At five in the morning, Miss Youtau was sprawled on the ground, continuously vomiting; she had reached her limit.
Miss Youtau struggled to her feet, trembling and unsteady as she left the woods.
Since Li Banfeng had departed, Miss Youtau had also harbored thoughts of descending, but whenever she saw others still picking flowers, she couldn’t bear to leave.
Plagued by the poison fog, Miss Youtau’s efficiency plummeted. In the past eight hours, she had only gathered three Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemums, spending most of her time resting.
Even though she knew she was dizzy and found walking difficult, seeing the others picking flowers made Miss Youtau feel uncomfortable.
But now, she could no longer endure it.
Walking along the mountain path, she faintly heard footsteps behind her.
Miss Youtau was startled and quickly clutched the pocket at her waist, turning around abruptly.
This sudden movement, too aggressive, caused her vision to blur, and Miss Youtau collapsed to the ground.
Indeed, someone was pursuing her from behind—it was the young girl, Cao Ye.
Cao Ye came forward to help Miss Youtau up and took out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom, offering it to her, "Sister, I have some Cooling Powder here. Take a mouthful, and you’ll feel better. If you don’t trust me, I can take some first..."
Miss Youtau smiled, accepted the porcelain bottle, and after taking a mouthful, rested for a while and truly felt much better.
"I’ve consumed quite a bit of your Medicine Candy and Medicine Powder today. I really feel indebted to you," Miss Youtau said, opening her bag and taking out five Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemums. "Don’t look down on these; I don’t have many. Just take them, please."
Cao Ye shook her head. "I’ve gathered more than you, Sister. I have sixty-one plants. I don’t need yours. Sister, let’s go down the mountain together; I’m counting on you to look out for me on the way."
Miss Youtau pinched Cao Ye’s cheek, smiling brightly. "Let’s go, together."
As the two headed down the mountain, they hadn’t walked for even an hour when a figure ahead blocked their path.
Cao Ye was startled and hid behind Miss Youtau.
Having traversed the Jianghu, Miss Youtau remained relatively composed.
She first assessed the situation on the mountain road and then shouted at the person blocking the way, "Hey there, Mister, are you looking for Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemums? I can show you a place with plenty of good flowers."
From within the dense fog, the man laughed. "I think this is a good place right now, and I think you two blossoms are quite nice."
With a smile, Miss Youtau replied, "Mister, you sure have a sweet tongue. If you say I’m a blossom, with a thick skin, I might just agree. But this young girl, how old is she? At best, she’s just a budding flower. Could you really bring yourself to harm her?"
While speaking, Miss Youtau gestured to Cao Ye to hand over the Cooling Powder.
After taking a dose of the Cooling Powder, Miss Youtau felt slightly better.
The man took a couple of steps forward, and in the night, the reflection of his shiny, well-oiled head appeared.
"I won’t waste words with you two," said Baldy as he wiped his machete. "Leave the flowers behind, and I’ll spare both of your lives."
As he spoke, three more henchmen emerged behind Baldy.
Cao Ye was frightened and clutched the cloth bag at her waist tightly.
Miss Youtau patted her, signaling her not to panic.
Miss Youtau let out a soft laugh, winked playfully at Baldy, and said with a hint of tenderness, "Mister, listen to how you talk! A big strong man bullying two weak women—how could you bring yourself to do that?"
Baldy laughed. "I do feel a bit reluctant. How about this: both of you take good care of me, and whoever does it best, I will reward her with a flower."
"But Mister, how could one flower be enough? If I put in a little extra effort, can’t you reward me with a few more?" Miss Youtau twisted her body, her alluring contours on full display.
Especially her voice; it was like goose feathers dipped in honey, brushing back and forth along one’s spine.
Baldy’s and his henchmen’s heart rates began to accelerate.
"You dirty woman! It turns out you’re from Lust Cultivation. It was you who made a move during the day!" spat Baldy. "Playing tricks on your Grandpa? Today, Grandpa will let you get a real taste of how things are!"
All four men charged at them, and Miss Youtau drew two short knives from her waist.
「...」
In the grove, Old Smoker placed the last few tobacco leaves in his pipe, lit it, and took a couple of deep draws.
"That’s enough for me too. Gentlemen, until another time." Old Smoker had gathered a total of ninety-one Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemums, the most among this group of people.
But even he couldn’t hold out any longer.
He had applied Smoke Oil to protect his throat and filter much of the poison fog, but ultimately, his advanced age meant he was stretched to his limit after nearly twenty hours on Kuwu Mountain.
As Old Smoker stood up to leave, Hu Gaizi approached and blocked his way. "Old Man, don’t rush. It’s not light yet; wait a bit before you leave."
Old Smoker sensed something was amiss and looked Hu Gaizi up and down. "What now? You think to rob me?"
Hu Gaizi smiled. "Old Man, don’t put it so crudely. We became partners, and on this journey, we should look out for one another, right? You’re carrying so many fine flowers down the mountain; surely something will go wrong halfway. It’s better to hand them over to us for safekeeping, and we’ll return them when we’re down."
