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

Even if this person did take the teleportation ring, that's an internal matter for the royal family. As for searching for him? Forget it. Their infighting is none of my business. Self-preservation is the best policy. Right now, he'd rather let him go than offend him.

The Taoist priest dismounted from the divine beast, took a few steps forward, raised the jade pendant high above his head with both hands, knelt on one knee, and said in a very low voice: "I did not know that Your Excellency had arrived. I have disturbed you. Please forgive me."

He paused and explained, “When we were besieging the Woma leader before, a group of people wearing straw hats came to harass us, and we lost many of our Jinwu Guard brothers. So when the men saw your attire, they reacted a bit strongly. Please don’t take offense.”

Chapter 80 Escape and seal the demon

The man took the jade pendant from the Taoist priest and handed it back to Lin Mu with both hands. He then jogged back two steps and knelt on one knee.

Lin Mu, mounted on his horse, looked down at the jade pendant and tucked it into his robes. His hands were still trembling slightly, his heart was pounding like a drum, and his legs were weak; he almost lost his balance. In those few short seconds, his back was soaked with sweat. If the jade pendant didn't work, he'd have to use a random scroll to escape, but with the door blocked, they could easily trap him; in the end, he'd most likely still be unable to escape.

Now, seeing the Taoist priest kneeling before him, his tense nerves finally relaxed. Whew, he passed. Immediately, a surge of pride welled up inside him, and the corners of his mouth almost curled into a smile.

Look, even a level 40 dog would kneel down obediently before me. But now is not the time to be smug; I need to keep up the act and not give myself away.

He stood upright, chin slightly raised, his gaze sweeping over the Taoist priest's face, his tone indifferent: "Oh? Who dares to be so bold?" He paused, his voice deepening, "And what are you good for? A dignified Imperial Guard, ambushed by some nameless soldiers, and suffering so many losses?"

The Taoist priest felt a chill run down his spine, a light sweat broke out on his forehead, and he lowered his head even further.

He hurriedly explained, "That group is large, well-equipped, and moves like the wind. My men have already mobilized to investigate them one by one. Anyone suspected will be apprehended without exception."

Lin Mu waved his hand, his tone tinged with impatience: "Alright, alright, get up. You guys handle this yourselves; you've made a complete mess of the second floor of the Woma Temple."

He paused, glancing at the passageway at the top of the steps, which was completely blocked by mythical beasts and skeletons. "I need to go somewhere else. With this setup, are you trying to keep me here too?"

The Taoist priest quickly stood up, waved to someone behind him, and whispered a few instructions. The person hurried back to the steps and spoke to the guards. The two divine beasts in the center slowly moved aside, and the skeletons retreated to the sides, creating a narrow passage.

Lin Mu spurred his horse, its hooves clattering on the stone slabs. Without looking back, he rode through the crowd, up the steps, and galloped away. Behind him, those queuing for inspection glanced sideways and whispered among themselves, wondering who this man in the straw hat and on horseback was.

In the crowd, Old Master Qin kept his head down, but his eyes kept following the figure on horseback.

That straw hat, that face mask, that helmet? He frowned, puzzled, but knew it was best to say nothing at this moment. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking how turbulent the times were, and hoped the inspection would end soon so he could leave this place safely.

I originally just wanted to fight the Woma Guards, but I should have left when I heard about the leader. I was a bit greedy, and I shouldn't have taken chances.

Lin Mu went up one floor, glanced back to make sure no one was following, and then sped out without looking back. He left the temple without stopping, and the sun outside was blazing, making him squint. He took a deep breath of the fresh, grassy air, and his tense nerves finally relaxed completely.

So where should we go now? Back to Bichon? Under the Emperor's nose, those people are Her Majesty the Empress's Imperial Guards. The turmoil will probably soon spread to Bichon.

Bai Ri Men? No, that won't work either. The monsters there are too fierce. If we encounter the orc leader in the jungle, one flying axe strike and he's done for.

Forget it, I'll just go to Fengmo Valley for a while and lay low for a bit. Suddenly, he remembered the old man Qin he'd seen while picking up the things. He was in dire straits himself and couldn't worry about him now. Let him fend for himself.

