Having eaten a bagful of sweet melons, Lu Mingxuan licked the juice from his lips and looked around.
He didn't know where the beast had chased the three fugitives, but they were probably dead.
Judging from its tracks, it was large. He wasn't sure he could fight it himself.
The melons had been delicious, but all that watery fruit seemed to have made him even hungrier.
Smacking his lips, he looked at the noodles lying on the ground.
"Ah... There isn't even any sauce."
Hidden under leaves nearby, Su Jin didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
What a glutton. The man was about to cook himself noodles right in the middle of the woods.
Su Jin squeezed Yunlian's small hand to signal that she should get ready.
With his other hand, he worked the drone controller.
The drone waiting nearby came to life.
Lu Mingxuan, fishing noodles out of the pot with his chopsticks, stiffened at the sound.
"Bzzzz..."
The drone flew toward him, this time so low that it hovered right before his face.
Lu Mingxuan stood and raised a hand against it.
At last he could see the strange creature clearly.
It looked less like an animal than a huge insect.
Its shell wasn't metal either, but some material he'd never encountered.
He truly couldn't decide what it was.
"Monster, what are you?" he demanded.
His appetite gone, Lu Mingxuan raised a threatening finger.
The drone traced a figure eight in the air.
"What does that mean?"
It moved backward and forward.
Lu Mingxuan frowned. "Are you... showing me the way?"
The drone bobbed up and down as if nodding, then flew slowly away.
After a short distance, it turned and bobbed at him again.
Curious but wary, Lu Mingxuan followed.
Once he had gone some distance, Su Jin crawled out from the leaves and aimed at his back.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five shots, aimed at his head, chest, stomach, leg, and arm.
But Lu Mingxuan didn't fall. He rolled to the side when the shots struck and blew the drone apart with a finger strike.
Turning, he dropped to one knee and glared at Su Jin. "So that flying thing was yours?"
"Impressive. You can even guard against an attack from behind," Su Jin said admiringly.
One plan was never enough against Lu Mingxuan. Yunlian was his fallback.
Killing Lu Mingxuan outright would be safest, but even while following the drone, he'd kept that invisible shield behind him.
He was a seasoned fighter. For all his careless manner, he never dropped his guard in danger.
"Die, criminal!" Lu Mingxuan charged, slashing sideways with a hand.
Su Jin had prepared for the terrain. He swept up fallen leaves and ducked back.
"Eat my melons and you'll die! Kill me and you'll never get the antidote!"
"What?" Lu Mingxuan stopped three meters away.
He glanced at the discarded melon ends, his face darkening.
"You poisoned me, you coward?"
"I'm far weaker than you," Su Jin said from behind a tree, keeping one eye on him. "What else could I do but resort to tricks?"
"You can see that the things I carry are extraordinary. The poison I used isn't one you can cure."
"You may think you can kill me and take the antidote, but making it takes a complicated process. I don't have any prepared."
Lu Mingxuan stood still, moving his energy through his body to search for anything wrong. "What sort of poison is it? I've reached the Five-Vein level. Do you think poison can kill me? Even a deadly toxin would only slow me for a while. Poisoning me is foolish!"
Five-Vein?
No wonder Su Jin couldn't beat him.
His eyes shifted, and he grinned. "I know ordinary poison wouldn't work on you. But what you've eaten might not count as poison at all. The melons weren't poisoned; they were grown with water from the Mother-and-Child River."
"Eat one and you'll become pregnant, man or woman. It works fast, Brother Lu. One melon is enough to give birth to a whole clan. I never expected you to eat so many. I can't imagine how many little melon babies are kicking in there now. You could found a whole sect on your own!"
"Nonsense! You think I'll fall for that?" Lu Mingxuan shouted, terrified despite himself.
He had never heard of a melon so wicked.
But he had never seen anyone like Su Jin either. He couldn't be sure the man was lying.
And now that Su Jin had said it, his stomach did feel strange.
Sweating, Lu Mingxuan struggled with himself before fixing his gaze on Su Jin.
Two others were probably hiding nearby. He would have to ignore them.
Du Wenyan and her sister posed little threat. The poison would take time. He could seize Su Jin first.
He couldn't kill him. He needed the antidote.
Seeing Lu Mingxuan charge without using his powerful ranged slashes, Su Jin relaxed a little.
Yunlian's ability had a limited range. The closer Lu Mingxuan came, the stronger its effect would be.
Su Jin had given Multiplication to Yunlian, leaving himself far weaker and slower than Lu Mingxuan.
But seeds sprouted quickly. He might be able to keep Lu Mingxuan occupied long enough to capture him.
It would be hard to find a better source of information.
"Mystic Light Art!"
Lu Mingxuan opened with the Jiantian Guard's classic move.
Su Jin stepped out from behind the tree wearing sunglasses, a large flashlight in one hand and pepper spray in the other.
Their two bright lights met. Lu Mingxuan could only squint and fight by sound.
Su Jin, meanwhile, moved calmly around him, harrying him with the spray.
Hidden nearby, Yunlian gave everything she had to make the plants grow, her small cheeks puffed up with effort.
The two men fought, but before they even touched, Lu Mingxuan began to weaken.
His furious expression turned to panic.
The feeling of something inside his belly suddenly grew much stronger, as though a group of children were kicking him.
The heavy, swollen feeling grew worse.
"Die!"
Lu Mingxuan roared to smother his fear and sent much of his inner strength to fight what was happening inside him.
No! Stop kicking! I can't give birth now!
"Heh, what kind of father are you? You've shaken the babies senseless. You should be ashamed!"
Feeling Lu Mingxuan's strength fall away, Su Jin grew bolder.
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