Mortal: The Path to Immortality

After finishing off Fu Kuang, the wounded Lu Nanzhu accepted his storage bag, burned the body, and then turned and flew towards the still unconscious woman in blue.

At this moment, the woman in the green robe was deathly pale, her eyes were closed, and her breath was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.

Lu Nanzhu frowned and immediately noticed something was wrong. He turned the woman in the blue dress over and saw several small tears on the back of her clothes.

"Could it be...?"

After careful examination, Lu Nanzhu had a bad feeling and quickly took action to unbutton the woman's clothes, only to find several dark needle marks on her back.

"When did this happen? Could it be those Qi Refining cultivators? It seems I failed to kill them in time, which led to this trouble. I need to work harder on my movement technique."

"I was careless," Lu Nanzhu thought to himself.

He extended his fingers and placed them on the girl's slender wrist, probing with his magic.

After confirming the strange poison that the girl had been poisoned, Lu Nanzhu looked around. This place was dangerous, and he could not stay any longer.

He scooped up the girl, his figure transforming into a wisp of green smoke, and found a hidden cave.

Inside the cave, Lu Nanzhu laid the girl flat on a relatively smooth bluestone.

"Fortunately, the poisoning wasn't prolonged. Acupuncture and some medicinal herbs should be enough to detoxify her," Lu Nanzhu said, taking out a packet of herbs from his storage bag and looking at the unconscious woman.

"I've long heard of the Fu family's extraordinary poisons, and I've made some preparations. I went to great lengths to collect these medicinal herbs, but for now, I'll let you have them."

Lu Nanzhu remained silent for a moment, then reached out again and unbuttoned the girl's clothes.

When the girl's body, as smooth as mutton fat jade, was exposed before him, Lu Nanzhu's eyes couldn't help but glaze over.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind, rubbed his cheeks with his hands, and whispered:

"I had no choice but to offend you."

The first step in detoxification is to use spiritual power to expel the remaining poison from the wound on the back.

He placed his palm on the girl's back, channeling his spiritual energy into his body, which flowed out from his palm.

As spiritual energy continued to flow in, black, poisonous blood began to ooze from the blackened needle marks on the girl's back.

Then, at that moment, a strange thing happened.

Seemingly influenced by spiritual energy, fine, intricate, and shimmering golden characters appeared on the girl's fair back.

Lu Nanzhu only glanced at the text briefly and learned that it was about the Hu family's secret puppetry technique.

He immediately held his breath and focused his mind, urging his spiritual power to quickly memorize the text and then transfer it onto a blank jade slip.

After several breaths, Lu Nanzhu withdrew his magic power, and the small golden characters gradually dimmed. At this time, the remaining poison in the girl's back wound had been almost completely eliminated.

Immediately afterward, Lu Nanzhu began the second step. He skillfully took out several silver needles from his storage bag and precisely inserted them into acupoints on the girl's back.

Then, he took out a small alchemy furnace, put the medicinal herbs he had taken out earlier into it, refined a suitable medicinal soup, and carefully gave it to the girl to drink.

After taking the medication, the girl's previously chaotic breathing gradually calmed down.

Lu Nanzhu withdrew the silver needles, straightened the woman's clothes, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He glanced at the sleeping girl again, and after confirming that she was alright, he threw the black silver needle in his hand into the alchemy furnace to refine it.

"I've done everything I could; the rest is up to fate."

Lu Nanzhu muttered to himself, then found a spot to sit down on the other side of the cave. Taking advantage of this moment of leisure, he began to analyze his current situation.

This place is already within the territory of Dongyu Kingdom. If all goes well, we only need to deliver this girl to the Hu family of Dongyu Kingdom, and this escort mission will be successfully completed.

However, the girl has not yet regained consciousness, and the subsequent route is still unclear. Lu Nanzhu frowned again.

If they were to return to Hujiabao, their team would be intercepted by the Fu family shortly after their secret departure, which would mean that Hujiabao was not a safe place either, and that Hujiabao was probably already in the midst of war.

He wondered how things were going with Senior Brother Su and Senior Sister Fan. He could only suppress his thoughts and calm himself down.

Lu Nanzhu took out the jade slip that had just been copied from his bosom and immersed his consciousness into it.

"The Puppet Manual..."