The entrance to the Sealed Demon Valley was located northwest of the Woma Temple, closer in distance. He changed horses, closed his eyes again, and silently summoned a skeleton. Silvery-white sand surged from the void, coalescing into a human form on the horse's back, sitting before him, its back against his chest. Lin Mu reached out and patted its shoulder blade; the skeleton was a comrade-in-arms, not to be abandoned, and needed constant companionship.

He determined the direction, spurred his horse, and galloped close to the cliff towards Fengmo Valley.

Two days later, Lin Mu followed the contours of the Woma Forest cliffs, heading northeast to its end and then west. The closer he got to Fengmo Valley, the colder and more oppressive the surroundings became.

After passing through a narrow pass, Lin Mu finally entered the Sealed Demon Valley.

The air in the valley was much more stuffy than in the Woma Forest.

The once sparse trees grew increasingly dense and twisted, their branches intertwining like ghostly claws, almost blocking out the sunlight. The soil underfoot had changed from soft, decaying leaves to damp, blackened gravel. The wind no longer carried the scent of grass and trees, but rather a mixture of sulfur, stench, and a faint smell of blood.

The entire valley is shrouded in a persistent grayish-purple miasma year-round, the sky displays an eerie rusty color, and even the sun resembles a dim blood moon. Legend has it that a thousand years ago, the Awakened Ones waged a fierce war to seal away the demon here, imprisoning the ancient demon "Rainbow Demon" deep underground.

He had seen an introduction to the Sealed Demon Valley in the "Complete Map Book," and it was similar to the one in the game. The book specifically noted that the Sealed Demon Valley was perpetually shrouded in demonic energy, which had an irreversible impact on human survival, especially the closer one was to the Sealed Demon Mine, where the demonic energy was denser. Only in city buildings with magic arrays could one live normally without being affected.

At the entrance of Fengmo Valley stand two tall stone pillars, each topped with a stone beast, its eyes wide open in anger, as if it has been guarding this place since ancient times.

Several guards, wielding broadswords and archers, stood ramrod straight, their armor gleaming coldly in the dim light. As Lin Mu approached, one of the guards raised his hand to stop him, glanced at him, and said in a low but resonant voice, "It's best to stay on the official roads when traveling in Fengmo Valley. Don't wander into the wilderness. The monsters in the valley are not like those in the Woma Forest; if you get hurt, no one will clean up your mess."

Lin Mu paused for a moment, then nodded: "Thank you." The guard didn't say anything more, withdrew his hand, and turned his gaze back to the gray, misty mountains in the distance.

Lin Mu walked a few steps along the official road, then looked back at the guards, a sudden wave of emotion washing over him. These people had guarded this place day after day, year after year, for countless generations.

He withdrew his gaze, took out the "Monster Atlas" from his Qiankun bag, turned to the page about the Sealed Demon Valley, and looked at it as he walked.

The monsters that roam the outskirts of Fengmo Valley are mostly skeletons with similar stats to orc warriors. However, the skeletons in the valley are corroded by demonic energy over the years, causing dark red blood vessels to seep into their bones. They are more agile, more ferocious, and feel no pain or fear of death. In actual combat, they are much more difficult to deal with than the monsters in Woma Forest.

Lin Mu knew that these skeletons wouldn't drop anything good; there were only two things that truly mattered to him.

Chapter 81 A Thousand Years? Ten Thousand Years!

One is an axe-throwing skeleton. The other is a thousand-year-old tree spirit.

[Axe-Throwing Skeleton, HP 1200, Attack 12-25, Defense 0-5, Magic Defense 0-2. Can throw axes for ranged attacks; be careful to dodge.]

Lin Mu glanced down at the skeleton he was carrying; the journey had been painful, digging into his ribs. A thought suddenly occurred to him. He remembered that the mutated skeletons in the Peach Blossom Spring Gate fought by throwing axes. Could his own skeleton also use axes to attack?

[Millennial Tree Demon, HP: ???, Attack: ???, Defense: ???, Magic Resistance: ???]

