Chapter 2: Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison

Faced with Li Mochou's killing intent, Yang Guo said with a stubborn look, "I won't move aside. If you want to hurt her, you'll have to get past me first!"

That said, acting the hero and being a hero were not things he did all the time, and on top of that he knew Huang Yaoshi was nearby. That old man was a little odd, but he was not the kind to stand by and watch someone die.

Cheng Ying clutched the corner of Yang Guo's robe, not caring that he was dirty, and felt as if he were the guardian god standing in front of her. Yang Guo's actions left this young woman deeply moved.

"You're courting death!" Li Mochou said coldly. She snapped up her whisk and brought it crashing down over his head, ready to smash Yang Guo's head and chest into pulp.

She had swung the whisk behind her and was just about to strike forward when her hand suddenly tightened. The tail of the whisk had been snagged by something, and she couldn't whip it out.

She was shocked. Turning to look, she was suddenly lifted off the ground against her will, yanked by a tremendous force and thrown back a full zhang before she landed.

This shock was no small matter. She raised her left palm to guard her chest, channeled inner power into the whisk, and thrust straight forward, only to find the space in front of her empty, with nothing there at all.

In her hundreds of battles over the course of her life, big and small, she had never encountered such a bizarre scene. A thought flashed through her mind like lightning: 'A spirit? A ghost?'

With a move known as the Hunyuan Form, she spun the whisk into a circle to protect the five-foot area around her before turning again.

There, beside Yang Guo and Cheng Ying, stood a gaunt, strange man in a green robe. His face was wooden and expressionless, as if he were alive, yet like a corpse. The moment Li Mochou saw him, an indescribable revulsion surged in her chest and she involuntarily stepped back two paces. For a moment she could not think of any powerhouse in the martial world who looked like this. Just as she was about to speak and ask who he was, she heard that man lower his head and say to Cheng Ying, "Young lady, this woman is vicious. Go hit her."

How could Cheng Ying dare to fight? She lifted her head and said, "I can't."

Yang Guo naturally knew that the strange man was Huang Yaoshi, yet Huang Yaoshi was still asking Cheng Ying questions exactly as he had in the original story, not changing a thing because of Yang Guo's arrival.

It seemed Huang Yaoshi really did favor young women a little more.

Huang Yaoshi said, "What's there to be afraid of? Just hit her." Cheng Ying still dared not. Huang Yaoshi caught the back of her collar and hurled her toward Li Mochou.

In a situation like this, Li Mochou would not dare meet it with ordinary methods. She figured that sweeping at Cheng Ying with the whisk would not be a good idea, so she immediately extended her left hand to intercept her. Just as she was about to touch Cheng Ying's waist, she heard a hiss, and the crook of her arm suddenly went weak and numb; she could no longer lift that arm.

Cheng Ying slammed into her chest and, with a casual swing of her hand, slapped her across the face with a crisp crack.

Li Mochou had never suffered such humiliation in her life. In her rage, she no longer held back. She reversed the whisk and whipped it downward with all her might, only to feel a violent shock in the web of her hand as the whisk handle flew up, nearly torn from her grasp. It turned out that Huang Yaoshi had flicked out another small stone, striking the whisk handle.

Cheng Ying was already standing steadily on the ground.

Li Mochou knew she would gain nothing today; if she did not get away at once, her life was in grave danger. She gave a soft laugh, turned, and fled. After running a few steps she swept both sleeves back, and silver flashed as more than ten Ice Soul Silver Needles shot straight at the strange man in the green robe.

She launched the hidden weapons without turning around or looking back, but each needle was aimed at the man's vital points.

Caught off guard, the man had not expected her concealed-weapon skills to be so vicious and formidable. He immediately sprang backward.

The silver needles came fast, but his retreat was even faster. All one could hear was a series of light, crisp clinks as the needles fell harmlessly in front of him.

Yang Guo, on the other hand, had long known Li Mochou would use hidden weapons. To avoid being caught in the crossfire, he had already kept some distance from Huang Yaoshi, so not a single Ice Soul Silver Needle touched him.

Li Mochou knew full well that she would not hit him; those dozen-odd silver needles were only meant to force him back. When she heard the sound of him leaping backward, she swept her sleeves again, and two silver needles shot toward Cheng Ying and Yang Guo on the other side.

She knew these two needles would definitely hit. Fearing that the man in the green robe would step in and attack, she did not even turn her head to look. She drove hard off the ground, raced across the bridge, and disappeared into the mulberry grove.

