Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

I wonder if the aunt who helped him back then is still around, and if the big yellow dog that he used to steal his stale food from has had a full meal since he left.

However, as a transmigrator, Lin Mu felt very indifferent to the original owner's memories and emotions. Just like a character in a movie, he knew that those things had happened, but he was not personally affected by them.

Besides, he doesn't have time to worry about that now.

He looked away, gripped the handlebars, and the bike sped past the dirt road outside the village entrance.

The guard at the village entrance and several elderly people sunbathing at the same time turned their heads to watch the silver-gray shadow speeding past on the gray-white dirt road in the distance, raising a long trail of dust.

Some people stared with their mouths open, some squinted, and some even forgot to smoke their pipes. After a long while, someone finally muttered, "What is that thing?"

The people next to him shook their heads, and no one answered.

Lin Mu didn't hear it. Even if he had, he would have thought: This is only because his motorcycle is a bio-energy new energy vehicle. If it were an old energy motorcycle from his previous life, the sound of the engine and exhaust would have been much louder, and it would have given them a big fright.

He lowered his body, faced the wind, and sped past in a flash. The gray dirt road returned to silence, with only the long trail of dust still slowly dissipating.

As they were running, a tiger-snake that had lost its way and was coiled in the middle of the road felt the tremors from the ground. It raised its triangular head, flicked its tongue, and swayed from side to side, heading towards Lin Mu's direction.

Upon seeing this, Lin Mu released his grip on the handlebars and pulled a long crescent blade from his storage bag. Why not use the Dragon Pattern Sword? Because it's too short; he might not be able to reach it during his first experience of riding a bicycle and slashing.

He gripped the knife in one hand, rode his bicycle quickly closer, and swung the knife horizontally down. The blade, propelled by the bicycle's speed, traced an arc, striking the tiger and snake precisely at their vital point.

Poof, a weak point attack.

-137.

The tiger snake's entire body was slashed and sent flying. The snake twisted and bounced twice before landing back on the ground, still writhing.

Lin Mu glanced at the damage numbers that appeared. His attack power was only [12-28], but this attack dealt 137 damage.

It seems that the inertia generated by the vehicle's speed gives the blade extra force; the faster the speed, the more powerful the cut.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind: if a soldier were riding this vehicle and used the speed of the vehicle to slash down with a fiery blade, the damage would be unimaginable.

He snapped out of his reverie, rushed a long way, made a sharp turn in the distance, turned around, circled back, and delivered another slash.

-102.

After several rounds, a notification popped up in Lin Mu's mind: [Experience gained: 80].

He had very little experience. He put the knife back in his bag, gripped the handlebars, and continued riding forward.

After riding along a stretch of gravel road, the view in the distance gradually opened up.

Under a gray sky, a forest appeared ahead. To the east of the forest was a small hill, and to the east of the hill were even more distant, continuous mountains. A narrow valley was nestled between the two mountains, winding its way northward.

The map clearly shows that the valley is the shortest route to Mengzhong.

Another pass leading to Mengzhong can be reached by going around to the west side of the forest, but it is farther away and there are more snakes in the forest, making it more time-consuming and dangerous to travel through. Most people choose the valley on the east side.

Lin Mu glanced at the direction of the valley, and without hesitation, rode towards the valley to the east.

Upon entering the valley, Lin Mu saw scattered convoys, most of which were heading towards Mengzhong.

Horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, donkey carts, as well as people on horseback, on foot, with their families in tow, carrying their bags, all moved slowly along the dirt road in twos and threes.

The further we went in, the more people there were, and the road started to get a bit congested.

To prevent the black maggot from suddenly shifting its hatred and slamming on the brakes, causing it to fall flat on its face, Lin Mu took out some medicinal powder and sprinkled a red poison on the black maggot, firmly locking its hatred onto him before continuing to ride forward with peace of mind.

As we approached the entrance to Snake Valley, we could see a long queue ahead, with people checking those entering Mengzhong.

The line was very long, with carriages and pedestrians squeezed together. Some people squatted by the roadside eating dry rations, some dozed off against the carriage wheels, and some complained quietly.

Two rows of wooden fences separated a narrow passage. At the end of the passage stood several guards wearing the standard armor of Mengzhong. Some were rummaging through people's bags, some were checking their identities, and others were looking at each person's face one by one against a list.

