Chapter 1061 - 889: By Any Means Necessary

At the entrance of East Victory, Bian Weiyin was left behind, and at the entrance of Beiju, Situ Zhen was left behind. The reason is not hard to guess; the two women were bound to play a role and were forced to come to look for Shi Chun to gather information. Shi Chun understood their dilemma, but he did not need their understanding; he simply would not speak, no matter what pressure they were under.

They could reminisce, they could flirt, but on matters already planned for a long time, he would absolutely not relent, no matter what pressure they were under, no matter who came.

Because he had no way to back down; to retreat would be to render years of effort worthless. This wasn't just his own effort, and it would lead to further retreats, and he might end up being forced into the Netherworld, which would be a minor consequence.

But in other aspects, it was easy to handle, such as Wei Mo asking Bian Weiyin to borrow some wood materials.

Time dragged on without knowing when it would end. Standing under the scorching sun daily was futile, and digging holes on the flat ground made it difficult to observe Shi Chun's movements. The improvised construction equipment was too large to carry around, blocking the entrance, which even persuaded the guard commander stationed by East Victory that it was inappropriate, advising to put it away.

He had a bit of wood on him, but not enough to build houses.

This little matter, Bian Weiyin spoke up, and Shi Chun naturally agreed, so that pile of wood lying around hadn't been used up for half a year, so it could be taken casually.

Upon seeing this, Beiju immediately followed suit, letting Situ Zhen come to get some, and Shi Chun also let her take it as she pleased.

Watching those two families constructing small wood cabins noisily, You Ben, stationed in West Niu, along with Niu Qian, had no connections with Shi Chun. It wasn't suitable for them to ask Shi Chun, as it was not equitable, so You Ben personally approached Murong Wuai, who then made the decision without Shi Chun's consent and gave the materials.

Shi Chun didn't mind at all; he had plenty in his Boundless Banner, so with usage like this, not only wouldn't it be used up in half a year, but he estimates it wouldn't be exhausted even in ten years, which shows how fierce the siege had been originally.

With several small cabins built, thin smoke rose, and each household frequented visits, regularly putting up a table together for a drink, if not for the comparison with the pavilion and loft at the array's outskirts, it would completely resemble a small village.

These people came here stirring things up, and in the blink of an eye, it had been about a month.

As usual, that chaotic, peculiar-smelling smoke rose again within the Protection Array, it was Shi Chun dry-burning random things in the iron pot.

Since these people arrived here, Shi Chun would fire up a dry pot every now and then, creating a smoky and chaotic atmosphere.

He did this for a reason, being under surveillance from all angles by a group, feeling anxious inside. Based on his understanding of Wu Jinliang, that treacherous fellow, though greedy, shouldn't be overly greedy, so if nothing unexpected happened to Wu Jinliang, he could roughly estimate Wu Jinliang's time limit.

In other words, he felt that the time period for Wu Jinliang to deliver goods was roughly about to arrive, but here it was being watched by a group.

The varied smoke rose from the small wooden cabin where Shi Chun stayed. His small cabin was built on the entrance to his dug tunnel, with the iron pot moved to the bottom of the tunnel to burn, using 'Ice Sheep' to assist combustion.

On East Victory's side, Lu Xun in his wooden cabin shouted with a frown, "That bastard started again, in a while it'll be all smoky and murky, did I pick the wrong role to play, coming here just for show?"

Wei Mo next to him hesitated for a moment before recalling the 'Xun' character in his name, suppressing a smile at the corner of his mouth, he sighed, "According to the guards outside, this fellow has been at it for a while now, they said he is somehow wounded and secretly healing."

It wasn't the first day being smoked, Lu Xun of course knew this claim, suspiciously thinking, "The method of healing through smoke does exist, but somehow it looks odd, Bian Weiyin was sent to gather information on this side but couldn't detect what injuries he has, that fellow must have hidden something."

Wei Mo nodded, "Indeed, that fellow is always cunning..."

As he said this, a bit of helplessness surged in his heart, he had already reconciled with Shi Chun, hoping things wouldn't end up breaking apart again.

Fortunately, this time on the surface, he took the lead, but once really engaged, he realized he wasn't the decision-maker, thus, the main responsibility afterward wouldn't fall on him. When disagreements arose, he immediately conceded, not having to go to extremes.

Actually, Right Minister Jia Huan gave him a chance to turn around; if things were done well, he wouldn't be marginalized anymore, but after several rounds, he had never won with Shi Chun. Crucially, he could vaguely feel where the winning 'point' was unattainable, which led to his reluctance to exert effort this time.

Unintentionally, he sensed that the outcome of facing Shi Chun this time might not be unexpected, feeling it wouldn't result in winning, hence draining his motivation to act.

As for Beiju's side, Xie Lingao, sitting cross-legged meditating in the wooden cabin, sniffed and stood up, peeking out the door, immediately darkened his face and cursed, "Damn thing, here it comes again, make sure not to fall into my hands after going out."