As he recalled the contents of the jade slip in his mind, Lu Nanzhu's originally solemn expression gradually relaxed.

The secrets of the Hu family recorded in this jade slip contain a large number of secret methods for making puppets, covering everything from the selection of materials to the details of attaching spirits to them.

Lu Nanzhu was secretly delighted. He had previously been troubled by his inability to obtain the "Great Evolution Manual" and thus unable to play with the "figures." Now that he had this extraordinary manual, he would have another means of dealing with enemies in the future.

After studying it for a moment, he put it into his storage bag and then took out Fu Kuang's storage bag.

Lu Nanzhu carefully examined the items with his divine sense and found nothing special except for some common pills, talismans, and a few hundred spirit stones.

Suddenly, a white jade bead emitting a chilling aura caught his attention in the storage bag.

The beads are no bigger than a thumb, crystal clear, and you can feel a chilling sensation when you hold them in your hand.

"A demon core?" He examined it for a long time. Although he didn't know its specific use, he could tell that it was extraordinary, so he carefully put it away.

After an unknown amount of time, a groan came from inside the stone cave.

The girl awoke, groggily sensing a cool sensation on her back. She instinctively moved her fingers, touching the large robe draped over her body, which emitted a faint herbal scent.

Memories flooded his mind instantly: the crash of the mechanical puppet, Fu Kuang's ferocious face, and the strange cultivator who protected him.

She sat up abruptly and noticed that her blue robe was a little loose, which made her startle and her face instantly turn bright red.

Looking around, I saw Lu Nanzhu meditating with his eyes closed on another set of stone steps, his body radiating a subtle spiritual energy.

The girl reached out and touched the wound on her back that had already been treated. She then looked at Lu Nanzhu, who was cultivating. Her heart was filled with a mixture of shyness, gratitude, and fear.

She sighed, straightened her clothes, then forced herself to stand up and bowed to Lu Nanzhu:

"Junior Hu Ning thanks you for saving my life, senior."

Upon hearing this, Lu Nanzhu's azure light gradually receded, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Now that you're awake, take this Qi-replenishing pill."

He extended a finger and produced a pill, which landed in Hu Ning's hand. He stood up and continued, "The poisoned needle in your back was left by the Fu family's assassins, and I have already removed it for you. As for the detoxification process, it was done hastily and expediently, so please forgive any offense caused."

Mentioning "back" made Hu Ning's ears turn bright red instantly, and she lowered her head to swallow the pill.

After a moment, her complexion gradually improved, and she couldn't help but continue asking:

"I haven't yet had the pleasure of asking your name, senior? I, Hu Ning, will forever repay your life-saving grace..."

"I am Lu Nanzhu. I have done my best as entrusted by Madam Xie. I am not worthy of such a great favor."

Hu Ning heard the unfamiliar name and repeated it softly twice.

"Senior Lu, during our escape, Ning'er gave you orders in a moment of panic, and her words were somewhat presumptuous. Please forgive her," Hu Ning said, bowing her head in apology.

"You're just acting expediently in a moment of crisis. I'm not that old-fashioned," Lu Nanzhu waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to worry about it.

He glanced outside the cave and then continued to ask:

"We are now within the territory of Dongyu Kingdom, but I am not familiar with the situation here. Do you have any ideas on where to go next, young lady?"

When the topic turned to business, Hu Ning's expression became more serious, and he pointed to the north, saying:

"My grandmother instructed me that once I entered Dongyu Kingdom, I should look for the properties of 'Baibaoge'. That's where I could contact the Hu family relatives in Dongyu Kingdom."

Lu Nanzhu nodded, put away the medicine furnace and other items in the stone cave, and turned to look at Hu Ning:

"In that case, let's set off. Although we are already in Dongyu Kingdom, we are not far from the border. The Fu family and the Demon Flame Sect may not give up so easily."

If you're still feeling alright, we need to hurry on our way.

Hu Ning tried to take a step, but she felt a bit weak. She looked at Lu Nanzhu, her eyes filled with apology and unease.

Without saying a word, Lu Nanzhu stepped forward and carried him on his back, startling Hu Ning who was somewhat at a loss for what to do.

"These are extraordinary times; don't be reckless. Let's go!"

Then, he rode his magical artifact, carrying Hu Ning on his back, out of the cave and flew towards the depths of Dongyu Kingdom.