Chapter 87: Who Can Endure

The Helmsman, Shi Boyu, returned to the helmsman’s platform and sat in the main hall, silent.

The incident with Zhong Desong greatly agitated Shi Boyu.

Another headman from the Second Helmsman’s platform was lost, making him feel somewhat diminished in front of the Hall Master.

However, it was merely agitation; Shi Boyu wasn't angry. In his ledger, these headmen were destined to be eliminated sooner or later.

The Red Pole, Xiang Guicheng, openly opposed him and was the person who most deserved to die.

The Patrolman, Du Hongxi, was no better than Xiang Guicheng, and he was already dead.

The Sage, Zhong Desong, appeared outwardly calm, but never consulted Shi Boyu when recommending talent, indicating he didn't respect the Helmsman.

Even his confidant, Sun Xiaoan, was not trusted by Shi Boyu. Every time he saw him gurgling on his hookah, Shi Boyu couldn't guess his thoughts.

All these people had been poisoned by Shi Boyu’s slow-acting toxin. Those who were obedient would live a few more years; those who were not would soon meet their end.

But Zhong Desong’s sudden disappearance puzzled Shi Boyu greatly.

The Wonderland Dance Hall was bombed, and the Hall Master of the Medicine King Hall of the River Serpent Gang believed that neither Yu Nan nor Qin Tianjiu was responsible.

This matter involved someone else, someone whose cunning and skill far surpassed Yu Nan and Qin Tianjiu.

Following the Hall Master’s instructions, Shi Boyu immediately suppressed the matter and secretly investigated clues to the culprit.

According to the Hall Master’s speculation, the culprit would soon drop their guard and reveal themselves.

However, the culprit did not reveal themselves; instead, they immediately attacked.

And now, the culprit hadn’t been exposed, but Zhong Desong had already disappeared.

No one seen alive, no body seen dead. Was this done by the same person?

Why would this person actively target Zhong Desong? Was he out of his mind?

Where could this person be now?

Still in Ligou?

How could he be found?

Lost in thought, Shi Boyu suddenly felt a wave of oppressive heat and instructed his subordinate, Xiao Yao (the Helmsman's attendant), to open a window.

A Xiao Yao approached the window, reaching out, but couldn't touch it.

He dared not speak, only straining to push against an invisible wall.

Shi Boyu impatiently looked towards the window. A Da Jiu (the Helmsman's headman) reprimanded, "I told you to open a window. What's taking so long? What exactly can you..."

Before he could finish, the Da Jiu suddenly noticed a patch of water under his feet.

"What is this water..."

A Xiao Yao sniffed it and exclaimed, "This is tea! This is Old Zhong's magical artifact!"

Shi Boyu had never seen Old Zhong’s magical artifact, only heard Sun Xiaoan mention it.

This artifact was incredibly powerful; Zhong Desong had once used it to kill a three-layered cultivator and severely wound a four-layered one, so a head-on confrontation was clearly impossible.

Shi Boyu quickly shouted, "Quick, get outside and take cover!"

His subordinates heard him but didn't move.

Shi Boyu angrily said, "Are you all deaf!"

He was about to leave the hall but was blocked at the doorway by an invisible wall. In his astonishment, he heard a Xiao Yao behind him say, "Helmsman, we’re trapped by Old Zhong's magical artifact; we can’t get out. This thing..."

Mid-sentence, the Xiao Yao cried out and immediately jumped onto a table, his feet scalded by the boiling tea.

More than a dozen subordinates screamed in pain, some jumping onto sofas, others onto tables.

Shi Boyu was a little slow, pulled onto a table by two subordinates, his feet covered in blisters.

Li Banfeng, perched on the roof beam, found this situation somewhat strange.

According to Shopkeeper Feng, Shi Boyu had been a Red Pole before taking over as Helmsman in Medicine King Gully.

Red Poles were responsible for fighting, so why was Shi Boyu’s combat ability so poor?

Was it because his cultivation was too low?

Shi Boyu’s cultivation was not low; he was a three-layered cultivator.

But he wasn't a combat, travel, or physical cultivator, who generally had good combat skills. He was a three-layered poison cultivator.

Shi Boyu stood on the table and shouted, "Does anyone know how to break this artifact?"

A Da Jiu yelled, "Find the person with the teapot, snatch the teapot from them, and don't let them rub it anymore, otherwise it can't be broken!"