It has lived for countless ages; no one has been able to approach it since ancient times. Now, many people call it the Ten-Thousand-Year Tree Demon.

[Note: The Tree Demon unleashes a wide-range, indiscriminate stabbing attack, leaving nothing but barren land within fifty meters. No one can survive near it for even a moment. Two hundred years ago, a top-tier guild called the "Iron Blood Alliance" mobilized its entire force—three thousand members in total—to attack the Tree Demon. None of them emerged. Since then, no one has dared approach that area. Furthermore, the corpses of plants and animals surrounding the Tree Demon, along with the demonic energy in the valley, nourish it. After countless years of this nourishment, its health and attack/defense capabilities have reached a terrifying level.]

Meanwhile, the map also thoughtfully marks this dangerous area of ​​the tree spirit with a prominent red circle.

Lin Mu gasped as he looked at the tree demon's information. This thing was probably even more outrageous than the Woma Cult Leader. Its attack range was fifty meters, and it attacked indiscriminately, leaving nothing but barren land around it—it was practically a no-man's land.

He silently marked it in his mind: If you can't mess with it, go around it.

Lin Mu closed the book and rode his horse into the distance, where he could see the city gate of Fengmo City. The city gate was tall, with several archer guards standing on each side, their postures ramrod straight and motionless.

Lin Mu approached, then suddenly felt a pang of anxiety. He tightened the reins, his hand already reaching for the medicinal powder at his waist. The guards had curved ram horns on their heads, hooves on their feet, and their grayish-black skin covered in fine scales; at first glance, they looked like monsters crawling out of the ground. If it weren't for the crowds coming and going at the city gate, he would have almost thought he'd encountered a horde of monsters blocking the entrance.

But he quickly realized that he had played the game before. These were just ordinary archer guards, but because the demonic energy in Fengmo Valley was the heaviest, the guards would be corrupted by it if they stayed there for too long.

Some of them were criminals exiled here to atone for their crimes; others volunteered to serve and guard this place for higher wages and allowances to supplement their family income. Regardless of their background, they all ended up becoming neither human nor ghost, too ashamed to even return home.

Lin Mu released the powder, secretly relieved that he hadn't made a fool of himself.

I remember when I was playing a game, the first time he came to the Demon Sealing Gate, he mistook the guard at the entrance for a monster and attacked him. Then the guard fired a barrage of arrows, and his screen went black instantly. Thinking back now, I was so young back then.

Lin Mu rode his horse into the city. Fengmo City was much smaller than Bich City, with narrower streets and old-fashioned shops on both sides, but there were many people coming and going, mostly adventurers who came to Fengmo Valley to try their luck.

Lin Mu inquired along the way and found the largest pharmacy in the city. Pushing open the door, he immediately felt much better; the sulfurous and putrid smell in the air had lessened considerably, replaced by a strong herbal fragrance. It seemed the buildings in the city were indeed protected by magical arrays, capable of isolating them from the demonic energy outside.

A plump shopkeeper stood behind the counter. Seeing Lin Mu enter, he smiled and asked, "Sir, are you buying medicine?"

Lin Mu didn't answer his question, but asked directly, "Do you have a bathhouse with skeletons here?"

The portly shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and his smile deepened: "Yes, yes, yes, we happen to have a vacant medicinal bath room specifically for Taoist priests to soak skeletons in. The daily rental is 1 silver coin, with plenty of hot water and a constant temperature in the medicinal pool. We guarantee your satisfaction. In addition, we also have the materials for medicinal baths for skeletons here. Do you need them?"

Lin Mu was taken aback for a moment, and asked incredulously, "You have materials for soaking skeletons here?"

"Yes, we have them," the plump shopkeeper counted on his fingers. "Healing medicine, Eternal Snow Frost, Blessing Oil, and Powerful Sun Water—we have them all. How much, sir?"

Lin Mu was even more puzzled. This was different from what he'd read in the book. The book's recipe called for potent sun water, ten-thousand-year-old snow frost, healing medicine, plus attack-enhancing divine water, swift-wind divine water, and stamina-enhancing divine water. This shopkeeper was only talking about potions; why was he adding blessing oil?

