Chapter 558: The Half-Moon Fat Tiger Lord (Second Update!)
"It's Long Pang! And Tiger Senior Brother and the others! They've come to find me!"
Qin Mu hurried over, running as he refined an antidote. From a distance, he saw Long Qilin wobbling unsteadily, then suddenly foaming at the mouth, his body stiffening, all four hooves pointing skyward as he fell flat on his back, motionless.
Qin Mu dashed forward at lightning speed. When he was still about a hundred zhang away from Long Qilin, Black Tiger God, and the others, the antidote was already refined. Qin Mu flicked his fingers repeatedly, and the Primordial Qi Furnace burst open. Pellets of antidote flew one by one into Long Qilin's mouth.
Qin Mu swept in like a gale, his hand techniques shifting through a thousand variations. In the blink of an eye, countless hand seals appeared, as if he had grown a thousand arms. He rapidly circled Long Qilin, slapping the fallen fatso repeatedly to accelerate the medicinal effect and prevent damage to his body.
"He seems to have gotten fatter..."
As Qin Mu's palm landed on Long Qilin, he felt the rebound from the layer of fat, which hindered his technique for dispersing the medicine. He wondered to himself, "I didn't leave him that many pills. How did he get so fat? Could I have wronged him? Is he really the type who gains weight just from drinking water?"
Sang Hua, Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, Hu Ling'er, and the others were also nearby. When they saw Qin Mu charging over, they were startled at first and prepared to defend themselves. But upon recognizing him, they felt relieved and quietly waited for him to detoxify Long Qilin.
Qin Mu's Primordial Qi steamed as he slapped and struck repeatedly, finally dispersing the antidote's medicinal power throughout Long Qilin's body. He breathed a sigh of relief, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Good thing this poison I brewed wasn't too potent..."
Long Qilin at his feet stared wide-eyed, looking at him with a resentful, utterly hopeless expression. Qin Mu smiled and comforted him, "It's fine, it's fine. No major harm. You'll be able to stand up in a little while. Your sense of smell and taste might be off temporarily, but they'll recover in a day or two. Xiangzi, don't eat him. He's not dead yet... Really not dead! Even if he were dead, I won't let you eat him. Spit him out... How did you all get here?"
Xiangzi reluctantly spat out the stiff Long Qilin.
Hu Ling'er controlled a whirlwind to send Qin Mu's two smelly shoes far away, then jumped onto the head of the fallen Long Qilin, laughing, "After you disappeared, the Axe Lord notified the National Teacher. The National Teacher said you were fine and wouldn't die easily, but he still sent word to the Heavenly Saint Cult. Saintess Xiang brought us here."
This girl's pronunciation of "axe" and "tiger" was off, her words slurred.
Black Tiger God studied Qin Mu, then pried open his eyes to look inside. Seeing he was fine, he relaxed and said, "We infiltrated the demon territory. The princess and the saintess kept trying to contact you through your primordial spirit, but got no response. Afraid of disturbing you, they stopped using the Triple Primordial Spirit Communion Technique. We searched and gathered information, originally planning to head to the Unhallowed Land. But before we reached it, we ran into many demons heading east, saying you'd gone there. We tracked them, and Long Qilin, being familiar with your scent, could follow it. That's how we traced you here and finally found you."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "When you tried to contact me, I must have been in the Unhallowed Land. It was very strange there, so I didn't notice the saintess and Xiu Mei's primordial spirit signals. Did you encounter any danger while deep in demon territory?"
Ling Yuxiu lifted Long Qilin and placed him on Xiangzi, saying, "Sang Hua is very capable. Thanks to her, we avoided the major demon strongholds. Besides, most demons were tracking you. There were even rumors that you had severely wounded Furi Luo, and many demon gods gathered to guard him, lest someone take advantage and kill him."
Qin Mu chuckled, "These demon rumors make me sound too terrifying, don't they? Furi Luo was actually injured by a curse, which had nothing to do with me. He is indeed hurt, but he should be fine by now."
Sang Hua looked around and saw many demons heading their way. She quickly said, "Tiger Lord just went on a killing spree, which will likely attract demon gods. This place isn't safe to stay. Let's leave first and talk details later! Tiger Lord, you're big, so please draw the demon gods' attention for a while."
Hearing this, Black Tiger God quickly shrank his size, turning into a little tiger about a foot tall.
The girls exchanged glances, each giving him a pat, feeling quite pleased. Black Tiger God remained oblivious.
Qin Mu thought to himself, "Could Tiger Senior Brother have gotten this deep into demon territory by acting like this?"
They headed east, and Xiangzi immediately stretched his legs to keep up.
Black Tiger God caught up to Qin Mu, looked up at him, and asked curiously, "What's this about Furi Luo being hurt by a curse? That rumor can't be entirely false. That guy is a true demon, a tyrant among demons. How could a curse harm him?"
Qin Mu replied, "It's the jade pendant on my chest. It contains a curse. I don't know the specifics. The Woodcutter Sage Master knows something, but he never told me."
After a while, Long Qilin finally managed to move, but his limbs were still weak, and he couldn't get up. He said pitifully, "Cult Leader, I'm hungry..."
Qin Mu quickly said, "If you eat elixirs now, it'll irritate your stomach and you might vomit."
Long Qilin fell silent for a moment, then said, "Cult Leader, Little Dragon risked his life to enter demon territory to find you, and you poisoned me..."
Qin Mu blinked and said nothing.