Sun Xiaoan had told Shi Boyu the method of breaking it, but in his panic, Shi Boyu couldn't recall it.

Hearing the Da Jiu, Shi Boyu remembered, but where was this teapot?

It must be in the enemy's hands.

Where was the enemy?

Shi Boyu didn't know!

"Kou Zhu, listen for any movement!"

Shi Boyu had a personal guard named Kou Zhu, a one-layered scryer.

Kou Zhu listened for a long time but heard no movement.

Li Banfeng was a two-layered dwelling cultivator. With his dwelling cultivator's talent for being overlooked, he had evaded Kou Zhu's keen hearing.

The water level rose higher and higher. The feet of the disciples standing on the sofas were already scalded.

One disciple fell into the tea water amidst their screams, struggling twice, his skin and flesh sloughing off, and then went silent.

The water was about to reach the edge of the tables. The Da Jiu had initially protected Helmsman Shi Boyu, but seeing that Shi Boyu couldn't think of a way out, he had to consider himself first.

A red, mottled hard shell grew on the Da Jiu's back, and beneath the shell, two black wings emerged.

Buzz!

The Da Jiu transformed into a ladybug, lifted his feet off the ground, and flew.

He could protect himself; he wouldn't die.

Unless Li Banfeng kept the water level rising until it reached the roof.

One should know that the person using the teapot was also trapped in the sealed space. If the water level kept rising, Li Banfeng would scald himself to death.

The Da Jiu looked down, seeing Kou Zhu already scalded to death and the Helmsman about to be.

If the Helmsman died, he would certainly be implicated.

But no matter what kind of implication, it was better than being scalded to death here.

If all else failed, he would flee. To live one more day was to live one more day.

"Ah~~" Kou Zhu let out a wail and died in the hot water.

The Da Jiu sighed, then felt his wings growing heavier and heavier.

He couldn't fly anymore.

Why couldn't he fly?

The Da Jiu focused his gaze on the Helmsman.

Helmsman Shi Boyu was releasing poison.

To find the teapot, one first had to find the person holding it.

If he couldn't find the person with the teapot, he would poison that person to death.

Shi Boyu's strategy was clear.

But his poisoning would kill everyone in the room.

Did it matter?

To Shi Boyu, it didn't matter much.

The lives of others had never been important in his eyes.

Splash~

A slight sound came from the roof.

Shi Boyu looked up and saw a seductively made-up woman, dressed in men’s clothes, squatting on the roof beam.

Yu Nan?

Was it really her?

This wasn't Yu Nan; it was Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng, who had been squatting on the roof beam, couldn't hold on and nearly fell.

He had been poisoned. The three-layered poison cultivator’s technique almost made Li Banfeng lose consciousness.

He painstakingly squatted on the roof beam using his traveler cultivator's talent, still rubbing the teapot.

Li Banfeng’s plan was clear: at this point, it was a test of who could last longer, him or Shi Boyu.

The teapot was still spewing water, and the water level in the room was still rising. The boiling tea had already submerged the tables and seeped into Shi Boyu’s shoes.

Shi Boyu endured the intense pain and ordered the Da Jiu to kill the woman on the roof beam.

The Da Jiu's face turned greenish, he glanced at Li Banfeng, and the wings on his back suddenly stopped flapping, plunging him headfirst into the tea water.

Dwelling cultivators had resistance to toxins. Li Banfeng, a two-layered dwelling cultivator, was struggling so hard, so how could the Da Jiu, only a one-layered physical cultivator, possibly endure?

Seeing the Da Jiu fall at his feet, Shi Boyu single-handedly pulled him out of the hot water, placed him on the table, and then stepped on the Da Jiu to gain some time.

Li Banfeng pulled out a blood-stained pair of scissors from his waist and threw them at Shi Boyu.

This was a sentient weapon; as long as it wasn't thrown too far off target, it could cut off Shi Boyu's head.

Shi Boyu pulled another corpse from the water and held it in front of him.

The scissors cut off the corpse’s head, which then fell into the hot tea along with the scissors.

This was the difference between a sentient weapon and a magical artifact.

Cutting off a head was considered mission accomplished; the scissors didn't care whose head it was.

Shi Boyu spat a mouthful of poisonous mist towards Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng leaped and dodged on the roof beam, but quickly realized that dodging was futile.

