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

Page 64

Gu An leaned against the wall of the passageway, listening to Lin Mu's even breathing and staring at his tent, remaining motionless for a long time. Her face was expressionless, even a little cold, as always, dignified, reserved, and aloof.

But in her heart, the lake ruffled by the wind had already churned into waves. His words kept replaying in her mind: she looked down on him, she said he wasn't good enough for her, there was absolutely no possibility between them. Each word was like a key, unlocking the doors to her heart that had always been closed.

Her eyes gleamed in the firelight, like moonlight suddenly reflecting in a deep pool. Or like spring grass growing wildly in her heart. This time, she let the corners of her mouth slowly curve upwards, higher and higher.

She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and a slight smile played on her lips. Only one thought occupied her mind: This opportunity had finally arrived.

By this time, Cailing had finished tidying up and sat to one side, closing her eyes and breathing steadily and deeply. But she wasn't sleeping; instead, she was meditating cross-legged, a skill that the Gu family's children and core servants had learned from a young age. While meditating, their perception of the outside world remained just as sharp, and they could also restore their tired mind and body.

Gu An continued to lean against the wall, letting her thoughts drift further and further away. Originally, she didn't care much about Lin Mu's strength; she only valued his talent and his character. As long as he had some strength, that was enough.

But Lin Mu's performance this time was quite impressive, especially his poison and his talk of the Snow Region bloodline, which made the fire in her heart burn even brighter...

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Mu's tent stirred, and he crawled out, his hair disheveled and his face still bearing traces of sleep. He looked at Gu An and Cai Ling, who were both sitting outside, neither of them in a tent nor resting, and asked, "Why aren't you resting?"

Gu An gave a vague answer: "We're of high rank, have plenty of energy, and don't get tired." She didn't mention meditation; that was a closely guarded royal secret and not convenient to reveal. Lin Mu nodded, didn't press further, stretched, and loosened his muscles.

"Let's go, let's level up." He waved to Gu An and Cai Ling, and took the lead. The passage was still the same passage, the darkness was still the same darkness, and the torchlight could only illuminate a few steps ahead.

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, one after another.

The first thing I encountered was a lone dung beetle.

The thing lay motionless at the base of the wall, its plump body a mix of gray and white, like a piece of soaked fat.

Gu An crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and looked at the chubby, grayish-white worm with disgust.

Lin Mu then pondered the matter of the monster's hatred.

Why did the previous Woma Guardians relentlessly pursue him, and why couldn't the Taoist's poison, the mage's lightning, or even Gu An's blow that dealt over 500 damage be pulled away? He wanted to investigate and verify his hypothesis.

Lin Mu put the half-moon into his Qiankun bag, his hands empty, his luck dropping back to 1 point. "Don't move yet, I'll test the poison."

Gu An didn't speak, but Cai Ling nodded.

Lin Mu pulled out a handful of yellow powder and sprinkled it on the maggots. The red poison took hold, and the maggots glowed red. Their plump bodies twisted violently, their heads pointing at Lin Mu, and they began to burrow towards him. The speed wasn't fast, but the direction was clear.

"Tsk." Gu An frowned and took two steps back. "Disgusting."

Lin Mu ignored her and walked around to the opposite side of the maggot. The maggot turned around and followed him, its round mouth, like a sphincter, opening and closing, making one's scalp tingle.

"Brother Cai, shock it!" Lin Mu shouted.

Cai Ling raised her hand and unleashed a lightning spell. The bright lightning struck the dung maggot, sparks flying everywhere. -155, -147. The dung maggot cried out in pain, its plump body shrank violently, and finally it slowly turned around and crawled towards Cai Ling.

"The hatred has been drawn away." Lin Mu pondered, then pulled out a Crescent Moon with +1 Luck from his Qiankun Bag, bringing his Luck back to 2 points, and it became another Red Poison. The dung maggot flashed red light and turned to chase after him again.

Cai Ling's lightning spell continued to strike, dealing -196, -203 damage, the damage was even higher. But the maggot just wouldn't turn around, ignoring Cai Ling completely, fixated on Lin Mu, determined to catch up.