Lin Mu glanced at it from afar, then used an invisibility spell on himself, causing the vehicle to stop instantly. In the instant he became invisible, he leaped from the seat, rolled, and landed steadily on the ground. He then stood up, turned around, and cast a binding spell on the black maggot, trapping it and the vehicle frame together in his pouch.

He straightened his robes, dusted himself off, and adjusted his straw hat before blending into the queue.

The procession moved slowly forward, accompanied by a murmur of discussion. A man driving a donkey cart at the front complained to the person next to him, "Everything was fine a few days ago, but suddenly they started checking people, and I don't even know what they're checking for."

Chapter 220 The City Lord and the Prince of Mengzhong

A middle-aged man carrying a bundle next to him shook his head and said in a low voice, "I heard that things aren't peaceful in Mengzhong. Someone is investigating people who came from Bichon."

The man driving the donkey cart frowned: "Check people from Bich? Bich is the imperial city, shouldn't Bich be checking people from Mengzhong? Why is it the other way around?"

The middle-aged man did not answer, but simply shook his head and glanced at the checkpoint ahead.

The group moved forward a few more steps, and from the front came the guards' gruff voices asking questions and the rustling sound of bags being rummaged through.

Lin Mu stood in the crowd, his hands in his sleeves, his head down, as if waiting, or perhaps listening.

The wind blew in from the valley entrance, carrying a hint of the dry desert air from the direction of Mengzhong.

The line moved forward a little further, and it was getting dark. A guard stood by the passageway carrying a lantern, his eyes scanning the faces of everyone who passed by.

The group split into two lines. Some people were able to pass through smoothly and quickly disappeared on the road outside the valley, but most people were stopped. Some were taken to a shed for questioning, some had their bags searched, and some were asked to show some kind of certificate. They were not allowed to pass for a long time.

The people ahead of Lin Mu answered quickly. Some were merchants who said they were visiting relatives, while others said they were going to Mengzhong to make purchases. The guards, having received bribes, didn't ask any further questions and simply waved them away.

Lin Mu listened without moving or urging anyone, simply standing in the queue and walking forward at a leisurely pace.

When it was his turn, the guard looked up at him, his gaze lingering on his greyish-white robe before moving to the straw hat and veil covering his face. He casually asked, "Where are you from?"

Lin Mu remained calm and took out an empty Spirit Gathering Pearl from his Qiankun Bag, twirling it in his hand.

[Spirit Gathering Orb, 0/100000 experience points, requires level 30]

He said casually, "Lin Yichen of the Fengmo Lin family. I heard that Mengzhong is purchasing supplies in large quantities, and my Lin family would also like to do some business."

As he spoke, he also took out 100 points of the Special Repair Divine Water and two bottles of Blessing Oil, placing them on the table in front of the guard.

The guard glanced down, reached out and poked at the bottles, then swept the Spirit Gathering Pearl and the items on the table into his Qiankun bag.

Lin Mu's eyelids twitched. Although the Spirit Gathering Pearl was empty, the cost of a 10 experience Spirit Gathering Pearl alone would be 2000 gold coins.

He quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Sir, this Spirit Gathering Pearl is my livelihood..."

As he spoke, he took out three bottles of blessing oil from his Qiankun bag, placed them on the table, and pushed them forward.

The guard glanced down at the three bottles of oil, then looked up at Lin Mu, as if weighing something.

He'd been at this checkpoint for a long time, seen many people, and gotten used to being greedy, but he also knew what he could and couldn't take.

The Spirit Gathering Pearl is good, but if it gets out of hand, it will be hard to handle once it's investigated. Besides, Blessing Oil is also valuable these days.

He paused for two seconds, then reached out and put the three bottles of blessing oil into his Qiankun bag. He then pushed the Spirit Gathering Pearl back in front of Lin Mu, saying in a nonchalant tone, "Alright. Take off your hat and look at your face."

Lin Mu was speechless. Damn it, it's always like this wherever I go; I can't escape having to make connections.

Thinking back to when he was sealing the demon, Yang Xiong had treated him very well, arranging his food, drink and lodging perfectly. He had never suffered such treatment before.

But he remained calm and unhurriedly removed his straw hat, revealing a face that he had deliberately made up.

His skin tone was darker than usual, a gray line was drawn at the corner of his eye, and the lines of his chin appeared blunter than usual due to a slight reduction in jawline. His whole face looked completely different from that of the ordinary-looking master.

The guard glanced up and down, but didn't see anything unusual. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, no problem, go ahead."