The magical artifact was still operating, and the space within the invisible walls was small, so the poisonous mist quickly spread.

The feeling of being poisoned on Bitter Mist Mountain returned: dizziness, fatigue, blurred vision, poor coordination...

Li Banfeng dared not move recklessly anymore; he could fall from the roof beam at any moment.

How had he survived back on Bitter Mist Mountain?

He hadn't survived.

When that situation occurred, Li Banfeng couldn't hold on anymore and immediately retreated into his Portable Dwelling.

Not just him, but many others, except for Little Fatty, couldn’t endure it.

Little Fatty...

That’s right, Little Fatty’s blood!

There was Little Fatty's blood in the pendulum. Li Banfeng twisted open the pendulum and drank the blood directly.

The dizziness significantly subsided. Li Banfeng vigorously rubbed the teapot.

The water level continued to rise, submerging the Da Jiu’s body. Shi Boyu dragged another corpse over, put it under his feet, and continued to release poison at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng continued to drink the blood, but this time the effect was not as obvious.

Little Fatty was a one-layered eating cultivator; his blood could strengthen the body, but it could not detoxify.

There was a huge gap between one layer and three layers. The speed of physical strengthening was far slower than the speed of toxin erosion.

Shi Boyu continuously salvaged the surrounding corpses, placing them under his feet. The stack of corpses grew higher and became somewhat unstable.

Seeing Shi Boyu staggering, Li Banfeng considered an opportunity to approach and kick him into the water.

A green liquid seeped from Shi Boyu’s body, flowed to his feet, and continuously spread along the corpses.

The corpses seemed to develop a layer of glue, sticking tightly together.

What kind of technique was this?

Glue cultivator?

Li Banfeng was greatly shocked.

This wasn't a glue cultivator; this was Shi Boyu's poison corroding the corpses, causing their bones and flesh to stick together.

The battle-hardened Shi Boyu, even in such a dire situation, had still devised a countermeasure.

The venom was much stronger than the poisonous mist. If Li Banfeng dared to approach and touched even a little bit of the venom, he would die on the spot.

As Li Banfeng drank all the blood in the pendulum, Shi Boyu also retrieved the last corpse he could reach.

Li Banfeng’s face was green; he couldn't hold on any longer.

Shi Boyu smiled; he had won.

Seeing the speed at which the water level was rising, Shi Boyu was convinced that before the water covered the last corpse, this seductive woman would surely fall from the roof beam.

Once this person died, the magical artifact would naturally cease functioning.

"If you don't want to scald yourself to death, put away the teapot. When you fall down, it will be too late to regret," Shi Boyu said with a smile, looking at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng didn't put away the teapot; he threw it into the water.

Shi Boyu was stunned, not understanding what Li Banfeng intended to do.

His gaze was fixed on the teapot; he wished he could retrieve it immediately.

Li Banfeng seized the opportunity to pull out his key and returned to his Portable Dwelling.

The teapot was too far; Shi Boyu couldn't reach it.

He looked up and found that Li Banfeng had vanished.

Where did she go? How did she disappear?

Shi Boyu looked down at his feet; the water level was still rising.

Hadn't the teapot fallen into the water?

The teapot had indeed fallen into the water, but it would take another five or six minutes for it to stop releasing water. This was a characteristic of this magical artifact.

Shi Boyu cried out in despair: "Help, someone! Is anyone here? Quick! Get me the teapot, quick!"

He was a core member of the River Serpent Gang, promoted to the third layer in his early thirties and becoming a Helmsman, with limitless prospects.

He had the deep trust of the Hall Master and believed he would achieve great things in Medicine King Gully.

The boiling tea water covered the corpses and then his feet.

Shi Boyu, unable to bear the intense pain, jumped up.

With this jump, the stacked and sticky corpses under his feet collapsed.

Shi Boyu fell into the boiling tea.

Pain, unimaginable pain. Shi Boyu felt as if he had fallen into a pool of molten iron.

With his three-layered physique, he struggled to swim towards the table. The moment he touched the table, the skin and flesh on his hands peeled off completely.

If he could just capture the person on the roof beam, he would surely gain widespread renown.

If he could capture the outsider that the Gang Master sought, he would certainly become a Hall Master.

I am destined to be a Hall Master; how can I just...

Shi Boyu lost consciousness in the boiling water.

Li Banfeng, in his Portable Dwelling, continuously vomited.