The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3092 Punishment with Slight Methods
As a cultivator at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, Chen Mo naturally had very sensitive ears.

He heard Ouyang Jun, Ouyang Ding, and several other members of the Ouyang family whispering amongst themselves. Chen Mo didn't really want to get involved in the Ouyang family's affairs; as long as these people didn't cross him, it didn't matter, and he let them say whatever they wanted.

But as they listened, they heard these people talking about Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Ruoxi, and even insulting Ouyang Ruoxi.

Because of the disguise items given to her by Chen Mo, only a few close relatives know that she is Ouyang Ruoxi; the rest of the Ouyang family does not know who she is.

Ouyang Ding, Ouyang Jun, and the others believed that this was Ouyang Ruoxi's arrangement, sending them all to their deaths. After all, Ouyang Ruoxi was temporarily assuming the position of clan leader Ouyang Jing and had arranged the personnel for this expedition.

What these guys didn't know was that this list of personnel was arranged by the eldest elder of the Ouyang family.

The more Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun talked, the harsher their words became, as if all their current predicament was caused by Ouyang Ruoxi.

Instantly, Chen Mo's anger flared; these guys were practically courting death. Just as he was about to step forward and shut them up, Ouyang Ruoxi grabbed his hand and whispered, "Amo, don't pay them any attention. Just pretend you didn't hear them. Let them talk; it doesn't affect me anyway."

She didn't want to upset Chen Mo, after all, this was nothing unusual for her.

"It's one thing for these people to talk nonsense, but to complain and insult you like this makes me a little indignant." Chen Mo held Ruoxi's soft hand, stared at Ouyang Jun and the others, and said angrily.

"It's alright, let them talk. I won't lose anything anyway. Besides, they won't recognize me now." Ruoxi remained calm and wasn't angry.

“I think some of them actually guessed long ago that the people involved in this operation were actually arranged by their Grand Elder, not by you,” Chen Mo said. In fact, Ouyang Ruoxi had told him earlier that the list of these people joining the team was actually arranged by the Grand Elder.

“Sometimes, not knowing is the best thing, otherwise when your beliefs collapse, you're ruined,” Ouyang Ruoxi said meaningfully.

Chen Mo couldn't help but smile, never expecting Ouyang Ruoxi to have this side to her.

Of course, she's right; sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing.

As the group moved forward, they had traveled some distance from their starting point, and the bushes underfoot had thickened considerably. Everyone walked with extreme caution, as venomous creatures would occasionally dart out from the bushes, causing those who saw them to gasp in horror.

These venomous creatures are not only numerous, but also fast-moving. Some species even display vibrant colors, indicating a high level of venom. Especially some venomous snakes, with their standard triangular heads, whose shape and markings alone tell you they are highly poisonous, even if you don't know their names.

Therefore, everyone walked very carefully, trying to avoid the bushes as they went.

However, as the bushes gradually increased, everyone's speed slowed down.

Chen Mo looked at Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun, then at Ouyang Ruoxi beside him. Although Ruoxi had just said not to pay attention to these Ouyang family guys, Chen Mo didn't want to let them off the hook. He wanted to punish them a little and shut them up.

Especially after Ouyang Nan refused to return as the team leader, even after such a long time, these guys are still complaining and grumbling, seemingly using this opportunity to vent their resentment.

Chen Mo took out a few pebbles from his Qiankun bag and then walked slowly not far from Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun.

Just then, Chen Mo noticed a spicy strip with silver rings coiled at the base of a bush in front of Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun.

'Huh? This is a good thing.' Chen Mo chuckled to himself, then held a small pebble in his hand, waiting for his chance.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Jun and Ouyang Ding walked along, exchanging banter as they went. They were careful around the bushes, trying their best to avoid them. This way, they wouldn't disturb the poisonous creatures hidden beneath, and even if one did emerge, they could dodge it in time.

But just as the two were going around, Chen Mozhong's pebble shot out and instantly hit the silver ring-shaped spicy strip!

With a loud "Ah!", Ouyang Ding was bitten by a spicy snack and shouted loudly.

But just as everyone's eyes were on him, Chen Mo flicked out another small pebble. As Ouyang Jun reached out to pull Ouyang Ding, the spicy strip was hit directly by the pebble, and its body instantly shifted sideways by more than ten centimeters. Then, the head of the spicy strip bit into a leg again.

"Ah!" Ouyang Jun had just grabbed Ouyang Ding, but suddenly let go, hugged his own leg, and retreated repeatedly.

Only then did everyone see a banded krait quickly darting into the bushes. "A banded krait!" Everyone who saw the spicy snack gasped. Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun being bitten was truly unlucky.

Actually, the banded krait is quite frustrated. It's already wary of two-legged creatures, and because of its size, it won't actively attack them—they're just too big. Besides, the banded krait's venomous bite is a frightening experience for it as well.

