“The battle hasn’t even started yet, how do you know we’ll definitely lose?” Yun Qingxue retorted with unyielding determination.
Having experienced the hardness of the bat demon’s wings and claws firsthand, she naturally understood their slim chances of victory.
But as she had just said, if they hadn’t encountered the tragic state of the Green Bamboo Clan, she might have let it go. But now that they had, even a mere passerby would feel compelled to lend a hand—let alone her, whom they addressed as their master!
“Master…” Zhutao was on the verge of tears, though mostly from sheer desperation.
“Master, you might not know this, but even at the peak of our strength, our entire clan couldn’t defeat the bat demon.
Every member of our clan who had reached the Shapeshifting stage or higher was captured by that bat demon and drained of all their cultivation…
Now, the remaining clansmen are either too young or too injured. Even if there are a few who still possess Shapeshifting-stage cultivation, they live in constant hiding!
With such meager strength, how can we possibly fight that bat demon?
And worse—we fear we won’t even be able to protect your safety!”
As Zhutao spoke, Adai, who had been in deep slumber, suddenly began writhing violently.
Sensing something amiss, Yun Qingxue immediately checked on him.
To her shock, the wounds she had previously treated on Adai’s body were now showing signs of decay.
“How could this happen?” Yun Qingxue gasped.
Zhubai hurried over to inspect as well, and his expression darkened instantly.
“This… this is poison from the bat demon!”
“Impossible!” Yun Qingxue rejected the idea without hesitation. “Adai is the Sacred Serpent of the Aquatic Clan, the king of venomous snakes! He consumes all kinds of poisons as if they were food. I can’t imagine any poison that could harm him!”
Hearing the words “Sacred Serpent of the Aquatic Clan,” Zhutao’s expression shifted as he stared at Adai.
He hadn’t realized that the seemingly ordinary little snake in his eyes was actually the Sacred Serpent of the Aquatic Clan!
“While the Sacred Serpent is indeed immune to all poisons, it isn’t completely without weaknesses.
Master, look—his wound is near his seventh-inch spot. As the saying goes, ‘To kill a snake, strike its seventh inch!’ That’s the most vulnerable part of a serpent’s body…
Moreover, his serpent core is located precisely there!
Though the Sacred Serpent feeds on all manner of poisons, its core is the purest essence in the world, completely devoid of toxicity! The bat demon cultivates using magical artifacts, so its poison is a mutated variant unlike ordinary toxins. Combined with the fact that it struck the Sacred Serpent’s vulnerable seventh-inch spot…
The poison must have seeped through the wound and contaminated the serpent core, which is why his flesh is now decaying!”
“Is there a cure?” Seeing that Zhutao knew so much, Yun Qingxue pressed urgently.
Zhutao’s expression turned grave, and he hesitated before answering, “There… is no antidote.”
“None?!” Yun Qingxue’s heart clenched, and a wave of dread washed over her.
“None…” Zhutao averted his gaze slightly.
Too distraught to notice his evasiveness, Yun Qingxue was consumed by panic over Adai’s condition.
Ever since escaping the Violet Palace of the Flora Clan, she had been fortunate enough to meet her first and most important friend—Jinlin.
Later, in the Dragon Palace, she had met Adai. She would never forget how, during her most vulnerable and directionless moments, Adai had stayed by her side, risking his life to protect her time and again…
She couldn’t bear the thought of failing to save him now.
No! There had to be a way—there *had* to be!
Yun Qingxue suddenly fixed her gaze on Zhutao. “If the poison comes from the bat demon, then it must have the antidote!”
“Master!” Zhutao exclaimed in alarm. “Please, don’t waste your efforts!
If not for the Sacred Serpent’s innate resistance to poison, he would have already succumbed to the venom!
Even now, though he’s still alive, his condition is dire!
Even if we could somehow retrieve the antidote from the bat demon, he’d likely perish from the poison before we could bring it back!”
“But there *is* an antidote, isn’t there?” Yun Qingxue seized the key point in his words instantly.
“Master, just leave! Get away from here!” Zhutao avoided answering, instead pleading with her.
Yun Qingxue stared at him unflinchingly. “Answer me. There *is* an antidote, isn’t there?”
“Master…”
“Zhutao!”
Before he could continue persuading her, Yun Qingxue cut him off decisively.
“When Adai was fine, I wouldn’t have stood by and let you suffer. Now that he’s in danger—after all we’ve been through together—I’m even less likely to leave!
And don’t bother trying to convince me otherwise!
Right now, all I need you to tell me is whether or not an antidote exists!”
“There isn’t!” Zhutao’s brows furrowed deeply. “There is no antidote! And the Green Bamboo Clan doesn’t need the Flower King’s rescue either.
So please… just go!”
“No antidote? Ha!” Yun Qingxue let out a cold laugh, her eyes sharper and icier than ever before. “If there’s no antidote…
Zhutao, Zhubai!
I don’t care what you’re hiding from me, but I, Yun Qingxue, am making this clear right now: I won’t leave until Adai is safe. Because you’ve acknowledged me as your king—and as a ruler, I won’t abandon my people like a coward!
Now that Adai is in this state, I’m even less willing to go! If he dies, even if I have to face those bat demons alone, I’ll make them pay with their lives!”
“Master…” A flicker of disappointment crossed Zhutao’s eyes as he implored, “I beg you to consider the bigger picture! Don’t act recklessly out of personal emotion! That… is not how a true ruler behaves!”
“Oh? Then what *should* a ruler be like?
Cold-blooded and heartless, ready to abandon their people and friends at the first sign of danger? *That’s* what a ruler should do?”
“A wise ruler knows when to retreat! Charging blindly into the impossible is the act of a fool, not a monarch!
You are the last hope of the Flora Clan! If you leave now, it’s for the greater good—no one would fault you for it!”
“Really? No one would fault me?” Yun Qingxue’s voice was icy. “A ruler who watches helplessly as their people are slaughtered by outsiders, who does nothing to save a poisoned friend, who cares only for their own survival—do you truly think such a person wouldn’t be condemned?
Enough. I’ll say it plainly: I’m not leaving. I *will* save Adai!”
“*Sigh!*” Zhutao exhaled heavily, his eyes filled with resignation.
He was loyal to the Flora Clan, loyal to the Flower King—that much was true.
But that didn’t mean he agreed with every decision the Flower King made!
He had never approved of the previous Flower King, Lan Xuechen, betraying the entire world for the sake of the Demon King.
A ruler should prioritize their people and the greater good above all else! How could they act so recklessly, driven by personal emotions and trivial matters?
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