BXBX NOVEL Chapter 242: Parting Ways
Li Tongtian, closely pursuing from behind, saw a black bottle flying towards them. Instantaneously on high alert, he stopped in his tracks and loudly ordered those behind him to retreat.
But it was too late. The black bottle shattered upon hitting the icy ground, and a puff of green smoke began to spread in all directions.
“What is that smell? Why is it so fragrant?”
“No good! This scent might be poisonous!”
“Quick, fall back! Don’t breathe in that aroma!”
Many disciples of the Li Family retreated, some with faces filled with fear. Li Tongtian retreated the fastest and didn’t inhale the scent, but quite a few people were still shrouded in the green smoke and breathed in some of it.
“Cough, cough, cough!” Instantly, the Li Family disciples who had inhaled the green smoke began to choke violently. It wasn’t one or two, but more than a dozen disciples of the Li family all started coughing, doubling over in pain.
No matter if some of the disciples had inhaled just a mouthful of the green smoke, they could not stop coughing. The continual sound of coughing was so intense that the others felt a tickle in their throats.
Li Tongtian’s face darkened. The green smoke still lingered in front. Chasing after Fang Lin was now impossible. Moreover, his clansmen seemed to be poisoned, coughing so much that they were nearly spitting out their lungs.
“Damn!” Li Tongtian clenched his fist, his face twisted in frustration, looking extremely unwilling.
Meanwhile, the coughing of the Li family members grew more violent, and several who had been more deeply poisoned began coughing up blood.
“It’s so unbearable!” Their faces were taken over by a weird flush, coughing till their voices gave out. The unbearable itching in their throats made them want to reach in and scratch it hard.
“What do we do?” The others were looking at Li Tongtian, hoping he could come up with a solution.
Li Tongtian watched these clan members, feeling very anxious. He quickly took out some Detoxification Pills from his Nine Palace Bag and asked those affected to take them immediately.
However, after taking the pills, the coughing did not lessen but instead worsened. Several had collapsed on the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, their faces strangely flushed.
Li Tongtian grew more panicked. The Detoxification Pills prepared by the Li family were usually very effective but now they seemed to have no effect at all.
“Save me!” One after another, members of the Li clan collapsed, their eyes lifeless as they looked at Li Tongtian. Some reached out, helplessly trying to grasp at something.
Li Tongtian sighed inwardly. These dozen or so people were unlikely to survive.
Meanwhile, Li Youbing and a handful of people from the Li family who had not been chasing Fang Lin arrived to scenes that made them gasp.
Seeing the pitiful state of the dozen or so clansmen, Li Youbing couldn’t bear it and turned to glare at Li Tongtian in anger.
Li Tongtian ignored them, wearing a dark expression.
Before long, one man vomited up a clot of blood and then died.
Then a second, a third…
In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, all the members of the Li family who had inhaled the smoke, even if only a little bit, had died.
The poisonous smoke specially brewed by Fang Lin was exceptionally potent. Ordinary detoxification pills not only had no antidotal effect, but they actually exacerbated the poison’s attack.
The poison was extremely strong, and Fang Lin had only prepared one bottle. He hadn’t intended to use this easily, but he had been pursued by the Li family too aggressively. He had no choice but to use it.
“Li Tongtian, this is all because of you!” Li Youbing pointed at Li Tongtian, angrily shouting.
Li Tongtian remained stoic. “What are you babbling about?”
Li Youbing’s face twisted in resentment. “Did you plan to disregard my life before?”
Li Tongtian gave a slight smirk. “Aren’t you safe and sound now?”
Li Youbing laughed out of anger. “Heh, what if Fang Lin had actually killed me?”
Li Tongtian fell silent and said nothing.
Seeing Li Tongtian’s reaction, Li Youbing understood and wore a cold smile.
“It’s all because of you and your insistence on chasing them that those clansmen died tragically! It’s all your fault!” Li Youbing pointed at Li Tongtian.
The other members of the Li family looked at one another. The death of their clan members made them all upset. But the argument between Li Tongtian and Li Youbing had left them unsure of what to do.
“Li Youbing, shut up. During this journey into the Endless Dungeon, everyone should follow my commands!” Li Tongtian said, forcing back his anger.
Li Youbing shook his head and coldly laughed, “Following you, all of us will end up dead with nowhere to be buried!”
Li Tongtian was enraged and wanted to smite Li Youbing with a palm.
“What do you really want?” Li Tongtian asked, murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Li Youbing coldly snorted, then addressed the others: “You all saw it. Following Li Tongtian led to the death of more than a dozen clan members. If we continue with him, we won’t have a good end either. I want to break away from him. If anyone is willing to follow me, then join me. If you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
After saying that, Li Youbing turned around and walked away.
Li Tongtian remained silent as his eyes glittered with an indecisive light.
The rest of the Li family members hesitated for a while. A portion of them silently followed Li Youbing, while around twenty others remained.
Thus, the Li family members divided into two factions. One group was led by Li Tongtian, while the other was led by Li Youbing.
…
Meanwhile, after escaping, Fang Lin and his group quickly joined up with those who had come to meet them.
The members of the Purple Mist Sect were extremely thrilled to see Qing Jianzi and Fang Lin return. After all, they had been very apprehensive while following Yang Pojun.
Only then did Yang Pojun have the opportunity to tell the two what had happened after they had split up.
After Yang Pojun escaped with the royal family and members of the Purple Mist Sect, they were ambushed in the tunnel by two unidentified people. After repelling the two attackers, they descended the cliff and suffered an attack by a swarm of snakes. After suffering some casualties, they finally arrived at this ice valley.
Fortunately, they chose a different direction and did not encounter the Human-faced Eight-armed Monkey.
Then the group found a safe place to rest. Yang Pojun left them to seek out Fang Lin and Qing Jianzi.
That’s how it happened that when Qing Jianzi and Fang Lin were struggling against the Human-faced Eight-armed Monkey, Yang Pojun arrived just in time to help.
Scanning over the crowd, Fang Lin noted the absence of Gu Hanshan. He had no idea where that guy was hiding.
The group recuperated. Since all three were injured, they decided to rest for a while and discuss their next move.
“According to what the disciples who made it back alive said previously, there seems to be a palace at the end of this ice valley. Some people have entered before, but none have come out. Should we go and take a look?” Qing Jianzi suggested.