But just now, it didn't know what happened, something brought it to the two-legged beast. If it didn't bite, it felt it would get hurt, so it ran away after biting the person.

That snake scared me to death!
Fortunately, although the two men screamed in alarm after being bitten, because they were martial artists, their physical abilities were much higher than those of ordinary people. They were able to endure being bitten by a highly venomous creature for longer, and their screams were naturally louder.

The two screamed that they had been bitten and quickly asked for help to move them to a slightly more spacious area. They immediately used strips of cloth to tightly bind the bitten legs to prevent the toxin from spreading too quickly. They also squeezed the bitten areas to draw out black blood and took the antidote pills they had prepared beforehand.

That's right. Detoxification pills are much better than serums or similar medications used by ordinary people. They also detoxify much faster and can remove most toxins.

Sure enough, shortly after taking it, the black blood stopped flowing from the bite marks on their legs, and instead, bright red blood flowed out.

At this moment, Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun finally breathed a long sigh of relief. They had truly been racing against death. They were martial artists with excellent physical abilities, but they weren't immune to poisoning; they could only endure it for a longer period.

The snake that bit them was a banded krait, one of the most venomous snakes.

"Damn it, what bad luck!" The two of them were also looking miserable, complaining. At this moment, they no longer had the heart to curse Ouyang Ruoxi.

After Ouyang Ding and the other person were bitten by snakes, Ouyang Ruoxi glanced at Chen Mo, and especially when she saw the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, she knew that the two people being bitten was definitely related to Chen Mo.

However, she didn't say anything. Instead, she stepped forward and took Chen Mo's hand again, saying, "Amo, thank you!" She felt secretly pleased. It was only right that she taught those two a lesson for her own sake.

Although Ouyang Ruoxi was very easygoing, she found it somewhat annoying that the two of them kept scolding her. She was secretly pleased that Chen Mo had stepped in to teach them a lesson.

Although Ouyang Jun and Ouyang Ding were shouting quite loudly, she knew that they were simply resting after being bitten and were not in any real danger; they were mostly just frightened. As long as they took the antidote pill in time, they would be fine.

Unless the venom is rare or comes from a strange beast, there's no antidote, and death is inevitable. Antidotes aren't a panacea; they only work on most poisons. Fortunately, the venom of the banded krait falls within the range of antidotes available.

Just like before, when facing the two strange beasts, the Red Thread Fruit and the Red Bee, the antidote pills used by the martial artist had no effect. If it weren't for the Red Thread Fruit and honey, they wouldn't know how to get through the area inhabited by these two beasts.

Of course, if Chen Mo were willing to use his own detoxification pills, their detoxification effect would be much higher than that of detoxification pills used by martial artists, and they could remove more poisons and toxins. However, they are not a panacea, and they cannot neutralize some special toxins in the cultivation world or some rare beast toxins.

Poisons come in countless forms, and there are many kinds of antidotes in the cultivation world.

"It's nothing, I just didn't want to listen to all that gossip." Chen Mo naturally understood why Ouyang Ruoxi was thanking him.

Ouyang Nan, who was walking ahead, turned back after hearing the two shouts. After seeing that they had finished detoxifying, she said, "Can you continue? If you can, go back to the bridge. We still need to check on this side, since the mission needs to be completed as soon as possible."

Ouyang Jun and Ouyang Ding naturally knew that Ouyang Nan was right. Although they had been bitten, they would recover after resting for a while. So they nodded and said to Ouyang Nan, "Elder Nan, we can go back. You can take the others and continue the mission."

The mission was assigned by Elder Qian Ying and Elder Zhou Zixing, so it was impossible to abandon the mission and protect the two of them alone and send them back.

"Alright, you two go back now. I'll have Ouyang Zhaobei keep an eye on you two again." After Ouyang Nan finished speaking, he turned around and called Ouyang Zhaobei over, asking him to help the two of them go back.

After all, I had just been bitten, and my legs were still a bit numb. There were also a lot of poisonous creatures here, so I couldn't stay any longer.

Ouyang Zhaobei walked over, nodded without saying a word, and then helped the two of them up, one on each side, and walked towards the bridgehead.

"The rest of you continue. The positions vacated by Ouyang Ding, Ouyang Jun, and Ouyang Zhaobei will be filled by others. Spread out a bit and continue exploring forward. Let's hurry," Ouyang Nan said to the other Ouyang family members.

“My aunt also has a lot of opinions about these guys!” Chen Mo said to Ouyang Ruoxi, looking at Ouyang Nan’s behavior.

Ouyang Ruoxi lightly slapped his arm and said, "Alright, you're so naive." She then smiled, knowing that Ouyang Nan's mood might improve since Ouyang Ding and Ouyang Jun were injured. Otherwise, her aunt wouldn't be smiling like that.