252 Chapter 251: Black Venom Toxin (2/2)
Fortunately, the paramedics were here. They quickly scurried over to inject her with an antidote, to stabilize her condition. That would prolong her life indeterminately, but wouldn't save her. She would eventually die without the proper antidote.
The same went for Yi Ding Si.
I glanced around, noticing that something was amiss.
”Where are your bodyguards? Where is everyone else? Are you the only one here?”
”My bodyguards?” Song Ting Yu forced a smile, but somehow her usually confident, beautiful expression had twisted into that of despair. ”They have been completely wiped out. Every single one of them…thanks to that old monster. All of us have been infected by the Black Venom Toxin.”
I felt a chill run down my spine. ”What old monster?”
”The leader of the Black Venom Cult.” Song Ting Yu grimaced. ”Damn it…I never expected him to show up. I thought he had disappeared all those years ago, but to think that old demon actually…!”
Right now, Song Ting Yu was rambling on and on. I had never seen her in such a terrible state before, but then again I didn't know her that well. But it didn't take a genius to tell that she had been infected by a deadly poison. Her face was pale, her eyes were dim, and I could see the acrid black fumes rising from both her eyes and her body.
Without the antidote, she would die soon. As I said, the medics could prolong her life, but that was only a temporary stopgap measure.
”Let's go,” I said to Tong Xue, and he nodded grimly. We left Song Ting Yu to the medics, and proceeded toward Sen Lin Forest.
”Wait!” Song Ting Yu wailed. ”Don't go! It's suicide! You're no match for him!”
”No match for who?” now that Song Ting Yu was less delirious, I decided to extract whatever information I could from her. Knowledge is power, and he more I knew about my enemy, the better the chances I stood against him.
”One of the Three Sages, who divided the old Martial Arts Alliance into three factions decades ago …” Song Ting Yu swallowed fearfully. ”The Dark Sage…the Heavenly Venom King, Sha Chen.”
…who?
”The Dark Sage?! The Heavenly Venom King, Sha Chen?!” Tong Xue blurted out, trembling in fear. ”How…how is that possible?! Didn't he die long ago!?”
Again, that name didn't ring the bell…but the mention of the old Martial Arts Alliance stirred a memory in me. I was a big fan of history, and so I had read up on the history of this world. But given the limited number of years and my bad memory, I couldn't recall where I had heard of that name before. Even so, I was suddenly reminded of the Twelve Divine Generals. That was definitely a title I had read in the history books of this timeline.
”He's one of the Twelve Divine Generals…the top 12, strongest martial artists from the old era?” I asked in disbelief. ”The Four Heavenly Kings from the demonic sects, the Five Emperors from the orthodox sects, and the three sages?”
”That's right.” Tong Xue nodded.
No wonder. I had heard about the Twelve Divine Generals, but obviously I didn't bother to memorize the name of each and every single one of them.
”Isn't he from decades ago? How is he still alive?” I was puzzled.
”Sha Chen, the Hevenly Venom King…” Tong Xue shook his head. ”When the old Martial Arts Alliance was reasserting their power, they considered him one of them, but they continued to be suspicious of his character.”
”He was an arrogant martial artist who only pursued strength, often in the most brutal ways possible,” Song Ting Yu continued softly. ”Which went against what the Martial Arts Alliance stood for. My grandfather often denounced his ways.”
”The war against the demonic sects was what ignited the spark of madness within him, and allowed him to rampage beyond anyone's control.” Tong Xue gulped. ”While he boosted the Alliance's morale initially by killing one of the seven lords from the demonic sects and annihilating his sect, he came into blows with the other pillars of the Alliance and eventually killed two of the Twelve Divine Generals during the war.”
Even though they were on the same side? You've got to be kidding me…
”Obviously that ended up incurring the wrath of the other martial artists.” Song Ting Yu shook her head weakly. ”No one knows what the outcome was, because the Dark Sage disappeared once the first war was over. And he didn't even appear during the second war, the one waged against the Heaven and Earth Sect and its allies.”
She then looked at me closely, despite her dilated pupils and feverish stare. Apparently the dark fumes were not hindering her sight.
”If you truly are from the Heaven and Earth Sect, then you have a connection with him,” she whispered. ”He views your master, the Absolute One, Tian Mo, as his rival. They often clashed when they were younger. When he didn't show up during the war against the Heaven and Earth Sect and the demonic coalition it led, everyone assumed that he had died.”
