Chapter 79: The True Face of Li Yanxing

In the vast underground cavern, a transcendent creature hovered midair, resembling a pale blue deep-sea jellyfish, its massive form occupying a third of the entire cavern’s space. Long tendrils swayed lazily through the void, giving off an air of leisure. Its body emitted a ghostly blue radiance, bathing the cavern in a bright, eerie light.

Within the rock wall off to one side, Lin Huang lingered in his phantom form, quietly contemplating his next move.

“The only lead I have is those few pools of blood. I can’t be sure yet if they were left by Leng Yuexin and her companions, but there’s nothing else to go on.” With this thought, Lin Huang decided to investigate further along this slender thread.

He retreated several layers back through the rock wall and manifested his physical form in a narrow corridor, activating Blood Hunt once again to search for any lingering scent of blood in the air.

Truthfully, before embarking on this search, Lin Huang worried he might find nothing. Most hunters, when wounded, would immediately treat their injuries to avoid being tracked by monsters, since many creatures are highly sensitive to blood. If Leng Yuexin and the others had treated their wounds, the remaining scent would be faint indeed.

Nevertheless, Lin Huang’s luck held. He soon picked up a trace of blood in the air, leading away from the transcendent monster. Relieved, he immediately set off in pursuit.

Along the way, he spotted a few bloodstains, evidence that the wounded party had fled in such haste they hadn’t managed to cover their tracks.

Tracking the scent through the winding passageways for over an hour, Lin Huang finally found a corpse resting against the corridor wall, its entire body charred black like a piece of burnt wood. Lin Huang recognized him as the young man in the hat who had traveled with Leng Yuexin’s group.

The body appeared to have been scorched by intense heat, yet with Blood Hunt active, Lin Huang detected no scent of burning—only the acrid, poisonous stench of toxins.

He noticed a wound at the man’s waist, resembling a cut from a sharp weapon. After a careful search that yielded no further clues, he moved on, continuing to follow the trail of blood.

“That laceration was likely caused by the monster’s tentacles, and the toxin that turned him to charcoal must have come from the same beast. If Leng Yuexin was injured, she likely fell victim to this same poison.” Seeing the young man’s miserable death, Lin Huang realized that if Leng Yuexin had been poisoned, she would not last long. He had to find her quickly; should she perish, his mission would end in failure.

Another half-hour passed before Lin Huang finally found Leng Yuexin collapsed on the bank of an underground river.

At the sight of her, his heart skipped a beat. But when he heard no notification from Xiao Hei, he relaxed a little—she was still alive.

Approaching the riverbank, he saw Leng Yuexin’s face was blackened, her hands almost entirely dark save for the last segment of her fingers, which remained pale. She was deeply unconscious; had Lin Huang not arrived, she would likely have died here in her sleep.

“She actually made it to the subterranean river. If she follows the current in the opposite direction, she’ll reach the entrance, and from there, it wouldn’t be hard to swim out.” Yet Lin Huang saw no sign of Li Yanxing or the others—either they’d been devoured by the monster, or they had managed to escape.

“Xiao Hei, can the Healing Card cure her poison?” Lin Huang checked the cards within him, knowing only the Healing Card might be of use.

[The Healing Card can treat all ailments, including all forms of poisoning.]

“Good. Use one Healing Card on her.” Though it pained him to use such a precious card, if he did not, he would lose two monster cards.

[Are you sure you wish to use a Healing Card on someone other than the host?]

“Yes!” Lin Huang nodded, steeling himself.

[Please specify the recipient.]

“Leng Yuexin.” He pointed at her.

[One Healing Card consumed. Beginning treatment...]

As Xiao Hei’s prompt appeared, a ray of white light shot from Lin Huang’s fingertip, sinking into Leng Yuexin’s body. Soon after, a gentle white glow enveloped her.

Standing aside, Lin Huang muttered to himself, “Miss Leng, it wasn’t easy tracking you down here, and I even had to use a life-saving Healing Card for you. I won’t ask for much in return; just take me back to Wuyou City when we get out so I can finish my mission, and I’ll be thankful enough.”

As the blackness faded from Leng Yuexin’s face, Lin Huang knew he could not linger in the open. He retreated into a nearby rock wall to await her awakening.

It wasn’t long before the poison was completely purged from her body and she began to stir from her coma.

