Chapter 261 Feeding Poison Pill
“Your Highness, the Third Prince, is it time to leave with us now?”
After dealing with Lu Shanglin and his companions, Dong Zilong’s confidant slowly approached
Yun Yanshui.
“Leave? Of course, it’s time to leave!”
Yun Yanshui smiled warmly and nodded.
With a swift motion, his hand shot out, gripping the confidant’s neck with an iron grip. Then, with
a sudden twist, a sharp crack echoed as the man’s neck was broken.
Even in death, Dong Zilong’s loyal follower could not comprehend why his Third Prince would
suddenly kill him.
Was it because he had angered his liege? Or… something else?
“This…”
The Yun sisters, Yun Wenyu and Yun Wenrun, stood frozen in shock. They stared at the Third
Prince of Wu, who had unexpectedly killed one of his own royal retainers, utterly bewildered.
They could not fathom what had just transpired.
Only Yun Yanshuang remained calm and composed, her gaze clear as if she understood
precisely what her elder brother was doing.
By now, the spiritual root cultivators of the Four Kingdoms were nearly all dead.
The ancient monster that thrived on devouring spiritual roots was likely slain during the grand
siege as well.
Wu’s flags planted in the mountains had been successfully retrieved. With their objectives
complete, the scattered cultivators serving under her brother had no further use.
“Your Highness… What are you doing?”
The remaining three scattered cultivators from Wu were dumbfounded, staring in disbelief at
their fallen comrade. They couldn’t understand why the Third Prince would do such a thing.
“It’s simple!” Yun Yanshui said with a radiant smile, his figure blurring as he closed the distance
between them in a flash.
“You’re of no use to me anymore. Why would I keep you around?”
“Retreat!”
One of the cultivators reacted swiftly, shouting as he tried to flee.
But before he could escape, Yun Yanshuang, wielding her sword with unerring precision,
appeared before him. With a single sweeping strike, his head was severed cleanly, tumbling to
the ground.
As for the remaining two, they perished under Yun Yanshui’s merciless hands.
“Brother… are you alright?”
After dispatching the enemy, Yun Yanshuang floated gracefully to her brother’s side. She was
about to address him casually but quickly stopped herself upon noticing her two nieces standing
nearby. Her usual icy demeanor returned as she suppressed her words.
“Haha, I’m fine!” Yun Yanshui chuckled. He rummaged through the belongings of the fallen
cultivators, retrieving a token needed to leave the mountain and stripping them of their storage
pouches.
“Time to leave the mountain,” Yun Yanshuang said coldly as she sheathed her spiritual weapon.
“Indeed. The task is complete, and it’s time to leave,” Yun Yanshui agreed. Gripping the token in
his hand, he was about to channel his spiritual energy to activate it when—
A deafening roar tore through the air.
The bloodied, feral figure of Wu’s old ancestor suddenly burst into view, lunging toward Yun
Yanshuang with terrifying speed, his maw wide open.
The attack came too fast. In an instant, before anyone could react, Yun Wenyu and Yun Wenrun
were left frozen, helpless to intervene.
“Get out of the way!”
Yun Yanshui’s face darkened. Without hesitation, he struck his sister with a powerful palm,
sending her flying.
Boom!
The force hurled Yun Yanshuang through the air, her body landing near Yun Wenyu and Yun
Wenrun.
“Take the items and get your Aunt Yanshuang out of here!” Yun Yanshui shouted, tossing the
token and storage pouches to the sisters.
The deranged old ancestor, now robbed of his initial target, fixated his crazed eyes on Yun
Yanshui instead. With a monstrous leap, he pounced on the Third Prince.
Yun Yanshui, nimble as ever, stepped lightly and evaded the vicious attack.
“It seems his speed and strength have waned after battling the spiritual root cultivators and
immortals for so long. Otherwise, even at my peak, I couldn’t avoid his assault so easily,” he
thought as he dodged the frenzied attacks.
The old ancestor lunged again and again, but Yun Yanshui deftly avoided each strike, keeping
him at bay.
“My sister and nieces are too close. I need to lure this beast away to prevent any collateral
damage. His strength is only a fraction of what it once was. With my current state and
cultivation, I should be able to kill him if I remain steady.”
“Damn it! I thought the combined forces of the spiritual root cultivators and immortals would
have been enough to kill this monster. Yet, even in this gravely wounded state, he’s still alive!
Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators truly defy common sense!”
Yun Yanshui’s mind raced as he continued to dodge, his sharp instincts keeping him one step
ahead of the beast’s relentless attacks.
But as he glanced toward Yun Wenyu and Yun Wenrun, his brows furrowed. The sisters stood
rooted to the spot, their faces pale with shock.
