.
But she refused to withdraw her hand.
Zou Feng had no time to worry about that. His first instinct was to flee as far as possible, but he quickly realized that moving at full speed would create too much of a disturbance and easily expose their position.
He spotted a nearby mud bog and, still holding Tian Yun, slipped into it until only their heads were above the surface.
The bog and the surrounding area were overgrown with weeds, providing excellent cover for their heads.
The stench of the bog was unbearable, but hiding here was their safest bet.
Tian Yun didn’t complain. The warmth spreading from her palm was quite reassuring.
After a tense wait, Zou Feng finally felt he had to say something. He turned and whispered, "Master Tian, your hand..."
"Oh? Does General Zou find this... inconvenient?"
"Not at all!"
Tian Yun gave him a seductive smile. "Good..."
Just as the word left her lips, several whistling sounds cut through the air.
The next moment, four figures in strange attire landed where Zou Feng and Tian Yun had just been camped.
Judging by the Qi Force emanating from them, all four were clearly experts of the Gang Qi Realm.
Even without Tian Yun saying a word, Zou Feng could guess from their exotic clothing that they were from the Southern Border.
At this, neither of them dared to make the slightest move.
They didn’t even dare use a secret sound transmission. Tian Yun stopped tempting fate, her hand beneath the mud freezing completely still.
Zou Feng’s caution had saved both him and Tian Yun.
If they had continued to flee at full speed just moments ago, they would have been discovered for sure.
Each of these four Gang Qi Realm experts was visibly stronger than Wu Xing.
The reason Zou Feng had felt that premonition of danger wasn’t entirely metaphysical.
As mentioned before, he possessed an exceptionally keen perception of poisons.
He couldn’t be sure if all four of the nearby Gang Qi Realm experts were Poison Cultivators, but there was definitely at least one incredibly powerful Poison Dao master among them.
That was the true source of his sudden premonition.
A "poisonous creature" more powerful than himself was approaching, triggering an instinctive reaction much like an animal facing its natural predator.
"Brother Duan, it looks like someone ruined our Gu?"
The man called Brother Duan, who wore a pair of oversized earrings, mused, "Not only did they ruin our Gu, they even forced out the Gu Poison..."
As he spoke, his gaze locked onto the pool of poisonous blood Zou Feng had just spat out.
Despite their thick regional accents, Zou Feng could still understand what they were saying.
But when he saw Brother Duan staring at the blood he had just spat up, Zou Feng was terrified.
’No doubt about it,’ he thought, ’these people are almost certainly from the Biyou Palace.’
Zou Feng was terrified they might have some technique to track him using his blood.
However, when he saw that they showed no further interest in the pool of blood, Zou Feng relaxed slightly.
However, the scare made it impossible for Zou Feng to maintain his... firmness.
Tian Yun, who felt the change most acutely, couldn’t help but marvel at what a curious thing it was.
But in such a perilous situation, she wasn’t foolish enough to make a teasing remark out loud.
The four of them conversed for a moment before Brother Duan spoke again. "The one who ruined our Gu can’t have gotten far. Split up and search!"
He gave the order to split up because he couldn’t see any obvious tracks indicating their direction of escape.
The other three immediately complied, each picking a direction and vanishing from sight.
The area fell silent once more.
But Zou Feng wasn’t foolish enough to think they were safe to emerge just yet.
He gave Tian Yun a slight shake of his head, his eyes telling her to remain perfectly still and silent, to wait a little longer.
Sure enough, less than fifteen minutes later, another whoosh cut through the air. They barely caught a glimpse of the figure—one of the four from before—as he hurriedly sped away into the distance.