Lin Mu understood. It was indeed the buff effect brought by Luck 2.

With a luck level of 1, the poison can be drawn away by high damage; with a luck level of 2, the poison is like glue, firmly sticking the monster's aggro to him, and he can't shake it off no matter what.

As he scurried the maggots, he wondered what would happen if his luck improved even further.

Gu An watched as the maggots relentlessly pursued Lin Mu, blinked, and didn't ask any further questions. Everyone has their own secrets; she understood.

Finally, Lin Mu cast a Soul Fire Talisman on the maggot, which twitched a few times and then stopped moving.

After testing it out, the three of them really just spent their time grinding monsters and leveling up, which was incredibly boring.

Furthermore, in order to save mana, Lin Mu only applied red poison and basically did not use green poison.

With Gu An and Cai Ling as two powerful damage dealers, even if they encounter a Woma Guardian, his Green Poison's 27 points of damage over three seconds will be of little use.

After being poisoned, the monster stupidly chased Lin Mu without paying any attention, making it extremely easy for Gu An and the other two to fight, saving them the trouble of even moving around.

Lin Mu is now starting to regret only buying one packet of yellow powder.

But that's life; plans can't keep up with changes.

Fortunately, my experience points are increasing rapidly, and I haven't used much of the yellow powder I got from killing and looting corpses, so I won't be short of powder for a while.

After fighting two waves of monsters, Lin Mu discovered that his monster-killing speed now depended entirely on his mana regeneration rate.

Because Gu An and Cai Ling were spoiled by Lin Mu's red poison, they resolutely refused to touch monsters that didn't use red poison, as they found it difficult to fight them.

One use of Red Poison consumes 30 mana points and takes nearly 30 seconds to fully recover. Although the monster density is high on the second floor, you can only kill a maximum of two monsters per minute, and the experience is shared among three. Lin Mu can only gain about 350 experience points per minute.

Chapter 69 Prince An and the Telepathic Communication

Even though the monster density is higher on the second floor, you still need to run around to find monsters occasionally, or you need to rest and recover your mana when gathering spirit stones.

Based on this calculation, Lin Mu can gain at least 15000 experience points per hour. This is much more efficient and less troublesome than if he did it alone.

It only takes 100000 experience points to level up from level 18 to 19. Looking at the experience number in his status bar, Lin Mu felt much more at ease. At this rate, he would reach level 19 in no time.

While grinding monsters, they encountered a group of people fighting monsters, completely blocking the path in Lin Mu's direction. Cai Ling saw them from afar, took out his token from his pocket, held it above his head, and said in a low voice, "Gu Mansion business, excuse me!"

The tone was so calm, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary, but as soon as the token was flashed, the leader of the group's expression changed, and the Purgatory Axe in his hand paused for a moment.

He glanced at the token in Cai Ling's hand and quickly shouted, "Stop fighting! Everyone stop!"

The group stopped fighting the monsters and led them back to the side of the passage, standing close to the wall with their heads down, barely daring to breathe except to avoid the monsters' attacks. Someone secretly glanced at Gu An, saw the Staff of Judgment at her waist, and quickly lowered their head again.

Lin Mu had already put on his bamboo hat and pulled the brim low when he saw the group from afar, and his face was also completely covered with a veil. Ever since he was almost recognized at Zuixianlou last time, this had become an unconscious habit of his. It wasn't that he was afraid of anything, but that he didn't want to cause trouble.

At the same time, he silently gave Cai Ling a thumbs up for her "social skills." This token was more effective than anything else; as soon as it was displayed, both people and monsters had to make way.

The sound of the three people's footsteps gradually faded away and disappeared at the end of the passage.

After waiting for a while and making sure the person was far away, someone in the group whispered, "Brother, who was that? Such a grand entrance."

The leader glared at him and said in a low voice, "Don't ask so many questions. Remember, if you see anyone with that token in the future, go around them."

Everyone nodded in agreement, quickly packed their things, and headed in another direction.

