A man stands before the heavens, his sword emerges from the Emei Mountains.

"Junior Sister Shi said that scorpions, centipedes, and green snakes are great for making medicinal wine. This night in Bashan is rainy and the wind is blowing coldly. If we could find some medicinal wine and return in triumph, singing and drinking, that would be a wonderful thing." Chen Yu drew his sword. "Junior Brother has been here before. You and I will go first."

"Good idea." Yang An changed into night clothes and put on a bamboo hat.

Chen Yu was dressed exactly the same, and the two of them jumped onto the riverbank one after the other.

……

"Some people change their nature after inheriting the mantle of the sect leader. It can be said that people's hearts cannot withstand the test." Ding Minjun said quietly as the group of more than 20 people traveled through the mountains and fields.

"What do you mean by this, Senior Sister?" Li Mingxia asked.

"Back in the Guanluo Mountains, Junior Brother Chen was willing to lead the charge and perish together with Wei Yixiao, the great demon of the Demonic Sect. Now, however, he makes us his pawns. He fights desperately when the future is bleak, but cherishes his life when things are going well. Isn't that what Junior Brother Chen is all about?"

Ding Minjun, Ji Xiaofu, Bei Jinyi, and others led their disciples forward while maintaining a safe distance. Those accompanying Ding Minjun were all close disciples from both the inner and outer sects. She was known for her outspokenness and unrestrained speech.

Upon hearing Ding Minjun's words, Li Mingxia said, "Perhaps they'll catch up soon?"

Suddenly, the rain and mist in the distance seemed to be torn open, and two figures in black appeared, leaping and bounding like rabbits and falcons, rising and falling like bullets, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

"It's Junior Brother Chen and Junior Brother Yang," Li Mingxia blurted out. "Junior Brother Yang has been to Bashan before. They must have been clearing the way. Senior Sister has misunderstood."

Ding Minjun looked rather uncomfortable. "I was just saying."

"Alright, with the enemy at hand, let's not get distracted."

Ding Minjun grunted and hurried on her way.

……

Four wooden pillars stand at both ends of the wooden building, forming a wooden frame along the hillside. The beams, pillars, and purlins intersect perpendicularly to each other. The ground floor is open on both sides, with a babbling brook in front.

Dozens of similar buildings wind around the ridge, rising and falling in a staggered pattern. Light seeps out from a quiet wooden building. As the autumn wind blows in, the light suddenly brightens, illuminating two figures. On the left, a man with a stooped posture coughs occasionally, seemingly suffering from a long-term illness. A cane stands beside him.

On the right is a woman in a fox fur coat and silk robe, with her black hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. She is a plump woman, but her face is extremely ugly, with swollen and bumpy skin.

"These are some methods of using poison from our sect," the ugly woman said, pushing a box towards them.

"Thank you, old woman." The old woman replied, and took out a book from her sleeve, "The Secret Manual of Acupressure, please take a look, Master."

The ugly woman chuckled lightly, "How could I not trust Granny Jin Hua?"

Granny Jin Hua coughed lightly, her expression remaining unchanged.

"Our leader is a man of great talent and ambition. Senior, would you be willing to join forces with the leader to accomplish great things? With my grandmother's abilities, she will surely become a revered figure, and at that time, she will be above ten thousand others."

Granny Jin Hua chuckled softly, "My dealings with the leader of the Immortal Sect are merely to learn some poison techniques to deal with two people. I have no other intentions. Please do not misunderstand, leader."

"I heard from the leader that you had a relationship with our sect in your early years."

"Back then, I only needed help with something, like treating illnesses and healing people."

"Has spring returned?"

"Let's not talk about it."

"It's a pity that the senior possessed such extraordinary martial arts skills."

"My body is thin and my belt is worn loose; my hair is sparse and my crown is askew. I'm old, I'm old, farewell."

"I'll give it to you, senior."

"No need for such formalities, Master."

"Of course."

The ugly woman insisted on seeing them off, so Granny Jin Hua followed her out of the house. A beautiful girl, about the same age as Zhou Zhiruo, carrying a bamboo hat, ran lightly out from the side room.

"Mother-in-law."

"Ah Li, let's go."

"Um."

"Please return, Master."

"Take care, senior."

Grandma Jin Hua nodded, holding her cane, and the old woman and the girl disappeared into the howling wind and rain. After walking for several miles, Grandma Jin Hua's seemingly muddled eyes suddenly brightened for a moment, and she grabbed the girl.

"Shh"

Granny Jin Hua swayed like a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the shadow cast by a towering tree.

In just a few breaths, the leaves parted, and Chen Yu and Yang An, like large birds taking flight, descended from the treetops. With their legs slightly bent and toes barely touching the ground, they moved swiftly away, their astonishing trajectory resembling that of a cicada being chased in eight steps.