“Hm?” Blinking in confusion, Leng Yuexin sat up and examined her arms—the black poison had vanished. She glanced at her reflection in the river; her face had returned to normal.

“What happened? Wasn’t I poisoned?” She furrowed her brow, apparently puzzled as to how the toxin could have been neutralized on its own.

Hidden nearby, Lin Huang grew anxious. “What are you pondering for? Your body’s fine now, you should be getting out of this hellhole!”

Fortunately, Leng Yuexin didn’t dwell on the issue. She quickly got to her feet, brushed the dirt from her clothes, and hurried away along the river in the direction opposite the current.

Lin Huang slipped through the rock walls, suppressing his aura and trailing her from a distance.

As they neared the previous entrance, Leng Yuexin suddenly stopped. From behind her, Lin Huang saw a figure lying on the ground up ahead, dressed in clothes resembling Li Yanxing’s.

“Brother Li!” Leng Yuexin called out, rushing over.

Lin Huang’s brows drew together. He harbored no fondness for Li Yanxing—this man had once tried to frame him by deliberately leaving behind a beast’s corpse. Clearly, he was not to be trusted.

Still, Li Yanxing had made it this far, so his poisoning must have been lighter than Leng Yuexin’s.

Sure enough, Li Yanxing was still conscious. Seeing Leng Yuexin approach, he called out weakly, “Help me...”

His voice was faint but his mind was clear.

“He really isn’t dead. As the saying goes, a scourge lives a thousand years,” Lin Huang thought cynically.

“I’ll carry you out, Brother Li.” Leng Yuexin reached out and helped him up.

“I don’t have much time... I need an antidote...” Noticing Leng Yuexin was no longer poisoned, Li Yanxing assumed she had an antidote and asked for it.

“I don’t have one, and I don’t know how the poison left my body,” Leng Yuexin admitted, at a loss for words.

“Then... help me with a blood exchange... In my condition, I won’t make it to the surface otherwise...” Desperation filled Li Yanxing’s eyes.

“A blood exchange...” Leng Yuexin hesitated but couldn’t bear to watch Li Yanxing die. She nodded in agreement.

Watching from behind, Lin Huang frowned. “That Li fellow really has no shame, to even ask for a blood exchange.”

A blood exchange meant draining one’s own poisoned blood and having someone else replenish the lost blood, thereby diluting the toxins within. Normally, only close friends or relatives would do such a thing, and especially between a man and a woman, it was an outrageous request. Li Yanxing clearly understood Leng Yuexin’s weakness and shamelessly took advantage of it.

“Help me...” Li Yanxing urged again.

Leng Yuexin nodded, summoning a dagger into her palm. With two swift cuts, she opened the arteries in both his wrists. Black, poisonous blood gushed out, reeking of decay. She then sliced open an artery in her own hand, releasing a stream of bright red blood.

Her fingers moved rapidly in a series of seals, and soon her blood formed a thick scarlet thread, connecting to the wound in Li Yanxing’s wrist. Her blood flowed steadily into him, and the black blood ceased to ooze.

“Why would Li Yanxing make such a request? This is merely a stopgap—his poison will only be diluted, not eradicated. Even if he escapes the cavern, he’ll only live a few hours longer, never enough to reach Wuyou City. Unless...” Lin Huang understood the true purpose of this blood exchange. “Unless he intends to drain all his poisoned blood and replace it entirely with someone else’s...”

At this thought, Lin Huang’s frown deepened.

Time ticked by in the cavern. Leng Yuexin’s face grew pale as she exchanged nearly a third of her blood for Li Yanxing’s. “Brother Li, I need to stop now.”

“Yes, that’s enough,” Li Yanxing nodded.

Just as Leng Yuexin began to form the seal to end the exchange, a cold glint flashed in Li Yanxing’s eyes. Suddenly, a dagger appeared in his right hand—still dripping black blood—and, in a blur, plunged it through Leng Yuexin’s chest.

Lin Huang, watching from afar, had no time to react.

Caught completely off guard, Leng Yuexin stared at Li Yanxing in stunned disbelief. “Brother Li, you...”

“Foolish girl,” Li Yanxing said with a faint smile, “If the blood exchange isn’t complete, how will I ever rid myself of the poison? Diluting only a third of the toxin would never get me back to Wuyou City alive. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to make the ultimate sacrifice...”

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[Apologies for the late chapter. I’ve been busy these past two days. Tomorrow’s second chapter may also be delayed...]