The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#309 - Escape

Chapter 307: Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Yan Yun and Xia Huai, hearing this, finally awoke as if from a dream. No longer watching the excitement, they bypassed the battling man and beast and headed towards the house.

The Qilin's duty was to guard the house, which naturally included preventing outsiders from intruding. Seeing this, it wanted to step forward to stop them, but facing Lu Jing's rapid and fierce attacks, it was willing but unable, completely unable to climb out of the earthen pit it was in.

In the end, it could only watch helplessly as Yan Yun and Xia Huai pushed open the door.

The inside of the house was a mess. Papers and paintings were scattered all over the floor, along with some everyday clothing, all indicating that the owner had left in a hurry.

And the way he left was also obvious.

In the northeast corner of the house, there was a large pit with a diameter of about ten feet, likely just dug out.

Yan Yun and Xia Huai exchanged a glance, then picked up the oil lamp on the table and jumped into the deep pit.

After chasing forward for about thirty steps, the terrain began to rise again. Yan Yun climbed out of the hole and found herself outside the Miao family's residence.

Not far away, a golden beetle, about the size of a calf, was carrying a young man, choosing a path to escape.

Yan Yun used her Qinggong (light body skill), and in a few leaps, she arrived in front of the golden beetle.

The young man on top was shocked to see Yan Yun and quickly patted the back of the golden beetle, telling it to turn around, but then he saw Xia Huai catching up from behind.

The young man gritted his teeth and took out a writing brush from his arms. Without using paper, he began to paint on the back of the golden beetle.

The stone hit the young man's wrist, causing his right hand to ache. Not only did he stop painting, but he could no longer hold the brush in his hand, causing it to fall to the ground.

The young man was shocked and didn't care that the back of the golden beetle was quite high off the ground. He jumped down without hesitation, landing on his butt, but quickly got up and reached for the brush.

However, before his fingertips touched the brush, a long sword had already picked it up from the ground and placed it in Yan Yun's hand.

"Give me back my brush!" the young man shouted angrily.

Yan Yun frowned and reached out to tap several acupoints on his body, but because she still needed to ask him about Ma Liang's whereabouts, she did not seal his啞穴 (mute point).

So, they heard the young man cursing loudly for a while, and then begging and crying, hoping that Yan Yun could return the brush to him.

Seeing Xia Huai next to her looking eager to try, Yan Yun said, "Do you have any way to make him honestly answer questions?"

"Well, I just learned a talisman yesterday, maybe I can try it," Xia Huai nodded.

"In that case, I'll have to trouble Miss Xia."

Yan Yun threw the young man to Xia Huai, who took out a talisman from her arms and stuck it on the young man's forehead. Then, Xia Huai's finger also touched the young man's brow.

She chanted softly, "Misty and hazy, gods and ghosts enter the orifice, thousands of scenes, guarding simplicity and following."

After speaking, the young man's body shook, but he continued to curse and scold.

So, Xia Huai recited the spell again, but it still had no effect.

Yan Yun said softly, "Is there a problem with the talisman?"

"There shouldn't be a problem with the talisman. I just tried it yesterday," Xia Huai seemed a little puzzled, paused, and then explained, "This talisman is actually to help people cultivate. It cultivates the mind and subdues Qi by conjuring illusions in the mind."

"However, if it is used on ordinary people, as long as they are not very determined, they will basically be affected, and they will involuntarily recall those guilty things in their hearts. In other words, as long as someone has done something wrong, they will feel ashamed and unbearable after being hit by this talisman."

"Could it be that although he is only eleven or twelve years old, his heart is already as firm as a rock?"

Xia Huai looked at the young man's face again. Judging from the latter's reaction when he first saw them, although he reacted quickly, he was obviously not calm enough to be surprised, and his mind should not be so mature.

Yan Yun's heart moved, and she thought of a possibility. Her expression changed slightly and said, "Not good, it's a golden cicada shedding its shell."

"What do you mean?" Xia Huai hadn't reacted yet.

"That kid probably drew himself before running away," Yan Yun said her guess, "Let him in the painting and this golden beetle lead us away, while he himself takes the opportunity to slip away."

"Are you saying that the one we have in our hands now is just a painting, so my talisman didn't have any effect?" Xia Huai was surprised.

"Most likely," Yan Yun said, "But he probably hasn't escaped far yet, we can still catch up."

Before she could finish speaking, a familiar voice sounded again from behind, "No need to chase, I've already caught the person."

Lu Jing came out from the other corner of the courtyard wall, carrying a person.

After Yan Yun and Xia Huai jumped into the cave, he also ceased hostilities with the Qilin that was almost smashed into the earth's core.

Although the latter was very upset by Lu Jing's burst of wild attacks, he had not forgotten his job of guarding the house.

Seeing Lu Jing retreat, away from the courtyard, it did not move to chase, just growled twice, and continued to guard the house, not letting outsiders enter.

As for Lu Jing, he had completed his containment plan, so naturally there was no reason to continue fighting it head-on.

After that, he also put on his clothes, put the box on his back again, and followed Yan Yun and Xia Huai's voices outside the courtyard to come here.

As a result, he heard movement in a bush on the way, and when he turned around, he ran into a sneaky figure.

It was a young man of about eleven or twelve years old, carrying a small bag. When he saw Lu Jing, he turned around and ran.

Unfortunately, he only ran two steps before Lu Jing grabbed the back of his neck. Lu Jing didn't bother to distinguish whether he and the one blocked by Yan Yun and Xia Huai not far away were real or fake. Anyway, he tapped his acupoints, grabbed him directly, and incidentally swept around the nearby area again, and didn't see any other suspicious people.

Then he came to meet Yan Yun and Xia Huai.

Sorry, this update is late.