Meanwhile, in Mengzhong Province, at the Prince An's residence.

The study was brightly lit by candlelight. Prince An sat behind his desk, holding a secret report that had just arrived from Bichon City. He read it once, his brow furrowing; he read it a second time, his face darkening. Before he finished reading it a third time, he abruptly threw the report to the ground and slammed his fist on the table, rising to his feet.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"

The servant kneeling before the table trembled in fright, not daring to lift his head. The teacups on the table clattered, and the candlelight flickered, nearly going out.

The door was pushed open, and a woman walked in. She wore a light purple dress, her hair was styled in a high bun, and her features bore a resemblance to Gu Qingyi, but she possessed a gentler, more serene demeanor. She glanced at the secret report on the ground, then at her husband's ashen face, and turned to wave at the kneeling servant: "Go down and close the door."

The servant felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He crawled back two steps on his knees, got up, closed the door, and his footsteps quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The woman bent down to pick up the secret report, dusted it off, and instead of reading it immediately, she walked over to Prince An and asked softly, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Prince An took a deep breath, pointed at the secret report in her hand, and said in a low voice, but could not suppress his anger: "Look at your good daughter! It's all because you spoiled her! A princess, actually messing around with a live-in son-in-law!"

The woman paused for a moment, unfolded the secret report, and scanned it line by line. Her brows furrowed, but she remained silent.

"There are so many talented young men in Mengzhong Province, but she looked down on every single one of them. She said these people only knew how to kill monsters, level up, and fight, and were too vulgar. She insisted on going to Bichon, saying that it was under the emperor's nose, a place of flourishing culture and elegant poetry. You even tried to persuade me, saying it would be good for her to go and see for herself." Prince An became more and more agitated as he spoke, tapping his fingers heavily on the table twice. "Now look what's happened! There are indeed many talented young men in Bichon, but in the end, she fell for a married man, and a son-in-law at that!"

The woman's gaze lingered on the secret report for a long time, reading it several times. Her lips moved, and her voice softened: "Perhaps... this son-in-law has some outstanding qualities? Qingyi has always been decisive; the one she's chosen shouldn't be bad..."

As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer, until the last few words were almost muffled, and even she herself found it hard to believe. Already married, yet a son-in-law living with his wife's family—this…this just didn't make sense.

Prince An glanced at her and snorted coldly. He walked to the window, stood there with his hands behind his back for a moment, then suddenly turned around and said in a deep voice towards the door, "Someone come here!"

The servant outside the door responded and entered.

"Send an order to send a telepathic message to the princess three times in a row." Prince An paused, "tell her that her mother is seriously ill and that she should return immediately."

The woman's expression changed, and she stepped forward to grab his sleeve: "What are you doing? Qingyi came back and saw me perfectly fine. How am I supposed to tell her?"

Prince An brushed her hand away, his tone leaving no room for argument: "What you say is your business. In any case, tell her to come back as soon as possible. If she stays out too long, who knows what kind of embarrassing things she might do."

The woman stood there, still clutching the secret report in her hand, her face a mixture of anxiety and helplessness. She knew her husband's temper; once he made up his mind, no one could change it. She could only sigh, wondering how to explain the lie to her daughter when Qingyi returned.

The second floor of Woma Temple.

After an unknown amount of time, a golden light flashed before Lin Mu's eyes.

Congratulations on reaching level 19!

Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He was now level 19, which meant he could change his equipment and train to summon skeletons.

Thinking this, Lin Mu took out two level 3 Taoist bracelets from his Qiankun bag and put them on. He then took out the "Summon Skeleton" skill book and opened it. The skill book transformed into a beam of light and entered his brow. He closed his eyes to sense it, then opened his status bar.

[Level: 19]

Experience: 150/120000

HP: 122/122

[MP: 112/112]

Attack: 7-12

[Taoist Arts: 3-29]

[Magic: 0-1]

[Defense: 3-9]

[Magic Control: 2-7]

[Accuracy: 9]

[Agility: 18]

Luck: 2