"Hand them over to you for safekeeping?" Old Smoker chuckled. "I appreciate the offer, but we met by chance, and that’s where our connection ends."
Hu Gaizi blocked Old Smoker’s way. "Old Man, leave the bag. I truly have your best interests at heart."
The old man sneered. "Kid, I knew from the start that you and the one with Glasses were no good.
"When that Baldy came earlier, you two only made noise without putting in any effort, one holding back while the other was teasing, chatting away there like a comedy duo.
"The fight was almost over when you two rushed over acting like heroes. You’re in cahoots with that Baldy, aren’t you!"
Qin Xiaopang stood there dumbfounded, still not understanding why Hu Gaizi and Old Smoker were arguing.
Hearing what Old Smoker said, he started to understand a bit.
Old Smoker continued, "When we were climbing the mountain, that Baldy robbed us once, and then again when we reached the flower-picking area. You pretended to be the good guy, but in reality, you wanted Baldy to test our abilities.
"If we were weak, you’d let Baldy rob us first. After losing the flowers, we would surely be desperate to recover our losses, and by evening, you’d swoop in and take everything.
"If we were strong, you wouldn’t let Baldy make a move. Come nighttime, after we scattered, you would pick us off one by one.
"Kid, that Bai Sha who came with you is probably dead on the road already, and those two girls are likely no longer alive. If we don’t make a move now, we’ll end up dying at the hands of these two jerks."
Upon hearing these words, Little Fatty quickly secured his bag and picked up his axe.
Gold-rimmed Glasses adjusted his glasses, looking at the two men with a smile. "Don’t be rash. Listen to my advice.
"Old Smoker, you’ve got good eyes, but it’s a pity you’re too greedy. With your cultivation level, if you had descended the mountain earlier, we wouldn’t have been able to stop you.
"But you had to wait until now. I bet you can hardly even stand, can you?
"One can tell that you’ve roamed the Jianghu, but this must be your first time on Kuwu Mountain.
"Do you think your Smoke Oil could block all the poison fog on Kuwu Mountain? If that were the case, Kuwu Mountain would have become the territory of Smoke Cultivators like you!"
Old Smoker laughed. "Smoke Oil can’t block all the poison fog, but it can block a good portion of it—certainly much better than you folks enduring it like you have. Not convinced? Try it yourself."
Gold-rimmed Glasses sighed, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his lenses. "I shouldn’t have wasted my breath on a fool like you. It’s too exhausting."
Hu Gaizi brandished a short knife. "Just finish him. He wants to die, so what’s to stop us, huh?"
Old Smoker looked at Little Fatty.
He didn’t expect Hu Gaizi to suddenly leap over and kick him in the face.
Food Cultivators, when well-fed and hydrated, have extraordinary physical gifts: they can run, fight, take a beating, and even have some resistance to poisons.
But if you isolate any single talent, they aren’t the best.
Like the talent for fighting, he clearly wasn’t a match for Hu Gaizi because Hu Gaizi was a Martial Cultivator.
The kick landed on Little Fatty’s face, who was completely unprepared. Hu Gaizi moved forward with another knife thrust toward Little Fatty’s stomach, which Little Fatty barely managed to dodge.
But while avoiding the knife aimed at his stomach, he took a punch to the chin from Hu Gaizi. Little Fatty, unsteady, fell to the ground. Hu Gaizi followed with a kick to his face, knocking Little Fatty out cold.
Hu Gaizi was about to deliver another blow when a puff of yellow smoke billowed up behind him.
Hu Gaizi quickly moved away from the smoke, and a shower of sparks flew at his face.
Hu Gaizi and Gold-rimmed Glasses both claimed to be First Layer Cultivators, but that was just to intimidate others; they had no cultivation level, whereas Old Smoker was a genuine First Layer Cultivator.
Gold-rimmed Glasses couldn’t handle Old Smoker alone, and Old Smoker didn’t give Hu Gaizi the chance to finish Little Fatty off.
Hu Gaizi, seeing he couldn’t kill Little Fatty instantly, quickly joined Gold-rimmed Glasses in attacking Old Smoker. Old Smoker, with his pipe bowl emitting both smoke and fire, fought against the two, initially gaining the upper hand.
But when that pipeful was finished, Old Smoker hadn’t won, and his situation turned dire.
The old man fought as he retreated, Gold-rimmed Glasses becoming more ferocious with every wave of his Folding Fan.
Cornered, Old Smoker unleashed his last held breath of smoke, which swirled like a blade towards Gold-rimmed Glasses’ face.
Gold-rimmed Glasses waved his Folding Fan, dispersing the smoke.
Hu Gaizi covered his mouth and nose, retreating while tears and snot streamed down his face.
Gold-rimmed Glasses coughed twice but seemed largely unaffected.
Old Smoker was taken aback.
His last breath of smoke gone, Old Smoker failed to seize the chance to break free.
With the Folding Fan fluttering in front of him, Old Smoker caught a peculiar scent.
As Old Smoker’s vision blurred, he realized he had been poisoned!