"Grandma..." Before the girl named Ali could speak, Grandma Jin Hua covered her mouth. In just a few breaths, the thicket shook, and figures darted about, quickly approaching the mountain village.

After the hundred or so people who had appeared one after another left, Granny Jin Hua muttered to herself, "These people's movements are quite impressive. I wonder which sect or faction they belong to that Five Poisons Sect."

"Grandma, shouldn't we go help?"

"It's none of my business. What does the infighting within the Five Poisons Sect have to do with me?"

"But that third aunt treated my mother-in-law very well."

"Ah Li, remember this: once you enter the martial world, there are only stances, not good and evil. If someone is kind to you, it's because you can benefit from it."

Ah Li doesn't understand.

Granny Jin Hua muttered to herself, "The wine of the martial world is endless, and the heads of enemies are never enough. Let's go back."

"Is the old lady trying to save someone?"

"No, there are some things that Aunt Ma no longer needs."

……

"Who is it?"

Two members of the Five Poisons Sect leaped out from behind a tree in the darkness, looking warily at Yang An.

"One of our own."

Chen Yu's voice suddenly rang out from behind the two men. He had already grabbed the back of their necks with both hands, and the two heads collided with a thud. Their straw hats flew into the air, and the burly man slumped to the ground.

Chen Yu dragged one person and disappeared behind the tree.

……

With the lingering pain of his head splitting open from the collision, the Five Poisons Sect member regained his senses and saw a heavy sword pressing against his neck.

The thick blade of the sword pressed against his Adam's apple, making his breathing so rapid.

"I'll ask you, and I'll give you a way out," Yang An said.

Without hesitation, the believer asked, "May I ask, sir?"

"Where is your altar leader?"

"A standalone wooden house by the river."

"What's your name? Which jar?"

Yang An asked about information that Chen Yu had not learned during the water torture of Luo Kui in Wushan.

"Ma Sangu, Spider Fairy Altar."

"Thank you." Yang An knocked the other person unconscious.

After removing the hidden sentries, Chen Yu and Yang An walked about a hundred steps forward and spotted a lone wooden building by the river, brightly lit by candlelight, in the sparsely lit mountain stronghold.

"Walk."

Chen Yu and Yang An moved in a zigzag pattern, approaching like phantoms.

In just a few dozen breaths, figures emerged from the forest. Ji Xiaofu, Ding Minjun, Bei Jinyi, and Su Mengqing briefly observed the terrain before each leading more than twenty disciples to surround the forest from all sides.

……

A lone lamp casts its cold light on the rain, smoke rises from the deep bamboo groves, and mist hangs like a light veil over the river's surface.

Aunt Ma flipped through the acupressure manual given to her by Granny Jin Hua page by page, muttering to herself, "She's quite honest; her acupressure techniques are strange and difficult to undo."

"what……"

A hysterical scream, as if someone was about to die, suddenly rang out. Ma Sangu was startled. "Could it be that someone has offended Granny Jin Hua?"

With that thought in mind, she stepped out of the house, and two maids downstairs rushed out as well.

Chen Yu and Yang An had already leaped across the ten-foot-wide stream and appeared before the two maids.

"There are rivals."

In the cold night, upon seeing two men in black clothes and straw hats, the maid shouted for them to retreat. Yang An charged forward like a wild beast, and the maid tried desperately to back away but could not dodge Yang An's shadow. She was knocked away with a thud.

The maid in front of Chen Yu grabbed a bamboo pole and stabbed at him.

The sword light flashed and disappeared into the bamboo in an instant. Chen Yu flicked his wrist and moved forward. The ten-foot-long bamboo pole shattered section by section, and the sword light entered the maid's throat.

"Who are you, you rat?" Ma Sangu shouted angrily, her body stretching out as if descending from nowhere on a spider's web, her figure moving like a ghost as she darted forward, her index finger pointing swiftly.

Chen Yu turned his wrist and returned the sword, a sword light that looked like a silver moon falling from an ice wheel fell down, which was the move "Jade Bracelet on the White Wrist" from the Jade Maiden Sword Technique.

With a crisp clang, the figures of Chen Yu and Ma Sangu suddenly separated.

Ma Sangu felt a sharp pain from her cracked fingers and thought to herself, "How can this person's swordsmanship be so superb? If it weren't for the finger protectors, wouldn't my hand be crippled?"

Chen Yu's gaze fell on the black sheaths on the other person's fingers, the material of which was unknown, and then looked at the pockmarked face. Suddenly, he thought of a martial art.

Thousand Spider Venomous Hand!