"Isn't there divine water?" Lin Mu asked. "Why did you add blessing oil?"

Upon hearing this, the portly shopkeeper's eyes lit up even more. He looked Lin Mu up and down, and his tone became more respectful: "Oh my, sir, you seem to be a knowledgeable person. Divine Water is quite rare. Auction houses occasionally have one or two bottles, and I don't know where they get them from. Ordinary people can't get Divine Water by soaking in skulls, so they use more Blessing Oil instead, which works quite well."

He lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret, "Actually, the ones soaked in blessing oil aren't bad either, it's just that you need more blessing oil and it takes longer, soaking them for eighty-one days, and the skeletons can become quite robust. But if you're talking about the best, then it has to be divine water."

Lin Mu nodded, understanding the situation. He thought for a moment; since he'd already used the divine water, why not add some blessing oil and try it? Perhaps the effect would be even better. So he asked, "How much is the blessing oil?"

"Four gold coins for one bottle," the chubby shopkeeper said, holding up four fingers.

How many are in the store?

The portly shopkeeper flipped through the ledger, looked up, and said, "Exactly 20 bottles."

"I'll take them all." Lin Mu counted out the gold coins from his Qiankun bag and stacked them neatly. He thought for a moment, since he was going to soak them, he might as well soak them for a long time, soaking the skeleton to its fullest extent. The book said forty-nine days, but the shopkeeper said eighty-one days would be even better, so he would rent it for 81 days.

“I’m renting the bathroom for 81 days,” Lin Mu said.

The portly shopkeeper paused for a moment, then beamed with joy, quickly calculating on his abacus: "81 days, rent is 81 silver coins, let's round it down to 80 silver coins. Blessing oil is 20 bottles, 80 gold coins. Total: 80 gold coins and 80 silver coins."

Lin Mu paid the money, and the portly shopkeeper, beaming, took a key from the wall and had his assistant bring out twenty bottles of blessing oil from the storeroom, neatly arranging them on the counter. Lin Mu waved his hand, and they all disappeared into his Qiankun bag.

Lin Mu still has 68 gold coins, 80 silver coins, and 71 copper coins.

Then, the portly shopkeeper took out a wooden plaque from the drawer, with the words "006" engraved on it, and handed it to Lin Mu: "Sir, this is your bathroom number. Don't lose it."

After saying that, he led Lin Mu through the corridor behind the counter, turned several corners, and stopped in front of a heavy stone door. The fat shopkeeper pointed to the bronze plaque on the door, which read "006".

Chapter 82 The Skull and the Imperial Court

He pushed open the stone door, revealing a small stone chamber. The walls and floor were paved with bluestone slabs, and in the center was a square, empty pool. The bottom and sides of the pool were smooth, clean stone surfaces. On a stone platform beside the pool were several empty wooden buckets, along with a long-handled wooden spoon and a few clean pieces of coarse cloth.

"Just fill the pool with water yourself. Put the wooden plaque into that groove over there, and hot water will come out." The plump shopkeeper pointed to a groove on the pool wall, just the right size to fit the wooden plaque. "You can mix the hot water and medicinal liquid yourself. Please feel free to ask if you need anything, sir." After saying that, he smiled and withdrew, closing the stone door behind him.

Lin Mu placed the wooden plaque into the groove, and warm spring water gushed out from the holes at the bottom of the pool. However, after thinking for a moment, he took the wooden plaque out of the groove.

Hot water? He had brought so many potions; it was questionable whether the pool could even hold them all. He took out all the potions Gu An had given him, as well as the ones he had collected, from his storage bag and laid them out on the ground.

There were only 20 bottles of Sun Water, 10 bottles of High-Efficiency Sun Water, a Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Frost, and a healing potion left in the Qiankun Bag for emergencies. Why was there a bottle of healing potion left? It was because Jiang Yanzhou had given him an idea. That thing could be restored using healing potion, so it was necessary to prepare a bottle.