The most annoying part was, he couldn't manage this matter even if he wanted to; the regulations for mining in Yanfu Continent didn't prohibit healing, everyone was here for mining, if you find the smell bothersome, you could opt not to stay with it, you could go deeper into Yanfu Continent instead.

Murong Wuai's nose twitched, and he also went out, turned into the wooden house next door belonging to Shi Chun, then burrowed into the hole amidst the thick smoke.

Landing next to the stove that was burning red and smoking, he used a spell to isolate the smoke and said to Shi Chun, who was stirring the smoke in the pot with a stick: "Why is this happening again? This method of detoxification is the first I've seen. What kind of poison have you got?"

The injury explanation didn't pass here; as soon as he mentioned an injury, he immediately caught Shi Chun and checked him over. Shi Chun had no resistance, so he changed his story to say it was poisoning; poisoning is also considered an injury.

This poison happened to be strange; Murong Wuai couldn't find it, but Shi Chun said he felt soulless and uncomfortable when the poison activated.

Shi Chun stopped his work, tossed the stirring stick into the bottom of the pot to burn, and then leaned close to Murong Wuai, whispering: "Truth be told, Mr. Murong, no one is poisoned now, but over time, naturally, someone will be."

Murong Wuai inspected him with suspicion: "What do you mean?"

Shi Chun retorted: "Mr. Murong, have you ever heard of the 'Poisoned Gentleman' exiled to the Land of Exile?"

Murong Wuai was taken aback, "The one from the previous dynasty who caused trouble in the world after failing to seize the Sect Leader position of Zhechun Valley?"

"That's right, that very one. Mr. Murong indeed has broad knowledge." Shi Chun nodded in admiration and casually pointed at the pot with thick smoke emanating, "I happened to get a recipe for making poisonous smoke that was passed down from the 'Poisoned Gentleman' when I was fighting over it in the Land of Exile; earlier, I never had the time to tinker with it. But now idle, it's perfect for developing. Once successful..." He leaned closer and whispered, "All those forces blocking the exit will fall, unable to stop us anymore from entering and exiting. This potful, summarized, I think the heat is about right..."

Murong Wuai abruptly stepped back to distance himself, his pupils constricting as he stared hard at the other, incredulous: "Are you insane? We're on the same side! You've smoked me with this poison for so long, and now you're telling me?"

Shi Chun explained: "It's a chronic poison. Even if poisoned, it's not serious; it can't be detected before it activates, and even then, it won't kill quickly, just cause some pain. I'll have enough time to develop an antidote. We're on the same side. If I don't provide the antidote, I won't be able to explain back to the Heavenly Court. So Mr. Murong can rest assured."

Murong Wuai's expression twitched; he finally understood why this dog always cooked up billowing smoke and smoked everyone, forcing them to cast spells to drive the smoke into the Yanfu Continent—he's unknowingly poisoning those blocking the exit.

The collected pertinent information had mentioned that this guy was crafty; now, it turned out not a word was wrong. Not even sparing his own people, he was full of self-engagement; truly inhuman, no wonder he came from the Land of Exile.

"What the hell, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Murong Wuai burst out a curse, who wouldn't be anxious? This punk is experimenting with poison, inexperienced, unsure of success, and he lives so close to him, sniffing first each time a pot is opened.

He's already checking his body with a spell; crucially, even after checking, he doesn't know if he's poisoned, as the punk has made it clear that even after poisoning, it's undetectable, and has gloriously called it a strange poison from the 'Poisoned Gentleman'.

"With Senior Murong here, it attracts other leading families here. Once it's a headless situation..." Shi Chun gave an 'you know' look.

"..." Murong Wuai was speechless, he was truly exhausted.

Shi Chun added softly, "I won't give them the antidote; even after being poisoned, they won't know who did it. Our own antidote, Mr. Murong, need not worry."

Murong Wuai: "You've never refined such before. Are you sure you can successfully create an antidote?"

Shi Chun said: "I haven't refined it before. If the antidote isn't successful, it means my refining technique has problems, meaning the poison isn't effective. So Mr. Murong doesn't have to worry; if poisoned, I'll also be poisoned. If I weren't confident, I wouldn't harm myself, right?"

Is this logic even valid? Murong Wuai was stunned, realizing a problem; this is a guy from the Land of Exile who hasn't read any books, whose success logic may differ from normal people, instead being a wild-growth approach.

Feeling the theory was unclear, and disinterested in continuing this theory, he realized he's still in potential poison mist—he didn't want to stay a moment longer, threw words and ran: "I'm going inside Yanfu Continent to check the situation. If there's anything, make a noise in the entrance, someone will come to contact you."

He turned and walked away, unwilling to talk sense.

Who knows if he's poisoned now—it's really unfortunate to cross paths with such a character. He now suddenly gained a new understanding of the term 'by any means necessary'.

Coming out of Shi Chun's little wooden house with the thick smoke, Murong Wuai quickly masked his expression, pretended to be nonchalant, and left, heading directly for the ray-crack.

Upon entering the fold in the ray of light, he quickly flashed away, found his people guarding outside, and swiftly signaled them to retreat a bit further.