Chapter 382: Tree of Death

Although Cao Yun had plans, he was looking for information and allies could be useful since he was new to this Subei Province. Before going to the capital, he intended to gather as much information as possible. Befriending Huang Si would help him do that. And having strong ties with local hunters would also be very useful.

One of his main ideas was to investigate the villages that had completely disappeared. Even though a full year had passed, almost no one had really investigated. They were not very important after all. And the Hongchen Kingdom was under a lot of threats. Saving the living had seemed more pressing for everyone. Governor Jiahe also didn't seem to care too much about the civilians in the east of his own province. He was solely focused on the capital and the border. From what Cao Yun had read about the man, he didn't really like him. Politicians valued their position a lot, but this one was trying to keep his status no matter what.

During the stampede, he had decided not to mobilize his own army, unlike General Long to the north. In order to protect the population, General Yun had been forced to mobilize his own troops. As such he had suffered a lot and the Xue family was quite happy about that. However, General Yun's reputation had increased significantly among the civilians. And in turn, this had made Governor Jiahe upset. During the crisis, he had been terrible and some were even doubting his aptitude to lead if an open conflict were to break out between humans and demons.

Anyway, Cao Yun would have some time to deal with all that. For now, he was examining Huang Si's plan. This Hellish Dragon Fruit was indeed very enticing. It would help his cultivation and it could even stabilize Hongyu's condition. However, Cao Yun was faced with a conundrum. With his full might, he would probably be able to kill this Five Bloods Pheasant. But he couldn't use his full might in front of others. He was supposed to be Guai Mo, not Chen Guo. That meant that he couldn't show his spearmanship in public.

Although the plan seemed good, there were many opportunities for it to go wrong. The main idea was simple. A group of Mortal Warrior hunters would attract the Five Bloods Pheasant away from his nest. Using this distraction, Cao Yun would sneak into it and pluck the Hellish Dragon Fruit. As an alchemist, plucking such an ingredient would be way easier for him. Besides, he had an impressive perception and a good cultivation. The hunters would agree without any problem, especially considering that Zeng Bei would lead them and no one would ever question her decisions.

The problem was that there was no guarantee that the Five Bloods Pheasant would not go on a rampage. Huang Si was counting on the threat of the other two demonic beasts, the Golden Plumed Jackal and the Flame-Tailed Wolf. But the reaction of that 6-core demonic beast was unpredictable. And in case things went bad, Cao Yun had to be prepared to act without using his spear. Of course, if his life was in danger, he would fight, but he had to keep his spearmanship hidden so that his enemies wouldn't easily associate him with Cao Yun. If he was discovered, he might not be able to find what he was looking for, or he might even get killed. He wasn't too afraid of that because he had the Spirit Condensation Barrier of Sect Leader Xuan. But he wanted to know the truth behind why his mother had been targeted.

As such, Cao Yun had to get ready for this expedition. He wouldn't just entrust his life in Huang Si's plan. Furthermore, he was certain that she had other plans she wasn't telling him. In fact, she had made little effort to show that she was just using him. However, since he was also getting a lot out of it, he didn't mind as long as she didn't betray him. Despite the fact that he didn't know her, he had decided to trust Huang Liyue. If Huang Si was untrustworthy, she would have told him so. To the contrary, she told him he could rely on her as she had made a deal with Huang Cixi.

While having these thoughts, Cao Yun was lead to the guest room by a small servant named Di Xihe. The girl was very small and extremely shy. In fact, she barely talked to Cao Yun. It was hard to gauge someone's cultivation but this girl had none whatsoever. Clearly she was just a commoner whom the Huang family had hired. Indeed, there were many commoners since the members of the Huang family were few in this residence. Apart from Huang Si, Cao Yun only saw four people who had pure white hair.

Di Xihe lead Cao Yun to his room and asked him if he wanted anything. The alchemist kept acting arrogant without being disrespectful, even to a servant. And he only asked to be left alone as he had to ponder over some matters.

In his mind, there was only one thing. He had to work on a solution to take down a 6-core demonic beast without revealing he was Chen Guo. And for that, poison might be a good idea. He couldn't increase neither his blood cultivation nor his Qi cultivation in less than two weeks. And those wouldn't be very helpful for his goal. However, Guai Mo was known to have used poison against some of his enemies. In fact, he had almost been arrested but his talent, and the fact that the victims were indeed criminals, had saved him. So if he were to use poison again, this would appear natural.

To that effect, Xiao Xuefeng had given him a manual about poisons. Of course, he had read other books, but this one was way superior. It had no name apart from the name of the author, Tree of Death. In the manual, there were no fancy names or techniques. It was simply and coldly stating how to best use poisons. This book was almost written as a journal. Tree of Death was explaining how he had killed many people and what had worked or not. More than the art of poison, this manual was explaining the art of assassination. However, there were also many notes on other uses of poisons.

They could be used to kill with more or less pain, but they could also be used to paralyze, to maim, to alter one's senses or one's consciousness. An entire chapter was dedicated to the uses of poisons to escape from one or many pursuers without necessarily killing them. Cao Yun even read some paragraphs about the use of poisons on specific demonic beasts. Of course, they wouldn't react like humans because their bodies were bigger and they had no meridians. Moreover, they might also have completely different organs in some cases.

Xiao Xuefeng had kept the only original of this manual. Apparently, there had been no copy and Cao Yun could understand why. In the hands of a competent alchemist, this knowledge was absolutely dreadful. On one page, he read about a poison that would kill someone in ten weeks. The person would suffer every single day worse and worse pain until the pain itself would kill them. This poison wasn't even the most brutal of them all. Within his sea of consciousness, Dian Mo was also admiring this book. Whoever had written it had been a master assassin. The two of them could imagine many scenes of horror he had caused.