He unscrewed the bottle caps and poured the hundreds of bottles of various colored liquids scattered on the ground into the pool, one by one. As the liquid entered the pool, its color changed from colorless to pale blue, and then from pale blue to amber. The medicinal mist grew thicker and thicker, carrying a cool minty scent, mixed with a hint of spiciness and an indescribable sweetness.

What he didn't know was that if others saw him being so extravagant, they would definitely criticize him for wasting resources. Even when highly talented juniors in wealthy and powerful families were training skeletons, the family would at most give them one bottle of each of the three kinds of divine water, along with a few bottles of healing medicine and blessing oil as a token gesture. As for other things like the Ten Thousand Year Snow Frost and the potent Sun Water, the juniors would have to collect them themselves. Unlike Lin Mu, who used five bottles of each kind of divine water and poured countless other potions into the pool, that was rare even in the royal family.

The pool water gradually rose. Lin Mu turned around, placed the skeleton he had been carrying into the pool, and, supporting its arm, helped it slowly sit down, placing it in the center. As soon as the skeleton entered the water, its bones began to glow, a faint silver light seeping from the seams, as if something was flowing within them. It sat quietly in the pool, motionless, its two dark eye sockets staring at the water's surface, as if looking at its own reflection.

Lin Mu squatted by the pool, looking at the pool full of precious medicinal liquid, and suddenly an idea popped into his head.

With so much medicine, could the skeleton absorb it all? What if it couldn't, wouldn't that be a waste? He thought for a moment, then decided to soak in it himself. What the skeleton couldn't absorb, he could absorb; at least it wouldn't be a waste.

He quickly stripped naked, stepped into the pool, and sat down next to the skeleton. The hot water reached his chest, the medicinal liquid soaked his skin, slightly warm, with a cool minty scent seeping into his pores, indescribably comfortable.

Lin Mu reached out and hooked his arm around the skeleton's shoulder. The bones were cold and hard, making his arm ache. He didn't let go, patted the skeleton's shoulder blade, and said with a serious tone, "Brother, we'll be fighting together from now on. This pool of water is truly luxurious. I usually can't bear to use these medicines. You must grow stronger for me."

The skeleton tilted its head, its two dark eye sockets facing him, as if looking at him, or perhaps listening to him speak. The pool water rippled gently, and wisps of medicinal mist rose, enveloping the two of them.

-

At the same time, in the main hall of the Beech Palace, a court meeting was in full swing.

"I strongly recommend Lin Mu, the author of 'A Moonlit Night on the Spring River,' to serve in the court." A civil official stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said loudly, "It is a great pity for the court that such a talented person is left to wander in obscurity."

The speaker was Master Cen, about fifty years old, thin and refined, wearing a blue official robe, his hair and beard half-white, his face gaunt, with three long strands of beard flowing down his chest, giving him a somewhat otherworldly air. He was a senior official of the Hanlin Academy, usually stern and unsmiling, but at this moment his face was full of sincerity, and his eyes shone with light.

Before the words were even finished, a murmur arose in the hall. Someone stroked his beard and chuckled, whispering to his colleague beside him, "Master Cen may be reciting 'A Moonlit Night on the Spring River,' but he's probably thinking of 'Drinking Alone Under the Moon,' isn't he? They've already written you into their poems, 'Master Cen, Danqiu Sheng, let's drink, don't stop!' Shouldn't you strongly recommend him?"

A burst of good-natured laughter filled the hall. The Empress, seated on her dragon throne, toyed with a jade thumb ring in her hand, a slight smile playing on her lips, finding it amusing as well. Master Cen, blushing from his colleague's teasing, was about to retort when a series of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hall.

A general wearing heavy helmet with a golden phoenix emblem embroidered on his chest strode into the hall, knelt below the steps, held a scroll above his head with both hands, and said urgently, "Your Majesty, an urgent report from Woma!"

The hall fell silent instantly. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what was so urgent. A female official beside the Empress quickly descended the steps, took the scroll, and presented it to her. The Empress unfolded the scroll, her gaze sweeping over it, her brows gradually furrowing.