Lin Mu nodded, stepped through the passage, passed through the two rows of wooden fences, and entered a more open area.

-

Let's rewind half a month. At that time, the martial arts tournament in Mengzhong was in its final stages.

The arena was set up in the training ground next to the stone tomb in Tucheng. The ground was covered with yellow sand, the sun was blazing, and the surrounding area was filled with spectators from all sides of Mengzhong.

In the final, Gu Changfeng, the heir of Prince An's mansion, performed exceptionally well, defeating Huo Lie's son, the lord of Shabak City, with a clean and decisive combo, and winning the championship.

Thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the audience, echoing through the yellow sand for quite some time.

Gu Changfeng stood on the arena, his expression relatively calm, but his breathing had not completely calmed down. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, nodded slightly to the audience, but couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly.

That evening, Prince An hosted a banquet at the Prince's residence to celebrate his son's victory.

The hall was brightly lit, and many prominent figures from all sides of Mengzhong had arrived. They were toasting and exchanging compliments.

Halfway through the banquet, Lord Huo Lie of Shabak City personally stepped forward to offer his congratulations.

He wore a dark gold robe and walked at a leisurely pace. He patted Gu Changfeng on the shoulder and said a few polite words, "Your Highness's swordsmanship is clean and neat, with the style of the Prince in his youth. My son's loss is not unjust. He still needs to practice for a few more years when he gets back."

Gu Changfeng returned the greeting with clasped hands, without saying anything more.

Huo Lie then turned to Prince An and praised the heir and the princess: "Your Highness is very fortunate. The heir is both literate and martial, and the princess is exceptionally talented. You can't find another like them in Mengzhong."

He praised Prince An so highly that he was beaming with joy. As a traditional patriarch of the Mafa Empire, nothing was more gratifying than having one's child praised.

Prince An held his wine glass, saying "You flatter me" but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened with laughter.

The banquet was held in the largest hall of Tucheng, brightly lit. After several rounds of drinks, most of the guests had left, leaving only Huo Lie chatting with Prince An.

The two men sat in a corner of the hall, the candlelight flickering in the lampshade, chatting so much that others thought they were about to become sworn brothers.

As the banquet drew to a close, with only a few servants standing at a distance in the hall, Huo Lie suddenly put down his wine cup, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice: "What are your thoughts on the current situation, Your Highness?"

Prince An's hand holding the wine glass didn't stop, but his gaze darkened slightly. He didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

Huo Lie wasn't in a hurry. After a pause, he spoke: "A great calamity is imminent. To this day, neither the imperial court's Canghai Camp at sea nor any civilian organizations have found Cangyue Island. Demon Dragon City is blocked by high mountains, and the Snow Region is nowhere to be found. The seals on the major dangerous areas of Mengzhong remain intact, showing no signs of loosening. I'm afraid that in the future, Mengzhong will be the only safe place to live on the continent of Marfa."

When he uttered the word "only," his tone wasn't emphasized, but it was like a pebble dropped into still water, rippling outwards in circles. Prince An paused, his gaze falling on the slightly swirling surface of the wine, but he didn't immediately respond.

Chapter 221 Rumors among the people of Mengzhong

Huo Lie didn't urge him, but simply picked up his wine cup, took a sip, and then lowered his voice a few decibels, "But what if the entire empire moves to Mengzhong? If His Majesty moves the capital to Mengzhong and Tucheng, how will Your Highness cope?"

Prince An placed the wine glass on the table, making a soft clinking sound from the bottom.

He didn't answer immediately, but squinted and remained silent for a moment before speaking. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a weight that left no room for further discussion: "Lord Huo should mind his own business."

Huo Lie glanced at him, smiled, stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, said nothing more, turned and left the hall, his footsteps fading into the empty corridor.

Prince An sat motionless, his gaze fixed on the flickering candlelight, his face expressionless, as if he were thinking about something, or perhaps he was thinking about nothing at all.

After a while, he reached out, picked up the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and then got up and left the hall.

The candle was still burning, the flame steady and unwavering, as if nothing had ever happened there.

-

A few days later, just as Prince An and Lu Yuan, the commander of the Mengzhong Imperial Guard, were verifying the Jiang family's caravan's purchases in Mengzhong and preparing to report to Bich, the lord of Shabak City arrived again, bringing with him one of the Jiang family members.

Huo Lie entered the hall and saw that Lu Yuan was also there. He gave Prince An a wink, indicating that he had something to say in private.