A huge portion of the book was also about killing demons which didn't please Dian Mo. But he didn't really mind either. After all, he wasn't neither human nor demon. He had just been created by a demon, this wasn't the same thing as being one himself.

"So you intend to grab this Hellish Dragon Fruit?"

"Yes. It will be very beneficial to my cultivation. I'm not sure but I feel like it could help me harmonize my Five Prodigious Gates."

"Really?"

"Well, I'm basing that on my knowledge of alchemy, but I am confident. You'll see for yourself once I'm done with it."

"Fine, stay mysterious! But are you sure about this? You'll waste some time on this and you might even expose yourself..."

"Well, if I didn't know better, I would think that you care about me."

"What?! Not one second! But if you die, I die. And if I fear that talking to other humans wouldn't be as fruitful as talking to you. Your body is very interesting and all the books you've read made you an somewhat pleasant conversationalist. I can't have a stupid bird kill you for a meager fruit, now, can I?"

"I guess not... But I assure you that I'm not stupid. If worse comes to worst, I'll use my full strength. I don't think a single 6-core demonic beast would be able to beat me. And since the Five Bloods Pheasant won't cooperate with the other two demonic beasts, I'm safe."

Dian Mo stopped talking about this subject. Instead, they began to talk about the poisons described in the book and which ones would be interesting to use.

For ten days, Cao Yun stayed cooped up in his room using his cauldron to refine several poison. Unlike pills, poisons could come with many forms and shapes. For example, some were indeed pills, while others were liquids, powders or even gases. By now, Cao Yun had three spatial rings. He used one to put all his poisons and his weapons. Another one was used for his money, his food, and various materials he might need out in the field. Finally, the last one was the smallest and he simply put his books and manuals in it. With them he also put his personal effects that would be useless but have a huge value in his eyes. He wouldn't take this ring with him, leaving it with Huang Si.

During this time, he asked Di Xihe to send a message to her mistress. He had agreed to help her steal the Hellish Dragon Fruit from the Five Bloods Pheasant's nest. Now that he had thought of several contingencies, he was ready to act.

-

The day finally came. Huang Si had gathered more than twelve hunters. Leading them was Zeng Bei. For Yunling City, this was the biggest force they had assembled since the stampede that they had thankfully been able to repel. The demonic beasts had avoided the Deep Cloud Ridge and the Yunling Forest that it surrounded. Most likely, they had been deterred by those three demonic beasts. But Cao Yun believed that the explanation was different. Someone had chosen the targets and Yunling City was simply not one of them.

Some of the hunters were not too pleased to be used as a simple distraction. Considering how much they were getting paid though, they had agreed. Upon seeing the Guai Mo they had heard about, they became a bit more assured. The 1-star Human alchemist insignia on his chest was real. And more than that, they could tell that he was used to violence. He wasn't just a noble who had worked in a safe room all his life. Guai Mo had killed before and he wasn't afraid to risk his life and to kill if necessary. Hunters could clearly feel the killing intent around him.

To make a good impression, Cao Yun had reined in his killing intent but he was letting enough of it out to impress battle-hardened hunters.

"This operation should take between eight to ten days. Guai Mo will first get in position near the nest. In four days when the sun is setting, you all will attack the nest on the opposite side, near the Silan lake. He will be reluctant to leave his nest so you'll need to cause a huge commotion. The lake is rather Yin and will protect you against his most ferocious attacks. Besides, it's close to the territory of the Golden Plumed Jackal so he will have to behave himself. However, he will do everything to keep you from getting close to his nest. Don't think he's stupid though. You must make enough of show to convince him that you are the real deal, not just a diversion."

This mission was full of risks. Unfortunately, hunters had to take such risks if they wanted to earn enough. Maybe they could finally improve their cultivation. Zeng Bei even hoped to become a Spirit Warrior before ten years thanks to Huang Si. On Huang Si's end, it was also a good move to help hunters improve their cultivation as they would become more powerful and would be indebted to her at the same time.

Cao Yun decided to add a few words.

"I prepared a few pills for you. They're not much but they might be able to prevent too many injuries."

He threw a pouch to Zeng Bei. In it, she saw twelve pills. Among them were Burning Gate Flood pills, Torrent Gathering pills, Autumn and Springs Reviving pills and even a Golden Threads Salvation pill. Those were all Human pills. Some were only Perfect while others had almost reached True Essence. Of course, Zeng Bei couldn't tell their quality at a glance but she could tell that they were very impressive only by their fragrance. The other hunters also smelled that great perfume and were astonished. Some of them had never even seen a 3-star Human pill before. They truly had made the right decision when they had accepted this mission!

Without adding any other words, Cao Yun left and immediately went to Hongyu. From his spatial ring, he gave her one of the pills he had refined earlier. Since he wouldn't be back before at least ten days, he made sure that she would be safe until then. Before leaving, he whispered something in her ear. The poor Hongyu looked dejected because she wanted to go with Cao Yun. She was smart enough to know he would be in danger. But he didn't want her to risk her life for him like her parents had done. Watching him leave, Hongyu looked like she was being abandoned.

"I won't be long. And Miss Huang Si will take good care of you, so don't cause her any trouble, right?"

As he was done, Cao Yun left toward the Yunling Forest right away. When he began to run, even the hunters were surprised. He was faster than Zeng Bei herself. With such a speed, he would indeed be able to get to the location of the Hellish Dragon Fruit in less than four days. But they were afraid about his stealth. This worry disappeared as soon as he disappeared behind a tree. Suddenly, even Zeng Bei had lost his track.