"Ah!" Yang Guo had not expected Li Mochou to shoot at him as well. Even though he was on guard, he still failed to evade it. He instinctively blocked with that streak of light, and the Ice Soul Silver Needle struck his left palm.

Huang Yaoshi stepped forward and picked Cheng Ying up. Seeing a long silver needle embedded in her shoulder, his expression changed. Then he looked at Yang Guo on the side, and his brows furrowed even tighter.

Yang Guo wore a bitter expression. His left hand was already turning dark, and a numb sensation was spreading upward. In moments, the entire palm had gone completely numb.

"Little brother, I can save only one of you. Which one do you want me to save?" A voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and it was Huang Yaoshi, who had already drifted to his side in an instant.

Cheng Ying had the poisonous needle in her shoulder and was now in a half-fainting state. She vaguely heard something and wanted to speak, but had no strength at all.

Knowing that the Western Poison, Ouyang Feng, was definitely nearby, Yang Guo naturally wanted to learn his method of reversing the meridians to force out poison, since it worked so effectively. So he said, "You should save her."

"Good, good, good!" Huang Yaoshi said good several times, then added, "What a pity!" He quickly tapped several points along Yang Guo's arm with his fingers, then carried Cheng Ying westward at speed.

"No way!"

Yang Guo had thought that if he said that, Old Rascal Huang would at least leave a few Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pills for him. He had never expected Huang Yaoshi to leave so decisively.

Watching Huang Yaoshi's back grow farther and farther away, he could not help feeling deeply frustrated.

"Poisoned?"

The voice was sharp and jarring, as if it had burrowed up from underground.

Yang Guo turned around and saw a man with his head planted on the ground and his feet together, braced upward toward the sky.

Even knowing that Ouyang Feng looked exactly like this, Yang Guo was still startled.

"Who are you?" Ouyang Feng supported himself on the ground with both hands, suddenly lifted his body, sprang three feet into the air, landed in front of Yang Guo, and said, "I... who am I? It's enough that I know who I am."

What am I asking that for? Really! Yang Guo shook his head and said, "Old man, you've got real skill. Even upside down, you're that nimble."

"You know I'm skilled too!"

Ouyang Feng was overjoyed. He actually bounced up and down right in front of him, moving at blinding speed. Seeing that Yang Guo did not show the least bit of fear, he lost interest, moved closer, looked at Yang Guo's palm, and said, "This poison of yours is hard to cure."

"Of course it is. Only the most capable person in the world could save me!"

Yang Guo said with a dejected look, but he was deliberately trying to goad Ouyang Feng into taking action and saving him.

His voice was childlike, so no one would have guessed that a young man like that could have such deep scheming.

Needless to say, that included Ouyang Feng, who was half-mad to begin with.

"Ha! Then your luck is perfect. I am the most capable man in the world."

Hearing Yang Guo's words, Ouyang Feng seemed to think that only the most capable person in the world could save him.

And since he happened to be able to save him, didn't that mean he was the most capable person in the world? Thinking that far, he could not help laughing with delight, his voice shaking the treetops.

"Old man, can you really save me?" Yang Guo put on a look of doubt.

"Of course!"

Ouyang Feng flipped himself over, gripped Yang Guo's arm, and kneaded it a few times before raising his brows and saying, "Your arm's blood vessels have been sealed by someone, so the poison won't spread for now, but this technique feels rather familiar."

As he spoke, he actually froze in thought.

At once, Yang Guo understood from Ouyang Feng's words that it had been done by Huang Yaoshi, and the little irritation he had felt toward Huang Yaoshi disappeared.

Huang Yaoshi must have healed Cheng Ying and then come back; otherwise why would he have taken the trouble to do something extra?

But it was even more likely that Huang Yaoshi knew that if he waited until Cheng Ying was healed before returning, Yang Guo's poison would already be beyond suppression.

"Old man, could it be that you can't cure poison either?"

Seeing Ouyang Feng freeze up, Yang Guo started goading him again.

After those few pushes and pulls, the numbness in his arm had actually eased a little. Ouyang Feng really did have real skill.

Of course, he was the Western Poison to begin with, so when it came to detoxification he was probably far above Huang Yaoshi.

"How could I not be able to cure it!" Hearing Yang Guo say that, Ouyang Feng no longer bothered thinking about it. He said, "What you were hit with is that woman's Ice Soul Silver Needle poison from Li Mochou. It's truly not easy to treat."