Both Tong Xue and I stared at her silently. Even Lian Rou had paused to listen, and she seemed to be trembling at the implications.
”Now that he's alive…” Song Ting Yu looked at me grimly. ”You'll probably be his priority target if he learns that you are Tian Mo's disciple.”
”…so what?”
Everyone turned to me. I shrugged.
”That doesn't change the fact that we need to go back to the Black Venom Cult's base camp. We need to find a sample of the Black Venom Toxin and bring it back so that Lian Rou can synthesize an antidote. Otherwise both you and Yi Ding Si will die.”
”It's useless.” Song Ting Yu was bitter. ”If you go there now, you'll definitely die. You're no match for him. You've done your best and fulfilled your mission…we've managed to kill almost ninety percent of the Black Venom Cult. But the news of Sha Chen being alive changes everything. This is no longer a mission that you students can undertake. We have to send the top experts of the Martial Arts Alliance after him.”
She seemed to straighten up, despite her pale complexion.
”Since the Dark Sage was an ex-member of the old Martial Arts Alliance, it is our responsibility to take care of him.”
”You won't be able to survive until then,” Lian Rou warned quietly. She then turned to me and Tong Xue. ”But that doesn't mean the two of you should be reckless either!”
I looked at Song Ting Yu, and then I turned my gaze toward Yi Ding Si. Both of them were in terrible condition, and the latter in particular didn't seem like he was going to survive for anything longer than a day.
I made my decision.
”I'll find the Black Venom Toxin. I swear. No matter what I have to do, no matter the cost, I'll definitely get a sample of the Black Venom Toxin.” I turned to Lian Rou. ”You can synthesize the antidote if I do, right?”
”Yes, but that's too reckless! You heard what Song Ting Yu said. You're no match for a monster of that level!”
”Does it matter?” I didn't seem to care. ”Whoever the enemy is, I'll just deal with him when I get there. Besides, the mission isn't to kill him. It's just to get the sample. I'm confident that I can run away, if anything.”
”You're vastly underestimating the power of the Dark Sage Sha Chen,” Song Ting Yu coughed, looking frailer than before. ”You can't outrun him. He's on a completely different level. He wiped out my entire entourage in just a minute.”
”Even so, I'll find a way. I'm not going to just sit around and watch you guys die. If there's a chance, no matter how miniscule, I'll take it.” I was already heading toward Sen Lin Forest. It was useless trying to persuade me. I had already made my resolve.
”Ah…I'm coming with you.”
”Tong Xue!” Lian Rou's voice was sharp.
”What?” Tong Xue shrugged. ”Fei Wu needs me to watch his back. I'm not going to let him walk into danger on his own.”
”Thanks.” I always knew I could count on him. He was a better friend than Zhu Jiao ever was. To be fair, if Zhu Jiao was here, he would follow me too. That guy would be willing to walk through the gates of hell, though whether it was because he was friends with me or because he had to play the hero and rescue a beautiful heroine like Song Ting Yu was another question altogether.
”Don't thank me yet.” Tong Xue snorted and wore a bitter expression. ”I swear, if I die, I'm going to haunt you.”
”If I don't die with you,” I responded with an equally grim smile. ”But I'll try to make sure you stay alive at all costs.”
”Hey, don't go raising death flags now. And don't think I'll let you off the hook if you try to play the hero and sacrifice yourself to save me.”
Both of us were already bantering as we proceeded into Sen Lin Forest.
”Wait!” Song Ting Yu cried out, trying one last time to stop us. ”Don't do it! You'll only be walking to your deaths!”
”It's useless to stop them,” Lian Rou told her with a shake of her head. ”Once they've made up their minds, nothing we say will sway them.”
”Are you really just going to let them go like this?” Song Ting Yu asked incredulously. Lian Rou smiled a little sadly.
”…yes. Right now, the only thing I can do is believe in them.” she raised her head proudly. ”Tong Xue and Fei Wu have survived odds worse than this before.”
Obviously she didn't mention the invasion of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and how we miraculously escaped destruction, especially to someone who was a member of that Alliance who tried to exterminate us. But her meaning was clear.
”And this is for your sake. They are risking their lives just so they can save your life…so don't you forget that.”
Song Ting Yu fell silent, and she shrank back, her eyes brimming with tears.