“What are you waiting for? Take your Aunt Yanshuang and leave now!” he bellowed, his voice
cutting through the chaos.
The sisters remained frozen, their minds a whirlwind of confusion. They couldn’t understand
why the Third Prince of Wu would risk his life to save their aunt, luring the monstrous old
ancestor away from them.
What was truly happening here?
Wasn’t Wu intending to use that old monster to kill the spiritual root cultivators from the Four
Kingdoms?
Why, then, would the Third Prince of Wu risk his life to save their Aunt Yanshuang?
Or… was there some deeper reason they were unaware of?
“Sister, why would the Third Prince of Wu save us?”
“I don’t know. But Aunt Yanshuang surely knows what’s going on.”
“Then… should we try to save him?”
“Our strength is no match for that monster. Acting recklessly will only make things worse.”
“For now, we should focus on getting Aunt Yanshuang out of this mess!”
Yun Wenyu analyzed the situation calmly, her voice firm and decisive. Without hesitation, she
pulled out the token to leave the mountain. Channeling her spiritual energy, a divine light
enveloped the three of them, and their figures quietly disappeared from the battlefield.
“At last… they’re safe.”
Watching Yun Wenyu and Yun Wenrun retreat with Yun Yanshuang, Yun Yanshui breathed a
sigh of relief.
With a flick of his wrist, a pitch-black war bow appeared in his hand. Pulling the string taut, he
summoned a spiritual arrow brimming with the power of yin and yang.
Whoosh!
The arrow shot forth with a thunderous crack, piercing through the air and hurtling toward the
old ancestor’s head.
Boom!
A deafening explosion followed. Flames from the spiritual arrow’s detonation engulfed the old
ancestor, obscuring his monstrous form.
But Yun Yanshui knew better.
He was certain that such an attack couldn’t possibly kill the old ancestor outright. Even in his
gravely injured state, the man was still a terrifying half-step Foundation Establishment Stage
cultivator.
Landing lightly on the ground, Yun Yanshui swiftly extended his spiritual senses, scanning his
surroundings with razor-sharp precision. Another spiritual arrow began to form in his grasp.
As expected, the old ancestor emerged from the fiery explosion, his body barely scathed. Like a
feral beast, he tore through the billowing flames, bloodied jaws agape as he charged toward
Yun Yanshui with relentless fury.
“Let’s see how long you can keep this up, old monster!”
Whoosh!
Another arrow shot forth, this one aimed directly into the gaping maw of the old ancestor. The
arrow exploded with a thunderous roar, shattering half of his jaw in an eruption of blood and
bone.
But Yun Yanshui didn’t rush in for a follow-up strike. Instead, he maintained a cautious distance,
retreating steadily while firing arrow after arrow in rapid succession. Each shot was calculated,
meant to weaken the monster and search for the perfect opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
“Blood… blood!”
The old ancestor, his body riddled with wounds and his jaw half-destroyed, roared like a rabid
beast. His insatiable hunger for blood drove him into a maddened frenzy, and his aura erupted
once more with terrifying force.
Now faster than before, his speed caught even Yun Yanshui off guard. Several times, he
narrowly avoided the ancestor’s ferocious assaults, coming dangerously close to being torn
apart.
“This old monster… he’s like an immortal beast that refuses to die!”
“No wonder the combined efforts of the spiritual root cultivators and immortals from all the
kingdoms couldn’t kill him. All they managed was to wound him severely!”
Perched atop a massive tree, Yun Yanshui clutched his war bow tightly, his gaze grim as he
watched the rampaging figure below.
“Fighting this old monster alone… it seems I’m still at a disadvantage.”
“If attacking from the outside won’t work, I’ll just have to destroy him from within. The question
is, will it work?”
“But there’s only one way to find out!”
At that moment, a thought crossed Yun Yanshui’s mind—of the captured Wu royalty, including
Dong Zhang, the Sixth Prince.
As the old ancestor lunged at him again, Yun Yanshui skillfully evaded and retrieved Dong
Zhang from his storage pouch.
“You bastard… who are you? Disguising yourself as my third brother—what’s your real
purpose?” Dong Zhang shouted angrily, his voice filled with rage.
“Purpose?” Yun Yanshui sneered coldly.
“My purpose is simple: to see you all dead!”
“Your father schemed against my sister and her companions. Why shouldn’t I do the same to
you?”
Without waiting for a response, Yun Yanshui grabbed a handful of poisonous pills and forced
them down Dong Zhang’s throat.
The toxins worked quickly, spreading through Dong Zhang’s body in mere moments. His
complexion turned deathly pale, and his limbs convulsed violently.
Without hesitation, Yun Yanshui hurled the poisoned prince directly toward the charging old
ancestor.