"I'm still hungry," Long Qilin said.
Qin Mu had no choice but to take out some medicinal herbs and prepare Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pills. Long Qilin said, "I prefer Crimson Fire Elixirs. I don't like the taste of Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pills."
Qin Mu's brow twitched, but he held back his anger, set aside the prepared herbs, and gathered ingredients for Crimson Fire Elixirs instead.
After refining the Crimson Fire Elixirs, Long Qilin opened his mouth, waiting for Qin Mu to feed him.
Qin Mu's forehead veins bulged. He tossed in two pills. Long Qilin chewed them and said doubtfully, "The taste is a bit off. Not very good..."
Qin Mu explained, "The poison damaged the nerves controlling your taste and smell, so things taste different from before."
"Cult Leader, give me the elixirs. I'll eat them once my taste recovers."
Qin Mu handed him the refined Crimson Fire Elixirs. Long Qilin hid them in Xiangzi and said weakly, "I'm still hungry. I want to try the Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pills. Maybe they won't be so hard to swallow now."
Qin Mu took out the herbs he had prepared earlier and refined a batch of Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pills. Long Qilin tasted two and said doubtfully, "The flavor seems a bit better. Not so bad. Could you refine two more batches?"
Qin Mu finally exploded, shouting angrily, "Eating so much, you'll burst! Look how fat you've gotten! Xiangzi can barely carry you anymore!"
Long Qilin looked utterly hopeless and said listlessly, "I'm poisoned. I don't know if I'll ever taste Crimson Fire Elixirs again. Poor me, my mother left early, and my ancestor is gone too..."
Qin Mu's heart softened, and he refined two more batches for him. Long Qilin finally stopped grumbling.
Qin Mu sneaked a glance and saw that the glutton hadn't eaten many pills. Instead, he quietly opened a crack in Xiangzi and stuffed the extra pills inside for storage.
"What happened to Long Pang while I was away?" Qin Mu wondered.
Long Qilin quieted down again, lying on Xiangzi. He took out a book, licked a brush, grabbed it with his claws, and carefully wrote something.
Qin Mu leaned in to look, but Long Qilin quickly shielded it. Qin Mu said with a gratified smile, "Long Pang is finally studying hard. Ling'er, you should learn from him too."
Hu Ling'er was hugging her tail, licking her fur. Hearing this, she said seriously, "I've been reading and writing with Deaf Grandpa these days. He also praised me for improving a lot."
Black Tiger God jumped onto Xiangzi and leaned in to see what Long Qilin was writing. Long Qilin didn't dare to be careless and let him sit between his front paws. Black Tiger God stared for a moment, then snorted with laughter, "Is this useful?"
"Of course it's useful!"
Long Qilin looked serious and said, "I've basically mastered the art of... hmm, managing people. In the future, this technique of mine will surely shine brilliantly!"
Black Tiger God shook his head, "You're putting too much thought into the wrong things, not on the right path. For example, these Crimson Fire Elixirs and Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pills are completely unnecessary. Cultivating your own skills and mastering divine abilities is far more useful!"
"Have you ever eaten elixirs, Tiger Bro?" Long Qilin asked.
Black Tiger God shook his head, "My master says that cultivation earned through one's own effort is true cultivation. He never gave me any elixirs."
Long Qilin took out a Fire Element Primordial Yuan Pill and said, "Try this."
Black Tiger God ate it and exclaimed in surprise, "It tastes so good! Much better than regular food!"
Long Qilin sneered, "Crimson Fire Elixirs taste even better! Try one of those!"
Black Tiger God ate a Crimson Fire Elixir, and his whole body trembled. Tears unconsciously streamed from his eyes.
Long Qilin sneered again, "See the benefit now? It's just that you haven't learned my technique. Your master is too lazy, saying 'cultivation earned through one's own effort is true cultivation'? That's just you not pushing yourself enough, not being disciplined! He tamed you, not the other way around. If you learn my 'Art of Domestication,' you'll eat well."
Black Tiger God looked at Qin Mu and said with a flattering smile, "Junior Brother, the taste of these Crimson Fire Elixirs isn't bad. Could you refine a few batches for me too?"
Qin Mu was surprised, "Senior Brother, you're already a demon god. Why would you need to eat these?"
"The taste is indeed good. It's satisfying to eat!"
Qin Mu frowned deeply and asked patiently, "Senior Brother, what attribute is your demon Primordial Qi?"
"Metal and Water."
Qin Mu calculated for a moment and wrote down a pill formula. He said, "This formula is for Metal-Water Mixed Yuan Pills. It contains Metal and Water Qi, which can enhance your Metal and Water Primordial Qi. I've also used the principles of medicinal interaction to refine the aroma and improve the taste. Senior Brother, it's not practical for me to keep refining pills for you. You're a deity. It's better if you learn to refine them yourself. I'll teach you how."
Black Tiger God was overjoyed and laughed, "Relying on oneself is better than relying on others. If I learn to refine pills myself, I won't have to trouble you!"
Qin Mu taught him how to refine the Metal-Water Mixed Yuan Pills and gave him some herbs. Black Tiger God was extremely clever and learned quickly, refining them quite skillfully.
Before long, Black Tiger God came back to ask for more herbs, and Qin Mu gave him some more.
By the next day, Qin Mu had a vague feeling that his demon god senior brother seemed to have gained a bit of weight, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
But this little black tiger, lying next to Long Qilin, didn't look particularly fat. It was probably just his imagination.